626 



O'DriscoVs Vuws of Ireland. 



days of their snlTeiings, and it is still 

 of infinite value to them. Wliolesnmc, 

 cheap, abundant, and almost uulailin;^, 

 we would not deprive them of tiiis pre- 

 cious root, wiiich gives to the poorest a 

 kind of independence, soothes the 

 cares, and takes away some of the most 

 besellinf^ anxieties of hife. The potato 

 keeps the heart always open, and pre- 

 serves an ever ready place for hospi- 

 tality at the peasant's l)oard. 



It is not the potato which has too 

 much encouraged population in Ireland : 

 — it is tiie want of good liabits ; the 

 want of self-respect; the long and 

 grievous oppression from which the 

 people have not yet recovered — which 

 lias taught them to live like the beasts 

 of the field, and be content with the 

 meanest accommodations, and the scan- 

 tiest and poorest fare with which life 

 can be sustained. 



The complaint in Ireland, then, is 

 not of an excessive population ; for 

 there is food enough, and to spare, and 

 the population c:in never be excessive 

 where this is the case; the evil is in (he 

 want of that employment which the 

 war snpplieil. The war was a thing 

 suited to the taste and habits of the 

 people; so was agriculture, which thiit 

 war encouraged: the war alsodestroycil 

 many of the small manufactures of 

 Ireland. In periods of stagnation the 

 hands enlisted, and when a demand 

 returned, they were not to be collected, 

 and the manufacture was ruined. 

 MR. owen's plan. 

 Mr. Owen says ihat his plan is new, 

 both to the theorist and the practical 

 man. We think he is mistaken in this. 

 His plan is, in truth, nothing more than 

 the plan of the Jesuits, in the days of 

 their prosperity, with the addition of 

 women and female children, and, 

 perhaps, of spade cultivation. We 

 say perhaps, for we think the Jesuits 

 Mere not unacquainted with ihe advan- 

 tages of this mode of cultivation. 

 Something like Mr. Owen's plan may 

 be discerned in the wonderful establish- 

 ments of this society in Soutli America, 

 and in their school establishments, at 

 this day, in various parts of Europe. 

 Of the same nature, also, are the esta- 

 blishments of the Moravians, which 

 liave been copied from the model of 

 various societies in the early Christian 

 church. 



Much of the distress we have obser- 

 ved in the lower classes of society, 

 arises from their inaptitude to turn 

 themselves, when occasion requires, 



from one pursuit to another. It would 

 tend greatly to improve their condition, 

 if the cnltivalion of the ground were 

 combined much more extensively than 

 at present with the occupations of the 

 tradesman and artizan. This would not 

 only make the man a more intelligent 

 and respectable being, but would give 

 him also something to lean against, 

 and prevent him from falling into that 

 utter destitution which is now the lot 

 of the tradesman unemployed for a 

 season. 



Mr. Owen's plan combines the ad- 

 vantages of agricuKiire and manufac- 

 tures : but it combines more. It siippfios 

 the economy of a common kitchen and 

 table for mnllitudcs of families, — a 

 common system of education for the 

 children, a community of property if 

 desired, — and over all these there is to 

 be placed a government, of what sort 

 is not clearly defined, which is to be 

 the coutroling and binding princii>le of 

 the grand machine. 



In oiu' opinion, INIr. Owen's plan is 

 juacticable — but oidy to a limited ex- 

 tent. We think it may bo usefully 

 employed as a partial and occasional 

 relief; and we belieye that it involves 

 |)rinciples of the highest utility and 

 importance, and capable of being ap- 

 plied to some extent, with great advan- 

 tage. But Mr. Owen seems to con- 

 template a very general, if not universal, 

 application of his systenj. We doubt 

 if this wotdd be desirable. We are 

 sure it would not be practicable. A 

 great number of such powerful machines 

 in motion would have an cflect, of 

 whatsoever kind, that would be irre- 

 sistible. They would change, for a 

 «hile, the face of society; and if they 

 were to fall into disorder or crumble, 

 by any fatality, into ruin, such an event 

 would be attended with the most fatal 

 consequences. 



DUBLIN. 



Few empires boast three such capitals 

 as London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. 

 I'he prevailing spirit of the great me- 

 tropolis, as of the great nation of which 

 it is the chief city, is mercantile ; that of 

 Edinburgh, literary and medical ; of 

 Dublin, political and legal. The great 

 political questions, which, for ages, agi- 

 tated Ireland, and are still unsettled, 

 Jiave made her ca|)iial the theatre of 

 j)olilics and faction ; the Union, which 

 withdrew the legislature, gave to the pro- 

 fession of the law a decided preponde- 

 rauce in society. 



It 



