"That the rents were not considered as too high, we have not only the testimony of the freeholders themselves, but of other _'competent persons,' employed by the registry association, who, before the claimant was placed on the register, were obliged solemnly to swear, in public court, 'that the land was in most instances worth, and that a solvent tenant could afford to pay for it_, DOUBLE THE RENT _imposed on the occupier by the landlord.'_ We say, in almost every instance, _double the rent_; for when it is considered that many have registered from seven to eight acres, it would be necessary to do so in order to bring the value up to the required L10; and yet those men who have so sworn, and those leaders who have encouraged and induced them so to swear, and who have procured and paid others to corroborate their testimony on oath, are the persons who so lustily proclaim the extortion of the landlords! _If what they have sworn, and what their priests have encouraged them to swear, be true, their landlords must be indulgent and merciful indeed._ If the contrary, not only have they been guilty of perjury for their own injury; but those who assisted and abetted them must have been aware that they were encouraging them to commit a grievous sin." _At that time_ it was Mr O'Connell's object to attain political power, by proving the lands were set at a _cheap_ rate; _now_ it is his object to obtain popularity, by declaring that they are set at a rate far too dear. Which of his assertions are we to believe? It may be said that only a few, comparatively speaking, of the landholders registered their votes; and that, from the value of the holdings of a few, it would be unfair to draw a conclusion as to the terms on which the land was held by the bulk of the people. This objection could only be urged by a person unacquainted with Ireland; for any man who attended the quarter-sessions there, must know that, if all the persons for whom the priests and liberal clubs served notice, and whose qualifications they were prepared to support, had come forward to claim and establish their rights to the franchise, the number on the register would have been quite as great as (if it did not exceed) that of the old forty-shilling freeholders. If the claims of those who did apply, and who, although rejected, were most vigorously sustained by the agitators, had been substantiated, the constituency would have been quite as numerous as the most ardent patriot could desire.