The removal of all commercial restrictions, either by Independence or Union, on the one hand, and the gradual emancipation of the Catholics, on the other, were the two processes to which every consideration of good government manifestly pointed.

The first proved a much shorter and simpler process than the second.

To the first the only obstacle was the blindness and selfishness of the English merchants.

The second had to overcome the virulent opposition of the tyrannical Protestant faction in Ireland, and the disgraceful but deep-rooted antipathies of the English nation.

The history of the relation between the mother country and her dependency during Brake's life, may be characterised as a commercial and legislative struggle between the imperial government and the Anglo-Irish interest, in which each side for its own convenience, as the turn served, drew support from the Catholic majority.
A Whiteboy outbreak, attended by the usual circumstances of disorder and violence, took place while Burke was in Ireland.