The House of Commons would not entertain this, and a motion was passed
that the address should be sent to the Queen.

The Irish members continued their protests after the vote had been
taken, declaring it false and absurd to present the address when it did
not express the sentiment of the House, but only of a portion of it.

* * * * *

Captain Boycott has just died. You are probably familiar with the name,
and with the meaning of the word "boycott," but it may interest you to
know what a very young word it is, only seventeen years old, having been
coined in 1880, and that it derives its origin from this very Captain
Boycott who has just passed away.

He was a captain in the English army. After a while he sold out his
commission, and settled down as a farmer in Connemara, Ireland. He
became the agent of an Irish landlord named Lord Erne, and it was his
duty to manage the estate, see to the sowing and gathering of crops,
keep the houses on the property in repair, and collect the rents from
the tenants.

The Irish had long been complaining that their rents were too heavy, and
that their landlords did nothing for them in return for the money
collected. There was a good deal of truth in these complaints; the
landlords hardly ever went near their estates, and seemed to care only
for the money they got from the tenants. The whole conduct of affairs
was left in the hands of the agents, who were obliged to grind the money
out of the tenants to supply the wants of their masters.