222 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK III. 



sistence to 2,453,041. That is to say, in Ireland 

 one hundred families of agriculturists found food 

 for fifty- seven families not agricultural, and in 

 Great Britain these one hundred families supplied 

 food for two hundred and fifty-five. 



The result is this : in Great Britain, the por- 

 tion of society not agricultural receives from the 

 agriculturists nearly five times as much as in 

 Ireland. 



The portion of society who do not share in agri- 

 culture is composed of several classes. The royal 

 family, the clergy, the army, the magistracy and 

 the administration, form parts essential to the 

 maintenance of the whole in harmony. To these 

 may be added the classes which live by handicraft, 

 manufactures, commerce at home and abroad, and 

 navigation. 



Society is therefore five times stronger in Great 

 Britain than in Ireland, since, for attack as well 

 as for defence, it can command five times the 

 number of soldiers or sailors. 



The working classes moreover have many more 

 advantages in Great Britain than in Ireland, since 

 the agriculturists supply them, independently of 

 their food, with the first materials for the employ- 

 ment of their industry. 



We limit ourselves to these reflections. The 

 result of all these inquiries will tend to develope 

 the proof that agriculture is the sole principle of 



