1822.] 
dren, without the least prospect, or in- 
deed thought, of being able to support 
them. There are other grievances very 
heavy in themselves, and still more so 
as combining with the grand evil, 
namely, tithes, rack-rents, and absen- 
tees. It is enough merely to mention 
these, for to go into a discussion on so 
fertile a theme would far exceed the 
limits of a letter ; but, supposing these 
were redressed or mitigated, the relief 
would not, nor could not, be general, 
as there would still be more mouths to 
be fed than the produce of the soil 
would supply food for. 
About fifty years ago the rural popu- 
Jation of Ireland, compared with its 
present state, might be said to be 
happy. The natives were not half so 
numerous as at present, and taxes, 
rent, and tithes, were not half so great, 
whilst the prices of agricultural pro- 
duce were much better. All this may 
be proved from that excellent work, 
Arthur Young’s Tours in Ireland, 
from 1774 to 1782. The last war, 
though so calamitous to all the world, 
was of advantage to Ireland, because 
it afforded a constant demand for its 
only staple (the linen manufacture ex- 
cepted, which does not belong to this 
discussion) of the material of war, men 
and provisions: that prop being re- 
moved, these have become drugs, and 
the country has sunk without resource, 
because the rack-rents, tythes, and 
taxes, the offspring of an artificial de- 
mand, remain, whilst the means of 
paying them no longer exist. 
Mr. Plunket has held forth in the 
House of Commons very unpalatable 
doctrine for the Irish landlords, that 
they should meet the exigency of the 
times by a suitable reduction of their 
rents. He considers, also, that any 
commutation of tythes would not re- 
lieve the occupying tenant, unless they 
were paid by the landlord, and thus 
merged into the general rental; but that 
excellent and eloquent man has not yet 
given an opinion relative to the employ- 
ment of the people. The exalted ef- 
forts of charity may relieve and suspend 
the present pressing calamity, but 
what will prevent its recurrence? by 
frequent appeals, sympathy will ex- 
of the introduction to the third volume of 
“Parochial Surveys of Ireland,” by W. 
Shaw Mason, keeper of the records in 
Dublin Castle. The tables are authentic, 
being made from actual returns deposited 
in the Record Office. 
9 
= 
Who and what are the Public Creditors 2 
499 
pire, and the most ardent charity cool. 
And is it not better that a community 
should cease to exist, than owe its 
existence to eleemosynary aid? The 
linen manufacture maintains, in a state 
of comparative comfort, two millions of 
the people of Ulster. Employment 
must be found for the remaining five 
millions, or the greater part of them 
must eventually perish. VIATOR.* 
Bath; May 29, 1822. 
— ——_— 
Tothe Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
| BEG to enquire whether any of 
your readers in or about the Bank 
of England, or Stock Exchange, pos- 
sess the means of stating, either accu- 
rately or nearly so, what number of 
persons constitute the body of fund- 
holders or public annuitants; and what 
proportion of them, in number and 
amount, are Jews, or professed Chris- 
tians? 
The question is asked, because it is 
strongly suspected that the persons 
who lent their money to former admi- 
nistrations, to enable them to carry 
on certain wanton and unprincipled 
wars, were for the most part Jews, 
aliens to our national interests, and 
unattached to our soit; and that the 
greater part of those who now receive 
the interest of the said debts, the col- 
lection of which bears so grievously 
on the people, are likewise Jews, or 
persons who have no British feelings, 
and who could unceremoniously trans- 
fer their persons, and their property, to 
any other country in the world. 
Is there no admitted contamination 
of a debt, which diminishes the moral 
obligation to repay it? What if A 
should lend B a hundred guineas, for 
the avowed purpose of hiring C to 
assassinate D,—would any court of 
justice consider A as entitled to re- 
cover of B?. They would be consider- 
ed as a brace of scoundrels, and no 
just tribunal would countenance their 
immoral relations, or their bargains for 
immoral and wicked purposes. If B 
even persuaded A that D ought to be 
assassinated, A is not exonerated ; for 
he ought not to have lent himself to 
the unlawful purpose of assassination ! 
Far be it from me to suggest or sur- 
mise any act unworthy of the most 
rigid justice; but the morality of this 
question is of so mixed and equivocal 
* The editor will be glad of copies of the 
tables referred to by his correspondent. 
a character, 
