played upon the feelings of his hearers with a trumped-up tale of woe,
but I wonder whether anything will teach the British political tourist
that a great number of my countrymen unfortunately feel a genuine
delight in hoaxing them.

"Your obedient servant,

"AN IRISH LIBERAL."


As for the assertion of poverty and inability to pay, so invariably
made to excuse defaulting tenants, I will give these two instances to
the contrary.

"Writing on behalf of Mr. Balfour to Mr. E. Bannister, of Hyde,
Cheshire, Mr. George Wyndham, M.P., recounts a somewhat remarkable
circumstance in connection with the position and circumstances of a
tenant on Lord Kenmare's estate who declined to pay his rent on the
plea of poverty:--'Irish Office, Nov. 28, 1889. Dear Sir,--In reply to
your letter of the 22nd inst., I beg to inform you that I have made
careful inquiries into the case of Molloy, a tenant on Lord Kenmare's
estate. I find that so far from exaggerating the scope of this
incident, you somewhat understate the case. The full particulars were
as follow:--The estate bailiffs visited the house of Molloy, a tenant
who owed £30 rent and arrears. They seized his cows, and then called
at his home to ask him if he would redeem them by paying the debt.
Molloy stated that he was willing to pay, but that he had only £7
altogether. He handed seven notes to the bailiff, who found that one
of them was a £5 note, so that the amount was £11 instead of £7. On
being pressed to pay the balance he admitted that he had a small