both England and Ireland. In the latter country the
disturbances toward the close of the year greatly increased. In the
counties of Clare, Roscommon, Galway and Tipperary, all law was
trampled under foot; murder, robbery, and searching for arms by bodies
of men were the ordinary occurrences of every day. The lord-lieutenant
made a progress through the disturbed counties in the vain hope that
his presence would restore tranquillity; but things remained in the same
state on his return to Dublin as before his departure from thence. More
vigorous measures were afterwards adopted: proclamations were issued in
several counties applying the insurrection act to them, and a special
commission was sent down to try all offenders captured. A great number
of miserable creatures were convicted, but few individuals suffered the
last penalty of the law. But notwithstanding these trials, the outrages
in Ireland lost little of their horrors. The refusal to pay tithes
became general; and many frightful collisions occurred between the
peasantry and the authorities which endeavoured to repress their lawless
proceedings, The law was, in fact, powerless; and whenever the officers
of the law interfered, open war was declared against them.

[Illustration 482.jpg BRISTOL FROM ROWHNAM FERRY]

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

On the 3rd of October the chancellor of the exchequer laid his view of
finance for the year before the house of commons. This was the second
statement within the year; for the original budget was a failure,
and his lordship had been driven to the necessity of changing his
operations. His present statement was that the total amount of
receipts for the present year would be L47,250,000, and the expenditure
L46,756,221. He had, he said, to allow for L200,000 more received from
the account of the last year, so that he would take the surplus of
revenue over expenditure at L493,000. He begged to observe that
this surplus was larger than he had anticipated in February last,
notwithstanding he had not succeeded in carrying several of the taxes he
had proposed. In the customs there had been a falling off this quarter;
but he had grounds for concluding that it would not continue. In regard
to the sinking-fund, he said, that, at the commencement of each quarter,
he had taken an average of the four preceding quarters, and that sum he
had applied to the reduction of the debt in the succeeding quarter, if
the revenue was not clearly falling