During the brief period of
partial Irish liberty which followed the pacific revolution of '82, the
manufactures of the country revived and flourished; and the smile of
contented industry was visible all over the land. In 1797 there were
15,000 silk-weavers in the city of Dublin alone. There are now but 400.
Such is the practical effect of the Union, of that suicidal act of the
Irish Parliament which yielded up in a moment of treachery and terror the
dearest interests of the country to the legislation of an English
Parliament and the tender mercies of Castlereagh,--of that Castlereagh
who, when accused by Grattan of spending L15,000 in purchasing votes for
the Union, replied with the rare audacity of high-handed iniquity, "We
did spend L15,000, and we would have spent L15,000,000 if necessary to
carry the Union; "that Castlereagh who, when 707,000 Irishmen petitioned
against the Union and 300,000 for it, maintained that the latter
constituted the majority! Well has it been said that the deep vengeance
which Ireland owed him was inflicted by the great criminal upon himself.
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