or will not long riot.
Treat them like men who ought to be as free as yourselves. Put an end to
that system of religious persecution which for seventy years has divided
the kingdom against itself; in these two circumstances lies the cure of
insurrection; perform them completely, and you will have an affectionate
poor, instead of oppressed and discontented vassals.

A better treatment of the poor in Ireland is a very material point of the
welfare of the whole British Empire. Events may happen which may
convince us fatally of this truth; if not, oppression must have broken
all the spirit and resentment of men. By what policy the Government of
England can for so many years have permitted such an absurd system to be
matured in Ireland is beyond the power of plain sense to discover.

Emigrations.

Before the American war broke out, the Irish and Scotch emigrations were
a constant subject of conversation in England, and occasioned much
discourse even in parliament. The common observation was, that if they
were not stopped, those countries would be ruined, and they were
generally attributed to a great rise of rents. Upon going over to
Ireland I determined to omit no opportunities of discovering the cause
and extent of this emigration, and my information, as may be seen in the
minutes of the journey, was very regular. I have only a few general
remarks to make on it here.

The spirit of emigration in Ireland appeared to be confined to two
circumstances, the Presbyterian religion, and the linen manufacture. I
heard of very few emigrants except among manufacturers of that
persuasion. The Catholics never went; they seem not only tied to the
country, but almost to the parish in which their ancestors lived. As to
the emigration in the north it was an error in England to suppose it a
novelty which arose with the increase in rents. The contrary was the
fact; it had subsisted perhaps forty years, insomuch that at the ports of
Belfast, Derry, etc., the passenger trade, as they called it, had long
been a regular branch of commerce, which employed several ships, and
consisted in carrying people to America. The increasing population of
the country made it an increasing trade, but when the linen trade was
low, the passenger trade was always high. At the time of Lord Donegan
letting his estate in the north, the linen business suffered a temporary
decline, which sent great numbers to America, and gave rise to the error
that