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repealed the Act of Elizabeth, which attached
four acres of land to every cottage, and having
repealed it, because, as the Preamble states, it
tended very much to lessen our population;
from the period of that repeal the population has
rapidly increased. It is not pretended that the
increase has arisen solely from this cause. Pro-
bably a variety of causes have combined; but
certainly it is a curious fact, that from the date
of this repeal, our population has increased with
such rapid strides ; but, says the objector, look
at Ireland—would you reduce us to the state of
the potatoe-fed population of that Country?
The Irish have land to cultivate ; but it has been
divided and subdivided, till, in many instances,
it has become unequal to their maintenance, and
this they imagine would soon become the case of
England if land were let generally to the poor.
But the cases bear no parallel. The state of
the Irish peasant is truly deplorable. The labour
market is so completely overstocked, that the
remunerating price is of the lowest description.
The labourer chiefly depends for his subsistence on
his potatoe ground, for which an exorbitant rent
is demanded, often as high as eight or ten pounds
per acre. I have been credibly informed, that
sixteen pounds has been required. The paying
the rent is hardly possible, from the low price of