12 



prosperous years escaped these applications, it 

 may with too much reason be assumed as fact, 

 that the remnant of prosperity has been con- 

 sumed in an unsuccessful endeavour to contend 

 with the reverses of the last few years, during 

 the progress of the state of agriculture from good 

 to bad, from bad to worse. 



The conclusion then seems irresistible, that 

 the holder of a farm at the rent of 400/. is not 

 generally in a condition to bear an annual loss of 

 520/. any better than the holder of a farm at a 

 rent of 100/. is to bear an annual loss of 130/. 

 If the demands and payments be as 100, and 

 the receipts as only 67^, the same touch of coer- 

 cion will probably expose insolvency in one case 

 as in the other, and one common ruin must over- 

 whelm them both. 



There may possibly be some favoured dis- 

 tricts of the kingdom, to which this picture of 

 agricultural distress does not apply, or in an 

 abated degree ; the seasons may have been to 

 them uniformly favourable, the quality and quan- 

 tity of the produce may have been excellent and 

 abundant ; they may have possessed better mar- 

 kets, and the rents may have borne a nearer re- 

 lation to present prices; but it is believed, that, 

 upon taking a general view of the kingdom, the 

 truth of the picture which has been drawn, must 



