The Sun.
London, England, 1837-01-28 00:00:00

pockets crammed with tithes wrung from Catholics,
thundered anathemas against the growth of Popery ;
and politicians, too weak, or too wicked, to render
tistice to their fellow-subjects, pretended that, as Ire-
land and Popery were synonimous terms, the best way
to repress the one was by oppressing other. The cries
~f the Irish people were feigned by the 13EttEsFoilDs,
the Rout!:Ns, the FA aNitAms, and the WteK
of past days, to be,mistaken for the groans of expiring
Popery. Every wretch who could be brought to re•
iionnee faith for gain, whether in the shape of
money or preferment, was ostentatiously paraded, be-
fore the eyes of the British people, as " a brand snat-
ched from the burning." A state of things so unna-
tural rendered every plan for the improvement of the
the country impossible. No society could contrive to
wear an appearance that would induce the jarring sects
to regard it as strictly impartial, and the slightest idea
of partiality would have been fatal to its operations.
The Catholic Emancipation Bill ha:.;, however, called
the elements of a sound social fabric into existence ;
and were -that measure followed up, as eventually it
must be, by the abolition of tithes, and all compulsory
imposts,. for the maintenance of a creed hostile to the
feelings of the people, we doubt not but Agricultural
Societies, as enterprising as those of England and
Scotland, would soon establish themselves in every
part of Ireland.
But though the establishment of Farming Societies
in Ireland is at present rather to be desired than ex-
pected, much might be done were rich personages
among the landed aristocracy to set the example to
Irish
2dlords in general, by commencing the improve-
ment of all wash
!ands upon their estates, and by en-
couraging their tenantry 1‘:: rival one another in the
excellence of the breed of their caLle. This would
cost them nothing but the outlay of a trifle or,
at first, to be repaid them in the course of a very few
years with an enormous interest. The country would
not remain indifferent to exertions so truly laudable ;
and every landlord would in time find himself com-
pelled, as it were, to imitate, to the best of his ability,
a plan of national improvement, commenced under the
auspices of a voluntary and disinterested patriotism.
There is already an Irish Waste Land Improve-
ment Society established in London ; and, therefore,
the plan of establishing a Society for encouraging the
rearing of cattle, and the growth of agricultural pro-
duce is perfectly, practicable. Some such institution,
fostered by the landlords, is wanted, to teach and en-
encourage the people to cultivate their farms, which at
present do not produce half the crops that might be
raised upon them. With the exception of a few
counties in the north of Ireland, it may be asserted
that the whole island wears the aspect of a land in
which agriculture, as a science, is wholly unknown.
A scanty crop is often all that is raised on lands ca-
pable of producing two and three crops of the very
best quality, and each doubly more abundant in quan-
tity than the one which is now the sole reward of the
husbandman's toils. Harvest and winter crops, so
common in England and Scotland, and so productive a
source of revenue to the farmer, are almost unknown
in Ireland. When the fields of flax are pulled, the
corn reaped, and the potatoes dug, instead of sowing
them with mangel-wurzel, turnips, and clover seeds,
for the feeding of cattle during the approaching winter,
the fences are pulled down, and cows, horses, and
sheep are driven into them. This not only destroys
all chance of after-crops, but renders the soil less
fruitful for the future. Should rains fall abundantly
in the winter months, the fields of loose earth, trodden
by the cattle, wear all the appearance of impassable
swamps, and as there are seldom drains to carry off the
water, the spring season is often far advanced before
they are in a state to admit of plough labour.
Agricultural Societies would unquestionably do
much in the way of improving the habits of the Irish
labourers in these respects ; but lasting and general
good can only be obtained by giving them free institu
tions, and a permanent interest in the soil. At pre-
sent they feel that they are condemned to toil from
year to year, to maintain persons in affluence, who are
either ignorant of, or indifferent to the fact of their
very existence ; and the insecurity of their tenures af-
fords them no protection from the avarice of grasping
agents, and middle-men, ever ready to seize upon
whatever the land produces over and above what is
barely necessary for the animal support of the culti-
vator. So excessive is the avarice of Irish landlords,
that not one in ten of them will grant a lease, in order
that they may be always in a condition to pounce upon
the produce of every improvement mad:: upon their
estates. 'Till this evil be remedied, we fear that but
little good will result from recommending an improved
system of agriculture to the Irish farmer. His answer
to such recommendations will naturally be—" Where-
fore should I treble crops from which I can hope to
derive neither praise nor profit ? The pittance I now
enjoy is all the landlord would leave me, did the ground
yield ten times the agricultural produce it does at pre-
sent ? Give me an assurance that the surplus pro-
duce, resulting from increased diligence and skill, shall
not be taken out of the mouths of my children to
swell the rental of a landlord, whose face I never see,
and to fill the pockets of a priest, whose religion con-
sists in scaling at, and calumniating mine ; and I will

work the skin off my bones rather than continue in the
wretched state in which I now am. But miserable as
I am, I entertain too lively a sense of my wrongs, and
of what is due to me as a member of society, to work:
without a motive." In the way, therefore, pointed out
by our correspondent, little or nothing can be done
without the active co-operation of the landlords. They
must sanction and encourage such a system of national
improvement to render it productive of general happi-
ness. Without protection the people will not improve
their lands ; and that protection, no Society, not corn-
posed principally of great landowners, can possibly
afford them. How many landlords, possessing each a
thousand acres of land in Ireland, will come forward as
members of a Royal Irish Agricultural Society ? Will
fifty ? Will forty ? Will twenty ? Will even ten ? If
there be but ten such patriots found among the landed
aristocracy of the sister kingdom, we shall hate plea-
sure in giving the infant institution all the support of
which we are capable.

Some of the most hot-headed of the Tory faction
in the northern parts of Hampshire met together at
Winchester yesterday for the purpose, it would seem,
of proving to the world that they are no wiser than
the Tories of other counties. • We think this might
have been safely taken for granted, without the
demonstration afforded by the blow-out of last
night. It is 'now, however, put beyond all reason-
able question. Indeed, we should not consider
ourselves guilty of any very culpable exaggeration,
were we to say that the evidence produced at this
Meeting goes the full length of proving that the Hamp-
shire Tories surpass all other animals of the same
species in folly, as much as Hampshire hogs excel all
others in fatness.
Sir W. HEATIICOTE was at the bead of this motley
assemblage of dunder-headed squires, squire-bound
tenants at will, chaw-bacons, and pig-drivers. Hail
fellow, well met! was the order of the day,
and all seemed to be of one mind with the
Chairman, that " motley's the only wear." As
a matter cf course " the House of Lords" was
one of the toasts given from the Chair, and in the non-
sensical twaddle with which the Chairman preluded it,
he hit upon the bright discovery that in " ancient times
the Peers had stood up for the infant liberties of the
country," an assertion as much opposed to the truth
as anything can be. The Peers have, we grant, stood