icient
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 po