I R E .L A -N D.
^HroCT-1 would undoubtedly be great; but their weight bas - fortunately, never
ance, See. been felt apart frbm kthe^f| of,ErigIlan<l. The confufed fyftem of the old
native government almoft prevented Ireland from being'confidered in
the fcale o f European ftates ; and fince the introduction of a more
- civilized fcheihe, fhe has been indilfolubly attached to England. Mon-
tefquieu has juftly regarded it as a radical error in the politics o f Louis
X IV , that when he fent troops. to Ireland to fêftore James II, he did
- not, feize the opportunity o f eftablifhfng a firm ednqueft of the iiland,
« which would eventually have proved of more folid advantage to Fr Jhee
. than all their idle plans Qf qmhitiqnj if'th^Jvbad eVeqmâteri realized.
The great mafs -of the*.people-, e f frqland beingV catltdlw«y’ope ofKie
t ftriCteft bonds which can walte natqoris veis-already fo^tnfedt and the
numerous ports ,of Ireland -might, tin d e r t h y 1ebndtqSt âijjJ ingejp^ity of
the French, have fent forth numerous fleets, and hayëiaïfi.fted||ffeir ally
to balance thé naval power hffiLùgland. But happily for Great Britain
- that opportunity was for ever Iqft.-’-Aftcr the great preponderancy. which
the Britifh have now held at fea., for more than a century, it isinéon-
ceivable that Ireland, an adjacentdfiand,' could have remairiecFadem^ate
Rate, without th e fpecial and previausyéanfêrit of Ëngîahâ^yHeLcqth-
mçrce woqld baye dreen totally at the|J|bmmand o£mc^£ival; array lb.1/
rifing fleet of war would have been crufhed in.the very bud- I f the
- Engliih armies could have been withftood, ftill Ireland muft have been
restricted to her native produce, and th e moft innocent foreign luxuries
muft have been totally interdicted ; nor to a candid and impartial ob-
ferver would it appear that Ireland could attain any folid advantages by
this ndependance. Suppofe an alliance formed with Françe,
it muft at leaft’ for a long time have continued an alliance of dependence
; and to thofe who conflit'the real bufinefs of ftates, and not
learned theories^ which are very foreign fro_m bufinefs, it muft occur
that this pretended alliance muft foon have terminated either in the
Subjugation of Ireland by France, or a return to the connection with
_ England, which would have been facilitated by an Engliih party
fi a jaBp I v ^h ich
319
w hiM^Sld «Orally exift !n great force,-and be continually in- lU iU t
“ ■ B U S h I r t W ? ,he French intcrpoCtion, and # % £
ufuipahotts.’ rmportance and relatiena of Ireland are
■WEoaeAAarirl. thofe of England; while the weftem
S H @fcnntr imparts gggl| advantages in the commerce
wifh America and the Weft Indies*
F F 2