ation of Irish agriculture and
the land tenure of Ireland!

On our way back to the Castle we called on Mr. Place, the manager of the
Portumna Branch of the Hibernian Bank, who lives in the town. He was
amusing himself, after the labour of the day in the bank, with some
amateur work as a carpenter, but received us very cordially. He said
there was no doubt that the deposits in the bank had increased
considerably since the adoption of the Plan of Campaign on the
Clanricarde property. Money was paid into the bank continually by
persons who wished the fact of their payments kept secret; and he knew
of more than one case in which tenants, whose stock had been seized by
the agent for the rents, were much delighted at the seizure, since it
had paid off their rents, and so enabled them to retain their holdings
and keep out of the grasp of the League, even though to do this they had
undergone a forced sale and been muleted in costs.

It was his opinion that the tenants on the Clanricarde property, who are
not in arrears, would gladly accept a twenty-five per cent. reduction,
and do very well by accepting it. But they are constrained into a
hostile attitude by the tenants who are in arrears, some of them for
several years (as, for example, Father Coen), although I find, to my
astonishment, that in Ireland the landlord has no power to distrain for
more than a twelvemonth's rent, no matter how far back the arrears may
run.

Mr. Place seems to think it would be well to put all the creditors of
the tenants on one footing with the landlords. The shopkeepers and other
creditors, he thinks, in that event would see many things in quite a new
light.

What is called the new Castle of Portumna is a large and handsome
building of the Mansard type, standing on an eminence in the park, at
some distance from the original seat. The building was finished not long
before the death of his father, the late Marquis. It has never been
occupied, save by a large force of police quartered in it not very long
ago by Mr. Tener in readiness for an expedition against the Castle of
Cloondadauv, to the scene of which he promises to drive me to-morrow on
my way back to Dublin. It is thoroughly well built, and might easily be
made a most delightful residence. The views which it commands of the
Shannon are magnificent, and there are many fine trees about it.

The old man who has charge of it is a typical Galway retainer of the old
school. The "boys," he say