they retain the holdings their fathers
tilled, and they have tided over bad times so well that their April
rents have, to my certain knowledge, been all paid. What will occur in
November it is unnecessary to predict, but it may be remarked, by the
way, that the Irish landlord, whose rents do not overlap each other,
is in an exceptionally fortunate position.

When I was at Ballinrobe the other day I was much struck with the
unanimity with which everybody had agreed to leave that unfortunate
gentleman, Mr. Boycott, in the lurch. That his servants should revolt,
that his labourers should go away, that strangers should be bribed or
frightened away from taking their place, are things by no means
unparalleled even in the most manufacturing town in England. But that
his butcher and baker should strike against their customer was a new
experience hardly to be explained on any ready-made theory. I confess
that I was so much astonished that I preferred waiting for facts
before committing myself to any explanation. At this moment I have no
hesitation in stating that the tradespeople of the smaller towns in
the west are neither strong enough to resist the pressure put upon
them by the popular party nor very much disposed to defend their right
to buy and sell as they please. On the same principle apparently that
a great nobleman of the Scottish Lowlands has, since the last
election, made his sovereign displeasure known to his tenants, have
the party of agitation made "taboo" any tradesmen who have dared to
run counter to the current of present opinion. When a baker is told he
must not do a certain thing he obeys at once, and, with a certain
quickness and suppleness of intellect, casts about to see how he can
best represent himself as a martyr. "Pay rint, Sorr," said a
well-to-do shopkeeper to me two days ago; "and how are thim poor
divils to pay rint that cannot pay me? And how am I to pay any one
when I can't get a shillin' ov a soul?"

This little incident will explain how the opportunity of shirking
responsibility is seized upon by many. To begin with, the advantage is
with the assailant, for the custom of any one farmer or agent is a
small matter compared with that of the country side. It is therefore
manifestly to the interest of the little shopkeeper to curry favour
with the populace rather than with those set in authority over them.
Again, the petty trader would fain, after the example laid down by
Panurge, pray to God for