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| EVICTION SCENE, VANDELEUR ESTATE, COUNTY CLARE. -Among the most notorious of harsh, evicting Irish landlors, the names of Lord Lucan (Bingham), William Scully and John George Adair, stand out in bold, unpleasant relief, and to these may be added that of Colonel Vandeleur, of the County Clare, who has developed exterminating "talents" of a most formidable kind. The accompanying sketch exhibits an eviction scene on the Vandeleur estate, near Kilrush, where the land agent, the sheriff and the officers of the Hussars and Royal Irish Constabulary-alias "the Peelers"-are holding a council of war previous to moving against the wretched cabin of the tenant to be evicted vi et armis. The lady in the picture may have come on the scene in the interests of mercy, but this is doubtful, as many Irish landladies-like Mrs. Mooney of this same country-were quite unfeeling as the landlords. In the group on the left are some "emergency men"-employed by the evictor to do the meanest part of his dirty work. These creatures are the de-nationalized scum of Ireland, made up chiefly of the hangers-on of the alien-hearted aristocracy, who have been reared to hate and despise the people out of whose toil they are enabled to live in luxury. An Irish cabin of the poorest class is not a picturesque object, but it must be remembered that if the tenant improves its appearance, the landlord raises the rent. |
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