IRELAND, 1840-1880. 101 



Except those who were too far gone for recovery, 

 all rents were paid on the days fixed ; and, till the 

 famine came, all trouble seemed to be over. I have 

 often begun at eleven, and by three had a full half- 

 year's rent in bank, without one defaulter, or one 

 angry word. 



The first tenant who did not pay — a lazy schemer 

 as ever lived, and a Protestant — was turned out, and 

 his thirty-one acres (divided into twenty-nine fields) 

 started as a model farm under the Scotchman. 



At that time many of the tenants had farms 

 which were very much scattered, fields in four or five 

 separate parts, often far off, the waste and incon- 

 venience of which were a great loss to them. The 

 first improvement aimed at was to get each man's 

 land about his house and yard, joining the rest that 

 he had. The regular payment of rent on fixed days, 

 so that there were no overhanging arrears, was very 

 beneficial to the tenants themselves. Every one felt 

 that when his rent was paid the surplus was his 

 own ; and many began to prepare for the next 

 payment from the time the previous rent was 

 paid. This lightened the difficulty much. It soon 

 appeared that some were too far gone to recover, and 

 they gradually failed. They were offered forgiveness 

 of whatever they owed, allowed to take away freely 

 all they had, and given a small sum — usually £10, 

 if they left without causing expense for law. Hardly 

 any refused the offer. There were scarcely any 



