LETTER III.

Ireland's Prosperity the only safety for England.-The Consequence to England of Irish Ruin.—The Irish Revenue and Expenditure.—Irish Property spent by Englishmen or in England.-Irish and English Trade.-English Charges on Irish Property.-The Rich the losers.Invasion of England by Irish Labourers.-English Plagiarisms of Irish Faults. An exaggerated Charge which might be brought against England. Slight Suggestions as to Principles of Legislation for Ireland.-Good Measures only good if applied in Time.-Remedial Measures.-Security to Life and Property.-Colonization, Agricultural Education.-Amendment of the Poor Law.-Useful Public Works and Waste Lands.-The Tenure of Land.-Provisions for enforcing the Rights as well as Duties of Property.-Simplification of the Law. Sale of encumbered Estates.-Sanatory Improvements in Towns.-Schools for the Children of the higher Orders.

SIR,

IN my last letter I discussed several grave Irish faults which stand in the way of our political and social well-being (to others I shall refer hereafter), and I endeavoured, by a reference to your policy in Ireland during nine-tenths of the period of your domination, to explain the origin and nature of those faults. I pointed out also that English policy in Ireland, though it had passed through several important changes, had, till a late period, tended always in one direction, namely, the reduction of Ireland to po

verty; and that so signally had it failed, as regards English interests also, that after the lapse of six centuries, both countries were threatened with political ruin, from which, apparently, the Union was the only refuge of either. I observed that only the wisest men in England understood the full necessity for union, or the mode in which it might be made a reality; and that England, not allowing these men to have their way, had deluded herself and us by a union which did not bring forth the fruits of peace to either country, or of prosperity to Ireland. At the period of the Union, Mr. Sheridan, opposing that measure, said, "In Ireland the British Government has two formidable enemies-Poverty and Ignorance." I stated that these enemies had not

yet been subdued. Mr. Grattan said, "I oppose this Union, because, in the first place, it is no Union." I stated that the question now once more proposed to you, is whether that Union shall be made real. Is Ireland to be treated as an alien, or as a sister?

possess, Sir, no seat in either House of Parliament, for which reason I address you with my pen: but if I had a vote, I would record it in favour of the latter alternative; and I would advise all other persons to do the same, except English and Irish repealers. I do not see what better you have to do. I will not urge this course upon you on the grounds of justice; for I have compiled a brief epitome of

your dealings with Ireland, in the hope that the better class of your countrymen might rather themselves assert the claims of justice on our behalf than leave us to plead our own cause. There is, however, such a thing as a wise expediency. Do England and Ireland constitute two kingdoms, or one? If the former, vex yourselves about us no more than about Mexico or Poland: if the latter, consider whether your neighbour's side of the house can be burned without your goods suffering damage. You are more than a lodger. Solomon tells us, 66 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind;" a proverb which must sometimes have recurred to your memory, when buffeted by the "boisterous embraces" of Irish agitation. The second Solomon, while engaged on the plantation of Ulster, probably thought that he was only troubling his neighbour's house; but how it has turned out must now be but too plain to you. There is another proverb, "He that is cruel, troubleth his own flesh." Do not imagine, Sir, that I am going to demand the gift of "another ten millions." I am convinced that every penny given gratuitously to Ireland, beyond what the emergency of the present moment absolutely requires, can only tend to degrade and enfeeble her: but there are other modes in which you can do her a service.

In the first place, as in the case of a projected building "proportion costs nothing," so good laws cost no more than bad; indeed, they cost less; for they

require less mending. Something you will have to give to the pauperized districts along the western coast. There are in Ireland nine unions comprising a population of 500,000 persons, in which the Poor Law valuation affords only twelve shillings a head to the inhabitants. You must pay for the support of these people or let them starve: but you have learned, by this time, how to distribute charity, which is best done in a very old-fashioned manner; and the cost will not, I hope, be much. Spend wisely (Ireland, you are aware, contributes to the revenue in that proportion which her impoverished state permits), and you will not be much out of pocket by treating this country with a politic justice; although, at best, a famine is an expensive thing.

Let us now recur to the other alternative, and consider how you are likely to fare if you content yourself with washing your hands, and declaring that the matter is none of yours. Such a proceeding might, perhaps, cement a closer alliance than can be said always to exist between two important parties in England, viz., its mind and its body; but I see an objection to it notwithstanding. Have you not heard of one who sealed up the top of his wine cask, and who, on the leak in the bottom being pointed out to him, replied, "Not so; for below there is wine enough; it has been stolen from above?" It is through Ireland's wound, by you inflicted, that England wastes. If you

cannot stanch it, you must bleed to death. In Ireland we have now come to the end of one period, and are entering upon another. For good or for evil a providential dispensation has broken up the old system, and Ireland must now advance in the direction of a new prosperity, or be ruined; ruined, at least, so far as this generation is concerned. Let us suppose the latter alternative (the former I shall consider hereafter), and imagine Ireland ruined. What would you be the better for that? Is it not, on the contrary, too certain that the one great mistake which your ancestors made, was in the assumption as an intuitive truth, of what at least required proof, that the poorer they could make one-third of their empire, the richer the whole must be. Ireland, though ruined, would still exist; and if it continued yours, you would still be compelled to pay for it. If you only held the great towns, it would still cost you as much as it does now, or probably more; for you would have to maintain larger establishments of every kind, except those connected with the Customs and the Excise. Irish revenue for the last three years amounted

Your

beside the amount of Irish revenue paid in England; and I perceive that between the years 1823

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