ely in accordance with
his easy simplicity of character, and his pardonable love of popularity,
that it rather endears him to, me than otherwise.

"Indeed, I may say, my Lord, candidly and confidentially, that there
is a spirit abroad upon your estates, which requires to be vigilantly
watched, and checked with all due and reasonable promptitude; I allude
principally to these M'Loughlins, and when I state that my excellent
and well disposed friend is absolutely popular among your tenantry, even
although he made them pay up to the very last gale, and that I am by no
means in good odor with them, you will not be surprised when I furnish
your lordship with a key to this same state of feeling which exists so
generally in this country. This, then, my Lord, is the secret:--whenever
an Irish agent devotes himself honestly to the wants, wishes, and
interests of his employer, especially if he be needy and pressed for
money, so sure will he become unpopular with the tenantry. Now, I am
somewhat unpopular with the tenantry, and my amiable friend, Hickman, is
beloved by them; but I think your lordship by this time understands the
why and the wherefore on both sides. As your agent, my Lord, I should
regret such popularity, at the same time, I think the intentions of
poor, sweet, amiable Hickman's heart, are such as we must all love and
admire.

"With respect, my Lord, to the manufacture of the "forties," as a
certain comical class of freeholders are termed, I could have easily
undertaken to double the number you mention, on the most reasonable
terms, were it not for the discouraging system adopted by Mr. Hickman.
As it is, I must see what can be done; but your lordship knows that I
can take no step either in this or anything else, until my appointment
shall be finally confirmed. Perhaps you are not aware of the remarkable
document, on the subject in question, which has recently gone its rounds
in this country. It is called--

"'A RECEIPT TO MAKE A FORTY SHILLING FREEHOLDER.'

"'Take the poorest Irishman you can get, he must be destitute and
ignorant, for then he will be slavish, give him a mud cabin, but no
education; let the former be a bad model of an indifferent pig-stye, and
held at thrice its value. Put him to repose on a comfortable bed of
damp straw, with his own coat and his wife's petticoat, for bed-clothes.
Pamper him on two half meals of potatoes and point per day--with water
_ad libitum_. For clothing--let him have a