rd himself, who never
dreams of being allowed what is due him, and is swelled in amount by the
conditions of the succeeding holder, who pays for liberty "to occupy and
live." Mr O'Connell himself bears testimony to the fact; for although he
on all other occasions absolutely denied the existence of any such
compact, yet when writhing under the exposures of the "_Times_
commissioner," he claimed merit for having "introduced and extended all
over the south the benefit of the tenant-right."[8]

But if the northern tenantry can and do thrive under the double
infliction of much higher rents than are paid in other provinces, and of
a money outlay for merely getting into the possession of land which
would purchase the fee-simple elsewhere, surely this fact furnishes the
strongest argument against the truth of the assertion, that the misery
and distress which we are told prevail in the west and south, may be
attributed to the exactions of the owners of the soil.

Does not the condition of Mr O'Connell's own tenantry bear out our
assertions, that indolence, inattention, and want of industry, are the
real blights of Irish prosperity? _They_ have no dread of being
dispossessed or deprived of the benefit of their improvements; _they_
don't, we are told, pay rack-rents; yet the security which he must feel
upon living under the protection of "the Liberator" cannot induce Mr
Sullivan, of whose cabin we have given the description, to remove the
filth "which has percolated from the cess-pool before his door, and
which is trodden into a glutinous substance by the feet and hooves of
the semi-naked children and animals who occupy his floor;" nor "to
devote so much of his _unoccupied time_ as would be necessary to render
waterproof his cabin, which was falling into pieces." Surely, if
security of tenure and moderation of rent were alone necessary to ensure
happiness, among the tenantry of Mr O'Connell, if any where, comfort and
respectability ought to be visible; yet, if we are to credit "the
_Times_ commissioner," "_on the estates of Daniel O'Connell are to be
found the most wretched tenants that are to be seen in all Ireland_."

Not only are the southern tenantry averse to taking out leases, as Mr
Maher and others state, but they are unwilling to receive, at the hands
of their landlords, those comforts of which gentlemen here so feelingly
deplore the want; for when a proprietor attempts to give them domestic
conveniences or suitable home