ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. 5 



These Inquiries, moreover, were instituted for 

 Ireland, as for England, upon isolated interests ; 

 and the Parliament perceived that, in order to be 

 acquainted with, and to ameliorate, the body po- 

 litic in a state of society so extraordinary as that 

 which we shall proceed to exhibit, it was neces- 

 sary to appoint a Commission which should visit 

 the country. It was this Commission which the 

 preceding ordinance instituted ; and as the persons 

 who formed it themselves give an account of 

 their proceedings, and of the remedial measures 

 which they propose, we shall leave them to speak 

 for themselves, adding only occasional remarks or 

 comments of our own. 



