At the Revolution in 1688, when England adopted William the Third, the Irish Roman Catholics adhered to James; and it was not until after the battle of the Boyne, and the surrender of Limerick, that Ireland can be said to have been again entirely subject to the English crown. During the insurrections which took place in favour of the exiled family in 1715 and 1745, Ireland remained quiet. But in 1798 the triumph of democracy in France, together with the active interference of French agents, and the promises of assistance held out by them, led to the outbreak of a rebellion, in the progress of which great enormities were perpetrated; and which was not put down until after a great loss of life, and the destruction of much property. Although doubtless to be lamented on these accounts, the rebellion of 1798 was not however without its use, for it showed in the strongest light the defects of the existing system in Ireland, and thus helped to establish the legislative union of the two countries, which took place at the commencement of the present century, when the whole of the British islands were included under the designation of “_The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland_.” Since the passing of the Act of Union in 1800, there is nothing distinctive requiring to be noticed with regard to Ireland, its interests being thenceforward merged in the general interests of the empire. [Sidenote: Progress of population in Ireland.] The following summary of the estimated population of Ireland at several periods is abstracted from the memoir of Mr. Shaw Mason, the officer appointed under the Act for taking the census of Ireland in 1821, as the same is given in the Appendix to Selections from the Lords’ Journals, by Mr. Rowley Lascelles— 1672 as estimated by Sir William Petty 1,320,000 1695 ” by Captain South (doubtful) 1,034,102 1712 ” by Thomas Dobbs Esq., founded on 2,099,094 returns of the hearth-money collectors 1718 ” do. 2,169,048 1725 ” do. 2,317,374 1726 ” do. 2,309,106 1731 ” by the magistrates and clergy 2,010,221 1754 ” by returns from the hearth-money 2,372,634 collectors 1767 ” do. 2,544,276 1777 ” do. 2,690,556 1785 ” do. 2,845,932 1788 ” by Gervais Parker Bushe Esq., one 4,040,000 of the commissioners of revenue 1791 as estimated by returns from the hearth-money 4,206,612 collectors