tion of its effects was drawn up, and presented to His Majesty, by the government and council of Ireland; and a remedy was applied, under the administration of the duke of Devonshire, by reducing the value of silver to the same standard as that of foreign gold. *

In the years 1740 and 1741, the horrors of scarcity again returned, and thousands of the poor people are said to have perished through absolute want, and the use of bad provisions.+ This misfortune occurring so soon after the former calamity of the same kind, occasioned considerable embarrassment to trade; but an influx of money, after the peace which took place in 1748, and the success which had attended the linen manufacture, increased the wealth of the country, and enabled it to reduce, by degrees, and afterwards to extinguish, the whole of the national debt.*

About this time, however, delusive ideas of public prosperity, or the improvident spirit of speculation, induced many persons to circulate paper to a very great amount, not only beyond their capitals,§ but even far exceeding that just proportion which the quantity of paper ought to bear to the national specie. By these means, individuals, who possessed little or no property, became importers to a great extent; commercial transactions were carried beyond their just limits, and the consequence was, that in 1754 and 1755, three of the principal banks in Ireland failed;|| a circumstance which spread no little consternation, and gave a severe blow to the prosperity of the country.

A period of much misery seems to have ensued; and so great was the distress of the people for food, that one of the first steps of the duke of Bedford, on assuming the reins of government in Ireland, was to obtain the king's letter, dated March 31st, 1757, for £20,000., to be expended as he should think most likely to relieve the wants of the suffering people. Credit, which had been drooping ever since 1754, was now completely overturned; three more banks failed,** and, at a general meeting of the merchants of Dublin, in April 1760, which was attended by several members of the House of Commons, the inability of the former to carry on business, not from want of capital, but from the stoppage of all paper circulation, and the refusal of the remaining bankers to discount the bills of the most respectable houses, was fully established. A petition was, therefore, drawn up by the merchants, representing their misfortunes, and praying for relief, which was presented to the House of Commons. The house referred it to a committee, and the committee resolved, that they had ascertained the truth of the matters alleged in

Boulter's Letters, vol. i. p. 170,

+ Commercial Restraints, p. 47. Smith's Kerry, p. 77. Commercial Restraints, p. 49.

Journals of the Irish Commons, vol. ix. p. 818.

|| March 6th, 1754, Thomas Dillon and Richard Ferral failed; 3d. March, 1755, William Lennox and George French; the same day, John Wilcocks and John Dawson.

Commercial Restraints, p. 60.

** Clements', Dawson's, and Mitchell's.

the petition, that the quantity of circulating paper was not nearly sufficient to support the trade and manufactures of the kingdom; and that Parliament should engage, till the 1st of May, 1762, for the solvency of the then subsisting banks in Dublin, to the amount of £50,000 for each. To these resolutions the house fully agreed, and they were attended with a very beneficial effect.*

In the year 1762, a new evil made its appearance, which all the exertions of government and the legislature were not able to suppress; and which, as it affected chiefly those parts of the country where manufactures were not established, was a proof of the general poverty of the people, and of their idleness from the want of employment. This evil was occasioned by the risings of those deluded men called White Boys, the original cause of which was as follows: Some landlords in Munster let their lands to cotters at rents far above their value, and to lighten their burden, they agreed to allow commonage to their tenants by way of recompense; afterwards, in despite of their contracts, and contrary to every principle of justice, the landholders enclosed these commons, and precluded their unhappy tenants from the only means of making their bargains tolerable. These ignorant people resenting, as might be expected, the ill usage they had experienced, betook themselves to violence; and having no prospect of redress, did all the mischief they could, but particularly to the clergy, against whom their chief vengeance seemed to be directed.

These insurrectional commotions were followed by others of a similar nature, though the causes which produced them were different. In the year 1764, the people in the manufacturing parts of the province of Ulster rose almost to a man, in consequence of their being obliged to work on the roads; and from the oak branches which they wore in their hats, acquired the denomination of White Boys. They were, however, soon dispersed by the military, and the next session, parliament taking the matter into consideration, wisely repealed the old road act, and provided for the repair of the highways by means more equitable, and less calculated to excite discontent.

Another party known by the name of steel boys, were goaded on to acts of violence by the rapacity of some landlords, who, according to a mode practised in Ireland, and unfortunately, too common, let their land by taking large fines and small rents.

The occupiers of farms, though willing to give advanced rents, were unable to pay excessive fines; they were, therefore, dispossessed by the wealthy middle men, who, not contented with moderate interest for their money, racked the rents to an extent

above the reach of the old tenant.* The helpless peasants being thus abandoned gave way to the impulse of their ungovernable passions, and vented their fury on those whom they considered as their oppressors. These commotions, so unfavourable to the prosperity of trade and manufactures, afford a striking and melancholy proof of the state of the country at the time they took place; and, as two of them arose from causes unconnected with public measures, may convince those who ascribe every evil they experience to government, that national misfortunes depend more on the conduct of individuals, than is generally believed or admitted.

In 1765, the crop of potatoes failed throughout the whole country; the spring corn had also failed, and the price of grain became so high, that the most alarming consequences followed, the people being every where reduced to a state of the utmost distress. With a view to remedy this evil, two acts were passed early in the session of that year, for stopping the distilleries, and preventing the exportation of corn for a limited time. In the following In the following spring it appeared, that the fears which had been entertained, were too well founded; several towns experienced great misery from the want of corn, and it, therefore, became necessary to issue money from the treasury, to purchase grain for the use of such places as should apply for relief.

In 1770 and 1771, the distress, on account of the high price of corn, again recurred; and the bad effects which these years of scarcity had on the general state of the country, seem to have continued for some time after; for, in 1778 and 1779, though corn was abundant, the manufacturers were not able to purchase, and thousands of them were supported by the liberality of the public. The consequence was, that corn fell so low, that the farmers in many places were unable to pay their rents, and were every where involved in difficulties.+

In the years 1771 and 1772, the bankrupt laws were introduced into Ireland, as great inconvenience had arisen to trade in that country, from the want of them.*

In the year 1775, Ireland was admitted to a participation in the Newfoundland fishery, in consequence of an act passed for encouraging that nursery of seamen, by the granting of certain premiums. § It was necessary that the ships employed should be British built, and of the burden of fifty tons at least. Before this act, the Irish had sent ships to Newfoundland, which the British commanders on that station, had permitted to fish, and entered in their reports as British vessels; but, as they were now relieved from the necessity of trusting to so precarious an indulgence, and were liberally supported by their parliament, they carried on the Newfoundland fishery with considerable spirit. By the same act, bounties, allowed to ships employed in Campbell's Phil. Survey, p. 311.

+ Commercial Restraints, p. 76, 77.

11 and 12 Geo. III. c. 8., when they were enacted to continue till the 24th of June, 1796, and by 30 Geo. III. c. 45, they were renewed.

15 Geo. III. c. 31.

the whale fishery to Greenland and Davis's Straits, were extended to ships fitted out from Ireland.*

a

In times of war, commerce is exposed to many restraints, which, however injurious to individuals, must be patiently endured, on account of the public good. During the unfortunate period when we were engaged in hostilities with America, government, apprehensive that the French fleets and our rebellious colonies might receive supplies of provisions from Ireland, laid an embargo on Irish butter, salt, beef, and pork; and the prohibition to export these articles, comprehended not only France and America, but every other part of the world, though the French could receive the same necessaries from Sweden and Denmark. The Irish merchants finding this measure ruinous to their trade, which was almost annihilated, and that the embargo was needlessly extended to all the European ports in general, exerted their whole influence to get it taken off, except so far as it related to France. An application was accordingly made for this purpose, and the relief prayed for was granted in regard to butter in 1788; and, in regard to other provisions, in the beginning of the following year.+

However paradoxical it may appear, it is certain from authentic documents, that notwithstanding the numerous evils with which Ireland was afflicted during the greater part of the last century, and the various restrictions with which her commerce was fettered, her trade increased in a regular progression, except in the unfortunate period from 1720 to 1730: A well-informed writer even asserts, that in the course of eighty years, it increased more in proportion than the trade of England, and, perhaps, if it could be ascertained, it would be found that her external trade was, in proportion to her capital, greater than that of England; but with respect to internal trade, she is still far behind, and, until there be some improvement in the latter, she cannot expect to see her people fully employed, or affluence generally diffused.

In the year 1799, a complete change was effected in the commercial relations of Ireland, by an event which had been long wished for by the people at large. The parliament of that country, which met on the 12th of October, stated in an address to His Majesty, that a free trade alone could save the country from ruin. The house of lords concurred in similar expressions, and the minister deeming it eligible to

* Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iii. p. 576.

+ The proclamation for the embargo was dated February 3, 1776, and comprehended all ships and vessels laden in any of the ports of Ireland, with provisions of any kind, except ships carrying salted beef, pork, butter, or bacon, into Great Britain, or provisions to any part of the British empire, except the colonies mentioned in the said proclamation. On the 4th of January, 1799, it was finally taken off as far as it related to ships carrying provisions to any of the ports of Europe.

Lord Sheffield's Observations on the trade of Ireland, p. 269.

ment.

comply with this demand, a bill was brought into the British parliament in December following, and after some discussion, was finally approved, and received the sanction of all the branches of the legislature. By this bill, the laws which prohibited the exportation of any woollen manufactures from Ireland to any part of Europe, and those which interdicted the importation of glass from Ireland, were repealed; and the Irish were at the same time permitted to export and import commodities to and from all parts of America, and the British colonies in the West India Islands and Africa, subject to such regulations as should be adopted by their own parliaThe attainment of these advantages excited a desire for the acquirement of others still more important. It was considered, that as long as England retained the power of making laws to bind Ireland, the boon she had granted was merely a concession revocable at pleasure, and that commercial jealousy might induce her at a future period to retract what she considered not as a right, but as an indulgence. These and other motives, into which it is needless here to enter, gave rise to farther demands, which were at length complied with in 1782, when the sole right of Ireland to regulate her commerce, and to bind herself in all cases, was fully recognized, the act of the sixth year of George I., for securing the dependence of the kingdom of Ireland upon the crown of Great Britain, being totally repealed.+ As a testimony of gratitude to the legislature of Great Britain, the parliament of Ireland, on this occasion, voted 20,000 men for the use of the British navy.

*

In the year 1783, the people of Ireland obtained a farther concession, their claim to be governed only by their own laws, being admitted by the British parliament in its fullest extent; and it was enacted, that no appeals from the courts in Ireland should, after that period, be made to any court in England‡.

The events that followed, afford a memorable proof how little men are acquainted with the extent of their own desires; and that when enjoyments, which they conceive to be the summit of their wishes, have been attained, a wider scene opens before them, and new objects arise to disturb their happiness and excite discontent. Considering them, indeed, impartially, it can hardly be denied that they afford some ground for the reflection thrown out against the Irish, that "they are a turbulent people, who can be satisfied by no concessions, and whose demands increase in proportion to the blessings which they enjoy." Possessing all the pride of the Scots. without their prudence; equally susceptible of alarm as the English without their coolness; and, like the French, buoyed up with a high idea of the advantages of their country, which, seen through the medium of national vanity, appear magnified greatly beyond the truth, they have, on many occasions, indulged in hopes too vast

* Essay on the best means of providing employment for the people. By S. Crump, M. D. M. R. I. A、. p. 307-309.

+22 Geo. III. c. 53. Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iii. p. 713.

23 Geo. III. c. 28. Ibid. vol. iv. p. 17.