affidavit has been made before me, that he and his family have come to the determination of emigrating to America, and, I suppose, by the aid of a midnight mob to take away all that is valuable of their property by force.  I consequently must remove it at once, as the law, under such circumstances, empowers me to do—­for I cannot sit by and suffer your lordship’ to be robbed, in addition to being both misrepresented and maligned by these men and their families.  Granting the full force, however, of this unpleasant intelligence, still I do not think it necessary that you should at present leave the circles of polished and fashionable life in which you move, to bury yourself here among a set of malignant barbarians, who would scruple very little to slit your lordship’s weasand, or to shoot you from behind a hedge.

“I am in correspondence with Counsellor Browbeater, at the Castle, who, in addition to the glorious privilege of being, as he deserves to be, free of the Back Trot there, is besides a creature after my own heart.  We are both engaged in attempting to bring the Spy System to that state of perfection which we trust may place it on a level with that fine old institution, so unjustly abused, called the Inquisition.  Browbeater is, indeed, an exceedingly useful man to the present government, and does all that in him lies, I mean out of his own beat, to prevent them from running into financial extravagance.  For instance, it was only the other day that he prevented a literary man with a large family from getting a pension from the Premier, who, between you and me, my lord, is no great shake; and this was done in a manner that entitles him to a very lasting remembrance indeed.  The principle upon which he executed this interesting and beautiful piece of treachery—­for treachery of this kind, my lord, is in the catalogue of public virtues—­was well worthy of imitation by every man emulous of office; it was that of professing to be a friend to the literary man, whilst he acted the spy upon his private life, and misrepresented him to the Minister.  Oh, you do not know, my lord, how the heart of such a man as I am, warms to the author of this manly act of private treachery and public virtue, and I cannot help agreeing with my friend M’Slime, who, when he heard it, exclaimed with tears of admiration in his eyes, ’it is beautiful—­verily the virtuous iniquity of it refreshes me!  May that mild, meek, and most gentlemanly Christian, Mr. Browbeater, be rewarded for it!  And may the day never come when he shall require to tread in the footsteps of the devil!’ Indeed, my lord, I cannot help crying amen to this, and adding, that the remembrance of his virtues may descend and reflect honor on his posterity, as, I have no doubt, they will do.  How few like him could transfuse the spirit of the Tipperary assassin into the moral principles of the Castle, for useful purpose?  I beg to inclose, your lordship, Mr. Hartley’s circular, which, I think, contains an indirect reflection on certain existing bodies of a similar nature, and is therefore, in my opinion, very offensive to us; I also enclose you others which he has written to several of your tenants, who are already members of your own corps,