Page:Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland.djvu/32

Rh Perhaps the simplest method of conducting such an inquiry will be—first, to specify the charges against the landlords of Ireland, as set forth in the public manifestoes of such persons as may be supposed to speak with the greatest authority on the subject, and then to examine, one by one, the truth or falsehood of each. The vehement eloquence with which the wrongs of that country are invariably discussed, affords ample materials for framing the indictment,—a circumstance which relieves me from the invidious expedient of singling out any particular individual as our public prosecutor.

Stripped of all exaggerated phraseology the accusations with which the landlords are assailed may be condensed into the following series of propositions.

1. That the emigration from Ireland has been a curse to that country.

2. That this emigration has been occasioned by the eviction of the rural population by their landlords.

3. That acts of eviction in Ireland are to be attributed rather to the cruelty and injustice of the landlords than to any failure on the part of those evicted to fulfil their legitimate obligations.

4. That the present discontent in Ireland has been chiefly occasioned by the iniquity of the laws affecting the tenure of land.