stein in the novel, it pursues them to
the present moment, and must be satisfied or appeased in some way, or
it will unquestionably destroy them. From the abolition of the franchise
until now, an incessant struggle of opposing interests has been going on
in the country. The "forties" and their attendants must be fed; but the
soul on which they live in its present state is not capable of at the
same time supporting them and affording his claims to the landlord; for
the food must go to England to pay the rents and the poor "forties" must
starve. They are now in the way of the landlord--they are now in the way
of the farmer--they are in fact in way of each other, and unless some
wholesome and human principle, either of domestic employment or colonial
emigration, or perhaps both, shall be adopted, they will continue to
embarrass the country, and to drive out of it, always in connection with
other causes, the very class of persons that constitute its remaining
strength.

At the present period of our narrative the neighborhood of Ballymacan
was in an unsettled and distressful state. The small farmers, and such
as held from six to sixteen acres, at a rent which they could at any
period with difficulty pay, were barely able to support themselves and
their families upon the produce of their holdings, so that the claims
of the landlord were out of the question. Such a position as this to the
unhappy class we speak of, is only another name for ruin. The bailiff,
who always lives upon the property, seeing their condition, and knowing
that they are not able to meet the coming gale, reports accordingly
to the agent, who, now cognizant that there is only one look-up for the
rent, seizes the poor man's corn and cattle, leaving himself and
his family within cold walls, and at an extinguished hearth. In this
condition were a vast number in the neighborhood of the locality laid in
our narrative. The extraordinary, but natural anxiety for holding land,
and the equally ardent spirit of competition which prevails in the
country, are always ready arguments in the mouth of the landlord and
agent, when they wish to raise the rent or eject the tenant. "If you
won't pay me such a rent, there are plenty that will. I have been
offered more than you pay, and more than I ask, and you know I must look
to my own interests!" In this case it is very likely that the landlord
speaks nothing but the truth; and as he is pressed on by his necessities
on the o