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national object for which it was voted, gave another grant 

 of a much larger sum, and added £12,000. to the former 

 £10,000. 



Were not the expenditure of this whole sum, with that 

 of a debt incurred, minutely detailed to the Parliament 

 itself, and by them to the public; I should be afraid to 

 assert, that not one shilling of the £22,000. was laid out 

 on any of the operations held out to be necessary for the 

 improvement of these bogs ; but that the wliole sum was 

 distributed among individuals, under the names (assumed 

 as a qualification) of Engineers and Surveyors, while 

 a spade was never put into the ground. 



Though not the shghtest attempt was made to carry the 

 object of Parliament into effect practically, it might be 

 expected information on the subject at least would have 

 been obtained from national liberahty ; and though actual 

 practice might have cut too deep into a fund from the 

 beginning destined to other purposes, yet that public ex- 

 pectation might have been gratified by a few experiments, 

 holding out encouragement to future exertions, and 

 pointing out by their success, the measures to be adopted 

 by those who should make new efforts to reclaim this un- 

 subdued domain of Nature. 



Nothing similar occurs ; I cannot find that a single acre, 

 or even perch of bog was reclaimed out of the grant. The 

 unbroken sum was appropriated to the sole purpose of 

 PATRONAGE ; and the reports made to ParUament give 

 the lists of the individuals among whom it was distributed, 

 with the fortunes made by each separately, from their 

 share of national liberality. 



I have more than once entered into the obscure question 

 of the original formation of the unwieldy masses of com- 

 bustible substance, that load and render barren so much of 

 our surface. Their improvement too has been a favourite 



