THE CASE OF IRELAND, BEING AN EXAMINATION OF THE TREATY OF UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND; AND AN ENQUIRY INTO THE MANNER IN WHICH TOGETHER WITH SOME LETTERS ON THE EXCESSIVE TAXATION OF IRELAND. BY JOSEPH FISHER, AUTHOR OF HOW IRELAND MAY BE SAVED,” “TAXATION OF IRELAND," LONDON: PUBLISHED BY RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY; AND SOLD BY MESSRS. W. H. SMITH AND SONS, DUBLIN & LONDON, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 1863. LETTER II.-THE FINANCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL HIS- TORY OF IRELAND FROM 1788 TO 1800, LETTER III.-THE DEBATES ON THE UNION, 1799, ... LETTER X.-THE DEBT OF IRELAND, LETTER XI.-CONSOLIDATION OF THE BRITISH AND Journals of the Irish House of Lords. Report of the Lords' Committee on Ireland, 1825. Report of Irish Poor Committee, 1830. Report of the Board of Trade, 1833. Report of the Devon Commission, 1845. Second Report of Poor Law Commission. Vattel's Law of Nations. AUTHORS. Arthur Young's Travels in Ireland. Edward Cooke, For and Against the Union. The Annual Register. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Sadleir, M. J., M.P., The Evils of Ireland and their Remedy. Locke's Essay on Government. Grove's System of Moral Philosophy. DEDICATION. TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND. It is alike your interest, and your duty, to inquire into the covenants which were entered into with your forefathers, when Ireland surrendered her sovereignty as a Nation, and to ascertain whether those covenants have been fulfilled. Having been asked by the Chamber of Commerce of this City to assist in preparing a case for the advice of Counsel, as to the legal rights of the Irish People under the Treaty of Union, I have been forced to examine the subject with more attention than I had previously given to it. I have addressed this case to you, because it relates to the prosperity of Ireland, and I think I have shown, that the conditions of the Act of Union, and the dictates of public policy have been equally violated, in the conduct which has been adopted towards Ireland, since 1800. I thank you for the attention you have given to my letters as they appeared week after week. If they succeed in evoking that public spirit on which the welfare of this nation depends, I shall feel that I have not laboured in vain. Your Faithful Servant, Waterford, March, 1863. JOSEPH FISHER B |