"[46] As to the unlimited power of landlords, and its
tyrannical use, Arthur Young, writing in 1779, less than one hundred
years ago, says: "The age has improved so much in humanity, that even
the poor Irish have experienced its influence, and are every day treated
better and better; but still the remnant of the old manners, the
abominable distinction of religion, united with the oppressive conduct
of the little country gentlemen, or rather vermin, of the kingdom, who
were never out of it, altogether bear still very heavy on the poor
people, and subject them to situations more mortifying than we ever
behold in England. The landlord of an Irish estate, inhabited by Roman
Catholics, is a sort of despot, who yields obedience in whatever
concerns the poor to no law but that of his will ... A long series of
oppressions, aided by very many ill-judged laws, have brought landlords
into a habit of exerting a very lofty superiority, and their vassals
into that of an almost unlimited submission. Speaking a language that is
despised, professing a religion that is abhorred, and being disarmed,
the poor find themselves in many cases slaves even in the bosom of
_written_ liberty.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92