means biassed towards the landlord interest. Thus McKenna, writing in
1793, says:--

"In several parts of Ireland the rents have been tripled
within 40 years. This was not so much the effect as the cause
of national prosperity; ... before the above-mentioned period,
when rent was very low and other taxes little known, half the
year was lavished in carousing. But as soon as labour became
compulsory, fortunes have been raised both by the tenantry and
landlords, and civilization has advanced materially."

There was also another cause of prosperity, which modern economists
cannot look on with much favour. It was the policy of the Irish
Government to grant enormous bounties for the development of various
industries, especially the growth of corn. This no doubt gave much
employment, promoted the breaking up of grass lands, the subdivision
of farms and the erection of mills; and so long as the price of corn
was maintained, brought much prosperity to the country, and thus was
indirectly one cause of the enormous increase of population, which
rose from about 2,370,000 in 1750, to about 4,500,000 in 1797. But
when, during the nineteenth century, prices fell, the whole structure,
built on a fictitious foundation, came down with a crash.

Not long after the Irish Parliament had acquired its independence, a
controversy arose which, although it had no immediate result, yet
was of vast importance on account of the principle involved. The king
became insane. It was necessary that there should be a Regent, and it
was obvious that the Prince of Wales was the man for the post. But
the British constitution contained no provision for making the
appointment. After much deliberation, the English Parliament decided