a great portion of its value, unless a landlord’s influence over the people be as strong as his right to the soil; and for this reason, the duty of every landlord is to exercise as powerful a control over the former, and get as much out of the latter as he can.  The landlords, to be sure, are of one religion and the people of another; but so long as we can avail ourselves of the latter for political purposes, we need care but little about their creed.  The results in this case are precisely the same as if the country were Protestant, and that is as much as we want.  Indeed I question if the whole Irish population were Protestant to-morrow, whether the fact would not be against us.  I now speak as identifying myself with British interests.  Would we find them as manageable and as easily shaped to our purposes?  I fear not.  They would demand education, knowledge, and all the fulness of civil liberty; they would become independent, they would think for themselves, and in what predicament would that place us?  Could we then work our British interests, foster British prejudices, and aid British ambition as we do?  Certainly not, unless we had the people with us, and without them we are nothing.

“On the whole, then, so long as we continue to maintain our proper influence over them, I think, without doubt, we are much safer as we stand.

“With respect to the discharge of your duty, your own judgment will be a better guide than mine.  As I said before, avoid Hickman’s errors; I fear he was too soft, credulous, and easily played upon.  Excess of feeling, in fact, is a bad qualification in an agent.  Humanity is very well in its place; but a strong sense of duty is worth a thousand of it.  It strikes me, that you would do well to put on a manner in your intercourse with the tenants, as much opposed to Hickman’s as possible.  Be generally angry, speak loud, swear roundly, and make them know their place.  To bully and browbeat is not easily done with success, even in a just cause, although with a broken-spirited people it is a good gift; but after all I apprehend the best method is just to adapt your bearing to the character of the person you have to deal with, if you wish, as you ought, to arrive at that ascendency of feeling on your part, and subserviency on theirs, which are necessary to keep them in proper temper for your purposes.

“Your receipt for making a forty shilling freeholder contains many excellent ingredients, but I do not think it was honestly drawn up; that is, I believe it to be the production of some one who was not friendly to that system of franchise.  I have little else to say, except that you will find it necessary I think to be very firm and rigorous.  Remember that we are here to-day, and gone to-morrow; so upon this principle keep them moving at a steady pace.  In three words, think of my difficulties, and get all you can out of them—­still remembering, as we say in the ring, never to train them below their strength, for that would be the loss of our own battle.