IRISH PEASANTRY, ETC. 19 



may justly be said to be the standard value of 

 gold ; and gold has already nearly attained to 

 an uniform level in Europe, and will ultimately 

 do so, in defiance of all the legislative measures 

 which commerce or agriculture may advocate. 



In the second case, there is something very 

 comprehensive in the sound of tenant-right 

 in the ears of an Irish tenant in adverse cir- 

 cumstances. " A drowning man will catch at 

 straws ; " and a poor tenant liable to be ejected 

 from his small holding has many things to ex- 

 cuse him for listening to proposals, however 

 delusory, which have for their object the 

 rescuing him from the greatest of all calami- 

 ties which can ever befal an Irishman. To do 

 the small farmers justice, however, we must 

 acknowledge that the grounds on which they 

 themselves based their arguments for relief 

 were much more plausible than those advanced 

 by many of their pretending friends of more 

 liberal education. 



A poor man, for instance, will tell you that 

 he has got a very fine farm of five acres of land 

 at the rent of 51. yearly, a figure not at all to 

 be complained of, and he himself is a very good 

 farmer, and equal to any in the town-land on 

 c 2 



