Page:Studies in Irish History, 1649-1775 (1903).djvu/311

After Limerick only applicable to the policy of England towards Ireland. And it was undoubtedly Ireland which suffered most of all from the policy of the age, for her peculiar situation, geographical, industrial, and political, made her liable to be greatly affected by English commercial legislation. Scotland had an independent Parliament which made itself so troublesome that England was glad to procure a union. The American colonies had huge industrial resources, which no amount of restrictive statutes could ever counteract, while the fact that their economic development proceeded on lines mainly different from those of England shielded them to some extent from the jealous fears of English traders. But matters were otherwise in Ireland. The unfortunate island lay near to the English coast, and her industrial resources were very similar to those of England. Nearly every occupation which could be successfully pursued in Ireland seemed to be one also suited to England, and, therefore, one in which the English Government and people would brook no competition. Just because Ireland's economic resources were so similar to those of England, the theories and ideas of the age prevented her from developing them. And at the same time the weakness of her Parliament hindered her from retaliating by 299