Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. THE RIBBON CODE. THERE are few who have not heard of the Ribbon Societies of Ireland ; those dark and mysterious confederacies, which, springing up from time to time in different localities, have spread terror and dismay into the hearts of both rich and poor, which have done so much to discourage the influx of capital into Ireland, and to promote the absenteeism of hundreds of wealthy proprietors, who would be only too glad to be allowed to reside upon their Irish estates, and in the midst of their Irish tenantry, could they do so in peace and safety. But the terrible Ribbon Code is too formidable for most men to face, who have the means of living elsewhere, and who are not bound by any peculiar ties to Ireland. It is the fashion to blame absentees ; but can they always be justly blamed ? It is a fact, the bitter truth of which has been felt and can be attested by many, that those who have been most earnest and anxious for the improvement of their estates, have come most frequently under the ban of the Ribbonmen; whilst the careless, spendthrift, good- for-nothing landlord, who hunts, and shoots, and drinks, and runs in debt, who even exacts the most exorbitant rents from his tenants, provided only he does not interfere with their time-honoured customs of subdividing, squatting, conacre, and reckless marriages, may live in peace and careless indolence on his estate, in high favour with thesurrounding peasantry, and with no fear or danger of being ever disturbed by a Ribbonman. It is not my intention to enter at present upon any dissertation on this curious and strange phenomenon ; neither is it my intention to enter into any analysis of the causes which produced this state of things. We must look back into the history of Ireland for these. Would that ...