the reader to form some faint idea of the state of depression in which
Ireland was kept by the English nation--of the eagerness of the Irish to
work if they were only permitted to do so.

The Irish revenue for the year 1783 was, in round numbers, L900,000,
which amounted to a tax of about six shillings per annum on each person.
It was distributed thus:

For the interest of the National Debt, L120,000
Army and Ordnance, Civil Government, and
other funds, 450,000
Pensions, grants, bounties, and aids to
manufacturers, 250,000
Surplus unappropriated, 80,000
--------
Total, L900,000

More than L200,000 was spent during that year in erecting forts,
batteries, and other public buildings, which gave employment to the
people in certain districts. Large sums were granted to the poor of Cork
and Dublin for coals; and large grants were made to encourage
manufactures. I have observed, however, in carefully examining these
grants, which are by far too numerous for insertion, that they were
principally, and, indeed, I might say exclusively, made to persons in
Dublin and its neighbourhood, in the north of Ireland, and in the
_cities_ of Cork and Limerick. Hence, the prosperity of Ireland was only
partial, and was confined exclusively, though, probably, not
intentionally, to certain districts. This will explain why the misery
and starvation of the poor, in the less favoured parts of the country,
were a principal cause of the fearful insurrection which occurred within
a few short years.

Lord Clare proclaimed, in the House of Parliament, that "no nation on
the habitable globe had advanced in cultivation, commerce, and
manufactures, with the same rapidity as Ireland, from 1782 to 1800."
_The population increased from three millions to five._ There were 5,000
carpenters fully employed in Dublin; there were 15,000 silk-weavers. Nor
should we be surprised at this; for Dublin possesses at the present day
substantial remains of her former prosperity, which are even now the
admiration of Europe. All her great public buildings were erected at
this period. The Custom-house was commenced, and completed in ten years,
at a cost of a quarter of a million sterling. The Rotundo was commenced
in 1784. The Law Courts, the most elegant and extensive in the British
Empire, were