Balbriggan; he wished to extend them.  Anthony Dawson, of Dundrum, near Dublin, had water mills for making tools for all kinds of artisans; this, above all, should be encouraged, now that there was some chance of men having some use for tools.  Then there were requests for aid to establish carpet manufactories, linen manufactories, glass manufactories, &c.; and Robert Burke, Esq., of the county Kildare, prayed for the loan of L40,000 for seven years, that he might establish manufactories at Prosperous.  These few samples of petitions, taken at random from many others, will enable the reader to form some faint idea of the state of depression in which Ireland was kept by the English nation—­of the eagerness of the Irish to work if they were only permitted to do so.

The Irish revenue for the year 1783 was, in round numbers, L900,000, which amounted to a tax of about six shillings per annum on each person.  It was distributed thus: 

For the interest of the National Debt, L120,000
Army and Ordnance, Civil Government, and
other funds, 450,000
Pensions, grants, bounties, and aids to
manufacturers, 250,000
Surplus unappropriated, 80,000
                                             --------
Total, L900,000

More than L200,000 was spent during that year in erecting forts, batteries, and other public buildings, which gave employment to the people in certain districts.  Large sums were granted to the poor of Cork and Dublin for coals; and large grants were made to encourage manufactures.  I have observed, however, in carefully examining these grants, which are by far too numerous for insertion, that they were principally, and, indeed, I might say exclusively, made to persons in Dublin and its neighbourhood, in the north of Ireland, and in the cities of Cork and Limerick.  Hence, the prosperity of Ireland was only partial, and was confined exclusively, though, probably, not intentionally, to certain districts.  This will explain why the misery and starvation of the poor, in the less favoured parts of the country, were a principal cause of the fearful insurrection which occurred within a few short years.

Lord Clare proclaimed, in the House of Parliament, that “no nation on the habitable globe had advanced in cultivation, commerce, and manufactures, with the same rapidity as Ireland, from 1782 to 1800.” The population increased from three millions to five. There were 5,000 carpenters fully employed in Dublin; there were 15,000 silk-weavers.  Nor should we be surprised at this; for Dublin possesses at the present day substantial remains of her former prosperity, which are even now the admiration of Europe.  All her great public buildings were erected at this period.  The Custom-house was commenced, and completed in ten years, at a cost of a quarter of a million sterling.  The Rotundo was commenced in 1784.  The Law Courts, the most elegant and extensive in the British Empire, were begun in 1786.  In 1788 there were 14,327 dwelling-houses in Dublin, and 110,000 inhabitants.  Two hundred and twenty peers and three hundred commoners had separate residences.  Dublin was fashionable, and Dublin prospered.[584]