given to apply a remedy to the many evils which fuch a prohibition must neceffarily have occafioned. The linen trade was then not thoroughlyestablished in Ireland; the woollen manufacture was the staple trade, and wool the principal material of that kingdom. The confequences of this prohibition appeared in the feffion of 1703*. In an address to the queen t, laid before the duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant, by the house with its speaker, they mention the diftreffed condition of that kingdom, and more especially of the induftrious proteftants, by the almoft total lofs of trade and decay of their manufactures, and to preferve the country from utter ruin, apply for liberty to export their linen manufactures to the plantations. In a fubfequent part of this feffiont, the commons refolve, that by reafon of the great decay of trade and difcouragement of the manufactures of this kingdom, many poor tradesmen were reduced to extreme want and beggary. This refolution was nem. con. and the speaker, Mr. Broderick, then his majefty's folicitor general, and afterwards lord chancellor, in his fpeech at the end of the feffion §, informs the lord lieutenant, that the representation of the commons was, as to the matters contained in it, the unanimous voice and confent of a very full house, and that the foft and gentle terms used by the commons in laying the diftreffed condition of the kingdom before his majefty, fhewed that their complaints proceeded not from queruloufnefs but from a neceffity of seeking redress; he adds, "it is to be hoped they may be allowed fuch a por❝tion of trade, that they may recover from the great poverty "they now lie under ;" and in presenting the bill of supply fays, the commons have granted it "in time of extreme po"verty." The impoverished state of Ireland, at that time, appears in the fpeech from the throne at the conclufion of the feffion, in which it is mentioned that the commons could not then provide for what was owing to the civil and military lifts** The fupply given for two years, commenced at Michaelmas 1703 tt, was a fum not exceeding 150,000l. which, confidering that no parliament was held in Ireland fince the year 1698, is at the rate of 30,000l. yearly, commencing in 1699, and ending in the year 1705. *Com. Jour. 3 Vol. 45. § Ib. 207, 208. The The great diftrefs of Ireland, from the year 1699, to the year 1703, and the caufe of that diftrefs, cannot be doubted. Let it now be confidered, whether the fame caufe has operated fince the year 1703. In the year 1704* it appears, that the commons were not able, from the circumftances of the nation at that time, to make provifion for repairing the neceffary fortifications; or for arms and amunition for the public fafety and the difficulties which the kingdom then laboured under, and the decay of trade, appear by the addreffes of the commons to the queen, and to the duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant, who was well acquainted with the state of this country; by the queen's anfwer ‡, and the addrefs of thanks for it. In the year 1707 §, the revenue was deficient for payment of the army, and defraying the charges of government; and the commons promised to supply the deficiency " as far as "the prefent circumstances of the nation will allow.”" In 1709, it appears ** by the unanimous addrefs of the commons to the lord lieutenant, that the kingdom was in an impoverished and exhausted state: in 1711 tt,in their address to the lord lieutenant, at the clofe of the feffion, they request, that he should prefent to her majefty, that they had given all the fupplies which her majefty defired, and which they, in their present condition, were able to grant ‡‡: and yet these fupplies amounted, for two years, to a fum not exceeding 167,0231. 85. 5d §§; though powder magazines, the council chamber, the treafury office, and other offices were then to be built. This last period, from the year 1699 to the death of queen Anne, is marked with the strongest circumstances of national diftrefs and defpondency. That the woollen manufactures were the great fource of industry in Ireland, appears from the Irish ftatute of the 7th. and 18th of Charles II. ch. 15*** ; from the resolutions of the commons in 1695†††, for regulating thofe manufactures; the refolutions of the committee of supply in that feffion ‡‡‡ ; * Com. Jour. 3 Vol. p. 298. Ib. 253, 258. ** Ib. 3 Vol. p. 573. #Ib. 929. †Ib. 225, 266. Ib, 364, 368, 369. tt Ib. 827. *** In the fame feffion an act was made for the advancement of the linen manufacture, which fhews that both kingdoms then thought (for these laws came to us through England) that each of thefe manufactures was to be encouraged in Ireland. ttt Ir. Com. Jour. 2 Vol. p. 725. ### Ib. 733. g and and from the preamble to the English statute of the roth and 11th of William III. ch. 10, in which it is recited, that great quantities of those manufactures were made, and were daily increafing in Ireland, and were exported from thence to foreign markets. Of the exportation of all thofe manufactures the Irifh were at once totally deprived: the linen manufacture, propofed as a fubftitute, muft have required the attention of many years before it could be thoroughly established. What must have been the confequences to Ireland in the mean time, the journals of the commons in queen Anne's reign have informed us. Compare this period with the three former, and you will prove this melancholy truth; that a country will fooner recover from the miferies and devastation occafioned by war, invafion, rebellion, maffacre, than from laws reftraining the commerce, difcouraging the manufactures, fettering the industry, and above all, breaking the fpirits of the people. THIRD LETTER. To an inquirer after truth, hiftory fince the year 1699 fur nishes very imperfect, and often partial views of the affairs of Great Britain and Ireland. The journals of parliament evince the poverty of Ireland for the first fourteen years of this century. That this poverty continued in the year 1716, appears by the unanimous addrefs of the house of commons to George the firfl*. A fmall debt of 16,106]. 11s. ožd. †, due at Michaelmas 1715, was, by their exertions to ftrengthen the hands of government in that year, increased at midfummer 1717, to a fum of 91,5371. 175. 1d. ‡, which was confidered as fuch an augmentation of the national debt, that the lord lieutenant, the duke of Bolton, thought it necessary to take notice in his fpeech from the throne, that the debt was confiderably augmented, and to declare at the fame time that his majesty had ordered reductions in the military, and had thought proper to leffen the civil lift. In 1721, the fpeech from the throne §, and the addresses to the king and to the lord lieutenant, ftate, in the strongest *Com. Jour. 4 Vol. p. 249, Ib. 335. † Ib. 296. terms, terms, the great decay of her trade, and the very low and impoverished state to which the was reduced. It is a melancholy proof of the defponding ftate of this kingdom, that no law whatever was then propofed for encouraging trade or manufactures, unless that for amending the laws as to butter and tallow cafks deserves to be fo called. The remedy propofed by government, and partly executed, by directing a commiffion under the great feal for receiving voluntary fubfcriptions*, in order to establish a bank, was a fcheme to circulate paper without money; and confidering that it came fo foon after the fouth fea bubble had burft, it is more furprifing that it fhould have been at first applauded †, than that it was in the fame feffion disliked, cenfured and abandoned. The total inefficacy of the remedy proved however the inveteracy of the difeafe, and furnifhes a farther proof of the defparate fituation of Ireland, when nothing could be thought of for its relief, but that paper fhould circulate without money, trade or manufactures. In the following feffion of 1727, our manufacturers, and the loweft claffes of our people, were greatly diftreffed; the duke of Grafton, in his fpeech from the throne, particularly recommends to their confideration the finding out of fome method for the better employing of the poor ; and though the debt. of the nation was no more than 66,3181, 8s. 3d. | and was lefs than in the laft feffion; yet the commons thought it neceffary to present an address to the king, to give fuch directions as he, in his great goodnefs fhould think proper, to prevent the increase of the debt of the nation. This addrefs was prefented** by the houfe, with its fpeaker, and paffed nem. con. and was occafioned by the diftreffed ftate of the country, and by their apprehenfions that it might be further exhaufted by the project of Woods's half-pence. But notwithstanding the fuccefs, of the linen manufacture, Ireland was in a moft miferable condition. The great scarcity of corn had been fo univerfal in this kingdom in the years 1728 and 1729, as to expofe thousands of families to the utmost neceffities, and even to the danger of famine; many artificers and houfe-keepers having been obliged to beg for bread in the ftreets of Dublin. It appeared before the house of commons, that the import of corn for one year and fix months, ending the 29th day of September, 1729, amounted * Ir. Com. Jour. 4 Vol. p. 694. + Ib. 832. ** Ib. 108. + Ib. 720. in value to the fum of 274,000l. an amazing fum compared with the circumstances of the kingdom at that time! and the commons refolve that public granaries would greatly contribute to the increafing of tillage, and providing against such wants as have frequently befallen the people of this kingdom, and hereafter may befal them, unless proper precautions shall be taken againit fo great a calamity. The great fcarcity which happened in the years 28 and 29, and frequently before and fince, is a decifive proof that the diftreffes of this kingdom have been occafioned by the difcouragement of manufactures. In the year 731. there was a great deficiency in the public revenue, and the national debt had confiderably increased. The exhauited kingdom lay under great difficulties by the decay of trade, the fcarcity of money, and the univerfal poverty of the country, which the speaker reprefents* in very affecting terms, in offering the money-bills for the royal affent, and adds, "that the commons hope from his majesty's goodnefs, and his grace's free and impartial representation of the ftate and condition of this kingdom, that they may enjoy a fhare of the bleffings of public tranquillity, by the increase of their trade, and the encouragement of their manufactures " But in the next feffion, of 1733, they are told in the speech from the throne what this fhare was to be. The lord lieutenant informs them, that the peace cannot fail of contributing to their welfare, by enabling them to improve thofe branches of trade and manufactures which are properly their own, meaning the trade and manufacture of linen, Whether this idea of property has been preferved inviolate, will hereafter appear. The years 40 and 41 were feafons of great scarcity, and in confequence of the want of wholefome provifions, great numbers of our people perished miserably; and the fpeech from the throne recommends it to both houfes, to confider of proper measures to prevent the like calamity for the future. The employment of the poor and the encouragement of tillage, are the remedies proposed by the lord lieutenant, and approved of by the commons; but no laws for those purposes were introduced. Ir. Com. Jour. 6 Vol. p. 143. + Ib. 189. For |