my own, and that such relief can be only temporary,—adds, That to make even emigration (colonization) beneficial, it must be combined with a modified "Poor Rate*." If by this modification is meant anything short of an assessment, I think those who look to a poor-rate without it, will find themselves in an error. For, if the modified relief should begin with voluntary donations, all fact and all history prove that it will soon slide into compulsory assessment. The landowner must then be prepared for it; the well-disposed, as I have above stated, virtually acknowledge the right, in providing for their ejected tenantry by extra employment, location, and colonization. To them I would use as an argument for their willing adoption of the measure, that the land at this moment principally supports the resident population, miserable and mendicant as it is, in the worst possible way t. The same sentiment is expressed by Mr. R. W. Horton, in his Letter to a noble lord, who gives the sad picture of his miserable tenantry, overwhelmed with debt and unable to pay. "I contend," says he, "that your arrears, and similar arrears, are neither more nor less than an extensive practical Poor-Rate now raised in Ireland for the maintenance of your paupers, without system or regulation, and necessarily accompanied by acts of frightful atro * Letter to Mr. R. W. Horton, April 15, 1829. + Second Emigration Report, 1827 p. 96. : ....... city I think I could demonstrably prove this.... Poor-Rate in England is a deduction from rent prior to payment. I think that sentence is a key to the proof*.” To those whose minds are not prepared for the willing adoption of the Poor-Laws under modifications, I must suggest, that Scotland, as suffering most from the unequal relative pressure of the indigent in the two countries; England from the competition of the produce of Ireland with its own; and every city and town in Ireland, from the influx of the ejected tenantry,—are interested in enforcing the law of settlement, and compulsory relief. Nor does public opinion sympathize very much with the landlords of Ireland, and an appeal by them to that in their favour would not have much weight. I could wish, indeed, that that mighty engine did not deal so much in generalities, and include in its sweeping condemnation many whom it would hold up to respect and honour, were it as expedient, as it is possible, to distinctly name them. But I trust that all descriptions of Irish landowners cannot but feel satisfaction in the increasing civilization of their country, whether they agree with me or not in considering it as a proof of the necessity of adopting more systematic methods for the relief of their indigent poor than they now possess. * Causes and Remedies, &c. Appendix, p. 123. Many of those objects which all persons who have long looked for as the real improvements in Ireland are obtained. The race of middle-men is diminishing*. The consolidation of farms is rapidly taking placet. There has been a considerable diminution of rents, approximating more to the proportion between the English landlord and tenant. The probable consequence of that reduction will be, to induce the owners of land to residence ; and ideas acquired in England or abroad, will be more liberal as to the treatment of their inferiors, than those of the home-bred Irishman. The increase of Irish capital is proved by the establishment of rival Banks, which offer discounts at as low a rate as those in England; by the transfer of a large amount of Stock to the Dividend-office in the Bank of Ireland for capitalists resident there; and the success of Savings Banks, implying an accumulation in the hands of the industrious poor §. The effects of this increasing capital are visible even to a stranger who sees Ireland for the first time. He can compare the numerous new decent stone and slated houses in the country, and the recent handsome houses built or building in the cities and towns, with the decaying mud-built and * Lords' Evidence, p. 41. ‡ Ibid. 145, 189. ↑ Ibid. p. 9. § Evidence, 1825: p. 362. sod-roofed cabins, and tottering fabrics of more ancient date. Mines, in the hands of private adventurers, and of those Irishmen, are becoming profitable speculations. many Previous to the Union, Ireland had received various parliamentary grants, which had enabled her to improve her harbours and rivers, and dig canals. The peculiar form of the kingdom, indented with bays and inlets of the sea, with navigable rivers, penetrating from their outfalls into the heart of the island, will perhaps prevent the latter from becoming directly profitable speculations; because coal, although it abounds, can never form the great article of commerce on them, as the larger cities and towns will always be supplied more cheaply from England. But, as means of facilitating internal communication, and equalizing the price of the most important articles of life, especially grain and fuel, they cannot be too much encouraged even by parliamentary grants and expenditure of the public money. Much in this way has been done for Scotland, and something remains to be done for Ireland. Such grants are in the nature of relief from the rich to the poor, from the capital of England to excite and assist the physical capabilities of her less opulent neighbours; and to such grants reasonably expended there will never be objections. But there are more important benefits of a mo ral nature which, since the Union, Ireland has received from the Imperial Legislature: The Tithe Commutation Act*; the Petty Sessions Acts; the Constabulary Force Act; -the legal confirmation, extension, and in some cases the perfection of the various systematic establishments for relieving the necessities and ameliorating the condition of the poor and the sick, which have been detailed in the course of these observations ;-the Acts which made so important a change in the Distillery Laws §, and those which abolished the protecting duties and made the intercourse between the two islands a mere coasting trade ||. The inventive powers of man have done more than any efforts of legislation. Steam-boats seem to have been projected for the mutual intercourse and reciprocal advantage of the two countries. Their physical effects are obvious to the slightest observer. It is to be hoped that their moral effects will not be less gratifying. But, above all improvements, that the character of the Irish population is raised, it is impossible to doubt.The proof is found in their sense of the political degradation under which they laboured, their anxiety to remove it, and their systematic co-operation towards the attainment of that removal. *3 Geo. IV. cap. 125. + 7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 67; 10 Geo. IV. c. 33. 3 Geo. IV. c. 103; 9 Geo. IV. c. 63. 4 Geo. IV. cap. 94. | 4 Geo. IV. cap. 72. |