CHAPTER VII .-- Reflections on Absenteeism.
-- Virtues of a Loyal Magistrate--A Small Dose of Flattery--A Brace of Blessings--Darby has Notions of becoming a Convert--Hints to a Trusty Bailiff, with a Bit of Mystery--Drum Dhu, and the Comforts of Christmas Eve--An Extermination.
One of the greatest curses attending absenteeism is the facility with which a dishonest and oppressive agent can maintain a system of misrepresentation and falsehood, either to screen his own delinquency or to destroy the reputation of those whom he hates or fears.

An absentee landlord has no guarantee beyond the honor and integrity of the man to whom he entrusts the management of his property, and consequently he ought to know that his very residence abroad presents strong temptations to persons, who, in too many instances, are not possessed of any principle strong enough to compete with their rapacity or cruelty.
Valentine M'Clutchy was one of those fellows in whom the heart was naturally so hard and selfish that he loved both wealth and the infliction of oppression, simply on account of the pleasure which they afforded him.

To such a man, and they formed too numerous a class, the estate of an absentee landlord presented an appropriate, and generally a safe field for action.

The great principle of his life was, in every transaction that occurred, to make the interest of the landlord on one hand, and of the tenant on the other, subservient to his own.

This was their rule, and the cunning and adroitness necessary to carry it into practical effect, were sometimes scarcely deemed worth concealment, so strong was their sense of impunity, and their disregard of what seldom took place--retribution.