322 IRELAND. 



driven out of Ireland by his son-in-law, after the battle of the Boyne, 

 the only victory that king William ever gained in person ; a victory, 

 however, on which depended the safety of the protestant religion, 

 and the liberties of the British empire. Had James been victorious, 

 he probably would have been reinstated on the throne ; and nothing 

 else could be expected than that, being irritated by opposition, vic- 

 torious over his enemies, and free from every restraint, he would 

 have trampled upon all rights, civil and religious, and pursued more 

 arbitrary designs than before. The army of William consisted of 

 36,000 men, that of James of 33,000, but advantageously situated. 

 James, it is true, fought at the head of an undisciplined rabble : but 

 his French auxiliaries were far from behaving like heroes. It must 

 be acknowledged, however, that he left both the field and the king- 

 dom too soon for a brave man. 



The forfeitures that fell to the crown on account of the Irish rebel- 

 lions and the revolution, are almost includible ; and had the acts of 

 parliament, which gave them away, been strictly enforced, Ireland 

 must have been peopled with British inhabitants. But many politi- 

 cal reasons occurred for not driving the Irish to despair. The friends 

 of the revolution and the protestant religion were sufficiently gratifi- 

 ed out of the forfeited estates. Too many of the Roman-catholics 

 might have been forced abroad ; and it was proper that a due balance 

 should be preserved between the Roman-catholic and the protestant 

 interest. It was therefore thought prudent to relax the reins of 

 government, and not to put the forfeitures too rigorously into execu- 

 tion. The experience of half a century has confirmed the wisdom 

 of the above considerations. The lenity of the measures pursued in 

 regard to the Irish Roman-catholics, and the great pains taken for 

 the instruction of their children, with the progress which knowledge 

 and the arts have made in that country, have greatly diminished the 

 popish interest. The spirit of industry has enabled the Irish to know 

 their own strength and importance ; to which some accidental cir- 

 cumstances have concurred. All her ports were opened for -the 

 exportation of wool and woollen yarn to any part of Great Britain ; 

 and of late years, acts of parliament have been made occasionally, for 

 permitting the importation of salt beef, pork, butter, cattle, and tal- 

 low, from Ireland to Great Britain. 



But though some laws and regulations had occasionally taken place 

 favourable to Ireland, it must be acknowledged, that the inhabitants 

 of that country laboured under considerable grievances, in conse- 

 quence of sundry unjust and injudicious restraints of the parliament 

 of England, respecting their trade. These restraints had injured 

 Ireland, without benefitting Great Britain. The Irish had been pro- 

 hibited from manufacturing their own wool, in order to favour the 

 woollen manufactory of England ; the consequence of which was, that 

 the Irish wool was smuggled over into France, and the people of that 

 country were thereby enabled to rival us in our woollen manufac- 

 ture, and to deprive us of a part of that trade. An embargo had also 

 been laid on the exportation of provisions from Ireland, which had 

 been extremely prejudicial to that kingdom. The distresses of the 

 Irish manufacturers, as well as those of Great Britain, had likewise 

 been much increased by the consequences of the American war. 

 These circumstances occasioned great murmuring in Ireland and 

 some attempts were made for the relief of the inhabitants of that king- 

 dom, in the British parliament, but for some time without success j 



