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Tythes—Church Lands.
OUR sister kingdom labours under this heavy burthen as well as her neighbours, to which is very much owing the uncultivated state of so great a part of her territory. The averages of the journey are, HERE does not arise any proof that tythes in Ireland are unreasonably rated; but that there are abuses in the modes of levying them is undoubted; the greatest that I heard of were the notes and bonds taken in some parts of the kingdom by the proctors for the payment, which bear interest, and which are sometimes continued for several years, principal and interest being consolidated until the sum becomes too great for the poor man to pay, when great extortions are complained of, and formed the grievance which seemed most to raise the resentment of the rioters, called Whiteboys. The great power of the protestant gentlemen render their compositions very light, while the poor catholic is made in too many cases to pay severely for the deficiencies of his betters. This is a great abuse, but not to he remedied till the whole kingdom is animated with a different spirit. THE house of commons some years ago passed a vote, declaring every lawyer an enemy to his country, who in any way whatever was concerned in any case of tythe for fat bullocks and cows; and without its becoming a law was so completely obeyed, that it has regulated the business ever since; it was certainly a reproach to that parliament, that potatoes and turf were not the object; for if any thing called for so violent an exemption, it was certainly the potatoe garden and fuel of the poor cottar. No object in both the kingdoms can well be of greater importance than a fixed composition for tythe. It is a mode of payment so disagreeable in every respect to the clergy, and so ruinous to the laity, that a general public improvement would follow such a measure. In Ireland there can be no doubt but the recompence should be land, were it for no other reason but having in every parish a glebe sufficient for the ample and agreeable residence of a rector. Force by express penalties by law, the residence of the clergy, after which extend that most excellent act of parliament, which enables any bishop to expend in a palace, offices, or domain wall, two years revenue of the see, with a power of charging, by his last will, his successor with the payment of the whole of the sum to whatever uses he leaves it, who in like manner is enabled to charge his successor with three fourths, and so on; this law should be extended to parsonage houses, with this assistance, that wherever the rector or vicar proved the expenditure of two years revenue in a house, he should receive a permit from the grand jury, for expending half as much more for offices, walling, &c. and when in like manner he brought his certificate of so doing, the money to be paid him by the county treasurer in like manner as the presentment roads are done at present, not however to leave it at the option of the jury. A resident clergy spending in their parishes the whole of their receipts, would in all respects be so advantageous and desirable, that it is fair the county should assist in enabling them to do it in a liberal manner. The expence would be gradual, and never amount very high, if churches, when greatly wanted, were built at the same time. If the expence was for a time considerable, still it would be laid out in a manner amply to repay it. Decent edifices rising in all parts of the kingdom, would alone, in the great business of civilization, be advantageous; it would ornament the country, as well as humanize minds, accustomed to nothing better than cabbins of mud; securing one resident gentleman of some learning and ideas in every parish of the kingdom, living on a property in which he had an interest for life, could scarcely fail of introducing improvements in agriculture and planting; the whole county would profit by such circumstances, and ought to assist in the expence. I must observe, however, that such plans should depend entirely on the clergy accepting a perpetual recompence in lieu of tythes; for as to a public expence, to introduce resident rectors, whose business, when fixed, would be an extension and severity in that tax, and prove a premium on taking them in kind to the ruin of agriculture, common sense would certainly dictate a very different expenditure of the public money. So burthensome is this mode of payment, that where their residence is followed by tythes being paid in kind, the clergyman, who ought to be an object beloved and revered, lives really upon the ruin of all his parishioners, so that instead of giving public money to bring him into a parish, no application of those funds would be more beneficial in such a case, than to purchase his absence. If ever such plans came in agitation, it would certainly be right to establish a provision for parish clerks, to teach the children of all religions to read and write. THE revenues of the clergy in Ireland, are very considerable. Here is a list of the bishopricks with the annual value, which I have had corrected so often, in the neighbourhood of each that I believe it will be found nearly exact. THIS total does not, however, mark the extent or value of the land which yields it. I was informed in conversation that the lands of the primacy would, if lett as a private estate, be worth near one hundred thousand a year. Those of Derry half as much, and those of Cashel near thirty thousand a year. These circumstances taken into the account will shew that seventy-four thousand pounds a year include no inconsiderable portion of the kingdom. I have been also informed, but not on any certain authority, that these sees have the patronage of an ecclesiastical revenue of above one hundred anJ fifty thousand pounds a year more. Absentees.
THERE are very few countries in the world that do not experience the disadvantage of remitting a part of their rents to landlords who reside elsewhere; and it must ever be so while there is any liberty left to mankind of living where they please. In Ireland the amount proportioned to the territory is greater, probably, than in most other instances; and not having a free trade with the kingdom in which such absentees spend their fortunes, it is cut off from that return which Scotland experiences for the loss of her rents. SOME years ago Mr. Morris published a list of the Irish absentees, and their rentals, but as every day makes considerable alterations, it is of course grown obsolete, this induced me to form a new one, which I got corrected by a variety of persons living in the neighbourhood of many of the respective estates: in such a detail, however, of private property there must necessarily be many mistakes. THIS total, though not equal to what has been reported, is certainly an amazing drain upon a kingdom cut off from the re-action of a free trade, and such an one as must have a considerable effect in preventing the natural course of its prosperity. It is not the simple amount of the rental being remitted into another country, but the damp on all sorts of improvements, and the total want of countenance and encouragement which the lower tenantry labour under. The landlord at such a great distance is out of the way of all complaints, or which is the same thing of examining into, or remedying evils; miseries of which he can see nothing, and probably hear as little of, can make no impression. All that is required of the agent is to be punctual in his remittances, and as to the people who pay him, they are too often welcome to go to the devil, provided their rents could be paid from his territories. This is the general picture. God forbid it should be universally true! there are absentees who expend large sums upon their estates in Ireland; the Earl of Shelburne has made great exertions for the introduction of English agriculture. Mr. Fitzmaurice has taken every means to establish a manufacture. The bridge at Lismore is an instance of liberal magnificence in the Duke of Devonshire. The church and other buildings at Belfast do honour to Lord Donnegal. The church and town of Hillsboroughare striking monuments of what that nobleman performs. Lord Conyngham's expenditure in his absence, in building and planting, merits the highest praise, nor are many other instances wanting, to the advantage of the kingdom, and the honour of the individuals, IT will not be improper here to add that the amount of the pension list of Ireland, the 29th of september, 1779, amounted to £84,591 per annum; probably therefore absentees, pensions, offices, and interest of money, amount to above A MILLION. Population.
IT is very astonishing that this subject should be so little understood in most countries; even in England, which has given birth to so many treatises on the state, causes and consequences of it, so little is known, that those who have the best means of information, confess their ignorance in the variety of their opinions. Those political principles which should long, ere this time, have been fixed and acknowledged, are disputed; erroneous theories started, and even the evidence of facts denied. But these mischievous errors usually proceed from the rage of condemnation, and the croaking jaundiced spirit, which determines to deduce public ruin from something; if not from a king, a minister, a war, a debt, or a pestilence—from depopulation. In short, if it was not to be attributed to any thing, many a calculator would be in bedlam with disappointment. These absurdities have been carried to such a length that we see grave treatises published, and with respectable names to them, which declare the depopulation of England itself to take place even in the most productive period of her industry and her wealth. This is not surprising, for there are no follies too ridiculous for wise men sometimes to patronize, but the amazing circumstance is, that such tracts are believed, and that harmless politicians sigh in the very hey day of propagation, lest another age should see a fertile land without people to eat the fruits of it. Let population alone, and there is no fear of its taking care of itself; but when such fooleries arc made a pretence of recommending laws for the regulation of landed property, which has been the case, such speculations should be treated with contempt and detestation; while merely speculative, they are perfectly harmless, but let them become active in parliament, and common sense should exert her power to kick the absurdity out of doors. To do justice to the Irish, I found none of this folly in that kingdom; many a violent opposer of government is to be found in that country, ready enough to confess that population increases greatly; the general tenour of the information in the minutes declare the same thing. THERE are several circumstances in Ireland extremely favourable to population, to which must be attributed that country being so much better peopled than the state of manufacturing industry would seem to imply. There are five causes, which may be particularized among others of less consequence. First, There being no poor laws. Second, The habitations. Third, The generality of marriage. Fourth, Children not being burthensome. Fifth, Potatoes the food. THE laws of settlement in England, which confine the poor people to what is called their legal settlements, one would think framed with no other view than to be a check upon the national industry: it was, however, a branch of, and arose from those monuments of barbarity and mischief, our poor rates; when once the poor were made, what they ought never to be considered, a burthen, it was incumbent on every parish to lessen as much as possible their number; these laws were therefore framed in the very spirit of depopulation, and most certainly have for near two centuries proved a bar to the kingdom's becoming as populous as it would otherwise have done. Fortunately for Ireland, it has hitherto kept free from these evils, and from thence results a great degree of her present population. Whole families in that country will move from one place to another with freedom, fixing according to the demand for their labour, and the encouragement they receive to settle. The liberty of doing this is certainly a premium on their industry, and consequently to their increase. THE cabbins of the poor Irish being such apparently miserable habitations, is another very evident encouragement to population. In England, where the poor are in many respects in such a superior state, a couple will not marry unless they can get a house, to build which, take the kingdom through, will cost from twenty-five to sixty pounds; half the life, and all the vigour and youth of a man and woman are passed, before they can save such a sum; and when they have got it, so burthensome are poor to a parish, that it is twenty to one if they get permission to erect their cottage. But in Ireland the cabbin is not an object of a moment's consideration; to possess a cow and a pig is an earlier aim; the cabbin begins with a hovel, erected with two days labour, and the young couple pass not their youth in celibacy for want of a nest to produce their young in. If it comes to a matter of calculation, it will then be but as four pounds to thirty. MARRIAGE is certainly more general in Ireland than in England: I scarce ever found an unmarried farmer or cottar, but it is seen more in other classes, which with us do not marry at all; such as servants; the generality of footmen and maids, in gentlemen's families, are married, a circumstance we very rarely see in England. ANOTHER point is their children not being burthensome. In all the enquiries I made into the state of the poor, I found their happiness and ease generally relative to the number of their children, and nothing considered as such a misfortune as having none: whenever this is the fact, or the general idea, it must necessarily have a considerable effect in promoting early marriages, and consequently population. THE food of the people being potatoes is a circumstance not of less importance: for when the common food of the poor is so dear as to be an object of attentive oeconomy, the children will want that plenty which is essential to rearing them; the article of milk, so general in the Irish cabbins, is a matter of the first consequence in rearing infants. The Irish poor in the catholic parts of that country are subsisted entirely upon land, whereas the poor in England have so little to do with it, that they subsist almost entirely from shops, by a purchase of their necessaries; in the former case it must be a matter of prodigious consequence, that the product should be yielded by as small a space of land as possible; this is the case with potatoes more than with any other crop whatever. As to the number of people in Ireland I do not pretend to compute them, because there are no satisfactory data whereon to found any computation. I have seen several formed on the hearth tax, but all computations by taxes must be erroneous, they may be below, but they cannot be above the truth. This is the case of calculating the number in England from the house and window tax. In Ireland it is still more so, from the greater carelessness and abuses in collecting taxes. There is, however, another reason, the exemptions from the hearth-money, which in the words of the act are as follows: Those who live upon alms and are not able to get their livelihood by work, and widows, who shall procure a certificate of two justices of the peace in writing yearly, that the house which they inhabit is not of greater value than 8s. by the year, and that they do not occupy land of the value of 8s. by the year, and that they have not goods or chattels to the value of four pounds.1
It must be very manifest from hence, that this tax can be no rule whereby to judge of the population of the kingdom. Captain South's account is drawn from this source in the last century, which made the people 1,034,102 in the year 1695;2
the number was computed by Sir W. Petty in the year 1657 to 850,000; in 1688 at 1,200,000; and in 1767 the houses taxed were 424,046. If the number of houses in a kingdom were known, we should be very far from knowing that of the people, for the computation of four or five per house, drawn from only a thousandth part of the total, and perhaps deduced from that of a family rather than a house, can never speak the real fact. I cannot conclude this subject, without earnestly recommending to the legislature of Ireland, to order an actual enumeration of the whole people, for which purpose I should apprehend a vote of the house of commons would be sufficient. Such a measure would be attended with a variety of beneficial effects, would prevent the rise of those errors which have been mischievous in England, and would place the great importance of Ireland to the British empire, in that truly conspicuous light in which it ought ever to be viewed, and in which it could not fail to be considered, while we have theorists, who insist that the people of England do not amount to five millions. THE common idea is, that there are something under three millions in Ireland. Public Works—Dublin Society.
ABOUT twenty years ago Ireland instead of being burthened with a national debt, had at the end of every sessions of parliament from fifty to sixty thousand pounds, surplus revenue in the exchequer, at the disposition of parliament: this money was voted for public works. The members of the house of commons, at the conclusion of the sessions, met for the purpose of voting the uses to which it should be applied; the greater part of it was among themselves, their friends, or dependants; and though some work, of apparent use to the public at large, was always the plea, yet under that sanction, there were a great number of very scandalous private jobs, which, by degrees brought such a discredit on this mode of applying public money, that the end of it, from the increase of the real expences of the public, was not much regretted. It must, however, be acknowledged, that during this period there were some excellent works of acknowledged utility executed, such as harbours, piers, churches, schools, bridges, built and executed by some gentlemen, if not with oeconomy, at least without any dishonourable misapplication; and as the whole was spent within the kingdom, it lessened the greatness of the evil. BUT of all public works, none have been so much favoured as inland navigations; a navigation board was established many years ago for directing the expenditure of ihe sums, granted by parliament for those purposes, and even regular funds fixed for their support. Under the administration of this board, which consists of many of the most considerable persons in the Kingdom, great attempts have been made, but I am sorry to observe, very little completed. In order to examine this matter the more regularly, it will be proper to lay before the reader the sums which have, from time to time, been granted for these objects. An account of money, granted for public works by parliament, or the navigation board, from 1753 to 1767, inclusive.3
THIS period of fifteen years, I believe was that of the surplus of the revenue, during which the objects were as various as the inclinations of those individuals who had any interest in parliament. It appears from the list, that the article of navigations swallows up the greatest proportion of it. Sums paid out of the revenues at large for certain public works, pursuant to the several bills of supply, from 1703 to 1771, inclusive. IT is to be noted, however, that this account includes the disbursements neither of the navigation, nor the linen board, for it is upon record, that the grand canal alone has cost above three hundred thousand pounds, by some accounts half a million. INCOMPLETE as these data are, we find from them, that great sums of money have been granted for inland navigations, and are to this day given for the same purpose; let us therefore enquire how this money has been expended, and what has been the effect of it. I made some enquiries, and travelled many miles to view some of the navigations, and the only one which appeared to me really completed, is the canal from the town of Newry to the sea, on which I saw a brig of eighty or one hundred tons burthen. The same canal is extended further than that town, but stops short of the great object for which it was begun and made, viz. the Drumglass and Dungannon collieries; this may therefore be classed as incomplete relative to the object, but as Newry is a place of considerable trade, finishing it so far has merit. The great design was to furnish Dublin with Irish coals, which was probably feasible, for the seams of coals in those collieries are asserted to be of such a thickness and goodness, as proved them more than equal to the consumption of half a dozen such cities as Dublin: but two great difficulties were to be overcome; first, to make the navigation so, that all land carriage might be saved, which was properly a public work; and secondly, to work the collieries, which was properly private business, but from the utter deficiency of capital in the hands of the individuals concerned, could never have been done without public assistance. To get over these difficulties, parliament went very eagerly into the business; they granted so liberally to the canal, that I think it has been finished to within two or three miles of the collieries; at the same time a private company was formed for working the mines, to whom considerable grants were made to enable them to proceed. The property in the works changed hands several times; among others, the late archbishop of Tuam (Ryder) was deeply concerned in them, entered with great spirit into the design; but what with the impositions of the people employed; the loss of some that were able and honest; the ignorance of others; and the jobbing spirit of some proprietors, parliament, after granting enormous sums, both to the canal and collieries, had the mortification, instead of seeing coals come to Dublin, nothing but gold sent from Dublin, to do that which fate seemed determined should never be done, and so in despair abandoned the design to the navigation board, to see if their lesser exertions would effect what the mightier ones had failed in. A Mr. Ducarte, an Italian engineer, and very ingenious architect, has had for a few years the superintendance of the works, but the temper of the nation has been so soured by disappointments, that he has not the support which he thinks necessary to do any thing effectual. THE importance of the object will appear from this circumstance; that upon an average of seven years, from 1764 to 1770, the import of coals amounted to 180,113 tons per ann. and in the next seven, from 1771 to 1777, to 204,566. FROM whence it appears, that not only the quantity itself is great, but that it is a very rising import, owing to the increase of Dublin, which has arose with the increasing prosperity of the kingdom. The little effect of all attempts to supply Dublin with Irish coals is seen by the bounties paid for that purpose, amounting to no more for the last seven years than from one to two hundred pounds a year. In 1776 and 1777 so little as eighty-six pounds. BEFORE I entirely dismiss this undertaking, I cannot but remark, that nothing can more clearly prove the amazing want of capital in Ireland than the present state of these works. The navigation is complete except two or three miles; I will venture to assert, that parliament would grant the money for finishing it without hesitation, provided men of undoubted substance engaged for working the collieries at their own expence: we may therefore assert, there is water carriage from some of the finest seams of coal in the world, and at a very slight depth, directly into the heart of the second market in the British dominions, with the advantage of a parliamentary bounty per chaldron on their import into Dublin. Yet, with all these advantages, nobody has capital enough to undertake the work. This fact seems to call also for another observation. I remember in the English house of commons, in the sessions 1777-8, when the friends of the Irish trade bills urged, that the want of capital in Ireland was such that she could never rival the manufactures of Great Britain: it was replied, that English capitals would go over to do it for them; — but what I have just recited, proves that this remark is perfectly unfounded. If capitals were so readily moved from one country to another, the Drumglass collieries would have attracted them, especially as an interest for ever is to be purchased in them; but the fact is, that removeable capitals are in the hands of men who have been educated, and perhaps have made them locally
in some trade or undertaking which they will not venture to remove. Prejudice and habit govern mankind as much even as their interest, so that no apprehension can be so little founded as that of a country losing the capital she has made, by transferring it into another for greater seeming advantages in trade. But this point I shall have occasion hereafter to dwell more particularly on. THE grand canal, as it is ridiculously termed, was another inland navigation which has cost the public still greater sums. The design, as the maps of Ireland shew, was to form a communication by water between Dublin and the Shannon by this cut, most of the way through the immense bog of Allen. The former plan of bringing coals to Dublin was a very wise one, but this of the grand canal had scarcely any object that seemed to call for such an exertion. If the country is examined, through which the intended canal was to pass, and also that through which the Shannon runs, it will be found, considering its extent, to be the least productive for the Dublin market, of the whole kingdom. Examine Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Galway, Clare, Limerick, and those parts of West Meath and Kings, which the line of the canal and the Shannon lead through, there are scarcely any commodities in them for Dublin. Nay, the present bounty on the inland carriage of corn, proves to a demonstration, that the quantity raised in all these counties for that market is contemptible: What other products are there? Raw wool takes another direction, it goes at present from Roscommon to Corke. Manufactures in that line are very insignificant; there are some in Galway, but the ports of Limerick and Galway, are perfectly sufficient for the small exportation of them. There remains nothing but turf; and who at Dublin would burn that while Whitehaven coals are at the present price? MOST of the inland navigations in England have been executed with private funds; the interest paid by the tolls—one strong reason for this mode, is the prevention of unnecessary and idle schemes; the manufactures must be wrought, or the products raised, and feel the clog of an expensive carriage before private persons will subscribe their money towards a cheaper conveyance; in which case, the very application to parliament is generally proof sufficient that a canal ought to be cut. Have something to carry before you, seek the means of carriage. I will venture to say, that if the grand canal was entirely complete, the navigation of it, including whatever the country towns took from Dublin, would prove of such a beggarly account, that it would then remain a greater monument of folly, if possible, than at present. Some gentlemen I have talked with on this subject, have replied it is a job; it was meant as a job, you are not to consider it as a canal of trade, but as a canal for public money
; but even this, though advanced in Ireland, is not upon principle. I answer that something has been done, fourteen miles with numbers of locks, quays, bridges, &c. are absolutely finished, though only for the benefit of eels and skating: Why throw this money away? Half what these fourteen miles have cost would have finished the Newry canal, and perfected the Dungannon collieries. Admit your argument of the job; I feel its weight; I see its force; but that does not account for the sums actually expended. Might not the same persons have plundered the public to the same amount, in executing some works of real utility; from which something else might have resulted than disgrace and ignominy to the nation? AS to the other navigations, there is in general this objection to be made to them all, however necessary they might be, they are useless for want of being completed: three fourths are only begun. The gentlemen in the neighbourhood of them have had interest enough in the navigation board to get a part only voted, and from the variety of undertakings going on at the same time, and all for the same reason incomplete, the public utility has been more trifling from all, than from a single one finished. Sorry 1 am to say, that a history of public works in Ireland would be a history of jobs, which has and will prove of much worse consequence, than may be at first apparent: it has given a considerable check to allowing grants of money. Administration seeing the uses to which it has been applied, have viewed these misapplications, as they term them, of the public money with a very jealous eye. They have curtailed much: until another very questionable measure, the bounty on the inland carriage of corn to Dublin demanded so much as to leave nothing for jobs of a different sort; that measure may be repealed, and the money applied to it will be at the disposal of parliament, either for the common purpose of government, or applicable to' some national improvement of a more decisive nature; the latter may, after so many instances, be rejected for fear of jobs: how melancholy a consideration is it, that in a kingdom which from various causes had been so fortunate as to see a great portion of public treasure annually voted for public purposes, so abominably misapplied, and pocketed by individuals, as to bring a ridicule and reproach upon the very idea of such grants. There is such a want of public spirit, of candour and of care for the interests of posterity in such a conduct, that it cannot be branded with an expression too harsh, or a condemnation too pointed: nor less deserving of severity is it, if flowing from political and secret motives of burthening the public
revenues to make private
factions the more important. GREAT honour is due to Ireland for having given birth to the DUBLIN SOCIETY, which has the undisputed merit of being the father of all the similar societies now existing in Europe. It was established in 1731, and owed its origin to one of the most patriotic individuals which any country has produced, DR. SAMUEL MADAN. For some years it was supported only by the voluntary subscriptions of the members, forming a fund under a thousand pounds a year; yet was there such a liberality of sentiment in their conduct, and so pure a love of the public interest apparent in all their transactions, as enabled them with that small fund to effect much greater things than they have done in later times since parliament has granted them regularly ten thousand pounds a sessions. A well written history of their transactions would be a work extremely useful to Ireland; for it would explain much better than any reasoning could do, the proper objects for the patronage both of the society and parliament. I shall confine myself to a few general observations. It was instituted, as their charter expresses, for the improvement of agriculture, and for many years that material object possessed by far the greatest part of their attention; but when their funds by the aid of parliament grew more considerable, they deviated so far into manufactures, (in which branch they have been continually increasing their efforts,) that at present agriculture seems to be but a secondary object with them. During the life time of that ingenious but unfortunate man, Mr. John Wynn Baker
, his support drew so many friends of agriculture to their meetings, that the premiums in its favour were very numerous; since his death, the nobility and gentry not having the same inducement to attend the transactions of the society, they were chiefly directed by some gentlemen of Dublin, who understand fabrics much better than lands, and being more interested in them, they are attended to, perhaps, in too exclusive a manner. It would be tedious to enter into an examination of many of their measures, there are some, however, which demand a few remarks. IN order to encourage the manufacture of Irish woollen cloths, and Irish silks, the society have two warehouses,4
in one of which silk is sold on their account, wholesale and retail, and in the other cloth; both are sent to them by the weaver, whose name is written on the piece, and the price per yard, nothing but ready money is taken; the stock of silks generally amounts to the value of twelve or thirteen thousand pounds; and of woollens to ten or eleven thousand more; and the expences in rent and salaries of these warehouses amount to five hundred pounds a year each. Call the stock twenty-five thousand pounds at six per cent. the total expence of this measure is just two thousand five hundred pounds a year; or three times over the whole revenue of the society for the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce at London. I have examined their sales in the weekly returns published, and find that from june 23, 1777, to february 7, 1778, their average weekly receipt was as the society give a premium of £3 per cent. on all the Irish wrought silk bought in the kingdom by wholesale for the purpose of retailing, that is above four shillings a yard
, it will help us to form an idea of the silk manufacture. From the first of june, 1776, to the first of june, 1777, the amount was £34,023 8s. 2d. including Corke, Limerick, Belfast, &c. and they paid six hundred and fifty pounds premiums on it, from hence we find that their own silk fales must be a large proportion of the whole in Dublin. This has been the greatest exertion of the Dublin Society of late years. THE intention of the measure is evidently to take the weavers, both of silk and wool, out of the hands of mercers and drapers, and let their manufacturers come to market without any intermediate profit on them. There is one effect certain to result from this, which is taking a great part of the ready money custom from the draper and mercer, which being the most beneficial part of their trade, is to all intents and purposes laying a heavy tax on them: now upon every principle of common sense as well as commerce, it will appear a strange mode of encouraging a manufacture to lay taxes upon the master manufacturers. But all taxes laid upon a tradesman in consequence of his trade, must be drawn back in the sale of his commodities, and this tax must be so as well as others; what he does sell must be so much the dearer, or he can carry on no trade at all; here therefore is a fresh tax, that of enhancing the prices paid by all who do not buy with ready money, a very great majority of the whole: the dearer a commodity is the less is consumed of it, so the consumption on credit is undoubtedly lessened, in order that those who have ready money in their hands may be served something the cheaper: here is a manifest and self evident mischief, in order to attain a very doubtful and questionable benefit. Is there under the sun, an instance of a manufacture made to flourish by such measures? Master manufacturers with that vigour, attention, skill and invention, which are the result of a profitable business, are in all parts of the world, the very soul of prosperous fabricks. It is their profit which animates them to those spirited exertions, upon which the advance of manufactures depends. If the Dublin society's conduct is right in part it is right in the whole, which would be attracting all
the demand to their own warehouses; in which case there would not be a mercer or. draper left in Dublin. Their committees, and gentlemen, and weavers, may choose and pay clerics, and discharge their rent, but where are the directors of finer fabricks to come from? Where the men of taste who are to invent? Where the quickness and sagacity to mark and follow the caprice of fashion? Are these to come from weavers? Absurd the idea! It is the active and intelligent master that is to do all this. Go to the weavers in Spitalfields, and see them mere tools directed by their masters. Go to any other fabrick upon earth, and see what would become of it if the heads were considered as useless, and rivalled in their profits with public money. If the manufacture is of such a sickly growth, that it will not support the master as well as the man, it is not worth a country's notice. What is it that induces individuals to embark in a fabrick their capital and industry? Profit. The greater this is, the greater the capital that will be attracted; but establish a system that shall rival, lessen and destroy this profit, who will bring their capital to such a trade? And can any people be so senseless as to imagine, that a manufacture is to be encouraged by banishing capital from it? THERE is another effect, which I should suppose must flow from this extraordinary idea, which is, that of raising great heart-burnings and jealousies among the trade; the drapers and mercers are not probably pleased with the weavers, who work for the society's warehouses; this must be very detrimental to the business at large. I may also observe, that master-manufacturers have more ways of encouraging skilful and industrious workmen than the mere buying their goods and employing them; there are a thousand little points of favour in their power, which the society cannot practice; but how can they be inclined to such things, while steps are taken to deprive them of every workman that can do without their assistance? FORTUNATELY for the kingdom, it is at Dublin as in other cities, the ready money trade is by no means equal to that of credit, consequently the pernicious tendency of this measure cannot fully be seen. The drapers and mercers do and will support their trade in spite of this formidable rival, backed with a premium of two thousand five hundred pounds a year, appropriated to their ruin, in order to encourage their trade! The tendency of the measure is evidently the destruction of both the manufactures. THIS is a fact, which appears so obvious, that I should apprehend it must have done mischief, in direct proportion to the amount of the operation. It is extremely difficult to discover facts that can prove this from the nature of the case; no wonder if the import of foreign silk and woollens should have increased from such a measure. Let us examine this point. Account of Silk imported into Ireland in Twenty-Six Years.5
CONSIDERING the extent of the period, I will not assert that the preceding table is very decisive; whatever conclusions, however, that are to be drawn from it, are as far as they go against
the late measures that respect the Irish silk manufacture, for the imported fabricks have increased
, while the raw material worked up in Ireland has decreased
; a proof that the manufacture has not been of any very healthy growth. An Account of the Import of Woollen Goods for 14 Years.6
THE increase is so great that it might justify conclusions against all the late measures, none of which are near so much to be condemned as the establishment of the society's warehouse. Import of Linen, Cotton, and Silk, British Manufacture. WHEN it is considered, that the undoubted mischief of this system is not submitted to as an unavoidable evil, but purchased with great expence, attention and anxiety; and that the two thousand five hundred a year thus bestowed, as the price of so much harm, might be expended in objects of great consequence to the public, it will surely seem unpardonable in parliament to appear so little solicitous for the welfare of their manufactures, as to give ten thousand pounds a session, at large, and not limit the application of such a liberal grant to purposes of certain advantage. And it surely behoves the society itself to recommit this matter; to extend their views; to consider the principles upon which all the manufactures in the world are carried on, supported and increased; and if they see no vestige of such a policy, as they patronize and practice, in any country that has pushed her fabricks to a great height, at least to be dubious of this favourite measure, and not persist in forcing it at such a considerable expence. ANOTHER measure of the society, which I hinted at before, is to give three per cent. to the wholesale purchasers of Irish silks for retailing, and this costs them above six hundred pounds a year. Upon what sound principles it is done I cannot discover; if the mercers have not a demand for these Irish silks, five times the society's premiums will not make them purchasers; on the contrary, if they have a demand for them, they most undoubtedly will buy them without any premium for so doing. It appears, therefore, to me, that the only end which such a measure could answer, was to discover the absolute insignificance of the whole Irish silk manufacture, which is proved through the whole kingdom to be to the amount only of thirty-four thousand pounds a year, of four shillings a yard and upwards; but the repetition of the premium shews that this was not the design. Of all other fabricks this is the most improper for Ireland, and for any dependant country; it is an absolute manufacture of taste, fancy, and fashion; the seat of empire will always command these, and if Dublin made superior silks, they would be despised on comparison with those of London; we feel something of this in England from France being the source of most of the fashions in Europe. To force a silk manufacture in Ireland is therefore to strive against whim, caprice, fashion, and all the prejudices of mankind, instead of which, it is these that become a solid support of fabricks when wisely set on foot. There are no linens fashionable in England but the Irish, people will not wear any other, and yet gulic Hollands are asserted to be much stronger. Should not the Irish, therefore, bend their force to drive the nail that will go, instead of plaguing themselves with one which never will. This is a general observation, but the particular measure of the society, supposing the object valuable, is perfectly insignificant, it is throwing away six hundred pounds a year to answer no one purpose whatever. THE society offers a great number of other premiums for manufactures, many of which are very exceptionable, but it would take up too much room to be particular in an examination of them. In agriculture they have a great number offered to poor
renters separately. UPON the general spirit of these I have to remark, that the design of encouraging poor renters is very meritorious, and does honour to the humanity of the society; but from a great variety of instances which were pointed out to me, as I travelled through the kingdom, I have too much reason to believe, that abuses and deceptions are numerous, that the society has actually paid premiums per acre, to great numbers of claimants, who have, as soon as they received the money, let the land run waste again, so that no person could distinguish it from the adjoining bog or moor. There are two reasons why these premiums must very much fail of their wished-for success; the extreme difficulty, not to say impossibility, of ascertaining the merit of the candidates, or the facts alleged; and the utter impossibility that such very poor fellows should work any improvements worthy the society's patronage. The London society have found, by repeated experience, their utter incapacity of doing any thing by weight of money, in bounties per acre for any object; I am convinced the same fact will hold true with that of Dublin; the funds even of the latter are much too inconsiderable for this mode. The object ought to be to inspire those men, who have the necessary capital to employ it in the way the society thinks for the public good: the premiums should be honorary but considerable, with that degree of variety and novelty that should attract the attention of men of fortune. BUT nothing was ever better imagined, than the plan of fixing an English farmer in the kingdom, so much at the society's expence, as to give them a power over a part of his management. This was the case with Mr. Baker; and it was also a very wise measure to enable him to establish a manufactory of husbandry implements. The only errors in the execution of this scheme were: First, Not supporting him much more liberally, when it was found that his private fortune was too inconsiderable to support himself and family; had he been easy in his private circumstances, his husbandry would have been perfect. Second, The not directing him in the choice of his farm, which was not a proper one for an example to the kingdom, it should have been in some mountainous tract, where there was bog, and tolerable soil. Third, In permitting him to make and publish small and trifling experiments, objects of curiosity to a private speculatist, but quite unworthy of the Dublin society; besides, such a person should be brought to establish what a previous experience has convinced him is right, not to gain his own knowledge at the society's expence. THE scheme, had it, in the case of Mr. Baker, been executed in this manner, or was such an one now to be adopted, would tend more to spreading a true practical knowledge of agriculture than any other that could be executed; and the union of a manufactory of implements unites with it perfectly. To inform a backward country of right systems has its use, but it is very weak compared with the actual practice and exhibition of it before their eyes; such an object in full perfection of management, with an annual publication of the result, simply related, would tend more to the improvement of the national husbandry than any other system. The farm should not be less than five hundred acres, it should have a tract of bog and another of mountain; one thousand pounds should be applied in the necessary buildings; five hundred pounds immediately in fences; one thousand pounds a year for five years in stocking it; one thousand pounds for establishing a manufactory of implements, not to be sold but given away by the society as premiums; five hundred pounds a year allowed to the superintendant for his private emolument, that no distresses of his own might interfere with the public views; and in addition, to animate his attention, ten per cent. upon the gross product of the farm. The society to delegate their power over it to a select committee, and no member to be eligible to that committee, who had not in his own occupation one hundred acres of land, or more. The first expence would be seven thousand five hundred pounds, and the annual charge five hundred pounds; this would be an effective establishment that could not fail, if the manager was properly chosen. He should be an active, spirited man, not so low as to have no reputation to lose, but at the same time more a practical than a speculative farmer, and who could teach the common Irish with his own hands, the operations he wished them to perform. The annual charge of only one of the society's warehouses is equal to this, and the capital appropriated to it near twice as large; how much more beneficial would this application of the money be? RELATIVE to the premiums for the encouragement of agriculture, 1 shall venture to hint some which I apprehend would be of great advantage; and by throwing them into the words common in offering premiums, my meaning will be better explained. I have to observe upon them, that the courses of crops here recommended can only have fair justice done them in the infancy of the husbandry by gentlemen, or men of considerable capital; consequently, it is the wisest to offer a premium that shall attract their notice, and not vary it for lesser tenants, who at first would be incapable of executing the conditions. The mountain and bog improvement are great objects, and therefore well deserve ample encouragement; I have added the condition of being let
by way of satisfactory proof, that the improvement is completely finished, for if it was kept in hand, it would be a matter of opinion and valuation, which is never satisfactory. The planting premiums would in all probability have many claimants. The stone wall is essential; planting without preservation is trifling. As to the nature of the premiums, I recommend, viz. pieces of plate, I think they would have a greater effect than any thing else; money would be out of sight and forgotten; a medal that has been prostituted to all sorts of trifles, would be a contemptible reward for such exertions, but a handsome cup, vase, tray, table, &c. would be always in sight, and on every occasion a subject for conversation to animate others to gain the same. The experience of a few years would prove whether the quantities of land required were too high or not. An inspector to view all proceedings would be absolutely necessary, whose reward should be devised in such a manner as to secure his integrity; unless some gentlemen of considerable consequence in the neighbourhood took that office voluntarily upon them. SOME premiums upon these principles, united with such a plan as I have stated for the establishment of a farm, would be attended with all the advantages to the national agriculture, in the power of any society to effect. The expence would not be so large as not to leave a considerable portion of the society's funds for trade and manufactures, and consequently to please those who wished such objects not to be neglected. 1
A Treatise of the Exchequer and Revenue of Ireland. By G. E. HOWARD, Esq; Vol. i. p. 90. 2
Abridgement of Phil. Trans. Vol. iii. p. 665. 3
Common's Journal, Vol. xiv. p. 485. 4
THE woollen warehouse was opened May 19, 1773; that for silk, Feb. 18, 1765. 5
MS. Communicated by Mr. Forster, 6
Parl. Rec. of Exp. and Imp. MS.SECTION XIII.
£.
s.
d.
Wheat,
0
6
9
Barley,
0
5
4
Oats,
0
3
8
Beer,
0
5
11
Potatoes,
0
7
2
Mowing,
0
3
3
Sheep,
0
0
2¾
Wheat.
Barley.
Oats.
Hay.
Average of the Tour through
the North of England,
5
2
3
11
3
4
1
10
Eastern ditto,
4
8
4
0
2
8
Average,
4
11
3
11½
3
0
1
10
Ireland, per English acre,
4
2½
3
4
2
3½
2
0
£.
The Primacy per ann.
8,000
Dublin
5,000
Tuam
4,000
Cashel
4,000
Derry
7,000
Limerick
3,500
Corke
2,700
Cloyne
2,500
Ossory
2,000
Waterford
2,500
Down
2,300
Dromore
2,000
Clonfert
2,400
Clogher
4,000
Kilmore
2,600
Elphin
3,700
Killala
2,900
Kildare
2,600
Raphoe
2,600
Meath
3,400
Kilalloo
2,300
Leighlinand Ferns
2,200
74,300
DEANERIES.
£.
Raphoe
1,600
Derry
1,600
Ardfert
60
Connor
200
Clonmacnoise
50
Corke
400
St. Patrick's
800
Down
1,700
Kildare
120
Achonry
100
Killaloe
140
Ossory
600
Kilmacdaugh
120
Lismore
306
Ardagh
200
Emly
100
Kilmou
600
Elphin
250
Ross
20
Kilalla
150
Cloyne
220
Kilfenora
210
Dromore
400
Clonfert
20
Leighlin
80
Ardmagh
150
Waterford
400
Christ Church
2,000
Limerick
600
Cashel
200
Clogher
800
Tuam
300
Ferns
300
Archdeaconry of Kells
1,200
SECTION XIV.
£.
Lord Donnegal
31,000
Lord Courtenay
30,000
Duke of Devonshire
18,000
Earl of Milton
18,000
Earl of Shelburne
18,000
Lady Shelburne
15,000
Lord Hertford
14,000
Marquis of Rockingham
14,000
Lord Barrymore
10,000
Lord Montrath
10,000
Lord Besborough
10,000
Lord Egremont
10,000
Lord Middleton
10,000
Lord Hillsborough
10,000
Mr. Stackpoole
10,000
Lord Darnley
9,000
Lord Abercorn
8,000
Mr. Dutton
8,000
Mr. Barnard
8,000
London Society
8,000
Lord Conyngham
8,000
Lord Cahir
8,000
Earl of Antrim
8,000
Mr. Bagnall
7,000
Mr. Longfield
7,000
Lord Kenmare
7,000
Lord Nugent
7,000
Lord Kingston
7,000
Lord Valentia
7,000
Lord Grandisson
7,000
Lord Clifford
6,000
Mr. Sloane
6,000
Lord Egmont
6,000
Lord Upper Ossory
6,000
Mr. Silver Oliver
6,000
Mr. Dunbar
6,000
Mr. Henty Obrien
6,000
Mr. Mathew
6,000
Lord Irnham
6,000
Lord Sandwich
6,000
Lord Vane
6,000
Lord Dartry
6,000
Lord Fane
5,000
Lord Claremont
5,000
Lord Carbury
5,000
Lord Clanrickard
5,000
Lord Farnham
5,000
Lord Dillon
5,000
Sir W. Rowley
4,000
Mr. Palmer
4,000
Lord Clanbrassil
4,000
Lord Massareen
4,000
Lord Corke
4,000
Lord Portsmouth
4,000
Lord Ashbrook
4,000
Lord Villiers
4,000
Lord Bellew
4,000
Sir Laurance Dundass
4,000
Allen family
4,000
Mr. O'Callagan
4,000
General Montagu
4,000
Mr. Fitzmaurice
4,000
Mr. Needham
4,000
Mr. Cook
4,000
Mr. Annesley
4,000
Lord Kerry
4,000
Lord Fitzwilliam
4,000
Viscount Fitzwilliam
4,000
English Corporation
3,500
Lord Bingly
3,500
Lord Dacre
3,000
Mr. Murray of Broughton
3,000
Lord Ludlow
3,000
Lord Weymonth
3,000
Lord Digby
3,000
Lord Fortescue
3,000
Lord Derby
3,000
Lord Fingall
3,000
Blunden heiresses
3,000
Lady Charleville
3,000
Mr. Warren
3,000
Mr. St. George
3,000
Mr. John Barry
3,000
Mr. Edwards
3,000
Mr. Freeman
3,000
Lord Newhaven
3,000
Mr. Welsh (Kerry)
3,000
Lord Palmerstown
2,500
Lord Beaulieu
2,500
Lord Verney
2,500
Mr. Bunbury
2,500
Sir George Saville
2,000
Mrs. Newman
2,000
Col. Shirley
2,000
Mr. Campbell
2,000
Mr. Minchin
2,000
Mr. Burton
2,000
Duke of Dorset
2,000
Lord Powis
2,000
Mr. Whitshead
2,000
Sir Eyre Coote
2,000
Mr. Upton
2,000
Mr. John Baker Holroyd
2,000
Sir N. Bayley
2,000
Duke of Chandois
2,000
Mr. S. Campbell
2,000
Mr. Ashroby
2,000
Mr. Damer
2,000
Mr. Whitehead
2,000
Mr. Welbore Ellis
2,000
Mr. Folliot
2,000
Mr. Donellan
2,000
Mrs. Wilson
2,000
Mr. Forward
2,000
Lord Middlesex
2,000
Mr. Supple
2,000
Mr. Nagles
2,000
Lady Raneleigh
2,000
Mr. Addair
2,000
Lord Sefton
2,000
Lord Tyrawley
2,000
Mr. Woodcock
2,000
Sir John Millar
2,000
Mr. Baldwyn
2,000
Dr. Moreton
1,800
Dr. Delany
1,800
Sir William Yorke
1,700
Mr. Arthur Barry
1,600
Lord Dysart
1,600
Lord Clive
1,600
Mr. Bridges
1,500
Mr. Cavanagh
1,500
Mr. Cuperden
1,500
Lady Cunnigsby
1,500
Mr. Annesley
1,500
Mr. Hauren
1,500
Mr. Long
1,500
Mr. Oliver Tilson
1,500
Mr. Plumtree
1,400
Mr. Pen
1,400
Mr. Rathcormuc
1,200
Mr. Worthington
1,200
Mr. Rice
1,200
Mr. Ponsonby
1,200
General Sandford
1,200
Mr. Basil
1,200
Mr. Dodwell
1,200
Mr. Lock
1,200
Mr. Cramer
1,200
Mr. W. Long
1,200
Mr. Rowley
1,200
Miss MacArtney
1,200
Mr. Sabine
1,100
Mr. Carr
1,000
Mr. Howard
1,000
Sir F. and Lady Lum
1,000
Lord Albemarle
1,000
Mr. Butler
1,000
Mr. J. Pleydell
1,000
Mrs. Clayton
1,000
Mr. Obins
1,000
Lord M'Cartney
1,000
Mr. Chichester
1,000
Mr. Shepherd
1,000
Sir P. Dennis
1,000
Lady Dean
1,000
Lord Lisburne
1,000
Mr. Ralph Smith
1,000
Mr. Ormsby
1,000
Lord Stanhope
1,000
Lord Tilney
1,000
Lord Vere
1,000
Mr. Hoar
1,000
Mrs. Grevill
1,000
Mr. Nappier
1,000
Mr. Echlin
800
Mr. Taaf
800
Mr. Alexander
800
Mr. Hamilton
800
Mr. Hamilton, (Longford)
800
Mr. William Barnard
800
Sir P. Leicester
800
Mr. Moreland
800
Mr. Cam
700
Mr. Jonathan Lovett
700
Mr. Hull
700
Mr. Staunton
700
Mr. Richard Barry
700
Colonel Barre
600
Mr. Ashon
600
Lady St. Leger
600
Mr. Hugh Boyd
500
Sir John Hort
500
Mr. Edmund Burke
500
Mr. Ambrose
500
Total
732,700
SECTION XV.
SECTION XVI.
£.
Newry river
9,000
Dromglass colliery and navigation
112,218
Dromreagh
3,000
Lagan River
40,304
Shannon River
31,500
Grand Canal
73,646
Blackwater River
11,000
River Lee
2,000
River Barrow
10,500
River Sure and Waterford
4,500
River Nore
25,250
River Boyne
36,998
Pier at Skerries
3,500
Pier at Envir
1,870
Pier at Dunleary
18,500
Pier at Balbriggen
5,252
Pier at Bangor
5,00
Pier at Killyleagh
1,200
Pier at Sligo
1,300
Antrim River
1,359
Ballast-office Wall
43,000
Widening Dublin streets
41,986
Trinity College
31,000
Baal's Bridge Limerick quays
7,773
Corke channel harbour
6,500
Corke Workhouse
1,500
Derry Quay
2,900
Shandon Street, Corke
1,500
Wicklow harbour
6,850
St. Patrick's hospital
6,000
Public records
5,000
Aquaeduct Dungarvon
1,300
Soldiers childrens hospital
7,000
Lying in hospital
19,300
Mercer's hospital
500
Shannon bridge
2,000
Kilkenny ditto
9,130
Corke bridges
4,000
Kildare bridges
600
St. Mark's church
2,000
St. Thomas's church
5,440
St.Catherine's church
3,990
St. John's church
2,000
Building churches
12,000
Athlone church
476
Cashel church
800
Wexford church
Quay at Dingle
1,000
Minsterkenry colleries
2,000
Marine nursery
1,000
Road round Dublin
1,500
Dundalk
2,000
Whale-fishery
1,000
Drydock
2,000
Mills at Naul
3,498
Balty-castle
3,000
Lord Longford
3,000
717,944
Or per annum47,863
£.
Navigations, collieries, docks, &c.
379,388
To build churches
17,706
Parliament house
16,270
Dublin workhouse, south wall passages,
new road and marshalsea140,372
Hospitals
44,251
Trinity college
45,000
Also, for the following purposes during the
same period:
Rewards and bounties to manufacturers
29,829
Linen manufacture
180,546
Cambrick ditto
4,000
Whale-fishery
1,500
Incorporated society
96,000
Dublin society
64,000
£.1,018,862
1768,
1769,
1770,
1771,
Total.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
Newry canal,
2,216
130
88
2,434
Drumglass navigation,
1,971
244
2,151
1,200
5,566
Barrow navigation,
3,000
100
3,100
Shannon navigation,
4,162
162
3,336
7,660
Grand canal,
550
1,280
755
2,000
4,585
Boyne navigation,
2,143
2,860
2,000
2,504
9,507
Fergus navigation,
500
350
850
11,542
4,676
11,592
5,892
33,702
£.
Silk
——
150
Wool
——
339
Or per annum,
Silk
——
7,800
Wool
——
17,628
Years.
Manufac-
tured.Raw.
Ribband.
lb.
lb.
lb.
1752
14,654
53,705
160
1753
13,360
60,155
184
1754
15,441
42,665
361
1755
9,874
43,547
265
1756
13,715
32,948
140
1757
7,709
41,354
17
1758
17,292
51,303
271
1759
13,836
44,493
118
1760
21,878
55,905
366
1761
14,815
51,348
180
1762
21,054
70,292
306
1763
17,741
41,021
469
1764
23,511
36,581
746
Average,15,760
48,132
275
176521,582
54,655
1,543
1766
17,260
54,418
1,724
1767
19,104
46,067
1,527
1768
23,446
52,062
1,646
1769
17,522
57,001
1,401
1770
20,581
44,273
1,183
1771
14,095
38,107
650
1772
15,804
33,611
644
1773
17,379
53,662
378
1774
14,665
38,811
553
1775
13,658
29,578
355
1776
17,326
41,594
717
54,043
1,574
Average,18,200
45,990
1,068
177827,223
51,873
1779
15,794
29,633
Years.
New
Drapery.Old
Drapery.
Yards.
Yards.
1764
248,062
220,828
1765
239,365
176,161
1766
313,216
197,316
1767
325,585
189,882
1768
337,558
198,664
1769
394,553
207,1f7
1770
462,499
249,666
Average,
331,548
205,662
1771
362,096
217,395
1772
314,703
153,566
1773
387,143
210,065
1774
461,407
282,317
1775
465,611
281,379
1776
676,485
290,215
1777
731,819
381,330
Average,
485,609
259,466
Last 7 years,
485,609
259,466
Former ditto,
331,548
205,662
Increase,
154,061
53,804
1778 †
741,426
§
378,077
1779
270,839
176,196
† Value 92,678 pounds. § Value 264,653.
Value.
£.
In the year
1764
18,858
1765
18,037
1760
15,557
1767
12,710
1768
16,021
1769
13,402
1770
20,907
Average of 7 years
16,784
In the year 1771
20,282
1772
14,081
1773
20,472
1774
21,611
1775
24,234
1776
30,371
1777
45,411
Average of 7 years
25,208
1778
52,675
Arthur Young, A Tour in Ireland, made in the years 1776, 1777, and 1778 (London: T. Cadell, 1780)