no doubt, be of great benefit to a neighbourhood; for as Montesquieu justly observes, "crimes are to be prevented by punishment, but manners are to be changed by example."* Now is there a part of the British empire where the manners of the inferior classes have more need of being changed than in Ireland? A respectable writer of that country+ fairly acknowledges, that "the Irish peasant does not much excel the savage in just notions of liberty, or in due respect for the laws and civil institutions of man." Is it not evident, therefore, that nothing could be so beneficial among a populace of this kind as good example? for to talk of their being improved or reclaimed by laws or punishment, is perfectly ridiculous; such an idea could be entertained only by those who have never studied human nature in the various relations of society in which man is placed. Where the mind is not in some degree prepared by education, laws will be made only to be broken, and punishment, instead of amending, will tend only to harden the conscience and irritate the feelings. When the same writer adds, that "the Irish peasant, when treated in an unaffected conciliatory manner, with that kindness he deserves, with that generosity he is ever ready to exercise, with that frankness which allays his habitual suspicions, and with that restrictedly polite familiarity which gratifies his native pride, will seldom fail to endear himself to his patron or his benefactor, and to exhibit a character which upon the whole may be considered as not unworthy of a very high degree of philosophic approbation;" is not this a severe satire on the conduct of landed proprietors in Ireland, who either do not treat the poorer classes with that kindness and affection which would humanize their character, or abandon them to neglect by consigning them into the hands of agents and middle-men, who are not equally interested in their civilization and welfare? Does it not exhibit in the strongest light, the good which might be produced by men of fortune residing among their tenants, and paying that attention to them which their wants might require. On this subject, another respectable writer says, "one of the greatest wants of our rude and ignorant peasantry, is the want of active, industrious, resident gentlemen, to repress their turbulence, relieve their wants, encourage their industry, and humanize their manners. In the article of pleasure, something no doubt must be lost by this sacrifice to utility, but it will be amply compensated by other gratifications. The liberal mind will receive no small degree of satisfaction from the consciousness of doing good, and it behoves gentlemen to consider that their country has a claim to their services, and that they are not born for themselves alone."§ The same author, speaking of the character of the Irish, says, "all these circumstances evince a pos * Montesquieu Esprit des Loix, lib. xix. chap. 14. + Mr. Newenham. View of Ireland, by Thomas Newenham, Esq. Preface, p. xviii. session of qualities capable of conferring, under proper regulations, a very considerable portion of social enjoyment. When instruction shall have enlightened their minds, when their slovenly and rude manners shall have given place to a love of order and decorum, and when they shall have known how to value and enjoy the blessings of industry and peace, we may venture to say, that they will have no cause to envy the inhabitants of any country under heaven."* That the Irish peasantry possess the seeds of every qualification requisite to form a happy and respectable people, cannot be denied; but they stand in need of instruction, and how are they to acquire it, if the country be deserted by men of property and rank, whose more immediate duty it is, each in his district, not only to suggest, but to promote and support every thing that may tend to their moral improvement? To abandon a country as if one were ashamed of it, betrays the weakness of a narrow mind; to leave it, in order to avoid danger from the turbulent disposition of its inhabitants, announces timidity; and to emigrate, because it is poor, and perhaps cannot supply those gratifications which a vitiated and luxurious taste requires, is certainly not very favourable to nobleness and generosity of character. Such reasons are at variance with every principle of virtue and honour. Were there more real patriots the among the Irish nobility and gentry, there would be more good subjects among general population; and if the common people were treated with less neglect, they would certainly be more tractable, and at the same time acquire a greater spirit of industry. But I shall add nothing more on this head; with men of reflecting minds the hints here thrown out will, I trust, have a proper effect; on others no arguments that I could use would produce the smallest impression. I am well aware that there are many, and persons of great respectability, who maintain that the subject of a free country has a right to spend his income in any place and in any manner that he pleases. I will readily admit that this may be true to a certain extent; but no one will thence infer, that a man of property is by any means justified who spends his income in a manner prejudicial to the general interest of that community of which he is a member. How far legislative interference in cases of this kind would be proper, is not for me to determine ;+ all compulsory Townsend's Survey of Cork, p. 76. + "By the Graces, as they were called, granted to the Irish, in 1628, by Charles I. soon after his accession, and sent as instructions to the Lord Deputy Falkland, and the council of state, to be observed by them in the administration of the government, it appears, that a tax was imposed on non-residents, and the nobility and undertakers were restrained from quitting the kingdom without licence." Carte's Life of the Duke of Ormonde, vol. i. p. 81. “In 1635, a proclamation was issued by the lord-lieutenant, in consequence of particular directions from the king, prohibiting men of estates to depart the kingdom without licence; but the object of it seems to have been to prevent the Irish holding dangerous correspondence with their countrymen in foreign service." Ibid. p. 112.-An account of the different acts passed in regard to absentees, may be seen in the Chapter on Revenue. laws which restrain the freedom of the will in points perhaps doubtful, ought to be avoided, and hence recourse has seldom been had to sumptuary laws, as they have never been of much benefit. In regard to agents, care should be taken to select men who not only have a knowof agriculture sufficient to enable them to manage the estate in such a manner as to be conducive to the interest of the landlord, but who possess sufficient justice and honesty to prevent them from having recourse to means which may injure or oppress the tenants. An agent, to ingratiate himself with his employer, will, no doubt, use every exertion to increase the rental of his estate; if this can be done without imposing too heavy burdens on those by whose labour this increase is produced, he will so far be worthy of commendation; but if he wishes to accomplish his end by contrary means, he not only injures the proprietor, by exposing him to an odium which he does not deserve, but lays the foundation of ruin to his property, and of misery and wretchedness to those who render it productive. In my opinion, a resident agent is more exposed to the temptation of making exactions from the tenants, as is frequently the case, than one who occasionally visits the estate for the purpose of collecting the rents. The former often descends to the meanness of requiring from these poor people, fowls, geese, or turf, and sometimes the labour of men and cars to assist him in his harvest and turf seasons. Such paltry emoluments, demanded without right, yielded under the impression of fear, and accepted without shame, can be no object to an agent of character, and, in many cases, may subject those from whom they are extorted to considerable inconvenience. I have, therefore, in general found the non-resident agents, who were not under a similar temptation, by far the most respectable. It is proper that agents should be handsomely paid for their trouble; and there can be no objection to their receiving whatever their employer chooses to give them for their service, which is commonly five per cent. on the rent; but improper means of their adding to their emoluments ought to be reprobated, and landlords should use every means in their power to prevent them. What I found most mischievous in the relationship of agent and proprietor is, that all intercourse between the latter and the tenant is impeded, except through a selfish medium; the agent, in numerous cases, being a creditor of the landlord, whom he therefore has completely under his power and control. This evil, in Ireland, has been carried to the most criminal excess, so that it was found necessary to enact a law which renders all leases from a landlord to an agent invalid. Without a check of this kind, the most flagitious transactions would have been carried on with impunity, as a door was left open to assist the designs of villany, and facilitate, in an uncommon degree, unwarrantable transfers of property. I must observe, also, that the most bare-faced bribery and corruption are practised by this class of people, without the least sense of fear or of shame. I have known VOL. I. 2 Q instances where the first question asked, on a person applying for a lease, was, “And how much do you propose to give to myself?"-Wives, daughters, kept-mistresses, all receive money, and the same infamous system prevails even among some resident landlords, who suffering themselves to be guided by that influence which, if I may be allowed to compare small things with great, has so often proved destructive to states, turn out the best and most improving tenant to make room for some artful and designing knave, who has slipped into the hands of the agent, or into those of some part of his family, according to circumstances, twenty, thirty, forty, or even sixty guineas. Nay, I have known instances where the tenant, after feeing the agent in this manner, could not get his lease executed without having recourse to the proprietor's lady, who was to be moved only by weighty arguments of the same kind, and to whom it was necessary for the fleeced tenant to present a similar fee before he could succeed in his application. The following anecdote, which was related to me by the daughter of an English earl, married to a nobleman in Ireland, is an evident proof that bribery in this country, among tenants, agents, landlords, and their wives, has become systematic, and is considered merely as a sort of political engine, necessary to be employed even in the common affairs of life. Soon after the lady's marriage she accompanied her husband to Ireland, and, on arriving at the family seat, the tenants flocked round it from every quarter, telling his lordship that they wished to have the pleasure of seeing his lady. The nobleman informed her ladyship what the tenants wanted. Her ladyship, struck with the uncouth appearance of her visitors, declined at first to expose herself as a public spectacle before so many men; but, being told that the tenants would be affronted if she did not, she at length consented to gratify their wishes. When she appeared among them, a farmer in a brown wig, and a long coat, or trusty, as it is called, went up to her, and, jogging her with his elbow, signified that he wished to speak a few words to her in private. The lady having stepped aside, the farmer said, "I thought, perhaps, that your ladyship might be in want of a little ready money for your pocket, and I have brought you some," at the same time slipping into her hand a piece of paper containing forty or fifty guineas, but adding: "I hope, when my lease is out, your ladyship will speak a word in my favour to my lord." Others had come with a similar intention, but the lady having been bred in England, disdained to receive such presents; and, unwilling to be the means of encouraging so disgraceful a practice, politely rejected the offer. Now it is evident that these people had formed an idea from actual experience, that bribery was an all-powerful engine, which, wherever applied, would always produce its effect. Can any thing tend more than such a belief to degrade the mind, and to render men selfish and dishonest? Such practices, if not checked and discouraged, must sap the foundation of every moral principle; debase the character, and eradi cate all generous feelings from the heart. When ideas of this kind are imbibed by will oppose education, strengthened by habit, and confirmed by example, can it excite much surprise that the labouring classes in Ireland should so often forget the ties of morality, disregard the laws, and even set the government itself at defiance. Every proprietor, therefore, who values his own welfare, or the prosperity of the country, this spirit of corruption; let it be discouraged by every possible means, and let those who give way to it be branded with infamy. No good can be expected in a country where it prevails: it is one of the most destructive of those evils under which Ireland now labours. It is as disgraceful to her national character as it is contrary to her real interest; and, as it is loudly condemned by the united voice of justice and sound policy, I trust that there is patriotism enough among the gentlemen of Ireland to extinguish it, and to wipe away, in an effectual manner, so shameful a cause of reproach. While in Kildare, during the spring of the year 1809, a gentleman with whom I am in habits of intimacy, and on whose strict veracity I can place full reliance, communicated to me the following circumstance, which, had it been a solitary instance, I should have suppressed; but, as a hundred of the same kind might be produced, it ought to be made known. My friend being about to go to England, was desired by one of his neighbours to wait upon a gentleman in London, to request the renewal of the lease of a farm. The gentleman received him with much politeness; and, after some conversation on the business, referred him to the agent who resided on the estate. On application to the agent, he immediately said, "You must give so much per annum as the rent, and it will be necessary, likewise, that you should make me a present of £500.-I have been offered £300. already." As a companion to the above, I shall relate a circumstance nearly of the same kind: The late Duke of Leinster, upon the appointment of a new agent for his estate, borrowed of him £20,000. The agent, who was a man of character, being desirous to have it understood-whether or not he was to follow the usual custom, and to receive presents from the tenants, asked his employer in what manner he should act. His grace replied, "Get all you can." Many agents have sons, or other relations, settled as shopkeepers on some part of the estate to which they belong, and a tenant, unless he chooses to run the risk of incurring the displeasure of these harpies, cannot purchase a yard of tape or a pound of cheese in any other place. Nay, I have known agents, when they had no relations to provide for in this manner, dispose of a shop to a stranger, and exact from him a per-centage on all his profits. Irish landlords, do not give way to delusion-you who reside on the spot, and who are well acquainted with these scandalous transactions, are sufferers by them, though you are weak enough to imagine that this is not the case. Sums thus exacted, and frequently after a bargain has been made, become most oppressive to the tenant, as are all unexpected demands; but in the end they will fall upon the estate, and the loss |