the political interests of
their respective parties. There is but one topic on which they are all
agreed--that is, in their unanimous and unsparing abuse of the Irish
landlords; and, however much they may be condemned as disentitled to
belief on other subjects, on this their assertions are taken, by all
parties, as authorities "true as holy writ."

It requires no witch to tell us that Ireland is in a condition in which
she ought not to be; but it does require some industry, and an intimate
knowledge of the habits and character of the people, to assign this
state of things to the proper causes. In their love for the marvellous,
most writers on Ireland have overlooked facts; they have not
condescended to enquire into particulars, or to use that unquestionable
information which is actually in existence. We therefore propose to
supply this omission, and to state the case of the landlord and tenant
question as it really is; and, although many acts of oppression and
harshness may have been perpetrated by individuals, we trust we shall be
able to show, from authentic documents, that nothing can be more unjust
than the exaggerated charges brought against the present Irish landlords
as regards the exorbitance of their rents, and nothing more fallacious
than to attribute the misery of the people to the want of tenure, or due
security in the occupation of their lands. The last census, taken by the
police under the direction of government, gives us the actual rental of
Ireland as returned by the occupiers themselves. This information is
therefore derived from a source on which little doubt can be thrown; and
although we may justly suspect (from the desire of the Irish peasant to
make the most of his miseries) that the rent may have been in many
instances exaggerated, we may rest perfectly assured that in no instance
was it underrated. Founded on the results of this enquiry, a very useful
and instructive sheet (entitled _Ireland at a Glance_) has been compiled
and published, in which, amongst other statistical information, the
average rent of land in each county is given, and on the correctness of
which we may safely rely. Had the conduct of the Irish aristocracy, some
forty or fifty years ago, attracted but a small portion of the public
attention that has latterly been bestowed upon it, no doubt great good
would have been effected. _Then_, unquestionably, the landlord could do
almost any thing; _then_, no doubt, he could with impuni