and reprisal, it assuredly was
perpetuated, if not with their concurrence, at least permission; and
many were not ashamed to avow, that in these savage encounters the "bad
blood" of the country was "let out," at less cost and trouble than by
any other means. When legal proceedings were recurred to, the landlord,
in his capacity of magistrate, maintained the cause of his tenants; and,
however disposed to lean heavily on them himself, in the true spirit of
tyranny he opposed pressure from any other hand than his own. The people
were grateful for this advocacy--far more, indeed, than they often
proved for less questionable kindness. They regarded the law with so
much dread--they awaited its decisions with such uncertainty--that he
who would conduct them through its mazes was indeed a friend. But,
was the administration of justice, some forty or fifty years back in
Ireland, such as to excite or justify other sentiments? Was it not this
tampering with right and wrong, this recurrence to patronage, that made
legal redress seem an act of meanness and cowardice among the people?
No cause was decided upon its own merits. The influence of the great
man--the interest he was disposed to take in the case--the momentary
condition of county politics--with the general character of the
individuals at issue, usually determined the matter; and it could
scarcely be expected that a triumph thus obtained should have exercised
any peaceful sway among the people.

"He wouldn't be so bould to-day, av his landlord wasn't to the fore,"
was Owen Connor's oft-repeated reflection, as he ascended the narrow
pathway towards his cabin; "'tis the good backing makes us brave, God
help us!" From that hour forward, the gay light-hearted peasant became
dark, moody, and depressed; the very circumstances which might be
supposed calculated to have suggested a happier frame of mind, only
increased and embittered his gloom. His prosperity made daily labour
no longer a necessity. Industry, it is true, would have brought
more comforts about him, and surrounded him with more appliances of
enjoyment; but long habits of endurance had made him easily satisfied
on this score, and there were no examples for his imitation which
should make him strive for better. So far, then, from the landlord's
benevolence working for good, its operation was directly the reverse;
his leniency had indeed taken away the hardship of a difficult and
onerous payment, but the relief suggeste