--Duties of an Irish Landlord--An Apologue on Property--Reasons for
Appointing an Agent--M'Clutchy's Notions of His Duties--Receipt to make
a Forty Shilling Freeholder.
Lord Cumber to Henry Hickman, Esq.
“London, April 1st, 18--
“My Dear Hickman,
“I wrote to you the day before yesterday, and, as the letter was one of
a very pressing nature, I hope its influence won't be lost upon you.
To you who are so well acquainted with the cursed pickle in which I am
placed, it is unnecessary to say that I shall be fairly done up, unless
you can squeeze something for me out of those rascally tenants of mine.
Fairly done up is not the proper term either; for between you and me, I
strongly suspect a young fellow called Swingler, an ironmonger's son,
of giving me a twist too much, on more than one occasion. He was
introduced, that is, proposed as a member of our club, by Sir Robert
Ratsbane, whose grandfather was a druggist, and seconded by Lord
Loadstone, the celebrated lady-killer, as a regular pigeon, who dropped,
by the death of old 'burn the wind,' into half a million at least. The
fellow did appear to be a very capital speculation, but the whole thing,
however, was a trick, as I strongly suspect; for after losing to a
tolerably smart tune, our gentleman began to illustrate the doctrine of
reaction, and has, under the character of a pigeon, already fleeced half
a score of us. Last week I suffered to the tune of eight hundred--Sir
Heavyhead to that of twelve--Bill Swag five--and the Hon. Tom Trickman
himself, who scarcely ever loses, gave bills for six fifties. I can't
stand this, Hickman, that is, I cannot afford to stand it. What is
fifteen thousand a year to a man like me, who must support his rank, or
be driven to the purgatorial alternative of being imprisoned on his own
estate? Hickman, you have no bowels for me, although you can have for
the hard-fisted boors on my property, who wont pay up as they ought, and
all through your indolence and neglect. You must send me money, get it
where you will; beg, borrow, rob, drive, cant, sell out--for money I
must have. Two thousand within a fortnight, and no disappointment,
or I'm dished. You know not the demands upon me, and therefore you,
naturally enough, think very easily--much too easily--of my confounded
difficulties. If you had an opera girl to keep, as I have--and a
devilish expensive appendage the affectionate jade is--perhaps you might
feel a little more Christian sympathy for me than you do. If you had the
expense of my yacht--my large stud at Melton Mowbry and Doncaster, and
the yearly deficits in my betting book, besides the never ending train
of jockies, grooms, feeders, trainers, _et hoc genus omne_--to meet, it
is probable, old boy, you would not feel so boundless an interest, as
you say you do, in the peace and welfare of another man's tenantry, and
all this at that other man's expense. You're confoundedly unreasonable,
Hickman. Why feel, or pretend to feel, more for these fellows, their
barelegged wives, and ragged brats, than you do for a nobleman of rank,
to whom you are deeply indebted. I mean you no offence, Hickman; you are
in other respects an honest fellow enough, and if possessed of only a
little less heart, as the times go, and more skill in raising money from
these people, you would be invaluable to such a distressed devil as I
am. As it is, I regret to say, that you are more a friend to my tenantry
than to myself, which is a poor qualification for an agent. In fact, we,
the Irish aristocracy living here, or absentees as you call us, instead
of being assailed by abuse, want of patriotism, neglect of duties, and
all that kind of stuff, have an especial claim upon the compassion of
their countrymen. If you knew what we, with limited means and encumbered
properties, must suffer in attempting to compete with the aristocracy
of this country, who are enormously rich, you would say that we deserve
immortal credit for holding out and keeping up appearances as we
do--not that I think we always come off scott-free from their ridicule,
especially when they see the shifts to which we are put, in order to
stretch onward at their own pace. However, we must drink when we are
thirsty, as well as they, and if the water happen to be low in the
cistern, which, indeed, is mostly the case with us, we must, as the
rook in the fable did with the pebbles, throw in rack-renting, drivings,
executions, mortgages, loans, &c, in order to bring it within our
reach--for there is ingenuity in everything, as the proverb says, except
in roasting of eggs.
“Come, then, Hickman, set to work at once. My yacht has been damaged by
a foolish wager I made to run her through a creek of reefs at low water,
so that the mere repairs will cost me a cool two hundred at least.
Besides this, I have pledged myself to buy my charming little Signora a
pair of Blenheim spaniels that she has fallen in love with, for which I
shall have to fork out a hundred and fifty down. I say, then, again,
my dear Hickman, money, money; money by _any_ means, but by _all_ means
money; _rem, sed quocunque modo rem_.
“By the way is there not a man there, a kind of under-fellow in
something--agent, I believe--some time appointed, named M'Snitchy, or
M'Smatchey, M'Clutchy, or some such euphonious appellative? Somebody,
old Deaker I think, once mentioned him to me in strong terms, and said
he might become capable of being useful; and you know, Hickman, as well
as I do, that every property circumstanced as mine is, requires a useful
fellow of that particular description. For instance, I dare say, there
are certain proceedings connected with your duty to which you have
no great inclination, and, under these circumstances, would it not
be prudent at least to resort to the agency of somebody like this
M'Clutchy; a fellow not overburthened with too strong a perception of
the necessary pressure. But the truth is, if I proceed in this manner,
your humanity, as the cant goes, will take the alarm; you will say that
my residence abroad has not improved my principles; and that I am rather
strongly tainted with club morality, and the ethics of the gaming,
house. So would you, perhaps, if you breathed my atmosphere, and were
exposed to my temptations. But now I am preaching, and not to the right
purpose either; so as I said before, I say again--money, money, money.
“I am, my dear Hickman,
“Thy friend in distress,
“Cumber.”
Henry Hickman, Esq., to the Right Honorable Lord Viscount Cumber:--
Primrose Hill, April 18--
“My Lord:
“I have had the honor of receiving both your communications, and have
read them, especially that of the first instant, with great pain. I need
not tell you, that I have been your father's friend--that I have been,
and still am your friend, and as such, from my age and anxiety for your
lordship's welfare and reputation, I must take the liberty of one who
has both sincerely at heart, to write to you in terms which a mere agent
could not with propriety use. As this letter, therefore, is written
for your own eye only, you will be good enough to remember that in
everything severe and home-spoken in it, the friend, and not the agent
speaks--at the same time, I must admit, that it is from the knowledge
gained as an agent that I remonstrate as a friend.
“It is now beyond a doubt, my Lord, that your position is one surrounded
with difficulties scarcely to be surmounted, unless by measures which I,
as an honest man, cannot permit myself to adopt. So long as the course
of life, which it has pleased your lordship's better taste and judgment
to pursue, did not bring within the compass of my duties as your agent,
the exhibition of principles at variance with humanity and justice, so
long did I fulfil those duties with all the ability and zeal for your
just interests which I could exert. But now I perceive, that you have
driven me to that line beyond which I cannot put my foot, without
dishonor to myself. I have been the agent of your property, my Lord, but
I shall never become the instrument of your vices; and believe me, this
is a distinction which in our unhappy country, is too seldom observed.
Many an agent, my Lord, has built himself a fortune out of the very
necessities of his employer, and left to his children the honorable
reflection that their independence originated from profligacy on the one
hand and dishonesty on the other. You see, my Lord, I find it necessary
to be very plain with you, and to say, that however you may feel
yourself disposed to follow the one course, I shall not rival you in the
other. I cannot become a scourge inflicted by your necessities, not to
use a harsher word, upon a suffering people, who are already exhausted
and provoked by an excess of severity and neglect. Think of the
predicament in which you would have me stand--of the defence which you
place, in my lips. Should your tenantry ask me--'why are you thus cruel
and oppressive-upon us?' what reply could I make but this--'I am thus
cruel because his lordship is profligate. He wants money to support
his-mistress, to feed her vanities and excesses, and you must endure
distress and privation, that the insatiable rapacity of a courtezan may
be gratified. His lordship, too, has horses and dogs, in the welfare of
which he feels a deep interest.' 'But why does he not feel an interest
in us?' 'So he does, for are not you the persons by whose toil and labor
he is enabled to support them all?' 'So that in point of fact, we
are made indirectly the agents of his crimes. The privations which
we suffer--the sweat of our brows--the labor of our hands, go to
the-support of his wantonness, his luxury, and his extravagance!
This, then, is his interest in us?' 'Yes--_work, that you may feed
them_--starve, that his mistress may riot in wantonness; perish your
children that his dogs may be fed!' In such a position as this, my Lord,
I shall never place myself, but you may easily find many that will. The
moment your necessities are known, knavery will be immediately at work,
and assume its guardianship over folly. Indeed there is a monarchical
spirit in knavery, which has never yet been observed. The knave keeps
his fool, as did the kings of old, with this only difference, and a
material one it is--that whilst the fool always lived at the king's
expense, the knave lives at the fool's. How your lordship may feel under
the new administration I cannot say, but I am inclined to think, you
will not find it a distinction without a difference. By this, of course,
you understand, my Lord, that I at once resign my agency.
“And now, my Lord, in addition to many other unavailable remonstrances
made by me, not only against your licentious habits as a man, but
against your still more indefensible conduct as a landlord, allow me
to address you in a spirit of honesty, which I fear is not easily found
among the class to which I belong. I look upon this as a duty which I
owe less to you than to my country, because I am satisfied that the
most important service which can be rendered to any man, not ashamed
of either your habits or principles, is to lay before him a clear, but
short and simple statement, of that which constitutes his duty as
a landlord--I should say an Irish landlord--for there is a national
idiosyncrasy of constitution about such a man, which appears to prevent
him from properly discharging his duties, either as a friend to himself,
or a just man to his tenantry.
“The first principle, therefore, which an Irish landlord--or, indeed any
landlord--should lay down, as his fixed and unerring guide, is ever to
remember that his tenantry are his best friends--his only patrons--and
that instead of looking down upon them with contempt, neglect, or even
indifference, he should feel that they are his chief benefactors, who
prop his influence, maintain his rank, and support his authority.
“The second is--that the duties of the landlord to his tenantry are much
greater, and far more important than those of his tenantry to him, and
should at least be quite as equitably and attentively discharged.
“The third is--to remember that the great mass of the population in
Ireland belong to one creed, and the great bulk of landed proprietors
to another; and to take care that none of those fierce and iniquitous
prerogatives of power, which are claimed and exercised by those who
possess property, shall be suffered, in the name of religion, or
politics, or prejudice of any kind, to disturb or abridge the civil or
religious rights of the people, and thus weaken the bonds which should
render the interests of landlord and tenant identical. Prejudice so
exercised is tyranny. Every landlord should remember that the soil is of
no religion.
“The fourth is--simply to remember that those who live upon our
property have bodies and souls, passions, reflections, and feelings
like ourselves. That they are susceptible of hunger, cold, grief,
joy, sickness, and sorrow--that they love their children and domestic
relatives, are attached to their religion, bound by strong and heartfelt
ties to the soil they live on, and are, in fact, moved by all those
general laws and principles of life and nature, which go to make up
social and individual happiness--to remember, in short, that they are
men who have higher destinies in life, than merely administering to the
wants, excesses, or crimes of others; and that no condition has ever yet
been known to subsist between landlord and tenant, or even between man
and man, by which one party is required to surrender comfort, freedom,
and enjoyment, in fact, all that life is good for, merely to gratify the
wants, vices, or ambition of the other.
“The fifth and last is--not by oppression, cruelty, or rapacity, to goad
the people into madness and outrage, under the plausible name of law
or justice; or to drive the national mind--which is a clear one--into
reflections that may lead it to fall back upon first principles, or
force it to remember that the universal consent by which the rights of
property are acknowledged, may, under the exasperation of overstrained
pressure, in a land so peculiarly circumstanced as Ireland is,
be altogether withheld, and thus its whole foundations shaken or
overturned, and the justice of individual claims and prescriptive right
lost in the tumult.
“These principles are simple, my Lord, but they ought at least to be
better known, or what would be still more desirable, better practised.
As, however, my paper is nearly filled, I shall finish my communication
with a short fab!e, to which I beg your lordship's serious attention.
“There lived a man once, who was foolish enough to entertain a senseless
prejudice against cows, because they did not give milk all the year
round. This man was married, and of course, had a numerous family of
children, and being very lazy and improvident, depended principally upon
the kindliness of an excellent cow, whose milk was the chief means of
his support and theirs. At length in the due course of time, the poor
cow, as every one must know, began to yield it in diminished quantities,
and as it happened to be a severe year, and as the lazy man we speak of
had made no provision for its occurrence, it is unnecessary to say that
he and his family were put to the greatest straits for subsistence.
Finding, after much deliberation, that the poor animal, which they
kicked and cudgelled to excess could not change the laws of nature, or
afford them that which she did not possess, it was determined by her
proprietor, that as she failed in supplying them with sufficient milk
they should try the fleams, and have recourse to her blood, in order
to eke out their support. Accordingly she was bled, along with being
milked; but if the quantity of milk she gave before was little, it now
became less, so that in proportion as they drew upon the one the other
diminished, as was but natural. In this way they proceeded, milking and
bleeding the poor animal at the same time, not only without any benefit
to themselves, but with a certain prospect of her ultimate loss, when
one day the cow, after having ruminated for some time on the treatment
she was receiving, began to reflect that she could not be much worse,
or rather that she must soon altogether sink under this system of double
drainage. 'Well' thought she, 'I feel how matters must close with me
at last; I am indeed near the end of my tether; what have I now to fear
when I know that I cannot be worse? And if I am to die, as I must, is it
not better to have satisfaction for my sufferings'? Accordingly, me next
morning when her owner went to get blood for their breakfast, it so
happened that the cow thrust a horn into him, and he was found lying
a corpse under her lifeless carcase--the last drop of her blood having
been expended under the final operation of the fleams. My Lord, the
moral of this is as obvious as it is fearful--and fearfully have the
circumstances of the country, and the principles of such men as you,
caused it to be illustrated. If landlords will press too severely
upon the functions of human suffering and patience, it is not to be
surprised, although it is to be deplored, that where no legal remedy
exists against individual cruelty or rapacity, or that plausible
selfishness, which is the worst species of oppression--that the law, I
say, which protects only the one party should be forgotten or despised
by the other, and a fiercer code of vengeance substituted in its stead.
“With respect to Mr. M'Clutchy, surely your lordship must remember that
by your own letter he was appointed under agent more than three years
ago.
“If, after the many remonstrances I have had occasion to make against
his general conduct to the tenants, you consider him a useful man upon
your property, you will, in that case, have to abide the consequences of
your confidence in him. You are, at all events, duly forewarned.
“I now must beg leave, my Lord, to render up my trust, to resign my
situation as the agent of your estates--I do so with pain, but the
course of your lordship's life has left me no other alternative. I
cannot rack and goad your tenants, nor injure your own property. I
cannot paralyze industry, cramp honest exertion, or distress poverty
still further, merely to supply necessities which are little less than
criminal in yourself and ruinous to your tenantry.
“Believe me, my Lord, I would not abandon you in your difficulties, if I
saw any honorable means of extricating you from them. You know, however,
that every practicable step has been taken for that purpose, but without
effect--your property should grow rapidly indeed, in order to keep pace
with the increasing and incessant demands which are made upon it. We
can borrow no more, and the knowledge of that fact alone, ought to set
a limit to your extravagance. Excuse this plainness, my Lord, it is well
meant and void of intentional offence.
“I shall be ready in a few days to deliver all books, papers, documents,
&c, connected With the property, to any person duly authorized by your
Lordship to receive them.
“I have the honor to be, &c,
“Henby Hickman.”
The Right Honorable Lord Cumber to Valentine M'Clutchy:--
Doncaster, April, 18--
“Sir:
“In consequence of certain communications which have passed between Mr.
Hickman and myself, I have determined that he shall no longer act in
the capacity of my agent. The situation is therefore open, and, until
a competent person shall be appointed, I authorize you to discharge its
duties, and receive from him a correct statement of all accounts
between us, together with all deeds, leases, books, papers, &c, in his
possession; you first having procured me adequate security, the amount
of which will be determined by M'Slime, my law agent, who will join or
aid you in making all necessary arrangements.
“You will also have the goodness, as soon afterwards as you feel it
practicable, to transmit me a bond fide account of the Ballyrocket and
Tulygrindem estates, their capability of improvement, condition of the
tenantry, what leases are expired, if any, and those which will soon
drop, with a view of seeing what can be made out of it. In this, also,
M'Slime will aid you.
“As to the person who may succeed Hickman, as a necessary preliminary he
must lay down two thousand pounds, in the shape of an equivalent for the
appointment. Could you within a fortnight or so, raise so much? If so,
let me hear from you without delay, as it is not unlikely in that case,
I may appoint yourself.
“By the way, do you understand the manufacture of forty shilling
free-holders in an economical way, because if you do, it would be a
desideratum. Parliament, it is said, will be dissolved in June, and I
want, as well as I can remember, nearly two hundred votes. My brother
lost the last election by something about that number, and I know he
feels very anxious to get into parliament for many reasons. He is now on
the continent, where he has been for the last three years.”
Valentine M'Clutchy, Esq., to the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Cumber:--
“My Lord:
“I have had the honor of receiving your Lordship's kind communication,
to which I hasten to make the earliest possible reply. And first, my
Lord, allow me to return sincere thanks for your warm kindness, in
promising to appoint me your agent. You may rest assured, my Lord, that
I will go through my duties as such without favor or affection to any
one, barring your lordship, whose interests it will night and day become
my duty to study. With, respect to the loan your lordship makes allusion
to, I fear it will be out of my power to raise it--that is to the full
amount; but if one-half would do, I might by the aid of friends get it
together. As for security, I trust it is only necessary to say, that
Randal Deaker and Cadwallader Tullywagger, Esqrs., are ready to give it
to any amount, so that there is no difficulty there at all events.
“On looking again at your lordship's kind letter, it appears possible
that I made a mistake in considering the two thousand as a loan; but
on the other hand, there is not a man living, who respects the high
principles and delicate feelings of our aristocracy more than I do,
and the consequence was, that I feared in supposing it otherwise than a
loan, I might offend your lordship's keen sense of honor, which I pledge
my credit and reputation would grieve my heart even to think of. Under
this impression, then, I shall continue to believe it a loan, until I
have the honor of hearing from your lordship again.
“Your anxiety, my Lord, to ascertain the state of your property and the
condition of your tenantry is certainly honorable to yourself, as being
a direct proof of the generous interest you feel in their welfare. It is
fortunate in this instance, that your lordship should apply to a man who
has had the opportunities of becoming acquainted with both. True, I am
a simple-minded man, my Lord, and if I possess one quality more
than another it is a love of truth, and a slow, but straightforward
perseverance in whatever is right. It is to this, always under
Providence, that I owe everything. I grant indeed, that it ill becomes
me to speak in this manner of myself, but my object in doing so is,
that as I am about to enter into communications touching your lordship's
tenants and property, you may be induced to place the fullest confidence
in whatever I shall say. Many a time, indeed, my excellent and worthy
friend, Mr. Hickman, has made the same observation, and I felt it
gratifying in the highest degree to hear this from a man who is truth
itself, and whose only fault is--if it be one--that his heart is too
kind, and rather easily imposed on by those who deal in fraud and
cunning. A man like him, who, if he cannot speak well of an absent
friend, will be silent, is a jewel in this life which ought to be worn
in the very core of the heart.
“With respect to the Ballyracket estate, of which I shall speak first, I
cannot report so favorably as I could wish. The task, in fact, is to me,
personally, a very painful one; especially with reference to that well
meaning and estimable gentleman, Mr. Hickman. In the first place, my
Lord, the tenantry are not at all in arrears, a circumstance which is
by no means in favor of the landlord, especially an Irish one. Every one
knows that an Irish landlord has other demands upon his tenantry besides
the payment of their rents. Is there no stress, for instance, to be laid
upon his political influence, which cannot be exerted unless
through their agency? Now a tenant not in arrears to his landlord is
comparatively independent, but it is not with an independent tenantry
that a landlord can work his wishes. No, my Lord; the safe principle
is to keep the tenant two or three gales behind, and if he fails in
submission, or turns restiff, and becomes openly contumacious, then
you have the means of rectifying the errors of his judgment in your own
hands, and it can be done with the color of both law and justice, behind
which any man may stand without the imputation of harsh motives, or
an excessive love of subordination. I am sorry that Mr. Hickman should
differ with me on this point, for he is a man whose opinions are
very valuable on many things, with the exception of his amiable and
kind-hearted obstinacy.
“The next disadvantage to your interests, my Lord, is another error--I
am sorry to be forced to say it--of Mr. Hickman. That gentleman is an
advocate for education and the spread of knowledge. Now if an agent were
as much devoted to the interests of the people as he is and ought to be
to those of the landlord, this principle might pass; but as I take it,
that the sole duty of an agent is to extend the interest of his employer
exclusively, so am I opposed to any plan or practice by which the people
may be taught to think too clearly. For let me ask, my Lord, what class
of persons, at the approach of an election, for instance, or during
its continuance, are most available for our interests? Who are driven
without reluctance, without thought, or without reason, in blind and
infatuated multitudes, to the hustings? Certainly not those who have
been educated, or taught to think and act for themselves; but the poor
and the ignorant. And, my Lord, is not the vote of an ignorant man as
valid in law as one who is enlightened? For these reasons, then, I do
not approve of the new schools which Mr. Hickman has established; and
I was pleased to hear that your lordship was sufficiently awake to your
own interests, to decline granting them any support. No, my Lord; an
educated people will be a thinking people--a thinking people will be an
independent people--but an independent people will not be a manageable
people; and if that is not placing the subject in a satisfactory light,
I know not what is.
“I need scarcely assure you, my Lord, that in my own humble way, I did
everything I reasonably could to discountenance the education system. I
even went so far as to prevent several of the tenants from sending
their children to these schools; but, as usual, I experienced but little
gratitude at their hands, or at those of their parents. This, however,
was not so much owing to my interference, as to the accidental
circumstance of three or four of them having been hanged or transported
for crimes which they were base enough to impute to the ignorance
occasioned by my principles--for so they spoke.
“Such then is the condition of the Ballyracket tenantry. They are not in
arrears, and you may consequently guess at the wretched state of their
moral feelings. They are, in fact, every day becoming more aware of the
very kind of knowledge which we don't wish them to possess. They do not
slink aside when they see you now; on the contrary, they stand erect,
and look you fearlessly in the face. Upon my credit and reputation
this is truth--melancholy truth, my Lord--and I fear that at the next
election you will find it so to your cost.
“I have lost no time in ascertaining the other particulars mentioned in
your lordship's letter. The leases of three townlands expired on
March last. They are Derrydowny, Cracknaboulteen, and Ballyweltem. The
principal tenant of Derrydowny is a very respectable widow---one Mrs.
M'Swaddle--a woman of serious habits, if not of decided piety. She
has three daughters, all of whom sit under the ministration of a Mr.
Bolthan--which is pronounced Bottom--a young preacher, belonging to the
Methodist connection. They are to all appearance well in the world, keep
a conversation car, and have the reputation of being very honest and
saving--Old M'Swaddle himself was a revenue collector, and it is
said, died richer than they are willing to admit. Cracknaboulteen is
altogether in the possession of the celebrated family of the M'Kegs--or,
as they are called, the Five Sols--the name of each being Solomon, which
is shortened into Sol. There is lame Sol, blind Sol, long Sol, uncertain
Sol, and Sol of the mountain. They are celebrated distillers of poteen
whiskey, but are not rich. The estate, in fact, would be better without
them, were it not for their votes. The townland of Ballyweltem is
principally the property of a wild faction, named M'Kippeen, whose great
delight is to keep up perpetual feud against an opposite faction of
the O'Squads, who on their part are every whit as eager for the fray as
their enemies. These are also poor enough, and in an election are
not to be depended on. I should say, in addition to this, that several
renewal, fines will fall in during the course of the winter. I
shall, however, examine the leases, and other documents, still more
searchingly, and see what can be got out of it, and how far we can go.
“The Tullygrindem estate is, I am sorry to say, in a still more
disheartening condition. There is a very bitter and knowing family
living on the townland of Beleeven, named M'Loughlin, who contrive to
spread dangerous and destructive principles among the tenantry. They
are cunning, unscrupulous, and vindictive, but cautious, plausible, and
cloaked with the deepest hypocrisy. I have been endeavoring for years
to conciliate, or rather, reform them by kindness, but hitherto
without effect; whether I shall ultimately succeed in purifying this
fountain-head of bigotry and unconstitutional principle--I do not wish
to use a shorter, but a much stronger term--I cannot yet say. I
shall, at all events, from a sense of justice to you, my Lord, and of
kindness--mistaken it may be, I grant you--to them, continue to make the
desirable attempt. My amiable friend, Hickman, has certainly been
made the dupe of their adroitness, but, indeed, he is too simple
and credulous for this world, as every kind-hearted man, with great
benevolence and little judgment, usually is. If I had not risen honestly
and honorably, as I trust I may say, through the gradations of office
upon this property, I think it probable I, might myself have been
deceived and misled by the natural and seductive tact of this dangerous
family. Mr. Hickman espouses their quarrel, not exactly their quarrel,
but their cause against me; but that is so completely in accordance with
his easy simplicity of character, and his pardonable love of popularity,
that it rather endears him to, me than otherwise.
“Indeed, I may say, my Lord, candidly and confidentially, that there
is a spirit abroad upon your estates, which requires to be vigilantly
watched, and checked with all due and reasonable promptitude; I allude
principally to these M'Loughlins, and when I state that my excellent
and well disposed friend is absolutely popular among your tenantry, even
although he made them pay up to the very last gale, and that I am by no
means in good odor with them, you will not be surprised when I furnish
your lordship with a key to this same state of feeling which exists so
generally in this country. This, then, my Lord, is the secret:--whenever
an Irish agent devotes himself honestly to the wants, wishes, and
interests of his employer, especially if he be needy and pressed for
money, so sure will he become unpopular with the tenantry. Now, I am
somewhat unpopular with the tenantry, and my amiable friend, Hickman, is
beloved by them; but I think your lordship by this time understands the
why and the wherefore on both sides. As your agent, my Lord, I should
regret such popularity, at the same time, I think the intentions of
poor, sweet, amiable Hickman's heart, are such as we must all love and
admire.
“With respect, my Lord, to the manufacture of the “forties,” as a
certain comical class of freeholders are termed, I could have easily
undertaken to double the number you mention, on the most reasonable
terms, were it not for the discouraging system adopted by Mr. Hickman.
As it is, I must see what can be done; but your lordship knows that I
can take no step either in this or anything else, until my appointment
shall be finally confirmed. Perhaps you are not aware of the remarkable
document, on the subject in question, which has recently gone its rounds
in this country. It is called--
“'A RECEIPT TO MAKE A FORTY SHILLING FREEHOLDER.'
“'Take the poorest Irishman you can get, he must be destitute and
ignorant, for then he will be slavish, give him a mud cabin, but no
education; let the former be a bad model of an indifferent pig-stye, and
held at thrice its value. Put him to repose on a comfortable bed of
damp straw, with his own coat and his wife's petticoat, for bed-clothes.
Pamper him on two half meals of potatoes and point per day--with water
_ad libitum_. For clothing--let him have a new shirt once every three
years--to give him exercise and keep him clean--a hat once in every
seven, and brogues whenever he can get them. His coat and breeches--lest
he might grow too independent--must be worn upon the principle of the
Highlander's knife, which, although a century in the family, was never
changed, except sometimes the handle and sometimes the blade. Let his
right to vote be founded upon a freehold property of six feet square, or
as much as may be encompassed by his own shift, and take care that there
be a gooseberry bush in the centre of it; he must have from four to
ten children, as a proof of his standing in society, all fashionably
dressed, and coming at the rate of one every twelve months. Having thus,
by a liberal system of feeding and clothing, rendered him strong for
labor, you must work him from dark to dark--pay him fourpence a day for
three quarters of the year, with permission to beg or starve for the
remainder. When in health task him beyond his strength, and when
sick neglect him--for there is nothing so beautiful as kindness in a
landlord, and gratitude in a tenant--and thus will your virtues become
reciprocal. He must live under a gradation of six landlords, so that
whoever defaults, he may suffer--and he will have the advantage of six
tyrants instead of one. Your agent is to wheedle, and your bailiff to
bully him; the one must promise, and the other threaten; but if both
fail, you must try him yourself. Should he become intractable under all
this, you must take purer measures.--Compliment him on his wife--praise
and admire his children--play upon his affections, and corrupt him
through his very virtues--for that will show that you love your country
and her people better than your own interests. Place a promise of
independence on one side of him, but a ruined cottage and extermination
on the other. When all his scruples are thus honorably overcome, and his
conscience skilfully removed, take him for twenty minutes or so out of
his rags, put him into a voting suit that he may avoid suspicion, bring
him up to the poll--steep him in the strongest perjury, then strip him
of his voting suit, clap him into his rags, and having thus fitted him
for the perpetration of any treachery or crime, set him at large
once more, that he may disseminate your own principles upon your
own property, until you may require him again. Having thus honestly
discharged your duty to God and your country, go calmly to your pillow,
where you can rest in the consciousness of having done all that a
virtuous man and true patriot can do, to promote the comfort and
independence of his fellow creatures.'
“I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
“VAL M'CLUTCHY,”
Lord Cumber to Solomon M'Slime, Esq., Attorney at Law:
“DEAR SIR:
“Enclosed is a letter to Mr. M'Clutchy, which I will trouble you to
forward to him as soon as you can. It contains his appointment to the
vacant agency, together with the proper power of attorney, and I have
every reason to hope that my property will improve under him. I did
think it no breach of any honorable principle to make him advance, by
way of compensation, the sum of two thousand pounds. It is a thing very
usually done, I am aware, and by men who would not bear any imputation
against their honor. But I know not how it is, his letter has deterred
me from taking the money in that light. It would be certainly too bad
to allow a person of his birth and standing in the world to teach one
of mine a lesson in delicacy of feeling. For this reason, then, let
him advance the money on the usual terms of loan:--that you can
adjust between you. All I ask is, that you will not lose one moment
of unnecessary time in accomplishing this business, and remitting the
money. Two thousand in a fortnight will be of more value to me than four
in a month, owing to the peculiar difficulties in which I am placed.
“Yours, CUMBER.
“P.S.--I say, my little saint, I hope you are as religious as ever--but
in the meantime as it is not unlikely--but on the contrary very
probable--if not altogether certain--that I shall be in Ireland should
the election take place, I trust you will have the kindness to let me
know if there's e'er a pretty girl in the neighborhood--that wants
a friend and protector--ha, ha, ha--as great a sinner as ever, you
see--but for that reason you know the more entitled to your prayers
for my conversion. The greater the saint, the greater the sinner
now-a-days--or is it the other way? I forget.
“CUMBER.”
Lord Cumber to Val M'Clutchy, enclosed in the above:
“Dear Sir:
“I am very happy in appointing you to the important situation of my
agent, with all the necessary powers and authority to act as may best
seem to you for my advantage. The money I will take on your own terms,
only I beg that you will lose no time in remitting it. I agree with you
in thinking that Mr. Hickman, however well meaning, was deficient
in firmness and penetration of character, so far as the tenants were
concerned; and I would recommend you to avoid the errors which you
perceived in him. With many principles laid down in your letter I agree,
but not with all. For instance, if I understand you right, you would
appear to advocate too much indulgence to the tenantry at my expense;
for what else is allowing them to run into arrears. This certainly
keeps the money out of my pocket, and you cannot surely expect me to
countenance such a proceeding as that:--whilst I say this, it is due to
you that I consider your ultimate object a correct one. Property loses
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.
“Yours,
“Cumber.”
Solomon M'Slime, Esq., Attorney-at-law, to Lord Cumber,
“My esteemed Lord:
“I had the unmerited honor--for, indeed, to a man sensible of his many
frailties as I am, I feel it is an unmerited honor--to receive any
communication from one whom the Lord hath exalted to a place of such
high rank in this world, as that which your lordship so worthily fills.
It gives me great gratification, my Lord, to learn from your last letter
that you have appointed my friend, Mr. Valentine M'Clutchy, as your
agent. I am not in the habit of attributing such circumstances as
this--being, as they generally are, matters of mere worldly prudence
and convenience--to any over-ruling cause from above; but truly the
appointment of such a man at this particular time, looks as if there
were a principle of good at work for your lordship's interests. May you
continue, as you do, to deserve it! Your change of agents is, indeed,
one that, through the talent, energy, and integrity of Mr. M'Clutchy, is
likely to redound much and largely to your own benefit. In his capacity
of under agent, I have had frequent opportunities of transacting
business with him; and when I contrast his quickness, clearness,
honesty, and skill, with the evident want of----but no, my Lord; far be
it from me, as a Christian man, to institute any rash comparison either
in favor of my fellow-creature or against him, so long as sin and
prejudice even for that which is good, and frailty, may render us, as
they often do, liable to error. In Mr. M'Clutchy it is possible I may
be mistaken; in Mr. Hickman it is possible I may be mistaken--I am not
infallible--I am frail--a very sinner, but not removed wholly, I would
trust, out of the range of grace. My Lord, I say again, that, as a
conscientious man, and as far as mere human reason--which is at best
but short-sighted--enables me to judge, I am truly cheered in spirit by
this, I trust, providential change in the agency of your property. My
Lord, in my various correspondence, I generally endeavor to make it
a rule not to forget my Christian duties, or, so to speak, to cast a
single grain of the good seed into the hearts of those to whom I am
privileged to write. The calls of religion are, indeed, strong upon
us, if we permitted ourselves to listen to them as we ought. Will your
lordship then pardon me for reminding you, that, however humble the
instrument, I have before now been the honored means of setting your
godly examples of charity before the world, with the single-hearted
purpose and hope that it might imitate your virtues. There is in the
neighborhood a case at present of great distress, in the person of a
widow and her three young children, who have been left destitute by the
guilt and consequent deportation of her unhappy husband to Australia,
for the crime of feloniously abstracting live mutton. I defended him
professionally, or, I should say--although I do not boast of it--with an
eye to the relief of his interesting wife, but without success; and what
rendered his crime more unpardonable, he had the unparalleled wickedness
to say, that he was instigated to it by the ill-advice and intemperate
habits of this amiable woman. Will your lordship, then, allow me to put
your honored name in the list of her Christian friends? Allow me, my
Lord, to subscribe myself,
“Your lordship's frail, unworthy,
“But faithful and honored servant,
“Solomon M'Slime.”
“P.S.--With respect to your jocose and ironical postscript, may I again
take the liberty of throwing in a word in season. If your lordship could
so far assume a proper Christian seriousness of character, as to render
the act of kindness and protection on your part such as might confer a
competent independence upon a female of religious dispositions, I doubt
not, should your lordship's charity continue unabated on your arrival
here, that some such desirable opportunity might offer, as that of
rescuing a comely but desolate maiden from distress.
“There is, indeed, a man here living on your lordship's property, who
has a daughter endowed with a large portion of that vain gift called
beauty. Her father and family are people of bad principle, without
conscience or honesty, and, withal, utterly destitute of religion--not
but that they carry themselves very plausibly to the world. Among such
people, my Lord, it is not possible that this engaging damsel, who is
now so youthful and innocent, could resist the evil influence of the
principles that prevail in her family. Indeed, her abiding among them
cannot be for her welfare in any sense.
“I have the honor, &c.”
Valentine M'Clutchy, Esq., to Solomon M'Slime.
“My dear M'Slime:
“As it is beyond any doubt, that in the fair discharge of our duty, you
and I can be mutually serviceable to each other; and as it is equally
evident that it is our interest, and what is more, the interest of Lord
Cumber, that we should be so, I therefore think it right to observe,
that in all transactions between us, each should treat the other with
the most perfect confidence. For this reason, I beg to assure you, once
for all, that in any proceeding that may appear harsh towards any of
his lordship's tenantry, I am and shall be actuated by no other feeling,
than a strong, conscientious sense of my duty to him. This is, was, and
will bo the principle of my whole life. And you know very well, my dear
M'Slime, that if I were less devoted to those interests than I am, my
popularity would be greater among the tenantry. Indeed, few men have
a right to know this better than yourself, inasmuch as you stand in
precisely the same beloved relation to them that I do.
“Our excellent friend Hickman is a very worthy man and exceedingly well
meaning. Don't you think so? Oh, I am sure you do. Yet I know not how
it happened that he left out of his system of agency some of the most
valuable rights and privileges of the landlord. These I will mention to
you when I see you, and when I have more time. I consequently must
say, that in attempting to revive these rights, even while I was
deputy-agent, the unjust odium that is falling upon me already, even
while I had scarce time to move in them, ought rather to be--that is
morally speaking--visited upon him who allowed them to lapse. Now that
the fine old leases of the M'Loughlins and the Harmans, and others, have
dropped, what can I do but study Lord Cumber's interest, in the first
instance? Not but I would serve them if I could, and will if I can. I
bear them no ill-feeling; and if they have joined in the calumnies and
threats that are so unjustly uttered against me, what can I do, and
what ought I do, but return good for evil? You, as a truly religious and
pious man, will feel delighted to support me in this principle, and also
to aid me in bearing it practically out. Any services of a similar kind
that I can honestly and conscientiously render you--and none other would
you accept--I shall be on my part delighted to offer. In the meantime,
let me have your excellent advice as to the most efficient means of
stifling the unreasonable murmurs that are rising among the people--and
as touching M'Loughlin's and Harman's properties, I should be glad to see
you, in order to consult upon what may or can be done for them, always
compatibly with Lord Cumber's interests.
“The pair of turkies which I send you are the result of my reviving one
of his lordship's rights. They are _duty-turkies_, and I do not think
they will eat the worse for the blessings which Darby O'Drive tells me
accompanied them; at least I don't find they do.
“All that I have yet written, however, is only preliminary; but now to
business. I have received the letter which Lord Cumber transmitted to
me, under your frank, in which I am appointed his head agent. He also is
willing to accept the two thousand pounds on my own terms--that is, of
course, as a loan, at the usual rate of interest. But don't you think,
my dear M'Slime, that with respect to this large sum, an understanding
might be entered into--or rather an arrangement made, in a quiet way,
that would, I flatter myself, turn out of great ultimate advantage to
his lordship. The truth is, that Lord Cumber, like most generous men, is
very negligent of his own interests--at least much more so than he ought
to be; and it would be most beneficial to him, in every sense, to have
a person managing his estates, in the best possible condition to serve
him. His property, in fact, is not represented in the grand jury panel
of the county. This is a great loss to him--a serious loss. In the first
place, it is wretchedly, shamefully deficient in roads--both public and
private. In the next place, there are many rents left unpaid, through
the inability of the people, which we could get paid by the making of
these roads, and other county arrangements, which the ill-thinking call
jobs. In the third and last place, he has on his property no magistrate
friendly to his aforesaid interests, and who would devote himself
to them with suitable energy and zeal. Indeed, with regard to the
murmurings and heart-burnings alluded to, I fear that such a magistrate
will soon become a matter of necessity. There is a bad spirit rising and
getting abroad, wherever it came from--and you know, my dear M'Slime,
that it could not proceed from either you or me. You know that--you
feel it. Now, what I would propose is this--Lord Cumber has
sufficient interest with the government, to have me--all-unworthy as
I am--appointed a magistrate. Let the government but hint to the
chancellor, and the thing is done. In that event, instead of giving him
this large sum of money as a loan, let it go as a _per contra_ to my
appointment to the bench. And there is another consideration by no means
to be overlooked, which is, that by this arrangement the government
would be certain to have in the commission a man who would prove himself
one of the precise class which they stand in need of--that is, a useful
man, devoted to their wishes.
“Now, my dear M'Slime, I mention this to you with all the confidence
of unshaken friendship. From you these representations will go to his
lordship with a much better grace than they would from me. Tell him
in your own peculiar way, that he shall have the two thousand for the
magistracy. That is my first object as his friend--this once obtained,
I have no doubt of seeing myself, ere long, a member of the grand panel,
and capable of serving him still more extensively.
“Believe me to be,
“My dear M'Slime, &c,
“Valentine M'Clutchy.
“P.S.--I heard you once express a wish about a certain farm--but mum's
the word--only this, I have something in my eye for you.”
Solomon M'Slime to the Right Hon. Lord Cumber:--
“My Gracious Lord:
“I, of course, cannot look upon the condition you annex to the
appointment of the agent as unreasonable, although my friend M'Clutchy
insists, he says, for the honor of the aristocracy, that it was a
mistake on your lordship's part, and that a loan only was meant. Be this
as it may, I humbly hope a thought has been vouchsafed to me, by which
the matter may, under Providence, assume a more agreeable character for
all parties. Last night, my Lord, immediately after family worship, I
found myself much refreshed in mind, but rather jaded in my poor sinful
body, after the fatigues of the day--for, indeed, I had ridden a good
deal since morning. However, I desired Susanna--a pious young person,
who acts as children's maid, and understands my habits--to procure me
a little hot water and sugar, into which, out of a necessary regard for
health, which is imposed as a duty on us all, I poured a little brandy,
partly for sustainment and partly to qualify the water. Having swallowed
a little of this I found the two principles combine together, almost
like kindred spirits, and consequently experienced both nourishment and
edification from the draught. It was then, my Lord, that it was given me
to turn my mind upon the transaction alluded to, I mean the condition of
paying two thousand pounds for the privilege of managing your property.
Indeed the thing was vouchsafed to me in this light;--your property,
my Lord, is not represented in the grand panel of the county, which is
certainly a serious loss to you, as there is no one here to advocate
your interests, especially since poor Mr. Deaker's infirmities (would
that they were all only of the body!) have caused him to attend the
grand jury less frequently. Many arrangements might be advantageously
made, by which your lordship would indirectly benefit;--that is, the
money, so to speak, might be made to go into one pocket, in order that
it should be transferred to yours. Then you have not; a magistrate in
your estates devoted to your special interests, as you ought to have;
this is a very necessary thing, my Lord, and to which I humbly endeavor
to direct your attention. Again, my Lord, you have no magistrate of
true Protestant and Ascendancy principles, who from time to time, might
manifest to the government that you did not forget their interests
no more than your own. Now, my Lord, what man can be, or is better
qualified to serve your Lordship in all these capacities than that
staunch and unflinching Protestant, Mr. Val M'Clutchy? In what
individual could the commission of the peace more appropriately or
worthily rest than in your own agent? I therefore beg your lordship to
turn this in your mind, and if advised by one so humble, I would suggest
the trial of a short prayer previous to entering on it. Should you exert
your influence for that purpose with the government, the gracious, I
trust I may call it so--appointment--would be immediately made, and I
think I know the grateful disposition of Mr. M'Clutchy sufficiently well
to assure your lordship, that from a thorough Christian sense of your
kindness, the two thousand pounds will be, on that condition, placed in
your lordship's hands.
“I have the honor to be, my Lord,
“Solomon M'Slime.
“P.S. Mr. M'Clutchy is ignorant that a suggestion so well calculated
to advance the best interests of general religion, has been graciously
intimated to one so unworthy as I am.”
Lord Cumber to Solomon M'Slime, Esq:--
“It is done--a bargain--I have arranged the business here with the
secretary, and am obliged to you, my sleek little saint, for suggesting
it; I wonder M'Clutchy himself did not think of it. I feel glad the old
leases have dropped, for I am sure, that between you and him, you will
take out of these farms all that can be taken. Of course M'Clutchy and
you are at liberty to revive anything you like, provided it be done
properly. What is it to me, who never go there? I do believe Hickman
was not merely an easy fellow, but a fool; as to _glove-money--
Healing-money--duty-fowls--and duty-work_--I tell you again, provided
you increase my remittances, and work the cash out of these fellows, you
may insist upon as many of them as you can get.
“Yours,
“CUMBER.
“P.S.--What, my little saint, did you mean by that charitable blunder,
concerning the widow, in your last letter? I never knew before that
a woman was a widow merely because her husband was transported, as he
ought to be, for sheep stealing, or because he happened to live, by
compulsion, in another country. However, no matter; give her, for me,
whatever you think proper, and add it to your bill of costs, as you will
do.
“Cumber.”
Solomon M'Slime, Esq., to Lord Cumber:--
“My Gracious Lord:
“As I have never intentionally varied from truth, I could not bear
even for a moment to seem to fall into the opposite principle. I was
certainly very busy on the day I had the honor and privilege of writing
to your lordship, and much distressed both in mind and heart, by the
woeful backsliding of a member of our congregation. On looking over the
copy of the letter, however, I perceive one thing that is gratifying
to me. My Lord, I made no mistake. It is not, perhaps, known to your
Lordship that there are two descriptions of widows--the real and
the vegetable; that is, the widow by death, and the widow by local
separation from her husband. Indeed the latter is a class that requires
as much sustainment and comfort as the other--being as they are, more
numerous, and suffering all the privations of widowhood, poor things,
except its reality. The expression, my Lord, is figurative, and taken
from the agricultural occupation of ploughing; for whenever one animal
is unyoked for any other purpose, such as travelling a journey or the
like, the other is forthwith turned into some park or grassy paddock,
and indeed generally enjoys more comfortable times than if still with
the yoke-fellow; for which reason the return of the latter is seldom
very earnestly desired by the other. I am happy to tell you, my Lord,
that some very refreshing revivals in the religious world have recently
occurred here, such as I trust will cause true religion to spread and be
honored in the land; but on the other hand, I fear that Satan is at work
among many evil designing persons on your Lordship's inheritance in this
our neighborhood. Of this, however, that good and conscientious man
Mr. M'Clutchy, will, I doubt not, give you all proper information and
advice.
“I have the honor to be, my Lord with profound humility,
“Your Lordship's unworthy servant,
“Solomon M'Slime.”
Valentine M'Clutchy, Esq., J. P., to Lord Cumber:--
“My Lord:
“In point of fact, nothing could be more beneficial to your property,
than my very seasonable appointment to the commission of the peace. It
has extended my powers of working for your advantage, and armed me with
authority that will be found very necessary in repressing outrages and
disturbances when they occur; and I regret to say, that they are likely
to occur much too frequently. I should be sorry to doubt Mr. Hickman's
candor, but in spite of all my charity, I can scarcely avoid thinking
that he did not treat your Lordship with that openness of purpose and
confidence to which every landlord is entitled. Of course, I say this
with great pain, and rather between ourselves, as it were; for heaven
forbid, that a single syllable should escape either my tongue or pen,
that might injure that gentleman's character. The path of duty, however,
is often a stern one, as I find it to be on the present occasion. The
truth, then, is, that I fear Mr. Hickman must have kept the disturbed
state of your tenantry from your Lordship's knowledge, owing probably to
a reluctance in exposing his own laxity of management. Indeed, I wish I
could with a conscientious sense of my duty to your Lordship end here,
so far as he is concerned. But under every circumstance, truth, and
honesty, and candor, will in the long run tell for themselves. It is an
unquestionable fact, then, that from whatever cause it may proceed, your
tenantry and he, ever since my appointment, have had much intercourse
of--not exactly a public---nor can I decidedly term it--a private
nature; and it is equally true, that in proportion as this intercourse
became extended and enlarged, so did the dissatisfaction of the people
increase, until they are now almost ripe for outrage. I have observed,
I think, that poor Hickman never was remarkable for strength of mind,
though not destitute of a certain kind of sagacity; and whether his
tampering--if it be tampering--with these people,--be the result of
a foolish principle of envy, or whether on the other hand, there is
anything political in it, I really cannot say. All I can do is to
state the facts, and leave the inference to your lordship's superior
penetration.
“If, however, it be the fact, that Hickman could stop to foment this
unhappy feeling on your property, still, my Lord, he is not alone in
it. Indeed it is possible that the intercourse between him and them may
after all be innocent, however suspicions it looks, I trust and hope it
is so--for there are two other families in the neighborhood, who, to
my certain knowledge, have, by diffusing wicked and disloyal principles
among the tenantry, done incalculable injury. I had indeed some notion
of communicating with government on the subject, but I have not as yet
been able to get any information sufficiently tangible to work on. In
the meantime, I think the wisest and most prudent steps I could take for
your Lordship's advantage, would be to get them as quietly as possible
off the estate. I think, from a twofold sense of duty, I shall be forced
to do so. Their leases very fortunately have dropped in the first place,
and it will not be your interest to renew them on political grounds;
for they have lately expressed a determination to vote against your
brother--and in the next, we can get much larger fines from other
sources. Besides his large farm, one of these men, M'Loughlin, holds
a smaller one of eighteen acres, of which there are fifteen years yet
unexpired, yet on consulting with Mr. M'Slime, and examining the lease,
he is of opinion that it contains a flaw, and can be broken. I am sure,
my lord, for your sake I shall be glad of it.
“I cannot conclude without feeling grateful to Heaven for having given
me such a son as I am blessed with. He is, indeed, quite invaluable to
me in managing these refractory people, and were it not for his aid
and vigor, I could not have been able to send your lordship the last
remittance. He is truly zealous in your cause, but I regret to say, that
I am not likely to be able to avail myself long of his services. He is
about taking a large farm in a different part of the country with a view
to marriage, a circumstance which just now occasions me much anxiety of
mind, as he will be a serious loss to both your lordship and me. I
am also looking out for an under agent, but cannot find one to my
satisfaction. Will your lordship be kind enough to acknowledge the
remittance of last week?
“I have the honor to be, my lord,
“Val M'C.”
Lord Cumber to Val M'C, Esq.:--
“Dear Sir:
“The check came safely to hand, and seasonably, and the oftener I
receive such communications the better. The best part of it, however, is
gone to the devil already, for I lost six hundred on Alley Croker at the
last Ascot meeting; I write in a hurry, but have time to desire you to
keep your son, if possible, on the property. By the way, as the under
agency is vacant, I request you will let him have it--and, if he wants a
farm to marry on, try and find him one somewhere on the estate: who
has a better right? and, I dare say, he will make as good a tenant as
another. As to Hickman, I think you are quite mistaken, the truth being
that he resigned, but was not dismissed the agency, and if he has not
a wish to get himself replaced--which I do not think--I don't know what
the deuce he should begin to plot about. I rather think the cause of
complaint amongst the people is, that they find some difference between
his laxity and your rigor; if so, you must only let them growl away, and
when, ever they resort to violence, of course punish them.
“Very truly yours,
“Cumber.”
“P.S.--By all means get those mischievous fellows--I forget their
names--off the property, as I shall have no tenant under me who will
create disturbance or sow dissension among the people. I thank you
for the fine hamper of fowl, and have only to say, as above, that the
oftener, &c, &c.
“Cumber.”