I. The REVENƲE.

The Revenue of Ireland was under a sensible decli­nation from the commencement of the late King's Reign, occasioned by the daily Decay of Trade, and that by the discouragement given to Protestants, thro' whose hands almost the whole Commerce and cur­rent Money was wont to circulate; and at length was so visibly impaired, that in the year 1688. the Publick Treasury was utterly exhausted; and I have no reason to believe that it has since that time been recruited by any considerable Imbursements, (for I suppose the French Money is in a Treasury distinct, and issuable only at the discretion of the French Dictator, whose Orders are not to open his Treasure, till they land in England:) Therefore I deduce my Remarks from the latter end of the Reign of Charles the Second, about which time the Publick Revenue was managed by Commissioners ap­pointed by the King, by whose Diligence and Applica­tion it was notably improved; and it consisted in di­vers Branches, as,

• Crown-Rents.
• Quit-Rents.
• Customs and Excise.
• Inland-Excise.
• Hearth-Money.
• Wine and Ale Licenses.
• Fines and Forfeitures.
• First-Fruits, &c. of the Clergy.

All which did amount, communibus Annis, to about Three Hundred and forty thousand Pounds.

Out of this Fund was derived the Maintenance and Pay of an Army, consisting of seven Regiments of Foot, three of Horse, and one of Dragoons: Exhibitions to the Judges sedent, and itinerant, and to all other Officers of the Civil List: a noble Allowance to the Chief Gover­nor, a competent Salary to the Lord Chancellor, and all the Officers of State: a large Provision for all other Charges necessary, or contingent: and upon the Audit of the whole Receipts and Disbursements, a very consi­derable sum remain'd, most of which was remitted into England, some disposed of in Ireland, for Pensions, Secret Service, and other Occasions, at the King's Will and Pleasure.

II. The Fertility, and Plenty.

Ireland doth abound with an Exuberance of Plenty in all things conducing to a pleasant, and comfortable Living. The Ground, without the Midwifery of hu­mane Art, brings forth Grass for the Cattel, and Herbs for the use of man in great Abundance; but where the Husbandman hath clubb'd his Invention and Labour, it is rather luxuriant, rendring a mighty Increase of all sorts of Grain, very sound, and very good Indeed, Na­ture hath open'd her Stores, and, like a kind Mother, hath liberally bestow'd her Blessings on that Island; The Earth seems to stand in Competition with the Water for the Pre-eminence: the one overloaded with its own Pro­duct; the other, overstockt by its proper Inhabitants: the infinite Store of Corn of all sorts, the pleasant Studds of Horses and Mares, the numerous Herds of Cattel, the vast Flocks of Sheep (in most Places exceeding those of England in their Size) is even to admiration: neither do I brag, when I say, that the best Parts of Ireland are in every Respect (except the Improvement) equal to the best Parts in England; and that the worst Parts of it are [Page 10]not so bad and barren as the worst Parts of the other: Or when I challenge England it self to shew so vast a Tract of rich and excellent Land lying together, as is to be seen from Carlingford all the way to Dublin, from thence (excluding the Mountains of Wicklow) to Carlow; from thence through part of Queens and Kings County, so cross the Shannon, and round by Longford to Roscommon: in which vast Tract of Land, at least fourscore Miles square, there is not so much barren Land, as is to be found in two Shires only in England (and not far from London) Berkshire and Surrey. The Seas are plentifully stor'd with Fish of all Kinds, and the Markets supply'd with such Plenty and Variety, as might satiate the Luxu­ry and Prodigality of Lucullus: the Loughs are fill'd with Pike, Breme, Pearch, Roach, and Trouts; but the Fresh Rivers swarm with stupendious Quantities. If men (as justly they may) shall become doubtful, scrupulous, and incredulous, when I make mention of the extraordinary Pilchard-Fishings in the South, and the Herring-Fishings in the North; my Credit will certainly run a great Risque, and my Veracity be suspected, when I relate the Won­ders of the Deep, and come to speak of the Prodigious Fishings for Salmon and Eels in the Rivers of Lough-foyl, and the Bann. If men will startle at the Report of six thousand Barrels of Pilchards made in one year upon the Coast of the County of Cork; or to hear, that in some Parts of Conaught they take so great Draughts of them, that, not being provided of Salt to cure them, they lay them in heaps, and manure the Land with them: that (beside the plentiful Fishing of Herrings in and about the Bay of Dublin, the Skerryes, Carlingford, and all the Nor­thern Coast) they have usually made and sent away in one year two thousand Tuns of Herrings from the single Fish­ing at Dunfanaghan: then undoubtedly they will smile, and ridicule me, when I tell them, That there is made [Page 11]commonly five hundred Tuns of Salmon in a year, in Loghfoyl, and the Bann, and other Rivers in the Coun­ty of Londonderry; that besides the Royal Piscary of the Bann, there are between Colrane and Loghneagh seven­ty Salmon-Fishings; that there are the same round about that Lough, which is sixty Miles in Compass; that at the Leap of Colrane, ten Tuns of Salmon have been ta­ken at one Draught of a Net: That the last year at the Grebbin, twelve Miles beyond Londonderry, two and thirty Hogsheads of Salmon were taken at once, and for want of room in their Boats, a great part of them thrown again into the River: That in the Eel-weres, in the River of Bann, fourscore thousand Eels have been catcht in one Night. But I have spoken modestly, and within compass, and there are too many Witnesses (much against their wills) now in England and Scotland, who can confirm the Truth of what I have declared. I am loth to pass by the Salmon-Pound (commonly call'd the Cutt) near Colrane, because, as I conceive, such ano­ther thing is not in the World: It is a great Trough, made like a Tanner's Vat, about fifty foot long, twenty foot wide, and six deep; a Stream of the River of Bann runs through it, and at the Place where the Water en­ters, a row of Stakes are placed very near together, like a Rack in a Stable; at the other end of the Cutt a parcel of sharp Spikes are clustered together, very close at the Point, and wide at the Head, so that the Salmons (who always swim against the Stream) and other Fish, may get in at pleasure, but can neither return the way they went in, nor get out at the other end; whereby it hap­pens, that on Monday morning (there being a respite to Fishing all Sunday, and none taken out of the Cutt with their Loops) a Stranger would be astonish'd to see an in­numerable company of Fish riding on the backs of one another, even to the top of the Water, and with [Page 12]great ease, and pleasant Divertisement, taken up in Loops.

All these prodigious Quantities of Fish are but collected for the Use of England; to whose Ports, or to whose Or­der, they are yearly consigned, and distributed.

III. The NƲMBER.

Having had no Business, or Imployment, which might administer an Opportunity to inspect the Catalogues and Returns of Parishes and Counties, or to view the Poll-Books; it will not be possible for me to make any other than a conjectural Calculation of the Number of Prote­stant Inhabitants in Ireland. But by a modest Computa­tion I may adventure to aver, That at the beginning of the Reign of the Late King, there were in the City of Dublin, and the Four Provinces, above a Million of Bri­tish Protestants. I am confirm'd in this Supposition by a sad Reflection upon the Passages in the Year 1641. at which time the Number of the Protestants was very in­considerable in comparison with the Natives; and possi­bly did not amount to the Half of what they were in 1681. yet even then above two hundred thousand, naked and defenceless People, were massacred in cold Blood, and barbarously murther'd without Provocation, or Resi­stance. I reckon, that when the late Revolution hap­ned, there were two hundred thousand men fit to carry Arms, bound to the Interest of England by the Obliga­tions of Religion, Love, Loyalty and Blood; who may be beneficial in their Service and Aid, when it shall be re­quired; though of late (by the apparent Judgment of God) they have been terrified by them, on whom they alway had an awe; routed by such, whose Strength they d [...]ed; and dispossest of their Estates, without strugling for their Property.

IV. The RELIGION.

Among all the pressing Motives, that recommend the Care and Conservation of Ireland, there is no one more cogent, than the Consideration of the Religion there esta­blish'd by Law: which reasonably ought to interess all good Christians in a feeling-Sympathy and Concernment for them; and thereby the People of England have a fit Opportunity, at once equally to exert their Duty to God, and Charity to their Brethren. It is true, the Protestant Religion was not universally profess'd through the King­dom, neither were all who were distinguish'd by that Character, perfectly cemented; the Papists were nume­rous in every County, (tho least of all in Ʋlster); yet Popery seemed to be rather Hereditary than Elective; to be more the Result of Education, than Judgment; inso­much, as it became like a Logical Property to the Natives, and Papist and Irish man were Terms convertible: So great an Influence has Custom over all the Faculties of Mind and Body; they put on Religion as a fashionable Garment, the Dictate of the Priest warranting the mode; and thick Ignorance inflames their Devotion. Nevertheless the Protestant Religion was predominant; Popery sneak'd to the Mountains, and squatted behind the Bushes; the Mass was not known, nor a Fryar seen, till by the Influence of the Late King, and the furious Zeal of his Deputy, things were changed as it were in a moment, and all Commands Civil and Military, committed to the Hands of Papists. But when, by the Blessing of God, and the Assistance of England, that poor harassed Country shall be restored to its former State and Condition, it will be a joyful Reflection for their Brethren and Benefactors, to hear of so many Thousand Persons united with them in the same Religi­on, as in all other Respects and Concernments.

V. The Consanguinity and Assinity.

The Inhabitants of Ireland, (excluding the Natives of the Land, who always were, and ever will be Thorns in our Sides; and who, since the first Conquest of them, were never able to accomplish that Design which was bequeath'd from Generation to Generation, till this late unhappy Juncture) do not derive their Pedigree from Strangers; they are the legitimate Offspring of England and Scotland; there is scarce a Man there of British Extraction, except such as by very long continuance are degenerated into mere Irish, but in one of those King­doms will Challenge a Father, Brother, or near Kinsman. They are not estranged in their Language, Habit, Man­ners, or Customs; they retain the natural Propensions disseminated from their respective Families, and own a filial Reverence to their Countries, as to their lawful Pa­rents (not their Step mothers) who not being able to make a competent Provision for all their Issue at home, have sent some of their Children abroad, to seek for their Livelihood on the other side of the Ferry; where in their Manners and Humour, they bear an exact Resemblance to that Original, whereof they are the Transcript; ex­cept only in their profuse Hospitality, and luxurious Con­sumption of Meat and Drink (to which, perhaps, they are inclined by the Constitution of the Air, or disposed by the Genius of the Country, or tempted by the incre­dible Plenty and Cheapness of all sorts of Provisions) yet in their Language they have gone beyond their Teachers, having refined the English Tongue from the odd Tones, and uncouth words used in several Counties distant from London; and reformed the Scotch from the Clownish Dialect spoken by the vulgar People. So that the People of England are bound in Conscience and com­mon Reason, to regard the English in Ireland, as Bone of their Bone, and Flesh of their Flesh; and the Scots as na­turalized [Page 15]and incorporated with them, to sympathize with them in their Sufferings, to participate in their Ad­ventures, and from the Principles of Generosity, as well as the Impulse of Nature, and a prudential Foresight of the same Calamities hovering over their Heads, to use their utmost Effort to re-assure that Kingdom in its Ap­pendage to England, and absolutely to eradicate the Irish Papists and all French Intruders.

VI. The Imployments, Ecclesiastical, Civil and Military.

Since England is bounded by the Sea, and cannot be inlarged by the Discovery of any Newfound Land; since the Inhabitants are as fruitful as the Soil, Prolific, and continually multiplying and increasing; since the Vigor and Generosity of their Temper, spurs them on to Busi­ness and Activity; and that the List of Places, Offices and Preferments in Church and State, do bear no Proportion with the number of Competitors, Candidates, and Preten­ders: It is an unexpressible Benefit and Advantage, that they can so easily inlarge their Quarters, and spread through a Kingdom in Polity Subordinate, but in natural Fertility no way Inferior to that from whence they sprang. I think it very well worth the Observation, That among all the Bishops, Deans, and Dignitaries in the Church of Ireland, (in the first year of the late King) so very few were born in that Kingdom, but almost all of them transplanted from England; so were the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Baron, Attorny General, and many of the Judges and Officers in the Civil List; by such also, was the Revenue managed. And for the Army, it was per­fectly a Detachment out of the several Shires in England. In a word, there did Divines and Scholars get Prefer­ment; Lawyers, Attornies, and others of the Long Robe, met with Practice and Promotion; Clerks, Accountants, and Men of ingenious Education, were gratified with Imploy­ments; [Page 16]the younger Sons of the English Nobility and Gentry, were honoured with Military Commands; and thousands of the meaner sort train'd up in the Discipline of War. All which must have met with a Check in their Fortunes, and been subjected to a less generous course of Living, and remain'd as Shrubs in their own Soil; while by this Transplantation they grow up to tall Trees, shoot out their Branches, and bring forth abun­dant of Fruit.

I. The Scituation.

In the Description of Ireland I might expatiate in recounting the many Benefits and Advantages which it enjoys in Common with her Neighbour Coun­tries, and the several Immunities which God and Na­ture have indulged to it in peculiar above other Pla­ces; in its exemption from poysonous Insects, and noxious Vermin, as Frogs, Toads, Snakes, and Ad­ders, Neuts, Effs, and hurtful Spiders; but above all, in the Freedom from Moles, which are the Epidemical Nusance of England, and are so sensibly injurious to Orchards, Gardens, Medows, and Pastures; in a temperate and benign Air; in an infinite number of Fountains, Springs, Loughs (or Lakes) and fresh Ri­vers; in an incredible store and variety of Land and Sea-Fowls; (among which I would mention the incre­dible Number of Woodcocks, and how the Parson of Clownish farms the Tyth of the Woodcocks catcht in [Page 18]his Parish at thirty Pounds per annum; where they are generally sold at Twelve-Pence per dozen; the innumerable Flocks of Swans and Barnacles that haunt the River of Loughfoyl, but that it would ex­clude the wonder due to the rest.) But because these Priviledges are inherent to the Soil, and not commu­nicable to the Use and Benefit of the Neighbours, I shall pass over the further commemoration of those Matters, and apply my self to the Rehearsal of such Particulars only, as render Ireland in its happy Scituati­on a most desirable Countrey, and highly advantageous in its Accession to the Crown of England.

Possibly there is not a Country in the whole World so admirably accommodated with convenient Bays, safe Harbours, large Havens, and useful Creeks; and that not only in some Sides and Corners, but quite round the Island. To describe the Harbours of Carlingford, Strangford, the Lough of Carricfergus, Donaghadee, Loghlern, Raghlin, Portrush, Lough-foyl, Lough-swilly, Sheep-Haven, Castledow, Killebeggs, Ballyshannon, Sli­go, and Black-Sod in the North and West Parts; Gal­way, Lymerick, Trallee, Dingle, Kilmar, the Great Bay of Bantry, (including Bere Haven, and many others) Ship-Haven, Crook-Haven, Baltimore, Castle-Haven, Castlemain, the matchless Haven of Kin­sale, the noble River of Cork, Yoghal, Dungarvan, Waterford, Slade, Wexford, Arclo, Dublin, &c. in the South and Eastern Parts; beside almost innumerable Creeks, Ports, and commodious Landing-Places, would take up more room than I have allowed to the dis­charge of this brief Narration; my Purpose is only to mention them, referring the Account of their Beauty, Strength, Security, and Conveniency, to Hi­storians and Geographers. I shall only take notice, that as they are most advantageously placed for the pro­per [Page 19]Trade of that Kingdom; so they are upon many Accounts a secure Refuge and Safeguard to their Friends and Allies, which is briefly demonstrated in this, that none of the Neighbouring Countries can manage a Trade into the South, North, or Western Seas, but they must be under great Danger of Ireland, if they be Enemies to England, or be beholding to it if they be in Amity; where upon every Turn they may meet with a safe Retreat from Storms and Tempests, and a ready Protection from Pirates and Robbers; it being set as a Watch-Tower in the Sea, within whose view all Ships must come that sail and trade that way to any part of the World; an Island commodiously seated for the Dominion of the Seas, so long as she is in one Interest with England.

It is beyond the Power of Expression to repeat the Advantages arising to the English Trade by the relief and shelter of the Irish Harbours, where the several Fleets bound for the Streights, and for the East or West Indies, or returning from thence, meet with Refresh­ment and Security from all sorts of Danger. This the Merchants find in their daily Voyages: This the Com­manders of the Kings Ships can evidence upon frequent Experience; but I shall produce only one undeniable Instance, how highly and indespensably it imports the Safety, as well as Trade of England, to preserve Ireland to themselves: That in the time of King Charles II. when England was imbroyl'd in an unlucky War with the States of Holland, not only a Fleet of Merchant­men, consisting of an hundred Sail or thereabout, bound homeward from the West-Indies and the Streights, but also forty Men of War (under the Com­mand of Sir Jeremy Smith) after that unfortunate Business at Chatham, came all into the Habour of Kinsale, where they continued in that Safety and [Page 20]Security, which they could not promise to themselves in any Harbour or Port of England.

2. The Exportation of Irish Commodities.

As Ireland is placed as an Out-guard to watch all Interlopers in the Trade of England, so lately it was a Store-house and Magazine to furnish it. It sent over yearly vast quantities of Wooll, shipt from the se­veral Ports in Munster and Lemster, which mightily supported the Staple in England, by the old and new Draperies, and other woollen Manufactures wrought and made in the West Countrey: whereby not only a numerous Train of Families were fed and maintained, but an extraordinary addition was made to the Kings Revenue, by the Importation of it, when raw and unwrought, into England, and the Exportation of it, after it was wrought, into several Countries, to the great inriching of Merchants and Adventurers.

The Islands and Plantations in America are in a man­ner wholly sustain'd by the vast quantities of Beef, Pork, Butter, and other Provisions of the Product of Ireland: from whence an unspeakable Benefit redounds to England by the vast Cargoes of the Goods of the said Plantations returnd thither, and the Great Con­sumption of those Goods being shipt out of England into Ireland, than which nothing more evidently tends to the inriching the Merchants who trade into those Parts, or to the increase of Shipping, or encou­ragement to Navigation.

The mighty Quantities of Tallow, Hides, tann'd Leather, Skins of several sorts, Yarn, Hemp, Linnen-Cloth, Cony-Skins, and other Furrs, yearly shipt from Ireland, and exported into England, supply that King­dom with the said Commodities at very reasonable [Page 21]Rates (which otherwise would prove excessive dear) to the great conveniency of the Inhabitants in general, and the particular Advantage of the Merchants and such as trade in them.

The Cargoes of Salmon, Herrings, Pilchards, (and those the best and fairest to be had in any Part of the World) Eels, and other Fish made up yearly in Ireland, and transported into several Parts in Spain, to Venice, and all the Ports in the Mediterranean Sea, would startle common Belief. I have heard from faith­ful Relation, and I spoke of it before, that in the South of Ireland, they have made in a year near Eight hun­dred Tuns of Pilchards: A Person of great Quality, (whose Judgment and Credit no man will dispute) did aver to me, that in one Season 16000. l. was paid for the Pilchards taken on the South side of Cork, and the most of it by Sir John Frederic of London. That in one Port in the North, called Dunfanaghan, they have made in one Season Two thousand Tuns of Herrings. And I was told by a very honest and intelligent Person, (who in the Reign of Charles the Second was Collector of the Port of London-Derry) that in that one Place there was shipt off in one Season 450. Tuns of Salmon, 400. Tuns of Herrings, and 80. Tuns of Eels: The Be­nefit and Profit of all which accrues to the Merchants of England, on whose sole Account almost all the fore­mentioned Commodities are shipt off and sent away, to the great increase of their Shipping, and the mani­fest incouragement of Navigation,

These things being undenyable, and perfectly true in matter of Fact, and which I am constrained by the necessity of the Argument to mention over again, it is evident beyond Contradiction, that the Trade of Ire­land is of inestimable Advantage to the Trade of Eng­land, highly contributing, if not wholly subservient to it.

3. The Importation of English Commodities.

The great multitudes of Goods and Commodi­dities continually exported out of Ireland into England, did not more apparently tend to the Advan­tage of Trade there, than the continual Importation of all kinds of Wares and Merchandise from thence. The People of Ireland did not deal like Niggards, or Rooks, to vend and put off the Product of their own Coun­try, and not be instrumental to promote the Consump­tion of what their Neighbours had to spare; on the contrary they maintain'd a constant Correspondence, and an universal Commerce, and hugely advanced the Trade of England.

The Wooll which they from time to time sent into England, they received again (and perhaps with it much of the growth there) transformed into the old and the new Drapery, and all sorts of Woollen Manufa­ctures, and thereby doubly advanced the English Trade, by the Outlet, and by the Return, by selling the one, and buying the other

Silks wrought, and un-wrought; Gold and Silver Lace; Buttons; Ribbands, &c. all sorts of Grocery, Spicery, Haberdashers and Milliners Ware; Beavers and other fine Hats; Tobacco cut and dry'd, in Rowl, and in Leaf; white Salt; Coals; and many foreign Commodities, were daily and hourly brought in­to all the Ports of Ireland, being purchased by the Merchants there from the Merchants of Lon­don, Bristol, Chester, Leverpool, Plymouth, and other Towns and Cities in England; the Quantities whereof must be prodigiously great, to supply not on­ly the Necessities, but the Vanity and Luxury of so po­pulous and opulent a Kingdom, (the Rate of whose Expences was no way regulated by the instinct of [Page 23] Thrift, or Parsimony) and consequently the Gains and Profit redounding to the English Merchants must in rea­son bear some Proportion with the Vent and Consumpti­on; the estimate whereof in a few years is beyond Credit, if not past Numeration.

I could appeal to particular Men by Name, whose Books and Accounts will justifie my Position, that England received incredible Advantage by their Trade with Ireland, and their sensible disappointments in the present Cessation of Trade from thence, do too unhappily confirm it; but I will not do that pre­judice to them, to discover the Secrets of their Deal­ing, or raise a Spirit of Envy at their prosperous Proceedings: I honour them for their Ingenuity; I applaud their Industry, and heartily wish them rein­stated in their former Course of Traffick, that all Men may be convinced by their Experiment, how advantageously the Trade of Ireland co-operates to the Advancement of the Trade of England.

4. The Ingenuity of the Inhabitants.

I am now brought to a hard Dilemma; I must ei­ther renounce the Country, from whence I came, or retract my Assertion: For when I go about to il­lustrate the Ingenuity of the Inhabitants, I confute my self, by a Discourse so void of it. But there is no ge­neral Rule without some Exceptions; and I hope that my particular Defects shall not be imputed as a dero­gation from the Credit of the rest.

It is an ungrateful Imployment to make Compa­risons, and I do not in the least intend any unkind Reflection upon the Common People of England, when I alledge, that the ordinary and vulgar sort of the British Inhabitants in Ireland are much more In­genious and quick, more docible, more intelligent in [Page 24]the Laws and Customs of the Country; more active, sedulous and inquisitive; disposed to handle the Sword as well as the Plough, and notably capable to serve upon Juries, and to discharge the Duty in­cumbent on them at Assises and Sessions. But I shall only insist on that Qualification which is more proper and pertinent to the Argument in hand, viz. their na­tural Disposition to Trade, and an undefatigable In­dustry in promoting it, and all for the advantage of the Trade of England. For the Petty Chapmen, Tra­ders in small Towns, and Country Dealers, are only Hawkers, Procurers, and Brokers for the greater Mer­chants in Cities and big Towns; and they ordinarily make themselves Factors for the Merchants in Eng­land; sending over to them the most Part of what they gather; or bringing back from them the Com­modities of England in return of what they adven­ture, and gain upon their own Account. Thus I have observed the Chapmen in a small Village (belong­ing to my self) with great Art and Ingenuity ne­gotiating with the Neighbours about them, making up many Tuns of Butter, and Tallow, gathering great quantities of Yarn, Linnen cloth, Salt, Hides, and Tann'd Leather; which soon after they sell to the Merchants in the next City or Sea-Port, who ei­ther deal by Commission from the Merchants in Eng­land, or export them on their own Account, but cer­tainly bring home the Produce, in the Wares and Merchandise of England, (and I know one particular Man, who in one Town in one Season, made up Ele­ven hundred Tuns of Butter by Commission, and as a Factor for some Merchants there) but which way soever it be, the Ingenuity and Diligence of the Inhabitants of Ireland does indisputably advance the Trade of England, and the whole Labour of the one centers in the Benefit of the other.

5. The Benefit to the King.

Tho' I propose the Kings Benefit in the last Place, yet it is not the least of my Care and good Wi­shes; and I perswade my self that the Loyal and Lo­ving Subjects of England will on that very Considera­tion (if there were no other Motives to incite them) account Ireland worth the keeping, and accordingly will employ their Wealth, and exert their Courage and Strength for the speedy Reduction and Restitution of it. To inforce this, I need produce no other Argu­ments, than the repetition of what was before remon­strated; That the annual Revenue of Ireland coming into the Treasury and the Kings Coffers, amounted to Three hundred and forty thousand Pounds, out of which, beside the necessary Exhibition; for supporting the State and safety of the Kingdom, a very considerable Sum was yearly laid at the Kings Feet, therewith to gratifie such Servitors and Favourites in England, as the Revenue there would not reach to supply. To which let me add, that though under Charles the Second, the protestant Interest in Ireland received as little Incouragement as could be expected under a Protestant King; yet thriving by their Pruning, ta­king deeper Root by their being shaken, and growing more strong by their Depression; they had, beyond all Doubt, added before this time a very valuable Aug­mentation to the Publick Revenue, by their Trade and Improvements, had not Popery nipt them, and Ar­bitrary Power blasted them.