witty Irishman once remarked, 'but I will keep two loan offices and four public-houses; and in two generations my "purchasing" tenants will be too happy to resell their lands to my grandsons.' A singular instance of 'land purchase,' and, indeed, of the working of another part of the land code, has come under my notice of late; I can answer for the accuracy of what I write; scores of similar cases could be, probably, found. In 1852, an industrious Scottish tradesman invested the savings of years of his life in buying a chief rent under the Encumbered Estates Act; he gave L5000 for a perpetual rent-charge of L192, that is, not quite 4 per cent. on his capital. The tenant of the lands subject to the rent was a middleman, with an estate of about L3000 a year; he had sublet the lands to a tenant in occupation of them, a slovenly, ill-conditioned, and indolent farmer. The Land Act of 1887 passed; the wealthy middleman, an excellent 'mark' for the chief rent, who, therefore, had been obliged to pay the L192 a year, was empowered by the new law to evade his contract, and practically to get rid of his interest; the owner of the chief rent, therefore, had only the tenant in occupation to look to for the discharge of his claim. This person was succeeded by his son, a good-for-nothing and drunken man, who soon became head over ears in debt; but he was declared 'a purchaser' by the Land Commission, and, subject to a terminable annuity, was made owner of the lands. But the advance made was not more than L2300; the representative of the hardworking Scotchman, who had bought property, as secure, at the time, as Consols, was a loser of more than half of his capital; he was simply cheated out of L2700, through the operation of an iniquitous law; his indignant protests may well be conceived. The subsequent history of this so-styled 'purchase' is significant, and not without interest. The worthless owner took possession of the lands; his first step was to cut down the woodland, until he was stopped by a creditor to whom he owed a mortgage. Since that time he has become insolvent in all but name, and cannot pay the annuity due to the State; the Land Commission has been trying to sell the lands; but the attempt has, hitherto, been a failure; the lands have been 'boycotted,' and the market has been closed against a sale. These proceedings do not require a word of comment; they strikingly illustrate how the agrarian code of Ireland makes havoc of capital, annuls contracts, and confiscates property for the behoof of dishonest thriftlessness. Meanwhile the happy middleman enjoys his L3000 a year; I dare say he licks his lips as he thinks of the Land Act of 1887, which scattered a just liability to the winds.