Page:Studies in Irish History, 1649-1775 (1903).djvu/349

After Limerick every class in the kingdom was impoverished. The landlords could not get their rents, the shopkeepers could not get paid for their goods, and the merchants could get no profit. The only section of the Irish population who were comparatively prosperous were the occupiers of the great grazing farms and the merchants who managed the provision trade. The linen manufacture for a long time made little progress in spite of the partial encouragement held out by England. After the middle of the century, however, it progressed fairly well and gave employment to a considerable number of people. But it was largely concentrated in the North, though not to such an extent as at the present day, and it was mainly in Protestant hands. There were various small local industries scattered over the country and, especially in the South, spinning wool into yarn was a large subsidiary employment. But, speaking broadly, the mass of the Irish people were dependent on the land, and we can realise clearly what this meant when we reflect that until after 1773 the greater part of cultivated land in Ireland was under pasture. We all know that ghastly piece of irony of Swift on how to utilize the children of poor people so that they would be a benefit rather than a burden to their parents, and poor 337