lordship, and therefore cannot complain of him; he seldom comes among us, and when he does, his stay is so short, and he is then so constantly attended by his agent, that poor men who may think themselves aggrieved cannot get near his lordship to state their complaints. The whole estate has long groaned under oppression most cruelly exercised by a villain of a bailiff, who can do what he likes with the agent. You know, Sir, that turf is our only firing in this country, and this bailiff has the entire distribution of the bog, which is given in lots according to every man's holding; but we are obliged to bribe him every year for giving us what is justly our right: a sum of four or five guineas given by each tenant this year, will not ensure the possession of our bog for the next.

"If a lease drops," continued he, "it can never be renewed without paying this man a large fine. I know at this moment a lease that has been dropped on the estate nine years; the thing is kept a secret, the old low rent continues to be paid, and, as the circumstance is well known to the bailiff, he is not likely to keep his mouth shut for nothing. Complaints have often been made to the agent against this man's extortions, but in no one case has satisfaction been obtained. We have been called rebels, and threatened to be committed, if we refused to submit to the

laws. When the landlord was down, some years ago, many of the tenants tried to see him, but the door was so carefully guarded by constables, that no one ever got in. Some wrote letters, which those constables promised to deliver, but nothing more was heard of them. A few have even walked beyond Dublin, to lay their grievances before his lordship, who always referred them to his agent, - one of the very two they went to complain of. In this way the

too, and we have no remedy. Now, sir, as you are going to Dublin, if you would take an opportunity to see his lordship, and lay our case before him, there can be no doubt that he would inquire into it. Our land is too dear as it is, and some of us will not much longer be able to pay either the rent or the bailiff's bribes."

I had heard of the insolent exactions of this bailiff from a hundred mouths, but could find no one courageous enough to come forward to prove the facts. I told the party that if they would furnish some affidavits to that effect, I would apprize his lordship of the matter, but could not otherwise interfere; yet such was the prevailing dread of incurring the agent's wrath, who they had too much reason to believe, was invested with unlimited control, that they shrunk from the danger. They all declared that they had bribed the bailiff, by the hands of his wife, several times at his direct bidding, but he had too much caution and experience to receive it himself. They declared their conviction that if they offended the bailiff, it was the same as if they had sinned against the agent.

Several leases had dropped a few years before, and were not renewed, on which account they felt particularly alarmed, as they were, every instant, at the mercy of their enemies. They say, one and all, "My lease is out, and if I say a word, Mr., (the agent,) will destroy me; I will be turned out, and my family may starve."-"But," added they, "if Lord will come down, and promise not to let us be hurt, we will tell him the whole truth: before the agent we are afraid to say any thing."

Should his lordship ever condescend to open this volume, it is sincerely hoped that this page may catch his eye, and engage his attention. He has the name of being a humane and a religious man. In the name, then, of humanity and

religion I humbly, yet earnestly, call on his lordship to hear the cries of his oppressed tenants. Their complaints may be groundless, in which case it is unjust not to clear the character of the agent and bailiff of such false aspersions; but be the case as it may, investigation cannot fail of doing good. The landlord's smile, like the sunshine from Heaven, will dissipate many a heavy cloud, and cheer up many a drooping heart. To have been a stranger to their condition so long may be considered a misfortune; but if ignorance be wilfully persisted in, the most lenient will be compelled to consider it criminal, if not disgraceful. However novel or innovative it may sound in Ireland, I confidently maintain that tenants have an undoubted right to claim protection from their landlords: their title to this is as good, and as consonant to the divine principles of justice, as that by which he claims and receives his rents.

to

2d. Visited Dungannon, and proceeded thence Tullyhog, a village eight miles north of the former place, and thence to Stewartstown, four miles from the latter. This part of the country is very thickly inhabited, and more generally cultivated than most of the other parts of Tyrone. Flax is raised in considerable quantity, and every little farmer is also a manufacturer of linen. To the little profit arising from this branch of industry, and the price of a pig, which had probably been his bedfellow and messmate from its infancy, and which he usually sells at Christmas, he trusts entirely for the amount of his rent and tithe.

In the evening I rode to Moneymore, seven miles further: the country thereabouts assumes a much more barren aspect, and becomes "mountainous." On the 3d I set out early, and rode to Magherafelt, a distance of five miles, and passed thence, as there was no one stirring, to Ballynascreen, nine miles further. The people in this district are

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badly clothed, and live very wretchedly; and yet, amidst all the distress they endure, the females reserve wherewith, out of their humble industry, to dress in tawdry cottons on market-days and Sundays; on which occasions, if they have any distance to walk to a neighbouring town, they decorate themselves in the whole of their flimsy finery, but carry their shoes and stockings in their hand, or tied up in a cloth, until they approach the place. At the first convenient stream, or green spot, they put on their stockings and shoes, and adjust their head-dress over the stream, or by a little pocket-glass, and with brilliant eye and joyous step trip along with their companions. On week days, however, the picture is odiously reversed, as all the females, both old and young, exhibit an almost total disregard of neatness in dress, for which their poverty alone can serve as an apology. Illicit distillation is much practised here, and carries its peculiarly deteriorating effects into every retreat of social life, as is painfully visible in the low state of morals.

4th. Set out on my return this morning at four, and reached Magherafelt by eight o'clock, very little gratified, having witnessed nought scarcely but uniform misery and penury all the way. At five I met three men and a boy, all quite tipsy; only one of them had a coat, and none of them had either stockings or shoes: a little farther on there were two ragged boys quarrelling, who also appeared to be intoxicated. It is usual, I am informed, for the persons engaged in making illicit whiskey, to stop the passengers, such as are of their own class, and treat them with a part of their maddening store, in order to secure them in their interest, and not betray them to the excise; hence the scenes just described are not infrequent. Returned to Blackwatertown, having this day travelled forty miles.

SIR CAPEL MOLYNEUX.

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6th. Having now seen the greater part of Ulster, I went to Armagh, and spent part of the day with my friend Dr. Johnson. We rode through the demesne, and a considerable part of the estate of Sir Capel Molyneux, both of which are in excellent order. The peasantry on this estate are comfortable, and shew all the characters of independence; the ground appears rich and well-cultivated; and contrasting the present with what I had recently seen about Magherafelt, I could not avoid expressing a wish that every portion of the kingdom had to boast of the advantages enjoyed upon this favoured and thriving property.