Passing a cottage by the road-side, one of the kindest and best of those agents said to me, ’See with what infatuation these people cling to their old places!  There is a man in that dilapidated cabin, with only one acre of ground.  It is an eyesore.  I have offered him a nice new slated cottage with ten acres, within a short distance, and he obstinately refuses to quit.’

Why did he refuse?  I suppose, because the place was his own.  The house was probably built by his father; it is the house in which he was born, endeared to him, no doubt, by many powerful associations, little appreciated by those who never condescend to read the ’simple annals of the poor.’  He felt, that if, like his neighbours, he moved into a house built by the landlord, he would cease to be a free man, and would pass under the yoke of a master. I was with some visitors in one of the new cottages.  The wife of the cottier with smiles assented to all that was said as to the neatness and comfort of the place.  I thought the smiles were forced.  I was last in going out, and I heard her heave a heavy sigh.  Perhaps she longed for the old home and its freedom, envying the lot of the sturdy peasant to whom I have alluded.  Poor fellow! he must give way at last.  But his proud manhood is the stuff of which Hampdens are made.

I have devoted much time and attention to personal enquiries from town to town, from village to village, and from house to house, seeking corroborative evidence from men of all ranks and professions, on the effect of the Improved Land System on the working classes, and I will here faithfully record as briefly as possible the result of my enquiries.  I must premise a few words as to the principles of the system which is called ‘English.’

1.  There is the principle of contract, by which alone any tenant is to be permitted to occupy land.  There is to be no foothold in the island, from the centre all round to the sea, from the top of the highest mountain to the shore at low-water-mark, for any Irishman in his native land, unless he obtains it by contract from a landlord and pays for it.

2.  There is the principle of compensation for unexhausted improvements at the rate of five or six per cent. on the outlay, provided the improvements have been made with the knowledge and consent of the landlord.  A certain number of years is held to be sufficient to recoup the tenant for his outlay.  If he is removed before that time he is entitled to the balance of his invested capital; just as if the relation were strictly commercial, and as if he had no further claim than his percentage.  If the landlord makes the improvement—­which he prefers doing, on the new system—­he requires the tenant to pay at the rate of four to six per cent. in the form of rent—­a clear gain to the landlord, who can borrow money on much lower terms, and can hardly invest his capital so profitably or so safely elsewhere.