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Show ON TilE IMlUEDIATE CAUSES [ CH. VII. nary stin1nlants; it is equally true that the larrre portion of titne of \vhich they have the con1mand, beyond \Vhat is employed in providing then1sclvcs \¥ith necessaries, does not certainly produce the effect of making them abound in con ven icnces ancl luxuries. 1.,he poor clothing and \vorse lodging of the Irish peasant are as vvell ·knovvn as the spare tirnc \Vhich it 1night be expected \Votdd Le the means of furnishing him amply \Vith all kinds of con ven1ences. In defence, ho,vever, of the Irish peasant, it n1ay be truly said, that in th~ state of society in '" hich he has been placed, he has not had a fair tri:.1l ; he has not been subjected to the ordinary stitnu1ants which produce industrious habits. In aln1ost every part of the island, particularly in the south and west, the population of the country districts is . greater than the actual-business to be done on the land can employ. If the people, therefore, \Vere ever so industriously inclined, it is not possible for them all to get regular employn1ent in the occupations vvhich belong to the soil. In the n1ore hilly parts of the country which are devoted chiefly to pasture, this in1possibility is more particularly striking. A sn1all farm among the l(erry mountains n1ay support perhaps a large family, arnong whom are a number of grown-up sons; but the business to be done upon the farn1 is a mere trifle. The greatest part of it falls to the share of the wotnen. ~hat remains for the men cannot occupy thetn for a number of hours equal to a single day in the week; and the consequence is, they are generally .SEC. IV'.] OF THE PROGRESS OF WEALTH. 397 seen loitering about, as if time was absolutely of no value to the1n. They tnight, one should suppose, \Vith all this leisure, employ the1nselves in building better houses, or at least in irnproving them, and keeping them. neat and clean. But with regard to the first, some difficulties tnay occur in procuring materials; and with regard to the second, it appears from experience, that the object is either not understood, or not considered as worth the trouble it would cost. They n1ight also, one should suppose, grow or purchase the ra \\T n1aterials of clothing, and vvork them up at hon1e; and this in fact is really done to a certain extent. Most of the linen and woollen they wear is prepared by themselves. But the ra\v materials, when not of home growth, cannot be purchased without great difficulty, on account of the low tnoney prices of labour ; and in preparing them for wear, the ten1ptations to indolence will generally be too powerful for hun1an weakness, when the question is n1erely about a work \Vhich may be deferred or neglected, with no other effect than that of beino' oblio·ecl to \vear old clothes a b b little longer, in a country where custon1 is certainly in their favour. If the Irish peasant could find such a rnarket for the result of his in-door oceupations as \Vould give him constant employtnent at a fair n1ouey price, his habits might soon change; but it may be doubted whether any large body of people in an.y country ever acquired regular and industrious habits, \Vhere they \Vere unable to get regular and |