Thar Political and Domettic Condition. 87 



wonder that the honest, though irritated, feel- 

 ings of a laborious people, perpetually smarting 

 under so coarse a lash of insolent authority, 

 \\ithout appeal or redress, should cause them 

 to lose sight of that obedience which is due to 

 the laws of their country. 



I would fain hope that the present desire of 

 becoming more intimately acquainted with the 

 general state of Ireland, so prevalent in Eng- 

 land, will be productive of effects superior to 

 those confined to the mere gratification of 

 curiosity. Not only the government of Ireland, 

 but the nobleman, the gentleman, the rector, 

 and all who have local interests in its prosperity, 

 will, through so desirable an investigation, ob- 

 tain an impartial and correct view of the poli- 

 tical situation and domestic condition of their 

 suffering neighbours, and become actively 

 alive to their hopelessness and despondency ; 

 for I cannot help repeating, how strongly I am 

 urged to believe, that a very large portion of the 

 ills endured in this country have sprung from 

 a complete ignorance in these parties of the real 

 causes from which the miseries of their depend- 

 ants have arisen. The whole arrangement, 

 from the opulent proprietor of myriads of acres, 

 down to the cultivating cottier of a few lazy beds, 

 demands immediate attention and correction ; 



