Besides the exhausting drain by absentee proprietors, there was another
kind of absenteeism, namely, that of Englishmen who, through Court or
other influence, obtained places in Ireland, but discharged the duties
of them, such as they were, by deputy. Mr. Prior cites the following
instance as an example:--"One of those Englishmen who got an appointment
in Ireland landed in Dublin on a Saturday evening, went next day to a
parish church, received the Sacrament there, went to the Courts on
Monday, took the necessary oaths, and sailed for England that very
evening! This was certainly expedition, but still coming over at all was
troublesome: so those who had obtained appointments in Ireland got an
Act quietly passed in the English Parliament dispensing them from
visiting Ireland at all, even to take possession of those offices to
which they were promoted."[44]
That a large proportion of the owners of the soil of a country should
reside out of it, has been always regarded as a great evil, as well as a
real loss to that country. Mr. M'Cullagh's elaborate attempt to prove
there is no real pecuniary loss inflicted by mere absenteeism convinces
no impartial man, least of all does it convince those who experience,
daily in their own persons, the evils which inevitably result from
absenteeism.
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