Le Hunte, the Chairman, which were ordered to be sent
to England. Nothing, as far as I can discover, resulted from this
proceeding, unless indeed it was a bill passed in 1743 "to prevent the
pernicious practice of burning land," which is probable enough, as the
heads of this bill were presented to the House by the same Mr. Le Hunte.
During the time this Committee was sitting and reporting, and sitting
again, Mr. Thos. Cuffe, seconded by Mr. George M'Cartney, presented the
heads of a bill "for the more effectual securing the payment of rents
and preventing the frauds of tenants," which was received and read and
committed by a Committee of the whole House on presentation, and was
hurried through its other stages, apparently without discussion, but
certainly without opposition; and this in the second year of a Famine,
now combined with pestilence, which slaughtered one-eighth of the whole
population.[26] The Act was a temporary one, but was never afterwards
allowed to die out. It was renewed in various reigns, and is the
foundation of the Acts which were in force up to 1870 "for the more
effectual securing the payment of rents."
The land had been thrown into grazing to an alarming extent for years,
so that the acreage for producing grain and other such food was very
limited; the people fell into listless despair from what they had
endured in 1740, and did not cultivate the ground that was still left
for tillage.
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