Irela7id 119 



Yet all through that time of violence and murder, 

 when a man's life was not worth a day's purchase, if he 

 had been known to pay his rent, hundreds of thousands of 

 the tenants stood gallantly by their landlords ; often they 

 paid secretly, and in innumerable cases placed the 

 rent in the bank, to the landlord's account, without 

 mentioning names, and taking no receipts, so that the 

 transactions could not be traced. At the bank I was in 

 the habit of using, the manager informed me that nearly 

 £400,000 had been so paid into their different branches, 

 and I can well believe it. The old peasantry were per- 

 fectly honest, and had no wish whatever to defraud any 

 one of their just rights, but it was the vast class of 

 " corner-boys " and the young men who had nothing to 

 lose that composed the lawless crowds, and did most of 

 the mischief. At the same time, Ireland differs so 

 essentially from England in its habits and thoughts that 

 scarcely any man was bold enough to act contrary to 

 the public opinion of his district. Englishmen cannot 

 understand how lightly life is held in the sister island ; 

 or that, whatever the crime is, the instinct of the populace 

 is to shelter the criminal, instead of as in England to 

 aid the law. There is no horror of a blood-stained 

 murderer ; but on the contrary he is rather looked upon 

 in the light of a hero if he has shot a landlord, or an 

 agent, or some one who has paid his rent when he has 

 received warning not to do so. 



Englishmen, too, cannot believe the working of the 

 Land Bill that they themselves passed into law, to be in 

 truth what it really is, simple stealing from the unfor- 

 tunate landowner. No one in England will believe, 

 however plainly they are told, that if a tenant 



