Thus, there was a manifest falling off whilst there should have been at least one third more consumed.

The quantity of Tea consumed in Great Britain

In 1800 was 20,558,702cwts.

And in 1829 it was 26,790,336cwts.

Ibid.

Thus the consumption has increased one fifth in Great Britain, whilst it has decreased in Ireland; and although the population of Great Britain is not double that of Ireland, yet the inhabitants there consume nearly ten times the quantity of tea and sugar consumed by those of Ireland. Is that a proof of our "increasing prosperity.'

Will any man say that the great mass of the Irish people now eat as much beef and mutton as they did before the union, when it is a notorious fact, that the chief diet of the mass of the people is potatoes and salt?

Will any man say, that there is one fourth of the luxuries now made use of, that there were before the union ? Take the following from an agricultural man, who is not an enemy to the union.

"The extent of human woe in Ireland, appears to its proprietary, I fear, somewhat like the national debt, an evil of such immensity, as to be incurable-so prodigious in its magnitude as to defy the possibility of any sensible diminution; and thus the heart hardens and becomes callous; the apparent impracticability of amending this calamitous condition of the Irish poor, lends a spurious sanction to cold hearted neglect; and sickness, and sorrow, and poverty, and degradation, go forward with uniform and increasing wretchedness.

"Oh, for some happy remedy for this deplorable state of society! If those who have a needy tenantry would but enable themselves to afford some assistance, by their own personal retrenchment; if they would remain upon their estates, where they are bound by every obligation, moral and political, to foster and protect their dependants; if they would check and curtail the prodigality, which often continues where the means are not commensurate to the expenditure; if they would abandon their costly and favorite pursuits, whatever they may be, at the call of charity, and cherish the wholesome truth, that self-privation is an imperative duty; that the superfluities of one class should administer to the necessities of the other; that the employ

ment of the poor is the best channel for the liberality of the rich; that the responsibility of accounting for the talents they have received, should never be lost sight of that they should look upon themselves as stewards of an Almighty Father, who will not think the selfish heritors of this world fit for an inheritance of infinitely higher value; then would good feelings, and honest motives have a fair field of operation; encouragement and superintendence would improve the existing tenantry; and instead of seeking for others more solvent, the increased industry of those upon the land, would be the earnest of their security; and the hearts of kindly proprietors be saved the mortifying, and revolting sensations of forcibly ejecting from their tenements a considerable part of that starving population which now overspreads the land, and is likely to carry desolation in its progress."M. Doyle's Address to Landlords, p. 16.

In the present session, (June, 1831,) we find in one day the following estimates voted by the union parliament ;—see the parsimonious hand with which the sums are doled out to unhappy Ireland, whilst England obtains it in an overflowing measure.

The English chancellor of the exchequer has agreed to lend us 510,0007., to be paid back with interest for the

advancement of Irish works! Wonderful benevolence! Why the Irish Legislature, long before the eve of its independence, with crippled means and small resources, in one year (1765) expended 400,000/. on inland navigation, and similar improvements, in Ireland alone.

We hear of economy in the expenses. It turns out generally that Ireland loses by any financial arrangements of this kind, in the same proportion as England gains! What did Ireland gain by the committee of 1821, formed to investigate the national expenditure, which cost 100,000Z.? England saved 4,267,1547.; Ireland lost 208,634/.

In 1829, England had reduced her taxes and expenses to the sum of 46,6847.; but it was at the expense of Ireland, which lost (that she had expended in the country in 1821) 402,730%.

Would Ireland be treated thus in an Irish legislature ?

But this is nothing to the manner in which Ireland is treated in the distribution of the army, navy, and other miscellaneous estimates-mark too, that during the last session, 19,0007. or 20,000l. were expended on embodying the yeomanry in Ireland to keep the people quiet, who were disturbed by actual starvation, which sum expended by a native legislature, would give permanent employment to the disturbed districts, and thus save the immense expense of the yeomanry.

From the Education Reports in 1828, we find that sinee the union, about 3,000,000l. have been paid under the name of education grants to create proselytism, religious divisions, and animosities amongst the Irish, which sum, if properly expended, would have rendered essential service to the country and inhabitants.

In the same manner, perhaps, not less than 3,000,0007. more, since the union, have been expended on committees and on printing reports from these committees, to decide what work ought to be done in Ireland, whilst that was already decided so far back as 1664, when Ireland had her legislature; as may be seen in the extracts from the Council of Trade.

Has the union parliament treated Ireland as it has treated England, when there are now in progress railroads to the extent of five hundred miles in the one country, and railways to the extent of only five miles in the other?

Hare

they looked to our wants as much as they do to their own, when they have" England exhibiting an extent of locomotion for the elements of trading nearly equal to 5,300 miles, while Ireland will probably be confined to little more than five hundred?"-Williams's Observations on Ireland, p. 13. Has the English legislature treated Ireland as well as England, when, 66 as Mr. Nimmo, said before the committee in 1824, “Britain had more inland navigation than all the rest of the world put together, and that the whole expenditure of the canals and rivers improved in England amounted to 30,000,0007. sterling, whilst all the expenditure upon canals in Ireland, public and private jobs, altogether amounted to only about 3,500,0007.”

It cannot be said, that the agricultural state of Ireland is not fit for improvement. Englishmen of the highest character have stated, that it is not only equal, but even superior to that of England.-See Essay on the Population and Territory of Ireland.

It cannot be said that the Irish rivers, lakes, or canals, as to situation, capabilities, and local advantages are not equal to those of England, if the hand of man were to join the hand of nature.

Because an En

Why then are they so little heeded? glish legislature has not the wish, nor the time, nor per, haps the means to improve them.

The grand question then returns; can an English legislature ever have the same desire, will or means, to improve the agriculture of Ireland, as an Irish legislature would?

Yes, say mystic economists, and miscalled patriots.

No, says common honesty, common sense, and common experience.*

*Since the above was written, we find the comparisons between Great Britain and Ireland daily growing more and more unfavorable to the latter: every thing is doing to increase the agriculture of England; every thing almost is left undone, calculated to forward the agriculture of Ireland. Every thing that may give an wholesome beverage to the English people is adopted-whilst scarcely any effort is made in Ireland to substitute this beverage for debasing and intoxicating drink; because the latter increases the revenue.

PARLIAMENTARY RETURNS 28th FEB. 1832, No. 223.

Report, 18th May, 1832, No. 459.