268 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK III. 



penny more than at present applicable to the purchase of 

 the agricultural produce of Great Britain. In proportion 

 as the quantity of Irish agricultural produce sent into 

 England is reduced, the quantity of English manufac- 

 tures sent to Ireland must be reduced, and the English 

 manufacturer's means of purchasing any agricultural pro- 

 duce must contract accordingly ; the price therefore would 

 not rise, but the quantity consumed would diminish, and 

 the effect would be to throw the English labourer who 

 works for the Irish market, and the Irish who works for 

 the English, both out of employment, to the destruction 

 of them, the injury of their employers, and the general 

 deterioration of the interests of both countries. All this 

 may be shown, not merely by general reasoning, but by 

 an appeal to facts. As the import of Irish produce into 

 England has increased, so has the import of English ma- 

 nufactures into Ireland*. 



The English and the Irish farmer, and every other class 

 of the community, both in Great Britain and Ireland, 

 should consider themselves, not as rivals, but as fellow- 

 labourers in one common cause as partners in the joint- 

 stock company of the empire as equally interested in 

 promoting that general prosperity through which only 

 particular prosperity can be secured to any portion of the 

 community. To quote again from Mr. Burke, " En- 

 gland and Ireland may flourish together. The world is 

 large enough for us both. Let it be our care not to make 

 ourselves too little for it." 



* The official value of the imports into Great Britain from Ireland 

 for the four years ending 1821, was 7,117,452, and of the exports 

 from Great Britain to Ireland, 5,338,838 ; for the four years ending 

 in 1825, it was, imports from Ireland, 8,531,355 ; exports to Ireland, 

 7,048,936. No accounts have been kept of the trade between the two 

 countries since the year last mentioned. 



