IRELAND 
 
 t 
 
 HER LANDLORDS, HER PEOPLE, AND 
 THEIR HOMES. 
 
 BY AN IRISH LANDLORD. 
 
 DUBLIN : 
 
 GEORGE HERBERT, 117, GRAFTON STREET. 
 
 1860. 
 
Dublin : 
 
 Printed by Pattison Jolly, 
 22, Essex-st. West. 
 
303, 4 VS 
 
 7 L 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the following Letters I have stated my own 
 convictions, the result of some research, and some 
 practical experience, relative to the present and future 
 interests of the Irish people. Having lived amongst 
 them, and witnessed the scenes of misery consequent 
 on the late famine, it naturally occurred to me to 
 inquire how it came to pass that a people, nurtured in 
 the midst of civilisation, and surrounded by the evi- 
 dences of luxury and refinement, should yet be them- 
 selves uneducated, unrefined, and destitute of the com- 
 forts and appendages of civilised life. The problem 
 of our national existence had never yet been solved, 
 probably because the solution was looked for in the 
 political, not the social condition of the Irish people. 
 Men believed that the Irish must be prosperous, free, 
 and enlightened, because they were admitted to the 
 benefits of a liberal constitution ; forgetful that the 
 true secret of happiness and independence consists in 
 the development of a moral and intellectual character, 
 and in the secure possession and enjoyment of those 
 material guarantees which entitle the individual to the 
 
 4 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 if 
 
 rant and privileges of a citizen. This rank, these 
 privileges, I would claim for the great majority of my 
 fellow-countrymen. I believe that as yet they do not 
 possess them, that they have hitherto been dependent, 
 destitute of capital and resources, and therefore with- 
 out the elements of national existence. The history 
 of the Irish nation has yet to be written. That 
 nation, the essence of which is a great conservative 
 body of citizens, attached to the country by a per- 
 manent bond, has yet to be created. And this work 
 can be done without any great social change, or any 
 violation of the rights of property, but simply by an 
 adherence to the dictates of honour and equity, and 
 by a practical recognition of the obligations and 
 duties of Christian legislators. It will be done, not 
 by exquisites and men of ultra-refinement, not by 
 pseudo-philanthropists and formalists, dealers in con- 
 ventionalities and small wares, but by those who bring 
 an unshaken integrity, a warm heart and generous 
 spirit, and an indomitable energy to the work ; — by 
 men who have shared the joys and sympathised with 
 the sorrows of their poorer brethren — who have sat 
 beside their hearth, beneath their roof-tree, and 
 learned by practical experience the lessons which lie 
 hidden beneath the veil of our humanity, and within 
 the recesses of the human breast. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Letter I. — Social Condition 
 Letter II. — Landlords 
 .Letter III. — Homes of the People 
 Letter IV. — Tenant-Right . 
 Letter V. — Education 
 Letter VI. — The Peasantrt 
 Letter Vi I. — Our Future Polict 
 Conclusion 
 
 Pag© 
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 . 30 
 
 . 35 
 
 . 44 
 
 . 54 
 
 . 64 
 
 . 77 
 
 . 95 
 

 f : 
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 ■ 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The condition of Ireland and of her people has long 
 been a subject of interest to the patriot and the states- 
 man. Often has the question been asked, How does 
 it come to pass that a country, blessed with a fertile 
 soil, a temperate climate, and great natural resources, 
 and closely connected with the most wealthy and 
 civilized empire in he world, should yet have been so 
 long neglected and unimproved ? Why have its 
 natural capabilities been so little developed, while the 
 stream of English capital, poured forth on other lands, 
 has been diverted from its shores ? But, above all, 
 why is it that a people gifted with many natural 
 endowments — with a vivid imagination, a versatile 
 genius, and with great quickness of perception and apti- 
 tude for learning ; a people who have long been sub- 
 ject to the laws, and partakers in the benefits of the 
 British constitution, should yet have derived little ad- 
 vantage apparently from their contact with a civilized, 
 industrious, and enterprising race ; and while destitute 
 of capital or material resources, should too often exhibit 
 the characteristics of the uneducated barbarian (in their 
 recklessness, intemperance, and improvidence) ? Why 
 
 B 
 
Yin 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 should they, horn beneath the aegis of British freedom, 
 evince often a discontented spirit, a disloyalty and law- 
 lessness which appears inexplicable, and difficult to be 
 accounted for in the case of those who (it is presumed, 
 at least) have been admitted to the full privileges of 
 citizenship ? These are important questions ; and on 
 their solution will depend the future welfare of this 
 country. Is there a cause sufficient to account for this 
 strange anomaly ; for the waywardness and apparent in- 
 gratitude, for the unformed character and rude habits of 
 a people, who are connected by the closest ties with the 
 most free and enlightened community in the world ? 
 Yes, there is a cause ; and the object of the following 
 letters is to disclose, if possible, the true source of the 
 evils of Ireland, to trace their results, and to propose the 
 remedy. 
 
 Many who have hitherto dilated upon the evils 
 which so long affected the condition of the Irish, have 
 believed that they resulted partly from political causes, 
 from the want of certain franchises or privileges ; 
 partly from these innate defects of the national cha- 
 racter, which must always operate to preclude any 
 lasting improvement. Now, on reviewing the past 
 history of our country, we do find that although the 
 concession of certain rights, and the removal of dis- 
 abilities affecting a large portion of the community, 
 was undoubtedly a great relief, and tended to the ad- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ix 
 
 vancement of the people, yet the social condition of 
 the Irish was little changed ; the great characteris- 
 tics of their existence remained unaltered, and they 
 were still destitute of the essential elements of nation- 
 ality. Nor again, could their inferior condition be 
 wholly attributed to any peculiar inherent defects in 
 the people themselves, to a want of intelligence, to a 
 natural slothfulness and recklessness, or a practical 
 denial of all moral responsibility ? Elsewhere, in 
 former ages, the Celtic race has contended for su- 
 premacy on the theatre of the world. They were the 
 advanced guard of those nations who afterwards 
 triumphed on the ruins of Eome, and under her em- 
 pire they attained to a high degree of civilization. 
 Elsewhere the Irish, when removed from the influences 
 of their native soil, have displayed those virtues of 
 persevering industry, of energy, and enterprise, and 
 self-control, which fitted them to be the pioneers of 
 future nations in the untrodden wilds of America. 
 And even in his own country, when stimulated to exer- 
 tion by a generous and liberal treatment, the Irishman 
 has often proved that he can rival the Saxon in those 
 qualities which are held to be the peculiar character- 
 istics of the English race. 
 
 I do not here seek to extenuate the faults or pal- 
 liate the misdeeds of my fellow-countrymen ; nor would 
 I throw a false colouring over defects which undoubt- 
 
X 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 edly do exist. The truth must be told, whatever may 
 be the result. And if we would reform a people, we 
 must prove to them that the necessity for such reform 
 does actually exist. But while I acknowledge much 
 that is reprehensible ; while I lament the lawlessness, 
 the fierce hatred, the frequent outbursts of intempe- 
 rate rage, I still do affirm that the vices with which 
 the national character has been branded are not indi- 
 genous, but that they arise more from the circum- 
 stances of their condition than from any inherent 
 depravity. In fact, as with the land, so with its people ; 
 the soil was good, but it had been neglected ; weeds 
 had been allowed to spring up and choke the natural 
 growth. None can deny that the Irish are warm- 
 hearted ; easily won by sympathy and kindness ; grate- 
 ful — attached to their family and their native land ; san- 
 guine and hopeful even under adverse circumstances. 
 Such a race, if they had been governed with liberality 
 and firmness, and subjected to a system by which their 
 natural good qualities might be called into action, and 
 their bad habits repressed, would have long since 
 achieved a proud position, and asserted a high rank 
 among the nations. But when their rulers, adopting 
 an unjust and suicidal policy, restricted them to a con- 
 dition of vassalage and dependence, and thus perpe- 
 tuated their degradation ; when they condemned them 
 to a precarious existence, and denied that hope in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XI 
 
 the future, which is the incentive to persevering 
 exertion ; when they relegated the people to the lowest 
 class, and thus practically forbade them to become 
 capitalists, how could they expect that their depend- 
 ants should display the virtues of freemen, or that 
 serfs, without any definite interest in the country, 
 should he industrious, provident, and loyal citizens. 
 No ; the same system and the same training will pro- 
 duce similar results in every age, and in every part 
 of the world — whether among the peasants of Ireland 
 or the ryots of Hindostan. Let the Anglo-Saxon be 
 subjected during a short term to the same treatment 
 as that which paralysed the energies of the Celt, and 
 he will be equally reckless, discontented, and impro- 
 vident. The great laws by which mankind are 
 governed never alter. Treat men as serfs ; deprive 
 them of the highest incentives to action, the springs 
 of a noble ambition, and you will have them ignorant, 
 insincere, and demoralized. Treat them with justice 
 and liberality ; recognize their legitimate rights ; 
 open up to them the path to wealth and independence, 
 and you will soon see light shining out of darkness, 
 and a people long oppressed shaking off the fetters 
 which bound them — shaking off their apathy and sloth, 
 and aspiring to the dignity of freemen and citizens. 
 
 Again, the misfortunes of our country have been 
 attributed to absentee landlords, and to the want of 
 
XII 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 capital, which would supply the means of permanent 
 improvements. Now, as regards the first objection, 
 it is certain that while the masses of the Irish people 
 are dependent on a certain class for support and pro- 
 tection ; while they do not possess the means of acquir- 
 ing independence themselves, hut must look to their 
 landlords for employment and subsistence, the absence 
 of that class from the country, and from the proper 
 sphere of their duties, is a great and serious evil. The 
 magnitude, however, of that evil, is chiefly owing to 
 the insecure condition of the people. Rescue them 
 from that condition, and the absence of the landed 
 proprietors will he a matter comparatively of slight 
 importance. If the owner of the soil should take care 
 to leave behind him a sufficient substitute in a popu- 
 lation attached to the land, associated with him in pro- 
 prietory rights, who would improve and cultivate his 
 estate with the energy and perseverance of a master, he 
 would do much to alleviate, at least, if not to remove 
 altogether, those evils which his non-residence must 
 necessarily entail upon a community dependent on 
 him alone tor the means of existence. Let me not 
 be misunderstood ; I hold, that in a country like 
 Ireland, the residence and active co-operation of 
 a refined and intelligent gentry is most essential, 
 in order to further the education and improvement 
 of the people. But that a people should be dependent 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 upon them to such an extent as to be affected in 
 their highest interests by their absence, this is a proof 
 of a radical defect in our social system. No system 
 is sound which subjects the welfare, even the existence 
 of the body of the people, to chance, to the caprice of 
 a privileged and irresponsible class. In the present 
 state of society, it is undoubtedly the duty of land- 
 lords, a solemn obligation entailed upon them, to 
 protect and cherish their dependants, as long as they 
 choose to retain them in a state of vassalage. They 
 must reside and give employment to those who, by 
 proper encouragement, would find ample occupation 
 on their own farms, and accumulate capital. But 
 who is to compel landlords to expend their revenues 
 on their estates, and to reside at home? In a word, 
 absenteeism is a serious evil, while the people continue 
 in a state of pupillage. But we should look forward 
 to a time when they may be emancipated from this 
 anomalous condition of dependence and insecurity, 
 and advanced to a higher position, where they may 
 hope, by their own exertions, to realize a competence. 
 It is not so much the want of a resident proprie- 
 tory as of a “ resident” people, which has been the 
 curse of Ireland — of a people attached to their 
 country by enduring ties, who possessed a home and 
 an interest therein, and were identified with its 
 institutions. 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As regards capital — if we understand by that term 
 merely the monied resources of the people — there has 
 been hitherto a deficiency in that respect. But there 
 are other things of great importance, which we would 
 consider as capital, although, perhaps, they may not he 
 classed under that head by our political economists. 
 The intelligence and educated skill of a people — their 
 habits of industry — the character acquired by long 
 training — the spirit of independence handed down 
 from their ancestors — all that which may be made 
 available for the development of their natural re- 
 sources ; — these constitute a capital more precious than 
 the mines of Peru. Material wealth may be wasted ; 
 the solid structures reared by the toil of generations 
 may be swept away ; the sands of the desert may 
 entomb the pyramid ; the grass wave over the marble 
 mausoleum ; — but that glorious heritage which a peo- 
 ple possess who have been nurtured in freedom, and 
 trained to habits of self-reliance, can never be reft 
 from them, but must ultimately insure to them pros- 
 perity and empire. Wherever they may steer their 
 course, whether to the burning plains of India or 
 the rugged shores of America ; wherever they fix 
 their abode, they will assert their supremacy, and stamp 
 their impress, their idiosyncrasy, on the soil. The 
 character of the fierce and conquering Roman, of the 
 Norman, and the Anglo-Saxon race, may be read dis- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XV 
 
 tinctly impressed upon the memorials which attest 
 their indomitable energy and persevering toil. They 
 were no soft, effeminate race, but stern, practical 
 men, who have thus worked out their own indepen- 
 dence, and fulfilled a noble mission on earth. Let 
 us follow their example. Let us not forget that riches 
 alone are not capital ; but the true wealth of nations 
 consists in an educated, intelligent, high-minded peo- 
 ple, who are capable of calling forth and turning to 
 good account the natural capabilities and resources 
 of their country. We want this capital in Ireland ; 
 we want a people trained to the practical duties of 
 life, schooled by experience, whose skill and reasoning 
 powers have been developed ; give us these — give the 
 opportunity and the incentives to exertion — and we 
 shall soon find the rest. Ireland will soon possess 
 material wealth, created by the enterprise and industry 
 of her children, and will no longer demand from the 
 stranger a precarious and transitory relief. 
 
 If, then, those causes which I have mentioned, 
 namely, the peculiarities of race, the want of political 
 power, the want of monied capital, and of resident 
 landlords, are not sufficient in themselves to account 
 for the anomalous condition of the Irish people, it re- 
 mains to consider whether there may not be some 
 deeper root of evil, which is not a result but itself a 
 cause, the origin “fons et origo malorum.” This 
 
XVI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 original source of calamity we shall, I think, find in 
 the radical defects of our social system. According 
 to that system, which emanated from the conquest of 
 the country, the mass of the people were reduced to a 
 state of vassalage and dependence under the lords of 
 the soil, who possessed unlimited power, and to whom 
 the authority of the state was delegated. From the 
 period of the Norman invasion until the present time, 
 the destinies of the Irish were committed to those who 
 had inherited the privileges and institutions of the 
 dominant race. The landlords were the medium of 
 communication between the state and the people, and 
 represented, in fact, the ruling power. Consequently, 
 vney were bound by their position to fulfil the duties 
 attached to property, and to exercise the functions of 
 statesmanship. They were bound to educate and train 
 up those placed under their charge, to afford them the 
 means of improvement, and thus, by degrees, to make 
 them capitalists connected with property, and qualified 
 to be citizens of the state. Their policy should have 
 been to eradicate the vestiges of the conquest, to fuse 
 together the discordant elements, to unite all classes 
 without distinction of caste or creed, by a common 
 bond, and thus to inaugurate a solid basis of nation- 
 ality. This was their mission, the great work which 
 they ought to have performed as the guardians of 
 the people, and the representatives of the power of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 xvii 
 
 England. But they did not do so ; they allowed cen- 
 turies to pass away, and left the masses still loose 
 on the soil, and alienated from all real property — 
 still uneducated ; without a home ; without any 
 guarantees of existence ; insecure and uncertain of 
 their future ; and in that uncertainty and that in- 
 security we discern the true cause, the original source 
 of the evils of Ireland. Deprived of the great incen- 
 tives to labour, the people became indolent and apa- 
 thetic ; left without any certain hope, they were 
 reckless and improvident ; and finally, being destitute 
 of property, and without an abiding interest in the 
 state, they were discontented, lawless, and disaffected. 
 What advantages were political privileges to men 
 who were socially enslaved ? What great boon was 
 an extension of franchise to those who were strug- 
 gling to gain the first elements of existence, who 
 wanted the qualification, and therefore were incapable 
 of possessing the rights of citizenship? For a prole- 
 tarian class, that is, one bound to the country by no 
 tie except the mere accident of birth, must be depen- 
 dent, and therefore cannot rank amongst the citizens. 
 This lesson, then, we extract from the past history of 
 Ireland, that a people whose social position is insecure, 
 can never rise to independence or to real nationality. 
 While they possess no stake or guarantee ; while 
 “ a scripti glebae,” they own no capital or property in 
 
XV111 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the country, they can make no progress, or initiate 
 any real permanent improvement. And therefore, 
 after centuries had elapsed, the Irishman of the nine- 
 teenth century, previous to the famine, differed little 
 in his habits and the characteristics of his existence 
 from his rude, uncivilised forefathers. Like them he 
 lived in a wretched habitation, conversant with filth 
 and misery ; like them he was careless and improvi- 
 dent, dependent for subsistence on the casual provision 
 of a single year. Thus the stream of time rolled on, and 
 bore with it the relics of former days, and the unsub- 
 stantial fabrics of disappointed ambition. And age 
 succeeded age, and often was the soil of Ireland the 
 battle-field where Norman and Saxon, and loyalists 
 and revolutionists, contended for the supremacy. But 
 the storms which raged over the heads of the humble 
 occupiers of the soil affected them not, and the shift- 
 ing of the political scenes left them unaltered. Still 
 they existed — miserable, abject, until the great catas- 
 trophe, to which all had ultimately tended, arrived. 
 A great population had accumulated upon the land, 
 from whence alone they derived their subsistence. 
 Destitute of capital — without any heritage or wealth 
 derived from their ancestors (for insecurity had pro- 
 duced this obvious and fatal result), they were wholly 
 dependent on a single crop for the means of support. 
 That crop failed in one night : As by the breath of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 xix 
 
 some destroying angel, their resources were blasted, 
 and the nation became bankrupt. Then at once 
 the hollowness of that system was apparent, which 
 had demoralised a people by restricting their en- 
 ergies, and closing the path to independence and 
 prosperity. Then the bubble burst, the unsub- 
 stantial fabric collapsed, and at length the truth was 
 revealed, which had been concealed during centuries. 
 A population long existing on the verge of destitution, 
 were deprived of their last hope, and in their ruin they 
 involved those who, occupied with their own selfish 
 cares, had never sought their advancement, or sympa- 
 thised with their misfortunes. Henceforth they must 
 learn by experience, that the laws of God cannot be 
 transgressed with impunity ; that sooner or later pun- 
 ishment will be inflicted on those who have wasted 
 their opportunities, neglected their manifest duty, and 
 allowed a people committed to their trust to linger on 
 in misery and ignorance, while, with their natural 
 powers undeveloped, and devoid of resources, they had 
 lapsed into a condition in which their ultimate ruin 
 was inevitable. Surely, when we look back on the 
 dreary records of Irish history, we may well apply to 
 those infatuated rulers the words of the poet — 
 
 “ Tunc crassos transisse dies, lucemque palustrem, 
 
 Et sibi tunc serd vitam ingenuGre relictam.” 
 
 Now the crisis has passed away, and the vivifying light 
 
XX 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 has burst forth through the chaos. Ireland is awakening 
 to a new birth. Her people are at length beginning 
 to understand what are the real exigencies of their 
 position, and to lay the bases of nationality. That 
 nationality can only consist in the possession by the 
 people of an assured position, of a home and settlement 
 in the land, in the full enjoyment of the blessings of 
 freedom, and the privileges of citizenship. Once 
 more let me repeat, it is social, not political reform 
 which we want. We want, not that our people 
 should have empty votes, and unsubstantial honours ; 
 but that they should be free ; — free by virtue of their 
 moral character and intellectual power, free, as no 
 longer aliens in the land, but associated with property, 
 possessed of a definite interest, and elevated to the 
 rank of citizens. Once they have attained to that 
 position, they will be prepared to exercise calmly and 
 dispassionately that political power to which they are 
 entitled under the British constitution. It is in 
 order to call attention to these important facts con- 
 nected with the social constitution of our people, that 
 I have written the following letters, being confident 
 that the system which I advocate is consistent with 
 the fundamental principles of statesmanship, and with 
 the requirements of a civilization based on Christianity, 
 and that, if rightly carried out, it would ultimately 
 establish the welfare and prosperity of Ireland. 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 I have been anxious during some time to lay 
 before my fellow-countrymen the result of a little 
 thought and a little experience relative to the con- 
 dition and prospects of the Irish people. I think this 
 is a fitting time to bring forward the subject. Per- 
 haps we have already waited too long. Time is 
 slipping by — generations are passing away — and yet 
 the great questions which involve actually the inde- 
 pendence, the social position, the true national exist- 
 ence of the people, are still unsettled. Matters of 
 comparatively trifling import are brought promi- 
 nently forward, and made the watchwords of party, 
 while those subjects on which the present prosperity 
 and future prospects of Ireland must depend, are but 
 slightly alluded to, or passed over. Let the people 
 understand their own business — what they want, and 
 what they ought to get. Let them know that it 
 must depend chiefly upon themselves, on their own 
 intelligence and exertions, whether they shall ever 
 attain to that position which is alone compatible 
 
22 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 with national independence, with progress and citizen- 
 ship. When the intelligence of a people has been 
 awakened, and directed to one object ; when they 
 are united, and determined to obtain those rights 
 which reason and justice would demand, then they 
 may rest assured that their wishes will shortly be 
 accomplished. It is want of union, want of steadi- 
 ness of purpose, want of persevering energy, which 
 has hitherto caused the weakness of the Celt ; while 
 the opposite qualities constitute the strength of the 
 Saxon. When we know our deficiencies, we can 
 correct them ; when we know our real evils, we 
 may be able to devise a sufficient remedy. Let the 
 public decide whether what I say is true or not. If 
 true, it will stand, whatever the world may think ; 
 if false, it will fall to the ground. 
 
 The case of the Irish people is a simple one. Ow- 
 ing to various causes, they had, until a late period, 
 possessed no security, no definite settlement or tenure 
 in the land. Consequently, they had no opportu- 
 nity of acquiring that fund of wealth, that heritage 
 created by the toil of generations, which must be the 
 sole basis of freedom and national existence. They 
 had not that stake in the country — that permanent 
 interest which is the guarantee and pledge of citizen- 
 ship. Therefore, their political rights, derived from 
 a loose and uncertain social contract, were of little 
 
SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 23 
 
 value ; — their guarantees, not only of freedom, but even 
 of existence, of a home or settlement in their native 
 land, were undefined and ill assured ; and the natural 
 result was, that — unconnected with real property — 
 they evinced the character, the reckless, improvident 
 habits which such a state of things must engender. 
 Without capital, without a fund of realised wealth, they 
 could not aspire to the position of free and enlight- 
 ened citizens. Political enfranchisement -brought 
 therefore to them little alleviation from their evils. 
 Acts of Parliament and Emancipation Bills will not 
 create a nation, or make them independent. A 
 people who have no ties, no permanent interest in 
 their country, are not citizens of the state. They 
 may possess votes and franchises, but these things 
 will not preserve them from vassalage. Politically 
 free, they are socially enslaved. The picture which 
 Alfieri drew of the Italians might equally serve to 
 describe the Irish — 
 
 44 Servi, ma servi ognor frementi.” 
 
 Such was, I believe, the condition of the Irish people 
 until the great famine of 1846. That visitation 
 demonstrated clearly the false and insecure basis 
 upon which the national existence rested. A people 
 without capital, dependent upon a single crop, saw 
 their last stake swept away, their forlorn hope de- 
 stroyed, in a single night. They had nothing left to 
 
 c 
 
24 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 tail back upon, therefore they lapsed at once into 
 the abyss of ruin and starvation. What a comment 
 was this upon the patriotism of our statesmen, of 
 those who had long directed the energies of our 
 people. Were they actually ignorant of this fact, 
 that all the glories of the British constitution were 
 nothing to a people while their very existence, their 
 right of settlement in the land, was yet undetermined ; 
 that repeal of the Union, universal suffrage, vote by 
 ballot, were matters of slight importance while the 
 great question, the life insurance of a nation, was 
 unsettled ; that political freedom must follow from 
 social ; but it availed little to those who owned not 
 the title or the privileges of citizens ? Political 
 power may be bestowed on those who, like the Roman 
 citizens of the Empire, are mere dependent serfs ; 
 but those who possess a solid interest in the state, 
 have a title to independence which cannot be 
 gainsayed. What was Magna Charta to the Saxon 
 race, when trampled beneath the iron tread of the 
 Norman barons ? They could not appeal to it ; they 
 derived no benefit from it, until, step by step, by 
 hard industry and presevering endurance, they had 
 gained that position in which their freedom could not 
 be longer refused. And this is the work which the 
 Irish people should do — this is the position which 
 they must gain. That work, by which a people 
 
SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 25 
 
 can be elevated to a real, independent, national exist- 
 ence, cannot be accomplished in a moment. It will 
 require the earnest co-operation of all classes — it will 
 task the intelligence, the mental power, the inherent 
 qualities of the race. By a steady perseverence, by a 
 due appreciation of their real wants and exigencies, 
 they will ultimately succeed. In my next letters I will 
 state briefly the measures and course of policy which 
 might, I trust, lead to this result, and inaugurate a 
 prosperous future for our country. 
 
 In order to prevent the recurrence of such evils as 
 those of which the late famine was the culminating 
 point, the closing act of a long tragedy, it is essential 
 that the radical defects in our social system which 
 hitherto obstructed the progress of the people should 
 be removed. It is absolutely necessary that the Irish 
 people should be elevated to that position of security, 
 comfort, and independence, in which, having a perma- 
 nent interest in their country, they may fulfil the part 
 of citizens, and arrive at a higher development of their 
 moral and intellectual powers. In a word, they must 
 become capitalists — that is, they must possess, in their 
 educated faculties, in their intelligence, in a certain 
 realized fund of wealth, those resources which will se- 
 cure them in future against any sudden unforeseen 
 calamity, and placed them in a secure harbour of safety. 
 
26 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 And they will have to enter on a new career, where, 
 by works performed and deeds done, they may afford 
 an evidence to the world that they are resolved to 
 create, by energy and perseverance, a real, distinct, 
 nationality. F or let us remember that mankind will 
 value us not according to our own estimation, but 
 according to the substantial proofs which they may 
 see of life and energy. No poems of Ossian and tra- 
 ditions of old kings will avail in this practical age. 
 The world requires facts, not fictions. Show us your 
 title deeds. What have you done ? — Are the monu- 
 ments of your genius, your enterprise, your persever- 
 ing toil, scattered broadcast through your land ? If 
 you have these, you may take rank among the nations. 
 If not, despite all the bards of Fingal — despite all 
 sentimental talk about Erin’s glories — you have yet 
 to enter on the career of independent national exist- 
 ence. A people have not emerged from a state of 
 pupillage and assumed the “ toga virilis,” until, edu- 
 cated and refined, they have obtained a sure footing 
 in their native land. 
 
 The sooner that all classes understand their position 
 and relative duties the better. It is the duty of the 
 people of Ireland to cast off the evil habits, the sloth 
 and improvidence of their fathers, and to aspire to 
 that condition in which they will be, not in name 
 only, but in fact, citizens of the state It is the duty 
 
SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 27 
 
 of the higher classes, who possess an influence, and 
 guide the destinies of their fellow-countrymen, to re- 
 move any obstructions which have hitherto operated 
 to depress the people, to prevent their temporal ad- 
 vancement, and the development of their natural 
 resources. They must show an example of disinte- 
 restedness, of freedom from vulgar prejudices, of liber- 
 ality and strict justice in their dealings, otherwise 
 it will be hard to eradicate the seeds, long implanted, 
 of suspicion and mistrust. They should rise superior 
 to all sectarian distinctions, and learn to regard all 
 Irishmen, whatever may be their race or creed, as the 
 members of one commonwealth, which may hereafter 
 take rank among the foremost nations of the earth. 
 For I believe that there are resources yet undeveloped 
 in our country and its people — there are germs of 
 future excellence not matured, which may lead us 
 confidently to expect such a result. Only let us reject 
 all quacking and superficial remedies, and look for a 
 treatment accordant with the requirements of civilized 
 man. Deep ploughing is what we want ; as with our 
 soil, so with our people ; no raising of the skin, no 
 mere grazing the surface. Dig deep, get rid of the 
 weeds, turn up the subsoil ; beneath that parasitical 
 growth there is the material of wealth ; beneath the 
 habits and vices engendered by servitude, there are 
 natural good qualities and capabilities long obscured, 
 
28 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 which give promise of future strength and power. 
 But let it he well understood, that “ to whom much 
 is given, from them much will be demanded.” The land- 
 lords of Ireland are possessed of extensive privileges. 
 As absolute owners of the soil, they are, in fact, the 
 arbiters of the happiness and prosperity of its inhabi- 
 tants, who derive their subsistence chiefly from that soil. 
 As matters stand at present, until some distinct 
 provision shall be made to secure the occupiers (who 
 constitute the great body of the Irish people), the 
 owners of the land may grant them that security 
 which is the grand basis of improvement — and thus 
 stimulate their exertions, and lead them to indepen- 
 dence. Or, on the other hand, they have the power 
 (if they chose to exercise it) of denying all security, 
 consequently, of stopping the sources of national pros- 
 perity, and condemning a people to perpetual stagna- 
 tion and ultimate ruin. Whether the sources of this 
 absolute power are legitimate or not, it matters little, 
 provided the duties which such an authority entails 
 are well performed. But the proofs of its legitimacy 
 are manifested by the wellbeing, the affection and 
 loyalty of the people. Will the government, as exer- 
 cised by the landlords of Ireland, stand this test ? 
 Few will question right or title, if it can be proved 
 by undisputed facts that the great privileges of the 
 lords of the soil have hitherto been used to promote 
 
SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 29 
 
 the real well-being of the people. Since, then, so 
 much depends upon the manner in which landlords 
 understand and discharge the responsibilities of their 
 position, I would endeavour to clearly define what I 
 believe to be the rights which have devolved upon the 
 Irish proprietors, and the duties consequent thereon. 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 LANDLORDS. 
 
 The landlords of Ireland possess a great, almost 
 despotic, power. Living in a country where there are. 
 no manufactures, and where, consequently, the popu- 
 lation are chiefly dependent on the land for their em- 
 ployment and subsistence, they hold, as it were, the 
 issues of the national life. They can awaken the 
 energy, the industry, and enterprise of millions, and 
 direct them to a great, a noble result ; — or they may 
 seal up the fountains, allow the streams to stagnate, 
 and condemn a people to physical discomfort, to apa- 
 thetic sloth, to mental inaction and sterility. As lords 
 of the soil, they inherit an authority which, I hesitate 
 not to say, is (if wrongly exercised) inconsistent with 
 the happiness, the social development, and even with 
 the independent existence of the people. But as the 
 power is great, so also is the responsibility. Men 
 must now prove their right to their possessions, and 
 to exclusive privileges, by a better title than mere 
 conquest. All legitimate power is based on the willing 
 obedience of those who derive from it security and 
 
LANDLORDS. 
 
 31 
 
 support. The landlord is to his dependants the repre- 
 sentative of the government. If he act well towards 
 his people, they will be contented, orderly, and well- 
 disposed ; if he is arbitrary and unjust, they will be indo- 
 lent, discontented, and disaffected. Such are the powers 
 of the lords of the soil — let us now define their duties. 
 
 The present generation of Irish landlords have 
 succeeded to no small share of trouble and responsibi- 
 lity. A heavy task had devolved upon them, owing 
 to the negligence and improvidence of their ancestors. 
 There was a long arrear, a long account to be settled 
 with the Irish people. During centuries they had 
 been forbidden to occupy the land of their fathers, to 
 create a home, an inheritance, therein. They were 
 allowed to exist in a condition little better than the 
 beasts of the earth ; to vegetate, without any security 
 in the present or hope for the future. Consequently, 
 their intellect was degraded, and they were not acces- 
 sible to the influences of true civilization. For the 
 first step to improvement is, when the people are 
 elevated to an independent position. Added to all 
 this, there was the rivalry of caste and religion, the 
 old enmity between Celt and Saxon, between Homan 
 Catholic and Protestant. Fraud and injustice was 
 legalized, and acts of oppression which all true Chris- 
 tians repudiate and abhor, were perpetrated under the 
 mask of religion. It was necessary at once to heal 
 
32 
 
 LANDLORDS. 
 
 these dissensions, to introduce a better order of things, 
 to elevate the people to a condition where, connected 
 with property, they might possess an interest in the 
 state, and thus attain to the dignity and privileges Jof 
 citizens. The Irish landlord is placed by Providence 
 in a position of peculiar trust. Placed often in an an- 
 tagonistic position, he must eradicate the old grudge, 
 the ancient “ vendetta .” Let him see that he gives a 
 good account of his stewardship. He is bound to 
 provide for the material comfort and independence, for 
 the social happiness, for the intellectual and moral 
 advancement of those who have been committed to his 
 charge. Let him discharge his obligations, not alone 
 to his kindred, but to the state, and as a legislator, 
 provide for the wants of the people. That man does 
 not perform this duty who wantonly degrades a popula- 
 tion from the condition of small farmers to that of 
 hireling labourers, dependent on daily wages ; or who 
 drives them forth from the soil as indolent and irre- 
 claimable, before one effort has been made to call 
 forth their latent powers, to educate, and rescue them 
 from barbarism. Men do not fulfil a duty by avoid- 
 ing it, and the actual presence of a population de- 
 pendent upon us for their improvement and happiness 
 must entail an obligation from which we have no right 
 to shrink. It is our business to reform and improve 
 them, by the right application of those means which 
 God has given us. 
 
LANDLORDS. 
 
 33 
 
 How, then, shall the objects which we have defined 
 be carried out, and the material prosperity of the 
 people be established, while at the same time their 
 intelligence and moral power is developed ? In the 
 first place, let the owner of the soil give to the occu- 
 pier that boon which is essential to his prosperity — 
 namely, security. Let there be a fair equitable con- 
 tract, clear and well-defined, which may stimulate the 
 tenant to invest his capital in lasting improvements, 
 to expend his industry and intelligence where he may 
 be sure of ample remuneration. This alone will give 
 him energy and a heart to improve, and pave the way to 
 his social enfranchisement. With security he will be 
 free ; without it, despite Magna Charta, he is a serf. 
 This principle should first be well established. Let it be 
 once understood that every honest, industrious man — 
 every Irishman, no matter what his creed or profession 
 may be — shall be entitled to a fair tenure, and to 
 reasonable compensation for the toil and capital which 
 he may have expended. Let the people be thus en- 
 couraged to settle down, to acquire property, and 
 create a home in their native land, and their progress 
 to independence, to wealth, and to a real national 
 existence, will be insured. Thus will their intelligence 
 be called forth, habits of persevering industry, of fore- 
 thought and self-denial, will be formed, a natural 
 respect for property and the laws induced, and 
 
34 
 
 LANDLORDS. 
 
 they can be educated and fitted for a higher position 
 and higher destinies. For the education of a people 
 is an important work ; it consists not in cramming 
 youth with mere dry facts and old records. But it is 
 a training up of the people by inculcating and giving 
 a practical exposition of those Christian privileges, on 
 which society must rest, and by elevating them to that 
 position in which their inherent powers can be devel- 
 oped. Thus can the national existence be established 
 on a secure and permanent basis. 
 
 Here, then, is a grand mission, a noble task, imposed 
 upon Irish landlords. To be the guides and guardians 
 of the people, to consult for their best interests, to 
 secure their temporal welfare, and with it to promote 
 their civilization, their moral and intellectual ad- 
 vancement, — this is the obligation entailed upon the 
 higher classes by the necessity of their position. — 
 Will they fulfil it? The future happiness of Ireland 
 depends much upon the answer to this question. If 
 they discharge their duty as wise and paternal legis- 
 lators, and consult for the real interests of the people, 
 they will insure the prosperity of the country, and 
 rear a memorial prouder than the sculptured arch or 
 pillared stone — monumentum cere perennius , — which 
 will endure as long as the Irish retain their native 
 and acknowledged characteristics — a generous spirit 
 and a warm heart. 
 
LETTER III. 
 
 HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The social condition of a people is chiefly deter- 
 mined by the relation in which they stand to the 
 soil on which they dwell. 1 If, induced by security, 
 they have settled themselves permanently therein, 
 if they have gained a foothold, and occupied the land 
 by solid works, the memorials of their energy and 
 labour ; if, in a word, they are thus possessed of a 
 certain inheritance and a home, then having the real 
 guarantees of freedom, they must ultimately be inde- 
 pendent, and with the qualification they will sooner 
 or later attain to the full rank and privileges of citi- 
 zenship. Their freedom must follow as a necessary 
 consequence, from the position which they hold in the 
 state, and can only be delayed until their power is 
 matured, and their intelligence has been fully de- 
 veloped. 
 
 Let it be then the first endeavour of a people to 
 gain this settlement ; to create this home, which binds 
 them to their native soil. With this basis of nation- 
 ality and power they will surely conquer free institu- 
 
36 
 
 HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 tutions ; without it they must be dependent, and 
 therefore enslaved. 
 
 The history of nations proves this fact. In Eng- 
 land the Tudor dynasty were a despotic race. They 
 ruled their court and nobles with an iron hand. But, 
 tyrants although they were, they dared not infringe on 
 the privileges or injure the liberties of the people. 
 They could not annul Magna Charta, or deprive the 
 free-born Englishman of his birthright. Why ? One 
 thing alone restrained them — the English people were 
 armed citizens, and held the land. The Saxon race 
 had at length, after ages of oppression, won for them- 
 selves by their energy, by their fortitude and perse- 
 verance, a solid abiding interest in the land, and no 
 despot could dare henceforth to invade their rights. 
 
 Strange that this fact, which is of such vital im- 
 portance, namely, that it is necessary first to provide 
 the people with some settlement as a basis of freedom 
 and national existence, should have been so long over- 
 looked and disregarded by our statesmen, and by those 
 who professed to guide the destinies of Ireland. 
 Strange, that while they clamoured for political rights, 
 they neglected the obvious necessity of social enfran- 
 chisement, based upon permanent guarantees. Amidst 
 all the agitation for extension of franchise and repeals 
 of the union, they left the great question still unset- 
 tled ; whether the nation should exist at all — whether 
 
HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 37 
 
 the Irish should ever possess an interest in, or a right 
 and title to occupy, their native land ! * 
 
 It is surely time now that the question should be 
 set at rest. The Irish people are no longer indolent 
 serfs, sunk in barbarism. They are rapidly ac- 
 quiring power, by the cultivation of an inherent 
 intelligence and its application to political uses ; by 
 the increase of their capital, and the development of the 
 country. No longer now is it necessary to import 
 our civilization, and to colonize with the Saxon to the 
 exclusion of the Celtic race. Ireland for the Irish is 
 now the cry. The people claim their heritage, and 
 they are prepared to vindicate their claim, not by 
 empty assertion, but by their actions ; by honest in- 
 dustry, by steadiness of purpose, by energy and self- 
 denial. These are the elements of greatness — these 
 qualities the Irish have already, under favourable aus- 
 pices, evinced, and by them they will win their way to 
 independence. Give them a fair trial ; place the 
 Irishman, when his intelligence has been quickened 
 and his energies stimulated, in the same position, and 
 concede to him the same advantages, as the occupiers 
 of the soil of England or Scotland, and he will prove 
 
 * Therefore the names of great orators and patriots of a former age, 
 can claim no abiding place in history. Linked to an ephemeral and 
 transitory state of things, they exercised no influence on the future des- 
 tiny of the people, and left no memorial of their genius, except a title or 
 
 a name. 
 
HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 SB 
 
 that he can also create monuments of industry, and 
 found a home, which shall be a centre of civilization, 
 and the pledge of domestic and social happiness. 
 
 For, let us not he deceived ; hitherto that home, 
 which is the basis of civilization, has scarcely been 
 established in Ireland. Where are the proofs of 
 its existence ? Those proofs are found in solid, per- 
 manent buildings, in smiling homesteads, in fields en- 
 riched by secular toil, in a country adorned by hedge- 
 rows and fences, and ancestral timber. And more, 
 the existence of the home is evinced by the habits and 
 character of the people themselves. Where it exists 
 the people will be laborious, frugal, prudent and loyal 
 citizens of the state in which they own an interest. 
 Where it does not exist, they will be careless, improvi- 
 dent, ready to sacrifice the future for present enjoy- 
 ment. This is the condition of a nation’s existence, 
 impressed, as it were, in plain, indelible characters 
 upon their land, and stereotyped in their habits and 
 their manner of living. Thus he who runs may read. 
 It is by comparisons alone that we can form a right 
 conclusion on these things. Contrast the position of 
 the occupiers of the soil in Norway, Belgium, Swit- 
 zerland, or Tuscany ; in countries where the people, 
 encouraged by long security, have permanently estab- 
 lished themselves in a home ; compare their well- 
 fenced fields, their habitations, around which a 
 
HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 39 
 
 general air of comfort and wellbeing is diffused, with 
 the neglected homesteads and comfortless abodes of 
 the Irish peasantry ; and we shall easily understand 
 the difference between a people who have long in- 
 herited, and those who have scarcely yet been natu- 
 ralized in, the land. It will not suffice to point out 
 our splendid mansions, surrounded by their parks and 
 pleasure grounds, the luxurious abodes of a territorial 
 aristocracy. These are the ornamental appendages 
 of the land, as the nobility are the carved topstone 
 of the column. But where are the homes of the people ? 
 Where the cheerful abodes of a happy, contented pea- 
 santry, long united to the soil ? — the peaceful retreats 
 in which generations have lived and died — where the 
 young have toiled, and the aged have calmly passed 
 through the last term of their pilgrimage. These are 
 proofs of the existence of a great nation ; of a middle 
 class — a conservative body of citizens attached to the 
 state, who constitute the keystone of the arch, the 
 solid base of the column. Where the cottage homes 
 are maintained, the palace is secure ; but no social 
 system is sound, which ignores the independent exist- 
 ence, the happiness and legitimate wants of the people. 
 
 It is a noble work to call a nation into existence, 
 to arouse them to a sense of their duty and responsi- 
 bilities, to stimulate their innate powers, to enable 
 
 D 
 
40 
 
 HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 them, by their own exertions, to become capitalists, 
 independent, and to create a “ home” in the land. 
 
 This work must be done — it lies at the threshold 
 of all future improvement. Unless a people are associ- 
 ated with property, located in a home, and bound to 
 the state by some permanent ties, they cannot be 
 accessible to the influences of our Christian civilization. 
 Unless, therefore, this great original institution, on 
 which the social fabric is based, is maintained in its 
 integrity, the other institutions connected with the 
 intellectual and moral advancement of the people — 
 those of which the church and the school are the 
 material type-will be neglected and left to decay. 
 
 Show me a country where, owing to just and 
 impartial institutions, the great body of the people 
 are connected with the state by property ; where the 
 existence of their “ home” is evidenced by their 
 material comforts ; and from those facts alone I will 
 augur the moral and intellectual condition of that 
 people. Their independent spirit, their energy, 
 intelligence, and self-denial will be impressed in 
 broad indelible characters on the very surface of their 
 soil. Show me again a country where the “home” 
 has been neglected ; where the people, debarred by 
 an insecure condition from the acquisition of capital, 
 have never settled down permanently ; where, uncer- 
 tain of their future, they do not possess that hope 
 
HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 41 
 
 which is the great stimulant to improvement, and I 
 will recognise among them that character and those 
 habits which are not indigenous to race or country, but 
 belong to certain conditions of society, and are 
 the certain proofs of misgovernment and of unjust 
 institutions. 
 
 I have said that there is little evidence throughout 
 Ireland of the existence of the “ home,” or, in other 
 words, little to show that the people have hitherto 
 been possessed of real property, and taken firm root 
 in the soil. The late famine sufficiently proved this 
 fact. Such a visitation coming upon a people (like 
 the Swiss or Norwegians) who had been long settled 
 in the land, and had invested therein the labour and 
 savings of generations, could not have suddenly over- 
 whelmed them. But those who have saved nothing, 
 inherited nothing, who, cast loose upon the soil, have 
 never created a heritage in their native land, must 
 expect the natural results of an uncertain and preca- 
 rious existence, That famine was not altogether a 
 peculiar visitation of Providence ; but a natural 
 result induced by certain predisposing causes, which 
 may be easily traced out and ascertained. 
 
 Hence, then, arises the necessity of erecting this 
 “ home,” and of associating the people of Ireland with 
 their country by the ties of property. And in order 
 to accomplish this work, it is not necessary to 
 
42 
 
 HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 interfere with the legitimate rights of property, or to 
 disturb the existing arrangements of society. On the 
 contrary, I believe that our social system as at present 
 constituted will afford a basis upon which can be 
 reared a solid framework of national prosperity. Only 
 let us not introduce those radical reforms based on 
 abstract theories, which tend often to degrade or 
 weaken the strength of a community. The existence 
 of the Irish people should not depend upon such ques- 
 tions as, whether large or small farming is most pro- 
 fitable, or whether a system of great capitalists and 
 labourers, instead of landlords and tenants, is best cal- 
 culated to develop the resources of the soil. Of one 
 thing let us be assured, that it is our duty to take the 
 people as they are, and to develop not only their ma- 
 terial but also their moral and intellectual resources. 
 
 I would then at once take measures to naturalize the 
 people in the country, and advance them to the dignity 
 of independent citizens. To the occupiers of the soil 
 I would give that which is the great stimulant to im- 
 provement — security. This, I consider, can, on the 
 whole, be best attained under the present social ar- 
 rangements, by a leasing system established on. fair 
 and equitable terms. If it were once understood and 
 laid down as a certain principle that every occupier of 
 land, whether large or small (for I consider that the 
 small holder is entitled to the same conditions and 
 
HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 43 
 
 privileges as the others) should obtain a lease on fair 
 and liberal terms, the duration of which might depend 
 upon the amount of capital which he had invested or 
 was prepared to invest in the land, the people would 
 thereby be encouraged to improve by an inducement 
 which has seldom failed to arouse exertion, and thus 
 to create material prosperity. Thus in a short time 
 we might find throughout Ireland a body of lease- 
 holders, a substantial yeomanry, connected with the 
 soil and associated with the landlords in the property 
 of the country, who, having expended their capital in 
 the land, and thereby possessing a permanent interest 
 in the state, would naturally become independent, and, 
 with the qualification, would evince that conservative 
 spirit, that patriotism and loyalty which are character- 
 istic of true citizens. 
 
LETTER IY. 
 
 TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 There are certain questions of deep practical import 
 — involving perhaps the future destiny and the present 
 independent existence of a nation — which have long 
 lain dormant, and are only brought prominently for- 
 ward when the circumstances of the times and the con- 
 dition of the people demand that they should be well 
 considered and speedily solved. 
 
 Such is that great question which so materially 
 affects the Irish people — mamely, whether they shall 
 at length obtain, and in what manner they can pos- 
 sess, that security which may encourage them to invest 
 their capital, to create a home, and thus to acquire a 
 permanent guarantee in their native land. 
 
 Formerly, when the people had inherited no capital, 
 and had no solid basis of improvement, the question of 
 security was of little moment. Now they are progress- 
 ing in civilization — they have begun to learn the 
 advantages of industry and self-denial — their mind is 
 informed, and intelligence aroused — they are accumu- 
 
TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 45 
 
 lating wealth — in a word, they are becoming capitalists, 
 and they wish to invest their resources, their industry, 
 their savings, and intelligence, in a manner which 
 will insure them a safe and profitable return. 
 
 The demand, therefore, for certain definite guaran- 
 tees arises naturally from the development of the 
 national powers. As the plant reaches maturity it 
 turns towards the sun, to the centre of life. Here, 
 then, is simply the position of the great body of the 
 Irish people who occupy and derive subsistence from 
 the soil. They have at present little interest therein 
 — their existence depends upon a precarious tenure. 
 Now, when they are acquiring capital, and desire to 
 invest it, they naturally demand some better security 
 than that derived from the indulgence of the landlords, 
 who, according to their individual character, may en- 
 courage or paralyze their exertions, and seal up or let 
 loose the sources of prosperity. 
 
 Now, granting even that all the lords of the soil in 
 Ireland are fully aware of their responsibility, and 
 anxious to discharge, to the fullest extent, their obliga- 
 tions towards their tenants, still this security can only 
 last a generation. Their successors may be improvi- 
 dent and avaricious. But the existence of a people — 
 their independence and social position — should not be 
 dependent on the individual character of any class. 
 These should be based upon a definite contract and 
 
46 
 
 TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 certain guarantees. Until this is done, I cannot see 
 a rational prospect of solid, permanent improvement. 
 The house built on a sandy foundation may look fair 
 on the outside, but it will not stand the brunt of the 
 storm. Now is the time to establish this solid basis 
 of nationality. 
 
 I have said that I considered a lease for a certain 
 definite period — given in consideration of improve- 
 ments either made or intended by the occupier — was 
 a form of contract which — without any prejudice of 
 existing rights — was quite in accordance with our 
 social system, and would encourage the tenant to in- 
 vest his capital, and gradually to develop the re- 
 sources of the soil, in which he would, at least during 
 his tenure, be a joint proprietor with the landlord. 
 Conscious that while be fulfilled the conditions of his 
 contract he could not be dispossessed, he would devote 
 his energies and intelligence to the proper cultivation 
 of the land — he would expend upon it all his capital 
 and industry, and confidently expect to realize from 
 it a good return. It is chiefly under the operation of 
 the leasing system in Scotland that a soil naturally 
 sterile has been enriched and brought to the highest 
 state of fertility. 
 
 A question however, of very great importance to 
 the occupiers of land in Ireland has arisen in conse- 
 quence of the peculiar nature of their contract with 
 
TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 47 
 
 the owners of the soil. In England the tenant takes 
 a farm as he would a machine, in order to occupy it, 
 and work the land during some specified term. The 
 landlord is bound to supply everything necessary for 
 the proper cultivation of the land, such as dwelling- 
 houses and farm-buildings, and he must also keep 
 gates and fences in repair. Consequently the incom- 
 ing tenant is not required to expend any capital ex- 
 cept that which the proper culture of the soil demands, 
 and which is amply repaid to him by successive crops. 
 In Ireland the landowners generally have not suffi- 
 cient capital to erect homesteads and farm-buildings 
 on their estates. The tenant, therefore, simply re- 
 ceives the land unprovided, as it were, with that ma- 
 chinery which is essential to its right cultivation, and 
 he is expected to supply the deficiency from his own 
 capital. If he wishes to live comfortably, he must 
 build his own house, make sheds for his cattle, and 
 define his boundaries with permanent fences. There 
 are some landowners who have acquiesced, and do still 
 acquiesce, in a loose disjointed state of things, which 
 only tends to perpetuate serfage and barbarism — who 
 think that stifling, comfortless cabins are abodes good 
 enough for our peasantry, and who believe that hamlets 
 and cottages, and the homesteads of small occupiers, 
 are not an ornament but a deformity to the land. 
 They would, therefore, leave the people as they are, in 
 
48 
 
 TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 a precarious, dependent, condition, and discourage 
 them from investing their capital, and thereby acquir- 
 ing a foothold in the land. But, while we respect the 
 rights of property, we must regard not only the pre- 
 sumed interests of individuals, but also the general 
 welfare of the whole community. Where the people 
 depend chiefly on the soil, it is essential that the re- 
 sources of that soil should be fully developed. It 
 is also beneficial to the state that this work should be 
 accomplished by the industry and capital of the people 
 themselves, as thus they will gain a more enduring 
 interest in the country ; and besides, the exigencies of 
 Christian civilization demand that the people should 
 be comfortably lodged. The lord of the soil incurs an 
 obligation towards the public which ought to be 
 fulfilled. He should either make the land available 
 by his own capital, or permit his tenants to occupy it, 
 to establish a home therein, and to erect that machi- 
 nery which the culture of the soil necessitates. But, 
 in order to supply these necessary requirements, the 
 tenant must invest his capital, and for this he requires 
 good and sufficient security. Hence has arisen the 
 demand for tenant-right, which seems to be a natural 
 and reasonable claim, arising from the peculiar circum- 
 stances of the occupancy of land in Ireland. 
 
 If we understand by this term simply a reasonable 
 
TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 49 
 
 compensation given to an outgoing tenant at the ex- 
 piration of his tenure for his capital expended in un- 
 exhausted improvements, by which the actual value of 
 the land is increased, it seems, under existing circum- 
 stances, to be a fair, legitimate demand. In fact, the 
 demand for the security on which permanent improve- 
 ment must be made, ought not to be withheld, and 
 this concession to the occupiers of land in Ireland 
 would tend very much to the solution of that great 
 question in which the national existence is involved. 
 The people, having then acquired confidence and a 
 sure hope in the future, would exert themselves to 
 create a solid interest in the country, and to become 
 united to the state. Then indeed, when the Irish pos- 
 sess a secure “ status” in their country, and are iden- 
 tified with its soil, they will aspire to a real nationality, 
 and constitute, as citizens, an integral portion of the 
 commonwealth. When the great work has been 
 once achieved, and the “ home” has been established 
 throughout the land, guarded by time-honoured insti- 
 tutions, England may rest assured that Ireland, once 
 a source of weakness, will be the bulwark of her 
 strength. But until that has been done, and the just 
 requirements of a people are fulfilled, she cannot ex- 
 pect loyalty, patriotism, or contentment, because these 
 virtues are only found clustered around the hearth- 
 stone where social happiness is cherished ; — they can- 
 
50 
 
 TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 not subsist where there are no material guarantees, no 
 sure pledges of national existence — no real basis of 
 conservatism and citizenship. 
 
 An equitable law of tenant-right would establish 
 that security on which the home is based. By it an 
 opportunity would be afforded of acquiring property 
 to all those who were industrious and anxious to im- 
 prove. In all cases where the landlord might not 
 possess the capital to erect farm buildings, and to pro- 
 vide, as in England, the requisite machinery for the 
 right cultivation of the farm, the tenant should be 
 empowered to expend his own capital, and to effect 
 these improvements, on the understanding that at the 
 expiration of his tenure, he should be entitled to just 
 compensation for his own labour and resources in- 
 vested in the land, by which it was rendered more 
 valuable ; for the tenant could only in justice claim 
 compensation for improvements which added to the 
 marketable value of the land. These are the basis of 
 a certain term and definite tenure of occupation (for 
 tenant-right should not supersede, but is supplemental 
 to, a lease), and on that security which tenant-right 
 would give, the occupier might create a property, and 
 ensure to himself and his descendants a sure return 
 for the investment of his capital. No longer aliens, 
 the people would soon possess a home and an interest 
 in their native land. 
 
TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 51 
 
 Now, however desirous we may be to preserve in- 
 violate the rights of property, yet there are certain 
 cases in which the individual interests must be super- 
 seded by those of the community at large. Thus it is 
 a matter of vital importance in the management of 
 land, from which all derive subsistence, that the pro- 
 ductive powers of the soil should be developed, and 
 the people should be encouraged to invest therein their 
 enterprise, labour, and resources. It is also essential 
 to the well-being of the state that the great body of 
 the people should have a permanent interest, and be 
 united to it by the ties of property. No exclusive 
 privileges of individuals ought to interfere with these 
 great objects, because in them is involved the national 
 existence and “salus populi supremo lex.” If, for 
 instance, the lords of the soil, in whom the absolute 
 dominion is vested, should unite to drive forth a popu- 
 lation of peaceful, industrious, and solvent occupiers 
 — if they should seek to reduce them from an indepen- 
 dent condition to vassalage, or even should condemn 
 them to the vicissitudes of a precarious existence, by 
 refusing altogether that security which would stimu- 
 late their exertions and make them independent, it 
 would be right that the state should protect the lawful 
 interests of its members, and prevent the fatal conse- 
 quences, — a suicidal, unjust policy. On these grounds 
 alone do we justify the necessity which, I think, at 
 
52 
 
 TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 present exists for direct interference of the state. 
 Many, I know, consider that the interference of the 
 legislature in a matter of simple contract is not only 
 unnecessary but prejudicial. They fondly believe that 
 both parties, guided by an enlightened self-interest, 
 will arrive at a satisfactory solution of that great social 
 problem which involves the independent existence of 
 the nation. But the legislator, guided by the expe- 
 rience of the past, will not compromise the future 
 happiness of a people, unless he can obtain some bet- 
 ter guarantee than that which is based on the peculiar 
 sense which landlords may possess of their obligations. 
 He must authoritatively require that while the rights 
 of property are protected, the duties and responsibili- 
 ties attached to it should not be ignored. If, indeed, 
 the terms of the contract have always been hitherto 
 liberally interpreted and equitably fulfilled, then he 
 might acquiesce in the existing order of things, and 
 resolve “ quieta non movere.” But if the condition of 
 the people and their social position in the common- 
 wealth, do clearly evince that their legitimate desires 
 have not been regarded, while, condemned to a preca- 
 rious subsistence, they have never had that incentive 
 to exertion which a certain hope in the future inspires. 
 If the lords of the soil, unable or unwilling themselves 
 to expend capital, have precluded the tenant, by the 
 denial of security, from investing his savings in the 
 
TENANT-RIGHT. 
 
 53 
 
 land, and thus becoming attached to the state by 
 the ties of property, then it is undoubtedly the duty 
 of the legislature to interfere, and to confirm to the 
 people, by a definite enactment, that guarantee which 
 may encourage them to develop their own inherent 
 powers, and the natural resources of the country. 
 
 I have now endeavoured to show how that basis 
 can be raised, upon which the independent national 
 existence of the Irish may be established. When 
 the security essential to their happiness and social 
 improvement has been confirmed to them as a right 
 — when a field of exertion is opened, and they are 
 invited to occupy the land, to invest capital and 
 create a permanent home therein — when the first step 
 towards real independence has been taken. It will 
 then rest with themselves to work out their own 
 destiny. Even when all obstacles are removed, and 
 facilities for improvement afforded, the transition from 
 a dependent state to the social position of free en- 
 lightened citizens, cannot be at once accomplished. 
 For the rest, we must trust to time and to the 
 ameliorating influence of a sound, practical, national 
 education. 
 
LETTER V. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 What is national education ? It is the training up 
 of a people in accordance with the varied require- 
 ments of our complex organization ; it is the means by 
 which we bring them under the influence of Christi- 
 anity, we inspire them with generous emulation, with 
 hope in the future ; we develop their moral and intel- 
 lectual powers, eradicate evil habits, and implant the 
 germs of good. This education should be the object 
 of our social institutions. We can attain this end 
 only by a proper recognition of the physical, moral, 
 and intellectual necessities of the people, and by pro- 
 viding for the natural wants of each individual in the 
 state. A government which, (like that of Austria) 
 promotes only the temporal well-being of the people, 
 while it fetters their intellectual energy, does not pro- 
 perly fulfil its mission. It satisfies the animal in- 
 stincts, but ignores the nobler elements of our nature. 
 Again, we know by experience that a mere informing 
 of the mind and awakening of the intelligence is not 
 
education. 
 
 55 
 
 sufficient unless there he a sound spirit of practical 
 religion infused — not a religion of formulas and pro- 
 fession, but one based on the principles of that gospel 
 which appeals to the highest sympathies of man, which 
 purifies his heart, sublimes his affections, and teaches 
 him to fulfil his obligations towards his neighbour ; 
 because, by doing so he will follow the example and 
 the precepts of his God. 
 
 Education, then, properly so called, takes a wide 
 range, and is connected with all the chief objects of 
 statesmanship. For, first, we shall find it impossible 
 rightly to instruct the people, and inspire them with 
 good habits, unless we insure to them a certain amount 
 of physical comfort, and place them in a position in 
 which they may not only be freed from the harassing 
 cares of actual want, but where they may be able to 
 command some period for relaxation and leisure for 
 improvement, and where they can aspire to the dignity 
 and privileges of citizenship. Therefore, we should 
 provide them with the means of acquiring by their 
 own exertions an honest livelihood. We should bind 
 them down by certain guarantees to the country, and 
 give them an abiding settlement therein. 
 
 When this work has been accomplished, we shall 
 find that a great step has been taken to forward the 
 education of the people. Attached to their country, 
 and settled in a permanent home, they will be localised 
 
 E 
 
56 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 and accessible to the ameliorating influences of Chris- 
 tianity and civilization. Stimulated by a certain hope 
 in the future, they will acquire property, and with it 
 those habits of persevering industry, of prudence, fru- 
 gality and self-denial, and that character of loyalty 
 and patriotism which are characteristic alone of those 
 who are independent, who are conscious that they be- 
 long to the state, and that by their own exertions they 
 may work out their social rank and prosperity. There 
 are virtues attached to the home which can only be 
 found where the “ home” exists — virtues of the patriot 
 and the citizen — which belong only to those who have 
 an interest in their country. 
 
 Therefore do I consider it a matter of the utmost 
 importance that the position of the people, should be 
 clearly defined ; and every facility afforded to them of 
 improving their condition and insuring their indepen- 
 dence. This is the basis of future greatness and 
 national prosperity. Upon this we may rear a solid 
 structure, supported by the great original institutions 
 of society. Without this basis we have no fulcrum, 
 no firm resting-place for our lever. We shall build 
 upon the sand. All our theories for the regeneration 
 of the people will prove hollow and visionary. They 
 cannot avail where there is no substratum — no real, 
 definite, national existence. If you retain a people in 
 a condition of dependence and serfage, if you exclude 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 57 
 
 from them a certain hope in the future, and condemn 
 them to a precarious existence, beware of developing 
 their intelligence and reasoning powers. If you do, 
 they will assuredly be discontented with a position 
 which relegates them to the rank of slaves or animals. 
 Like the Grecian hero, they will call for light, and 
 light they must get. — Refuse it at your peril ; and 
 when the first ray has dawned they will require the 
 blaze of the noontide sun. They will expect that the 
 natural wants of their moral and intellectual nature 
 shall be fulfilled ; that they shall be elevated to the 
 dignity of men, of independent agents, and free-born 
 citizens of the commonwealth. 
 
 Elevate them, therefore, to this independent social 
 position ; rescue them from a life of mere animal toil 
 and animal enjoyments. Then, when the soil is pre- 
 pared for the seed, when the people are restricted 
 within certain definite limits, bound by the ties of 
 “ home,” of parish, and neighbourhood, localised, as it 
 were, they will be brought within the sphere of those 
 influences which alone are available to reform and re- 
 generate society. First among these influences is the 
 diffusion among the people of the truths of practical 
 Christianity, as exemplified and enunciated by the great 
 Founder of our religion ; the setting before them a 
 right standard of morality, by which they can clearly 
 ascertain their duties towards God and their neighbour. 
 
,58 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 This instruction in, and authoritative exposition of 
 Christian principles as an essential fundamental part 
 of our national education, has been much overlooked, 
 and to this cause I mainly attribute those evils which 
 even still produce bitter fruits amongst us. To it I 
 attribute our want of union and concord, the want of 
 sympathy between certain classes in society ; the little 
 forbearance, long suffering, or brotherly kindness which 
 has existed among those who, though they differ in 
 particular articles of faith, yet all profess to believe in 
 the same Saviour, to follow his example, and to fight 
 under the banner of the gospel, Let me not be mis- 
 understood. I do not pretend to discuss here the 
 merits or demerits of rival churches. All I say is this, 
 that there is a certain standard— there are certain great 
 fundamental principles which every professing Chris- 
 tian must follow, according to which he must shape 
 his life and actions, otherwise there will be no vitality 
 or soundness in his religion. The essence of Christi- 
 anity is charity, long suffering, love. Where these 
 exist, and the good seed implanted in the heart is 
 manifest by the life, there is the religion of the gospel. 
 Where these do not exist, whatever the profession may 
 be, there is no Christianity. Let all parties agree to 
 differ upon certain points of doctrine, but let them 
 unanimously uphold and abide by the great principles 
 of the Christian faith. Let them inculcate th< m by 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 59 
 
 tlieir example, teach, the people to observe them, emu- 
 late each other in works of beneficence and love. Then 
 there will be hope, when her sons are united in bro- 
 therly concord, that Ireland may be emancipated from 
 her evils. Until then her prosperity and happiness 
 must remain as it always has been — insecure and un- 
 substantial. 
 
 For Christianity is the only true basis of civiliza- 
 tion and social happiness. It accords with the con- 
 victions, the natural requirements, and the highest 
 aspirations of our nature. Where its principles are 
 practically understood and followed, there will be the 
 greatest amount of prosperity and happiness diffused 
 throughout the community. Where it does not exist, 
 we cannot expect that men will be good neighbours 
 and friends, good heads of families, upright citizens, 
 and loyal subjects. No form of instruction, however 
 elaborate, which is concerned only with the intel- 
 lectual powers, while it ignores the primary need of 
 religious training, can avail to eradicate the evil 
 habits, or to change permanently the character of a 
 people. Unless the moral standard is pure, the 
 national institutions must be vitiated and corrupt. 
 The history of the ancient world proves this fact. 
 What was the boasted civilization of Greece and 
 Rome? They deified their lusts, worshipped false 
 impersonations of the Creator, raised temples in 
 
60 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 honour of divinities who presided over every crime. 
 Even their social institutions, the existence of 
 slavery, the bloody games of the circus, the absence 
 of all provision for the destitute, the barbaric rites — 
 all these proved that the elements of the old savage 
 nature, the germ of innate depravity, had never been 
 eradicated ; that a gilded refinement had concealed 
 the corruption festering beneath. And the fate of 
 these empires is a warning to all, and a confirmation 
 of the truth, that mere intellectual power, without 
 moral principle, can never develop true humanity ; 
 that a sound practical religion is indispensable to 
 elevate and preserve a nation. 
 
 Therefore, in laying down the basis of a permanent 
 nationality in Ireland, I would take the highest 
 grounds, and accept no system which does not recog- 
 nise Christianity as the great regenerative influence, 
 and provide accordingly for the spiritual as well as 
 the temporal necessities of the people. But by Chris- 
 tianity I understand that religion which is manifested 
 by its fruits ; not one of mere profession, which sanc- 
 tions party strife, and strives to uphold a false supre- 
 macy ; not a Pharisaical creed which embitters the 
 relations of life, and draws a line of demarcation 
 between children of a common soil, — but that religion 
 which teaches to all their relative duties ; which 
 enjoins the landlord to be liberal and just to those 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 61 
 
 over whom Providence has placed him ; the employer 
 to treat his servants with indulgence ; the poor man 
 to labour and endeavour, by honest industry, to attain 
 a position in which he may be secure from the tempta- 
 tions of hardship and poverty. Then, when all are 
 united in the common bond of Christianity; when 
 charity and a kindly sympathy evinced by the 
 higher classes has produced corresponding fruits of 
 gratitude and love among their poorer neighbours ; 
 when that selfish policy which alienates and degrades 
 the people shall no longer exist, but, instead of 
 suspicion and contempt, a spirit of forbearance and 
 brotherly kindness shall prevail, then may we con- 
 fidently look forward to a future of peace, happiness, 
 and prosperity in our land. 
 
 In a system of popular education we should regard 
 the essential wants of the people, and not neglect to 
 impart that instruction which especially pertains to 
 the peculiar station in life, the profession or calling of 
 each individual. And especially should we provide 
 that all be instructed in the general principles of 
 knowledge, in order that new ideas may be imparted, 
 and constant and wholesome aliment be supplied to 
 the imagination and reasoning powers. If we merely 
 supply the instruments of learning, the mechanical part, 
 such as reading, writing, and then neglect the further 
 means and inducements which would stimulate the 
 
62 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 people to acquire useful knowledge, we shall do little 
 good, and possibly may effect much harm. A mind 
 only half improved may become a prey to vain imagi- 
 nations, and exhaust itself in useless theories Prac- 
 tical knowledge is what we want — that wisdom which 
 will avail a man in the different relations of life, as 
 the head of a family and citizen of the commonwealth. 
 And yet this is much neglected in our schools. Chil- 
 dren are carefully instructed in grammar, geography, 
 history ; but the great- primary laws of nature — those 
 which regulate the health of the mind and body — 
 laws of ventilation, of light and heat, the general prin- 
 ciples of chemistry, of geology, botany and physics, 
 those matters which belong to the experience of every- 
 day life, and are connected with their profession as 
 artizans or agriculturists, or with the duties of females 
 as wives, mothers, and heads of households, these are 
 often neglected or despised. Thus we may have a people 
 clever enough, with minds crammed full of facts and 
 fictions, but wholly impractical, wholly unfitted to 
 grapple with the stern realities of life. Knowledge is 
 power only when it is directed to some useful, prac- 
 tical result. Otherwise the ebullitions of misguided 
 genius may, like the volcano, burst forth only to effect 
 a wide-spread devastation. The Irish, who are quick 
 in perception, highly imaginative and prone to exag- 
 geration, require especially a system of education based 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 63 
 
 on clear, definite, logical reasoning, which may restrain 
 their fancy, and bind them down to the stern realities 
 of life. 
 
 Thus I have sketched out the outlines of a system 
 of national education, by which I believe that useful 
 habits might be infused, and the moral and intellec- 
 tual power strengthened among the people. The 
 growth of national existence, as in the individual man, 
 must progress pari passu , and be complete in all its 
 parts. Provide for the material wants, the physical 
 comforts of the people, while you neglect their moral 
 and intellectual requirements, and you condemn them 
 to a mere animal existence. Inform the mind, develop 
 the intellect, but if you do not apply the restraint of 
 morality and religion — if you allow that mind, misdi- 
 rected, to expatiate on delusions and idle fancies, if 
 you direct it not to some practical end, you will but 
 implant the seeds of future evil. Education, I repeat, 
 consists not in the undue development of one, but in 
 the improvement of all the parts of our organization, 
 in the training up of the man as a moral, intelligent, 
 responsible being, and preparing him to fulfil rightly 
 his various duties as a father, a citizen, and a subject, 
 in that station to which it may please G od to call him. 
 
LETTER VI. 
 
 THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 When we view the actual condition ot the Irish 
 people, we find a numerous class whose interests have 
 been little regarded, who have been often allowed, 
 through neglect, to lapse into indigence, or gradually 
 to fall away through the operation of a selfish policy, 
 although they constitute a very important section of 
 the community. I allude to our peasantry, to the 
 small landholders, who cultivate their farms by their 
 own hands — who supply the demands of the labour 
 market, and the military strength of the country. I 
 mention this class more particularly, because my for- 
 mer letters might be supposed to refer chiefly to those 
 who, possessing a reserve fund of capital, could afford 
 to expend it in those permanent, unexhausted improve- 
 ments, of which a tenant-right bill would take cogni- 
 zance. The small occupiers of land, having little 
 capital beyond their labour, could not be expected to 
 do more than to discharge faithfully their obligations, 
 to maintain their families in comfort and respectability, 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 65 
 
 and to rear up industrious and loyal citizens for the 
 state. If they fulfil their duties rightly, they are 
 entitled to the protection of the legislature, and their 
 lawful claims ought not to be set aside or lightly re- 
 garded. 
 
 For the existence of a contented, industrious pea- 
 sant class, possessing some guarantee of independence, 
 who hold to the soil by old sympathies and local asso- 
 ciations, and who are, therefore, bound to their country 
 by some definite ties, is an important element in our 
 social system. Where we find such a class existing, 
 we should beware of depriving them of their hope in 
 the future, by breaking altogether the link which 
 unites them to the property of the country. We 
 should not blindly adhere to a selfish policy, based on 
 false principles of political economy, which would 
 alienate them from the land, cast them loose on the 
 soil, allow them no property, no means of realizing 
 a little capital ; but which, by reducing them to the 
 condition of hinds or farm labourers, would relegate 
 them to the uncertain condition of the proletarian 
 classes, and thus prepare the way for their present 
 degradation and their ultimate extinction. For the 
 gradual extinction of a peasantry, when once they 
 are disconnected from the land, and converted into 
 hirelings, is a slow but a sure process. Whenever 
 a better machine can be obtained to do the work ; 
 
66 
 
 THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 when tillage is no longer remunerative to the large 
 farmer, and cattle pay better than crops, then there 
 is no longer any place for the labourer, or occasion 
 for his services. He must quit the soil where 
 he is now a stranger, and seek employment elsewhere, 
 or enter the poorhouse. Therefore, it is no blind 
 instinct which impels the Irish peasant to cling obsti- 
 nately to the land, but the instinct of self-preserva- 
 tion. He knows that with land, with a home, and a 
 hope in the future, he is a man, secure and indepen- 
 dent ; without it, he is but a machine, a unit undis- 
 tinguished among the mass of his fellow-hirelings, 
 unconnected with the state, in which he has no defi- 
 nite interest. Witness the case of England, where, 
 during the last half-century, owing to the increase of 
 wealth, the pressure of capital, and the want of legal 
 protection, the rural population of small farmers and 
 landholders has gradually disappeared. Formerly, 
 at a period not so highly civilized, there was a 
 fine, sturdy Saxon peasantry, who occupied the soil of 
 England. Everywhere the hamlets, the cottage homes, 
 embowered among ancient trees, the small centres of 
 social and domestic virtue, the pledge of loyalty and 
 patriotism, were seen throughout the land. Then 
 came the rage for improvement, the pressure of inordi- 
 nate wealth, the selfish desire of adding house to house 
 and field to field. Small estates were bought up, whole 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 67 
 
 populations were forced to emigrate, driven forth accord- 
 ing to the forms of a strict legality — the cottages 
 were levelled, handets disappeared, and the plough 
 passed over the old landmarks, the homes and tillage 
 of the poor. Even the rage for (miscalled) im- 
 provement extended to the further bounds of the king- 
 dom, and the Highlands of Scotland, the nursery of 
 our soldiers, were depopulated by those who had un- 
 justly converted their seignorial into territorial rights, 
 and asserted claims to which they never were entitled, 
 and which, under a more despotic government, would 
 not have been tolerated. Thenceforth, the small land- 
 holder, with his old traditions and prejudices, was an 
 incumbrance unsuited to the time. His house was an 
 eyesore — his little hedge -row an unsightly object. All 
 must be got rid of. The march of intellect, the progress 
 of the age, the dogmas of a system which regarded pro- 
 duction alone, and valued men only as machines — all 
 demanded their extinction. Therefore, that noble 
 Saxon peasantry perished from the land. Some emi- 
 grated to foreign shores, or remained to till, as farm 
 hinds, the soil where their ancestors once earned a 
 little heritage. The majority were absorbed in the 
 population of the great cities, and now constitute the 
 operatives of the manufacturing towns. Bound 
 down to an incessant toil by an iron necessity, 
 dependent on the wages of daily labour, without any 
 
68 
 
 THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 capital, save their health and strength, without any 
 definite hope in the future, or lasting interest in 
 their country, they are unsettled in their habits, 
 sensual and intolerant, and constitute the weakness 
 rather than the secure defence of the empire. 
 England may yet rue the loss of that independent 
 peasantry, whose type is still found, not among the 
 reckless, improvident hordes of the manufacturing 
 cities, but far away among the Western prairies and 
 the forests of America — far from a land where all 
 the glories of Magna Charta and the boast of free 
 institutions could not preserve to the Englishman 
 that security and that home without which there is 
 no real independence, no firm basis of citizenship. 
 Is not the Irish peasant justified in struggling 
 against a fate which has already oppressed his fellow 
 subjects, which would as certainly oppress him if 
 the theory of certain political economists was carried 
 out ; of those who consider that a system of large 
 farms and cottars with a cabbage garden, of great 
 capitalists and labourers reduced to the level of 
 machines, is best calculated to develop the resources 
 of a country, forgetful that man himself is a produc- 
 tion at least as valuable to the community as turnips 
 and cattle ? 
 
 The history of mankind bears witness to the danger 
 which nations have incurred when they wilfully per- 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 69 
 
 mit the ruin of a body of solvent, independent citizens, 
 who constitute their true capital and defence. What 
 destroyed Eome, the mightiest empire of the ancient 
 world ? It was not the hordes of half-clad barbarians 
 who had often been driven back from her frontiers by 
 the legions. Those legions were recruited from the 
 ranks of a free and martial peasantry, the small land- 
 holders who occupied and cultivated themselves the 
 soil of Latium. From them sprung her consuls and 
 dictators, those who led her armies to victory. And 
 while her yeomanry existed, while the corn and the 
 vine flourished, and the fields of Italy teemed with a 
 hardy, industrious population, Eome was invincible. 
 There was the “ palladium” of her safety. She beat 
 back the G-auls, and refused all compromise with 
 Hannibal, even when her bravest were slaughtered at 
 Cannae. The iron race was still untamed, the dragon’s 
 teeth, sown in the land, could still send forth another 
 brood. But evil times came, and luxury and selfish- 
 ness did what the Carthaginian could not accomplish. 
 The wealth of Asia poured in, great capitalists sprung 
 up, they bought the lands, removed the old landmarks, 
 and created vast estates out of the small farms, the pa- 
 trimony of the legions. Then the population began to 
 disappear from the fields, the tillage lands were con- 
 verted into pasture, slaves replaced the free cultivators, 
 and the sheep roamed and cattle grazed among the 
 
70 
 
 THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 deserted homes of the people. Therefore, when the 
 barbarian rushed down on Italy, he found nought but 
 an effeminate crowd of luxurious nobles, of slaves and 
 parasites, and he swept them all to perdition. The stab 
 wart peasantry, the bone and sinew of the nation, had 
 perished off the land, and with them fell the empire ! 
 Keep, then, your peasantry ; quench not the light on 
 the hearth ; waste not their cottage homes ; degrade 
 them not to the insecure condition of serfs and hire* 
 lings. Leave them their little heritage, the guaran- 
 tee of their present existence, the hope of their future. 
 Give them a stake in the country, make them honest, 
 independent, and loyal ; destroy not with them the 
 hope and defence of the country. This is the lesson 
 which we read, inscribed in broad, legible characters, 
 upon the deserted fields and the rank pastures of the 
 Campagna of Kome ! 
 
 Having now established the fact that the existence 
 of a solvent class of peasantry attached to the soil is 
 an advantage to the state, and that any policy which 
 tends to needlessly diminish their numbers, or to degrade 
 them to an inferior and dependent condition, is calcu- 
 lated to prejudice the general interests, it remains 
 only to consider in what manner we may best consult 
 for the welfare of that class, and afford to them that 
 protection to which they are entitled. 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 71 
 
 The condition of the Irish peasantry has been long 
 a subject of reproach to those who, as lords of the soil, 
 have, during centuries, influenced the destinies of the 
 people. The landlords of Ireland are the representa- 
 tives of the English government, and to them the state 
 has delegated its authority. If, then, the Irish have 
 hitherto been the worst-conditioned peasantry in 
 Europe, — if, ill-cared for and oppressed, they have been 
 allowed to languish in a state of insecurity — if, unable 
 to improve their condition, and to advance higher in 
 the social scale, they have exhibited the characteristics 
 of a servile population, and, slothfully reckless and 
 improvident, have lived only for the present hour, the 
 landlords of Ireland, and the landlords alone, are to 
 ' blame. They are to blame who shut the people out 
 from hope — who make no effort to rescue them from 
 a degraded condition — who never encouraged or taught 
 them to aspire to better things, and to work out their 
 own independence. Still they have the power, if they 
 only possessed the will, to convert an unsettled and 
 discontented population into industrious, happy, and 
 loyal citizens ; and England should lay upon them a 
 solemn obligation — even now, at the eleventh hour — 
 to recognise the duties attached to their position, and 
 instead of cancelling the debt by notices to quit or an 
 exterminating process, to take the people as they are, 
 even with all “ their imperfections on their heads,” 
 
 F 
 
72 
 
 THE PEASANTRY*. 
 
 and, as their natural protectors, to- train them up,, 
 educate them, and provide for their social happiness 
 and future prosperity. 
 
 The task which I would propose now to the land- 
 lords of Ireland is not a very difficult one. They hold 
 the springs of national prosperity — let them unseal 
 the fountains. They possess already the elements of 
 power and nationality in a population intelligent, 
 warm-hearted, impulsive, and attached to their native 
 soil. Let them not discourage or weaken that attach- 
 ment — it is the natural impulse of the heart. Rather 
 let them sympathise with the feelings of tie humble 
 occupier of the land, and endeavour to recognise and 
 fulfil his legitimate desires. He, too, would be & 
 citizen connected with property and naturalized in the 
 country — he would require some share of that security 
 which the wealthy capitalist demands as a right ; and 
 as a basis of improvement,, and. he might naturally 
 ezpect that in a Christian community those benefits* 
 should be secured them which are consistent with 
 Christian, civilization.. For Christianity and the poli- 
 tical economy of the gospel do require that every in- 
 dividual in the state should be provided with the- 
 necessaries, and, if possible,, with the simple comforts 
 of life ; that no artificial obstructions should prevent 
 him from acquiring, by his. honest industry, an inde- 
 pendent livelihood ; that he- should be properly lodged 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 73 
 
 (for the morality of a people, and their civilization, 
 depend much upon good and sufficient house accom- 
 modation) ; and, lastly, that he should have some 
 relaxation from toil, and a season set apart for religious 
 and intellectual culture. These are objects which the 
 Christian statesman will endeavour to obtain for those 
 who have been committed to his charge. Nor will he 
 rest satisfied until the majority, at least, have shared 
 in those blessings ; until they, rescued from a preca- 
 rious and grovelling condition, exhibit, both in their 
 dwellings, their personal appearance, and in their 
 improved character and habits, that they have finally 
 emerged from darkness, and are rejoicing in the life- 
 growing light of Heaven. How can those who are 
 pent up in dark, comfortless habitations — who are 
 seldom cheered by the sympathy or intercourse with 
 their superiors — who have received no practical edu- 
 cation beyond the rudiments of mechanical learning — 
 whose minds are, therefore, unenlightened, and rea- 
 soning powers undeveloped, be expected to fulfil the 
 part of intelligent, useful, and upright citizens ? It 
 is impossible — as you mould the masses, so you will 
 have them ; if you sow the wind, you will reap the 
 whirlwind. Treat them unjustly, with illiberality, 
 and contempt, and they will be suspicious, unfriendly, 
 dishonest, and deceitful. Treat them with justice, 
 with liberality, with a due regard to their reasonable 
 
74 
 
 THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 wants, and yon will find them, ere long, grateful, ho- 
 nest, and industrious. The secret of national prosperity 
 lies with yourselves. The great principles by which 
 mankind are governed never alter. It is right, there- 
 fore, that the landlords of Ireland, who represent the 
 state, and to whom the power has been delegated, 
 should, as legislators, recognise these principles, and 
 concede to the humbler classes, to the peasantry and 
 small occupiers of land, those blessings which a Chris- 
 tian policy requires, and which are essential to their 
 advancement and happiness. 
 
 I have now endeavoured to define what 1 believe 
 ought to be done by those who are the natural guar- 
 dians of the people, and especially of the poorer 
 classes. Still, a few words remain to be said before 
 my task is done. Let the people look to themselves. 
 With them, finally, lies the solution of the great pro- 
 blem of national existence. Their rulers may guide 
 and encourage, they may remove obstructions, and 
 afford the means of improvement. But if the people 
 do not respond to their call ; if, wedded to evil habits 
 and grovelling desires, they refuse instruction, and 
 understand not the exigencies of the age, they cannot 
 expect that God’s laws will be subverted, and a miracle 
 worked in their behalf. The world is not what it 
 was. We live fast lives. “ Life is real — life is earnest.” 
 The age demands not alone hard labour, but also that 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 75 
 
 labour should be directed by intelligence. Science is 
 shedding a broad light over the world, and they who 
 wilfully sit in darkness must submit to that iron 
 necessity which crushes down the weak beneath the 
 strong. Mind must rule matter. Let the Irish 
 peasantry be warned in time — be warned by the fate 
 of their brethren in England. The wealthy capitalist, 
 with his intelligence and machinery, will press hard 
 on the poor occupier, whose only capital is his labour, 
 unless the latter can bring science and reason to his 
 aid, can cultivate his land with profit, and increase 
 its productive powers. The old slothful and impro- 
 vident habits, and a system connected with minute 
 subdivision of land, with bad husbandry, intemperance, 
 and imprudent marriages, do not consist with real 
 progress, with independence, and true nationality. 
 If the people would secure these blessings they must 
 intelligently strive towards that end, and work out 
 their own social prosperity. Self-controul, foresight, 
 and perseverance, are absolutely essential to their 
 future prosperity. If they do not cultivate these 
 virtues, they will dig their own graves, and promote 
 their own extinction. The march of reform will sweep 
 away their barbarism ; their weak and perishable 
 structures, their cottages, will disappear ; the cattle 
 will roam through the homesteads ; the machine will do 
 the work of rude, uncivilized man ; and when all is 
 
THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 76 
 
 over, when the peasant has disappeared, none will be 
 found to pity or sympathise with those who neglected 
 their opportunities, who forsook the only true path of 
 safety, and precipitated their own destruction. May 
 it never be the task of some future historian to record 
 this as the fate of the Irish people ! and to lament 
 over opportunities lost and generous efforts misdirected. 
 
LETTER VIX. 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 Hitherto I have dealt with general principles, and 
 stated broadly what ought to he the basis of our policy 
 towards the people ; I would now -define that policy a 
 little in detail. 
 
 It does appear, on looking back over the past his- 
 tory of Ireland, that we have erred in our government 
 of the people. We have not met their gust require- 
 ments, or realized the necessary 'conditions of real 
 national existence, and the consequence has been, a 
 suspicious feeling, a distrust engendered a®ong the 
 Irish ; they are impatient of control, and averse to 
 institutions under which they have not been able to 
 acquire property, and a solid interest in the land. It 
 will, therefore, be necessary henceforth to introduce 
 such changes, and such a modification of our social 
 system, as may procure the advancement of the people 
 to the rank of citizens, and attach them firmly to the 
 state. In other words, as we before stated, they must 
 own property and a “ home.” 
 
78 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 Now, this “home” depends chiefly on the manner in 
 which the occupation of the land is secured to the 
 people. The terms of the contract differ in many 
 parts of the world. Among the nations of antiquity 
 we find that the majority of the people were possessed 
 of land, and therefore entitled to the rank of citizens. 
 In the earlier period of the republics of Greece and 
 Borne, they knew well the value of a compact phalanx 
 of citizens attached to the country. There were no 
 evictions and exterminating landlords when Miltiades 
 fought at Marathon, and Hannibal marched from 
 Cannae. When tenures were given, the term was 
 generally a long one. This was necessary in order 
 to encourage the planting of trees, and secular im- 
 provements. The “ emphytertic” lease (derived from 
 a word (sjufevrevc ng) signifying the rearing of plants) 
 was a common tenure. It lasted from sixty to ninety 
 years. There is not much proof, from the appearance 
 of our country, that planting leases have prevailed 
 much in Ireland. When we turn to modern Europe, 
 we find that in some countries, as Norway and Swit- 
 zerland, the small landholders and bulk of the people 
 are proprietors. In Italy the “ metayer” system, by 
 which the landlord and occupier share the produce, 
 has generally subsisted, and under it the people have 
 lived comfortably, and the land is well cultivated. 
 In upper Austria, the Tyrol, and Belguim, the in- 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 79 
 
 dustry and enterprise of the cultivators has been 
 stimulated by a permanent contract on liberal con- 
 ditions. Everywhere, in fact, even among the semi- 
 civilized nations of China and Japan, and in some 
 parts of those countries still subject to the Mahometan 
 despotism, even beneath the snowy summits of Le- 
 banon, and among the vallies of the Balkan, where 
 the people have been permitted, undisturbed during 
 ages, to accumulate property, and to acquire a cer- 
 tain guarantee of existence ; there they have given 
 evidence of the fact, by their patient industry, their 
 contented spirit, and works achieved by persevering 
 toil. A certain settlement in the land is essential to 
 secure the loyalty of the people ; otherwise there is 
 danger that they may look upon great radical changes, 
 and even on foreign aggression, as matters of slight 
 import to them, and evince a spirit of apathy and in- 
 difference. This was the case in Prussia, where, pre- 
 vious to the occupation by the French, the people 
 were dependent, and bound by a servile contract to 
 their landlords, until the struggle for life came, and 
 it was necessary to summon all the strength, and 
 call forth all the energies of the nation to drive out the 
 invader. Then new blood had to be infused into the 
 system ; a servile population were no match for the 
 veterans of Napoleon. They could only be met and 
 resisted by freemen. Therefore the enlightened states- 
 
80 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 men of Prussia determined to give the people a gua- 
 rantee of independence to associate them with the pro- 
 perty of the soil, and attach them to the state. They 
 converted them partly into proprietors, partly into 
 tenants holding under a definite contract. 
 
 Here there was undoubtedly a violation of the rights 
 of property. But it was dictated and justified by 
 necessity, and the result has proved the wisdom of the 
 measure. Prussia, although placed in a dangerous 
 position between the most powerful and despotic 
 monarchies of Europe, may defy all foreign aggres- 
 sion. Her people are all citizens trained to arms, and 
 enthusiastic in the cause of their fatherland. Her 
 sandy plains and barren wastes have been reclaimed, 
 and comfort and wealth have been generally diffused 
 throughout the community. 
 
 Here, then, we have examples worthy of our imita- 
 tion. Our chief peril arises from the want of citizens. 
 We have few who are so firmly attached to the coun- 
 try, so intimately identified with property, so devoted 
 to its institutions, that they may be safely relied upon 
 as a sure protection in time of need. 
 
 Our policy should be to increase the numbers of this 
 class, and to encourage our citizens. This work 
 might be accomplished in Ireland without any great 
 convulsion or extraordinary sacrifice. Our present 
 social structure is well calculated to ensure the happi- 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 81 
 
 ness and prosperity of our people. In fact, no better 
 social arrangement could be devised than that of an 
 educated and refined aristocracy, possessed of capital, 
 and resident on their estates, who, by their example 
 and presence, might encourage and guide an industri- 
 ous middle class of cultivators settled in the land and 
 occupying the soil. Any measure which might induce 
 a radical change in this social structure would pro- 
 bably be productive of serious evils to the community. 
 Thus the sudden elevation of Irish tenants-at-will, 
 with their present innate habits of listlessness and 
 improvidence, to the rank of proprietors, would ulti- 
 mately cause their ruin. When all restraint had 
 been removed, they would subdivide lands, extract a 
 niggard return from the half-tilled soil, and lapse into 
 that love of bodily ease and sensual enjoyment which 
 is characteristic of a half-civilized race. 
 
 We have already a proof of this in the case of the 
 leaseholders under the old system, which did not re- 
 quire or enforce any conditions of improvment. They 
 were, generally speaking, a worthless and unimprov- 
 ing race. And, therefore, we shall find it necessary, 
 even in granting tenures, especially to the small occu- 
 piers of land, to insist either that the capital should be 
 first expended and improvements made, or that the 
 tenant will give ample security for the due fulfilment 
 of this part of his contract. 
 
82 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 The principle, then, which I would adopt, and which 
 I have found to be already productive of good results 
 in the case of a Celtic population, is this. Without 
 raising the minds of a people by the promulgation of 
 Utopian schemes, I would simply look forward to a 
 modification of our present system, which would tend 
 ultimately to abolish the uncertain condition of 
 tenancy-at-will, and to substitute customary tenures 
 and certain contract of occupation. For it is evi- 
 dent that where tenancy-at-will exists, there can be 
 no works of permanent improvement. The proper 
 savings bank of an agricultural community is the 
 land. And it is a manifest sign of the insecurity of 
 our social state, when (as was shown in the late famine) 
 the banks are filled with the hoards of the poor, while 
 the land is uncultivated and unstocked. 
 
 But in order to hold out an inducement to the peo- 
 ple to invest their capital in the land, it would be rea- 
 sonable to secure to them, by a tenure, the enjoyment 
 of the fruits of their labour. And in order to insure 
 their progress, and to encourage further exertion, I 
 would not grant leases indiscriminately, but only to 
 those who could prove, by their actions and by work 
 actually done, that they were actuated by a spirit of 
 improvement. Thus the possession of a lease would 
 be at once an evidence and a guarantee that the indi- 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 83 
 
 vidual had expended his labour and capital, and would 
 in future be a useful member of the community. 
 
 If we suppose, then, that such an inducement as a 
 lease, for a term of not less than thirty years, on 
 liberal conditions, be held out to all the occupiers of 
 land in Ireland ; if, stimulated by this concession, the 
 people should settle down, and invest all their capital 
 in the soil ; if thus they might gradually be inoculated 
 with those steady habits which the acquisition of 
 property entails, and become firmly attached to their 
 country, I see no reason to doubt their ultimate hap- 
 piness and natural advancement. For then, when 
 they are elevated to an independent position, they will 
 be influenced by all the appliances of our Christian 
 civilization. It is surprising how little the value of 
 a settled permanent home is understood, even by those 
 who are deeply interested in the welfare of our people. 
 People imagine that they will reclaim a population, 
 and rescue them from habits of sensuality and impro- 
 vidence, while they leave them in a condition in which, 
 subject to a precarious and migratory existence, they 
 can be little influenced by any permanent measures 
 of reform. In a word, they do not build up the 
 homes, and therefore the church and the school are 
 neglected. They fondly believe, that by lectures, and 
 tracts, and essays on drunkenness, and honesty, and 
 the observance of the sabbath, they can lead those into 
 
84 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 the paths of virtue, who, compelled by the exigencies 
 of their condition, are continually shifting from place 
 to place, and breaking up old ties and old local associa- 
 tions. A nomad population like a horde of Arabs, 
 can never he imbued with steady habits of order, 
 temperance, and self-denial. The curse of Reuben 
 hangs over them : “ Unstable as water, they cannot 
 excel.” How can the minister of the Gospel, or the 
 teacher, acquire an influence over those who are 
 not localized, confined within the bounds of a parish, 
 and ignorant of the wholesome restraints of a home 
 and neighbourhood ? There is nothing to seize, no- 
 thing to act upon. Where the hearth is cold, and the 
 small centres of domestic happiness and social virtue 
 do not exist, the improvement of a people is wellnigh 
 impossible. Weigh the matter well, ye apostles of 
 social reform. Your labours would be more effectual 
 if, instead of merely circulating barren treatises, you 
 laboured more to bring the people within the pale of 
 civilization ; and when they are there, gathered in 
 from outlying districts, from dark lodging-houses, and 
 bothies, and stifling garrets and cells ; when, bound by 
 social ties, and conscious of an independent position, 
 they are fit recipients for a civilization based on 
 Christianity ; when the soil is thus prepared, then you 
 may freely cast in the seed, secure that ultimately 
 there will be an abundant harvest. 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 85 
 
 I would look forward to a state of things in which 
 tenures and customary occupation should supersede 
 tenancy at will. If this principle he once established, 
 the question of tenant-right would be less complicated, 
 inasmuch as a bill could only take cognizance of 
 those permanent improvements which are unexhausted 
 at the end of the term. The occupier could not ex- 
 pect compensation for work of which he himself, during 
 his tenure, had fully enjoyed the benefit. A fair 
 tenant-right bill would not only be a boon to the 
 occupier by giving him security for his capital ex- 
 pended on the land, but also to the landlord, as the 
 marketable value of their estates would be increased, 
 and a certain guarantee given that rents would be 
 punctually paid. This guarantee can never exist 
 where the tenant has no capital, and depends only on 
 the year’s revenue as his sole resource. 
 
 Many would prefer a system which has prevailed in 
 England, that the landlord himself should make 
 improvements, and charge the cost to the occupier in 
 the shape of an increased rent. In this case the tenant 
 merely works the land, and the proprietor supplies the 
 buildings and necessary machinery. I confess I da 
 not much admire this system. If we regard merely 
 the possible economy and the more finished execution 
 of the work, and set aside the advantages of training 
 up the people themselves to persevering industry, by 
 
86 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 encouraging them to invest their capital in permanent 
 improvements ; if we look on them as machines, and 
 consider the development of their reasoning powers 
 and habits of energy and foresight as a matter 
 of slight importance, then we will advocate a 
 system which does everything for them, but no- 
 thing by them, and which would tend always to 
 restrict them in a state of pupillage. I would pre- 
 fer to see a work not perhaps quite so elaborately 
 finished, which yet gave evidence of the inventive 
 genius, the enterprise and forethought of the tenant 
 himself, than to behold a series of model farms and 
 model cottages, built by contract, according to an un- 
 varied plan. Landlords, especially in Ireland, often 
 complain that their model erections are not appreci- 
 ated or well taken care of by the tenant. The fact 
 is, that people will generally preserve that on which 
 they have expended their own capital and toil ; but 
 they do not take the same interest in the works of 
 others. If we want merely a land well drained and 
 cultivated studded over with vast buildings and 
 model farms, then let us borrow the capital and do it 
 ourselves. But if we really desire (and this should 
 be our first object) to educate our people, to make 
 them independent and self-reliant, we must offer them 
 the security, and then leave them to work out their 
 prosperity by their own resources. The sooner we 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 87 
 
 understand the value of this practical education the 
 better. The farmer who merely takes the land, and 
 uses the machinery without investing any capital 
 therein, has nothing but a fugitive interest in the 
 country, and it is a matter of the highest importance 
 (on which our future safety may depend) that the 
 Irish people should be attached to the state, and 
 closely connected with their native land. 
 
 The result of the high-farming system has generally 
 been to extirpate gradually the race of small cultiva- 
 tors. The tendency of capital, like quicksilver, is to 
 run into masses. A large work can be done cheaper 
 in proportion than a small one, and a great farm is 
 more economical than several detached holdings. We 
 find therefore that after some time under the operation 
 of this system the villages and small holdings disappear, 
 and the rural population of independent landholders, 
 unable to contend with the overpowering resources of 
 the capitalist, is drafted into the towns, and swells the 
 mass of our urban population. This is a certain 
 detriment to the state, as it diminishes the number of 
 the citizens. It is not wealth alone, but the general 
 diffusion of it throughout the community, which is the 
 basis of national strength, and the best guarantee of 
 national safety. Without entering into the whole 
 question as to the relative merits of large and small 
 
 farms, it does appear that in like manner as different 
 
 G 
 
88 
 
 OUE FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 grades exist in society, so it would seem that an ad- 
 mixture of farms of different sizes, suitable to the 
 resources of the small as well as the large capitalist, 
 is best calculated to stimulate the energies of all, and 
 to develop the productive resources of the country. A 
 prejudice has existed against small farms, and the ill 
 cultivated and neglected holdings of the Irish peasantry 
 have often been adduced as examples of the bad effects 
 resulting from the occupation of land by indigent and 
 thriftless cultivators. But no real argument can be 
 derived from the anomalous state of things which has 
 long existed in Ireland and the north of Scotland. 
 How different the case might be if the people had been 
 inoculated with the spirit and enterprise of those 
 who have a hope in the future, and a certain interest 
 in the land. On the continent of Europe, small farm- 
 ing is the rule, large farming the exception. And 
 where will you find land better cultivated than in the 
 Emmenthal, along the lakes of Thun, and Zurich, or 
 in the Val di Nievole ? The barren sands of Belgium 
 have been fertilized by a race of small farmers. But 
 they owned an interest in the soil, and had a secure 
 investment for their capital. Give the Irish the same 
 advantage, place them in the same position, and we 
 shall then know, when the trial is made, whether the 
 fault lies with the system or with the people. But 
 until that experiment has been tried, it is folly to draw 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 89 
 
 the same conclusion from premises totally different, 
 and to argue the incapacity of the Irish, because in 
 Ireland the peasant, without a tenure or capital, does 
 not give the same proofs of industry' as the landholder 
 in Switzerland or Belgium, who has inherited the small 
 estate of his ancestors, transmitted through successive 
 generations. 
 
 It has been long a matter of reproach to us, that 
 the Irish are the worst-lodged peasantry in Europe. 
 This stigma should be removed. The want of proper 
 house accommodation has undoubtedly tended to de- 
 moralize the people. For although God’s sovereign 
 grace is not limited by the accidents of condition or 
 place, yet, humanly speaking, a high tone of morality 
 and intellectual development cannot consist with the 
 cheerless abodes of abject poverty. 
 
 It is impossible that those who inhabit filthy, dark, 
 ill-ventilated cottages, can cultivate habits of decency, 
 order, and cleanliness. Those who associate with 
 animals, will partake somewhat of their nature. 
 Seldom does the higher existence subdue, and elevate 
 the lower ; but often has the civilized man degene- 
 rated into the savage. The children of men, as of 
 old, will corrupt the sons of God. Therefore, if 
 we would rescue the people from degradation, and 
 purify their hearts, one great step must be, to purify 
 their homes. Their houses should be substantial, well 
 
90 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 built, free from the impurities of stagnant pools and 
 manure heaps, which have been a fertile source of 
 contagion. A barn and cattle shed should be 
 
 attached to the dwelling, and a small yard apart, 
 where the refuse and manure might be collected. 
 Above all, let the home of the family be properly 
 ventilated, and well lighted, with windows so placed 
 as to admit the cheerful beams of the sun. For the 
 sunlight is a source of life, and health, and happiness 
 to all created things. Without it the natural develop- 
 ment is imperfect, and the physical growth immature. 
 Perhaps the inexplicable phenomena of cretinism 
 and idiotcy which prevail among the valleys of 
 Switzerland and in the cabins of Ireland, and which 
 always co-exist with an imperfect organization, may 
 be partly attributed to the want of light. The plant 
 and flower, as well as the animal, must be developed by 
 the centre of life and heat. Light we want in 
 Ireland, light, moral, intellectual, and physical, the 
 beams of the Gospel in our hearts, the sunshine in our 
 homes. Pour it in, let the dayspring be shed abroad. 
 There will be hope for Ireland, when her people shall 
 echo the cry of the Grecian hero, — 
 
 “ fttl iGicSut. it Ct tyctu 11 cyitrtri.'’ 
 
 “ Slay us not in darkness, ere the light of Heaven has dawned 
 on our hearts.” 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 91 
 
 Having now considered what is essential to the 
 physicial comforts and the general wellbeing of the 
 people> let us say a few words on the subject of 
 national education. It seems to be the duty of the 
 legislator to provide a proper system of education, so 
 that the means of moral and intellectual culture may 
 be accessible to all. This can be done by a strict adher- 
 ence to the principles of Christianity, by adopting a line 
 of policy consistent with the precepts of the Gospel, 
 by supporting a faithful ministry, and by diffusing 
 everywhere the seeds of a true religion, which will 
 bring forth the fruits of righteousness and peace. 
 Thus shall we educate a people, and fit them for a 
 higher destiny. As regards schools, I think it desir- 
 able that a system should be strictly maintained, 
 under which the children of all denominations might 
 be instructed in the elements of learning and the 
 general principles of morality. The state having pro- 
 vided for the spiritual wants of the parents, might de- 
 volve upon them and on their clergy the training up 
 of their children in religious habits. And, therefore, 
 without insisting upon any particular form of reli- 
 gious teaching, it might be sufficient to grant assist- 
 ance from the state funds to all schools where the 
 children had been instructed in the general principles 
 of learning, and trained in habits of morality, so as to 
 secure that they should be hereafter useful and up- 
 
92 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 right citizens. A separate system would, under 
 existing circumstances, be most prejudicial to our 
 future interests, as it would tend to alienate still more 
 those who have long been opposed to widen the breach, 
 and to divide the people again into two hostile camps, 
 where political rancour and party feeling would obli- 
 terate the sympathy and kindness arising from old 
 associations, and thus perpetuate the evils which have 
 long wasted our land. 
 
 I have now traced out the outlines of that 
 policy which I think we ought to adopt towards 
 the Irish people. In a word, we must give them 
 a home and an interest in the country, stimu- 
 late their industry, quicken their dormant ener- 
 gies, and develop the resources of the land by first 
 developing the intelligence and the natural powers of 
 its inhabitants. We must make them capitalists, and 
 elevate them to the grade of citizens. And let us 
 not be deceived: less than this will not do. By no 
 other policy can we insure the prosperity of the land, 
 and our own future security. Ireland has been ruled 
 long enough ; it is now time to govern her. I write 
 under the influence of solemn convictions with which 
 I have long been impressed, of forebodings which may 
 yet be realized. A time of trial is approaching a crisis 
 in our history. We know not what a day may bring 
 forth. Let us then look well to our bulwarks, to the 
 
OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 93 
 
 basis on which our security rests. If the invader 
 should threaten our shores, are we prepared to meet 
 him ? Can we arm our people, can we present a united 
 front, a firm phalanx of citizens, loyal and determined, 
 ready to defend their homes and the institutions of 
 their country ? The answer is easy. If the “homes” 
 do really exist throughout our land ; if the 
 people are taken into partnership, and associated 
 with us in the property of the country ; if they 
 possess capital and an interest in the state, 
 then we need not fear the results. There will be 
 men to meet the emissaries of the despot, and Spartans 
 to stand in the straits of Thermopylae. But if our 
 policy has hitherto been to resist all just claims, and 
 to retain the people in a precarious condition ; if we 
 have practically obstructed their progress, denied 
 them security, and thus relegated them to the con- 
 dition of the proletarian class, instead of elevating 
 them to the rank of citizens, then let us not cherish 
 false hopes : we are defenceless, destitute of all which 
 constitutes the real strength of a nation. That 
 strength consists only in the great conservative body 
 of citizens, and they only can be entrusted with the 
 defence of a country who have a settlement and an 
 abiding interest therein. When the cry, “ pro aris et 
 focis” is raised, it will be echoed only by those who are 
 freemen ; freemen not by virtue of suffrage bills 
 
94 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLICY. 
 
 and acts of Parliament, but as bolding an independent 
 stake in their country, as forming an integral portion 
 of the community, as possessed of a certain guarantee 
 in the present, and a certain hope in the future. 
 Let us reflect seriously on these things. If we now 
 inaugurate a policy which will conciliate the affec- 
 tions of the people, and unite all by a common bond 
 of union, we shall secure the safety of the common- 
 wealth ; if not, we cannot expect to escape the 
 penalty which a suicidal policy entails. While we 
 have time, let us work. It is useless, when the foe is 
 at our doors, to reiterate the prophecies of Cassandra. 
 Before the trial comes, we must be prepared to meet 
 the issue, otherwise we may find, when too late, that 
 we have neglected the true path of safety, and 
 sacrificed our dearest interest on the altar of a selfish 
 and shortsighted expediency. 
 
My task is ended. The principles laid down in the 
 foregoing letters I have already tested by experience, 
 and have reason to believe that they are sound. I 
 have proved that the occupiers of land, when stimu- 
 lated by the expectation of a tenure, have expended 
 their labour and capifal in the improvement of their 
 farms. Their comforts have increased, they have ap- 
 preciated the natural requirements of civilized life, 
 and have created for themselves a home. I consider that 
 every man who is connected with property, and has 
 invested capital in the country, has thereby given to 
 the state a guarantee, a direct pledge of his loyalty ; 
 and on the other hand, those who want for this quali- 
 fication cannot faithfully perform the duties, or share 
 in the responsibilities of citizens. For loyalty in this 
 
96 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 practical age does not signify a blind adherence to 
 some abstract idea, or devotion to an individual, or to a 
 dynasty. Men do not nowcontend for words, and swords 
 do not spring from the scabbards at the call of king 
 or kaiser. But they alone will be loyal who have a 
 direct interest in the welfare of their country, who 
 occupy its soil, and are attached to the institutions 
 which secure to them the enjoyment of those blessings, 
 without which their existence would be valueless. 
 
 It seems to me, that in our dealings with our peo- 
 ple, we have been neglectful of these two great truths; 
 first, that it is essential for the safety of the state that 
 the number of its citizens should be maintained ; and 
 secondly, that they alone can be called citizens, and 
 are conservators of our institutions, who possess some 
 permanent basis of loyalty. Thus we have regarded 
 with indifference the undue preponderance of the pro- 
 letarian classes ; of those who, destitute of capital, are 
 dependent on some precarious source of livelihood, and 
 cannot have any security or definite hope in the future. 
 And yet, without this security and hope, civilization 
 can scarcely exist ; and the people who are deprived 
 of their essential blessings, must exhibit many of the 
 characteristics of barbarism. They will be unsettled 
 in their habits, improvident, sensual, and ill-affected. 
 And notwithstanding all this, which the experience of 
 every age has confirmed, we have witnessed with 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 97 
 
 apathy the gradual extinction of the independent land- 
 holders in many parts of the kingdom, the depopula- 
 ting of the rural districts, and the consequent increase 
 of an urban population. I own, I dread more than 
 any foreign aggression, this tendency to degrade the 
 masses of our people, to cast them loose on the soil, to 
 alienate them from property, and thus stereotype pro- 
 letarianism in our land. There is much to indicate 
 that we are approaching to a state of things which in 
 former times foreboded the decline of imperial Rome. 
 We are entering on a new era, a new phase in our 
 national existence. The wealth formerly diffused 
 throughout the community, is now concentrated in 
 masses in the hands of a few capitalists. The bulk of 
 our population, whether as operatives, citizens, or farm 
 labourers, are chiefly dependent on the wages of their 
 daily labour for support. They have little fixed capi- 
 tal which they can call their own, and no lasting re- 
 sources. The great want experienced by this class 
 arises chiefly from this, that they have no savings 
 bank, no profitable investment for their capital. The 
 small holdings have been merged in monster farms, 
 the great factories have replaced the petty dealers and 
 handicraftsmen, and men lose their individuality, and 
 become assimilated to the machine with which they 
 are connected. Thus the people are actually chained 
 to dependence ; they cannot break forth from the 
 
98 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 charmed circle, and they are precluded by the inevita- 
 ble circumstances of their condition from accumulat- 
 ing wealth, and thus becoming real citizens in the 
 land. For, let us understand the matter well ; it con- 
 cerns us more nearly than we care perhaps to admit. 
 It is downright folly to imagine that we can elevate 
 the masses by giving them a franchise, unless with the 
 independence they possess the qualification of citizen- 
 ship. They alone are entitled to rank as citizens who 
 possess a certain capital, either by their education, 
 their scientific skill, or by their material wealth, the 
 product of their labour, or the heritage transmitted 
 by past generations. Nothing else will do ; and no acts 
 of parliament or reform bills will make those free and 
 independent members of the commonwealth, who 
 have not the real guarantees on which freedom is 
 based. If we retain the people in this dependent 
 condition, and then lower the franchise, we entrust a 
 power to them which they are unfit to exercise with 
 discretion. We do not make them citizens, but we 
 give the rights, and withhold the qualification. No 
 man ought to exercise political power in a state who 
 is not a citizen ; and no man is a citizen who does 
 not own a stake and a permanent interest in that 
 state. If we undertand this, we will direct our efforts 
 to elevate our people to the franchise, instead of 
 lowering the franchise to the people, and inaugurate 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 99 
 
 a policy which will augment our proprietary classes, 
 and favour the diffusion of capital throughout the 
 community. Hitherto our policy has been the reverse. 
 We have favoured the large capitalist at the expense 
 of the small, and encouraged a system which, during 
 the last half century, has silently operated to reduce 
 our people to one dead level, to a monotonous and 
 uncertain existence. Can any statesman of our age, 
 looking on the present state of society, on the 
 enormous wealth possessed by the few, and the 
 dependent, almost servile condition of the many ; can 
 any one who looks beneath the surface at the masses 
 toiling, struggling on from year to year, without any 
 capital or resources (except their own strength and 
 aptitude for labour), venture to read the signs of the 
 times, or to predict the future of England ? A 
 social system which rests on a basis so narrow, which 
 is unsupported by the bulk of the people, may sud- 
 denly collapse, and entail inevitable ruin. The 
 volcano may burst, the lava flood may pour forth 
 over the smiling plains. While millions are depen- 
 dent on their daily hire, while the failure of a crop, 
 or a defalcation in the supply of cotton, may utterly 
 ruin those who are devoid of ulterior resources, our 
 empire is insecure ; there is but six months between 
 us and anarchy and revolution. That social fabric 
 alone can stand where the majority are directly 
 
100 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 interested in its preservation. If the people are 
 gradually alienated from the property of the state, 
 they will at last overturn the altar and the throne. 
 Consider this, ye who try to subvert the pyramid, 
 and place it on its apex ; ye who, neglecting the 
 bases of national existence, would prop up your 
 system by small palliatives, by your eleemosynary 
 institutions, your temperance clubs, and lodging 
 houses, and reading rooms, and debating societies, 
 all very good in their way, but all very inferior 
 to the original patriarchal institution, established by 
 the F ounder of all society — “ the home.” Establish this 
 throughout the land, and all our other institutions 
 are secure. Destroy this, and despite your philan- 
 thropic schemes and nostrums, you will entail a 
 serious injury, perhaps the ruin of your country. Let 
 England beware of the dogmas of those who would 
 alienate her people, and stereotype proletarianism on 
 her soil It is a dangerous sign when our eleemosy- 
 nary societies are being multiplied, owing to a felt 
 necessity ; a sign that our people are not self-reliant, 
 that they have not sufficient resources, but require 
 bandages and leading strings. It is a dangerous 
 thing when their sense of independence is blunted, 
 their sensual desires inflamed, and the reckless and 
 improvident have learned to call, like the Roman 
 populace, for “ panem et circenses.” 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 101 
 
 When it comes to this, let England look to her safety. 
 For as it was with Carthage, the great commercial 
 empire, as it was with Rome the great military power 
 of antiquity, so it may be with her. She too may perish, 
 sacrificed to a suicidal policy, which dissevered the 
 bond of union between her and her people, and de- 
 prived them of all real interest in the commonwealth. 
 
 These considerations urge us to attach great impor- 
 tance to the solution of that problem which is yet 
 undetermined in Ireland, namely, whether the people 
 shall be left in a state of dependence and insecurity, 
 or naturalized in the country, and admitted as citizens 
 to a participation in the property derived from the 
 soil. If they are now thus established, and permitted 
 to realize capital, and to acquire a basis of independence 
 and national existence, I would confidently expect 
 that Ireland will ultimately become the support, in- 
 stead of the weakness, of the Empire. If this great 
 question remains unsolved, and the future of our peo- 
 ple is still undecided ; if generations are destined to 
 pass away without any certain hope or definite natio- 
 nality, then I can discern no pillar of light, no beacon 
 to guide our steps ; I can augur nothing permanent or 
 stable from a social system without guarantees, but 
 must believe that the future, as the past history of 
 Ireland, will present, like her climate, alternations of 
 cloud and sunshine, of storm and calm ; a political 
 
102 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 horizon chequered by the evanescent gleams of genius, 
 the shortlived brilliancy of a vague and misdirected 
 patriotism. 
 
 Being then convinced of the permanent importance 
 of the great social problem on which our national 
 existence depends, and of the necessity which should 
 urge us to establish the people, first, by giving them a 
 location and a home, without which they cannot be 
 citizens ; knowing also that all minor and unimportant 
 considerations should be postponed until the vital 
 question is settled, what shall we say of those psuedo- 
 patriots, who, inflated with petty vanity, declaim at 
 banquets and hustings, and endeavour, by bringing 
 forward topics of slight moment, to divert the people 
 from the consideration of those things which are ab- 
 solutely essential ; what shall we say of men who 
 arrogantly claim to guide the destinies of a people, 
 and yet place their hopes of national regeneration in 
 such trifling matters as a repeal of the union, vote by 
 ballot, universal suffrage, reform, etc ? If all those 
 things were granted to-morrow, we should not have 
 made one step towards true nationality. A real inde- 
 pendent national existence can only be achieved 
 when the people themselves learn to be self-reliant ; 
 when all classes understand their duties, and are pre- 
 pared to practise them. What have all these mere 
 gewgaws to do with the real life of a nation ? Those 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 103 
 
 patriots, like the Feegee islanders, would decorate a 
 man with a cocked hat before he has got a pair of 
 breeches. Fortunately the Irish are beginning to 
 understand the real value of these oratorical flourishes. 
 The idea of repeal is wellnigh extinct, and exists only 
 in the mind of some descendant of Brian Boru, who 
 seems to imagine that the Brehon law was superior to 
 our institutions, and that a society of savage chief- 
 tains and ragged kerne is infinitely preferable to our 
 modern civilization. “Vote by ballot” is now the 
 favourite political stalking-horse. Do the Irish 
 understand the significance of this term ? It simply 
 means this, that while a system exists under which 
 the voter is subject to indirect influence, and liable 
 to be acted upon by terror or cajolery, he is practically 
 not a freeman, and therefore claims the protection 
 accorded to slaves. Instead of recording openly and 
 honestly, before the public bar of his country, his free 
 unbiassed opinion, he must slink from the ordeal, and 
 give a silent and secret vote. Why should a man who 
 is really independent disguise his opinions ? Secrecy 
 is, and always will be, the badge of servitude. And 
 they who advocate “ vote by ballot,” must look forward 
 only to a perpetuation of that slavery which has 
 hitherto enthralled the Irishman. No : such measures 
 are unworthy of true statesmen, — worthy only of 
 
 II 
 
104 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 empty pedants and demagogues. We have had 
 enough of secrecy and under-hand dealing in Ireland. 
 Sincerity, openness, honesty, these are what we 
 want. Give the Irishman a secure basis of freedom, 
 make him independent, educate his moral and mental 
 powers, release him from thraldom, and then let him, 
 when possessed of the qualification, exercise the rights 
 of a citizen, and pronounce his matured opinions 
 openly upon those questions which affect the interests 
 of his country. Then will he understand the nature 
 of true freedom, and exercise his authority as an in- 
 telligent and unbiassed member of the community. 
 
 Another favourite topic with our patriots is an 
 unqualified abuse of England, and of Saxon institutions. 
 If anything happens wrong in Ireland it is immedi- 
 ately attributed to the baneful influence of the Saxon. 
 Defects which arise from our own internal mismanage- 
 ment, evils caused by the sloth or improvidence of our 
 people, are all traced to onefruitful source, — the tyranny 
 of England. Such folly might excite our mirth, but 
 the subject is too serious for jesting. Let me ask 
 them in sober earnestness, what has England to do 
 with evils which evidently arise from our own defi- 
 ciencies, and faults in our social system, from the 
 neglect of landed proprietors, or the ignorance and 
 want of energy in our people ? How is the Saxon to 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 105 
 
 blame, if the lands ill cultivated yield a poor return ; if 
 houses badly built tumble down ; if outrages are com- 
 mitted because old enmities are still kept up by party 
 badges and party tunes ; if trade languishes for want 
 of strict honesty and carefulness in our dealings ? If 
 England is made responsible for all the shortcomings 
 of the Celt, she will have enough to bear. Even the 
 visitation of the famine cannot be attributed to any 
 sinister influences or political misgovernment. The 
 causes of that evil may be distinctly defined, graven as 
 if upon a rock. It resulted from the simple fact, that 
 a people, destitute of capital and ulterior resources, in 
 consequence of the selfishness of their former rulers, 
 were ruined when their scanty pittance, the year’s 
 revenue, failed. England had nothing to do with the 
 matter, nor with the extermination of the peasantry, 
 or with the frequent evictions which drove the people 
 from our shores. But when the cry of suffering arose 
 from the desolate homes of Ireland, and the famine- 
 stricken wilds of Connemara, she nobly responded to 
 the call, and poured forth her wealth to stay the pro- 
 gress of an unforeseen calamity. Let us put the 
 saddle on the right horse, and cease those unmanly com- 
 plaints, worthy only of those who can discern nothing 
 but their own selfish and puerile interests. England 
 can do nothing for us which we cannot do for ourselves. 
 
106 CONCLUSIOV. 
 
 Formerly there were just grounds for complaint, but 
 they do not exist now. The Irishman — witness our 
 Lawrences and M'Clintocks — can and does rise to emi- 
 nence and wealth equally with the shrewd intelligent 
 Scotchman, or the persevering Saxon, provided he 
 evinces those qualities which alone can ensure success. 
 It is our fault if we do not attain to social prosperity. 
 Only let us understand our duties and responsibilities. 
 It will not do to sit idle in the mud and call to Jupiter 
 to help us. “ Aide toi et Dieu t’aidera.” We must 
 put our own shoulders to the wheel. If we expect 
 others to help us, we will wait long enough ; every one 
 has enough to do to mind himself in the present age. 
 
 “ Rusticus expectat dum defluit amnis, at ille 
 
 Labitur et labeter in omne volubilis oevum.” 
 
 While we delay on the brink and dilate on imaginary 
 grievances, and conjure up old wrongs, time rolls on, 
 generations pass away, and the great problem of an 
 existence remains unsolved. Let all recognize and 
 fulfil their relative duties ; let our higher classes exhibit 
 an example of liberality, of justice, and Christian 
 forbearance ; let our people be educated, and then with 
 minds informed and powers developed, let them go 
 forth over our land, and forward the work of improve- 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 107 
 
 ment. Then, in spite of croakers, and mob orators, 
 and inflated patriots (mere windbags), Ireland will 
 improve ; then will her wastes be reclaimed, her re- 
 sources developed, and she will enter on the true path 
 to prosperity. 
 
 We should not be led astray by false titles and 
 high-sounding names. “ All is not gold that glit- 
 ters.” There is a conservatism (falsely so called) 
 which may conduct to national degradation and ruin. 
 There is a liberalism which tends only to preserve 
 intact the great original bases of nationality, and to 
 sweep away the parasitical growth and excrescences 
 which deform the social fabric. It is no conservatism 
 which would maintain old abuses, exclusive privileges, 
 and the relics of an effete civilization. It is no 
 radicalism which, while it preserves the gradations of 
 rank, would yet endeavour to secure to all those 
 benefits and equality of freedom, which Christianity 
 and a sound policy imperatively demands. Often has 
 the world beheld the characters of her best and wisest 
 vilified and distorted through a false medium. It 
 was her conservative party, her patricians and 
 wealthy nobility, who ruined Rome. The Gracchi 
 would have preserved her. Call not that conservatism 
 which would maintain old traditions and obsolete 
 distinctions ; which preserves intact the line of 
 
108 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 3 0112 072457853 
 
 demarcation between the classes, and shudders at 
 the slightest infringement of the rights of property, 
 while it does not enforce the duties consequent on 
 those rights. But call that conservatism and true 
 statesmanship, which, acting accordant with the 
 fundamental principles laid down by the Great 
 Author of society, will provide for the improvement 
 and happiness of every individual in the community ; 
 which follows no visionary theories, and recognizes 
 no irresponsible authority, but calls on all to perform 
 their duties in their station in life ; which derives its 
 vitality from the Christianity promulgated in the 
 Gospel ; from that faith which during ages has never 
 faltered in its onward course ; has never despaired of 
 the regeneration of fallen man ; but still amidst the 
 storm and surge of contending nations, presses 
 onwards with its standard “ Excelsior,” its watchword 
 “vestigia nulla retrorsum,” until this dynasty has 
 passed away, and a new era of righteousness and 
 peace dawns upon the world.