Page:Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland.djvu/46

Rh therefore, the transition which the agricultural system of Ireland is gradually undergoing, is neither his interest nor his practice. It is true the slower the absorption of the surplus agricultural labour of the country into other pursuits, the worse for the general body of cultivators, but each year is improving their situation, and it is better the conviction of what is for their true advantage should penetrate their intelligence of its own accord, than that their prejudices should be shocked by any extraneous influences, however well intentioned.

But to imagine that even the most scrupulous observance of this rule, by every landlord in Ireland, could ever have prevented, or can now check the departure of a large proportion of the people is a delusion. The increase of every nation must be limited by the extent and capabilities of the area it occupies, and the amount of capital it possesses.

This law is of universal application, though one race from its more sordid habits, or lower civilization, may be more compressible than another.