entator, the _Times_, looked upon as a mere
ordinary duty, many Irish landlords began to evict for non-payment of
rent. The parish priest of Swinford concludes a letter, detailing the
sufferings of his people, thus: "One word as to the landlords. There are
several owners of land in this parish (Kilconduff), but not one of them
resident. We made an effort to create by subscription a fund for the
purpose of keeping a supply of provisions in Swinford, to be sold to the
poor in small quantities. The non-resident landlords were applied to,
but not _one_ of them responded to the call. They are not, however,
idle. Their bailiffs are on the alert, distraining for rent, and the
pounds are full."[186] In the County Sligo, thirty families were evicted
together by one landlord; they must have been one hundred and fifty
individuals in all. They were somewhat in arrear. But in other cases the
corn was distrained in the beginning of October for rent falling due the
previous May. This, in the second year of the Famine, meant eviction,
purely for the sake of clearing the soil of its human incumbrances.

A portion of the English press, but a very small one, sympathised with
those miserable beings who were cast out of their dwellings to perish by
the roadside. The _Morning Chronicle_, in one of its leaders, thus dealt
with the subject: "We shall here state at once our opinion, in plain
terms, respecting this clearing system, by which a population, which has
for generations lived and multiplied on the land, is, on the plea of
legal rights, suddenly turned adrift, without a provision, to find a
living where there is no living to be found. It is a thing which no
pretence of private right or public utility ought to induce society to
tolerate for a moment. No legitimate construction of any right of
ownership in land, which it is for the interest of society to permit,
will warrant it. We hold, at the same time, that to prevent the growth
of a redundant population on an estate is not only not blameable, but it
is one of the chief duties of a landowner, having the power over his
tenants which the Irish system gives. As it is his duty, so it is, on
any extended computation, his pecuniary interest. He is to be commended
for preventing over population, but to be detested for tolerating first,
and then exterminating it."

As the year 1846 wore on to its close, the Famine deepened in intensity,
and every day extended itself more and more. The cold, wh