evictions differed from most of the other evictions to this
extent,--that they were able to pay the rent. It was a fight of
intelligence against intelligence, a case of diamond cut diamond." Mr.
Kilbride, who held a large farm at a rental of seven hundred and sixty
pounds was one of the evicted. Another of these poor destitute,
homeless tenants, brutally turned out on the roadside to starve, or
die like a dog from exposure, was no sooner evicted than he entered a
racehorse for the great contest of the Curragh. This victim of Saxon
tyranny was named John Dunne, and his holding comprised more than
thirteen hundred acres. Let us hope the colt did him credit. Let us
trust that the evicted quadruped carried off the blue ribbon of
Kildare. For under the Lansdowne "Rack-rents" the struggling farmer
could barely keep one racehorse, which, like the fabled ewe-lamb of
ancient story, was his little all. Perhaps Mr. Dunne's colt was
related to that well-bred travelling horse, of which the picture
adorned the walls of Limerick and its vicinity, and which gloried in
the name of Justice to Ireland. There were no evicted Protestants on
the Lansdowne estate. Every Protestant farmer paid his rent and
steadfastly refused to join the Plan of Campaign.

The injustice of an Irish rent largely depends on the question, To
whom is it due? A good Nationalist may draw a higher rent than a
Loyalist. A sound Home Ruler may ask for and insist on an exorbitant
rent, but he is never denounced by the Nationalist press. The
Corporation of Dublin is red-hot in the matter of patriotism. Its
Parnellite members have from time to time comprised the pick of the
Nationalist agitators. The Dublin "patriot" press has ever been
foremost in denouncing Rack-rents. But the city of Dublin is a
landlord. It has agricultural tenants who are never allowed under pain
of eviction to get into arrears. The members of the Corporation fixed
the rents, and, strange to say, the tenants at the first opportunity
appealed to the Land Commissioners. Six of them holding four hundred
and twenty-seven acres of land, were paying L883 16s. 4d. The rent was
therefore over L2 an acre, which is perhaps double the average. The
Government valuation was L625 10s. The new rent was finally settled at
L683, being an all-round reduction of twenty-three per cent. Lord
Clanricarde is frequently denounced by Nationalists for excessive
rents, lack of conscience, and non-residence. The Land Commission