104 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK I. 



REMARKS. 



Man and the food of man have always seemed 

 so identified in a natural order, that no attention 

 has been given, either in ancient or modern times, 

 to establish their relations. Neither writers nor 

 legislators have, up to the present time, supposed 

 or suspected that there could be any disorder in 

 this respect, and Europe is in fact taken by sur- 

 prise. God has given the earth to man so super- 

 abundantly productive, that hitherto it may be 

 said there was more food than could be consumed. 



In fact, if we regard such parts of our globe as 

 South America, where the increase of population 

 has been checked by causes depending upon the 

 climate, we find them covered with the means 

 of subsistence. Every one has heard of the im- 

 mense herds of oxen, cows and calves ; thou- 

 sands are annually killed for the sake of their 

 hides, which are sent to Europe, and the flesh is 

 cast away to the animals which people those coun- 

 tries. On the sea-coast fish are so abundant, that 

 they are only caught for the sake of the oil and 

 shells. 



Europe was precisely in this state, when in the 

 middle ages the system of clearing began. Many 

 centuries must pass over America, as they have 

 done over Ireland, ere that country can be reduced 



