ti PREFACE, 



minutiae of the farmer's management, 

 low, and feemingly inconfiderable as he 

 is, are fo many links of a chain which 

 conned! him with the State. Kings 

 ought not to forget that the fplendour 

 of majefty is derived from the fweat of 

 induftrious, and too often opprefTed 

 peafants. The rapacious conqueror 

 who deftroys, and the great ftatefman 

 who protects humanity, are equally in- 

 debted for their power to the care with 

 which the farmer cultivates his fields. 

 The monarch of thefe realms muft 

 know, that when he is fitting on his 

 throne at Weftminfter, furrounded by 

 nothing but flate and magnificence, that 

 the poorer!:, the moft opprefled, the 

 mod unhappy peafant, in the remoteft 

 corner of Ireland, contributes his fliare 

 to the fupport of the gaiety that enli- 

 vens, and the fplendour that adorns the 

 fcene. 



If fuch is the importance of thefe 

 little movements in the great machine 

 of the State, to know and to underftand 



them, 



