UC-NRLF 
 
!Y^\ 
 .1BRARY I 
 UNIVERSITY Of I 
 CALIFORNIA/ 
 
IRISHMEN 
 
 IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 "HYACINTH O'GARA;" "IRISH PRIESTS AND ENGIISH 
 LANDLORDS," &c. &c. 
 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 RICHARD MOORE TIMS, GRAFTON-RTREET ; 
 
 HAMILTON AND ADAMS, LONDON ; AND 
 WAITGH & INNES, EDINBURGH. 
 
 M.DCCC.XXXT, 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
 Printed by P. D. H*rdy, Cecilin-slrfet. 
 
IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 If was the fair day of Derrynaslieve, an inconside- 
 rable village in one of the north-west counties of Ire- 
 land. The weather was favourable, and though prices 
 were low, and consequently but little business tran- 
 sacted, still there was a large concourse of people, 
 and a good deal of noise and bustle. Besides those 
 who resorted to it for the purpose of buying and sell- 
 ing, there was, as usual, a large assemblage of idlers, 
 of both sexes, arid all a'ges ; who, singly, or in small 
 parties, sauntered up and down the principal, or in- 
 deed the only street : at one time, tumbling over the 
 goods exposed for sale in the different booths, cheap- 
 enijg articles which they had no money to purchase ; 
 now congregating round a lame man, in a sailor's 
 dress, who sung the poetical story of his own disas- 
 ters ; and then taking their stand on the raised paved- 
 way before the door of some public-house, staring at 
 the passengers, or valuing the various purchases of 
 their acquaintances. 
 
2 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Among the numbers thus employed, one group was 
 eminently conspicuous for the indefatigable perseve- 
 rance with which they lounged through the whole 
 extent of the fair-ground. It consisted of a tall, 
 elderly man, in a long, grey frieze coat, followed by 
 a tall, elderly woman, in a long, blue mantle ; close 
 after whose heels came a tall girl, in a red shawl, 
 and a drab-coloured cloak thrown over one arm. 
 They had all the same slingeing, heavy gait ; all, 
 the same vacant look, and the same indiscriminate 
 curiosity, which was attracted by any thing, however 
 common, and never satisfied till after the most minute 
 inspection. No obstruction impeded their progress, 
 which, though slow, was sure. They kept on their 
 straight-forward course, undisturbed in the middle of 
 a drove of unruly pigs, or in the more perilous en- 
 counter of a score of long-horned bullocks ; and even 
 when the mail-coach horn caused a general scamper 
 to the right and left, the movement by which they 
 avoided the wheels, within a hair's breadth of their 
 feet, was imperceptible the old lady calmly conti- 
 nuing her conversation over her shoulder with her 
 daughter, as she measured on her finger the shawl 
 which had already been subjected three times to the 
 same operation in the course of the day, while her 
 husband as composedly compared a piece of velve- 
 teen, just bought by a neighbour, with the material 
 of the same stuff forming the collar of his own coat. 
 During their peregrination, they assisted in making 
 every bargain, and examined every article within 
 reach of their hands, and had a word for every body, 
 whether stranger or acquaintance, alternately speak- 
 ing in English or Irish, according to the education of 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 3 
 
 their hearers. As the day advanced, and all the no- 
 velties of the fair were pretty well exhausted, their 
 progress gradually slackened. They made longer 
 pauses, apparently at a loss to know what to do with 
 themselves ; sometimes giving but a passing glance 
 at the various objects, which had before engrossed so 
 much of their attention ; now and then stopping to 
 read a stanza of the sailor's lament, and other bal- 
 lads, which they had purchased ; and at length, as if 
 fairly tired out, they stopped before the window of 
 what was formerly, in vulgar parlance, called the 
 apothecary's shop, but now professed, in large letters 
 of blue and gold, to be the New Medical Hall. 
 
 " Look at Christie Balf, and his wife and daugh- 
 ter," said a man at the opposite side of the street, 
 who was tying up his yarn, which he had in vain 
 offered for sale. <{ I am attending every fair and 
 market in the country these thirty-four years, and I 
 never once missed them, to my knowledge, all that 
 time, stravaguing about, just as you see them now, 
 whether they had business in it, or no." 
 
 " You're out in your reckoning, Billy," said a 
 neighbour. " His long daughter, Margaret, there, 
 isn't passing twenty ; and, to my mind, Christie him- 
 self wasn't married as far back as you say, for his 
 oldest child is only the same standing as my brother 
 Tom." 
 
 " Pah ! man," replied the other, " what is a handful 
 of years, one way or other? I know whnt I know, 
 any how, that the first market I ever stood in Car- 
 rickgornbrosna, thirty-four years ago last Patrickmas, 
 Christie was in it. I wont be sure of the wife then, 
 but she soon was after him ; and then the childer 
 
 c2 
 
4 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 soon began to flock after her, till they were all mar- 
 ried, only her in the red shawl, there." 
 
 " Ileen," said he, turning to a girl loaded with gin- 
 gerbread and apples, fairings from the young men, 
 among whom she appeared to have a very general 
 acquaintance, " it would be as well for you, if you 
 had company down that lonesome road, after you pass 
 the castle ; and you know it's as short for me to go 
 home by Kiladarne, as any other way." 
 
 " I'm for ^ver obliged to you, Billy," answered 
 Ileen j " but I wouldn't be after keeping you, by no 
 means, seeing it may be late before I get going. I've 
 a trifle of tape to buy for the mistress, not counting 
 a crooked comb for myself. Besides, there will be 
 , plenty going my way, and I can be at no loss. Still, 
 I am not the less thankful to you, Billy. Put them 
 apples and cakes into your pocket for the childer 
 they'll be looking for a fairing, poor things, and it 
 would be a pity to baulk them." 
 
 ' e Ileen," said her friend, " I have a wish for you. 
 as I had for your father before you. You are young 
 and innooent, and have a cheerful way with you, that 
 makes every body fond of your company. You ought 
 to take care of yourself, girl. You make too much 
 freedom with one that's come of people there's no 
 trusting; and though he has smooth talk enough, 
 and there is no disparagement to his manners, as far 
 as I see ; yet, take an advice from a friend, Ileen, dean, 
 and keep .your distance with him. You know who I 
 mean." 
 
 " Never fear me/' she replied, gaily. " There's no 
 harm in a merry heart, Billy Kilroy. I couldn't be 
 dark, if I had a hundred pound to my portion ; and, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. O 
 
 as for them you reflect upon, there's worse in the 
 world. Though, after all, what need I care who's 
 bad, or who's good, when I have nothing to say to 
 them ? Ho ! come back here, you, Murtagh Curn- 
 musky/' calling to a man, who, with his tinkers' bud- 
 get on his back, was trudging fast down the street. 
 " No wonder you are ashamed to look me in the face, 
 after the way you treated the mistress ; keeping her 
 own tay-kittle in agitation this ever so long, when all 
 it wants is to solder the handle, that is coming off as 
 fast as it can. What will you say for yourself, when 
 I am scalded out of my life, by your dallying ?" 
 
 " Only keep a steady hand," said the tinker, " till 
 the day after to-morrow, when, if I'm alive, I'll make 
 the kittle better than new. Never bleeve me, but I 
 couldn't call since I hard I was wanting, being up the 
 country, with my hands fuller than they could hold." 
 
 " You're foully belied, Murtagh," she answered, 
 with the same good-humoured manner, "if you haven't 
 more ways nor one of turning a penny. The people 
 has it, that you are a cliver hand at mending a gun, 
 and fire-arms of that sort." 
 
 "Why will you be speaking so foolishly, out before 
 the whole fair ?" said Cummusky, angrily, " and no 
 knowing who is listening. What business has any one 
 to fault a struggling man, for helping himself as well 
 as he can, these hard times? I do nothing I am 
 afraid or ashamed of, only I don't like to have lies go 
 out on me." 
 
 ( ' Don't be angry, Murtagh. I thought you was 
 one would take a joke, you are so fond of giving one. 
 I'll say no more, if it vexes you ; so, like a good boy., 
 
6 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 don't delay the kittle; for it's the greatest heart-scald 
 I ever had, since the hour I was born." 4 
 
 ' ' You are too free with your tongue, and remem- 
 ber I tell you, you'll bring trouble on yourself, Ileen, 
 if you haven't a thought," said Kilroy, as the tinker 
 walked sulkily away. " The times requires a man to 
 look about him, and only to see straight before him 
 You ought ? nt repeat what you hear, or pass a remark 
 on what don't concern you. The law of the country 
 is very strict, and nobody is safe from his own bro- 
 ther, if he goes beyant it." 
 
 Kilroy was stopped in his good-natured lecture, by 
 the approach of the Balf family, who, having ex- 
 hausted all the wonders of the Medical Hall window, 
 crossed the street to condole with him on his ill-luck 
 with his yarn. 
 
 " Troth, Mr. Balf," sighed he, "the world's gone 
 to the bad entirely. Here I lost my whole day, try- 
 ing to sell my wife's little industry herself lying 
 weak enough at home and I wasn't offered the first 
 cost of the flax, let alone any thing for the labour and 
 spinning." 
 
 " There's others as bad off as yourself, and worse, 
 too, Billy," cried an old woman, who then joined the 
 party, driving a pig before her, tied by one of the 
 hinder legs with a hay rope, the other end of which 
 she held in her hand. " What do you think I was 
 offered for this elegant slip? Just eight shillings, 
 when, last year, I sold the fellow of it for five-an.l- 
 twenty." > 
 
 " It's a good pig for its size, sure enough," said 
 Christie, handling the animal all over, in spite of its 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 7 
 
 manifest dislike of such treatment,, intimated by kick- 
 ing and squeeling most outrageously. 
 
 " It's a good pig, in troth, Alice," repeated Mrs. 
 Balf, also handling it scientifically, ff and trouble 
 enough you had to rear it. But whatever is come 
 over the world, there's no luck to any body. There's 
 Mr. Oglandby's fine bullocks walked home again to 
 the Carragh, without any one so much as axing them 
 what brought them here." 
 
 " Little matter about him," said the old woman, 
 crossly ; ee let him kill them and eat them all himself. 
 What luck could he have after turning out his poor 
 tenants, without a roof over their heads, or a bit to 
 put in their mouths ? If I'm not out in my reckoning, 
 he'll sup sorrow for that turn, before long." 
 
 " Better not to be reckoning, Alice," said Christie, 
 looking round him anxiously. " Here's Father Duff 
 coming up the street, and you know he's a man loves 
 pace, and warns his flock not to be thinking bad 
 thoughts, nor speaking bad parables." 
 
 "What bad was I thinking, or what bad was I 
 speaking, to be threatened with the priest, Mr. Balf? 
 What bad is there in it, if the poor won't lie down to 
 be ground to powder, by them that keeps their law- 
 ful right from them ? Father Duff is one of the ould 
 stock, that lets the world take its course, afraid of 
 bringing himself into trouble. And sign's on it, he is 
 letting others get all the respect and duty he might 
 have kept, if he took the part of the wronged." 
 
 ee I'd be sorry to have your bad word, Alice." said 
 Balf; " but I can't let that go with you about Father 
 Duff; for don't I know, myself, that it was another 
 world, when they were all like him. Neighbours then 
 
8 IKISHMEN AND 
 
 lived in friendship and good-will with other, and a 
 man wasn't careful what he'd say by his own fire-side 
 Now, if it isn't a poor life one has between all sides. 
 When one is willing to be quite, and take the world 
 asy, it won't do. One must have a hand in what's 
 going on, or lead the life of a mad dog and what's 
 more, the breath in one's body isn't safe." 
 
 " Times will mend soon," said Alice, in a low voice. 
 " The committee will clear the country they will^ 
 blue as you look. It's out of the power of the gen- 
 tlemen, and of the poliss aye, and of the army, too, 
 to say again them ; and when we are up, what's to 
 hinder goodness being plenty ? Every body's hand 
 will be wanted to help ; and if them that stands back 
 now, and shows no good- will to the cause, should 
 happen upon a tritle of mischance, who's to blame 
 for that, Mr. Balf ?" 
 
 " Christie, come away," said his wife, endeavour- 
 ing to conceal her alarm, by speaking fast. "I'm 
 fairly foundered, tramping about all the day ; and the 
 clouds will be dark before we get home, make what 
 haste we may." 
 
 " It's time for me to be going, too," said Alice 
 "and wasn't it lucky that I lit upon you, Ileen, to be 
 with me to the very door ? You'll be good help to 
 me to drive this troublesome brute, that is more wil- 
 ful and cross-grained than all the pigs in the parish 
 put together." 
 
 " 1*11 be after you, Alice, but I couldn't go this mi- 
 nutemy business isn't near done. I've a bit of tape 
 to buy for the mistress ; and plenty of rummaging I'll 
 have before I get what I want, she's so curious 
 about tape. You may as well be going on you won't 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 be at the Old Forth till I'm up with you; only don't 
 stop for me, as there's no knowing how long I may be 
 k ep, with all I have to do/ 
 
 " If you're waiting for any body, Ileen, you'll have 
 to stop longer nor might be agreeable to the mistress. 
 I was speaking to him just now, the other side of the 
 bridge, and he has something in hand will keep him far 
 in the evening. So, if that's all your hindrance, come 
 along, and blessings on you, give me a help with this 
 one." 
 
 " Sure I told you," said the other, " that it is un- 
 possible for me to quit it, without the tape ; and sup- 
 posing I was waiting for any body, small blame to 
 me for wishing other company besides yourself and 
 your pig all the while meaning no disrespect to one 
 or other. Why don't you bring Lanty with you, and 
 make some use of him, instead of letting him sit on 
 the wall the whole day, frightening the crows?" 
 
 " When you're axed your advice," growled Alice, 
 kicking her pig on before her, " you're welcome to 
 give it. The child got better rearing nor yourself; 
 and if you don't drop some of your ways, you'll come 
 to the wall yet, I tell you." 
 
 The Balfs had by this time moved down the street 
 homeward. Kilroy was already out of sight; and 
 when Alice took her departure, Ileen again crossed 
 the fair-ground, and was proceeding at a quick pace 
 in the direction of the bridge, when she was arrested 
 in her career by an elderly man, who. with a voice of 
 authority, inquired why she was not half way home 
 by that time. 
 
 " The neighbours," he continued, " have all quit 
 the place before this, and here you are, taking your 
 
 B3 
 
10 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 diversion, as if you had nothing to do at home ! 
 More than that, is it a proper thing for the like of 
 you to be walking four miles, all alone by yourself, 
 this time of evening, with the roads full of drunken 
 men and stavaguers, that a dasent girl would shun as 
 she would poison ?** 
 
 " Sure I must do my business," she replied, " or 
 what use in my coming to the fair at all? I've a bit 
 of tape to buy for the mistress, and it was as well to 
 wait till now, being the best time for a bargain. . I'll 
 slip in to Dinnis Devin's this minute, who is remark- 
 able for tape. Then, as for company, Alice O'Neil 
 and her pig is watching for me near the big Forth, so 
 I'll be at no loss for a care-keeper/' 
 
 "You were never at a loss for an answer," said her 
 master; " but if Alice is with you you're safe enough. 
 Mind," he added, calling after her as she entered the 
 shop, " be home in no time like another, or you'll 
 hear more about it." 
 
 The bargain with Dennis Devins was quickly made, 
 and Ileen, after reconnoitering from the shop door, to 
 be sure that the coast was clear, again sallied out ; 
 but instead of obeying her master's injunctions as to 
 returning home, still proceeded in the contrary direc- 
 tion. She crossed the bridge in haste, and did not 
 slacken her pace till she had reached the last house 
 on that side of the village, when, apparently at a loss 
 she as quickly retraced her steps, and stopped in the 
 middle of the bridge for a few minutes, alternately 
 giving a long, tip-toe look on either side. 
 
 "Ah! Jenny, dear!" said she to a woman, who 
 had stopped to adjust her numerous bundles, " did 
 you see any body at all coming down the back lane ?" 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 11 
 
 " Can't you as well ax me if I have my eye-sight, 
 at once ?" returned Jenny. " Sure I'd be blinder 
 nor my father's blind mare, if I couldn't see plenty of 
 people, when the place is throng with them." 
 
 " I thought/' said Ileen, carelessly, " that maybe 
 you might tell me whereabouts Biddy St. Leger is* 
 She borrowed my thimble near a month ago, and I'm 
 fairly lost for want of it. If I could see her, or her 
 mother, or her sister, or any one belonging to her, it 
 wonld be greatly in my way, for this finger is racked 
 to no end, when I take the needle in my hand/' 
 
 " If you only want to send her word," said her 
 friend, " you can be at no loss ; for Connel himself, 
 and his comrade, Wat Delahunt, was this minute 
 buying powder for blasting, at Mr. Siggins's : if you 
 make haste, you'll be up with them before they turn 
 the corner." 
 
 <e Blessings on you, Jenny," said the damsel, again 
 moving briskly on ; (e I'll never rest till I get it back 
 again ; for nobody that hasn't to sew shop-linen with- 
 out a thimble, knows what trouble is." 
 
 The object of her search was, at length, happily at- 
 tained. The two young men were just leaving the 
 shop as she arrived ; and she instantly commenced 
 an attack, half in jest, half in earnest, upon him who 
 seemed to be the elder of the two, accusing him of 
 breaking his promise, and delaying her till that time 
 of the evening. 
 
 " Don't be angry, Ileen, and all for nothing, too ; 
 for how can a man help it, if he can't be as good as 
 hie word. Besides, didn't I bid Alice tell you not to 
 wait, seeing how I mightn't be able to leave it till too 
 late for you?" 
 
12 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Maybe it was her pig you gave the message to," 
 replied Ileen, gaily ; " for the brute was the civilest of 
 the two when I spoke to them. But/' suddenly 
 changing her tone and manner, " night work is bad 
 work, Connel, and your name is up for meddling in 
 what you have no call to : come home now, and have 
 no hand in their foolishnessleave it to them that 
 has nothing else to do/' 
 
 "The never a bit of foolishness I have in hand, 
 Ileen; so put that out of your head, once for all. 
 Can't a man have a little business to do, without a 
 wonder being made of it ? Ax Wat here, if I'm 
 about any harm, barring what is right and proper." 
 
 " Why need I ax him, when I have yourself to 
 make answer ? one that's never at a loss for words, 
 good nor bad. So tell me this minute, Connel, what 
 business you have at all to hinder your going home 
 like another?" 
 
 " Isn't she the complate pattern of a minister ca- 
 techizing the little boys for not going to school ?" 
 asked Connel, with a laugh, addressing his compa- 
 nion. fc If she takes to preaching entirely, there will 
 be no room for poor fellows like us in the country, 
 with all the advisings we'll get." 
 
 " I'll not be put off with a joke, Connel ; for it 
 would be no joke if you brought trouble on yourself, 
 though you went into it with a smile on your face. 
 I once came between ypu and shame, when Wat De- 
 lahunt and others hadn't sense or judgment to see 
 what was before them. And how thankful were you 
 afterwards ; and how did you promise never to go 
 through with a job if my word was contrary to it ? 
 80 give it over, whatever it is, and come along with 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 13 
 
 me, who am venturing my place and living this very 
 minute for your sake." 
 
 "No matter if you lost your place to-morrow, 
 Ileen, for it has ruined you. Moping with Mrs. Cos- 
 tigan has taken away all your life and spirits- you 
 that was noted for never having a sour look, or a 
 word of bad humour. But if you were my father or 
 my mother, I couldn't give in to your fancies now 
 Yourself would be breaking your heart right a-head 
 after, if I was to be said by you in this manner. 
 Mr. Mulvaney, who has contracted for the new road, 
 ordered me to meet him without fail this evening, 
 to settle about that bit that runs by the Lough. If 
 I'm not on the spot, the Finnagans will take the job 
 over my head ; and then the whole country may be 
 married before I could scrape money enough to pay 
 the priest, let alone building a house that I could 
 take a dasent girl to." 
 
 He had scarcely concluded his speech, when Ileen, 
 who had been listening rather impatiently, suddenly 
 darted from the foot-path, and running at full speed, 
 was out of sight in a moment, having taken to the 
 fields, through which there was a short cut to the 
 high road. The cause of this rapid movement was 
 quickly explained t by the appearance of her master,, 
 who, accompanied by Mr. Duff, rode slowly down the 
 lane. 
 
 " Boys," said Mr. Costigan, when he arrived at the 
 place where the two young men were still standing, 
 ' f was that Ellen Garvey was talking to you now ?" 
 
 " Is it Ellen Garvey you mean, Mr. Costigan ?" 
 asked Connel with a very civil air. 
 
 " Why, who else would I mean, when I told you 
 
14 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 her Christian name, and her sirname, both ? What 
 way would I explain myself better ?" 
 
 " She that's the widdy's daughter above the mills 
 of Clasheen ?" again inquired Connel. 
 
 "What is it to you whose daughter she is? I 
 asked you a plain question, and I expect a plain 
 answer before your clargy here. Was that Ellen Gar- 
 vey, my girl, who run off when she caught a glimpse 
 of me at the turn ?" 
 
 " Oh ! not a bit of her, Sir. It was Tim Fahy's 
 sister. Wasn't it, Wat ? She was looking for a man 
 that owes her a trifle of change out of a firkin of 
 butter she sold him this morning. I suppose it was 
 the green shawl you took for Ileen, Mr. Costigan ; 
 but as for that matter, there's no end to shawls now- 
 a-days." 
 
 " That Ellen Garvey," said her master to the 
 priest, as they continued to ride together, "is a 
 galloper-^a rale galloper. Not that there is any harm 
 in the girl ; nor would I say a word to her miscredit, 
 for it is a pleasure to have her in one's house, she is 
 so cheerful and willing, and withal tender and kind- 
 ly. But she is all for company-keeping, and makes 
 more freedom than is becoming with Connel St. 
 Leger, considering his character is none of the best/' 
 
 "Young people will be foolish, Ned," answered 
 Mr. Duff; "and she'll mend naturally when she 
 gets old." 
 
 " Aye : but in the mean time she may light upon 
 misfortune, if she don't mind herself; and I'd be as 
 sorry as if she was my own child. Ah ! no it isn't 
 
 the truth to say that ; for you know, Mr. Duff 
 
 Well ! what's come over me, to be blundering this 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 35 
 
 way, as if a lone man, like you, could know any 
 thing about it ? But there is a feeling in the heart 
 about one's own child, which never rises for any 
 thing else in the world : one may be glad, and one 
 may be sorry, for many a thing but there is nothing 
 like the gladness, and nothing like the sorrowfulness, 
 that comes to a man from his own. So, you see, Mr, 
 Duff, my meaning is, that I'd be right sorry if that 
 foolish Ileen was to go to the bad, only through inno- 
 cence ; and it would be a good turn, if you gave her 
 a check, one of these days, when you call at the 
 house/' 
 
 "I'll settle her," said the priest; "let me alone 
 for that, Ned." And then added, with a sort of sigh, 
 " I wish there was nothing worse among the people 
 than what we can lay to her charge." 
 
 " You may say that," rejoined his companion, with 
 an expressive nod; and the conversation suddenly 
 stopped, each being apparently unwilling to continue 
 the subject alluded to by the priest and yet en- 
 grossed by it, so as to occupy their thoughts for a 
 considerable time. At length, Mr. Costigan, recover- 
 ing from his reverie, again addressed his fellow-tra- 
 veller 
 
 " Ah ! but Mr. Duff, what will I do with my wo- 
 man ? Instead of better, it's worse she is growing 
 every day. The half of her isn't in it, and she will 
 be wore away to nothing if she goes on as she is go- 
 ing and no sign of her getting better." 
 
 " Can't you take her to the salt water, Ned, where 
 she always got her health in harvest ? It may be 
 troublesome with your hands full of business ; but a 
 
16 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 man of your substance oughtn't to stand upon a trifle 
 of money, when a thing like that is considered." 
 
 " If she would eat gold, she might have it, and 
 welcome/' said Costigan, with great earnestness. 
 " There's no want of good will in me to go any 
 where, or do any thing would bring comfort to her 
 heart ; but, Mr. Duff, what good would it do a poor 
 creature to go to that perishing place in the middle 
 of November, when every body else is running away 
 from it." 
 
 "That's true, Ned. I did'nt remember how far 
 gone it was in the year; though for that matter, 
 late or early I never had much faith in the sea, and 
 when I recommended it, it was only for the sake of 
 variety. Variety, Ned, is good for man and beast, 
 and why not for woman, too ?" 
 
 " And hasn't she plenty of that, Mr. Duff, if it 
 was any use to her ? Do I ever quit her side, only 
 when my business calls me out? And do I ever 
 stop saying the same thing to her over and over 
 again, from the minute I get up till I lie down? Ah ! 
 Mr. Duff, it isn't flitting from one place to another 
 will answer, when one can't leave their load behind 
 them. It is'nt variety will please, when only one 
 thing will content the heart; and it's a crushing- 
 down thing to a man, when he knows he can't find 
 that, travel where he may." 
 
 " It is our duty, you know, Ned, to be resigned to 
 the will of God." 
 
 " I believe you well, Mr. Duff; but isn't it a piti- 
 ful thing when one don't know how to be resigned ? 
 I sometimes try it ; and, I hope it is'nt a sin, but I 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 17 
 
 often draw down myself as a pattern to her, to show 
 how cheerful I am, when, all the time, I am as bad 
 as herself, only I look grave, and, now and then, talk 
 cross to the men, when she is within hearing/' 
 
 " That's all can be expected from a man like you, 
 Ned, and you show your sense by trying to keep up 
 your spirits. Besides, as I often told you, it is your 
 duty, as a Christian, not to be thinking too seriously, 
 or letting your wife's brain be running on fancies, to 
 the neglect of her house, and things of consequence. 
 You know, Ned," he continued, with much feeling 
 and kindness of voice and manner -"You know, 
 Ned, I pity you both from my heart, and that I gave 
 you all the advice one could give another ; and that 
 if I could do any thing more, I would do it : but I 
 know of nothing to bring peace to your mind, but to 
 leave all in the hands of God, and then settle your 
 thoughts as well as you can," 
 
 Poor Costigan was overcome by the kind expres- 
 sions, and kinder manner of his clergyman. He could 
 not trust his voice for some minutes ; and when he 
 did speak, it was with considerable agitation, as, in 
 his usual rambling style, he recapitulated the story of 
 his grief, for at least the twentieth time, to his good- 
 natured auditor. 
 
 " I was always sure of your friendship, Mr. Duff, 
 and that you pitied us from the bottom of your 
 heart; and I leave it to the world, if we an't to be 
 pitied ! You know, Mr. Duff, I began the world a 
 struggling man. I worked hard up early, and down 
 late, and I was content. Of an odd time, when we 
 were young, I wont say but I used to think the place- 
 had a dull loo^ when the other neighbours had ple-n* 
 
18 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ty of them, and more than some of them wanted, to 
 keep their fire- side alive. But what the eye don't 
 see, the heart don't grieve after so it was little trou- 
 ble to me. Then, after a while, when things begun 
 to look up about us, it was a vexation to me, at 
 times, to think that some one who didn't care a 
 straw about us, would get what we left behind. 
 Still, we were easy and happy enjoying ourselves 
 after a careless sort of a way, being all the world to 
 one another, and not fretting while we had plenty for 
 ourselves, and a trifle to give to the poor, which we 
 never missed. Well, Mr. Duff, I was now drawing 
 into years my wife counted forty, and something to 
 the back of it, when we had one. It came late, and 
 not expected, but it was the more welcome for that. 
 It was welcome and why shouldn't it ? For I be- 
 lieve yourself will say, Mr. Duff, that the first lord in 
 the land might be proud to take her on his knee, and 
 say she belonged to him. Them four years passed 
 like so many hours. If I was ever so tired, or ever 
 go vexed, I forgot it all when I heard her foot on the 
 floor, or caught a glimpse of her running about the 
 place. It was often a surprise to myself, how a man 
 of my age could be so new-fangled. It's one of those 
 things there's no accounting for. Though, after all, 
 she was not a child after the common sort. Them 
 that had more knowledge than myself, said that; 
 and Mrs. Milward, who, every body knows, wouldn't 
 tell a lie to be made a queen, had a way of asking 
 after her, that showed what she thought of her. It 
 was no common disorder could kill that child, Mr. 
 Duff. The doctors themselves could never tell. So it 
 came upon us like a blow upon a man in his sleep 
 
IRISHW031EN. 19 
 
 and it left us more like crazy, half-witted creatures, 
 than dasent, Christian people. If I might fret com- 
 fortably about it, I would be, no comparison, the bet- 
 ter for it ; but I have to keep up before her ; and 
 after all my endeavours, she sees through me, and 
 that encourages her to grieve. Mr. Duff, I look to 
 you to be more sharp and positive with her, and to 
 take no excuses if she won't alter her fashion. You 
 can tell her she ought to be ashamed of herself, and 
 you can say a hundred other comforting things of 
 that kind, that would never come into the head of 
 any man that hasn't reading and edication like you." 
 
 " I'll do my best, Ned, you may depend upon it ; 
 and I advise yourself to put away thinking, for you 
 are nearly as far gone as the poor woman. I must 
 now bid you good night, having to call at Toby Shea's 
 before I go home. The day after to-morrow I will 
 drop in upon you, and raise her heart with a little 
 cheerful conversation." 
 
 " Do, Mr. Duff; and it will be a happy day, if you 
 can give her some sense. Sir," he added, stopping 
 his horse, and lowering his voice to a whisper, * e be 
 very plain with her, and stout ; for I may as well tell 
 you, that when she is fairly beside herself, she is too 
 apt to speak words that may come against her sou! 
 in another world. Good night to you, kindly, Sir A 
 and my blessing be with you." 
 
20 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 CHAPTER II, 
 
 WHEN Connel St. Leger and his companion were 
 relieved from the importunities of Ileen, by the unwel- 
 come approach of her master, they proceeded with- 
 out further interruption to the place of rendezvous 
 appointed by Mulvaney. It was an upper room in 
 the house of a publican, in Derrynaslieve, where, if 
 common report could be trusted, all the mischief in 
 the country was hatched. Mulvaney, an elderly man 
 with a good-humoured countenance, was seated at a 
 table near the fire, with writing materials before him ; 
 supported on either side by two men, apparently of 
 his own rank in life, which was that of a respectable, 
 middling farmer. Five or six peasants, the majority 
 very young men, belonging to the class of labourers, 
 occupied seats at the lower end of the table ; while 
 close into the chimney-corner was squatted Murtagh 
 Cummusky, smoking a pipe, his eyes closed, and his 
 body bending forward, so that his crossed arms rested 
 firmly on his knees. 
 
 "Always late, Connel St. Leger," said Mulvany, on 
 the entrance of the young men " and that's not what 
 could be said of one of your family before, when any 
 work for the good of the people was in hand. Your 
 poor uncle Tom, who died like a hero thirty years 
 ago, and more, was clock-work itself at a meeting ; 
 and he did more nor any other ten men put together 
 for the country," 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 21 
 
 " If any body's to blame/' replied St. Leger, care- 
 lessly, " it's ould Alice, your spy, who brought me 
 word that the committee wouldn't sit till it was upon 
 the stroke of five ; and any body that ever knew 
 there was a sun in the sky, may see it isn't long past 
 four, this blessed minute." 
 
 f( And you, Wat," continued Mulvaney, without 
 noticing Connel's unceremonious justification of his 
 punctuality, (< you ought to show yourself a boy of 
 spirit, if every other was to lag behind. The Dela- 
 hunts were another sort of people long ago, from what 
 they are now. The broad fields of Carragh made a 
 handsome show, when their sheep and cattle grazed 
 on them, before the Oglandbys and Thorndales built 
 park- walls, and planted trees round them, to hinder 
 the rightful owners from having even the poor plea- 
 sure of looking at them. Why, Wat, one would 
 think you'd jump over the moon, for a chance of get- 
 ting the inheritance of your forefathers back again." 
 "I'm ready and willing to do the committee's or- 
 ders," said Delahunt, sturdily. "If I wasn't I 
 wouldn't be here this evening. But it never was for 
 the lucre of gain that I signed my hand to the paper, 
 I came into the plan, first, from love to my comrade 
 here, and 1*11 stick to it, for the honor of my religion, 
 without expecting favor or affection more nor ano- 
 ther." 
 
 " Well, boys," said Mulvaney, " I'm glad to see 
 the stuff you're made of. A hundred the like of you, 
 would soon clear Ireland of them that won't leave 
 the poor even what the cold earth itself gives them, 
 barring the day-light and the spring water ; and, to 
 my knowledge, both one and other of them is paid for 
 
22 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 in Dublin, And how short a time, may I ax you, will 
 the mail coach be bringing down that order to us, 
 when Lord Colverston, and Sir Ralph Thorndale, and 
 Jack Oglandby, and other Orange magistrates and 
 Brunswickers, will write to tell the Castle, that we 
 are nothing but cattle, with horns and hoofs ? Aye, 
 boys, that's hanging over us, and worse to follow, if 
 we don't stir ourselves. So now for business. You 
 see, boys, none of the gentlemen of the committee 
 could meet here this evening, but myself and Mr. 
 Taaffe, and Mr. Flaghoolagh ; but here is their 
 names to the paper, with all drawn out reglar, that 
 is demanded from you, according to your oath. Now 
 listen, while I call over your names Tim Fahy, 
 Connel St. Leger, Wat Delahunt, Yal. Tigue -it's 
 put on you four to shoot old Jack Oglandby in his 
 coach, next Wednesday evening, at the grove be- 
 tween the bridge and Carragh." 
 
 " With all the joy of my heart," said Connel, ' ' or 
 any body else that's marked. But how are we to 
 get at him ? Are we to send him a civil message to 
 drive out, and be shot dasently, without more trou- 
 ble ? For who ever saw him out after night-fall this 
 many a long day ?" 
 
 " Leave you jeering, Connel. Better heads than 
 yours have settled all that. There's to be a grand 
 dinner at Charlesborough next Wednesday. The 
 whole country will be there to meet the English Lord, 
 who is come to look after his estates. Jack Ogland- 
 by will be there among the rest, to fill the stranger's 
 mind with stories against his poor tenants : so, as the 
 thing was settled long ago, the committee thinks it 
 would be a good time to get him out of the way 
 
IBISHWOMEN. 23 
 
 when he is coming back that lonesome road. Then 
 it will be a good lesson to the Englishman, if he has 
 thoughts of grinding us like the rest of them." 
 
 " It's more the business of the Carragh boys, nor 
 ours," said Fahy. " Why should it be put on us, 
 when they will be the gainers in the end ?" 
 
 " The Carragh boys wouldn't be backward if they 
 were called to it," said Cummusky, from the chim- 
 ney-corner ; " and a good reason the committee had 
 for not putting it on them, because they would be 
 the first suspected, having a right to hate the ground 
 he walks on. It isn't becoming to reflect upon them 
 that can't answer; but this I'll say for them, that 
 knows their mind, they don't want to save themselves 
 trouble, and when you have a job to do at your own 
 door, the boys from Carragh will be at your whis- 
 tle." 
 
 ' ' We'll do our own business, and theirs too," said 
 Connel ; ' ' and we'll never whistle for them, if it isn't 
 to dance to our music. Tim was only jealous that 
 they'd get the credit of it all to themselves. Wasn't 
 that it, Tim ? But, Mr. Mulveney, wont I have the 
 big blunderbuss ? There is no man has a better 
 right to it nor myself, having primed and loaded it 
 before, and done a trifle of work with it, or I'm mis- 
 taken ?" 
 
 " Never a man but yourself shajl draw the trigger, 
 Connel, while you have a finger on your hand ; and 
 Tim shall have the fellow of it, to put him in good 
 humour. Wat has a gun of his own, and Val. Tigue 
 shall be accoutered like a gentleman with the piece 
 was taken from the young chap at Clough." 
 
24 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " But are you sure of the day, or that the old fel- 
 low will be in it at all ?" inquired St. Leger. 
 
 "Ah I folly, man!" cried the tinker. "What 
 need to be axing questions ? Sure it was myself 
 gave the notice ; and if you want marks and tokens, 
 here they are for you I was told it by Will Travers> 
 his own coachman, and I soldered one of the lamps 
 where the top was crazy." 
 
 "There's no doubt about it," said Mulvaney: "so, 
 boys, be prepared. Myself, and maybe one or two 
 others, will mete you at the dance at Briny Killion's, 
 on Tuesday evening, where we can settle the business 
 out and out. Don't fail, every one of you four, to be 
 in it, and remember your oaths about drink." 
 
 " It can't be done a- Wednesday," said Delahunt, 
 who had been for some time evidencing symptoms of 
 disapprobation, though unperceived by his associates. 
 " There is an entire unpossibility, I tell you, to do it 
 then, and it must be dropped for this turn." 
 
 "What's come over you, all on a suddent?" ex- 
 claimed St. Leger, rather angrily. 
 
 "Nothing strange," replied his friend. "I only 
 know he will have company with him in the coach ; 
 and one wouldn't treat the innocent all as one as the 
 guilty." 
 
 " Ah ! what a bother you make about nothing. To 
 want and hinder fair play, when we have the ball at 
 our foot ! What matter what company he has ? They 
 must take share of his supper, if they eat their din- 
 ner off the same plate, and sorrah mend them." 
 
 " If you was to jibe till you're tired, Connel, it 
 would make no differ. Mr. Mulvaney gentlemen 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 25 
 
 all of you just hear me out. I was yesterday at 
 Rathedmond, and the whole talk of the kitchen was 
 of the great doings at Charlesborough ; and how the 
 parson passed his apology because the mistress was 
 weakly ; and Mrs. Falconer would not go, say what 
 they would. But Lady Thorndale would not be de- 
 nied about Miss Dora ; and all the servants was hap- 
 py, when it was settled that old Mr. Oglandby would 
 take her there in his coach, and bring her back safe 
 to her father and mother, who can't b^ar to have her 
 a minute out of their sight. Now, T put it to your 
 breasts, if it would be right or becoming to destroy 
 the like of her, only for having the luck of sitting be- 
 side her old grand-uncle ?" 
 
 f( There's sense and reason in that/' said Val. Tigue. 
 <c Whatever we are, we are not savages ; and none 
 other would raise a hand to injure her." 
 
 This sentiment was quickly re-echoed by all the 
 assembly, with the exception of Mulvaney and Mur- 
 tagh Cummusky, who, from his smoky seat, muttered 
 an imprecation against cowards and informers, and 
 laid down his pipe, to watch the event of this inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 (f I believe, gentlemen," said Mulvaney, addressing 
 the committee men, " that we have no business to be 
 listening to fellows laying down the law to us, when 
 all they have to do is to go straight forward, where- 
 ver we order them. If every gossoon that is fright- 
 ened at the smell of powder, is to contradict men of 
 courage and understanding, and men who are endan- 
 gering their own lives for the good of the poor, we 
 may as well give over at once, and let them be all 
 sold for slaves them, and their innocent children. 
 
 c 
 
26 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 But that shan't be. If we have a traitor among us, 
 let him die the death of a traitor. He shan't escape, 
 if he was my own brother mind that. And I warn 
 you all, boys, if you flinch when your service is 
 wanted, as it is now, you'll be made such examples, 
 that people will stop their e.ars through dread of 
 hearing your doom." 
 
 " There's no traitors or informers here, Mr. Mulva- 
 ney," said ConneL "If Wat spoke in a hurry, it's 
 what many a better man done before him; and I'll 
 promise for him, he'll stand his ground like a man, 
 when his mark is before him Wednesday night. 
 Look up, Wat, and show yourself true to your friend 
 and your oath." 
 
 "Oh I Mr. Mulvaney oh ! boys !" shouted the poor 
 fellow, in a tone of agony, "it would be a downright 
 murder to shoot the young lady, and" 
 
 " Will no one put a gag in his mouth ?" cried Mul- 
 vaney, " before the police comes in upon us. Boys, 
 what are you made of, that you didn't put his head 
 under the grate, at the very first word of wickedness 
 that came out of his lips ? What's come over you to 
 listen to his preaching ? What is it to any of you, if 
 mischief was to happen to a young girl, when the 
 first blow is struck for the glory of God, and the good 
 of Ireland ? And if the ball that rids the world of a 
 tyrant, finishes her at the same time, what great harm 
 is done? An't it what she deserves? Doesn't the 
 blood of the hanging, scourging, torturing, flaying 
 Oglandbys, flow thick in her veins ? Hadn't she one 
 to her grandfather, who hunted Christians with blood- 
 hounds in the time of the rebellion ? Your uncle, Con- 
 nel St. Leger, was one of them, and his blood calls 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 27 
 
 for revenge from you. Isn't she daughter to him who 
 draws his living from the hard earnings of the poor, 
 and would tear the only fould of a blanket from the 
 desolate orphan, sooner nor lose one halfpenny of his 
 tithe ? And is it that such as she may dress in silks 
 and satins, and ride in a coach, that you will be wil- 
 ling to be robbed and peeled, till you and your fami- 
 lies will think it a mercy to be let lie down at the 
 back of a ditch, and die of hunger, and cold, and 
 nakedness?" 
 
 " There's sense and reason, I believe, in that," said 
 Murtagh ; " and where's the spalpeen will dar to con- 
 tradict it?" 
 
 "Murtagh Cummusky," said Connel, "you may 
 fault your budget, and welcome ; but it don't become 
 you to put names on them that is your betters. And 
 Mr. Mulvaney, with all submission to you and the 
 other gentlemen, there's no need to talk to us, as if 
 we were stocks and stones. There's not a man here 
 that isn't steady, though for a minute he might be 
 started at the thought of killing a woman in cold 
 blood : but they all see it can't be helped ; and a 
 trifle won't stand in their way, when it comes to the 
 push. Wat," laying his hand on his shoulders, <e I 
 answered for you before, and you didn't disparage my 
 commendation I pass my word for you now, once 
 more ; so, think of yourself, and of your character, 
 and of your oath, not counting the love there is be- 
 tween us both." 
 
 " Mr. Mulvaney," said Wat, shaking off his friend 
 roughly, " order me to go shoot him in his own par- 
 lour, in the broad day light, and I'll do it and I'll 
 die for it and they may cut me in pieces, before I'll 
 
 c2 
 
28 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 betray a hair of one of your heads ; but I couldn't 
 harm her : why, the very stones would cry out murder 
 after me, as I walked along the road ; for didn't she 
 save my own life, and, more nor all, my mother's life, 
 when the fever frightened all but herself and her fa- 
 ther from the door? I won't have a hand in her 
 death I won't, I say no, I won't, and that's 
 enough !" 
 
 ee Since he is so positive," said Cummusky, coming 
 forward, "it's best not to waste time advising him. 
 Let me take his place. I have a steady hand, and a 
 quick eye, without bragging of a loyal and stout 
 heart. All I say, Mr. Mulvaney, is this, that you and 
 the other gentlemen on the committee, would do well 
 to know your men before you put the lives of half the 
 country in their keeping." 
 
 ec Keep to your trade, Murtagh, I tell you," said 
 St. Leger, struggling against the passion which crim- 
 soned his face, and caused his broad chest to heave 
 quick and high, though he still spoke with some de- 
 gree of calmness. "If the lads of this country don't 
 please you, go back to Minister, whre you came 
 from, and we'll never break our hearts for the loss. 
 Wat," again putting his hand on his shoulder, and 
 looking him sternly in the face, "you hear what 
 flings are cast in your teeth, and what we all come 
 under from your nonsensicalness. Will I listen to it, 
 do you think ? Will I be said to have a coward, and 
 an informer, for my comrade ? Will I lie down with 
 the curse of my country upon my head, for trusting 
 a false-hearted and a faint-hearted traitor ? You are 
 careful about the life of one, who would think it a 
 compliment to let you clean her shoes ; and have you 
 
IRISHWOMEN. ay 
 
 no feeling for me, who would choke my brother for 
 your sake ? Now choose between me and her, for out 
 of this room you will never stir till you have my life, 
 or I have yours, if you don't abide by the orders of 
 the committee." 
 
 "Spake like what is becoming in your breed/' 
 cried Mulvaney, with a glow of enthusiasm. " And 
 you, Wat, is all the blood of the Delahunts lashed 
 out of you by the cat-o'-nine-tails of the Oglandbys, 
 that a drop of it wont mount to your cheeks, to raise 
 a blush for your stupidity ?" 
 
 In spite of this eloquent appeal to the blood of the 
 Delahunts, not a particle of it would tinge the pallid 
 countenance of the young man, as he stood perfectly 
 still, with his eye fixed upon the ceiling. That he 
 was inwardly agitated could only be guessed by a 
 slight quiver of his lips, and the moisture which had 
 gathered thick on his forehead ; and no one felt in- 
 clined to break the silence which followed Mulvaney' s 
 harangue. He shaded his eyes for a moment with 
 his hand, and then quietly placed it in the eager 
 grasp of St. Leger, 
 
 " Connel, I will stand by you to the last," he said, 
 in a determined voice. " I will do what I am com- 
 manded, only don't talk more to me now." 
 
 " This is as it should be," said Mulvaney, rubbing 
 his hands : " and now, boys, let us have one glass a- 
 piece, and go home like sober men. Wat, I am right 
 glad you are come to your senses, and my word for 
 it, you'll never repent taking good advice." 
 
 " And, Wat," said Cummusky, winking at Mulva- 
 ny, as he took the glass in his hand, " don't fret if 
 you are a sweetheart out of pocket ; only get the 
 
30 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 lands of Carragh back again, boy, and you may pick 
 and choose any lord's daughter in the land, if your 
 fancy runs that way." 
 
 " You tinkering thief," cried Delahunt, in a rage, 
 <e if you don't stop your jibing at me, I'll brain you 
 on the spot, no matter who gives you countenance." 
 
 " What are you about ?" said Mulvaney, stepping 
 between them. " Have you no enemies, but friends, 
 to be fighting with ? Have done, I say, or I'll settle 
 you both. Take off your glasses quick, and go out 
 one by one, separately, that there may be no eyes nor 
 ears to have stories to tell another time. Remember 
 Tuesday evening, at Briney Killions. Oh ! boys, I 
 was forgetting any of you that wants to go to confes- 
 sion, it is better to be at Biddy Cahill's next Monday, 
 where Mr. O'Floggin holds a station. Don't be trou- 
 bling Mr. DufF, who is getting into years, and ought 
 to have a little rest. The other is young and strong, 
 and got his edication at Maynooth : so that he under- 
 stands your meaning better. Don't be stopping in 
 the town ; and if any body finds out that you were 
 speaking to me, you know you want to be employed 
 on the new line, and that I was willing to oblige you 
 all, after I go over the ground again. That's enough 
 now, boys. Scatter, scatter/' 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON the day appointed, Mr. Duff paid his promised 
 visit to Mrs. Costigan, and exerted all his powers of 
 rhetoric for the consolation of the poor woman, who 
 was, as her husband described, a real object of pity 
 from the deep sorrow which could be traced in her 
 countenance, even when she did not allude to the 
 cause. He was received with the usual hearty wel- 
 come, for he was a general favourite with his flock, at 
 least with the well-conducted portion of it; and he 
 was a welcome visitor, at all times, to Mrs. Costigan, 
 who, in former days, had a greedy ear for that species 
 of petty gossip, which even the most uninteresting 
 country neighbourhood can contrive to furnish, if all 
 its details be husbanded carefully, and properly em- 
 bellished ; and which Mr. Duff, from his general ac- 
 quaintance among Protestants and Roman Catholics, 
 of all ranks and parties, had the best opportunities of 
 hearing, with, at the same time, rather a propensity 
 for retailing, especially when sifted by some of his 
 female acquaintances, who were, in general, very 
 anxious to know all about the internal economy of 
 the great houses to which he was occasionally in- 
 vited. 
 
 Though such topics had, of late, lost much of their 
 interest with Mrs. Costigan, yet she was always glad 
 to see him, for old acquaintance sake ; and though his 
 condolence consisted of a string of the veriest matter- 
 
32 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 of-fact truisms, which at times irritated, rather than 
 soothed her, still there was a thorough good-nature in 
 his feelings, which threw a glow of kindliness over 
 his most common-place expressions, and repressed 
 any inclination to be angry. Then he could patiently 
 listen to the often-repeated story of her grief, which, 
 in circumstances like hers, is^ perhaps, one of the 
 kindest offices which a friend can perform. 
 
 His visits, therefore, had usually the effect of dis- 
 sipating, for a time, her sadness, which her husband 
 put to the account of his wise counsels, not suspect- 
 ing that the bustle attendant upon his coming, had 
 by far the greatest share in producing this amend- 
 ment. In fact, having something to do, is an admir- 
 able anodyne for intense feeling. That the mind can 
 be wholly engaged with one overwhelming idea, while 
 the hands are busied with a variety of things, all to 
 be put to different uses, or arranged in proper order, 
 is not true in real, downright experience, though it 
 may be indispensable to the complete keeping of the 
 moral picturesque. Occupation, particularly that 
 which includes locomotion, produces a succession of 
 ideas in the mind most determined to keep fast hold 
 of one to the exclusion of all others ; and though the 
 only effect, at first perceptible, may be a painful sen- 
 sation of bewilderment and distraction, nevertheless 
 the keen edge of the feelings is insensibly blunted, and 
 the more constant the occupation, the sooner will the 
 intensity of feeling subside. It is from this cause, 
 that the feelings of the working classes, though vio- 
 lent in their first flow, appear to exhaust themselves 
 at once. They have not the leisure to brood over 
 their sensibilities. While the hands must be busy,, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. Od 
 
 their heads cannot be quite uninterested ; and where 
 head and hands make common cause against the 
 heart, its throbbings will be kept under. 
 
 In this way Mrs. Costigan was unwittingly cheated 
 of a full half-hour of her monopolizing sorrow, while 
 preparing the luncheon for her guest, and carving the 
 cold goose, and worrying herself with trying to draw 
 the cork of a bottle of Cape wine with a fork, and 
 pressing him over and over again to eat and drink; 
 and replenishing his plate and his glass, contrary to 
 his earnest protestations of being unable to swallow 
 another mouth-full. Between the intervals of eating, 
 aud defending his plate from the inroad of provisions, 
 which might have satisfied the appetite of three hun- 
 gry men, Mr. Duff contrived to draw off her attention 
 still farther from herself, by detailing pretty minutely 
 the various reports of the doings at Charlesborough. 
 The country, he said, was fairly at a loss to guess 
 whether the young English lord who had just come 
 over, would marry the eldest Miss Thorndale, or the 
 Honourable Miss Traffield, Lord Colverston's daugh- 
 ter. Most people thought he was bound in honour to 
 Sir Ralph, who had asked him to his house, and took 
 so much trouble to please him inviting the best qua- 
 lity from all parts to keep him company, and sending 
 for fish every day to Dublin by the mail-coach. No- 
 thing could be guessed of what Lord Farnmere him- 
 self thought, for he was very silent, and took no no- 
 tice of any body, not even^ of Lady Thorndale, only 
 sometimes asking the meaning of what was said, like 
 a child who did not know his letters. The servants 
 n#ver stopped abusing him, for he gave them more 
 trouble than all the other coirpany put together, 
 
 c3 
 
34 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 changing his plate at every bit he put into his mouth, 
 and, in the end, making his dinner off the very dish 
 he at first found fault with. The butler, above all, 
 was ashamed for the house, by his asking for sauces 
 that nobody ever heard the name of, and spilling the 
 fine Madeira into the water-glass beside him, as if it 
 was trash from the ale-house. His silk dressing- 
 gowns were also the astonishment of all who ever saw 
 or heard of them ; and his servant was the live-long 
 day, brushing and shaking, and folding and unfold- 
 ing, as if he had a barrack to provide with clothing. 
 As to what his tenants had to expect, not even the 
 agent could tell, for he gave no encouragement to him 
 to say a word, but referred all to his law-agent in 
 London. In short, he was so unaccountable, and so 
 unlike any body else, that Mrs. Costigan became in- 
 terested ; and for another half-hour, not only listened, 
 but asked questions, and made some lively comments, 
 not much to the nobleman's advantage. Mr. Duff 
 had succeeded beyond his expectations, and he was 
 so delighted with the effects* of his conversation, that, 
 most unfortunately, as he was rising to take leave, he 
 congratulated her upon recovering her spirits. 
 
 " Nothing," said he, shaking her affectionately by 
 the hand, " could give me more pleasure than to see 
 you cheerful, once again, as you used to be. It will 
 enliven us all, and add some dozen of years to your 
 own life. And now, like a sensible woman, give over 
 your grief, and 'try- and be glad that your little daugh- 
 ter is an angel in heaven." 
 
 Lord Farnmere, and his dressing gowns, and every 
 thing pertaining to him, vanished instantly from her 
 memory, and the one idea which had been justled out, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 35 
 
 for a moment, from the place it occupied, again took 
 possession of its strong hold in her imagination. The 
 revulsion of feeling was so sudden, that it complete- 
 ly overpowered her, and she answered with more 
 bitterness than she had ever given way to before, 
 though often sorely tried by his attempts to comfort 
 her: 
 
 " Why should I be glad for that, Mr. Duff? It is 
 no angel I want it is my own child, just as she left 
 me. What do I know about angels, only this, that if 
 she is one, it is little she will think about her poor 
 mother ! and if I were to meet her in heaven, and 
 that she would look down on me, arid would not run 
 and throw her arms about my neck, and be all as one 
 to me as ever, I would not stay one hour in it, if all 
 the world was offered to me as a bribe/' 
 
 " Oh ! Mrs. Costigan ! Them are fearful words for 
 a Christian's mouth to speak. It is no such easy 
 thing to get to heaven, that you should make light of 
 it/' 
 
 " It's useless to talk to me in that way, Mr. Duff. 
 It is not heaven I am thinking about, or want to 
 think about. How do 1 know if there is such a place 
 at all ? It is the one I lost that my heart is fixed in> 
 and I won't be happy without her, if all the priests, 
 and the Pope himself, were to preach till they were 
 tired," 
 
 " I declare it's a terrible thing to listen to you, 
 Mrs. Costigan a sensible woman, and a well-read 
 woman like you ! If you would only think of your- 
 self ! Why, sure, you are not worse off than many ; 
 and what can I say to comfort you, if you won't 
 
36 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 be satisfied, when I tell you that your child is an 
 angel ?" 
 
 (f There is no comfort in it, Mr. Duff. It might 
 satisfy you, who never had one to lose but to talk 
 to me ! to tell me to be content, because she is flying 
 about with wings, in the sky, when I want to have 
 her here, pressing her to my heart ! You might as 
 well tell the beggar that is perishing with cold, to 
 bring heat to his bones by plunging in to the frozen 
 pool without there/' 
 
 She walked about the room, wringing her hands, 
 and ejaculating in a manner, approaching to frantic ; 
 while Mr. Duff stood arguing with himself whether 
 to rebuke her sharply for her impiety, or endeavour 
 to calm her by speaking gently. The latter course 
 was the most congenial to his disposition ; but after 
 puzzling for some time, he could only bring forward 
 one of his good sayings, which he had often tried 
 before, and as often failed of producing the desired 
 effect. 
 
 " We ought all be resigned to the will of God, 
 Mrs. Costigan, whatever that is." 
 
 " Well, I am resigned, because I can't help myself: 
 and, after all, He has been better to me than you 
 would be, though He has punished me ; for He left 
 what remained of her with me, so that I can tell the 
 very spot where she lies, and I can go and cry over 
 it when I choose; but you would bid me look for her, 
 I don't know where ; and even if I did find her, the 
 chance is that I would not know her, from all I can 
 learn from you." 
 
 c> I am sorry you have so little respect for your 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 37 
 
 clergy, as to speak after such a manner/' said Mr. 
 Duff, quite dispirited, " I can only make bad worse 
 by staying any longer ; so I will go .away, and I 
 hope you will soon see your error, and be another 
 woman entirely." 
 
 After the priest's departure, she was left alone for 
 some time, her husband having gone to a distant farm, 
 and Ileen so engaged in attending three or four sick 
 calves, that she was scarcely a moment in the house 
 during the day. She had, therefore, riot only full 
 time to indulge her grief to the utmost, but some 
 also to spare for reflection on her conduct; which, 
 after the excitement caused by his injudicious treat- 
 ment had subsided, appeared to her in its true co- 
 lours, of unkind and unjustifiable, and she now 
 felt as angry with herself, as she had lately been 
 with him. 
 
 Mrs. Costigan was altogether a very peculiar per- 
 son a compound of all that is estimable in fallen hu- 
 man nature, with a considerable alloy of every oppo- 
 site quality good and evil so jumbled together, that 
 it was difficult to form an estimate of their compara- 
 tive proportions. She had no ruling passion none 
 at least, that could boast paramount sovereignty ; for 
 they all ruled by turns, and ruled with a high hand, 
 without suffering any interregnum. It is impossible 
 to say, what she might have been with education, 
 for her mind was certainly of a superior order. More 
 than common good sense often appeared in her con- 
 versation, when the subject led to matters beyond 
 the every-day occurrence of her confined sphere, or 
 when she had an auditor who could enter into the 
 spirit of her observations. She had read every thing 
 
38 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 in the shape of a book that came in her way, from 
 " the Seven Champions of Christendom/' to " Locke's 
 Essay on the Human Understanding ;" and could re- 
 peat, by heart, page after page, from " Young's 
 Night Thoughts ;" besides passages from <c Pope's 
 Homer," f( Hudibras," and " Shakespeare," to the 
 undisguised admiration of her husband, and the se- 
 cret annoyance of Father Duff, whose imagination 
 never took a flight beyond the most downright prose. 
 Her character for literary attainments was conse- 
 quently high in the neighbourhood, and perhaps riot 
 much lower in her own estimation. But though her 
 course of reading had, to a certain degree, improved 
 her taste, it had not added to her stock of useful 
 knowledge. On the contrary, it insensibly increased 
 a natural leaning to scepticism, without undermining 
 the strong holds of early superstition. Thus she 
 gave implicit credit to any tale, however ridiculous, 
 of supernatural appearances, particularly those nar- 
 rating the moon-light gambols, or mischievous pranks 
 of the " good people/'" and the prophetic lamentations 
 of Banshees; though she would candidly confess, 
 that she had never seen any thing worse than herself; 
 while, on subjects of high and holy import, she, at 
 times, expressed doubts, in the absence of sensible 
 evidence. We do not pretend to account for this and 
 many other incongruities in Mrs. Costigan's charac- 
 ter ; nor can we hope to describe her, so as to give a 
 very determinate idea of it to our readers, unless to 
 those among them, who are well acquainted with 
 that particular modification of humanity, denominated 
 a real Irishman, or Irishwoman. We shall therefore 
 content ourselves, by simply stating, that she was a 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 39 
 
 genuine specimen of Irish human nature, which is, 
 we believe, pretty generally allowed to be made up of 
 a medley of contrarieties. 
 
 Her mind was tolerably composed, before Ileen 
 could spare time from her calves, to look in upon her ; 
 and when she did so, it was to announce the ap- 
 proach of another visitor, who was seen that moment 
 crossing the stubble field. 
 
 " Which I am right glad of/' continued the good- 
 natured girl, " for the sight of Miss Dora and her 
 big dog would rise any body's heart, they are both 
 so cheer ful and agreeable." 
 
 Perhaps no other person would have been cordial- 
 ly welcome, at this time, to Mrs. Costigan ; but 
 Dora Milward was one of those fortunate beings, who 
 seem to bring into the world with them a patent for 
 popularity a talent or a gift, or an acquisition, or 
 whatever else it may be called, which there is no de- 
 scribing, and no accounting for. Many young per- 
 sons, either by being well puffed, or by boldly put- 
 ting forward pretensions of themselves, often cheat 
 the crowd into an opinion of their superiority ; but 
 Dora, with the exception of nurse Burrowes, had 
 no regular puffers, and, without any exception, no 
 pretensions ; yet the world, at least that part of it in 
 which she moved, acknowledged, as if by general 
 consent, her claim to superiority, and none more than 
 Mrs. Costigan, who was in the habit of declaring, 
 sometimes with very awful asseverations indeed, that 
 from the moment she was born, nobody could ever 
 see the shadow of a fault in her. 
 
 Her entrance had the usual effect of causing a con- 
 
40 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 siderable stir in the household of Kiladarne. The 
 fragments of the cold goose were quickly replaced 
 by a large saucer of black currant jam, and a soup- 
 tureen filled with honey-comb, besides bread, butter, 
 apples, and various other eatables ; all of which were 
 heaped, one after the other, on Miss Milward's plate, 
 and no excuse permitted for not partaking of them 
 all. She managed to satisfy her hospitable enter- 
 tainer pretty well, till attacked with a full glass of 
 Cape Madeira, plentifully saturated with sugar, to 
 make it more palatable, when the resistance became 
 serious. Every refusal was met by the addition of 
 another lump of sugar, till half the wine had over- 
 flowed ; and her long walk, and the wetness of the 
 day, and the damp of the stubble-field, were again 
 and again brought forward, as arguments against her 
 abstemiousness. Mrs. Costigan was at length obliged 
 to resort to her last resource, of protesting that she 
 would be offended unless obliged this once. 
 
 " Now only this once, Miss Dora, dear ; I would'nt 
 ask you to do any thing would injure you. You 
 know that, and I am sure you want it, after your fa- 
 tigue coming that tedious way through the fields, 
 which is longer than any two miles of a good road." 
 
 " I am not in the least fatigued, Mrs. Costigan-r- 
 you know it is but half a mile. Besides, my boots 
 can resist any damp, and I would have great plea- 
 sure in obliging you, but, I assure you, my father 
 would be seriously displeased if I were to drink wine 
 of a morning." 
 
 ' ' Oh ! that settles it at osce," said Mrs. Costigan, 
 laying down the glass, and adding rather crossly, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 41 
 
 "he would take it himself, though he hinders you; 
 and that is what I don't understand, if he is so fond 
 of you as he says." 
 
 Miss Milward did not think the present a good op- 
 portunity for defending her father, and immediately 
 entered upon a subject which was always pleasing to 
 Mrs. Costigan. 
 
 " I have a message from my mother, to say that 
 she is quite jealous of you. She has been confined, 
 partly to her bed, and entirely to her house, for up- 
 wards of three weeks, and every body has been to 
 see her but you." 
 
 <f She is not jealous of me, Miss Dora. She knows 
 well, that if it would do her any good, there is no- 
 thing I would not do for her. But what use would 
 my going answer, only to sink her spirits with my 
 foolishness ?" 
 
 She was verging fast towards a point which Dora 
 was anxious to avoid, and she answered cheerfully 
 
 " You must come she will take no excuse : and 
 then, it is a long time since you borrowed any books, 
 and we have got some lately, which, I am sure, will 
 interest you." 
 
 " If they are about religion, it is as well to tell you 
 at once, Miss Dora, that I could find no pleasure in 
 them. Religion does very well when one is happy, 
 with nothing to give them uneasiness ; but when a 
 weight of sorrow is thrown upon one, like as it was 
 upon me, 1 see no use in it." 
 
 (( Dear Mrs. Costigan ! surely you are not in ear- 
 nest ! I thought it was a truth universally acknow- 
 ledged, that religion, at all times a comfort and a 
 
42 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 blessing, was peculiarly so under misfortune of any 
 kind/' 
 
 " So you may think, who don't know what misfor- 
 tune is, and long may you continue without that bit- 
 ter knowledge ! Why, Miss Dora, I was as religious 
 as any body, when affliction was far off; and I re- 
 member feeling quite happy long ago, when I con- 
 fessed what I had to confess, and that there was no 
 more trouble about it till the next time. But what 
 good was it to me, after all ? And would not T be a 
 fool to look to it for what I know it can't do ? Can 
 it hinder death from knocking at any door it pleases ? 
 Can it bring back life, when the breath flies out of 
 the body ?" 
 
 " I certainly cannot speak from my own experi- 
 ence," replied Dora, rather alarmed at the sarcastic 
 bitterness with which she spoke ; " but*' my mother, 
 who has met with many severe trials, tells me that 
 religion was a very great comfort at such times, and 
 I must believe her/' 
 
 " And so you ought, for you will never hear any 
 thing but truth out of her mouth. But it is out of 
 the question to talk of your mother and me in one 
 breath she, who was always better than any body 
 else, and that could not be any thing but comfortable, 
 under any cross, reflecting on her own goodness. 
 Miss Dora, I have lived forty years in the world, and 
 you, to my knowledge, have counted only nineteen, 
 so it is but natural that I should have more experi- 
 ence than you ; and remember I say to you, without 
 fear of contradiction, that there never was her equal 
 living, nor ever will be/' 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 43 
 
 " She has not so high an opinion of herself," said 
 Dora ; " and indeed," aiming at an incredulous smile, 
 ' ' it is too exaggerated to be true of any individual." 
 
 " I have watched her these thirty years," conti- 
 nued Mrs. Costigan, " and I could only see one thing 
 better than another in her. She has no more pride 
 than an infant at the breast, though every body knows 
 the family she is come of; and though her health is 
 so poor, she never thinks of herself, but has a watch- 
 ful eye for the distresses of others : and has not she 
 the gentlest voice, and the mildest look ? and would 
 she offend the poorest worm that crawls on the earth ? 
 and didn't she rejoice with me in my good luck, as if 
 the blessing was all her own ? and didn't the tears 
 roll down her cheeks when my sun went down under 
 a cloud, never to rise again ? and, after that, will any 
 body tell me that she is to be put on a par with 
 others ?" 
 
 Dora's eyes sparkled with delight. 
 
 " It is all very true, Mrs. Costigan. I really do 
 believe that there is nobody like my mother. But, I 
 assure you, it is religion which has made the great 
 difference between her and many amiable people, for 
 there is nothing essentially good in man or woman. 
 The Bible says so, and we must believe it, though 
 no man should add his testimony to that truth. But, 
 as you think my mother worthy of credit, I can 
 tell you that she confesses it to be true, from the ex- 
 perience she has of her own sinfulness." 
 
 " I know that is the way Swaddlers talk, but your 
 mother has too much sense to think it, though she 
 may give in to it, now and then, not to contradict 
 them. Religion never could make her what she is 3 if 
 
44 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 her own goodness was not there to back it. Between 
 ourselves, Miss Dora, I never thought much of reli- 
 gious people, looking at them only in that way. 
 Leave out the talk, and what bit better are they than 
 others ? Sure, all the priests in the world are religi- 
 ous, and what are the most of them ? and Alice 
 O'Neil, the Carmelite, is religious, and she can rear 
 up that natural, her grandson, to rob, and plunder ; 
 and John Bradley, the class-leader, has religion on 
 his tongue, every word he speaks, and he leads his 
 poor old mother-in-law the life of a dog ; and Toby 
 Weir, who dipped himself and his family, out of re~ 
 ligion, never stops going to law with all his neigh- 
 bours, for nothing and your own father too, who has 
 such a name" 
 
 " My father ! ! Mrs. Costigan ! It would be very 
 difficult, I should think, to find any real inconsistency 
 in my father." 
 
 cf Well, after all, I have not much against him. 
 But, Miss Dora, dear, he can fly into a passion at 
 times ; and sure religion ought to keep a man from 
 that." 
 
 <f You quite mistake my father he never flies into 
 a passion he may, on some occasions, think it right 
 to speak very decidedly, but that is quite different 
 from the vulgar and unchristian habit of flying into 
 a passion." 
 
 ' I don't doubt it, dear ; and though I said that to 
 yourself, in my haste, I would not stand by and hear 
 another find fault with him. No matter if he was 
 twice as good as he is, he never could come up to 
 your mother ; for I will stand to it still, that if ever 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 45 
 
 any body deserved to go to heaven> it is Mrs. Mil- 
 ward, and she will go to it." 
 
 "And so will my father, too," said Dora, rising, 
 " though there is no doubt in either case. But he is 
 just as good, and just as amiable, and you never saw 
 so good a man in all your life, Mrs. Costigan, and I 
 am sure you think so. I have another message from 
 my mother, or rather a present," taking a little book 
 from her reticule. (f She begs you to accept this as a 
 keepsake, and she hopes you will read it, and tell her 
 how you like it : it is a New Testament ; and she 
 says that if Mr. Duff objects to it, she will get one of 
 the Douay version, to which there can be no objec- 
 tion." 
 
 " My mind is my own, Miss Dora, and no man 
 shall put fetters on it. Give her my compliments, and 
 my thanks ; and tell her I will read every word of it 
 for her sake, if it was the worst book in print. But it 
 won't do what she expects. She thinks it will com- 
 fort me, when the truth is, Miss Dora, I would rather 
 not be comforted; I would rather keep my sorrow 
 than part with it, for what have I else to fix my mind 
 on?" 
 
 " She said nothing to me about comfort. She sim- 
 ply requests you to read it, and tell her your opinion 
 of it. Good bye ; and remember, my mother expects 
 a visit from you soon. Come, Figaro. Don't you 
 delight in my dog, Mrs. Costigan? I should feel 
 quite safe in the wildest part of the country, with him 
 for a guard." 
 
 " You would be safe any where," said Mrs. Costi- 
 gan to herself, as she watched her bounding over the 
 
46 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 stile into the adjoining field. " There is not the heart 
 in all Ireland would contrive harm against you, if 
 you travelled from one end of it to the other, by 
 yourself." 
 
 ' : . .: 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 47 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WE have often heard it remarked by travellers on 
 the Continent, that there is a very striking difference 
 to be perceived between the Protestant and Roman 
 Catholic countries, as to the external appearance of 
 the people and their habitations ; and though the 
 charge of bigotry and intolerance may be most sen- 
 timentally brought against us, we must contend, that 
 a like difference, though in a less degree, can be ob- 
 served between the professors of the two religions in 
 Ireland. It may be imperceptible to the mere Eng- 
 lish eye, which is too much shocked by the general 
 appearance of poverty and wretchedness, and dirt and 
 slovenliness, to distinguish between the less and the 
 more of these all-pervading abominations. But we 
 put it to the candour of any impartial Irishman, whose 
 powers of comparison have not been nullified by Eng- 
 lish recollections, and who has had opportunities of 
 studying the character and habits of our peasantry, if 
 the fact has not been repeatedly forced upon his con- 
 viction. We acknowledge there are exceptions on 
 both sides. There are pig-sties inhabited by Protes- 
 tants, and there are decent cottages in the possession 
 of Roman Catholics ; but they are, one and the other, 
 exceptions. 
 
 At no time is the difference in personal appearance 
 more apparent than on a Sunday morning, when the 
 roads are filled with peasants going to their different 
 
48 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 places of worship, all in their holiday garb, and all 
 washed, and scrubbed, -and combed, and as clean as 
 their ideas of cleanliness go. Those on their way to 
 the chapel, have in general the advantage of a more 
 picturesque costume among the females. The gay- 
 est colours are in requisition, from the infirm grand- 
 mother, to the sprightly girl of eighteen ; and, with 
 the exception of bonnets, those in tolerable circum- 
 stances are equipped with all the covering required 
 for decency and comfort. But a great majority of the 
 young women are without shoes and stockings, with 
 a gown, or petticoat, or apron, of some stay-at-home 
 friend, thrown over their shoulders, which supplies 
 the place of a shawl or handkerchief. The men are 
 clothed in home manufacture the knees of their 
 breeches unbuttoned, and, whether the weather be 
 hot or cold, the large trustee, a loose, long, frieze 
 great coat, is indispensable to the full dress of a main 
 advanced in years. 
 
 The Protestants, whatever their taste may be as to 
 dress, have altogether a more respectable appearance. 
 An air of comparative decency pervades the whole. 
 Every button is required to do its legitimate duty ; 
 every leg and foot have their appropriate covering ; 
 and, except in the case of a very few old women, no 
 head is unbonnetted. In fact, those who are unpro- 
 vided with the necessary habiliments, stay at home, 
 and firmly resist the exhortations of their minister to 
 attend public worship, until, as they express it, they 
 are in a way of going. All, however, Protestant and 
 Roman Catholics, have the same air of cheerfulness 
 arid hilarity ; and kind greetings, and mutual inqui- 
 ries after each other's welfare, pass between neigh- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 4^ 
 
 bours, unless where some feud exists, or in the case 
 of an unfortunate convert, who, no matter what his 
 character or conduct may be, is an object of scorn, 
 and hatred, and persecution. 
 
 On the Sunday immediately following the com- 
 mencement of this story, a more than usual number 
 of persons passed the gate of Rathedmond, on their 
 way to the church and chapel. The concourse to the 
 latter place was easily accounted for, as some religi- 
 ous procession was expected to take place after mass ; 
 and Mr. Mil ward felt no small degree of self-compla- 
 cency, as he pointed out to his daughter, during their 
 walk to church, two or three of his flock, who were 
 notorious defaulters, except at Christmas or Easter, 
 and whose appearance, on the present occasion, he 
 believed to be the effect of his last lecture to the of- 
 fenders. 
 
 " I spoke very strongly, indeed, the other day, to 
 Katty Richardson/' said he ; ' and though I must 
 confess she was rather surly at the time, yet you sec, 
 Dora, that my lecture was not thrown away." 
 
 We know not whether the rector ever received the 
 information, which we had from a neighbour of un- 
 doubted veracity, who had it from Katty's own lips, 
 that nothing but curiosity to see the English lord, 
 who was expected to visit Rathedmond church that 
 day, would have brought her out, if all the par- 
 sons in the country were talking for a year together. 
 
 However, much to the disappointment of Mrs, 
 Richardson, and of others, who had the discretion to 
 keep their minds to themselves, Lord Farnmere did 
 not make his appearance at church ; and when the 
 congregation separated, the mere gossiping part of 
 
 D 
 
50 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 it had nothing new to talk about, but a few surmises 
 as to the cause of his absence. 
 
 After service, Miss Milward hastened to the Sun- 
 day School, where she was on hard duty, having to 
 teach her mother's class in addition to her own, besides 
 the troublesome task of keeping order no easy mat- 
 ter at all times, as many of the scholars took the li- 
 berty of being now and then impertinent to those 
 teachers who were not in the rank of ladies and gen- 
 tlemen ; and the teachers, not unfrequently, lost even 
 the species of respect, which was legitimately their 
 due, by entering into angry arguments, and vindica- 
 ting their own dignity, in a manner not always the 
 most dignified. 
 
 We must be allowed here to remark, though it may 
 break in upon the thread of our narrative, that Sun- 
 day Schools, at least on any thing of a large scale, 
 are difficult to manage, or indeed to establish at all, 
 on a permanent footing, unless the requisite number 
 of teachers can be supplied out of the immediate fa- 
 mily of the person promoting them. On the first 
 proposal of such an undertaking, particularly if re- 
 commended by an individual of consequence in the 
 neighbourhood, it meets with the unqualified appro- 
 bation of old and young. Names are put down, and 
 rules drawn up, and promises of punctuality as cheer- 
 fully given, and the classes divided, and sub-divided, 
 to accommodate the superfluity of ready made educa- 
 tors, who offer their unpretending services ; arid for 
 three or four Sundays all goes on prosperously. But 
 the number of teachers gradually diminishes. Some 
 drop off without assigning any cause, except that they 
 cannot, or will not attend ; while others have more 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 51 
 
 substantial reasons, either declared or suspected, for 
 their secession. Thus, the curate marries, and the 
 educational zeal of one or two families is suddenly 
 damped. The rector's lady has not bowed sufficient- 
 ly gracious to a fair aspirant after gentility, who 
 will not again put herself in the way of being looked 
 down upon ; and the rector himself gives unconscious 
 offence to another, by buying his whip-cord from the 
 fellow next door, who cannot sign his name. The 
 very significant manipulations practised by the ma- 
 jority of the pupils put to flight another ; and, in all 
 probability, the most subdued looking, and humility- 
 professing of all, takes huff at discovering that his 
 inferior in rank has been complimented with a class 
 of readers, while he has been fobbed off with a set of 
 spellers : and thus the secession goes on, till the care 
 of the whole establishment is thrown upon the very 
 few, who are to be found in any place, willing to 
 sacrifice their tastes or antipathies, or to overlook ei- 
 ther real or ideal slights, or to bear with a few an- 
 noyances, when a positive duty cannot be fulfilled 
 without some sacrifice. 
 
 Mrs. Milward had experienced all those difficulties, 
 over and over again, with her School ; for, unluckily, 
 the parishioners of Rathedmond had their periodical 
 fits of goodness ; and, at such seasons, would volun- 
 teer their services, and undertake with great spirit 
 what they had repeatedly failed in. When Lady 
 Thorndale interested herself in such matters, the 
 general feeling was all on the right side ; but when 
 her ladyship was occupied with other pursuits, which 
 was not seldom the case, the excitation subsided into 
 the usual apathy. At the time of which we are 
 
 D2 
 
52 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 speaking, Sunday Schools were not the fashion with 
 the less-than- three-quarters-gen try of Rathedmond ; 
 and though the attendance of children was pretty 
 numerous, the teachers were reduced to four, viz. 
 Miss Milward; an old pensioner, by name Johnny 
 Monroe ; and a young lad and his sister, who had hi- 
 therto been unwearied in their duty, though, at times 
 sadly tired by some of their rude pupils, who, when 
 inclined to be idle, would tell them that they only 
 permitted them to teach them, out of compliment to 
 the mistress and Miss Dora. 
 
 But on this day every thing appeared to be going 
 on smoothly, and for a long time the most perfect 
 harmony and good conduct pervaded the whole es- 
 tablishment, till, towards the conclusion, symptoms 
 of misrule began to show themselves among the boys 
 in Monroe's class, which he was exerting all his influ- 
 ence to restrain. Miss Milward would not hear or 
 see for some time, hoping that the ferment might 
 subside without her interference ; but it went on gra- 
 dually increasing, till one or two elbows were hard at 
 work in their neighbours' sides, and angry words were 
 muttered, and angry looks exchanged between the 
 young combatants. She could no longer pretend ig- 
 norance of this unseemly conduct. 
 
 " Mr. Monroe, I am afraid that some of your boys 
 are very inattentive. Will you have the goodness to 
 keep them quiet, for they are disturbing the whole 
 School/' 
 
 Before Monroe could reply, two or three of the 
 youngsters called out in unison, " Miss Dora, Miss, 
 it's Lanty M 'Grail, who won't let us alone ; and he's 
 putting up Mark Dawson, and Willy Swayne, to be 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 53 
 
 thumping 1 and pegging us, and we doing nothing, 
 Miss/' 
 
 ee Lanty, you have no business at that form/' said 
 Dora, turning to the culprit " Go to your own 
 seat, and employ yourself properly, with your les- 
 sons, which I shall call you up to repeat in a few 
 minutes." 
 
 This was addressed to a red-haired, long-armed, 
 raw-boned, yet lumpish-made boy, apparently from 
 twelve to fourteen years of age, with a face, where 
 all the features seemed to take the usual situations, 
 more by chance than design ; and such a total want 
 of expression in his light grey eyes, or wide-gaping 
 mouth, that his countenance presented as few marks 
 of intelligence, as that of a great calf quietly chew- 
 ing the cud. 
 
 Totally unmoved, either by the complaint or re- 
 proof, he kept his place, balancing himself upon 
 one leg, and thumbing over the dirty remains of 
 a spelling book, as he cast a side glance alter- 
 nately at the lady and the complainants on the 
 form, 
 
 Dora, who knew from experience the self-willed 
 nature of her pupil, did not wait till her orders were 
 obeyed, but turned away, and again busied herself 
 with her class. The cessation of hostilities between 
 the contending parties was, however, of very short 
 continuance. In a few minutes, another complaint 
 was loudly vociferated. 
 
 ' ' Miss Dora, will you speak to Lanty, Miss, if you 
 please. There's no end to him, so there isn't. He 
 never stops battering and pushing me, and is saying 1 
 plenty of bad words under his breath." 
 
54 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Lanty," said the young- lady, again advancing, 
 (f I shall be very angry, indeed, if you do not sit 
 down at once in your own place/' 
 
 " Can't Tommy Taggs, then, give me my marvels, 
 he tuck from me?" growled Lanty, without stirring 
 an inch from the place where he was standing. 
 
 " Ah ! never mind him, Miss/' cried Tommy. ff I 
 had no hand in them at all. It was last Tuesday he 
 lost them out of his pocket on the road, and Willy 
 Swayne told him, out of a joke, that I found them. 
 So, when a thing comes into his head, there is no get- 
 ting it out, for he hasn't sense to see the differ." 
 
 A general titter followed this observation; and 
 Lanty, who the moment before, seemed inclined to 
 retire to his own seat, now moved still nearer the 
 forbidden ground. 
 
 " I want my marvels," he repeated, <f and I won't 
 stir a step till I get them." 
 
 Dora's patience unluckily failed, and she addressed 
 him in the pettish tone of reproach and altercation, 
 which invariably lessens authority, and approximates 
 the teacher to a level with the unruly pupil. 
 
 ee I am very glad that your marbles are lost, you 
 provoking boy ; and if you do not at once go to your 
 place, I shall" 
 
 She was at a loss to finish the sentence, not being 
 prepared to say what she should, could, or ought to 
 do ; and while hesitating for a proper ending to her 
 speech, the boys, encouraged by her warmth, began, 
 some to laugh, and others to order him, in a very dic- 
 tatorial way. 
 
 The very opposite effect to that which it was in- 
 tended to produce, was the consequence of this com- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 55 
 
 bined attack ; for down squatted Lanty, immediately 
 between two of his most vociferous accusers, and 
 wriggled, and squeezed, and elbowed, till he had more 
 than room for himself on the form, totally regardless 
 of the expostulations of Monroe, who was pushed 
 from his seat by the pressure of the boys beside 
 him. 
 
 Miss Milward saw that she had overstepped her 
 bounds. She knew that nothing but main force would 
 make him quit his post, a measure to which she felt 
 no inclination to resort ; and while he remained in his 
 present situation, no attention could be expected from 
 the boys. To make a dignified retreat, if possible, 
 was therefore her only resource. 
 
 <f Mr. Monroe/' said she, " I am very sorry that 
 you have been treated so disrespectfully by one of 
 my pupils ; but we shall provide against a recurrence 
 of such conduct in future. Perhaps it will be advis- 
 able to dismiss your class for this day, as I fear 
 there is a strong inclination in all parties to be quar- 
 relsome." 
 
 Monroe followed her advice, and when the boys had 
 been dismissed, she again spoke to Lanty, who sat 
 rocking himself on the form, and indenting it with his 
 thumb-nail. 
 
 " You may go away when you please, as I shall 
 not teach you to-day. I hope your conduct may be 
 very different next Sunday, that I shall not be obliged 
 again to delay giving you a very nice leather cap 
 much nicer than Harry Dunn's, which I bought for 
 you, and intended giving to you this day, after school." 
 
 " And what's to hinder you giving it to me now, 
 Miss Dora?" 
 
56 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Your very disrespectful conduct to Mr. Monroe, 
 and to myself, for this last half-hour. You must be- 
 have very differently indeed, next Sunday, or I will 
 not give it to you even then." 
 
 " Tell them to give me my marvels, Miss Dora, 
 and that's all I want," reiterated her pupil, in that 
 dogged voice, which is the most hopeless of all 
 voices. 
 
 ef Lanty, dear ! " said Monroe, in a whisper, " can't 
 you go away, and not be after displeasing your best 
 friend, for nothing but your own peevishness ?" 
 
 Lanty took no notice of this kind expostulation, 
 further than by a shove with his elbow ; and still 
 scratched the seat, at times looking sideways at Miss 
 Milward, who had resumed the instruction of her 
 class. After a short interval of quiet he again called 
 out 
 
 " Will you give me the cap you promised me, Miss 
 Dora?" 
 
 " Certainly not. Next Sunday you shall have it, if 
 you deserve it, which I am afraid you are not intend- 
 ing to do, by your continued obstinacy." 
 
 " Will you tell them to give me my marvels, then, 
 if you won't give me my cap ?" persisted Lanty, 
 apparently determined not to give up. But Dora, 
 wisely declining any further altercation, and pretend- 
 ing to be too busy either to see or hear him, after a 
 few efforts of making a noise, by knocking the seats 
 against each other, and growling in an under voice, 
 he gradually drew nearer and nearer to the door ; 
 and when he thought nobody was looking at him, he 
 made a sudden bolt and disappeared. 
 
 " I am afraid, Miss Dora," said Munroe, when the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 57 
 
 School had broken up, " that you will make no hand 
 of that boy. It is only giving yourself trouble, to no 
 end, to try and do any thing for him. As he grows 
 older he is only the more stubborn, and the little sense 
 he had is fast turning into wickedness." 
 
 ff Oh ! Mr. Munroe," cried Dora, earnestly, ' ' do 
 not despair of poor Lanty. You have hitherto en- 
 couraged me to persist in teaching him, when every 
 body else laughs at me; and even my mother some- 
 times shakes her head incredulously at my hopes 
 about him. Consider how very, very little sense he 
 has ; and then consider that it is our duty to bear 
 with him if he runs riot at times. Have I not often 
 heard you say, that we should act towards our fellow 
 creatures as God does towards us, who bears hourly 
 with our wilfulness ? And why should poor Lanlj 
 be excepted from our forbearance, when his want of 
 understanding calls upon us to exercise it more thaih 
 we are naturally inclined ? " 
 
 " You have put it on the right footing, Miss Dora, 
 and it was what I would agree to myself, if I wasn't 
 overtaken by a bit of pride. I was vexed that he 
 did not give heed to me checking him ; and I was 
 sore about the unmannerly way I was jostled off the 
 seat, and when my pride rose high, I thought there 
 was no hope for him, because I hadn't all the respect 
 I thought my due. Go on, and God's blessing will 
 be over you, one way or other, in what you are doing 
 for him. But don't think I am encouraging a bad 
 spirit, when I tell you that I have my doubts of his 
 ever being a scholar. I believe, Miss, he is terrible 
 bad at the book ?" 
 
 "Not at all, I assure you. He improves amazing- 
 
 D 3 
 
58 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ly. You know that he has not been coming to School 
 much upwards of two years, and yet he can spell 
 words of three letters remarkably well, indeed as 
 well as I can myself. You must listen to him next 
 Sunday repeating his lesson, and you will be surprised 
 and delighted*" 
 
 (f You have done wonders, Miss Dora," cried Mon- 
 roe in the simplicity of his heart. " There's few, I 
 well judge, could do so much; and as that seems to 
 be your gift, why shouldn't you use it? And, indeed, 
 after what you tell me, I make no doubt but you'll 
 have him a fine scholar yet. But there is one thing, 
 Miss Dora, above all that, and I would be glad to 
 hear it from your own lips, if you think the innocent 
 has any thoughts for his poor soul if he has sense 
 and feeling ever to raise his mind to think of God. 
 Ah ! Miss, without that, you know well, it's little 
 matter what knowledge he gets. He could meet the 
 Lord in glory, without knowing a letter in a book ; 
 and he might read like Aristotle, and come short of 
 the kingdom of God after all." 
 
 " We must hope the best on that point too, Mr* 
 Monroe. It is almost impossible to form an opinion 
 as yet, of how much, or how little, he is capable of 
 comprehending. I have seen, at times, something in 
 his countenance, like an. effort to think, when I have 
 been speaking to him of any passage in the Scrip- 
 tures, which alludes to the love of God, in sending 
 his Son into the world to die for sinners,; and I really 
 do think, that / once saw him look up with an ex- 
 pression of gratitude. But do not mention this to 
 my aunt Falconer ; and do not tell her that I can 
 perceive a gradual improvement in him, as to some- 
 
 f V 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 59 
 
 times telling truth. You may trust me, Mr. Monroe., 
 when I assure you, that lies do not appear to come 
 half so naturally to him, as formerly; and I know 
 he respects truth in others. It may be as well," she 
 continued, as they were leaving the house, " if we 
 do not speak of his rude behaviour to any body, par- 
 ticularly to my aunt, who she might that is oh! 
 you know my aunt Falconer, Mr. Monroe." 
 
 " She is a christianable woman, I think," he answer- 
 ed, after a short pause ; "but she has her own ways, 
 like Lanty. Tut what am I saying? The dear 
 gentlewoman isn't a bit like Lanty; only she has her 
 own ways, like like like us all. I believe that is 
 the safest thing to say. Well, Miss Dora, we will 
 take different roads now. His blessing be over you 
 at home or abroad : if it's His will that you should 
 be the means of bringing knowledge to the heart of 
 that poor, half-witted creature, why it is His own do- 
 ing, arid sure nothing is impossible with Him. I be- 
 lieve," he added, talking to himself, after he parted 
 from the young lady, " that He fits some for any part 
 of his work, no matter how seemingly out of their 
 way it is ; and you are one of them, it is likely, can 
 do any thing you put your hands to. Well, I trust 
 he will keep you humble, and not let people be flat- 
 tering you to your face, and telling you it would be 
 hard to find the fellaw of you, if one was to travel 
 further than I can say." 
 
IRISHMEN AND 
 
 i 3;: 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 &J*q* toi r 
 
 TUESDAY evening came, and the dance at Briny 
 Killion's was merrily kept up to a late hour. Mur- 
 tagh Cummusky, who to his other accomplishments 
 added that of a musician, relieved the blind fiddler 
 occasionally, so that there was no pause between the 
 dances, much to the satisfaction of Ileen Garvey and 
 one or two other light-footed damsels, who were no- 
 torious for tiring out three or four partners before 
 they sat down. The gaiety pervading the whole 
 party was so natural and so incessant, that no one, 
 judging from appearances, could suppose that the nu- 
 merous assemblage was collected for any other pur- 
 pose than that of thoughtless merriment. Even 
 Alice O'Neil's cross countenance relaxed into some- 
 thing not very unlike good humour ; and Wat Dela- 
 hunt, who was rather of a grave temperament, replied 
 to the tinker's jokes with a spirit which drew repeated 
 bursts of laughter from the auditors. Yet there 
 were not, perhaps, six individuals in the house who 
 were not perfectly aware that some deed of violence 
 was to be determined that evening ; and the princi- 
 pal actors were often alluded to in a mysterious way, 
 as the boys who had warm work on their hands. 
 
 Ileen was not totally free from uneasiness, though 
 her laugh was the loudest, and her repartees dealt 
 out unsparingly on all sides. Like others not fully 
 initiated, she guessed that Connel St. Leger was en- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 61 
 
 gaged in one of those outrages, unhappily but too 
 common in the country ; but what the nature of the 
 next exploit was to be, she was yet in ignorance, 
 though she attacked him several times in the course 
 of the evening, and threatened various marks of her 
 displeasure, if he was so dark with her, who would 
 tell him any thing. Connel easily found means to 
 divert her attention (at all times easily diverted) to 
 some passing occurrence ; till being alarmed by Alice 
 O'Neil, who, in the gaiety of her heart, gave the 
 toast of fc dark nights and bloody blankets/' at the 
 same time winking significantly at him, she kept so 
 close to the point, that he was obliged to pretend an- 
 ger, and was trying to look sulky, when he w?s 
 agreeably relieved by the entrance of Mulvaney, who 
 accounted to Mrs. Killion for his appearance, by tell- 
 ing her of the accident which happened to his stir- 
 rup-leather, while riding from his stepson's, where he 
 lip.d dined. 
 
 " It was well I wasn't hurt," he continued, " for 
 I was trotting fast when it gave way ; and I will be 
 for ever obliged to you for the loan of a candle to 
 look for my stirrup, which I left after me, a perch or 
 two from the house. Ah ! boys, will some of you 
 come along with me, and help me to find it." 
 
 This, though not apparently addressed to any one 
 in particular, seemed perfectly understood by all pre- 
 sent to mean a select few, for though there was much 
 bustle, and many offers of assistance, yet none fol- 
 lowed him from the door but St. Leger and his three 
 associates in crime. The stirrup was quickly found, 
 and they all adjourned to the stable to repair the 
 fracture of the leather. 
 
62 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 * " Buckle it on at once, Val," said Mulvaney, clos- 
 ing the door. " I slipped it out myself, to have an 
 excuse for dropping in upon you, for one ought to be 
 cautious these days of raising suspicions ; and it 
 wouldn't be becoming in a man of my years and 
 standing, to be roistering with a parcel of youngsters 
 in a place like Briny's. Now, to business, boys. 
 Are you all ready to do Jack Oglandby's job to-mor- 
 row night?" 
 
 " All entirely," was the unanimous reply. 
 
 ec And are you all staunch and true ?" looking 
 sternly at Delahunt. 
 
 <c If you mean me, Mr. Mulvaney," replied the 
 young man, returning his look with interest, et you 
 may save your breath axing questions. I gave you 
 my word before, and if that don't please you, you'll 
 get nothing more from me." jfe 1< 
 
 fc We are all true blue, or true black, or true any 
 thing you please," said St. Leger; "and that's 
 enough of it. But you haven't told us when we are 
 to expect our bird ?" 
 
 ' ' He is to leave Charlesborough at ten o'clock, and 
 in half-an-hour he will be in reach of our bullets. 
 You had better be in the grove an hour before the 
 time, for fear of mistakes. I have to give no more 
 advice, but my blessing, and remember to keep your 
 own secret that's all." 
 
 " Never fear we'll not tell of ourselves," answer- 
 ed Val. Tigue. " I hope others will be as cautious ; 
 for there isn't a dog in the parish but could tell, if he 
 liked it." 
 
 " And who will tell ? or who dar tell ? or who ever 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 63 
 
 did tell of any of our doings ? Answer me that, 
 Val," 
 
 " Oh ! I am not going to cry treason for nothing 
 never fear. But I won't be faced down in it, that 
 there was no use to let them of the Carragh know all 
 about it. They are poor, and if a big reward was 
 offered, who knows how they might be tempted to 
 hang us all?" 
 
 " Val. I'm ashamed of you. I'll go bail for the 
 Carragh. You see boys, I know what I am about, 
 or do you think I would put my own life in danger, 
 as well as yours ? They will offer a large reward 
 that's only natural ; but they would be sorry to have 
 it to pay. Lord Colverston will call a meeting, and 
 he and his dependants will make speeches, and draw 
 up resolutions, and write to the castle for the insur- 
 rection act. Well now, all that is in our favour ; for 
 what will the Braymores and that faction be doing ? 
 Won't they have another meeting, and won't they say 
 the country is as quiet as a lamb, and that old 
 Oglandby is one in a hundred, and might be shot any 
 where, he is such a tyrant ; and the matter will drop 
 quietly, for all sides is afraid of us, and they see 
 they can't stop us." 
 
 " We'll have a sore life with the women, any how," 
 said Tigue, " if damage is done to Miss Dora. There 
 never was one in the country has such a name with 
 rich and poor, and I'm not afraid or ashamed to 
 speak it out before yees all, that if it wasn't for my 
 oath and the honour of God, I'd burn off my hand 
 before I'd lift it again a hair of her head." 
 
 " So would we all," said Mulvaney, " for she is a 
 fine sprightly creature, and does mighty little harm, 
 
64 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 considering the wish she has to lead the children 
 astray ; but if she was your own sister, you can't go 
 off now. Go back to the house cheerful, and take 
 your diversion. To-morrow night you will have 
 sport of another kind ; I wish the time was come, 
 for I am longing that it was done, and well done.*' 
 
 Now, though it is in our power to indulge any of 
 our readers, who may feel the same longing with Mr. 
 Terence Mulvaney, by annihilating the intermediate 
 space between the conspiracy at Briny Killion's, and 
 half-past ten on the following night, yet it would 
 break in so much upon our plan, that we must con- 
 duct them, however unwilling, through the morning, 
 noon, and evening of the eventful Wednesday, leav- 
 ing the catastrophe to be brought about in the regu- 
 lar course of things. Besides, we should lose the op- 
 portunity of introducing a new character under the 
 most favourable circumstances, and such as are not 
 likely to occur again, during the very limited period, 
 through which this story will extend. This is Mrs. 
 Burrowes, the person of most consequence, in her own 
 opinion, and that of many others, in the house of 
 Rathedmond. She had nursed Mrs. Mil ward, and 
 had gone home with her, on her marriage, as a kind 
 of nondescript, between lady's maid or any other de- 
 nomination of upper servant, according as her ser- 
 vices were required. For the first few years she pre- 
 sided over the nursery, and participated keenly in the 
 grief of the parents, as each little one followed its 
 brother and sister to the grave, till every olive branch 
 had disappeared from round their table, except one 
 girl, who consequently became, what every one child 
 always is, a wonder, and a beauty, and very nearly 
 
IR1SHW031EN. 65 
 
 an idol. As Dora grew up, and the nursery establish- 
 ment was done away, Mrs. Burrowes, though always 
 addressed as " nurse," by the heads of the family, was 
 regularly installed as house-keeper, and, in virtue of 
 that office, ruled with an authority, which was exert- 
 ed not only over the subordinate members of the 
 household, but sometimes extended even to her mas- 
 ter and mistress. Such little occasional stretches of 
 power were, however, submitted to, or overlooked, 
 except where they interfered with the management of 
 the young lady, whose breeding did not altogether 
 accord with her notions of perfect gentiKty. Genti- 
 lity was her failing. She valued every man or wo- 
 man according to their family descent. To be of an 
 ancient family, was a sufficient passport to her good 
 opinion at once. To be an upstart, was a fault for 
 which there could scarcely be found a redeeming vir- 
 tue. The Oglandbys she considered as the first fa- 
 mily in the known world, and every, the most distant 
 connection of that favoured race, she regarded with 
 peculiar veneration. When Miss Oglandby would 
 marry Mr. Milward, who, there was no denying it, 
 could hardly count a grandfather, and that grandfa- 
 ther not worth counting, she made the best of it ; 
 and, for the first time in her life, was heard to ac- 
 knowledge that some were born gentlemen, no matter 
 who their forefathers were ; and that, after all, a good 
 man was a good man, and that maybe there was more 
 luck and grace before a lady of family, in joining her- 
 self to one of that sort, than if she married the first 
 lord in the land. Then Mr. Milward was a very 
 handsome young man, and a sensible man, and a man 
 of independent spirit, and, in many respects, more 
 
DO IRISHMEN AND 
 
 gentleman-like in conduct than some of the high-born 
 Oglandbys ; and as her mistress was, perhaps, the 
 happiest in the married state of all her family, Mrs. 
 Burrowes both loved and respected him. 
 
 Still there were a few little peculiarities in the mode 
 of living at Rathedmond, which, in her heart, she be- 
 lieved had their origin in her master's low extraction. 
 We say, in her heart, for she was vehement in mak- 
 ing excuses of an opposite nature, when these pecu- 
 liarities were subject of conversation in the servants'- 
 hall. At the time of Mr. Milward's marriage with 
 Miss Oglandby, though the match was considered, 
 by more than Mrs. Burrowes, to be a very so-so one 
 for the lady, yet, in one respect, all agreed that they 
 were very well suited to each other he, being the 
 pattern of a respectable clergyman ; and she, a de- 
 vout and honourable woman. But shortly after their 
 marriage, a great change took place in their religious 
 sentiments ; so much so, that every body's curiosity 
 was excited to know what they said, and did, and 
 thought ; and stranger things were believed of their 
 saying, and doing, and thinking, than common credu- 
 lity could excuse, unless we bear in mind, that in 
 those days the profession of any thing like serious reli- 
 gion was a new thing in Ireland ; and though it very 
 nearly turned that part of the world upside-down, it 
 differed nothing from what causes so little sensation 
 now, but is quietly dismissed under the name of Me- 
 thodism, or Calvinism, or the New Light, or any other 
 guch term, which means any thing, or nothing, in the 
 minds of half the people who use them. A change of 
 opinions naturally produced a change of conduct not 
 that there was any very outrageous innovation upon 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 67 
 
 the common forms and habits of civilized society. 
 There certainly was a less expenditure in the article 
 of dress, and the other mere luxuries of life ; but 
 still they were very respectably clothed, and made 
 use of chairs, and tables, and sofas, and knives, and 
 forks, and spoons, pretty much as the generality of 
 people do. There was, however, a decided change of 
 system, which Mrs. Burrowes did not understand, 
 and could not approve of, though, to do her justice, 
 she always endeavoured to like what pleased her 
 mistress ; and, as her own province was not invaded, 
 she quietly submitted to the fancies, which she hoped 
 would soon take flight. But they did not take flight; 
 on the contrary, they seemed, year after year, to es- 
 tablish themselves more firmly ; and it was only when 
 they were brought to bear upon the education of the 
 hopes of the family, that their annoyance was most 
 sensibly felt. 
 
 Every real young lady, she averred, ought to wear 
 monitors and steel collars, and be taught to dance, 
 and be taken to the Castle when they were seventeen, 
 or eighteen at the most, and afterwards go to balls, 
 without stopping till they were married. Whereas, 
 Miss Dora was left to nature, so that it was a mira- 
 cle to look at her beautiful figure, that never was 
 tightened or put into shape. And she was never 
 taught to dance, and her ears were never bored, be- 
 cause, like a foolish child, she did not choose to be 
 put to pain ; and she never saw twenty real gentle- 
 men and ladies together, full dressed, in all her life : 
 and how was she ever to be married? These consi- 
 derations pressed heavily upon her spirits ; but the 
 dawn of a new day seemed about to appear above 
 
68 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 the horizon of Dora's hitherto clouded life, when 
 Lady Thorndale and Mr. Oglandby succeeded in gain- 
 ing her mother's consent to her dining at Charlesbo- 
 rough, on the grandest of their grand days ; where 
 she would meet people with blood in their veins ; and 
 where there might be a ball ; and where she might 
 be forced to stand up to make out a set ; and where 
 there was a ^oung English lord, who, there was no 
 saying what might happen, might make her an Eng- 
 lish lady. She had read in printed books of curates' 
 daughters making fine matches, as if by accident, and 
 what was to hinder a rector's daughter of the same 
 luck ? Those were the circumstances to which we 
 alluded, as favourable to Mrs. Burrowes's first intro- 
 duction to our readers ; for her temper was unusually 
 placid, and she felt in good humour with all the hu- 
 man race, even \\ith Kitty Moore, the slammekin 
 housemaid, to whom she chatted confidentially while 
 finishing her breakfast. 
 
 " The Oglandbys, Kitty, were always allied to nc - 
 bility, in every generation. The mistress's mother, 
 Lady Dorothea Oglandby, was daughter to the Earl 
 of Portmarnock, and her eldest brother was married 
 to Lord Cloridalkin's sister. The mistress herself 
 might have been the Honourable Mrs. Falconer, if 
 she liked ; and when he could not get the one sister, 
 he took the other. After all, she did as well for he 
 was not very young, nor very rich, and died soon af- 
 ter his marriage. The very first Lady Thorndale was 
 Oglandby. That's the way they are related to the fa- 
 mily. Before that they had not much to brag of 
 farmers and graziers that sort entirely. Now they 
 have a right to look up. And so, as I was saying, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 09 
 
 Kitty, I am glad that Miss Dora is going to take her 
 place among her equals, after being kept from them 
 too long. Religion is a good thing who says the 
 contrary ? But if it sinks a family, and keeps one for 
 ever at home, without knowing what is going on in 
 the world I say nothing, only give me the good old 
 times, when there was one religion for the quality, and 
 another for them it was no matter about. I must go 
 now, and settle all her things properly, for she is so 
 heedless, that it might be a dab of a muslin she would 
 put on, instead of the beautiful new gown she never 
 wore yet, if I'm not at the beginning and end of 
 every thing." 
 
 Mrs. Burro wes found ample employment from that 
 moment, in rummaging drawers, burnishing neck- 
 laces and bracelets, and airing, and spreading out 
 sundry articles of dress, till the clock struck three, 
 when she descended to the drawing-room, where 
 Dora and her mother were sitting, to summon her to 
 dress. 
 
 " Dress at this hour, nurse ! Do you know that 
 Mr. (Mandby will not call for me till half-past five, 
 and what should I do, sitting up in state for such a 
 length of time ?" 
 
 "And what great time have you to spare, Miss f 
 Do you think when you are going to dine with peo- 
 ple of breeding, that your hair can be wisped up as 
 it is every day, or that a pin here and there will do ? 
 I will have trouble enough fixing you from top to 
 tee, which can't be done in a minute : and then won't 
 you have to show yourself to your aunt, and to walk 
 slow through the hall, that the people may have a 
 glimpse of you?" 
 
70 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 <( Time enough for all that, nurse. I will not dress 
 till a quarter before five, when you shall have a full 
 half-hour to do what you please with me ; and the 
 remainder of the time will be quite sufficient to ex- 
 hibit myself to all the house, over and over again/' 
 
 " Then you may get Kitty, with her clumsy hands, 
 to dress you, for any trouble I will give myself about 
 3 r ou. I dressed them of your family that had a title 
 before their name, and they never counted out the* 
 minutes to me, because they knew what was becom- 
 ing in ladies. Ma'am," turning to her mistress, te I 
 wonder you don't check her, and give her some no- 
 tions, if it was only for the sake of the people she is 
 come of." 
 
 " You had better do as nurse wishes," said Mrs. 
 Mil ward. fc She has had a good deal of trouble all 
 the morning ; and if you wait till five o'clock, it will 
 interfere with her dinner." 
 
 Dora, though convinced against her will, followed 
 her mother's advice at once, and determined to un- 
 dergo all nurse's threatened curling, and frizzing, 
 and pinning, with a martyr's fortitude, which was a 
 wise determination, for the operation lasted a full 
 hour ; during which time, her patience, though sorely 
 tried, never once failed; and by seeming to enter 
 fully into the spirit of the business, she contrived to 
 have her own taste predominant, without offending 
 that of Mrs. Burro wes, who was so pleased, that she 
 kissed her at least a dozen times ; and at every ad- 
 dition to her dress, discovered a new likeness to the 
 numerous Oglandbys, whose pictures adorned the 
 gallery of the family mansion. 
 
 " Now, nurse," said Dora, when the last pin was 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 71 
 
 declared to be fixed, and that Mrs. Burrowes had re- 
 treated a few paces in order to judge of the tout en- 
 semble " Now, nurse, I hope you will allow me to 
 go down stairs, and sit quietly with my mother till 
 the carriage comes." 
 
 <c Stop only for one moment, my darling, and just 
 take one look in the glass, and tell me if you don't 
 like yourself. Do, Miss Dora, dear, to oblige me/ 5 
 
 Dora was in an obliging mood, and she looked, and 
 was pleased. " I assure you," said she, with the 
 most unaffected simplicity, " I think I look remark- 
 ably well. I wonder will my mother think so ?" 
 
 Father, mother, and aunt, did certainly think so, 
 when she made her appearance in the drawing-room ; 
 though they did not express their admiration so 
 plainly as Mrs. Burrowes, who made fifty excuses to 
 come into the room, and each time stood for a minute 
 or two, looking at her with undisguised satisfaction^ 
 and muttering blessings with great volubility. She 
 had placed scouts on the watch for the first appear- 
 ance of the carriage, and was becoming rather fid- 
 gety, when it was announced as having turned into 
 the gate. 
 
 Immediately all hands were at work, shawling and 
 cloaking. 
 
 "Dora, have you got on my fur slippers?" asked 
 Mrs. Falconer. 
 
 " Double that shawl over your chest, my love," re- 
 commended her father. 
 
 " And muffle yourself up carefully from the night 
 air on your return, my precious child," said her mo- 
 ther, as she gave her the parting kiss. 
 
 " And, oh ! Miss Dora, don't be crumpling your 
 
72 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 sleeves in that way," screamed Mrs. Burro wes. 
 " Mind to give them a shake out when you get into 
 the hall. Stop, Miss, I must go before you with the 
 candle. Do you hear, Flood ! Stretch that mat on 
 the flag, to the step of the carriage ; and one of you 
 hold up an umbrella over her head, for the wind will 
 tossicate her hair to nothing." 
 
 "Dora," called out the old gentlemen from the 
 carriage, " never mind all that fuss, but get in at 
 once. We shall be rather late as it is, and Lady 
 Thorndale hates to be kept waiting." 
 
 But though he was an Oglandby, Mrs. Burro wes 
 resisted his orders, and held Dora fast till the mat 
 was spread, and then, without insisting on the um- 
 brella, which could not be found in a hurry, permit- 
 ted her to advance. 
 
 ce Is that Miss Dora?" asked a shrill voice, the in- 
 stant she appeared outside the door. 
 
 " It is," she replied, recognizing the voice of Lan- 
 ty M 'Grail, " but I cannot speak to you now." 
 
 ee I have something for you, Miss," said he, as he 
 pushed between Mrs. Burrowes and the servant who 
 held the carriage-door. 
 
 " Thank you, thank you, Lanty," putting her hand 
 on the footman's extended arm. " Come to-mor- 
 row, for you see I cannot speak to you now." 
 
 " Here it is, and you must have it now," persisted 
 Lanty, who had forced his way close to her side, and 
 raised a large milk-pail to a level with her head. 
 
 Her foot was on the step, but struck with the ear- 
 nestness of his manner, she paused for a second, and in 
 that second was deluged by a shower of liquid mud, 
 which ran copiously from her head, in inky streams, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 73 
 
 down the manifold draperies in which her figure was 
 enveloped. 
 
 The shock took away her breath, and she rushed 
 back into the hall, where she was in an instant sur- 
 rounded by all who had witnessed the scene, not ex- 
 cepting old Mr. Oglandby, who jumped from the 
 carriage with the agility of a man some thirty or 
 forty years younger than himself. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Milward, and Mrs. Falconer, quickly 
 joined the party in the hall ; and for a few minutes 
 the alarm of the family was truly distressing, as 
 they could not guess the extent of the injury sus- 
 tained by Dora, who sat, unable to speak, in a much 
 more woful plight than we have ever heard related of 
 the most unfortunate heroine of romance. 
 
 "5 1 am not at all hurt/' she said at last to her mo- 
 ther, who was hanging over her, pale with apprehen- 
 sion. " I am merely a little out of breath ; and 
 when I throw off these odious clothes, I shall be as 
 well as ever/' 
 
 Re-assured by her cheerful manner, one and all 
 began to talk together, some asking questions, and 
 some answering two or three at a time, till they were 
 overpowered by the stentorian voice of Mr. Ogland- 
 by, who, in the bitterness of his disappointment, being 
 as anxious for Dora's introduction to the world as 
 Mrs. Burrowes herself, scolded every individual pre- 
 sent, from the Honorable Mrs. Falconer, his niece, to 
 the footman behind his carriage. He offered to wait 
 half an hour an hour, till Dora could be re-equipped. 
 The Charlesborough clock might be slow, and, at all 
 events, slow or fast, he would wait any reasonable 
 
 E 
 
74 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 time. But reason was totally out of the question, 
 Two hours of scrubbing, washing, brushing, and dry- 
 ing, could scarcely restore her to the state in which 
 Mrs. Burrowes began her merely ornamental manoeu- 
 vres ; and being at length convinced of the hopeless- 
 ness of the case, the old gentleman drove off in the 
 very worst humour that a naturally irritable temper 
 could produce. 
 
 When Dora had got rid of all her bespattered muf- 
 flings, and her face in some degree cleared of the mud, 
 now fast hardening into a crust, so that she could see 
 her way up stairs, she was again preceded by Mrs. 
 Burrowes to her mother's dressing-room. Hei mihi ! 
 quantum mutata, in the space of one brief hour, 
 when she had taken the self-complacent look at her 
 figure, and was the object of admiration to the whole 
 house. She now felt no inclination to take even a 
 passing look at her present appearance, but quietly 
 suffered herself to be disrobed by her half-bewildered 
 attendant, who, with the assistance of Mrs. Falconer 
 and Kitty Moore, made so decided an attack with 
 soap and water, that all traces of her late bespatter- 
 ing quickly disappeared from her person ; and their 
 joint labour was expended in brushing, drying, and 
 perfuming her hair, which had suffered most under 
 Lanty's offering. 
 
 During this operation, she had a little time for col- 
 lecting her scattered thoughts; and as the whole 
 scene, and its consequences, rose to her view, poor 
 Dora felt mortified to the quick. The disappoint- 
 ment was, in itself, sufficiently trying, but the con- 
 sequences infinitely more so. She was aware of the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 75 
 
 ludicrous light in which her adventure would be 
 viewed, and in which Harriet Thorndale would cer- 
 tainly place it tracing the progress of her friendship 
 with her uncouth protege, though all its stages, to 
 the tragi-comic catastrophe, by which it was ended. 
 She would gladly have compromised for a very slight 
 fracture, or sprained ancle, or any trifling accident, 
 which could have given a more sublime interest to 
 her adventure ; and she had nearly made up her mind 
 to keep her bed for a few days, but through fear of 
 alarming her mother. She was so completely en- 
 grossed by her own thoughts as scarcely to hear the 
 threats of vengeance against Lanty, reiterated by 
 Mrs. Burrowes, every time she wielded the comb- 
 brush, or sprinkled lavender water through her hair; 
 or the sage reflections of Mrs. Falconer, whose pro- 
 phetical warnings against the mischievous propensi- 
 ties of the boy, had been completely disregarded un- 
 der the canting plea of duty. There was no occasion 
 to irritate Dora's feelings against the culprit, which 
 were at the time, nearly as much divested of charity, 
 as his worst enemy could wish. Whenever his name 
 reached her ears, she involuntarily exclaimed to her- 
 self, " Ungrateful little urchin!" "Abominable little 
 wretch !" and such like spiteful expressions, which, 
 though we are conscious may sink her in the opinion 
 of our elegant or sentimental readers, were, never- 
 theless, very natural, considering the provocation, 
 and the short time which she had to control her un- 
 ruly feelings. 
 
 After nearly two hours' hard work, she was pro- 
 nounced fit to be seen ; and joined her father and 
 
 E2 
 
76 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 mother, at the tea-table, not without a little feeling 
 of awkwardness, as she passed two or three of the 
 servants, who remembered the cock-a-hoop air, with 
 which she had descended the stairs, a short time 
 before. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ALTHOUGH it may argue a liking for low company,, 
 yet we cannot resist the inclination to take leave of 
 Miss Milward at the drawing-room door, and adjourn 
 with Mrs. Burrowes to the kitchen, which she entered 
 with an expression of countenance, that forbade any 
 sympathy with her feelings, and silenced all the 
 tongues, before going very giibly. The unfortunate 
 new gown, with its enormous flimsy sleeves, spotted 
 and stained, and splashed all over, hung upon her 
 arm ; and as she fhmg it upon the back of a chair, 
 she burst into a violent fit of crying, which instead 
 of soothing, seemed to increase her irritability. The 
 servants saw that a storm was coming; and each 
 felt uneasy till they knew on which of them it would 
 expend its fury. They were not long kept in sus- 
 pense, for it blew a hurricane upon Flood, the foot- 
 man, for letting Lanty escape. 
 
 " I can't see what use there is in fellows like you 
 about a gentleman's place, if you let monkeys and 
 ruffians destroy and murder every body, and never 
 move a hand to punish them." 
 
 tc Never believe me, Ma'am," said Flood, with 
 great earnestness, " but I was so taken by surprise, 
 if I knew that I had ,a hand upon my body, when I 
 saw the outlandish villany of the young thief." 
 
 " Didn't you know, then, that you had a pair of 
 legs that #re nimble enough to run after your own 
 
78 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 business ? Yet you would'nt put one foot before the 
 other to catch that evil-minded natural, who may be 
 the death of us all, now that he has got off scot-free 
 to plot more mischief." 
 
 " It's little business of my own I can do/' said 
 Flood, " with all the running- and scampering I have 
 in this house ; but one word for all, Mrs. Burrowes, I 
 was so beside myself that I could do no more than 
 yourself, and that was little enough. Who's at the 
 door there ?" he cried loudly, glad of any interruption 
 to the housekeeper's eloquence. 
 
 " Good luck to your work/' said Ileen Garvey, en- 
 tering, with her cloak over her head, and addressing 
 Kitty Moore, who was wiping the handle of her dust- 
 pan. " I was forced to run off in this condition, for 
 word came to the Mistress, that Lanty M'Grail was 
 after pisoning Miss Dora ; and I thought she would 
 have fainted, or dropt down dead upon the spot, when 
 she heard it: so she bid me run for my life, dark as 
 it was, and be back in no time ; but I hope it isn't 
 true, seeing yees all so lively." 
 
 " He done his best to murder her," answered Kit- 
 ty, " only she had a wonderful escape for her life ; 
 and you wouldn't know now that a haporth was the 
 matter with her." 
 
 " I'm as glad to hear that," said Ileen, with a glow 
 of pleasure over her animated countenance, fe as if I 
 got a new pair of shoes. But how was it at all, Kit- 
 ty dear? And what come over Miss Dora, to take 
 any thing out of his dirty hands ?" 
 
 " Ah ! how could she help it ?" began Kitty ; but 
 her harangue was stopped by Mrs. Burrowes, who 
 chose to tell the whole story ; which she gave, with 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 79 
 
 many circumstances purely imaginative, such as 
 the strong smell of vitriol, which she perceived the 
 moment the contents of the pail descended on her 
 young lady's head, and other horrors of a like na- 
 ture. 
 
 (i But," said she, as a climax to all she had been 
 relating, "look at the destruction he has brought 
 upon us all !" and she displayed the ill-fated gown to 
 lleen's astonished gaze. 
 
 fc Oh ! murder !" cried the girl, quite overcome. 
 " I wouldn't wonder if he was gibbeted after that 
 such a beautiful thing my eyes never looked on 
 afore ! And was it that she had on, ma'am, when he 
 was tempted by his foolishness ?" 
 
 "9C:he very one, Ileen, and no other. I dressed her 
 in it myself, not passing an hour before. It only 
 came from Dublin last week, a present from her 
 grand-uncle, Mr. John Oglandby." 
 
 " It's the admiration, sure enough, if it was clane," 
 said Ileen, venturing to touch it. " What a power of 
 waste there is in them sacks of sleeves ! Why, they 
 would make caps for the mistress, for seven years to 
 come. Oh ! Lanty, Lanty, I'm afraid it's all over 
 with you after that job ; and would you believe me, 
 Ma'am, if I didn't think him well-natured. Many's 
 the kittle of water he has run for, for myself, when I 
 had two things to do at a time, as girls often has in a 
 throng of a hurry." 
 
 " He, well natured !" exclaimed Mrs. Burrowes ; 
 but her wrath was diverted from Ileen by the voice 
 of Johnny Monroe speaking to the footman. 
 
 " Archy Flood," he began, " I am one that have 
 seen plenty in my days, that would take the sight 
 
80 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 from many with failing hearts; and though I am 
 shaking now, I can bear any thing, let it be ever so 
 bad. So, if Miss Dora is dead, by the blow of the 
 stone from that unfortunate boy, speak it out, without 
 beating about the bush. It is better when a man 
 knows the worst at once, for then he is prepared for 
 what comes after." 
 
 " It wasn't a blow of a stone she got at all ; it was 
 only some dirty water ; and she's now above stairs, 
 pouring out the tea, as well as yourself, Johnny, if 
 not better." 
 
 <e Johnny," said Mrs. Burrowes, " sit down here on 
 this chair, beside me, and I will tell you all about it, 
 better than Archy, who, by his own account, never 
 knows whether he is standing on his head or his 
 heels." 
 
 She then recapitulated her story, with even more 
 embellishments than Ileen had been treated to, and 
 ended by directing his attention to the lamentable 
 state of the spick-and-span new gown. 
 
 " Small matter about that, Mrs. Burrowes," an- 
 swered Monroe. " Weavers and women-stichers 
 would toss up a hundred of that sort of tackling, 
 as fast as they are wanted : and since the dear child 
 herself has come off safe, it isn't a christianable thing 
 to be fretting about trifles." 
 
 " What do you mean, Jonny Monroe ? Do you call 
 all the money's worth there a trifle ? Do you think 
 that clothes like that can be got every day, only to 
 drag through the gutter ?" 
 
 " No Ma'am ; I wouldn't misuse the poorest rag 
 after that fashion, let alone things above my station. 
 But, after all, Mrs. Burrowes, the grandest piece of 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 81 
 
 dress that ever came out of the loom, what will it 
 come to in the end ? Sure it is only made for the 
 rust and moth to have their will of at last ; and see- 
 ing that is its destination, I would be sorry to give 
 one thought of my heart about any thing of the kind, 
 if H come to an untimely end." 
 
 " Why then, Johnny," said Ileen, " I could sit 
 down and cry my eyes out, when I look at the deso- 
 lation of that lovely gownd ; and I would give all 
 I am worth in the world, to have seen Miss Dora 
 stepping into the coach, in her grandeur and beauti- 
 fulness, before that Willy-the-wisp got her in his 
 clutches." 
 
 " Why did you not run over Ileen ?" said Mrs. 
 Burrowes. "I would have put you in the best place 
 for a view and, sure enough, you had the loss for 
 in all that I ever saw, I never saw the equal to her, 
 as she waited, while Flood was bungling about the 
 mat : and though you could only see the bottom of 
 her dress, being covered up by her aunt's old shawl, 
 yet, old as it was, it could not conceal the gentlewo- 
 man in grain. I could compare her to nothing, when 
 she raised her hand to put it on Frank Dyer's arm, 
 and looked round at the frog, just preparing to spit 
 his venom at her, but a queen, who was going to 
 give her blessing to her followers." 
 
 <f I was standing close behind the family," said 
 Monroe, who had been shaking his head, while Mrs. 
 Burrowes was speaking, " the day she was brought 
 into the church to be baptized ; and I heard them 
 that feared God, and looked to his blessed Son, while 
 they renounced the pomps and vanities of this wicked 
 world, in her name they have gone to their rest ; but 
 
 ,B..3 
 
82 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 her parents have a better right to think closely for 
 her good : and indeed, I wonder why they would let 
 one so young, and so innocent, and so unguarded, run 
 headlong into the temptations of company-steeping,, 
 knowing the evil of it themselves." 
 
 " There is no evil, or no temptation, about her, but 
 what is in your own head, Johnny Monroe. If you 
 wonder at the doings of real quality, I wonder that a 
 man with so much religion for ever on his tongue, can 
 be glad that] Miss Dora should be killed, all to a 
 chance, and that her property was lavished and ru- 
 ined by .the scum of the earth." 
 
 " Ah ! Mrs. Burrowes, you look at it the wrong 
 way: I could not be glad for the wind to .blow con- 
 trary on that dear child, who I watched with prayers 
 and blessings, since she first saw the day. I am sore 
 sorry for the nasty trick was played on her ; and I am 
 sorry that a tatter belonging, to her would be offend- 
 ed; but there's no harm in making the best of what 
 can't be mended, when I know that it's all for good. 
 She will see that yet ; and yourself may, one day, be 
 glad that you met with this little tossication." 
 
 "Oh! stop your talking," cried the lady, impati- 
 ently. fe It's fine doctrine to be preaching, that 
 wickedness is a good thing, and that people ought to 
 be glad for the worst of badness. If you were to go 
 on with your religious words for a year, you wouldn't 
 take the grief and bitterness out of my heart. Haven't 
 I the whole elegant .party at Charlesborough this .mi- 
 mite before my eyes, in all their state and full dress, 
 as becomes their station and don't I know that she, 
 who would have all eyes upon her, if she was there, 
 is making tea up stairs, in the old plated tea-pot, in 
 
.IRISHWOMEN. 83 
 
 loneliness and sorrow and will any one tell me that 
 is as it ought to be ?" 
 
 The picture of her own painting was so moving, 
 that he again burst into tears, and continued sob- 
 bing as if her heart would break. 
 
 Ileen, who should have long since gone home, was 
 so occupied with listening to the different versions of 
 the story, as given by each servant in turn, and also 
 in getting an exact and minute account of every ar- 
 ticle of dress worn fyy Miss Mil ward on that evening, 
 that she neither knew nor cared how time passed, till 
 she was brought to her recollection by the unwelcome 
 apparition of her mistress, who, attended by the cow- 
 boy, was already in the middle of the kitchen, before 
 any one perceived her entrance. 
 
 It was the moment when the housekeeper's grief 
 was at the highest, and Mrs. Costigan supposed, from 
 the general appearance of the household, that her 
 worst fears were .realized. A cold shivering came 
 over her limbs, and as she tottered to a seat, she said 
 reproachfully to her. maid 
 
 "You might have saved me this- blow, at least, if 
 you had the feeling to come home, as you ought, and 
 not bring me out after you, being worn out with 
 waiting ; but now, lend me your hand, and let you 
 and Tim drag me home this minute, as well as you 
 can ; for I would not look one of the family in the 
 face for more than the sun ever shone upon." 
 
 " Ah ! mistress dear !" said Ileen, running over. to 
 her, " don't be daunted so asy. Miss Dora and all 
 the family is come to no loss, barring in the matter of 
 an elegant new gownd, that's splashed to no end, and 
 
84 IRISHMEN ANB 
 
 that Mrs. Burrowes can't stop fretting after. Sure if 
 I had any thing bad to tell, I would have been with 
 you in a hurry; and I was only waiting to hear every 
 word of news, for 'fraid I would have my journey 
 back again if I didn't bring all." 
 
 Mrs. Costigan, who was a parlour visitor, made no 
 small sensation in the kitchen. Mrs. Bnrrowes quick- 
 ly dried her eyes, and forgot her grief in her anxiety 
 to relate, for the third time, the disastrous event of 
 the evening. Mrs. Costigan was interested in every 
 stage of the story; and when it reached the lamenta- 
 ble conclusion, her expressions of anger were to the 
 full as violent as those of the animated narrator. But 
 she had as little sympathy for the gown as Monroe 
 himself, though her indifference was expressed in 
 other terms. 
 
 " Oh ! toss it to the rag-bag at once, nurse. Since 
 she is safe, who cares if it was washed in the ken- 
 nel ? Her old grand-uncle, who gave her that, can 
 give her twenty better ones if he liked it ; and it 
 would be no harm if his purse was open oftener than 
 it is." 
 
 Mrs. Burrowes was nearly as much annoyed by the 
 philosophy of the one comforter, as by the religion of 
 the other. She, however, did not permit any impa- 
 tient expression to escape her, farther than by saying, 
 " Well, well ! it's a pity for all that, to see the good 
 gentleman's present treated worse than the common- 
 est linsey wolsey. But, Mrs. Costigan, I hope you 
 won't take Johnny Monroe's part against me, and want 
 me to be joyful and glad, because my child was near- 
 ly put out of the world/' 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 85 
 
 " Why, then, Johnny, did you leave your senses 
 after you in the army, that there was room for such a 
 thought in your head ?" asked Mrs. Costigan. 
 
 " Mrs. Burrowes, Ma'am," he replied, fc misunder- 
 stands ray meaning, from first to last. I only want- 
 ed to make her sensible that nothing happens by 
 chance, but that the disappointments and trials which 
 the people of God meet with in this world, are all in- 
 tended to work together for their good. It would 
 be foolish to talk of Miss Dora's accident under the 
 name of a misfortune ; yet, trifling as it looks, I will 
 be bold to say, that it was not allowed by Him who 
 rules above, and whose child I well believe she is, 
 without a wise meaning in it. She will see that yet, 
 and be glad he stopped her in her own course. She 
 will see it sometime or other, either here or hereaf- 
 ter how do I know which?" 
 
 " How do you know so much about it, any way ?" 
 inquired Mrs. Costigan, sharply, " that you speak so 
 confidently. How did you travel so far up, as to find 
 out what God thinks, or what he does ? But," she 
 continued very quickly, as if to hinder a reply, "."I 
 believe I guess what you will make answer, and I 
 don't want any conversation of that kind now." Then 
 turning to Mrs. Burrowes, " I am entirely curious, 
 nurse, to know what you did to Lanty ?" 
 
 " Ask Archy Flood there, what he did to him ; and 
 ask the coachman, and Pat Toole, for they were all 
 standing by, and let him walk off cool and easy, 
 without so much as saying one word to him." 
 
 " It was all done, Ma'am," said Flood, " as Mrs. 
 Burrowes well knows, before you could tell the half 
 of it; and when he did the mischief, he was over the 
 
OO IRISHMEN AND 
 
 paling like a shot, so that if we had a hundred legs 
 and arms between us, we could not catch him. But 
 if ever he puts his nose inside the gate again, he'll be 
 sorry for it." 
 
 " Aye, or that old witch his grandmother, who is 
 the hatcher of all the mischief that is done in Ireland," 
 said Mrs. Burro wes. " Mind I tell every one of you, 
 that if Alice O'Neil ever darkens this door" 
 
 Her speech was cut short by the appearance of the 
 very identical Alice, slowly and cautiously opening 
 the door, which so astounded the lady, that she sa 
 staring at her, without the power of .giving. utterance 
 to her indignation. 
 
 But the forbearance of the housekeeper was of no 
 avail to poor Alice, against whom the tongues of all 
 the serv ants were instantly in motion ; and the old 
 woman, who had the credit of being the greatest. scold 
 in the county, was so completely overcome by the 
 torrents of abuse from all quarters, that she could 
 only clasp her hands, and look pitifully round on her 
 persecutors. 
 
 " I beg pardon," said she, the moment she could 
 obtain a hearing <( I beg pardon of yees all, every 
 one of yees, gentle and simple, if ever I offended one 
 of yees, man, woman, or child. It is no pushingness, 
 nor looking for nothing, that brought me out this 
 could blowing night, but that it is through the coun- 
 try that my unfortunate orphant was unmannerly to 
 Miss Dora, and I want to know what he done, that I 
 may punish him when I lay hould on him." 
 
 "Take no trouble about that," said Flood, "for -he 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 87 
 
 wove a web for him self lo-night wilbdo for his wind- 
 ing-sheet. He'll be hung as round as a. ball before he 
 is a quarter older." 
 
 " Andif he deserves it, much good may it do him/' 
 said s the good-natured grandmother. " I will never 
 say one word in his favour. But just tell me which 
 of yees vexed him, to make him behave like what he 
 never did afore ?" 
 
 ' f Go out of the house this minute, you notorious 
 vagrant !" cried the housekeeper, recovering the use 
 of her tongue. " Who knows but you have a bag of 
 gunpowder in your pocket to blow us all up. Go out 
 of the house, I say, and never venture into my pre- 
 sence again !" 
 
 " And look out for a new lodging as quick as you 
 please," said Mrs. Costigan ; "for my 'husband won't 
 suffer bad people on his land. If you don't flit before 
 twelve o'clock to-morrow, I will order the men to 
 tear the roof off your cabin, and scatter the walls of 
 it to the four corners of the parish, before you shall 
 sleep in it another night." 
 
 "And send me back the needle I lent you, Saturday 
 was eight days," added the dairy-maid; "not that 
 I'll ever do a stitch with it again,, only J want to have 
 done with you." 
 
 "And be cautious how you ever pass the gate," 
 said PatToole, the turf-boy, "for my name isn't Pat, 
 if I won't set all the dogs in, the parish after you." 
 
 "Oh! boys and girls," cried Monroe, "keep in 
 mind that sheas a fellow- creature, and has feelings in 
 her mind like one of ourselves. The worst that ever 
 trod the earth oughtn't to be threatened with the 
 
GO IRISHMEN AND 
 
 usage of wild beasts, or despised as if they were not 
 God's making." 
 
 " I like to hear you speak in that way, Johnny," 
 said Ileen, " for though, if I was put to my oath, I 
 darn't say that I loved a bone in the skin of some 
 people, (glancing at Alice,) still I couldn't despise 
 them into the shape of horses and cows." 
 
 " Och ! och !" whined Alice " and isn't the cattle, 
 and the dumb brutes better off nor me this night, with 
 the punishment I have in my body, let alone what 
 you are putting off your tongues again me. Good 
 luck to yees, and lave me in pace the little time I'll 
 be among yees; for I'm going fast with every com- 
 plaint anunder the sun. The back is dropping out of 
 me, I have a cough would kill the world, and all 
 that's nothing to the pain in my bones." 
 
 ee You see, Ma'am," said Monroe, " it mightn't be 
 fair to put much blame upon the poor creature, with- 
 out reasoning cases first. The boy is headstrong, like 
 all that has his failing, and he may be revengeful, as 
 they often are, though I never judged it to be that 
 way with him before. Moreover, last Sunday he was 
 vexed with Miss Dora, for not giving him a bit of a 
 cap when he was unruly ; and it's my belief that that 
 cap brought the trouble on him, without this poor 
 woman having act or part in it." 
 
 " Mr. Monroe/' cried Alice, ' ' if / wasn't expected 
 this minute, I'd make my affidavit about the cap. 
 He stomached it wonderful; though I led him the 
 life of a dog, when he drew it down at-all, at-all. I 
 may lay his going to the bad, entirely upon that 
 school. Before he went to it, he was as biddable as 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 89 
 
 a child ; but after he tuck a book in hand I might 
 whistle for the mile-stone to dance, and it would do it 
 sooner nor he would mind a word from me." 
 
 " To my mind," said Monroe, " and after the judg- 
 ing of others, he was only the better for going to 
 school, Alice." 
 
 " Och ! och !" she continued, " I was the unlucky 
 woman to let him put a foot inside a school, and I 
 never would, only I thought Miss Dora would chas- 
 tise him like any other schoolmaster, and not let him 
 run wild. But I hope she'll wattle him well next 
 Sunday, till his four bones aches for a month." 
 
 " Listen to her !" said Mrs. Burrowes. " You are 
 too ignorant to talk sense to, you pest of an old wo- 
 man. Do you think a lady come of her stock would 
 demean herself to touch that scald-crow of a grand*- 
 son of yours ?" 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Ma'am, for making so bould 
 to speak to yees at all only seeing that she will have 
 him at the book, I thought she might do to him, as is 
 done to every child like him." 
 
 " Child, indeed !" said Mrs. Costigan. " You'll not 
 get out of the scrape that way. I have good reason 
 for knowing that his father was transported sixteen 
 years, last lady-day in harvest ; and he was a lump 
 of a boy, in arms, at the time. Why the ill-thriven 
 thing must be close on eighteen this very minute." 
 
 "You always had the fine memry," said Alice, 
 (C and I hope it will be left with you not like me, 
 who often can't tell if I'm alive or dead. All I know 
 is this, that from the hour he was born, he was my 
 torment, and my drag : and it's a poor thing if he'll 
 
90 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 be my ruin, out and out, with every friend I have in 
 the world/' 
 
 " If you were to go away, Alice/' said Monroe, " it 
 would be no harm. People's minds won't always see 
 the justice of a thing when they are in a confusion^ 
 Mrs. Costigan will think twice, before she puts you 
 out ; and as for the parson, he won't visit the sins of 
 others upon you." 
 
 " Oh ! Mrs. Costigan !" cried the housekeeper, see- 
 ing her about to follow Alice, ce you won't leave the 
 house, till you see them up stairs. We would have 
 fine work on our hands, if the mistress knew you % 
 were here, and didn't see you." 
 
 It was fruitless for Mrs. Costigan to protest and ex- 
 postulate, and show her shoes, and her rumpled cap, 
 and to make haflf-a-hundred other excuses. Flood 
 was despatched to the drawing-room, and the next 
 minute Mr. Milward himself was ushering her up 
 stairs. 
 
 " Sir," said Monroe, who had followed them from 
 the kitchen, " would it be looked on as above my sta- 
 tion, if I asked just to get one look at Miss Dora, 
 and to say a word to her that is in my mind. I won't 
 keep her half a minute, if she only puts her head out 
 of the door to me." 
 
 Dora met her friend in the hall, the moment her fa- 
 ther told her his wishes. 
 
 " Now I am content," said he, " for I see you are 
 not a hair the worse, for that poor deluded creature's 
 evil intentions. Ah ! Miss Dora, be grateful, as you 
 ought, and don't be discontented at what there's 
 some reason for,, if we could see it. Don't be angry 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 91 
 
 with me, Miss ; but I can't help being better pleased 
 to have you sitting with your own dear christianable 
 parents, than flaunting in grandeur with them that 
 leave their souls to chance. You're not angry with 
 me, Miss, for saying so much to you, that maybe isn't 
 my business ?" 
 
 4f Not at all, Mr. Monroe: I am truly obliged for 
 your good wishes and good advice. I am really en- 
 deavouring not to feel my little disappointment, as 
 I am sure it is all for the best. After this evening 
 I shall never throw away a thought on the sub- 
 ject/' 
 
 " You are a wonderful creature for your years ! 
 No, no ; no wonder about it, considering your rear- 
 ing. But I'll not keep you any longer from them who 
 have the best right to your company, and who may 
 well be proud of you only pride don't become us ; 
 and nobody ought to be proud if they could help 
 it." 
 
 Mrs. Costigan had never been at Rathedmond since 
 the death of her child, and had dreaded the first visit, 
 as an event which would strongly bring back recol- 
 lections of a very painful nature ; but fortunately it 
 was made under such circumstances as precluded the 
 possibility of being solely occupied with her own feel- 
 ings. She had a vague idea that she ought to be par- 
 ticularly unhappy, but there was no time to arrange 
 her ideas in their proper order ; and she was, per- 
 haps, glad of the confusion, which gave an odd kind 
 of rest to her mind, by changing its usual bent. 
 Again she asked the same round of questions in the 
 drawing-room, which had been so fully answered in 
 the kitchen ; and again threatened such a full mea- 
 
92 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 sure of vengeance against Lanty and his grandmo- 
 ther, that the injured party had to intercede strongly 
 in their favour. She at length promised, that if Ned 
 Costigan would say nothing about turning them out, 
 she would not plead against them ; and after sitting 
 for some time, prescribing for Mrs. Milward, and ad- 
 miring Mrs. Falconer's netting, and beseeching of 
 Dora to wash her hands entirely of the Sunday-school, 
 summoned Ileen, and Tim Lonegan, the cow-boy, to 
 attend her home. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE interest excited by Miss Mil ward's adventure, 
 which would, at any other time, have supplied ' f ar- 
 gument for, at least, a week/' if not "a good joke for 
 ever," was but of a few hours continuance, being ab- 
 sorbed in that produced by the more serious attack 
 upon Mr. Oglandby, on his return from dining at 
 Charlesborough. As our readers are in full posses- 
 sion of the conspiracy, we shall not keep them in sus- 
 pense as to the event. The intention of the murder- 
 ers was providentially frustrated by their aiming too 
 high ; so that most of the slugs and bullets passed 
 through the roof of the carriage, above the old gen- 
 tleman's head, which had sunk upon his breast while 
 enjoying a comfortable nap; and the coachman, though 
 wounded in the shoulder, was able to drive him home 
 in safety. 
 
 Mr. Oglandby was one of those persons to whom 
 notoriety is every thing. To be born to (e blush un- 
 seen," would have been to him the most dire cala- 
 mity ; and he would at any time have endured a cer- 
 tain quantum of personal inconvenience, provided he 
 was an object of general interest or curiosity. When, 
 therefore, on the following morning he found himself 
 alive and well, and that the coachman's wound was 
 pronounced slight, he enjoyed the degree of conse- 
 quence accruing to him, from the attempt on his life, 
 
94 IRISHMEN ATS f D 
 
 with great satisfaction, which was proportionally 
 increased, when his hat was discovered to be perfor- 
 ated with a bullet a circumstance completely over- 
 looked in the confusion of the preceding night. He 
 gave orders to his servants with a less dictatorial air 
 than usual, as if conscious that his present situation 
 required no extraneous aid to give him consequence 
 in the eyes of the world. The hat was laid on the 
 table, the carriage wheeled within view of the win- 
 dows, the coachman's wounded coat placed in a con- 
 spicuous situation, and he seated himself in his kan- 
 garoo chair, impatiently expecting the arrival of vi- 
 sitors. 
 
 Some of our readers may be inclined to find fault 
 with us for dwelling upon this exhibition of childish 
 vanity, without alluding to those better feelings which 
 must have found place in his mind, when so provi- 
 dentially saved from a violent death. We may be 
 reminded, that the most callous heart will feel a 
 throb of gratitude when the hair-breadth escape is 
 fresh in the memory and it would be gratifying to 
 hear, that one who had been the recipient of manifold 
 mercies for threescore years and ten, would, on so 
 manifest an interference in his favour, offer up the 
 glowing thanksgivings of a grateful heart to the 
 <( Preserver of men." But we have no such gratifying 
 theme on which to expatiate. If ever a flash of pious 
 feeling glanced on his imagination at the recollection 
 of his escape, it was imperceptible to all, but to 
 ({ Him who searcheth the heart/' He appeared stu- 
 diously to avoid all reference to the Great First 
 Cause ; and ascribed his preservation to chance, or 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 95 
 
 good luck, and particularly to the wind, which had 
 blown out the crazy lamps a few minutes before the 
 carriage reached the grove. 
 
 <c You may thank the wind for saving you the ex- 
 pense of putting your whole family in mourning, 
 Harry," said he to Mr. Milward, who was the first 
 to make personal inquiries after him ; " for if the 
 lamps had given them light to take proper aim, you 
 would have been an uncle out of pocket. 1 should 
 have been as dead as a mackarel, Harry." 
 
 " Your thanks, and mine, Sir, are due to him who 
 f walketh upon the wings of the wind,' " replied Mr. 
 Milward. 
 
 " Very well said, indeed, and quite in the way of 
 your profession, which is as it ought to be. But as 
 my trade is not preaching, allow me to express my- 
 self as I please. Look at that hat, Harry : the ball 
 passed within a quarter of an inch of my head. If 
 any body had been sitting with me in the carriage" 
 
 The old gentleman's voice faltered : for though the 
 company of his beautiful niece would have added 
 treble interest to the scene in which he had been a 
 principal actor, yet he could not contemplate the 
 danger she had escaped, without betraying emotions 
 which he considered unmanly; and he summoned 
 a violent fit of coughing to his aid, for the purpose of 
 concealing them. When the paroxysm was over, 
 Mr. Milward, who was scarcely less agitated than 
 himself, endeavoured to improve the subject to his 
 edification, but he suddenly shifted his ground, and 
 asked, with much asperity of manner 
 
 " What is the cause of the present lawless state of 
 the lower orders ? Answer me that, Harry." 
 
96 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " I have repeatedly given you my opinion on that 
 subject, Sir ; but, unfortunately, we do not see the 
 matter in the same light." 
 
 " And I have as repeatedly given you my opinion, 
 and you have as repeatedly shut your eyes against 
 plain, matter-of-fact evidence. Mind, I say, matter- 
 of-fact, Harry. In my young days, the people were 
 quiet, and loyal, and civil, and orderly; yet not one 
 man in fifty could sign his name, or distinguish one 
 letter from another. Then a gentleman might ride, 
 or walk, or drive, at all hours, without the slightest 
 apprehension now you have educated them with a 
 vengeance. Every common labourer on your ground 
 can read, and write, and cypher and what is the 
 consequence ? Look at that hat, and that coat, and 
 that chaise. They speak volumes of matter-of-fact, 
 which all your theories and novelties cannot contra- 
 dict." 
 
 et I am not competent, Sir, to judge of the charac- 
 ter of the lower orders in your young days, except 
 by report, which leads me to suppose it not so very 
 exemplary as you imagine. I have heard of White- 
 boys, and Peep-o'-day-boys, and boys of other deno- 
 minations, all employed in the same outrages all 
 exhibiting the same savage propensities with the 
 Kockites of the present day." 
 
 " They were not half so bad. Their's was mere 
 child's play, compared with the enormities of the 
 educated gentlemen of the present generation : and 
 for this good reason, they had not the power to do 
 mischief to the same extent that power which you 
 and other lady and gentleman philanthropists, have 
 so benevolently supplied to their descendants." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 97 
 
 " They had not the same physical force/' replied 
 Mr. Milward. " The population has increased enor- 
 mously since that period." 
 
 <e Physical nonsense ! They always swarmed like rab- 
 bits in a burrow. Listen to me, Harry. My father, 
 your wife's grandfather, who represented this coun- 
 ty thirty-seven years, and who knew the character 
 of every individual in it, often gave it as his decided 
 opinion, founded on long experience, that the begin- 
 ning of every villany could be traced to the half-do- 
 zen fellows who knew how to read and write. School- 
 master and mischief-monger were synonymous terms 
 with him. And when my own experience is supported 
 by the opinion of such a man, can I look upon your 
 adult schools, and week-day schools, and Sunday 
 schools in any other light, than so many nurseries of 
 insubordination and rebellion ?" 
 
 "Perhaps, Sir, I should agree with your father 
 more than you are aware of; for he could scarcely 
 have a worse opinion of such schoolmasters as he 
 alluded to, than I have. I think they do incalcula- 
 ble mischief; and my efforts have been unceasing to 
 get rid of them out of the country. But to your 
 first position that education has produced such a 
 fearful increase of crime. How do you account for 
 the fact, that the only persons in this, and the neigh- 
 bouring parishes, who have never been implicated in 
 deeds of violence, are those who have received their 
 education in the schools which meet with your so 
 very decided disapprobation?" 
 
 " That is all assertion, Harry. The fact remains 
 to be proved. I say that the whole world is going to 
 
 F 
 
98 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 school, and, of consequence, is growing worse and 
 worse every day." 
 
 " What I have asserted, Sir, can be proved ; and I 
 appeal, not merely to this neighbourhood, but to the 
 country at large, for the proof. There is one very 
 simple mode of gaining information on this point. 
 Search the jails of every county in Ireland, and out 
 of the aggregate of prisoners confined on charges of 
 an outrageous nature, we boldly challenge you to 
 produce one in fifty I might say, an hundred who 
 has had the benefit of a scriptural education." 
 
 " Very fine talk, Harry : and, no doubt, you be- 
 lieve all that you have been saying. However, you 
 must excuse me making a tour of inquiry. I am 
 content to take your word for the truth of your state- 
 ment. But, if education has given such a check to 
 crime, how am I to account for it, that so many of 
 your enlightened pupils are, at this moment, candi- 
 dates, not only for the jail, but for the gallows ?" 
 
 f< That, Sir, is a fact of which I was not before 
 aware." 
 
 " No, Harry, because you willingly shut your eyes 
 against matter of fact. You are not aware, that you 
 and my Lady Thorndale have been educating the 
 parish for the last seventeen years, and that Mr. 
 O'Floggin is also educating hard and fast ? Witness 
 the shoals of dirty little brats running from the cha- 
 pel every Sunday morning, a thing never heard of, 
 till you set the example with your Sunday schools. 
 And you are not aware that an attempt was, last 
 night, made upon my life by some of those fellows, 
 who have learned all sorts of accomplishments in 
 your seminaries ?" 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 99 
 
 " I much doubt the fact, Sir. At all events, time 
 will tell. We have certainly offered the means of 
 education to the whole parish, but you know, full 
 well, that a very small part, indeed, of the population 
 has been permitted to take advantage of it. As to 
 Mr. O'Floggin's system, 1 do not advocate it, believ- 
 ing it, like all others emanating from such quarters, 
 to be worse than bad. Neither would I be supposed 
 to allege, that there may not have been individual in- 
 stances of disappointment in the case of young per- 
 sons who were well instructed. But judging from 
 pretty long experience, I must still persist in declar- 
 ing, that the only counteraction hitherto of any avail 
 to the manifold evils under which this unhappy coun- 
 try suffers, (from whatever causes they may have 
 proceeded,) is the scriptural education which we 
 have been attempting to disseminate among the lower 
 orders." 
 
 f( You will never make a convert of me to your 
 opinion, Harry ; so try your hand upon Fitzcarrol 
 and his puppy of a son, who I see riding down the 
 avenue. I cannot say, but it is very good-natured of 
 them to call so soon, though they are, one and other, 
 the most tiresome pair on the face of the earth." 
 
 Mr. Fitzcarrol, it may be perceived, was not a fa- 
 vourite with the old gentleman ; nor was he more 
 fortunate with any of the aristocracy of the country, 
 being very generally unpopular, by assuming a degree 
 of consequence to which neither his birth, education, 
 or fortune, entitled him. He was the son of a farmer, 
 who, by dint of hard industry, scraped together the 
 purchase-money of a small estate, which, with one 
 or two very valuable leases in perpetuity, made him 
 
 F2 
 
JOG IRISHMEN AND 
 
 what is called a warm man, but never elevated him 
 quite to the rank of a gentleman : whether from his 
 own humility, or that real gentlemen were more com- 
 mon in Ireland at that time than now, we have no 
 data on which to form an opinion. A long minority, 
 and honest guardians, added considerably to the ori- 
 ginal property ; and when the heir arrived at the age 
 of twenty-one, there was a handsome sum in hands, 
 which being judiciously laid out in another purchase, 
 he, at once, started into life as an indubitable, estated 
 gentleman. 
 
 Being a young man of spirit or, in more truth- 
 telling phrase, a very impudent fellow he made the 
 most of himself; and while some laughed at him, 
 and others endeavoured to chill him to a proper 
 distance, others gave way to his pretensions, and 
 quietly permitted him to stand on the same level 
 with themselves, without noticing the awkward jumps 
 he had to make before he arrived at it. Among the 
 acquiescents were the Braymores, a family of some 
 consideration in the country, who patronised him, at 
 first through opposition to the Oglandbys, and after- 
 wards for the more amiable reason of the close con- 
 nexion between them, when one of the daughters of 
 the family condescended to accept him for a husband. 
 There was a good deal of coquetting with the father 
 and brothers, and other relatives, on his first ad- 
 vances ; but there was a superfluity of daughters, 
 with very slender portions, and a lamentable lack of 
 marrying men in the country at the time, so that his 
 overtures were, on the whole, very well received: 
 .and as the head of the house of Austria, when he 
 had matched his daughter with the Corsican parvenu, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 101 
 
 was anxious to trace his descent from some princely 
 stock, so the Braymores broadly insinuated that their 
 new relative was come of gentle blood, though it had 
 flowed through rather muddy channels, for a few ge- 
 nerations, and tacitly apologised for the connection, 
 by a retrospect to a pedigree so ancient, as to mock 
 the researches of that most enthusiastic of all enthu- 
 siasts an Irish antiquary. Napoleon, it is said, had 
 the good taste to despise the petty imposture, and si- 
 lenced his imperial father-in-law, by coldly remark- 
 ing, that he was the Rodolph of his own fortune ; 
 but Hector Fitzcarrol, Esq. entered so fully into the 
 spirit of the hunt after ancestry, that he fairly dis- 
 tanced his wife's relatives, who were afterwards often 
 annoyed by the airs of the young masters and misses 
 Fitzcarrol on the score of family. But none resisted 
 the ancestorial encroachments like the Oglandbys. 
 They had borne much in dignified silence had 
 merely shrugged their shoulders at the enclosure of 
 a deer-park at Carrolsfort, formerly Bally Geraghty 
 had calmly tolerated the two silver soup-tureens, 
 though much handsomer than those at Oglandby Cas- 
 tle ; but when he talked of his family, they resisted 
 the intrusion on their privileged ground with a de- 
 gree of heat more than the provocation might be 
 supposed to deserve; and consequently, the feud 
 which from time immemorial had subsisted between 
 them and the Braymores, broke out with double ani- 
 mosity. 
 
 Still Hector pushed his way, and aimed at being a 
 leading man in the county, which had already more 
 than a sufficiency of such worrying personages. He 
 found it, however, difficult to gain much ground, be- 
 
102 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 fore the Union ; but when that measure was effected, 
 he advanced half-a-dozen steps without much effort. 
 One or two large estates were sold in divisions, and 
 the proprietors fled in despair to England. The heir 
 of the Oglandbys, never afterwards visited the seat of 
 his ancestors, content with drawing regularly every 
 shilling of his rents Lord Colverston seldom resided 
 many months together in Ireland; and Sir Ralph 
 Thorndale was born to be a very second-rate kind of 
 personage, at any period, or in any country. But the 
 tide in his affairs which led on to fortune, was his 
 sudden change of politics, in the very nick of time. 
 From being a furious Protestant, he at once became 
 a decided emancipator, and got all the credit of his 
 brother-in-law's change of sentiments, being six 
 months in the field before Mr. Braymore read his re- 
 cantation in the House of Commons. Now he was 
 really the idol of the Roman Catholics., who before 
 regarded him with pretty nearly the same feelings, as 
 those indulged by the African slave towards his whip- 
 wielding overseer. He was eulogized from every al- 
 tar, and huzzaed as he passed through the markets, 
 and trumpeted in all the public prints which advo- 
 cated the cause of emancipation. In return for these 
 grateful and gratifying demonstrations of public con- 
 sideration, he oratorized, and blustered, and prophe- 
 sied, and abused the police and Lord Colverston. A 
 few days before the attack on Mr. Oglandby, he had, 
 at a meeting of magistrates, pledged himself to pre- 
 serve the peace of the country, with the assistance of 
 Mr. O'Floggin, provided Lady Thorndale would dis- 
 miss her schoolmistress, who was a convert, and not 
 require the Roman Catholic children to read the Tes- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 103 
 
 tament. Her Ladyship, who was " every thing by 
 starts, and nothing long/' was more complying than 
 he either expected or desired : the schoolmistress was 
 packed off at a moment's warning, and the Testa- 
 ments locked up. He was, therefore, puzzled how to 
 redeem his pledge; and, for the first time during 
 many years, he felt a slight sensation of awkward- 
 ness creeping over him, as he slowly followed the ser- 
 vant into Mr. Oglandby's study. 
 
 His son, Mr. Conolly Fitzcarrol, was as little at 
 ease, though from a totally different cause. He was 
 the counterpart of his father, except that he had even 
 more pretensions ; for, whereas the elder only aimed 
 at being a great man, the son's ambition was to be 
 also a fine man. Some specimens of English finery, 
 which now and then appeared at Lord Colverston's, 
 or Sir Ralph Thorn dale's, had early impressed him 
 with an ardent desire to be like them; and he caie- 
 fully registered every word, look, and motion, to be 
 used on their appropriate occasions. Two flying visits 
 to London had contributed to perfect what these oc- 
 casional advantages had begun not, we must con- 
 fess, that even the name of Fitzcarrol could get him 
 into good company, or indeed into any company, pro- 
 perly so called ; but any body acquainted with Lon- 
 don, knows that there are most valuable opportunities 
 of improvement in air, &c. to be had, not only at the 
 opera, but also at bazaars, and other fashionable 
 lounges, where a young man, anxious for improve- 
 ment, may copy after the most approved models, and 
 from their operations in public, can form a tolerably 
 good idea, how they comport themselves in private. 
 There is, however, this disadvantage to a person in 
 
104 'IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Mr. Conolly Fitzcarrol's circumstances, that it is im- 
 possible to be prepared by such casual glances, for all 
 the changes in fashionable manners, which often take 
 place at head-quarters ; nor will the transplantation 
 of a single exotic, for a few weeks, to Ireland, be al- 
 ways satisfactory. Some plants will only flourish in 
 their mother earth remove them with the greatest 
 care, and adapt the soil and temperature as much as 
 possible to their original situations, and still they in- 
 sensibly degenerate. A stranger may be deceived 
 into thinking that he sees them in full perfection ; but 
 he, who has had the good fortune to admire them in 
 their native bed, perceives the difference immediately. 
 The shape of the flower is the same, but the brilli- 
 ancy of tint is wanting, and the fragrant odour is 
 scarcely perceptible. 
 
 Thus it is with the importations of English high 
 life, which, like meteoric flashes, sometimes illumin- 
 ate our foggy atmosphere ; and we seriously give it 
 as our opinion, that it is not safe to take them as pat- 
 terns, if their stay be protracted beyond a fortnight. 
 They positively deteriorate, unless they have the ad- 
 vantage of the mess-table, or at least go in pairs, or 
 are morally headless and heartless. 
 
 In the preceding autumn, the Honourable Colonel 
 Toppington, who paid a long promised visit to the 
 Marquess of , contrived for a few days to 
 
 preserve the exquisite edge of high-breeding unblunt- 
 ed; but whether he wanted a companion to keep him 
 in countenance, or discovered that he was " wasting 
 his sweetness on the desert air/' he, at once, disencum- 
 bered himself of his panoply, offensive and defensive ; 
 and in a shooting excursion through the province^ 
 
IRISH WOM EN. 105 
 
 metamorphosed himself so completely, that on his ar- 
 rival at Traffield House, he was only an unaffected, 
 elegant gentleman, willing to be pleased, and cheer- 
 fully accommodating himself to the habits and feel- 
 ings of those with whom he associated. Poor Con- 
 olly was completely taken in. He knew that Colonel 
 Toppington was the very essence of fashion ; and not 
 being aware, that he saw him at one of those times, 
 when nature, however bolted and barred out at other 
 times, and kept at arms length by the sword of 
 fashion, will force her way, and resume for a time her 
 dominion, took for granted, that nature had nothing 
 to do with the matter, and set to, with might and 
 main, to imitate the lively, playful, and thoroughly 
 well-bred manners of the English fashionable. During 
 fourteen happy months, he was Colonel Toppington ; 
 and was congratulating himself on his good fortune 
 in having met with such a phoenix, when the arrival 
 of the sleepy, lisping, lounging, vegetating Lord Farn- 
 mere, who was gazetted as the non plus ultra of per- 
 fection, opened his eyes to the delusion under which 
 he had lain so long, and called upon him imperatively 
 to retrace his steps. But how was this to be done ? 
 Light and darkness were not more opposite than his 
 two prototypes ; and the sudden transition from the 
 airy gaiety of the one, to the pensive listlessness of 
 the other, would inevitably draw down upon him the 
 ridicule of his half-hundred cousins, the Braymores, 
 who were generally not very delicate in their raillery. 
 The dilemma in which he was placed was therefore 
 very distressing ; but on the present occasion he made 
 up his mind to practise on Mr. Milward, and a few 
 
 F3 
 
106 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 quiet people, who arrived soon after at the Car- 
 ragh. 
 
 We shall not detain our readers by describing any 
 of the other visitors, now rapidly dropping in we 
 shall let them speak for themselves in the following 
 chapter. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 107 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " IT is the most unaccountable thing I ever heard 
 of," said Mr. Fitzcarrol, after hearing Mr. Oglandby's 
 story, and subjecting the hat and coat to a very se- 
 vere scrutiny. " I never remember the country so 
 quiet as at this moment, except the usual murmurs 
 about tithes and parish-cess, which are enough to 
 raise a rebellion at any time. You must excuse me, 
 Mr. Milward, speaking my mind so freely ; but things 
 are coming to a crisis, and there is no use in mincing 
 matters. I fear we must expect very bad doings, 
 indeed, till there is some change in the mode of pay- 
 ing gentlemen of your cloth." 
 
 " Upon my honour, Mr. Fitzcarrol," said a red- faced, 
 elderly man, with something of a gentlemanly air, 
 though rather shabbily dressed, " they think it a hard- 
 ship to pay their dues to gentlemen of any cloth, as 
 I find to my cost." 
 
 " Could it be possible," continued Mr. Fitzcarrol, 
 addressing himself to Mr. Oglandby, without noticing 
 the last speaker, " that this affair, which certainly 
 has an ugly look, might be nothing more than the 
 awkwardness of a few idle boys, who were shooting 
 owls in the grove ? They very often make parties 
 there for that purpose." 
 
 " Not at-all unlikely," replied the old gentleman, 
 sarcastically. " It is so usual for boys to go out 
 fowling with blunderbusses loaded with slugs. You 
 
108 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 are an old sportsman, Willy," speaking to him with 
 the red face, " and what is your opinion on this 
 point ?" 
 
 " Ah ! What matter about the opinion of a man 
 down in the world like me ?" said Willy. (f But if I 
 was what I was, the first day I put on my regimen- 
 tals, I would say that I never heard so outlandish a 
 come-off, since the hour my grandfather sold my 
 lawful property, for an old song, to Mr. Fitzcarrol's 
 father there." 
 
 " I merely mentioned the thing as a possibility," 
 said Fitzcarrol, still turning a deaf ear to Willy, "for 
 I really cannot account for it otherwise. I was 
 speaking to Terence Mulvaney, on my way here, this 
 morning you know Terence a shrewd, sensible 
 man; and he agreed with me, that it was altogether 
 unaccountable. He assured me that you were always 
 a very popular character, which I could vouch for 
 myself; and when I hinted, that perhaps the eject- 
 ment of those ten families, last May, might have in- 
 jured your popularity, he protested that it was no 
 such thing, as they were universally esteemed a nui- 
 sance." 
 
 " Oh! fair and softly, Hector," cried Willy ; "the 
 poor people had as good a character as their neigh- 
 bours : and if they did turn their little oats into a 
 drop of whiskey, why, small blame to them, in that 
 back place, where it was hard for the guager to come 
 at them unknownst considering, too, the ready sale 
 it had with the gentlemen, not leaving yourself out 
 of the number ; for many a keg was left in my dung- 
 hill, till your driver would come at night to carry it 
 off." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 109 
 
 "Mr. Geraghty," said Hector, drawing him self up, 
 * f if you interrupt me every moment, it is impossible 
 that we can proceed with business. Mulvaney also 
 told me, that you had behaved so generously to your 
 worthless tenants that your character, as a landlord, 
 was higher than ever. The only cause of discontent, 
 that we could trace in any quarter, was your refusal of 
 ground to the Methodists, for building a meeting- 
 house. I merely throw out this as a hint. They are, 
 generally speaking, very plausible in the present day ; 
 but we know what they did in Oliver Cromwell's 
 time." 
 
 " You must excuse me, Sir, for reminding you," 
 said Mr. Myars, a young curate, from a neighbour- 
 ing parish, " that the Methodists are of much later 
 origin than the period to which you refer." 
 
 " You must excuse me in return, my good Sir," re- 
 torted Mr. Fitzcarrol, with unblushing effrontery, "if 
 I presume to contradict a gentleman of the learned 
 profession ; but the page of history lies open to all, 
 and I appeal to it, in support of what I have ad- 
 vanced." 
 
 f ' Oh ! upon my honour, Mr. Myars," said Willy, 
 " there's no use in denying it among friends; for sure, 
 none of us would make a blowing-horn of it against 
 our clergy ; but I read as good as twenty times in 
 histories, that Oliver Cromwell was nothing more nor 
 less than a Methodist preacher." 
 
 " I cannot understand you, gentlemen," persisted 
 the curate, "unless you give the name of Methodist 
 to all religious enthusiasts ; for otherwise, the page 
 of history, instead of witnessing in your favour, must 
 tell point blank against you." 
 
110 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 He had unconsciously helped the historian out of 
 the slough, into which his ignorance had plunged him. 
 He looked at him with an air of triumph. 
 
 " You have found out my meaning at last, I see ; 
 which, I think, was pretty plain from the beginning. 
 However, as the subject seems a tender one, we shall 
 drop it, if you please. You had a very pleasant par- 
 ty at Thorndale's yesterday, Mr. Oglandby?" 
 
 " Yes : and a very pleasant drive home," he' an- 
 swered gruffly. 
 
 "Come, come, Sir, you must not let your mind 
 dwell upon such a gloomy topic. You will find, on 
 investigation, that it was a mere drunken frolic, or 
 something of that kind ; for I pledge my word, that 
 the country never was so quiet as at this time, and it 
 is likely to continue so." 
 
 " I thought you were apprehensive of serious dis- 
 turbances, on account of the tithe system ?" said Mr. 
 Ford, agent to Lord Farnmere. 
 
 " I hope I may be a false prophet," answered Hec- 
 tor, pompously. " I should be sorry to hurt the fee- 
 lings of any one present, but I cannot help saying, 
 that I do not wonder at any desperate act being per- 
 petrated by the lower orders, while writhing under 
 such an iniquitous burden." 
 
 " Then plague on them," cried Mr. Oglandby, in a 
 passion, " why do they not wreak their vengeance on 
 the guilty? Why shoot me, when Harry Milward 
 is the delinquent ? Nay, why not give precedence to 
 Mr. Hector Fitzcarrol himself, who rents the recto- 
 rial tithes of seven parishes from my Lord Farnmere? 
 And a very pretty income he has by them." 
 
 " Capital !" roared Hector, bursting into a horse 
 
IRISHWOMEN. Ill 
 
 laugh. " That is the best hit you have made these 
 seven years ; and I confess you have turned the ta- 
 bles on me completely. So I knock under as to tithes. 
 But, joking apart to prove to you what is the gene- 
 ral opinion of the state of the country, my wife and 
 daughters have teazed me into giving a ball this day 
 se'nnight. They were busy writing the invitations 
 when I left home ; and I venture my life, that, let the 
 croakers say what they may, we shall not get a sin- 
 gle excuse on the plea of danger. By the bye, Par- 
 son/' addressing Mr. Milward, " I hope you will not 
 be so strait-laced as to hinder your daughter from 
 joining the other young people in an innocent dance ? 
 Heh! am I to suppose that silence gives con- 
 sent ?" 
 
 " No/' said Mr. Milward ; " though very much 
 obliged for the invitation." 
 
 " Is there any truth in the story which my steward 
 told me this morning, of a very narrow escape which 
 Miss Milward had, last night, of being murdered by a 
 maniac ?" inquired Mr. Ford. 
 
 " Harry, come over here," said Mr. Oglandby, 
 " and speak loud enough for me to hear you. I want 
 to know what you did with the fellow who so cleverly 
 saved Dora from being taken for an owl by Mr. Fitz- 
 carrol's frolicsome Methodists ? " 
 
 Mr. Conolly Fitzcarrol lounged to a window at the 
 farthest end of the room. 
 
 " I pity my poor father," said he to Mr. Myars, 
 who was the only person in company, apparently in- 
 clined to converse with him ' ' to be bored for ever 
 in this way. No public business can be transacted 
 without him unfortunately it is the tax must be paid 
 
IRISHMEN AND 
 
 for a certain rank in society, though I fear I shall ne- 
 ver be able to submit to it, when obliged to take his 
 place. At present, thank my stars, I am nobody, and 
 I mean to enjoy my nonentity as long as 1 can. 
 Were you of the party at Charlesborough, yester- 
 day?" 
 
 "No; Sir Ralph Thorndale has never visited me." 
 
 " That is very strange, indeed ! My father makes 
 it a point to visit every clergyman within twelve 
 miles, which he looks upon as his range. You had a 
 very great loss in not meeting Lord Farnmere, who is 
 one of the nicest persons I ever saw." 
 
 " I should have been glad to have an opportunity of 
 speaking to him, about establishing one or two schools 
 on his property," said Mr. Myars. (( Do you think it 
 likely that he will give encouragement to such appli- 
 cations ?" 
 
 " Our conversations have turned upon such very 
 different topics, that it is impossible for me to form 
 an opinion. He speaks very little, at least in the 
 mixed society at Charlesborough, though extremely 
 agreeable in a tete-a-tete. Judging from what I have 
 seen, I should say that he would be entirely influ- 
 enced by the example of those persons who take the 
 lead, and give the tone to good society." 
 
 " And may I ask you, as you seem to understand 
 these things, whether it be the fashion at present, 
 among those people to whom you allude, to inter- 
 est themselves in the education of their poor ten- 
 antry ?' 
 
 " I am afraid to speak very decidedly on that head, 
 lest I should innocently lead you astray. Perhaps I 
 am rather inclined to think that any thing connected 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 113 
 
 with that species of religion, which was the fashion 
 for some years in this neighbourhood, is not very 
 likely to meet with encouragement in a certain quar- 
 ter. Let it go no farther, for I tell you this in strict 
 confidence, that Lady Thorndale always orders the 
 Bibles to be removed from the bed-rooms and dress- 
 ing-rooms, when visitors of a certain rank are ex- 
 pected." 
 
 " That is what I call shameful trimming, if not 
 abominable hypocrisy," said Mr. Myars. 
 
 tt What can we do ?" asked his informer, patheti- 
 cally. " If we live in the world, we cannot run coun- 
 ter to those who compose it, in the strict sense of the 
 word. But remember, I am not speaking ex cathedra, 
 not having been in town for upwards of two years ; 
 and consequently depending for information upon se- 
 cond-hand authorities, sometimes contradictory, and 
 never satisfactory. I assure you there are times when 
 I feel quite annoyed at the state of indecision in which 
 one is forced to live. Now, to give you one instance 
 out of a hundred, I have been puzzled to a degree, 
 absolutely distressing, for a very long time, about the 
 pronunciation of the name of the poet who wrote 
 " the Task/' and other religious poems. You know 
 who I mean. Lady Thorndale pronounces it as if 
 compounded of the animal Cow and per ; and Mrs. 
 Falconer, and that set, pronounce it as if written Coo. 
 I confess I do not know which to follow. The Thorn- 
 dales, between ourselves, are nobodies in town ; and 
 Mrs. Falconer, besides being a religious character, 
 never goes beyond Bath, which is completely second- 
 hand. So you can form some idea of the difficulties 
 under which we labour, in this remote place. Indeed 
 
114 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 I am so alive to them that I never mention the name, 
 or allude to the poems by the slightest hint." 
 
 fe I wonder you give yourself any uneasiness about 
 such nonsense/' said Mr. Myars. "If you pay so 
 unbounded deference to the opinion of the world, 
 why not chime in with all parties, and let him be 
 CWper or Cooper, according to the fancy of the 
 speaker?" 
 
 At this somewhat rude speech, Conolly was roused 
 to a sense of the folly he had been unwittingly guilty 
 of, in committing himself so indiscreetly. He had in- 
 tended confessing himself into a first-rate man of 
 fashion, whereas, in the innocency of his heart, he had 
 acknowledged that he was little more than an ama- 
 teur. He had, however, this consolation, that his au- 
 ditor, though a very good man, was a very dull one, 
 and would probably forget his unlucky exposure of 
 himself. Still, his situation was not particularly corr- 
 fortable, as the stood together in the window ; and 
 he hailed with joy the appearance of a carriage com- 
 ing up the avenue, from which, in a few minutes, 
 stepped Sir Ralph Thorndale, and, if not the wonder- 
 working, at least, the wonder-raising, Lord Viscount 
 Farnmere. 
 
 Mr. Oglandby was now as happy as notoriety 
 could make him. He was the undoubted object of 
 general interest ; and he felt so good-humoured, and 
 so self-satisfied, as to give very few indications of 
 contempt or impatience, while Mr. Fitzcarrol still 
 kept the lead in conversation, and spoke more loudly 
 and dictatorially than before the arrival of the titled 
 personages. 
 
 " Now, Thorndale," said he, " after that you have 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 115 
 
 heard all the pros and cons, what do you think we 
 should do ? We ought to stir a little. Don't you think 
 so?" 
 
 " The moment I heard of this very dreadful out- 
 rage/' said Sir Ralph, " I wrote to Lord Colverston, 
 to consult with him on the propriety of calling on the 
 High Sheriff to convene a meeting of the magistrates 
 and landed proprietors. I have not yet got his an- 
 swer, and I shall act very much according to his sug- 
 gestions." 
 
 "Oh I a meeting, to be sure; and I suppose a 
 handsome reward offered for information. I only hope 
 that we shall be unanimous, and that nobody will en- 
 deavour to run away with the business, and represent 
 the country as in a state of insurrection. I candidly 
 confess that the circumstance has a very ugly look ; 
 but I have little doubt that it will be proved either 
 to have been accident, or an attempt at highway rob- 
 bery a species of outrage from which no country is 
 exempt at all times." Then turning to Lord Farn- 
 mere, who had retreated to the window, lately occu- 
 pied by the young gentlemen, he continued " We 
 must not let your Lordship be driven from us by a 
 bug-a-boo story of this kind. We are not half so bad 
 as some people would make us. I wish you would 
 give us a little more of your company, and you would 
 find that the more you knew of us, the more you 
 would like us." 
 
 A slight motion of his lordship's lips and eye-lids 
 was the only notice vouchsafed to Hector's address, 
 and Mr. Oglandby gladly took advantage of the mo- 
 mentary pause, occasioned by this pantomimic mode 
 of reply, to gain some attention to himself. 
 
116 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Ralph," he began, with solemnity, "when the 
 representative of my family, and most of my old 
 friends, left the country, I still remained in it, con- 
 ceiving it my duty to live upon my property, though 
 you are aware that I had many inducements to make 
 me follow their example. I had hoped to have passed 
 the remainder of my days among you, but the occur- 
 rence of last night puts that out of the question. I 
 am forced to become an absentee. So, though it may 
 be necessary for the public good, that you should ex- 
 ert yourself to preserve the peace of the county, yet, 
 so far as I am concerned individually, you need not 
 take much trouble. 1 shall write by this night's post 
 to my son, to meet me next week in Bath, where I 
 think of settling for the remainder of my life." 
 
 " I entreat you, my dear Sir," said Ralph, " to con- 
 sider the matter very seriously, before you take so 
 decided a step. To change your habits so entirely, 
 at your time of life, might be attended with the worst 
 consequences to your health, besides the loss you 
 would be to your friends, and the country at large." 
 
 "Upon my honour, Mr. Oglandby," said Willy 
 Geraghty, half crying, " it is nothing short of a sin, 
 to hear you talk in that way. What would you go 
 away for ? Just to let us all be trampled on, and 
 give a crow to them that would be glad to get rid of 
 all the old stock, that they might hold their heads 
 high, and tell the people there is nobody like them- 
 selves." 
 
 " I had certainly hoped," said Mr. Oglandby, in the 
 same strain, " to have died among you, as I lived 
 among you." 
 
 (e So you will," cried Hector, " in spite of this little 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 117 
 
 brush. And instead of going to England to your son, 
 send him an order to come home and protect you, as 
 he ought to do, if you apprehend danger to your per- 
 son." 
 
 "Where was Arthur when you last heard from 
 him ?" asked the baronet quickly, anxious to draw 
 off his attention from Hector, whose vulgar famili- 
 arity was fast exhausting his patience. 
 
 " He was on the wing from Paris," replied the old 
 gentleman'; " but somebody told me at your house 
 yesterday, (I suppose it was my Lord Farnmere,) 
 that he had seen him in London a few days ago. My 
 Lord, did you not tell me that you had lately met my 
 son, General Oglandby, in London ?" 
 
 Lord Farnmere looked bewildered, and, on this oc- 
 casion, only moved his eye-brows. 
 
 (C I say/' he repeated, in a louder tone, ef did not 
 your Lordship say you had met my son, some short 
 time since, in London ?" 
 
 " Wat does he mean ?" inquired the Viscount, from 
 Conolly Fitzcarrol, who occupied a chair near him. 
 
 " I believe he asks you, my Lord, if you have not 
 lately met General Oglandby in London." 
 
 " 1 have some vague recollection," lisped his Lord- 
 ship, apparently addressing himself to the fire-place, 
 " of having, somewhere, heard the name, but I have 
 not the honour of being personally" 
 
 The remainder of the speech died away in indis- 
 tinct murmurs, as he quietly relapsed into his usual 
 sleepy attitude. 
 
 Sir Ralph, who knew that Lord Farnmere would 
 receive no more quarter than Hector himself, if the 
 
118 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 old gentleman's wrath once broke bounds, again in- 
 terposed 
 
 (( It was Maitland, Sir, who mentioned having seen 
 Arthur. They are old acquaintances, having served 
 together in the Peninsula. But, my dear Sir, I ear- 
 nestly request you to wait the result of an investiga- 
 tion, before you resolve upon a measure which would 
 be seriously deplored by your friends." 
 
 Mr. Oglandby persisted for some time in his plan 
 of expatriation ; but at length, overcome by the soli- 
 citations of all present, particularly Willy Geraghty, 
 who threatened to sell all and follow him to Bath, he 
 promised to do nothing in a hurry, but to be guided 
 by the discoveries likely to be made, on the projected 
 inquiry. 
 
 In the mean time, Conolly Fitzcarrol, who was en- 
 couraged by the application to him on the dis- 
 puted point of General Oglandby, resolved not to 
 lose an opportunity of establishing an acquaintance, 
 which might, hereafter, be advantageous to him. It 
 certainly required some nerve to commence ope- 
 rations, but he screwed his courage to the stick- 
 ing-place, and after one or two minor coughs, thus 
 began : 
 
 " What a very narrow escape Miss Milward had 
 last night ! From the direction which some of the 
 balls took, she must have been inevitably shot, had 
 she been in the carriage at the time." 
 
 " Were you speaking to me?" asked the fine man, 
 with petrifying civility. 
 
 " I was alluding to the very fortunate escape of 
 Miss Milward," said Conolly, somewhat out of coun- 
 tenance. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 119 
 
 <c Wat is she ?" again asked the Viscount, with 
 something of the manner in which a good-natured 
 person addresses a child, who is interested about 
 some babyish distress of its own. 
 
 Poor Conolly felt the awkwardness of his situation, 
 without knowing how to extricate himself from it. 
 He was, therefore, constrained to confess that the 
 lady in question was nothing more than an Irish 
 clergyman's daughter a species of being, which it 
 was evident Lord Farnmere did not know how to 
 class under any head that could ever possibly come 
 within the range of his consideration. There was, 
 however, one redeeming circumstance, which might 
 in some degree, excuse the interest he had unfortu- 
 nately expressed in her fate, and he gained a little 
 confidence, as he brought it forward. 
 
 " She is an uncommonly fine girl. Indeed, I may 
 say uncommonly so. The Duke of Beaudesert, who 
 saw her one morning at Traffield House, could 
 speak of nothing else the whole day. He repeat- 
 edly said to me, that she was the loveliest woman 
 he had ever seen. I am sure I am repeating his 
 words literally." 
 
 But even the literal rehearsal of his Grace of Beau- 
 desert's opinion, failed to produce any effect. Lord 
 Farnmere still looked as if his language was totally 
 unintelligible ; and Conolly, abashed and mortified, 
 was wishing himself at the other end of the room, if 
 his retreat could be managed at all creditably to 
 himself, when he was most unexpectedly extricated 
 from his embarrassment by the approach of Willy 
 Geraghty, who, making a very tolerable bow, took 
 
120 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 possession of the seat vacated by Conolly, and bend- 
 ing forward, began without further preface 
 
 " I have the pleasure of introducing myself to your 
 Lordship. My name is Geraghty. I live only a few 
 fields off. Sir Ralph might have showed you the 
 house, as you drove along the road. It's but a poor 
 place enough, with a little bit of land that keeps a 
 horse and a couple of cows : but I once had a pretty 
 estate of my own, only my grandfather sold it, 
 before I was born, to them Fitzcarrols, for a trifle, as 
 all the world can tell your Lordship, as well as myself." 
 
 Lord Farnmere's usually half-shut eyes opened, as 
 it were involuntarily, into a broad stare ; and, for the 
 first time since his arrival in Ireland, he seemed tho- 
 roughly awake. 
 
 se Sir Ralph," continued Willy, without waiting for 
 an answer, " was saying this minute, that you were 
 fond of shooting, and as nobody knows where the 
 best sport is to be had, better than myself, I would 
 be a great acquisition to you ; and I will give you 
 my company, with all the pleasure in life, any day 
 you want me." 
 
 Still his Lordship continued staring, but showed no 
 other symptom of having the full possession of his 
 faculties. 
 
 " Maybe he's deaf," thought Willy to himself, and 
 bending forward, he pitched his voice to a louder 
 key: 
 
 " I was well acquainted with your Lordship's uncle, 
 Sir Fenton Leatherbrace. He often dined at our 
 mess, and was most partial to me of all the officers, 
 knowing me to be a good shot. Many's the pleasant 
 day we had together. And now that I see your 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 121 
 
 Lordship close, upon my honour, 1 can remark a strong 
 family likeness between you, only you an't near so 
 gross : but that will come naturally, when you are 
 his years ; and it is always an improvement, in my 
 mind, when there isn't too much of it. Every thing 
 in reason is my motto." 
 
 The assault became now really serious. The bar- 
 riers behind which Lord Farnmere had entrenched 
 himself, and which were, in general, sufficient to keep 
 off a common enemy, were no protection against the 
 inroad of the barbarian, who had so unexpectedly 
 fixed himself in his neighbourhood. In this extremi- 
 ty, he again looked for succour to the convenient 
 friend, who had come to his assistance on a former 
 occasion ; but Conolly had taken his stand behind 
 Mr. Oglandby's chair, and was practising his own 
 sickly smile, and vacant look, while the mysterious 
 conduct of Lanty M'Grail was under consideration. 
 He was, therefore, as a last resource, driven to his 
 tooth-pick a weapon, either offensive or defensive, 
 as it is managed : and having once more closed his 
 eyes, and opened his mouth, he lolled back in his 
 chair, and began using the little instrument most in- 
 dustriously. 
 
 Willy took the hint. 
 
 " My Lord/' said he, rising, " I see that your 
 Lordship is not inclined for conversation ; or maybe 
 you have taken offence at something I have said; 
 though, upon my honour, I had no reason for intro- 
 ducing myself to your Lordship, but just to offer my 
 civilities to a stranger, as is the custom between gen- 
 tlemen in Ireland, However, my Lord, there is no 
 accounting for fancies. One man's meat is another 
 G 
 
122 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 man's poison ; and, my Lord, if it pleases your Lord- 
 ship to take in bad part any thing I have said, I am, 
 my Lord, willing to give your Lordship satisfaction 
 on the spot." 
 
 Willy's red face blushed into positive scarlet, while 
 he spoke; and Lord Farnmere, who, though not over- 
 burdened with sense, had sufficient to know, that little 
 credit could accrue to him from an affair of honour 
 with such an antagonist, quickly pocketed his tooth- 
 pick, and muttered, in a hurry, two or three short 
 sentences, in which the words " obliged," and " re- 
 spectable gentleman," and " not at all offended," 
 were very distinctly pronounced. 
 
 Willy, who was easily appeased, begged that his 
 Lordship would say no more about it, as it was all a 
 mistake ; and was going to propose shaking hands, in 
 token of friendship, when luckily Sir Ralph Thorn- 
 dale called for his carriage, and came to the rescue of 
 his noble guest. 
 
 <c I am now at your service, Lord Farnmere," said 
 he, coming forward. " We have agreed to hold our 
 meeting as early as possible, that we may have the 
 benefit of your co-operation. It is rather fortunate, 
 since this unpleasant affair has occurred, that you 
 should be here at the time: and, no doubt, you 
 will take an early opportunity of calling the attention 
 of Parliament to the disturbed state of this coun- 
 try." 
 
 That the excitement caused by Willy's civilities 
 had not yet subsided, is the only way we have of 
 accounting for the great degree of animation with 
 which Lord Farnmere now moved and spoke. 
 
 " I seldom speak in the house," said he, " and ne- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 123 
 
 ver on matters connected with Ireland, they are so 
 endless and unintelligible. While the question of 
 emancipation was being agitated,, we always voted 
 for it, to get rid of it as soon as possible : and after 
 the relief bill passed, we hoped to hear no more of 
 Ireland, but that you would settle your own affairs 
 among yourselves. You must, therefore excuse me, 
 if I cannot interfere in your affairs. In fact I always 
 leave the house, when the subject is being brought 
 forward, unless particularly requested to stay and 
 vote." 
 
 " Ah ! Parson dear/' said Willy, when the great folk 
 had taken leave, " is it any wonder that poor Ireland 
 is down, if we are left to the mercy of skips like that 
 poor creature ? Now, do you think it would be a sin 
 for a man to refuse obeying the laws made by such 
 as he, who confesses that he don't understand any 
 thing about us ?" 
 
 " The duty of a Christian/' answered Mr. Mil- 
 ward, " is to obey the laws of his country, whatever 
 they may be, or by whomsoever made, provided they 
 do not interfere with his duty to God." 
 
 " Oh ! I knew I was wrong, though I asked the 
 question. And don't think I want to do any thing 
 out of the way ; for it is only when taken by sur- 
 prise, as I was a minute or two ago, (more shame for 
 me,) that I give way to bad thoughts and bad pas- 
 sions. Upon my honour, parson, you may believe me, I 
 have a guard over myself more than you give me 
 credit for. But is it not enough to vex a man out- 
 right, to be snuffed at by one, who is more like a 
 mummer, or a stick dressed up in baby-rags, than a 
 peer of the realm ? Ah ! did you see his rings, and 
 G 2 
 
124 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 his pins, and all the band-box flummery he had about 
 him ?" 
 
 "I will tell you what I did not see/' said Mr. 
 Mil ward : " I did not see you at church last Sun- 
 day." 
 
 " And who was to blame for that, parson, but the 
 gossoon yourself advised me to take, because nobody 
 else would be bothered with so clumsy a brute ? I 
 gave him my boots to clean in the morning, and he 
 must let the young dog run away with the right foot, 
 and after hunting for it for two hours, it was found 
 in the cow-house, in a fine condition, as you may see 
 by the patch on the toe, where the unlucky cur gnaw- 
 ed it." 
 
 " Willy," said Mr. Oglandby, who had just bowed 
 out the last of his visitors, <e you must stay dinner. 
 Your own bed is, as usual, ready for you. Harry, 
 there is no use in asking you, so I advise you to go 
 home while you have day-light ; for though the great 
 Hector blusters about the peaceable inclinations of 
 our neighbours, that hat, and that coat, and that 
 chaise, tell a very different story. Good bye, Harry. 
 Send Dora to see me to-morrow, and in the mean time 
 give her my love." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 125 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AFTER Lanty's freak, Miss Milward's walks, which 
 sometimes extended to a mile from the house, were 
 in family conclave, circumscribed within the narrow 
 limits of the glebe. At any other time, this would 
 have been looked upon as a melancholy privation by 
 the young lady, who enjoyed a scamper through the 
 fields, pretty nearly as much as her attendant, Figa- 
 ro: but the events of the memorable Wednesday 
 evening had so far diminished her confidence in her 
 numerous friends, (and every person within her range 
 was heretofore accounted a friend,) that on the fol- 
 lowing Saturday, when the day was as favourable for 
 a long walk, as a hard frost and clear sky could make 
 it, she unrepiningly paced the monotonous round of a 
 very small shrubbery, without feeling any wish to have 
 her bounds enlarged. Still, like every duty- walk, no 
 matter whether pursued in a straight or circular line, 
 it was sufficiently tiresome to wish it well over ; and 
 Dora, who had just counted her eighth round, was 
 congratulating herself that four more would lay in a 
 stock of fresh air sufficient for the day, when a vio- 
 lent rustling among the bushes near her, caused a 
 slight sensation of nervousness, as she looked in the 
 direction from which the noise proceeded. It con- 
 tinued for some seconds, without any apparent cause, 
 till at length the red head of Lanty M'Grail appear- 
 ed, thrust through a mass of lauristinus his large, 
 
IRISHMEN AND 
 
 lack-lustre eyes, staring wide, while, in a tone of 
 voice entirely confidential, he called out in a very 
 loud whisper 
 
 "Will I be hung for the sousin' I gave you, Miss 
 Dora, do you think ?" 
 
 She stopped short, undecided whether to scream for 
 help, run away, or manfully face the enemy. There 
 was altogether an odd medley in her feelings, at the 
 moment, of fear and confidence, of anger and kind- 
 liness. She felt a strong inclination to scold, a stronger 
 still to laugh, and at the same time, a sensation bor- 
 dering upon awe, being convinced that, in some way 
 or other, the urchin before her was connected with a 
 band of murderers. She, however, repressed any 
 outward emotion, and assuming a cold and dignified 
 air, said 
 
 ee I am surprised, Mr. Lanty, that you could ever 
 venture to speak to me, after your very improper con- 
 duct I" 
 
 ec I knew it wouldn't hurt you, Miss Dora. I often 
 had mud sticking all over me, for ever so long ; and 
 sorrah a bit of hurt it done me; let alone how it 
 comes off asy, with the laste taste of water/' 
 
 <f That is no excuse, Sir : I was always kind to 
 you ; and I thought you would be the last person in 
 the world to treat me with disrespect." 
 
 " It was the clanest mud I could get, Miss Dora, 
 I wouldn't take it out of the dirty strame where the 
 horses drinks, so 1 fished it out of the ditch, where my 
 grandmother gathers the water-grass for the mis- 
 tress and sure, sign's on it, you haven't a speck 
 about you now, and that shows how clane it was." 
 
 " Nonsense, boy ! It is very little matter to me, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 127 
 
 whether it was clean or dirty. You knew that it was 
 a most horrible thing to do, and you knew how I 
 hated every thing of the kind." 
 
 " What could I do, Miss Dora? Wasn't I schaming 
 in my own mind, ever since Monday morning how 
 I could do it in the most plasing way to your- 
 self?" 
 
 " Why, boy, I believe you are a complete fool ! 
 How could any such thing be pleasing to me ? An- 
 swer me this plain, simple question, at once why 
 did you do it at all ?" 
 
 ' ' Ah ! sure, wasn't it to keep them from shooting 
 you, Miss Dora? And an't you better plased to be 
 alive in your own scrubbery, nor to be dead out of the 
 world, or with a ball in your left shoulder, like Will 
 Tr avers ?" 
 
 " Then you knew of the intended attack upon my 
 uncle ?" 
 
 "I knew nothing about any thing, Miss Dora. 
 But, sure yourself knows that the coach was shot, 
 and Will Travers was shot ; and what was to hinder 
 yourself of being shot, if you was in it ? And now, 
 Miss, will you bear malice again me, ever, if I done 
 my endavour to keep you alive ?" 
 
 " I bear you no malice, Lanty ; but I am afraid 
 that you are a very bad boy, and I cannot have con- 
 fidence in you again. If you had such a regard for 
 me as you pretend, why did you not tell me the 
 whole truth honestly, that I might have put my un- 
 cle on his guard ?" 
 
 " I couldn't know what to tell, Miss Dora. I only 
 hard a whimper that if you went into the coaeh, you 
 would never come out of it alive, so I done my best 
 
128 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 to stop you. All sorts is again me, now, Miss Do- 
 ra/' he added, mournfully. " I darn't go near my 
 grandmother since that, and I'm afeard . of my life 
 for any of the neighbours to see me; and if you 
 don't make up with me, what'll I do at-all, at-all, 
 Miss?" 
 
 tc I may make up with you again," said she, endea- 
 vouring to preserve her cold manner, which was ra- 
 pidly thawing, as he appealed to her kindness, " but 
 it is on condition that you tell me how you became 
 acquainted with the plan for murdering Mr. Ogland- 
 by." 
 
 " You often bid me not tell lies, Miss ; and now, 
 you want me. Every Sunday you give me no pace, 
 abusing the life out of me, if I say one word that 
 displases you ; and if I was to tell a lie now, may be 
 you'd be outrageous, and you putting me up to it ; 
 and why would I tell any thing, Miss, that I promis- 
 ed not ?" 
 
 Dora was silent, and Lanty continued in a more 
 melancholy strain 
 
 " The Poliss is looking after me to hang me, and I 
 wouldn't like to be hung, Miss Dora, it's so trying 
 to a body. I'm crawling about under the ditches all 
 day long ; and I've no place to sleep in at nights, only 
 with Mr Costigan's big dog, when the house is shut 
 up. I wouldn't mind it a straw, if it was summer, 
 but I'm fairly famished and perished with hardship 
 and unasiriess." 
 
 " My poor fellow !" cried Dora, forgetting all her 
 wrongs at the recital of his distress. Cf Why do you 
 not go home at once to your grandmother ? They 
 shall never hang you, Lanty nobody could do that 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 129 
 
 but me, and I will never, never say one word to in- 
 jure you/' 
 
 " My grandmother is mad., Miss, for 'fraid I'd turn 
 informer : she's worse upon me nor all put together. 
 Then the boys will murder me, that's sure, if they 
 knew I was in it, and the other neighbours, every one 
 of them threatens to leave me for dead, for the splash- 
 ing I gave you. Would you think it, Miss^ but Ileen 
 Garvey, that was ever friendly to me, she goes about 
 with the smoothing-iron in her pocket, to brain me if 
 she ever sets her two eyes on me." 
 
 " Come home this minute with me, Lanty, and you 
 shall have a bed under the kitchen stairs; and nobody 
 shall attempt to injure you while you are under my 
 father's protection." 
 
 "Oh! sorrah foot will I go, Miss Dora, where 
 Mrs. Burrowes could give me a glaum she'd do it, 
 Miss, if the master and mistress, and yourself, was to 
 intercede forme, on your bare knees. It's no matter 
 about a bed ; for Lion has a beautiful house of his 
 own, with plenty of warm straw, and he likes to have 
 me with him, seeing he's lonely at night. Lion knows 
 me well, Miss Dora, and so does all the dogs in the 
 country. I dont say," he added very sheepishly, 
 and turning away his head, " that if you had a could 
 praty or two about you, that maybe I'd be glad to 
 get them." 
 
 " Oh ! Lanty, my poor boy f" exclaimed Dora, 
 quite overcome, "is it possible that you have eaten 
 nothing to-day?" 
 
 " Them ravenish pigs at Mr. Costigan's, Miss, gab- 
 bles up every thing is thrun them, when they gets 
 more than ought to satisfy them twist over, if they 
 
 G 3 
 
130 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 had any discretion ; and they are so dirty brutes, that 
 they spoil the little lavings they have. You wouldn't 
 bleeve, Miss Dora, what a well-natured dog Lion is. 
 He hid a bone, with a good dale on it, under the 
 straw, for me, last night, never thinking, the poor 
 thing, that it was Friday; so I was fain to throw it 
 away unknownst, not caring to vex him/' 
 
 " Stay where you are, Lanty. I shall not be five 
 minutes absent. I am going to get you some bread 
 and cold meat. Do not be afraid, my poor boy, that 
 I could ever betray you," seeing that he showed 
 symptoms of uneasiness. " I will never tell that I 
 have seen you, till you give me permission ; and you 
 must meet me here every morning, so long as you are 
 afraid to go home." 
 
 "Stop a minute, Miss Dora; don't mind throu- 
 bling the mate. Saturday is all as one as Friday ; 
 and I wouldn't ate it if I was starving alive. Stop 
 again, Miss ; they may be flattering you, to get all 
 out of you about me, and you know you won't tell 
 lies ; so hould your tongue when they question you, 
 and then what can they know ? That's the way I 
 often put yourself to an amplush, when you was bit- 
 ter hard to find out a thing, and that I was loath to 
 tell a lie, seeing how you hated it. Oh ! look at 
 her !" he cried, in a voice of alarm, and again disap- 
 peared in the thicket of ever- greens. " 
 
 The object of such consternation was Mrs. Falco- 
 ner, who was just commencing her constitutional 
 walk. 
 
 tf Lie quiet," whispered Dora, scarcely less fright- 
 ened than himself. tf Do not stir till I call you, when 
 you may be sure the coast is clear ;" and then run- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 131 
 
 ning in the opposite direction to that which her aunt 
 was taking, was out of sight in a moment. 
 
 Mrs. Falconer, unconscious of her near neighbour- 
 hood to the outlawed Lanty, who, in his best days, 
 was no favourite with her, quietly passed his hiding- 
 place ; and instead of continuing her walk round the 
 shrubbery, crossed into a path, which ended with a 
 stile leading to the high road. Her annual visit to 
 the glebe was drawing to a close, and she took ad- 
 vantage of the fine day to call at the houses of some 
 poor people, who, from being the objects of her ca- 
 sual charity, had insensibly grown into regular pen- 
 sioners. Mrs. Falconer was one of those religious 
 characters who do more harm than good with the 
 best intentions, or we should rather say, inclinations. 
 She was always in extremes always arguing always 
 splitting hairs, and striving about words to no profit. 
 With her, a matter of taste immediately became a 
 matter of conscience, and she could never cordially 
 give the right hand of fellowship to any person whose 
 conscience could not be squeezed into the mould 
 adapted to her own. The Established Church she 
 had long denounced as Babylon, and every Dissenting 
 congregation, of which she had become a member in 
 regular rotation, had the same mysterious term ap- 
 plied to them, on leaving their communion ; till, at 
 length, she fixed among the Separatists, with whom 
 she had quietly rested for some years. Latterly, 
 however, it would appear that she meditated a 
 step or two backwards ; for she did not outrageously 
 profane " the Lord's-day," had more than hinted at a 
 recognition of her sister's claim to Christianity, and 
 expressed to Mr. Milward a strong anxiety as to the 
 
132 IKISHMEN AND 
 
 state of her old uncle Oglandby. But, to nip in the 
 bud any hopes which these concessions might give 
 rise to, she was warm as ever in her opposition to 
 Sunday schools, and all religious societies ; and 
 when Dora was not present, advocated the cause of 
 the theatre, cards, and other amusements, which had 
 long since been given up by the Mil wards. Still, 
 there was an insensible approximation to many of 
 their sentiments, and a gradual softening of asperity 
 of manner and expression upon subjects connected 
 with religion, which made her society far less un- 
 pleasant to her family than it had been in times past ; 
 and the attachment between her and Mrs. Mil ward, 
 which had certainly suffered much diminution during 
 the time of her highest flights, was rapidly recover- 
 ing its lost ground in both their affections. 
 
 But to return to our narrative. Dora watched her 
 aunt's route with feverish impatience, till she was 
 fairly out of reach of hearing and seeing ; and then 
 hastily dismissing Lanty, laden with provisions for 
 the next twenty-four hours, with orders to be on the 
 watch for her in the same place every morning, re- 
 sumed her perambulation having deducted one 
 round in consideration of the extra race to and from 
 the pantry. 
 
 In the mean time, Mrs. Falconer had nearly reach- 
 ed the stile, when the clamour of three or four tongues 
 in loud altercation, arrested her progress ; and she 
 stopped behind the hedge until the angry disputants 
 should pass by. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen," said Johnny Monroe, " I see 
 I can do no good ; so as I am a trifle tired, I will sit 
 down a bit here, and you need not stop for me. But, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 133 
 
 Captain, it would be a christianable turn if you did 
 not quit them till you settle between them ; for isn't 
 it a shame for two, Protestants to be fighting and 
 squabbling about what might be no variance at all, 
 if they were only agreeable in their own minds/' 
 
 " I am willing to leave it to Captain Geraghty, or 
 any other gentleman in the parish, and so I offered a 
 hundred times over/' said one of the combatants ; 
 " only that man is so contrary, that nothing will sa- 
 tisfy him, but having his own way in every thing." 
 
 " I offered the same/' cried the other ; " and it's 
 you won't give in to reason as long as there is a 
 straw in the world to dispute about." 
 
 ec Captain/' said the first speaker, ec to show you 
 who is the disturber, ask him if I didn't say con- 
 tent, when he offered to leave it to a toss-up ; and he 
 turned on his heel, and cried, no bargain." 
 
 "It's as big a lie as ever came out of any man's 
 mouth," exclaimed the accused, " that I ever offered 
 to toss-up. I leave them doings to ball-players and 
 gamblers, and such like. I offered to draw lots 
 that's what I did ; and it was you drew back, and not 
 me." 
 
 This plump contradiction roused all the remaining 
 wrath of the tosser-up, which was vented in the 
 counter accusation of lying, and doubly and trebly 
 lying ; besides the additional charges of being a 
 swaddler, and a class-leader, and a hypocrite, and a 
 rogue; while the diviner by lots was not a whit be- 
 hind, but repaid every opprobrious epithet with in- 
 terest ; and not content with simply abusing his an- 
 tagonist, reviled his father and brother, and sundry 
 relatives, living and dead. 
 
134 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Shame, shame !" cried Monroe, when he could 
 obtain a hearing. " Shame upon two Protestant men 
 with Bibles in their houses and double shame upon 
 you, George Carothers, with all the good talk you 
 have by times. I hope you'll humble yourself, and 
 just try what is in your heart, before you meet your 
 class to-morrow morning, and run off your tongue, 
 what I am afraid never goes an inch deeper. Cap- 
 tain Geraghty, for the sake of decency, don't let them 
 disparage themselves for the lucre of such a trifle. 
 Make George show you the bit of bog-oak, and then 
 bid them be ashamed of themselves." 
 
 " Upon my honour, you speak like a man of sense 
 and discretion, and religion, too," said Willy. " To 
 be sure, having been in the army is greatly in a man's 
 favour, every way. Come along, you two, and don't 
 let me hear a word from either of you, but what is 
 proper for a gentleman to listen to. Come along, I 
 say. Upon my honour, you ought to be ashamed of 
 yourselves, and I wonder I did not see that before." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 135 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MBS. Falconer waited till Willy had carried off his 
 noisy companions, and then joined Monroe on the 
 road, requesting him to accompany her in her excur- 
 sion over the bog ; as, like Dora, she began to have 
 an indistinct fear of the people, which every appear- 
 ance of disturbance served to increase. She was, 
 also, glad to have an opportunity of conversing alone 
 with Monroe, whose conversion to her own way of 
 thinking, she had long at heart : and though hitherto 
 unsuccessful, had never quite despaired of ultimate 
 success. He was one of those very few persons for 
 whom she entertained an involuntary respect, even in 
 her most fantastic moods. She could never find it in 
 her heart to unchristknize him entirely, and when 
 driven to the utmost bound of forbearance, generally 
 contented herself by calling him an anomaly a word 
 which sounded very harshly in his ears, but the mean- 
 ing of which he was determined never to inquire, lest, 
 if it was as bad as he suspected, he might be tempted 
 to indulge uncharitable feelings, and perhaps think of 
 a name for her, with as bad a signification. 
 
 " There still continues to be a good deal of reli- 
 gious profession, I see," began the lady, "in this 
 parish ; and I suppose you are very happy when you 
 see an instance of such tenderness of conscience, as 
 was evidenced by that man, in his horror of tossing 
 up to decide a disputed point ?" 
 
136 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " A tender conscience, Ma'am, I believe to be a 
 good thing, so far as it goes ; for I have read but an 
 indifferent character of one that is seared with a hot 
 iron, to take all the feeling out of it." 
 
 " Then you approve of the religion of your scrupu- 
 lous friend?" 
 
 " I seldom like, Ma'am, to draw down one man or 
 another for a pattern to find fault to. But afraid 
 you might lie under a mistake, I will tell you at once., 
 that I do not approve of the religion of George Caro- 
 thers, either by what he says, or what he does." 
 
 " Yet, are not such the persons of whom Mr. Mil- 
 ward speaks in terms of high approbation ?" 
 
 " Why, Ma'am, I can't tell what the gentleman 
 may say in his good nature only if he does why 
 he returns good for evil that's all. But there is a 
 little mistake in your mind, Ma'am, about the peo- 
 ple. Mr. Milward has a good right to think well and 
 speak well of some of his flock, for they give heed to 
 his teaching ; and if he thinks himself right, sure, he 
 must think them right, that takes his instruction. 
 But George Carothers, and such as he, never listen 
 but to find fault, and to call him an advocate for 
 sin, because he won't compliment poor creatures like 
 us, by telling us how good we are, or how good we 
 may be ; and what I can't understand is, that they 
 go to church at all, when they speak worse of it, and 
 of its ministers, than the Romans themselves." 
 
 "I cannot quarrel with them on that account/' 
 said Mrs. Falconer, " as my sentiments, so far, per- 
 fectly accord with theirs." 
 
 " So you often gave me to understand, Ma'am." 
 
 " And I cannot comprehend,," she continued, " how 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 137 
 
 you, who sometimes speak rather in a 
 
 sensible way on those subjects,, and who have, more 
 than once, acknowledged that there are imperfections 
 in the Establishment, can still continue a member of 
 a church, which, by your own confession, is nothing 
 less than Babylon/' 
 
 " With submission to you, Ma'am, you take me up 
 too short. I remember giving in to some of your ob- 
 jections more than I afterwards saw was right, when 
 I considered the matter according to the sense of the 
 thing, and not only by its words. However, I don't 
 go back of some things I said. You accused us of 
 having Popery among us ; and I said, and still say, 
 that there is more of it with us, than is pleasing to 
 me ; and if I could find a church where there was 
 nothing, I would change and where the spirit of Po- 
 pery was not just as plain, if not plainer, I would 
 join myself to it joyfully, and think it a sin to stop in 
 any other." 
 
 ff Excuse me, Mr. Monroe, if I say there appears 
 to me to be a little hypocrisy in what you say. If 
 you were in earnest, you could not be content to re- 
 main a member of a religious body I cannot call it 
 the church, or a church in which God is worshipped 
 not after a scriptural rule, but according to the tra- 
 ditions and commandments of men." 
 
 ff Bad enough, Ma'am, if what you say be true ! 
 but what am I to do ? Would you have me turn In- 
 dependent or Baptist ?" 
 
 fc Oh ! no, no : neither one or other," she replied, 
 in high good humour. tf You may as well stay where 
 you are ; for human inventions and traditions have as 
 prominent a place among them, without the excuse 
 
138 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 of antiquity, and obedience to authority, and the like 
 untempered mortar, with which you try to hide the 
 cracks and flaws in your tottering edifice." 
 
 " Arid what is to become of me, Ma'am ? You 
 don't think well of me staying with the Church-of- 
 England people, nor of joining others that I look upon 
 as Christians, though I may think they have a little 
 leaning to Popery by times ; and you won't let me in 
 among yourselves so, an't I in a fine way under your 
 directions ?" 
 
 1 ' The Church" said Mrs. Falconer, gravely, " ne- 
 ver objects to receive a member, on his making a 
 scriptural profession of faith, and never separates 
 from his communion, while he continues to walk or- 
 derly." 
 
 " All fair, Ma'am but still you have no place for 
 me, let my profession be ever so scriptural, or my 
 walk ever so orderly ; for, at the best, I could only 
 be a weak brother, and you have no provision for 
 such." 
 
 " I do not understand you, Mr. Monroe." 
 
 "Well, Ma'am just to mention one thing if I 
 did'nt misunderstand you, when you first opened your 
 mind to me, about seven years ago, I believe you 
 said, that you would not receive me unless I ac- 
 knowledged that salutation by kissing, in your assem- 
 blies, was an ordinance that could not be passed over, 
 without direct disobedience to an apostolic command. 
 I could not see it in that light. I thought it over and 
 over again, and I am as far from viewing it in that 
 way as ever. If it was not made an article of faith, 
 (as I may call it,) I might give in to it for the sake 
 of peace: I might look upon it as a matter of no con- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 139 
 
 sequence whatever, whether it was done or undone ; 
 just as I stand, or kneel, or sit, according as others 
 do, in my own place of worship, without ever think- 
 ing that those changes of posture have any thing to 
 do with belief in Christ. I might be a little dashed 
 at first, thinking it useless and child-like ; but I would 
 not dispute about it. But if you would make me 
 say, that I looked upon it as binding on my conscience, 
 it would be forcing me to tell a lie to God, and I 
 could not bring my mind to that." 
 
 <( You need not be afraid of being pressed against 
 your own conviction, Mr. Monroe. We are not so 
 anxious to make proselytes we leave that to the Pha- 
 risees of all times, and all religions. But will you 
 favour me with your comment on that text, ' Greet 
 all the brethren with an holy kiss/ " 
 
 " I take it, Ma'am, as plain as it is written that 
 our salutations to each other should be holy, as well 
 as all our other actions. But I do not find it order- 
 ed to be done only at one particular time ; and as to 
 the manner of doing it, I should think that may be 
 left to the custom of the country in which we live. It 
 is not the way in this place for men to kiss each other; 
 and I think I am fulfilling the apostle's directions, 
 when I give my hand in charity to a brother, just as 
 much as if I kept up to the letter." 
 
 " Yes : and in the same spirit you may do away 
 with every precept in the Scripture, by finding them 
 inconvenient to practice, on account of the customs 
 of the people among whom we live." 
 
 " My meaning will not go so far, Ma'am. I would 
 not bate an inch of what was plainly a duty, to meet 
 the fancies of any body. But are not you obliged to 
 
140 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 put a wide meaning on another text, that speaks as 
 home to the point as the one you keep literally to ? 
 You won't deny that widows are supposed, at least, to 
 wash the saints' feet : and yet, what Christian wo- 
 man's conscience is defiled at not doing that ? I beg 
 your pardon, Ma'am, but you are a widow, and do 
 you put it in practice to them you acknowledge 
 disciples ?" 
 
 " No : the Church has not decided on its expe- 
 diency." 
 
 " And to my mind very sensibly. I am sure you 
 judge rightly, that it is fulfilled in the spirit, when you 
 do any needful work of charity to a brother who wants 
 it. I would not bring forward what the Lord himself 
 says, that c ye also ought to wash one another's feet,' 
 as you might tell me, he only meant that for the 
 twelve apostles, and so you would get out of the puz- 
 zle easily. But, Ma'am, I would not quarrel with 
 you, if, out of a scruple of conscience, you put 
 it in practice, so you did not ask me to see it with 
 your eyes. I hear the Pope does it ; and if he neve* 
 did worse, I would not cast it in his teeth, as one bit 
 of harm." 
 
 " The Pope is a very convenient personage to screen 
 yourselves behind, when you are convicted of adding 
 to the word of God, by your traditions. You must 
 be hard pushed for arguments, when you are obliged 
 to travel to Rome for them." 
 
 " Don't be displeased with me, Ma'am, for that's 
 the very way you often answer me, when you travel 
 farther for arguments than I can follow you. How- 
 ever, supposing that the question of salutation could 
 be settled to both our satisfaction, there is another 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 141 
 
 thing to keep me from your communion. You would 
 not let me join in prayer with any other set of pro- 
 fessing Christians, but yourselves ; and that is what 
 I call a Galatian hedge to confine my Christian liber- 
 ty. I am bound to love all them that love the Lord 
 Jesus ; and where two or three such are gathered to- 
 gether in his name, I would not show my love by 
 turning my back upon them. You may tell me that 
 they are not disciples, only because you don't think 
 so ; but if I have good reason for judging the contra- 
 ry, or if I only think I have, it would be sin in me to 
 treat them with that contempt. You see, Ma'am, I 
 am speaking as a weak brother ; and though weak- 
 ness is but a poor thing for a man to confess of him- 
 self, yet it is what one may expect to meet with, even 
 in the Church. We have all our weaknesses, Ma'am, 
 and doubtful disputations will never give us strength/' 
 
 " Really, Mr. Monroe, the disputation has been all 
 on your side. I have long since stated to you the 
 truth ; and if you do not receive it on its own autho- 
 rity, I have not so high an opinion of myself, as to 
 suppose that my arguments could add any thing to 
 it. I merely wished to hear your reasons for continu- 
 ing a member of a religious society, confessedly de- 
 fective in discipline, not to argue you into a proselyte 
 to my opinions." 
 
 " To excuse myself, Ma'am, fdf staying where I am, 
 I must first tell the fault I have to you, that would 
 hinder me going over to you, for you won't allow me 
 any half-way house to take up my lodging in, even 
 if I was so inclined, which, in the honest truth, I am 
 not and for this reason, that of all the dissenters that 
 ever came across me, (I mean those that look for salva- 
 
142 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 tion through the merits of the Lord Jesus.,) though I 
 love many of them in my heart, and wish them good 
 luck, in the name of our common Lord, yet, supposing 
 I agreed with them more than I do, they would put a 
 yoke upon me, that would gall me the more, because 
 I expected liberty. My mind would be more fettered 
 with them than it is where I am : so, judging as I do, 
 if I was to go to them, it would be (saving your pre- 
 sence, Ma'am) f out of the frying-pan into the fire/ " 
 
 " We agree perfectly on that point, Mr. Monroe ; 
 and though you may not be inclined to give me the 
 credit of it, yet, I believe, I was the first person who 
 led you to view these matters in their true light/' 
 
 ec Having told you some weaknesses of my own, 
 Ma'am," he continued, " which would make you shut 
 your doors against me, if I asked entrance, I would 
 tell you some other objections that would hinder me 
 craving admittance, if it would not offend you." 
 
 " Not in the least. You will only bear in mind, 
 that I am not entering into a religious discussion with 
 you. I am merely listening to a declaration of your 
 creed, without meaning to controvert it, whatever it 
 may be." 
 
 " J am free to confess, Ma'am, that I often heard 
 you speak beautifully, so that my heart went with 
 every word you said ; and bating the misgiving you 
 have, that ever,y body is telling lies but yourself, and 
 that you can't believe a man, if he was as honest as 
 day-light, I could well bear with you as I do with 
 others, who sometimes won't bear with me. But I 
 have considered you closely, and I see few Bible 
 marks about you of belonging to God, excepting only 
 talk, and but little even of that, which, after all, is 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 143 
 
 not here nor there. Indeed you seem to me to be al- 
 ways trying to look as if you never thought about 
 him, and to make believe that you are worse than 
 you are; for I cannot think you have a hard heart, 
 seeing what you do for the distressed and the poor. 
 And now, Ma'am, dear, why will you let the world 
 think so, by making your amusement out of them, 
 whose religion you think is only a holy short-cut to 
 hell ? I have seen you scorn at your sister for her 
 profession, when you ought to have shed tears of pity 
 over her, if she was so far gone towards destruction 
 as you thought. I have heard you call, in an in-ear- 
 nest kind of joke, that unartful young creature, Miss 
 Dora, a dear little hypocrite, when my blood has run 
 cold to think of the heavy woes denounced against 
 her, if she be such, by the Lord himself. Oh ! Ma'am, 
 does the religion of the Redeemer teach us to make 
 game of the unbelief of others ; or is it meant to 
 harden our hearts against those loving feelings to our 
 own, put into our breasts by Him who made us ; so 
 that we can laugh at them, who are near and dear to 
 us, because their portion is to lie down in sorrow at 
 the last?" 
 
 " How do you know my feelings on those subjects, 
 Mr. Monroe?" 
 
 "Ah! Ma'am, sure that is my complaint against 
 you, that I can't know them ; or that I must guess 
 you have not any at all. All I know about you is, 
 that you can laugh with them of your family, who are 
 openly profane ; and you can laugh at them who call 
 upon God, through the one Mediator between God 
 and man and all this, because you are a religious 
 character. Now supposing religion did not teach us 
 
144 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 to be pitiful, I would expect you, from the feelings of 
 nature^ to have c great heaviness, and continual sor- 
 row of heart/ on account of the ignorance of your 
 family, that is, if you had any affection for them, or 
 if your religion did not quench it entirely. Oh ! 
 Ma'am, dear, take a thought, and look that way in 
 on yourself. Your own blood-relations there up at 
 the glebe, are not worse than the Jews, yet he who 
 might well have been tired out with their wickedness 
 and unbelief, wept over them, and never, that I can 
 read, showed any thing of a harsh spirit towards 
 them/' 
 
 ef You certainly have but a poor opinion of me and 
 of my religion, Mr. Monroe. But I am still to learn 
 how you are so intimately acquainted with my hard- 
 hearted and pitiless feelings." 
 
 fc I judge, Ma'am, from what you have said to me, 
 yourself, at different times, and from the books you 
 gave me to read, to open my mind; and believe me, 
 Ma'am, I could not take the good that was in them, 
 from the bitter spirit in which they were written. 
 They seem to delight in hating, and are full of scorns 
 and scoffs at those who think their souls worth look- 
 ing after: and then they deal so in calling names, 
 such as Pharisee and hypocrite, that a Christian man 
 would stammer at putting on another, when he can- 
 not read the heart. The first thing, Ma'am, that ever 
 gave me a turn against your religion, was when you 
 fixed both one and other of them names on Mr. Mil- 
 ward ; for, said I to myself, does she positively know 
 that he devours widows' houses ; or that he puts a 
 burden on any one, that he will not touch himself ; 
 or that he does his works, only to be seen of men ,* or 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 146 
 
 that he makes any one two-fold more the child of hell 
 than himself; or that he takes the key of knowledge 
 from the people ; or that he brags of what God has 
 made him, to give an excuse for reflecting on poor 
 publicans ? I could not shut my eyes to the truth 
 that he had none of these marks and tokens about 
 him ; so I thought you wrong to speak so unadvis- 
 edly, and that made me jealous to trust you in other 
 things, without tracking you closely through the Bi- 
 ble, where, with submission to you, Ma'am, you often 
 took such round-about ways, that it was hard to keep 
 up with you." 
 
 " I am not aware that I ever spoke directly of Mr. 
 Milward, in such terms as you use/' 
 
 " Please you, Ma'am, you did ; for I brought you 
 to the point, and asked you if he was one of them you 
 would call a hypocrite, and you told me plainly he 
 was ; and though you did not say it all out of myself, 
 you gave me to understand, that I was sweeping and 
 garnishing my own house for the lodging of them that 
 would be out-of-the-way company for a man who 
 trusts in Him, who will shortly bruise Satan under 
 his feet. I was not much alarmed at that, for I thought 
 to myself again, what can the gentlewoman know 
 about me, to judge me after this fashion ? She finds 
 no fault to my confession, and she has no reason for 
 thinking I ever say one thing, and mean another. 
 But there was one word, Ma'am, sounded frightfuller 
 to me than all the words you ever said, if they were all 
 put together and that was Babylon. You had a way 
 of saying it, as if it ought to put a gag in my mouth at 
 once ; and I was faint-hearted enough to be frightened, 
 without knowing why. e Will you stay in Babylon ?' 
 
 H 
 
146 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 says you. ' Am I in Babylon ?' thinks I : f If so, it's 
 no place for me/ But after lying many a long night, 
 awake, and thinking it over and over again, it struck 
 me that it might be a-piece with your Pharisees and 
 hypocrites. So I turned in earnest to the Bible, to 
 see what it said, and I found that Babylon was al- 
 ways a persecutor of God's people, and I found that 
 when her end comes, there will be found in her the 
 blood of prophets, and saints, and of all that were 
 slain upon the earth ; and that satisfied me that if it 
 is a church, I am not in it, and so I couldn't come out 
 of it ; and it taught me to make allowance for some 
 of your hard speeches, and not to be frightened by a 
 dream." 
 
 " You must excuse me being the innocent cause of 
 giving you so much uneasiness," said Mrs. Falconer ; 
 " though since you have discovered so very easy a way 
 of solving every difficulty, it is not likely that your 
 uneasiness will ever continue very long ; at least, so 
 far as respects what you may hear from me. But if 
 you have concluded your gratuitous objections to my 
 opinions and practice, perhaps you will oblige me by 
 saying what you can, in defence of your own, which, 
 you are aware, appear to me as objectionable, as 
 a total discordance from Scripture can make them." 
 
 f( I am apt to be puzzled, Ma'am, when a thing is 
 thrown upon me all of a heap ; so, would it please 
 you to think of one objection at a time, if it is not 
 too much trouble to your mind ; and where you put 
 it to me fairly, I will try to give you as good an an- 
 swer as I can." 
 
 ' My mind will not be much wearied in searching 
 for objections," said the lady, laughing : " they are 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 147 
 
 so numerous, that the only difficulty will be to make 
 a selection. However, you shall have the first that 
 presents itself to my recollection at the moment, and 
 which, you are aware, is brought forward triumph- 
 antly against you by Dissenters. Do you think your 
 indiscriminate admission to the communion perfectly 
 scriptural?" 
 
 " May I ask you, Ma'am, would you hinder any one 
 from partaking of that ordinance, who made a public 
 profession of his faith in Christ?" 
 
 e< I see you are reduced to quibbling, Mr. Monroe, 
 which proves the weakness of your cause; but be 
 candid, and confess that you know many in this par- 
 ish, who you do not esteem believers, and who are, 
 nevertheless, regular communicants at Christmas, and 
 other high days." 
 
 ee There is too much truth in what you say, Ma'am, 
 as to my evil thoughts of others I can't help de- 
 murring of some, that they are not sound at heart. 
 I beg your pardon, Ma'am, but I have often a strong 
 misgiving about yourself, though I try to put the 
 temptation of judging far from me; but I would be 
 sorry to have to act upon my own jealousies ; and if 
 I had the management of it all to myself, I would 
 not take it upon me to put you, Ma'am, or any other 
 person away, when the meaning of the ordinance was 
 explained to you, and that you took all the responsi- 
 bility on yourself, only because I might have my 
 doubts of what was passing in your mind." 
 
 " You are describing your own very amiable feel- 
 ings, Mr. Monroe, but you are not defending your 
 church with scriptural arguments." 
 
 "All I have to say, Ma'am, is that we have more 
 
 H 2 
 
148 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Scripture to back us in our forbearance, than you and 
 others have to excuse the catechizing of your neigh- 
 bours' hearts. The apostle Paul says, ' Let a man 
 examine himself.' There is not one word of a cross 
 examination by others. The confession with the 
 mouth ought to satisfy man the believing in the 
 heart can be known only by God, who searches it, and 
 knows it." 
 
 " I assure you I am no advocate for cross examina- 
 tion, and you are not fair in objecting this to me. 
 But to keep close to the point are there not number- 
 less instances among you, where you have not even 
 the profession of the lips ?" 
 
 " We are on surer grounds there, Ma'am, than you 
 are ; for the communion service, which, I believe, you 
 can't abide, puts the words into a man's mouth, so 
 that there can be no doubt about it. And if the worst 
 that ever lived was to join nfe only in the one prayer 
 before the consecration of the elements, I would try 
 and smother all my hard thoughts, and leavre them 
 to the judgment of Him, who alone judgeth righte- 
 ously." 
 
 "If you speak the real sentiments of your church, 
 I must say it requires more credulity from its mem- 
 bers than is consistent with the proportion of com- 
 mon sense, which might reasonably be expected 
 among any given number of persons, who were not 
 absolute fools." 
 
 " The very thing, Ma'am, I have heard brought 
 against yourselves ; for easy as you think we are sa- 
 tisfied, they say you are content with just nothing at 
 all." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Monroe, we cannot help what they say, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 149 
 
 whoever they may be. You are wandering from the 
 point, to which I shall bring you back in spite of all 
 your doublings. We shall suppose, for the sake of 
 argument, that your good-natured short-sightedness 
 in the case of some tolerably deficient characters, may 
 be all very right and very proper ; but what have you 
 to say of your civility to notorious offenders ? I mean 
 such as you, good people, shake your heads at ; yet 
 such often force their way, and take their place among 
 you, I suppose, to the great scandal of the good, better, 
 and best in your congregations." 
 
 <{ It does surely scandalize the congregation, when 
 a thing of the kind happens ; and I am free to say 
 plainly, that I wish our church discipline was strictly 
 enforced. There is no doubt, it is greatly to be de- 
 sired, and we are in fault as to that. But if it was 
 not managed better than I see it with others, I would 
 rather let things remain as they are. Your discipline 
 is for ever splitting you, on account of an odd word, 
 now and then. Why, Ma'am, if report says true, 
 you are a member of no church at this present mi- 
 nute, being shut out of the one your mind would lead 
 you to continue in, because you happened to say that 
 it was not lawful for a Christian to lay up any thing 
 for himself or his family. Maybe I think you take a 
 narrow view of the matter, but I would not deliver 
 you over unto Satan, for only having respect to the 
 very letter of our Lord's commands." 
 
 " As usual, Mr. Monroe, when hard pressed, you at- 
 tempt to throw dust in my eyes, by objecting some- 
 thing that I either do, or do not hold." 
 
 " Don't you see, Ma'am, how I only want to make 
 it clear to you, that I am better off where I am, think- 
 
150 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ing as I do, with the Scripture for my guide, than 
 with any other body of professing Christians who 
 would not bear with me. You fault our discipline 
 
 " Pardon me not your discipline alone : I object 
 to every thing connected with you as a church, so 
 called." 
 
 "But we are at that one point which yourself 
 brought up, so let us see about it. Well, Ma'am, you 
 fault our discipline : I agree it is not attended to as it 
 ought ; but where am I to find better ? Not with 
 you, for your's is unscripturally strict. You would 
 shut out one half the Bible from me, as completely as 
 Mr. O'Floggin keeps the whole from his flock. I 
 could not think over it, for myself, among you ; and 
 if I did, I must keep my mind close covered, or I 
 should be unchurched in a minute. Then, as for the 
 discipline of others, I could not tolerate it,by no means. 
 I once knew a woman who would not be received a 
 member of a dissenting congregation, till she had to 
 undergo a trial of a year and a half, though her walk 
 never gave offence to them within or without, and 
 her confession of faith was as clear the first day as 
 it was the last. Now, Ma'am, I say boldly that such 
 an apprenticeship has no warrant at all from Scrip- 
 ture." 
 
 " One would suppose I was advocating the cause 
 of Dissenters," replied Mrs. Falconer, " by your con- 
 stant recurrence to their practices, as an excuse for 
 your own, when you must know that I am more op- 
 posed to them than you are. One very strong objec- 
 tion to you and other religious members of the esta- 
 blishment is, your inconsistent latitudinarianism." 
 
 " Oh ! Ma'am, dear," said Monroe, stopping short, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 151 
 
 and lifting up both his hands, " is it right to use them 
 words? If I can't help bearing with people, and 
 loving them, for their love to my Master, am I to have 
 such terrible names put on me, that a gentlewoman 
 would be cautious of speaking, let alone one profess- 
 ing godliness ?" 
 
 " You are needlessly alarmed, Mr. Monroe. The 
 word which I inadvertently used, has not a very ter- 
 rible meaning. All I intended to express by it, was, 
 that you make too many allowances that you are 
 what you would call, too charitable." 
 
 ff There's a power of words, no doubt," said John, 
 " that a man like me can't be expected to have at his 
 finger's ends; but when I hear any that are very 
 cramp, and out-of-the-way entirely, I am apt to think 
 they have a very deep meaning." 
 
 " I request your serious attention to what I am go- 
 ing to say,'"' said the lady, "as it may be the last op- , 
 portunity I shall have of conversing with you ; and 
 you need not suspect that I have a deeper meaning 
 than what I plainly express. You have approved of 
 some of my sentiments, at the same time protesting 
 against my practice. I can also say, that I have 
 heard with pleasure, many most excellent things on 
 the subject of religion from you ; so much so, that I 
 should have no hesitation in acknowledging you as a 
 brother, if I were not acquainted with your inconsis- 
 tent conduct. Your sayings and doings are in direct 
 opposition, Mr. Monroe. You profess to be a disciple 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are, in fact, a woi- 
 shipper of the ten commandments." 
 
 " Is it me, Ma'am ! !" 
 
 " Yourself, Mr. Monroe. Do you not, every Sun- 
 
152 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 day, kneel down while they are reading, and beg 
 of God to incline your heart to keep each particular 
 law?" 
 
 " Why, Ma'am, if I thought you were in earnest, I 
 might as well hold my tongue j for when things con- 
 trary to sense and reason, and the noon-day truth, 
 are believed by a lady, a man had better just say, 
 f well, leave it there/ for what else can a man say ? 
 But I see you are laughing at me, Ma'am. Sure, your- 
 self well knows that I don't worship them, no more 
 than any other part of the church service?" 
 
 " But do you not regard the law as a rule of life ?" 
 
 " I don't well know what to answer, Ma'am, for 
 fear you may be laying a trap for me, that I could 
 not so easily get out of, not seeing the drift of your 
 words, all at once. But I will say this without favour 
 or affection, one way or other, that I would be sorry 
 to break one of the commandments, wilfully and 
 knowingly, because e sin is the transgression of the 
 law ;' and you will not deny, Ma'am, that there is 
 not one word of allowance for sin, in either the New 
 or Old Testament, that would make a man careless 
 about it. Now, Ma'am, to make my meaning as 
 plain as I can. I believe murder is a sin, and you 
 won't think the worse of me, if I pray earnestly 
 to God to keep me from it, knowing that by nature 
 my f feet are swift to shed blood.' Then, for the rest, 
 I would not transgress them in thought, word, or 
 deed, if I could ; and if that is making them a rule 
 of life, why, Ma'am, I am guilty before you, and I 
 can't help it." 
 
 "It is just as I suspected. You are seeking jus- 
 tification by the works of the law." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 153 
 
 tc No, Ma'am ; I deny that. It is my joy, and my 
 thanksgiving, that the sinner's justification is riot put 
 upon that which is weak through the flesh, but that 
 he is justified and reputed righteous before God, by 
 faith Only in Christ, who is not a lawgiver, but 
 a forgiver of sins, and a Saviour. I. would not bate 
 an inch of my Christian liberty, which I am as jea- 
 lous over as yourself can be ; and I would fain have 
 every body fling away every yoke of bondage, but 
 the one that is easy, which the Lord invites his people 
 to take on them: but I would not use this my liberty, 
 as a cloak for licentiousness. I don't know if it will 
 please you ever to understand, Ma'am, what I mean ; 
 but the short and long of it is this. As to justifica- 
 tion, I look upon the commandments as nothing but 
 ' weak and beggarly elements' weak and beggarly 
 for that purpose ; and so I would not let them come 
 near me, by no means, if they professed to help what 
 they could only hinder. But, Ma'am, though they 
 can't help a man out of a scrape, they can give very 
 good advice; and as long as they cry out against 
 murder, and robbery, and wickedness of all kinds, I'll 
 say that they are doing what is right, and that I 
 would be doing what is wrong, if I did not listen to 
 them, though I don't worship them, nor never will, 
 the longest day I have to live. This is my true 
 judgment, Ma'am, and if after hearing it, you judge 
 me still to be a liar, and refuse me the right hand of 
 fellowship on account of idolatry, I can't help it. 
 That's all." 
 
 " Supposing you to be in earnest as to your profes- 
 sion, still I dare not countenance your disorderly 
 
 H 3 
 
154 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 walk, having a positive command to withdraw from 
 every brother that walketh disorderly/' 
 
 " Oh ! then, Ma'am, if that's all your quarrel with 
 me, it's easy made up ; for I can call the whole parish 
 to witness, that I neither meddle nor make with the 
 people, farther than if they ask an advice, as you did 
 now, Ma'am, when you put me to answer for my be- 
 lief. And I can prove, too, how there is not a man 
 of my age and feebleness works harder at his calling; 
 and that the never a strange bit of bread goes into 
 my mouth, except an odd cup of tea with Mrs. Bur- 
 rowes, or another genteel neighbour, which, yourself 
 won't say is unlawful. So Ma'am, I am no disorderly 
 Thessalonian, and" 
 
 A piercing shriek from Mrs. Falconer stopped 
 Johnny's harangue, and threw him into such a tremor, 
 that a few seconds elapsed before he was quite aware 
 of the cause of her alarm ; which was nothing less 
 than Lanty M'Grail, who had suddenly bounded over 
 the ditch behind them, and twining his long arms 
 round the lady, cried in a voice of terror 
 
 f ' Save me, save me, Miss ! I'm cotch by them Polis, 
 that tracked me with Lion ; and I'll be hung out of 
 the face, and destroyed and transported, if you don't 
 banish them, and scould them away." 
 
 ee Let me go, my good boy, I beseech of you. Let 
 
 me go, I say, you that is, my good lad I will 
 
 give you a shilling if you stand at a little distance. I 
 
 will give you half-a-crown if Mr, Monroe, for 
 
 pity's sake, persuade him to let me go, for he is pul- 
 ling me into the ditch." 
 
 Monroe did not trust to his powers of persuasion 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 155 
 
 to make Lanty loose his hold, but attacked him with 
 the united force of his two arms, which, though they 
 had lost much of their original strength, were, on the 
 present occasion, more than a match for the stripling, 
 whose fright had completely unnerved him. 
 
 " Lanty, dear," said he, when he had extricated 
 the lady from his grasp, "it's all a folly, what you 
 are doing. Behave like a man, and like a good child, 
 and no harm will come to you/' 
 
 " If Miss Dora was here," cried the terrified boy> 
 still struggling hard, " I'd die asy, for she wouldn't 
 let them put a hand on me. What will I do ! what 
 will I do ! to be murdered in this a-way ! Oh ! John- 
 ny Oh ! Mr. Monroe, tell that one," pointing to Mrs. 
 Falconer, "to frighten them away. There's not a 
 man in the country would rise his head before her, 
 if she was only to be wicked, as they say she can 
 be." 
 
 " Oh ! be quiet, dear be quiet now, I tell you," 
 said Monroe, hugging him tight in his arms. ' ' You 
 will only make people think bad of you, if you try to 
 run away. Give yourself up quietly to Linny Ward, 
 and be mannerly and sensible, and tell the truth, 
 Lanty, dear, that it was your own foolishness about 
 the cap, made you do what you ought, no doubt, to 
 be well thrashed for : but, as for hanging you, the 
 king himself, no, nor the first lord in the land, could'nt 
 do it, for only wilfulness. So quiet now quiet, 
 child you can't swim against the stream, I tell 
 you." 
 
 All hope of flight was now, indeed, vain. The 
 three police men had separated, and taken possession 
 of every path, by which escape was possible, and 
 
156 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 were coming towards him at a quick pace. Lanty, 
 who had eyed them, while at a distance, with quiver- 
 ing agitation, gradually lost all appearance of fear or 
 anxiety on their near approach ; and quietly com- 
 menced his usual low hissing whistle, with which he 
 was accustomed to beguile the time, while sitting on 
 the wall near his grandmother's cabin. The first of 
 his pursuers which came up, was Lion, who imme- 
 diately jumped on him, and began licking his face, 
 and showing other demonstrations of joy at their meet- 
 ing. A flash of feeling suddenly lighted up Lanty 's 
 countenance, as he indignantly pushed the animal 
 from him. 
 
 " None of your palaver," said he, " you ill-natured 
 pig. You sarved me a fine turn, didn't you, when I 
 trusted to your friendship? Down, you brute I 
 wouldn't believe a word out of your mouth, no more 
 nor I would from a horse. Down, I say, you dir- 
 ty thing. Maybe its wanting to bite me you 
 are." 
 
 ec Now, is there any wit or harm in that poor inno- 
 cent's mind ?" said Monroe to the constable, who had 
 by this time seized upon Lanty, " when he expects 
 the dumb animal to understand him? Treat him 
 gently, Linny, till he's cleared of being any thing but 
 over headstrong, which isn't the worst crime that men 
 of your calling have to look after. And Lanty, dear, 
 I'll speak for you I'll have to say that you are un- 
 mannerly, and ill-conditioned, and a very bad boy ; 
 but still my word will quit you of what is laid to your 
 charge. I suppose, Ma'am," he continued to Mrs. 
 Falconer, as the police walked off with their prison- 
 er, " that you would like to go back the shortest way, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 157 
 
 after your little fright ? And if it is pleasing to you, 
 I won't leave you till I put you inside the door, see- 
 ing that you are not used to things that we never 
 heed, being so common." 
 
 The offer of his escort was gratefully accepted, and 
 Mrs. Falconer, by means of a short cut, had soon the 
 satisfaction to find herself safely lodged in the Glebe- 
 house ; while Monroe, instead of returning home, took 
 the road to the police-barracks, to see how matters 
 stood with Lanty. 
 
158 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 GREAT discoveries were expected from the capture 
 of Lanty ; for, with the exception of Monroe, who 
 saw sufficient cause for his offence in the squabble at 
 the Sunday School, there was not an individual, from 
 the highest to the lowest, who did not suspect that 
 there was more of kindness than malice in his im- 
 pertinence to Miss Milward : and on the following 
 Monday, many of the neighbouring magistrates 
 and gentry attended his examination at Traffield- 
 house, while a number of police constables were in 
 requisition, to act with promptness, according to his 
 testimony, against the* yet unknown offenders. But 
 nothing could be elicited from Lanty, though ques- 
 tioned and cross-questioned with great ingenuity. He 
 was not dogged, nor sulky, nor rude ; but he had an 
 air of stupid indifference, which never could be rous- 
 ed to any thing like feeling, when attacked in turn 
 by the stately admonition of Lord Colverston, or the 
 friendly exhortation of Mr. Milward, or the raw- 
 head-and-bloody-bones threats of Mr. Fitzcarrol, or 
 the sly wheedling of Willy Geraghty. The little 
 sense he ever had, as Monroe afterwards declared, 
 was frightened out of him, by the hunting of the po- 
 lice, and the fine words of the gentlemen, or how 
 could he otherwise forget all the instruction he had 
 got, and the beautiful answers he often gave Miss 
 Dora ? Thus he had never heard of heaven or hell, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 159 
 
 or if he had, not a bit of differ did he ever hear there 
 was between them. He did not know what taking 
 an oath meant, but he would do it if Mr. Milward 
 bid him, and he would say any thing the gentlemen 
 ordered. He had never told a lie, barring an odd 
 pinch by times, or a clout to a fellow that would not 
 let him alone. He thought that killing a pig was all 
 as one as killing a man ; and the sorrah bit of harm 
 there was in murder, seeing as how himself was often 
 murdered over and over again, and no matter about 
 it. He did not love any body, or hate any body, and 
 the never a care he cared, if all the world was shot, 
 he supposed there would be plenty of people still 
 what would hinder them ? During his long examina- 
 tion, he never for an instant lost his self-possession, if 
 such it could be called, or evidenced the slightest in- 
 terest in any of the questions, till accused of ingrati- 
 tude to Miss Milward, when his whole frame became 
 agitated, and he stuttered out, with much eagerness 
 of voice and manner, " I wouldn't hurt the ground 
 she walks on, and she knows that well, herself." 
 Being thus thrown off his guard by his better feelings, 
 he became embarrassed, and was evidently at a loss 
 to account for his conduct towards her. But his per- 
 plexity did not continue long. Johnny Monroe had 
 unwittingly supplied him with an excuse, by reading 
 him a long lecture, while in the police-barrack, for al- 
 lowing the poor lucre of a bit of a leather cap, to 
 drive him to such wickedness; and though the excuse 
 was none of the most amiable, it was the best, if not 
 the only one, to help him out of his present dilemma. 
 Accordingly, after a few very natural grimaces, and 
 pulling all of his fingers till the joints cracked, and 
 
160 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 protruding his left shoulder, so as very nearly to form 
 with it a screen for his face, as if ashamed to confess 
 the truth, he at length accused her of keeping back 
 his right : and betrayed so childish an anxiety, and so 
 much pettish displeasure at the withholding of the 
 cap, that the majority of his examiners came round 
 to Monroe's opinion; and Mr. Milward, having, in 
 his daughter's name, declined prosecuting for the as- 
 sault, he was, after sundry advisings, and warnings 
 and threatenings, turned over to his grandmother, who 
 promised to have a sharp eye and a heavy hand on 
 him, for the future. 
 
 At the same time, a number of the Carragh boys, 
 who had been taken on suspicion, were liberated, ha- 
 ving clearly proved an alibi ; and the warrant against 
 Connel St. Leger (whose general character was of the 
 worst description, and who was more than suspected 
 of being implicated in other outrages) was with- 
 drawn, on the representation of Terence Mulvaney, 
 a great favourite with Lord Colverston's steward, who 
 offered to make oath, that he and his comrade Dela- 
 hunt were employed by him, on that evening, to 
 watch a kiln-cast of oats. 
 
 Notwithstanding the large reward which was of- 
 fered immediately, and the unceasing exertions of all 
 the authorities in the county, nothing transpired that 
 could lead to detection. On the contrary, a report 
 began to be whispered among the peasantry, and 
 which was not discouraged by Fitzcarrol, and the 
 party of which he wished to be considered the organ, 
 that the old gentleman having exceeded a little after 
 dinner, had taken a tree for a robber, and so, fired his 
 pistols at random ; and that to save his credit, his 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 161 
 
 connections were willing to make a little noise, and 
 offer a reward, which they knew could never be 
 claimed. * ~_^, 
 
 Improbable as the story was, it nevertheless an- 
 swered the purpose for which it was first put in cir- 
 culation that of irritating the minds of the lower 
 orders against those who took an active part in try- 
 ing to preserve the peace of the country. Lord Col- 
 verston, however, persisted in calling a county meet- 
 ing, which was held about ten days after Lanty's ex- 
 amination, and which, as might be expected, did more 
 harm than good, by the clashing of party feelings and 
 interests. The Braymores and Fitzcarrols came pre- 
 pared to oppose any resolution proposed by the Traf- 
 fields and Oglandby's; and their various connections 
 and dependents ranged themselves on either side, de- 
 termined to fight, tooth and nail, in defence of their 
 leaders. Hector had a fine field for display, being 
 the only orator the opposition could furnish ; and he 
 luxuriated in the opportunity thus afforded him, of 
 hearing himself hold forth, by speaking twice as long 
 and six times as loud as Lord Colverston, and by re- 
 plying in the same lengthy and uproarious strain to 
 the other gentlemen, who ventured to see the matter 
 in a different point of view. Sir Ralph Thorndale 
 made two or three very neat, and very short speeches, 
 all about nothing : endeavouring as much as possible 
 to keep on neutral ground, which was, in fact, the 
 only ground on which he could ever find firm footing. 
 It was his wish to be considered the umpire between 
 the two conflicting parties, on the present occasion, 
 but it was evident that he never attained a higher 
 place in the estimation of either, than that of an un- 
 
162 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 welcome go-between, whose interference was resent- 
 ed by both. Still he shuffled, and shuffled, and 
 seconded a resolution, and then seconded the amend- 
 ment, and then explained, and then recanted his ex- 
 planation: but his unfailing resource, when hard press- 
 ed, was to apply for his opinion to Lord Farnmere, 
 who, seated in a chair next to the Lord of the soil, 
 seemed perfectly unconscious of what was transact- 
 ing around him, unless when startled by a violent 
 thump on the table from Hector, or directly address- 
 ed by the soft, silky voice of the Baronet. 
 
 The relief obtained by an appeal to his Lordship, 
 was but momentary. Whatever reply he vouchsafed 
 was inaudible beyond the chair, and immediately after 
 the exertion of pretending to speak, he resumed the 
 air and attitude, which would have exactly suited a 
 personification of Grey's Prophetic Maid, when she 
 pathetically concludes every reply to her troublesome 
 visitor, with 
 
 Now my weary lips T close, 
 Leave me, leave me to repose. 
 
 Hector, who began to be very impatient at the Ba- 
 ronet's monopoly of public attention, took advantage of 
 the silence occasioned by Lord Farnmere's last speech, 
 and was on his legs for the fourth time, when his noisy 
 harangue was quickly drowned in the still louder roar 
 of Willy Geraghty, vociferating, Border, order," who 
 then, without lowering his key, proceeded to address 
 the chair, undismayed by the yells of the mob, who 
 resented the interruption of their favourite. 
 
 " My Lord, isn't this a beautiful way to be do- 
 ing business, letting all our time be taken up with 
 speeches, to nq end, that I defy your Lordship, or any 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 163 
 
 other gentleman of sense or understanding, to make 
 head or tail of? If you don't stop that man's mouth, 
 he'll bother away till he goes through every word in 
 the biggest spelling-book that ever was printed ; and 
 when that stock is out, he'll coin new English sooner 
 than give his tongue a holiday. It's the way of all 
 his family from time immemorial that is, of his fa- 
 ther and himself, for I never heard that the pedigree 
 could count higher. Can't you at once divide the 
 house, as they do in Parliament, and that will 
 tongue-tie him complatet Concentrate your forces, 
 my Lord, and we'll beat them hollow we'll beat 
 them to the back-bone we'll beat them to their 
 heart's content. Bid all the honest men wheel to the 
 right of your Lordship, and, my word for it, the re- 
 mainder will have elbow-room, and to spare, on the 
 left, which is the place best becomes them." 
 
 The honest men waited no further orders, but 
 pushed and scolded, and fought their way, to the 
 gathering place appointed by Willy ; and contrived, 
 as the mass rolled onward, to carry Sir Ralph with 
 them ; while poor Lord Farnmere, in the perturba- 
 tion of his spirits, caused by the sudden movement, 
 said, " aye," three times very audibly, when it was 
 shrewdly suspected, that if he intended to say any 
 thing, it was ff no." As Willy promised, Lord Col- 
 verston carried his resolutions by a very respectable 
 majority, and the meeting broke up amidst frightful 
 confusion within and without doors. Fortunately,the 
 mob were so delighted with Hector's speeches, that 
 they insisted upon chairing him, which gave opportu- 
 nity to the two noblemen, and their friends, to drive 
 off without experiencing any ill usage at their hands, 
 
164 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 except hootings, and hisses, and curses in abundance, 
 and a few handfuls of mud aimed at their carriages. 
 
 The other obnoxious characters of a lower grade, 
 made their retreat as well as they could, and stole 
 out of the town in the most unostentatious mariner. 
 
 Although the same reasons for avoiding notoriety 
 could not be pleaded by Father Duff, yet he seemed 
 particularly anxious to escape observation. During 
 his short walk from the court-house to the inn, he 
 refused seven invitations to dinner, on the plea of be- 
 ing engaged to Ned Costigan, and having called for 
 his horse in a great hurry, pursued his journey alone. 
 This solitary propensity was very unusual with 
 him, as he was of a remarkably social disposition, and 
 had often been known to wait hours together for the 
 chance of a companion, rather than ride a few mi- 
 nutes by himself. But the occurrences of the day had 
 vexed and grieved him, and he disliked the idea of 
 talking them over again till his mind was a little 
 calmed. Mr Fitzcarrol had magnanimously renewed 
 his offer of tranquillizing the country, with his as- 
 sistance, and that of his coadjutor, O'Floggin, if al- 
 lowed to take their own way; and poor Father 
 Duff could see no possible way of arriving at so de- 
 voutly-to-be-wished-for a consummation, with such 
 assistants. In truth, his day was over. In former 
 times, he had been able to restrain his flock within 
 some bounds, being constantly on the watch to nip 
 in the bud the first appearance of a bad spirit in his 
 parish; and with such success, that he often boasted 
 of it with pride, when contrasting it with others of 
 a lawless character. But he was remiss in his care 
 of the youthful part of , his charge, at least so it ap- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 16-5 
 
 peared to his Bishop, by permitting them to receive 
 instruction unauthorised by the Church of Rome. 
 After repeated reprimands for inefficiency in this par- 
 ticular, which, certainly, had not much effect, as nei- 
 ther parents, nor children could ever be convinced 
 that he was in earnest in his opposition to the schools, 
 and therefore, persisted in never minding him, the 
 tone of his Superior gradually softened, and on the 
 plea of his advanced age and growing infirmities, 
 though still an active, hale man, he was kindly ac- 
 commodated with an assistant to ease him of part of 
 his arduous labours. From the hour that Mr. O'Flog- 
 gin entered upon his coadjutorship, the affairs of the 
 parish assumed another aspect, and in the course of 
 five years, Rathedmond could vie, in moral degrada- 
 tion, with the most neglected part of Ireland. In 
 the mean time, Father Duff had been insensibly 
 losing the authority, which, for years, he had main- 
 tained with an even, though, sometimes an high hand, 
 The people no longer looked to him for advice, or fol- 
 'owed it when gratuitously given ; and his eyes were, 
 at last, unwillingly opened to the humiliating truth, 
 that he had sunk into a mere cypher. At no time 
 had this consideration pressed upon him more pain- 
 fully, than when Hector made his pacific proposition, 
 and offered to take him into partnership with O'Flog- 
 gin. He felt it to be an insidious committal of him, 
 as a favourer of their principles, to which his own 
 were decidedly opposed : yet such was the state of 
 bondage, to which the tyranny of Rome had subject- 
 ed his free-born spirit, that he dared not even to ex- 
 press his sentiments, much less to act upon the con- 
 viction of his better judgment. Then, on the other 
 
166 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 side, coarse things had been said, and intemperate as- 
 sertions made, which, as usual, went to prove too 
 much. Sweeping censures involved the innocent 
 with the guilty, and he writhed under the injustice 
 that would consign to an untimely grave all the good 
 he had done in his days of comparative freedom, and 
 throw a load of other men's sins upon his shoulders. 
 He had, hitherto, stood well with Protestants of even 
 the deepest orange and blue, who were in general, 
 convinced of the uprightness of his intentions, and 
 believed him to be more than half a Protestant at 
 heart ; but on this trying day, he thought he saw a 
 decided change in their manner towards him. Every 
 cold look, and stiff bow, which, after all, might not 
 have been colder or stiiFer than the company-man- 
 ners of some people always call forth, were register- 
 ed by him, as so many symptoms of his falling popu- 
 larity in that quarter ; and it seemed to him as if all 
 the world was fast bidding him good night. 
 
 This heart-sinking was in some measure relieved 
 by the returning kindness of Mrs. Costigan, whose 
 long- tried friendship he feared was irrecoverably lost 
 by his unfortunate attempts at condolence, as nearly 
 three weeks had elapsed before she showed any symp- 
 toms of reconciliation. But within the last few days 
 he had received half a hundred kind messages from 
 her, with an invitation to dinner on that day ; and as 
 he drew near to Kiladarne, his spirits revived from 
 the conviction, that, at least in that house, he was 
 sure of a hearty welcome. 
 
 Nor was he disappointed. Both master and mistress 
 received him with the heartiest of hearty welcomes; 
 and though the latter did not directly allude to the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 167 
 
 circumstances of their last meeting, she was evidently 
 anxious to atone for her petulance on that occasion, 
 by even more than usual kindness of manner and ex- 
 pression. After a very few minutes, Father Duff felt 
 again quite at home, and before dinner made its ap- 
 pearance, had so far recovered his spirits, as to give 
 a short abstract of the occurrences of the meeting 
 with tolerable composure. 
 
 There is no doubt but he looked forward with a 
 little apprehension to the probable turn the conversa- 
 tion might take before the evening was over. Mrs. 
 Costigan had still the same look of care, but as yet 
 she had not uttered a complaint, and seemed anxious 
 to give her whole mind to entertaining her guest. 
 
 " Ah ! Mr. Duff, dear," said she, during a pause in 
 carving, " try a bit of this pickled beef, and put by 
 them chops, that have all the nourishment burnt out 
 of them, by that one in the kitchen." 
 
 " I believe I'll take your advice," replied Mr Duff, 
 determined to be agreeable in every possible way, 
 " for though the mutton couldn't be better, it can't 
 be denied but it saw a little too much of the grid- 
 iron." 
 
 " It goes to my heart," said she, " to put good 
 meat into the hands of the like of Christian Rooney, 
 only to spoil it. I v had a sore loss of Ileen Garvey, 
 Mr. Duff, for she is the only girl in the country, who 
 could tell why they got a pair of hands on their 
 body/' 
 
 " She was a well- handed girl, indeed ; and I was 
 sorry to hear she left you, as I thought she answered 
 you to your satisfaction." 
 
 " I did all I could for her, Mr. Duff, but she would 
 
168 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 take no warning. I gave her as much liberty as a 
 girl ought to have, in moderation, and it would not 
 content her. She stole out of the house after we were 
 all gone to bed, and went to the dance at Bryan Kil- 
 lion's that night, when, as sure as I am sitting here, 
 a scheme of murder brought most of them together. 
 However, that is neither here nor there, for I could 
 not suspect her of having any knowledge of such do- 
 ings. I was just beside myself when I found out 
 what she had done, and how her name was reflected 
 on, so that I expected her to be dragged to jail be- 
 fore my eyes. And, to give her her due, she hum- 
 bled herself, and asked pardon, and promised to be 
 more cautious for the future. But when I insisted that 
 she should give up company-keeping with that un- 
 fortunate St. Leger, who, if he has not blood upon 
 his head, is cruelly belied, she grew stiff and harden- 
 ed. She cried enough to break the heart of any two 
 of her slender make, but she would not forswear his 
 company, Or promise to make strange with him, even 
 for a while. So I said in a hurry, that she must ei- 
 ther give me up, or him ; and she would not come 
 into my terms, and I was forced to let her go. 1 be- 
 lieve she is sorry, as well as myself, for the parting; 
 but badly as I miss her, I would not take her back, 
 if she encouraged that fellow about the place : and I 
 think you will say that I am not wrong, Mr. Duff?" 
 
 " Not at all, indeed. Nobody could fault you for 
 setting your face against idlers and night-walkers." 
 
 " Remember," she added, " that I lay nothing to 
 poor Ileen's charge, but wilfulness about her liking 
 for that bad graft, who she thinks more of than all 
 the rest of the world put together. She will come to 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 169 
 
 sorrow, I know, by marrying him ; and if so, I will 
 never turn my back on her no, no ; I can't forget 
 what she did for me, when the weight was hanging 
 over my heart, that crushed it, and bruised all the 
 sense of feeling it ever had, out of it." 
 
 " Oh, oh !" groaned Father Duff, inwardly ; " we 
 are in the thick of it now ,* and how I will ever get 
 out of it, is beyond my poor skill to reckon." 
 
 But Mrs. Costigan did not pursue the subject ; on 
 the contrary, she seemed anxious to get rid of it at 
 once, by abruptly asking some question about the 
 meeting, which, although it had been answered a 
 minute before, her guest most readily undertook to 
 answer over again ; and that so diffusely and paren- 
 thetically, that the cloth was removed before he had 
 exhausted his stock of information upon one very in- 
 considerable particular, hinting at the close, that 
 much of an interesting nature remained yet to be told. 
 This manoeuvre generally had the effect of engaging 
 her attention to a story of even lesser promise ; but 
 though, in the course of his narrative, she, at intervals 
 pronounced a " dear me !" or, ' ' think of that !" and 
 other little ejaculations, which give a fillip to the spi- 
 rits of a story-teller, it was evident, from the auk- 
 ward places at which they came in, as well as from the 
 incessant fidgetty change of posture, that she was to- 
 tally uninterested in the relation, and contrary to her 
 usual custom, soon left the room, throwing the blame 
 of her ill-manners upon Christian Rooney, who, "if 
 not well watched, might do all kinds of mischief, 
 without once troubling her head whether it was bad 
 or good." 
 
 A full hour and a half elapsed before she again 
 
 I 
 
170 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 made her appearance ; and then, instead of taking her 
 seat at the fire, she began to arrange the tea equipage 
 on one end of the table, while the gentlemen, who 
 had not yet finished their punch, occupied the other. 
 Her husband, who was a great politician, still conti- 
 nued his calculations upon the probable consequences 
 of Lord Colverston's application to government; and 
 Father Duff, as he raised,, from time to time, the glass 
 to his lips, watched her from under his eyes, to con- 
 form himself, as much as possible, to her present hu- 
 mour, whatever that might be. The scrutiny was, 
 however, any thing but satisfactory. There was a 
 restlessness in her eye, and an indecision in her mo- 
 tions, together with, now and then, a sudden, though 
 short fit of abstraction, which made her so unlike her 
 former self, even in her most eccentric moods, that it 
 was impossible to decide upon any determinate mood 
 of action, and he awaited, in no slight degree of tre- 
 pidation, the result of this unusual demeanour. 
 
 At length every arrangement as to the tea-table 
 was completed, and Mrs. Costigan took her seat in 
 the proper place for doing the honours of it, giving a 
 little, short, quick cough, her usual prelude to a 
 speech. Father Duff was determined to pre-occupy 
 the ground. 
 
 ' e I was telling Ned, just now," he began, f ' what a 
 pity it is to see money and station thrown away upon 
 that poor creature of a lord from England. All the 
 time he was muttering, and winking, and twisting 
 his legs, without being able to get out a word that a 
 Christian could understand, that rhyme of yours was 
 
 running in my head, about you know poh ! what 
 
 is come over me, that I can't remember it ? But it 
 
IRISHWOMEN. - 171 
 
 means, that if a man has not some worth in him, he 
 might as well be a fellow made up of leather, and 
 something else, with a hard name/' 
 
 " Little I care what he is made of, Mr. Duff," said 
 she, rising from the table, and drawing her chair close 
 to her guest. " It would be well for some of us that 
 we were never made at all, if the half of what that 
 book says be true" suddenly drawing a thick octavo 
 from under her shawl, and placing it on the table be- 
 fore him. 
 
 "Ah! woman dear," exclaimed the priest, "how, 
 in the name of all the world, did you come by a Pro- 
 testant Bible ?" 
 
 "I bought it but no matter for that. How it 
 came makes no difference one way or another. What 
 I want now, is for you to tell me what you think of 
 it?" 
 
 " Oh ! sure what could I think of it, only what I 
 ought to think of it ? It is a good book nobody 
 will deny that ; and provided a man don't take a bad 
 meaning out of it, but just read on quietly a bit now 
 and then, without wanting to understand more than 
 the church thinks proper for the laity, it would never 
 do him the least harm. So don't be afraid of me ; 
 we are old friends, who wouldn't quarrel for a trifle. 
 If you have a fancy for reading it, keep your own se- 
 cret, and I will never tell." 
 
 " Answer me this, Mr. Duff: did you ever read it 
 yourself?" 
 
 "Aye, did I; both in Latin and English: and 
 mighty fine reading it is, particularly in Latin." 
 
 " And answer me another question : How can you 
 
 i2 
 
172 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 be so cheerful as you always are, after reading such 
 a book ?" 
 
 "Blessings on you ! Is it you that makes a won- 
 der of that? you that would read all the books in 
 print, if they came in your way, and only be the more 
 ready for a laugh or a joke, the minute after. Ah ! 
 you little know all I had to read in my day, and read- 
 ing that was dull enough to make a man stupid at 
 the time : but when it was over, what was to hinder 
 me enjoying myself like another ?" 
 
 "You have not come at my meaning yet, Mr. Duff," 
 she answered, impatiently : "but maybe you will un- 
 derstand me, when I ask you what is sin ?" 
 
 " Any fool could answer that," said Mr. Duff, 
 " Why, don't yourself know, that sin is wickedness, 
 and the worst of wickedness ? what I hope you and 
 I, and the like of us, will wash our hands of en- 
 tirely." 
 
 " That's beautifully spoken," said Ned ; " for bad 
 as we are, and to my mind we are bad eneugh, yet it 
 would be a poor story to tell if we had any of that 
 among us." 
 
 " Mr. Duff, I may as well tell you the truth," said 
 Mrs. Costigan, " that that book has put thoughts in 
 my mind, which will not let me have an easy minute. 
 I cannot now sit down quietly to grieve over my own 
 trouble, but some of its words will take hold of me, 
 and every thing else is banished from my memory. 
 I don't know how it is with me, and I want you to tell 
 me why it should make me selfish and uneasy. To 
 my knowledge, I never did harm to a living being, 
 nor never committed a sin, since the hour I was 
 born ; and yet I cannot turn the second leaf, open it 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 173 
 
 where I will but I feel frightened at myself, as if I 
 was the worst that the blessed air ever blew upon, 
 and I dread often to raise my eyes, for fear of seeing 
 sin stare me m the face." 
 
 " That only shows you have a tender conscience, 
 Mrs. Costigan, and you ought to be happy to have a 
 tender conscience." 
 
 " Then, every thing that happens, let it be as bad 
 as it may, is nothing,, after all, but a receipt for hap- 
 piness ! That is strange doctrine, Mr. Duff; and 
 though I would be as willing as most people to be 
 guided by what you say, yet I am in the dark to see 
 why 1 ought to be happy, because a whole book is 
 written all against myself, accusing me, and con- 
 demning me, and telling me that there is no hope for 
 me, in this world or the next." 
 
 "You see, Mrs. Costigan," said Mr. Duff, after 
 puzzling for a few minutes, " the Bible is a book to 
 advise us for our good ; and every one that advises 
 us for our good, must say sharp things to us, and 
 threaten what not, to make us behave ourselves : 
 just as good parents have to manage with their chil- 
 dren. They have to scold them, and call them imps, 
 and blackguards, and vagabonds ; and they must fly 
 into a passion, and threaten to cut them in pieces, 
 and leave them a mark to carry with them to their 
 graves ; and, after all, they have no meaning, but to 
 frighten them into good manners. Now, that is the 
 way with what you have been reading. It is to keep 
 you close to your duty, and nothing else, you may 
 depend upon it." 
 
 " And there's not a woman from this to America, 
 wants less to be checked about her duty than her- 
 
174 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 self/' said Ned. " So, Sally, dear, turn a deaf ear to 
 any thing that would blame you on that score." 
 
 " There's no use in talking to me after such a fa- 
 shion, Ned. If that book is what it says it is, it can- 
 not deal in foolery and game-making ; and if there 
 is meaning in words, it speaks home to my heart, that 
 I am a sinner, and what am I to answer when I can- 
 not deny it ?" 
 
 "As for that matter," said Mr. Duff, "we are all 
 sinners ; but you know we are to look to the mercy 
 of God, and do the best we can for our own souls." 
 
 " I never did any thing but what was good for 
 my soul, Mr. Duff, as you can vouch for me. In- 
 deed, how could I do otherwise ? For, not to praise 
 myself, I can say with a safe conscience, that in any 
 goodness 1 ever did, I never thought of God at all, 
 it came so natural and so easy to me. Yet that is no 
 comfort to me now ; for if sin is in me, how am I to 
 get rid of it ? And if, after all, I want mercy, what 
 am I to do more to deserve it than I have been doing 
 all my life ? It is a folly to tell me to be one bit bet- 
 ter than I am, for that is impossible. Since these 
 thoughts came into my mind, I tried what I could 
 do in that way, and the more I try, the more my un- 
 easiness increases, instead of going off." 
 
 " It all comes, Mrs. Costigan, from your not look- 
 ing at the difference between sin. There is mortal 
 sin, which is enough to make a man tremble in his 
 skin ; and there is venial sin, which is a trifle. The 
 word venial may show you how little matter it is ; 
 and that is all that you and I, and other good Chris- 
 tians have to do with." 
 
 " I never once thought of that," said Mrs, Costigao, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 175 
 
 eagerly catching at any thing to relieve her distress. 
 ff But it is so long since I said the catechism, that I 
 forget my seven deadly sins, as if I never heard their 
 names. Put me in mind of them, Mr. Duff, that I 
 may be sure I am safe from them." 
 
 " Isn't it odd," said he, after thinking a while, " how 
 things will run out of a man's memory ? I once had 
 them so pat, that I could count them over like a 
 school-boy; but now I can't for the life of me recol- 
 lect the first. If I could catch that, the rest would 
 follow in a minute. However, no matter. If you 
 ask old Alice, or the schoolmaster, or any of the Car- 
 melites, who teach the catechism in the chapel of a 
 Sunday, they will tell you all about them." 
 
 " No need to go out of this room, for I remember 
 them myself, as well as if I was put through the 
 questions yesterday," said Ned, quite proud of him- 
 self, at knowing more than the Priest. " This is what 
 the master says ' How many are the chief mortal 
 sins, commonly called capital and deadly sins?' says 
 he and then comes the answer ' Seven pride, co- 
 vetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth" Am I 
 right in my count, Mr. Duff?" 
 
 " Every one of them right, Ned, and in their proper 
 place. You have them so glib, by remembering the 
 first word. I could have taken you up the minute 
 you said ' pride/ only you got on so quick, there was 
 no overtaking you." 
 
 " The Bible bears hard enough upon me," said Mrs. 
 Costigan, " but you and the catechism have sealed 
 my doom at once. It requires no witchcraft to un- 
 derstand, that if them be deadly sins, I must be a 
 
176 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 deadly sinner, and 1 am much obliged to them who 
 found out that for me." 
 
 (< Sally, dear ! Sally, dear !" said her husband, 
 " what's come over you this evening ? Haven't you 
 trouble enough already, without hunting after sin to 
 harass and fret you to no end?" 
 
 " I don't believe one word of that catechism, when 
 I consider the matter coolly," said Mrs. Costigan, ad- 
 dressing the Priest, in a manner any thing but cool. 
 " It is only a trick, as you say, to frighten children ; 
 for every one of them things that it calls deadly sins, 
 are just pieces of myself that come into the world 
 with me, and won't part me till death lays his hand 
 upon me and them. Sure I never denied that I was 
 proud you often told me so, and made a joke of it, 
 which showed how little you thought of it. Then, 
 as for anger why I am angry this minute with you, 
 and angry with myself, and angry with Him who 
 made my lot: and I can't help it, and I don't want 
 to help it, for I have a right to be angry. And who 
 could blame me, if I was envious at seeing others, 
 with their child upon their knee, while my own 
 that I had the best right to, is lying in Rathedmorid ? 
 Now, supposing all that to be deadly sin, what is 
 to become of the whole world that never stops com- 
 mitting it ? What is to become of myself, if I must 
 live and die in it; and I see nothing else before 
 me?" 
 
 " Dont talk of dying in mortal sin, my dear wo- 
 man don't let such a thought ever come into your 
 head. If you should have the misfortune, at any 
 time, to fall into it, do as the catechism desires you, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 177 
 
 when it says Ned, what does it say we must do 
 when we fall into mortal sin ?" 
 
 " We must repent sincerely, and go to confession 
 as soon as possible/' 
 
 <f At that rate, I would tire out all the priests in 
 Ireland, for there is not a minute but I ought to be 
 confessing: and for repentance, how could any one 
 be sorry, morning, noon and night, for what comes 
 upon them so naturally, and so often, that I defy the 
 best hand at arithmetic to keep the count ? So, drop 
 the catechism, Mr. Duff, for it don't help you, nor 
 would I give a straw for one word it says, after such 
 nonsense." 
 
 " Oh ! Mr. Duff, dear," said Ned, " lay your or- 
 ders on her to quit reading that book entirely. What 
 business have such as we to meddle with what don't 
 belong to us ? She has plenty of fine books to rise 
 her spirits, and you ought to tell her to keep to 
 them, like a sensible woman, as she was ever ac- 
 counted/' 
 
 " Ned says what has sense upon the face of it, and 
 I must say, you are ill advised to take to such read- 
 ing, without the consent of your clergy. If your 
 heart was set upon it, I would have let you follow 
 your fancy, as I know you would take your own way. 
 no matter who said against it, once you got a thing 
 into your head : but I would have warned you, what 
 St. Peter says, and says of that very book, that it is 
 hard to be understood, and that the unlearned will 
 only read it to their own destruction. You may take 
 my word that St. Peter says all that, for I read it 
 myself, and heard it repeated a hundred times." 
 
 " I can shew you the very place, myself," said Mrs. 
 I 3 
 
178 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Costigan. " I soon found it out, as I did plenty, to 
 startle a stouter heart than mine. It was this very 
 thing that made me ask you for instruction. I 
 thought that as religion was your business, and that 
 you got all the learning to make you master of it, 
 that I could be in no danger with you for my 
 guide." 
 
 e( Then, take my advice, Mrs. Costigan, and put it 
 all out of your head, at once : and when you are not 
 thinking about it, just tell me what troubles you, and 
 I will give you an answer to your satisfaction, as you 
 will say yourself when you try me." 
 
 " No time like the present, Mr. Duff: and it will 
 be a charity for you to set my mind at ease, and let 
 it go back to fret about what it ought, and not be 
 taken up all with myself. I told you before, that I 
 can't lay my finger upon a sin I did, or want to do, 
 being naturally inclined to peace, and not given to any 
 bad vice ; yet there is a temptation come over me, 
 ever since I took to reading the Testament, to be 
 scared at myself, and to draw my own picture after 
 the pattern of the foolishest creature that walks the 
 earth ; and what can be the reason of that ?" 
 
 "Something frightened you, you may be sure; and 
 if you would only point out to me what it was, I 
 might put you in a way of getting back your courage 
 again. But if you keep hammering away about sin, 
 and nothing else, what can I say to you more than I 
 have said ?" 
 
 " I marked this place for you," said she, opening 
 the book. "It don't stand to reason that it means 
 all it says, and sometimes I think I am a fool to mind 
 it at-all \ but there is an odd misgiving about me, as 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 179 
 
 if it were true. My sense says it is not, and then my 
 heart contradicts my sense, so that between them 
 both, my brain is distracted. Read on, Mr. Duff, 
 from that place, beginning, c There is none righteous, 
 no, not one ;' and see what it says about cursing and 
 bitterness, and every awful thing, till it bids all the 
 world stop their mouths, because they are guilty be- 
 fore God." 
 
 Mr. Duff was a long time reading the verses un- 
 der consideration, and much longer meditating over 
 them, before he gave his opinion. 
 
 " God help the world," he said at last, ec for there's 
 no doubt it's in a bad way; and what can a man do 
 to mend it, if the people won't take good advice ?" 
 
 " Never mind the world, Mr. Duff," said she, with 
 one of her most impatient gesticulations. " Bad 
 people will be bad, if you preached yourself black in 
 the face. Leave them to themselves ; only tell us, do 
 them words touch me, or any other Christian that 
 never injured another ?" 
 
 " It is not easy to be as good as one ought," an- 
 swered the Priest thoughtfully, after another pause. 
 " It takes a deal of penance and mortification to drive 
 sin out of a man." 
 
 " Troth Mr. Duff, if it ie there at-all, neither 
 penance nor mortification will make it move a quarter 
 of an inch. I tried both one and other in my time, 
 and they left me just where they found me. When I 
 was a girl, young and innocent, my mother, who was 
 careful of our manners, made a complaint of me to 
 the Priest, two or three times, about some foolishness, 
 and penance was put on me. The last time, (I be- 
 
J80 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 lieve it was for going with others to a fortune- teller,) 
 I had prayers to say till the string of my beads wore 
 out, with fair telling them : and I was angry all the 
 time ; and I was angry after it was over, at the bare 
 thought of the plague it was. Now, if anger be 
 such a deadly sin, why did not that sore penance ba- 
 nish it, instead of raising it more and more ? Then, 
 as for mortification ! If I don't mortify myself, all 
 Lent, and every fast-day, I wonder at it ! Me ! that 
 can't bear the smell of fish, from a trout to a salt- 
 herring ; and that would not think it worth my while 
 to throw a cloth on the table, if there was not a bit 
 of flesh-meat to come after it ; yet, not even in sick- 
 ness would I transgress. And, after all, if I am still 
 bad, I am not the value of a penny the better for my 
 fasting, nor could I ever see the least change in my- 
 self, except being glad that the fast was over," 
 
 "It's your own fault, Sally, dear," said her hus- 
 band, " if that gives you uneasiness ; for how often 
 did I offer to speak to Mr. Duff, arid give him any 
 compensation in reason, for leave for you to eat meat, 
 when I saw you wished for it." 
 
 '' Ned, honey," she replied, " don't mind me.* It 
 never gave me any uneasiness to talk about, and I 
 would not fret you for a thing of the kind. But, Mr. 
 Duff, I see you do not like answering my question, 
 so let us take our tea in quietness and friendship. I 
 must go on reading for myself, for I cannot stop 
 where I am : and who knows, when my mind is com- 
 posed to search deeper, but I may find the cure as 
 well as the disease." 
 
 " Compose your mind, by all means," said the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 181 
 
 Priest. " There is no cure for trouble of any 
 kind surer than to put it out of the head at 
 once." 
 
 " That is not the way, Mr. Duff. You never knew 
 me to sit down contented, without sifting to the bot- 
 tom, whatever took hold of my thoughts ; and I will 
 leave no stone unturned till 1 am satisfied. There 
 are them I know who only found peace and joy, where 
 I met all that was discouraging; and if I cannot 
 come at their secret by myself, I must only ask them 
 to make me as wise as themselves/' 
 
 Ah ! Mrs. Costigan," said the Priest, mournfully, 
 " take care of yourself, and don't let obstinacy get 
 the better of you so far, as to turn your back, in the 
 end, upon the true faith. I guess who you mean to 
 make your complaint to ; and though I allow her to 
 be a woman in a hundred, and that if ever any one 
 out of the Holy Roman Catholic Church could be 
 saved, it would be herself; still it is a dangerous 
 thing to walk on the ledge of a precipice, even if the 
 wisest and the best should be the leader. Besides, 
 is it a thing I could expect from you, to go and ex- 
 pose me to them, that think little enough of me, as 
 it is ? Would it be a kindly turn, after so many 
 years of friendship between us, to go and tell the 
 world that I was not able to give a word of advice 
 to one of my own flock ?" 
 
 " Never fear, Mr. Duff, that your name will be re- 
 flected on by my means. It may be that I never will 
 open my mind to mortal, out of this room, but if I 
 can't help it, with the load that is about my heart, 
 why, what can be blamed but my own foolishness ? 
 And here is my hand for it, Mr. Duff, dear, that let 
 
IRISHMEN AND 
 
 my thoughts of myself be what they may, I will ne- 
 ver think other than what is friendly and loving of 
 you ; and I humbly ask your pardon for my wilful- 
 ness, the other day, when I said what I ought to be 
 ashamed of. Whatever fixes itself in my mind, you 
 will be the first to hear of it, and I will be led by you 
 entirely, if I can see the way you are going/' 
 
 "Where a woman like you got all the sense you 
 have, Sally," said her husband, " is beyant a man of 
 my understanding ; for it is just a pleasure to hear 
 you speak, even when I don't see your drift. If every 
 thing went contrary to me from morning to night, I 
 ought to be happy, thinking of my luck to light upon 
 such a wife ; and I am not ashamed to say it to your 
 face, Sally. But now, that Mr. Duff has settled your 
 little misdemeanor to your satisfaction, let us talk of 
 something that is instructing, while we have a man 
 of his sort in our company. Fill out the tea, dear, 
 and look cheerful. Now, do you ralely think, Mr. 
 Duff that Sir Ralph has it in his eye to set up for the 
 county, in opposition to young Mr. Traffield?" 
 
 It was some time before Mr. Duff could collect his 
 thoughts, so as to take a very lively part in the con- 
 versation ; but Ned plied him hard with questions, 
 and Mrs. Costigan exerted herself into something 
 like her former agreeability, till by degrees his spirits 
 revived, and the remainder of the evening passed so 
 cheerfully, that he forgot the annoyances of the day, 
 and, on his departure, promised with a hearty good 
 will, to repeat his visit on an early opportunity. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 183 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 LANTY'S fear of the " boys," and of his grandmo- 
 ther, quickly subsided after the day when he baffled 
 all the wise heads in the county. Whatever he knew, 
 or however he had gained his information, he had 
 given the most decisive evidence that he was trust- 
 worthy, and had no inclination to turn informer ; and 
 when that apprehension was removed from the minds 
 of the people, they rather admired him for his clever- 
 ness, in saving the life of his benefactress, without 
 betraying the Oglandby plot; and began to entertain 
 for him that mysterious kind of respect, bordering on 
 veneration, which the half-witted, or idiots, often ob- 
 tain from the lower orders in Ireland. On his return 
 home, he quickly settled down into his old habits ; 
 resumed his seat on the tottering wall, from which he 
 had a view of whatever was transacting in Mr. Cos- 
 tigan's yard; made up the quarrel with Lion; and, 
 on the next Sunday, appeared in his own corner in 
 the Sunday school, where he behaved with so much 
 propriety, that he was rewarded with a new lesson, 
 in words of four letters, and carried off the long-pro- 
 mised cap in triumph. 
 
 " Now, Lanty," said Miss Milward, as she gave it 
 to him, fe I expect that you will be a good boy in 
 future I really am your friend, but the continuance 
 of my friendship must depend on your own good 
 conduct." 
 
184 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ee Miss Dora/' said he in a whisper, " if they take 
 to shooting the gentlemen entirely, don't be anxious 
 about your turn, Miss. All the neighbours says they 
 won't allow a dog to bark at you ; and supposing 
 even that you was killed on the spot, they'd make an 
 uproar, Miss, would frighten the world." 
 
 < I am very much obliged to them, Lanty ; but I 
 hope there may be no occasion for any uproar on my 
 account. Go home quietly, like a good boy, and in- 
 stead of idling about the whole week, spend an hour 
 or two every day spelling over your lesson for next 
 Sunday." 
 
 " Miss Dora," he called out, as she turned away, 
 
 " is that the coat you had on, Miss, the time the 
 
 time, you know, when you wouldn't go into the 
 coach?" 
 
 " No ; why do you ask ?" 
 
 " That coat, Miss, is what keeps all their mouths 
 open again me still. Ileen Garvey says I ought to 
 be skivered for it, and the people's never tired of 
 going to her for news about it. She says it will ne- 
 ver do a ha'porth of good, after the splashing it got; 
 when I know, Miss, if you'd only try beetling with 
 it, it would answer. When my grandmother has any 
 thing to wash, she brings it down to the river, and 
 pelts at it with the beetle on a big stone, till it's all 
 as one as new. Will you try it with that coat, Miss 
 Dora?" 
 
 " It would be quite useless, 1 assure you, Lanty, 
 to attempt any thing of the kind. But it is no mat- 
 ter about it now, provided that you 'never play so 
 mischievous a prank again." 
 
 "If it isn't mended, Miss, I won't have pace, go 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 185 
 
 I won't. Mrs. Burrowes herself speaks crueller nor 
 Ileen herself; and what will I do with her, at all, 
 Miss, when she says, she will never die till she has 
 the vally of that coat out of my bones ?" 
 
 " You are quite mistaken : Mrs. Burrowes for- 
 gives you, and I forgive you, and nobody has a right 
 to be displeased with you but me. If you are teased 
 about it any more, tell them plainly that it is no bu- 
 siness of theirs, and that it is very no, no, I 
 
 do not mean that I mean that you should say 
 
 nothing remember, not one word, for it is very im- 
 proper to be impertinent on any occasion. And you 
 know, Lanty, that you have behaved as ill as possi- 
 ble every body must say that, and you must bear 
 it patiently. Now, go home. I promise for Mrs. 
 Burrowes, that she shall say no more about the gown 
 at least, that she shall not say much." 
 
 That Mrs. Burrowes should ever afterwards pre- 
 serve an impenetrable silence on the subject of the 
 ill-fated gown, was, perhaps, too much to be ex- 
 pected ; but Dora was aware that her sentiments 
 towards Lanty were not quite so sanguinary as he 
 apprehended. The finale to the grand dinner at 
 Charlesborough, had more than reconciled her to the 
 disappointment ; and if Johnny Munroe had not still 
 persisted in requiring what appeared to her a super- 
 abundance of resignation and forbearance, it is pro- 
 bable he would have been much sooner restored to 
 favour. If, therefore, she indulged at times in a few 
 harsh expressions, it was more for the sake of consis- 
 tency, than from any real feeling of ill-will ; and it 
 required but the necessary quantum of coaxing from 
 the young lady, to insure his pardon. After a little 
 
J86 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 moralizing, and not a little praise of her own placa- 
 bility, she at length consented to forgive him, with- 
 out any mental reservation strongly protesting 
 against the further requisition of forgetting, which 
 Dora most unreasonably tacked to the original de- 
 mand. When the housekeeper's pacific inclinations 
 were notified, the wrath of the subordinate members 
 of the family quickly subsided. Alice O'Neil was 
 specially invited by the dairy-maid, to come, as 
 usual, on churning days, for buttermilk ; and Lanty 
 having had the good luck to save Mrs. Burrowes's 
 favourite Guinea-hen from the jaws of a fox, was 
 looked upon as a benefactor to the whole family. 
 
 In the mean time, all the measures taken by Lord 
 Colverston and others, for discovering the authors of 
 the late outrage, completely failed. With the ex- 
 ception of St. Leger, none of the real offenders were 
 even suspected, and after a few weeks, the incident 
 was scarcely alluded to, and the strong interest 
 which it had at first excited, was rapidly dying 
 away in the obscurity with which it was enveloped. 
 Notwithstanding these favourable circumstances, the 
 spirits of the committee, and their agents, were 
 greatly depressed. That some of their secret was 
 in Lanty's possession, his grandmother declared her 
 firm conviction ; for although he was as incommuni- 
 cative to her, as to the bench of magistrates, there 
 were several little facts, which, when put together, 
 amounted to proof, that his impertinence to Miss 
 Milward had no reference to their dispute about the 
 cap, but was a stratagem to keep her out of danger. 
 Suspicion, therefore, naturally lighted upon Dela- 
 hunt, who, besides his unwillingness to engage in the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 187 
 
 affair, was always a prime favourite with Lanty ; 
 and as naturally an apprehension was excited, that 
 he might make further discoveries in another quarter, 
 particularly when tempted by a reward of eight hun- 
 dred pounds. This suspicion was carefully conceal- 
 ed from him by his accomplices, lest it might drive 
 him to adopt measures for his own safety, by turning 
 king's evidence ; but the feeling of distrust was so 
 strong against him, that it was impossible to restrain 
 it at all times. Even his friend, St. Leger, though 
 strictly warned to keep a fair face to him, could 
 with difficulty repress his indignation at his traito- 
 rous conduct, and now shunned his society as care- 
 fully as he had before courted it. The young man 
 felt all the misery of his situation, and had a sad 
 foreboding of its consequences. He knew too well 
 the stern nature of the system, whose laws he was 
 suspected to have infringed, to hope that his offence 
 would be passed over. He knew also, that summary 
 justice had been unrelentingly inflicted in other in- 
 stances, where the transgression was light in compa- 
 rison to that with which he was charged, and he 
 could plainly read his death-warrant in the counte- 
 nances of his most intimate associates. Under this 
 impression, he did not dare to sleep in his mother's 
 cabin. Night after night, in the middle of a stormy 
 December, he shifted his quarters from the fern-field 
 on the hill to the swamps bordering on the bog, till 
 his suffering of mind and body 'became nearly insup- 
 portable ; and with the inconsistency very natural in 
 a person so circumstanced, he often wished for death, 
 while taking so much pains to avoid it. Just at this 
 time, Mr. Costigan's man-of-all-work died, and his 
 
188 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 place was offered to Delahunt, whose activity and 
 diligence counterbalanced, in the farmer's estimation, 
 the few flaws in his character the worst of which 
 was his intimacy with Connel St. Leger. At any 
 other time, such an offer would have been rejected 
 with disdain; for a Delahunt, man or woman, had 
 never yet been known to go to service. Some very 
 near connections had certainly been reduced, from 
 time to time, to great straits even to the necessity 
 of travelling, alias, begging, in the neighbouring 
 counties, during the summer months of a year of 
 scarcity ; but they had, hitherto, been preserved 
 from the still deeper degradation of servitude. Be- 
 sides, Wat was a landholder. He had a farm of 
 three acres and a rood, which, after paying rather a 
 high rent, supplied potatoes sufficient for the support 
 of himself and his mother ; so that, in this case, the 
 degradation must be regarded by the country at 
 large as both wanton and wilful. However, on the 
 present occasion, Mr. Costigan's proposal was ac- 
 ceded to at once. His house offered a safe asylum 
 during the long winter nights : and his mother, who, 
 though ignorant of the full extent of his danger, 
 guessed that he was an object of jealousy, made no 
 objection to the arrangement, and was only solicitous 
 to persuade the neighbours, ff that the never a bit of 
 the lucre of gain tempted him, but only a wish to pay 
 a compliment to Mr. Costigan, and a wish for a little 
 more company nor herself in the short days, which 
 was natural enough in one of his years." 
 
 She was particularly eloquent on this topic to 
 Alice O'Neil, who called to light her pipe at her 
 house, the day of Wat's instalment in his new office ; 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 189 
 
 but Alice was sullen and reserved, answering either 
 in monosyllables, or by a quick shake of the head, 
 the meaning of which it was very difficult to inter- 
 pret, as it might be a sign of assent, or it might be a 
 hint that the subject was disagreeable. Mrs. Dela- 
 hunt explained it according to the latter interpreta- 
 tion, and as she had her own reasons for wishing to 
 stand well with her visitor, she endeavoured to be as 
 agreeable as she could. 
 
 " You had a long walk, seemingly, this morning, 
 Mrs. O'Neil ? You look tired and jaded, and haven't 
 your own sprightly way at-all." 
 
 " I had a wary tramp of it," answered the other, 
 " all the way to Corrigheenawanyagh. Peggy Ma- 
 haify's beautiful cow is sick, and herself lying ; so I 
 offered to go to the friar, to get him to read an office 
 for the cow ; but I'll not do the like in a hurry for a 
 Christian, let alone a baste, I can tell you." 
 
 (( That friar is a holy man, by all that I hear of 
 him/' said Mrs. Delahunt, " and one that does a 
 power of cures. It would be happy for the country 
 if we had more of his pattern in it. Isn't it a wonder 
 to you, that Father Duff doesn't take to that trade 
 a man with his edication and not let others get mo- 
 ney and credit to his disparagement ?" 
 
 " He never was up to the thing," said Alice. " I 
 remember him now thirty- four years, and I can say, 
 with a safe conscience, that barring a scoulding to a 
 man in liquor, he never stretched out a hand, or 
 opened a book, to cure even a blast, or a fairy-stroke. 
 I brought a sick child to him myself, once, that was 
 terribly wrought with the convulsions, and what had 
 
190 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 I for my pains, do you think ? He just bid me bring 
 it to the Doctor/' 
 
 (e I believe he was ever a quite man, that loved his 
 ease better nor his money/' replied Wat's mother. 
 " But will you resolve me, Mrs. O'Neil, what is the 
 reason that holy priests isn't so common now-a- 
 days, as they wor afore now ? Why, as well as I can 
 hear, there is but four in all the country, and long 
 ago every parish used to have its own, as I have 
 hard." 
 
 " The badness of the world is the rason," replied 
 Alice, " and the dispensaries, and infirmaries, and 
 doctors, and schools. When I was married, there 
 was only one doctor within fifteen miles, and he only 
 for the quality. Then we had luck, for ould Father 
 Corny M f Cudgel had the place all to himself. Ah ! 
 he was the fine man, who would do as many cures in 
 one day, when he was in the humour, as another 
 would do in seven years." 
 
 " I often hard tell of him," said the other, " how 
 he could explain what the dumb brutes was talking 
 to one another about." 
 
 " Troth, Naupla, dear," said Alice, relaxing from 
 her sulky fit, " I seen the little birds hopping before 
 him, as he walked on the road, and turning about to 
 hear what he was saying ; for he had a fashion, when 
 he drunk a little hard, of talking to himself. He was 
 one, too, that wouldn't let a man, that wasn't of the 
 rale sort, stand before him. There was few then in 
 the place, compared to these misfortunate times; and 
 they would run up to their necks in a bog-hole, 
 sooner nor come across him, when he was hearty. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 191 
 
 Did you ever hear what he done to one of the Thomp- 
 sons, that made the whole family turn to mass ?" 
 
 " Never/' said Mrs. Delahunt, drawing her stool 
 closer to Alice. " It was a wicked thing, I'll engage, 
 since it frightened them for their good." 
 
 " It was a thing to give them a warning the long- 
 est day they lived/' said Alice. " As sure as you're 
 a living woman, and that that blessed fire is there, 
 where it is, he turned him into a sod of turf !" 
 
 " Oh ! Mrs. O'Neil, dear," exclaimed Naupla, 
 raising her hands and eyes, " of all the terrible things 
 I ever hard, and that bangs ! Oh ! sure, if it was 
 a stone, it would be some consolation, for, then, one 
 might lie in pace and quiteness for ever. But a sod 
 of turf ! Oh! musha, musha! Why, what was to 
 hinder the first that come by from tossing it into the 
 fire, and burning it all, body and bones ?" 
 
 ee It's as true as you're sitting there, Naupla : I 
 hard my mother tell it, before I can remember any 
 thing. And it's likely you didn't hear of how he 
 sarved the Gilligan's about the son-in-law's letter? 
 Well, I'll tell it to you. The ouldest daughter, you 
 see, made a match of her own with a soldier from 
 England : and people said, when she was in other 
 places with him, that she went his way, though she 
 wouldn't confess it to her own. Be that as it may, 
 he was sent abroad, and she came back to her people, 
 as proud and grand as any lady, with gold bobs in 
 her ears, and nothing as dutiful to her clargy as he 
 required. But he was up to her ; for one day, when 
 he was in the house, the boy brings in a letter from 
 the husband, and laid it on the dresser. She made 
 an offer to take it, when Father Corny only gave one 
 
192 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 look at it, and it swelled, and swelled, and swelled, 
 and swelled, and went on swelling, till it filled the 
 whole house ! ! !"* 
 
 ' f Well, w asn't, that enough to daunt a Turk;" cried 
 Naupla. " If I was alive then, I suppose the trimbling 
 wouldn't leave my heart for half a year, if it didn't 
 kill me for good. But tell us, Alice, will the friar, up 
 there at Corrigheenawanyagh, ever equal Father 
 M'Cudgel, do you think." 
 
 " Pah" said Alice, scornfully, " he was born in a 
 worn-out time, and is no more" 
 
 A voice was at this moment heard outside the door, 
 calling so loudly and so incessantly, " bee-a, bee-a, 
 bee-a," the usual gathering cry for turkeys, that Mrs. 
 O'Neil was forced to stop short in her speech, and the 
 next moment a girl entered the house, in a state of 
 great agitation. . 
 
 " For the pity's sake, Naupla," said she, " did you' 
 see them unlucky ramblers of turkeys, that will be the 
 death of me, before the last of their ugly throats is 
 stopped? This is the third time they have strayed 
 away since yesterday; and the feet of me never will re- 
 cover the hardship they got, follying them through the 
 sharp stones of Luggelas, where I tracked them this 
 morning afore." 
 
 "And did they give you the slip again, so soon ?" 
 inquired the mistress of the house. " You have your 
 
 * The Editor cannot vouch for the truth of the two miracles re- 
 corded by Mrs. O'Neil; but he knows a Protestant woman, upon 
 whom the bate relation of them, and others of a similar description, 
 made so strong an impression, that she turned Roman Catholic when 
 she thought she was dying, about four years ago. He had the story 
 from her own lips. Some of our readers may be glad to learn, that 
 she did not long continue a member of the Church of Rome. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 193 
 
 own bother with them, to my knowledge. But 
 for that matter, one can't be angry with them, for 
 they are the foolishest birds that ever came out o 
 an egg." 
 
 <c Foolish!" cried the girl. "Never bleeve me, if I 
 an't ashamed of my life, to say I have any call to them, 
 when I meet a dacent stranger on the road, and they 
 looking so woful, and running this way and that way, 
 and rising a cry, as if one was after beating the lives 
 out of them. My heavy hatred on them, any how, 
 for I never knew what rale misfortune was, till the 
 like of them gawky, straggling, yelping pack came 
 across me." 
 
 " They are a torment, Ileen, and that's the best' 
 we can say for them. But come in, and take an air 
 of the fire, girl. You'll be perished entirely if you 
 don't give yourself a warming." 
 
 " Oh ! not a foot of me can go in, or stop a mi- 
 nute," said Ileen, still advancing into the room, till 
 she was close to the fire, when she recognized her for- 
 mer neighbour, who had been sitting with her back 
 to the door. " Is that yourself, Alice ?" she cried. 
 f< Who would have thought to see you here, so far 
 from home, in such terrible weather ? But it's you 
 had always the love for the road. Let me go far or 
 near, I'd be sure to meet you, either coming or going; 
 and it wouldn't surprise me, if I went to the end 
 of the world, to meet you there before me." 
 
 " 1 go no where only about my own lawful busi- 
 ness," said Alice, " nor never was given to galloping, 
 late or early. There's them I could name, has gone far 
 enough, as it is, and is likely to go farther nor is pleas- 
 ing to them, if they don't mend their manners." 
 
 K 
 
194 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 "If you mean me," replied Ileen, with provoking 
 good humour, "you haven't said one word of lie; for 
 if them unfortunate bastes, (I hope it isn't a sin to 
 call any thing out of it's name,) but if they don't get 
 a little discretion, they may drag me after them to 
 the bottom of the black north before they stop. Oh ! 
 if I had a penny for every mile 1 have walked after 
 my wary charge, I'd be the richest woman in the Ba- 
 rony of Glen-ard, by this time." 
 
 " If you are so tender of your feet," said Alice, 
 f( why did you leave the genteel place you had, where 
 you might sit, like a lady, half the day with your 
 hands before you? And why did you hire with 
 Christie Balf's wife, who can't afford to give meat, 
 drink, and wages, to one that won't do her busi- 
 ness ?" 
 
 The tears stood in lleen's eyes. For a moment she 
 was at a loss for an answer, but quickly recovering 
 her gaiety, she replied, <c Ah ! what's come over you, 
 Alice, to be so sharp and nyarragh this morning? 
 you that can be agreeable of an odd time, when your 
 temper will let yon. The dear knows I want a little 
 comfort in my heavy trial ; so tell us how is the mis- 
 tress, and the master, and poor Lion, and the other 
 people about the place ? I guess the mistress takes 
 on worse nor ever, now that Paddy Mulheian is 
 dead." 
 
 "I never seen a greater alteration in a woman," said 
 Alice. " She's coming round to be herself entirely 
 singing through the house like any lark, and stopping 
 half the day in the kitchen, to hear the news from 
 .who will tell it, instead of moping by herself, as she 
 used to do." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 195 
 
 " What good would all the reading do her, if it 
 didn't stop the fretting after a while ?" asked Mrs. 
 Delahunt. " Edication and breeding is a great bles- 
 sing, Mrs. O'Neil ; and I ever remark, that them, 
 that got the most of it, hasn't proper feeling, like us 
 poor, ignorant creatures, that knows nothing." 
 
 "As for that," she replied, " all the edication in a 
 school-master's head won't do without content ; and 
 Mrs. Costigan found that, when she found Christian 
 Ilooney. She never was shooted with a girl before, 
 and she can't say three words without a commenda- 
 tion on her. I ought to be thankful enough for my 
 luck, seeing it was me put in a good word for her, to 
 get the place." 
 
 <( Why then, Alice," said Ileen, sighing involunta- 
 rily, " though you think it vexes me, yet I'd be glad 
 of any thing would please the mistress ; and I would 
 only be the more glad, the contenteder she was, sup- 
 posing even it was to my disparagement." 
 
 f( Good rearing," continued Alice, with a moraliz- 
 ing shake of the head, " is a thing that passes count; 
 and Betty Ilooney gave nothing else to her three 
 daughters. It's long before one of them would 
 have her name kicked about the country, like a foot- 
 ball." 
 
 Ileen rallied her spirits. 
 
 " Talking of good rearing puts me in mind of Lan- 
 ty. Ah ! how is the poor unnatural creature ? Do 
 you think he will ever be cured of that ugly tempta- 
 tion he has, to destroy every body that comes in his 
 
 way r 
 
 " What did he do, Ileen ? Did he ever offer to 
 destroy any body, barring Miss Dora ?" asked Mrs. 
 
 K 2 
 
196 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Delahunt, eagerly ; regardless of the grandmother's 
 feelings, in her anxiety to hear an interesting anecdote. 
 
 " He had Mrs. Falconer choked, all to nothing/' 
 answered Ileen, "only Johnny Monroe hallood a big 
 dog after him, and he was forced to quit his hold, 
 just in time to let her draw the last breath was in her 
 body. The gentlewoman packed off, tbe next day, to 
 Carragh, where she stayed under the guard of her 
 old uncle, till she went away to England, and she 
 promised never to come back, if she don't hear that 
 he has the luck to be hung or transported." 
 
 (C Who cares where she goes, or what matter about 
 her ?" cried Alice, pale with anger. " She's nothing 
 but a fire-brand, and a liar, if she trumped up that 
 story about the child." 
 
 Ileen continued, ee l wouldn't stay at Kiladarne, af- 
 ter I heard that, if the mistress would offer me a 
 pound a quarter ; for what good would money do me, 
 with him for a neighbour, to keep me in dread of my 
 life, late and early." 
 
 <e Take care of yourself," said Alice, looking at her 
 furiously. " Mind, I say, take care of yourself. 
 Don't meddle with me, or mine, or you'll rue it, no 
 matter what wall you lay your back against." 
 
 ee She's only joking, Mrs. O'Neil," interposed Nau- 
 pla. " Do you thing I would listen to her myself, 
 speaking that way of Lanty, only I know she is not 
 in earnest? Why it would be a sin, and a terrible sin, 
 to redicule one of God's own, like him. Ah ! can't 
 you sit down, Ileen, and talk sensible and cool, and 
 you'll see what good company well be, in a minute." 
 
 ee Not a bit of sin, or bad meaning, had I in my 
 heart, when I drew him down," said Ileen, "only just 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 197 
 
 to vex her, who is always thraping at me, for no rea- 
 son but her own temper. And since I gave her sper- 
 rits a little rise, I want no more enmity or ill-will 
 between us. Oh! don't mind wiping the stool for 
 me, Naupla. I'm in a hurry now would kill twenty 
 men, and I couldn't stop a minute, if you gave me 
 my lap full of gold." 
 
 She had retreated about a pace and a half from the 
 fire, when she stopped to welcome Murtagh Cum- 
 musky, who had entered the house unperceived, du- 
 ring the debate between her and Alice, and to whom 
 she repeated the story of her woes, protesting in the 
 end, that if she never was glad to see him before, 
 she was joyful enough then ; for, of all men living, 
 he was the most likely to give her some account of 
 the wanderers, as the people said, he could see as 
 well with the back of his head as the front ; and 
 would know the differ between one of the "boys" 
 and another, fifty perches off, in the darkest night. 
 But notwithstanding these peculiarities of vision, the 
 tinker denied all knowledge of the stray turkeys, and 
 after a few words of condolence on her manifold mis- 
 fortunes, and hopes of their speedy termination, he 
 inquired for Wat DeJahunt, with whom he said he 
 had a little business. 
 
 " He slipped down to Kiladarne, this morning/' 
 replied the mother. " Mr. Costigan had a trifle of 
 business, so he couldn't refuse obliging him, for a 
 little." 
 
 <s I'm in no hurry," said Murtagh : " another time 
 will do as well. Will he be about the place this 
 time to-morrow, do you think ?" 
 
 " Why should he ?" said Alice. " Isn't he hired to 
 
198 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Mr. Costigan in place of Paddy Mulheran : and 
 where would you look for him, or any other servant- 
 boy^ but at his master* s, where he has his work to 
 mind ?" 
 
 " Hired afKiladarne !" said the tinker, laying his 
 budget on the dresser, and leaning on it as he looked 
 steadfastly at Alice. 
 
 "Is it gone to be servant-boy at Mr Costigan's !" 
 exclaimed Ileen, sitting down on the stool, and draw- 
 ing it closer to the two old women. 
 
 " That isn't it at all/' said the mother. " He only 
 just went out of a compliment to Mr. Costigan, till 
 he can provide himself with a care-keeper : for what 
 call had a boy like him, with full and plenty at home, 
 to go out for wages ? He won't get a penny by it, 
 and he has nothing to do but walk about and please 
 himself. I said the world and all to him to make him 
 give over, and scoulded till I was wore out ; but he 
 was tired with idleness here at home, so he thought 
 it better to put his hand to something by the way 
 of divarsion." 
 
 " He didn't like this lonesome place in the long 
 winter nights," said Alice, looking significantly at 
 Cummusky. 
 
 " The boy never thought of that," said the mother, 
 earnestly, e ' till myself put it into his head, and cried 
 shame upon him to be sitting with an old woman like 
 me, when he might have company to make him cheer- 
 ful. Besides, a little help will do us no harm these 
 bad times. The most I can do, is to keep hunger 
 outside the door; and it's wonderful to think how 
 the poor can get living at-all." 
 
 <f It's famishing times, as I know to my cost," said 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 199 
 
 Ileen. " The donny bit I put in my head does me 
 no good, looking at the ocean of poor coming to the 
 house,, that I darn't stretch out a hand to, barring six 
 in a day. Nothing keeps the life in me, only the 
 races I have after them unruly torments, that were 
 only hatched for my sorrow." 
 
 " Mr. Cummusky," said Naupla, willing that the 
 conversation should continue in its present course, 
 11 you that goes far and near, following your call- 
 ing, has a right to pick up knowledge and instruc- 
 tion ; so, maybe you can give a guess why the 
 ground begrudges to grow the food as it used to 
 do." 
 
 " I suppose becase it's growing old," replied Mur- 
 tagh. " People gets weak, as years thickens on 
 them : and according as I can understand, the world 
 is a good round age by this time." 
 
 " Young or ould," cried Alice, " it couldn't be other 
 nor it is, with the way the poor is robbed and massa- 
 creed out of their little substance, to support in gran- 
 deur him at Rathedmorid, or that Archdeacon at 
 Dunoran." 
 
 " Poo, poo ! where are you driving at now?" asked 
 Mrs. Delahunt. cc I'll never deny it, but I got more 
 from them two, and the like of them, nor ever I 
 have; and if they were banished, it's a matter of 
 surprise to me, where yourself, Mrs. O'Neil, would 
 find a roof lower than the sky to put your head 
 under." 
 
 "Who thanks them?" cried the old woman bit- 
 terly. e( We have a good right to all belongs to them ; 
 for isn't it our own ? At any rate, it's not me alone 
 thinks bad of them. Don't the Parliament speeches 
 
200 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 in the newspapers say, that they are the scourge of 
 the country ; and isn't all hands at them, to give them 
 a fall." 
 
 <e Troth, I hope they'll be disappointed, whoever is 
 at that work/' said Naupla, "for some of us would 
 come down with them/' 
 
 " They'll come down, I tell you," said Alice. 
 " They'll come down low low they'll have to work 
 for their bread. Their children will have to go out 
 to their sarvices like any other poor body's. What a 
 beautiful sight it will be," she continued, laughing, 
 " to see the daughters milking cows, and sweeping 
 out the floor of a dirty cabin !" 
 
 " May I never sin, but it isn't lucky to stop under 
 one roof with your shameful tongue," said Ileen, ri- 
 sing. ' f Don't listen to her, Mrs. Delahunt, if you ex- 
 pect luck or goodness over your head, for she says 
 what is unpossible and wicked to look at, by no 
 means. Only think of Miss Dora, dabbling about, 
 the way she wants her, and more nor that, having to 
 carry a pail of water on her head, or running after a 
 set of common turkeys, without shoes or stockings, 
 like myself ! Before that trial would come upon me, 
 I'd drownd myself in the first ditch, out of pure ma- 
 lice and pity." 
 
 " So would I too, Ileen," said Naupla, "and I'll 
 tell you more what I'd do. I'd beg round the world 
 for her, before she would demane herself and if I 
 could not get it by fair means, I'd steal for her, and 
 I'd sell to the last faggot off my back, and I'd live 
 on half a meal a-day, to keep her as genteel as be- 
 comes her. Oh ! you may laugh till you're sick, Mrs. 
 O'Neil, but if you pass by her goodness to you, I'll 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 201 
 
 never forget her tenderness to me and mine, when I 
 was in the parish. Your spite won't have power over 
 her, or one of her kin. She was born a lady, and she 
 was bred a lady, and my prayer, late and early, is, 
 that she may be a lady in heaven, supposing even 
 that myself has only the same poor lot there that fell 
 to .my share in this world." 
 
 "You are nothing but a pair of fools," said Mur- 
 tagh, taking up his budget, " to mind what an old 
 woman is raving about : she'd say ten times worse to 
 vex you, once she goes into one of her contrary hu- 
 mours. Come along with me, Alice, for I'm going 
 your way, and I like pleasant company when I can 
 get it. Ileen, 111 give you a call one of these days 
 a girl, like you, is a fortune to a man of my trade, 
 you make so much work for me. It's likely I'll see 
 Wat soon, Mrs. Delahunt, and I'll tell him you sent 
 him your blessing." 
 
 " That woman," said Ileen to Naupla, as the tinker 
 and Alice left the house, " will do more mischief be- 
 fore she dies ; and 1 wonder she isn't tired of the 
 trade, seeing how little good she ever got by it, bar- 
 ring the destruction of all belonging to her. I must 
 be off now I never have a minute to spare, like 
 another, for a little discourse with a neighbour, and 
 the poor sperrits I ever had, is fairly worked out of 
 my bones, If any body comes to look for me, you 
 can say that I gave a call just to ask after them 
 wicked hounds, and that I was turned upside down 
 with confusion. If I'm alive this day month," stop- 
 ping again at the door, " I'll give you leave to say, 
 Naupla, dear, that I an't natural, for ten girls 
 couldn't stand the half of what I go through." 
 
 K 3 
 
202 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A FEW evenings after Mr. Duff's visit, the house- 
 hold of Kiladarne was thrown into a state of the most 
 nervous excitement, by the sudden announcement of 
 Mrs. Costigan's intention of paying a .visit to the 
 glebe, on the following morning an occurrence 
 which had never yet been known at that season of 
 the year, or indeed at any other season, without at 
 least a week's notice, which was generally the short- 
 est space of time in which due preparations could be 
 made for such an undertaking. Two hours before 
 daylight all hands on the premises were at work, and 
 a number of extra hands called in to help. One mes- 
 senger was sent for the smith, to contrive temporary 
 make-shifts for the sundry nuts and screws, which 
 had disappeared from the jaunting-car, during its 
 long vacation another was despatched for the cobler, 
 to put the harness in order a third had a run of four 
 miles to a first cousin of Tim Lonegan's, for the loan 
 of his white stockings and a fourth had a still far- 
 ther race to Derrynaslieve, for some yards of penny 
 cord to brace one of the springs, which had been bro- 
 ken nobody knew when, " but it was done long ago/' 
 Mrs. Costigan was also very busy, and more fussed 
 and hurried than on similar occasions. Her muff and 
 tippet required shaking and airing, and her cornelian 
 broach was mislaid, and the ribbands of her best 
 bonnet were crushed, and wanted smoothing ; and 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 203 
 
 Christian Rooney was no use,, only to put every thing at 
 sixes and sevens, and scorch, and soil, and crumple, 
 and do the exact contrary to what she was ordered. 
 Ned, who was rejoiced at his wife's intended excur- 
 sion, took his full share in the multifarious business, 
 transacting within and without doors, and worked 
 so hard, that after seven hours of incessant bustle, 
 the jaunting-car drove to the door, in very respecta- 
 ble visiting order, with Tim, as charioteer, looking so 
 smart in his first-cousin's white stockings, and Wat 
 Delahunt's new hat, that the eye must be very hyper- 
 critical and fastidious which would notice certain 
 minor deficiencies in his other accoutrements. Mrs. 
 Costigan's toilet was, at length, completed, and hav- 
 ing taken her seat in the car, with a large basket of 
 baking apples to balance the opposite side, Tim, at 
 one and the same minute, gave a stamp on the foot- 
 board, a chirrup with his lips, and a flourish with his 
 whip, and drove off with the air of Lady Thorndale's 
 English coachman. 
 
 Ned hoped great things from this visit, and his 
 hopes increased, as hour after hour passed over, and 
 the sun had long gone down, before she returned. 
 But he was sadly disappointed to find, in the course 
 of the evening, that his hopes were unfounded. In- 
 stead of engrossing the entire conversation to herself, 
 as on former occasions, he could scarcely get more 
 than a " yes/' or " no," to the questions which he 
 thought most likely to interest her. She could not 
 tell if Miss Dora's riding-whip had been found and 
 she had never asked how Mrs. Falconer liked her 
 new maid and she had heard nothing of how the 
 
.204 IRISHMEN ANti 
 
 outlandish pigs looked and ate after they were made 
 into bacon. 
 
 " Sally, dear/' said he, at last, a I'm afraid you 
 didn't get the welcome at the glebe, was always there 
 for you before this ; and, I am sure, if they are jea- 
 lous of us, that they have no reason, for let who will 
 run them down, I am clear to the world of ever say- 
 ing a word could offend a stick about their place." 
 
 " If I was their sister," replied his wife, " they 
 could not make more of me. I had as much respect 
 paid me by Archy Flood, the way he helped me out 
 of the car, as if I was Lady Colverstone herself; and 
 as for them in the drawing-room I need say nothing 
 about it. Look what Miss Dora made for me with 
 her own two hands !" taking from her pocket two of 
 the very useful kinds of pincushions of the present 
 day one purporting to be a harp, the other in the 
 more unpretending shape of a pair of bellows. 
 
 Ned was completely at a loss to guess the use of 
 these glittering articles, but he praised them ; and 
 then praised Mrs. Milward and her daughter ; and in 
 the abundance of his kindly feelings, proceeded to 
 eulogize, in regular gradation, every inmate of the 
 glebe. 
 
 " It is no blame to Mrs. Milward," interrupted 
 Mrs. Costigan, when his panegyric had reached Kit- 
 ty Moore, " if I am not a joyful woman this evening. 
 She spoke to me all alone, for as good as two hours, 
 when I opened my mind to her, more like an angel 
 than a woman ; and she set my heart at rest about 
 sin, which you know gave me uneasiness enough for 
 some time past.* 
 
 " No wonder at that/' said her husband, " for gf 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 205 
 
 all the women born, (not leaving yourself out, Sally,) 
 she could know little about it. Then, dear, what 
 makes you so cast down, if all the good was done to 
 you that you say ?" 
 
 " One thing was hardly clear to me," she answer- 
 ed, f{ when another began to darken my mind-^and a 
 thing that promises to give me more uneasiness than 
 all that came upon me yet. I could not give vent to 
 my thoughts to her about it ; and I was glad to get 
 away, when it fastened so close upon me." 
 
 "There never was a thought came into your head, 
 Sally, that you need be ashamed of; and it was a 
 pity you didn't out with it to her, who can give com- 
 fort to any that wants it besides, what matter is 
 there in only thinking, when a body can't help it ?" 
 
 "Ned, you don't guess my thoughts, or you would 
 not talk of them in a light way. I know you will be 
 startled, but I can't keep any thing from you long, so 
 I may as well tell you at once. I am dissatisfied 
 with my religion, and I am beginning to suspect, 
 that we are wrong, quite and entirely, and as wrong 
 as wrong can be." 
 
 " Sally, dear, before you speak in so desperate a 
 manner, only consider what Mr. Duff warned you, 
 that though Mrs. Mil ward is loving and friendly, and 
 the only woman in the world who couldn't say a 
 wrong thing if she was trying ; still she is not of the 
 true sort, and would say every thing that is bad 
 against our religion, for sure it is part of her trade, 
 as one may say." 
 
 " She never opened her lips to me about religion 
 don't accuse her wrongfully. I only asked her what 
 I^asked Mr. Duff, and she resolved my question in 
 
206 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 one moment, and gave me reasons for what she said, 
 that nobody can say against ; and which I will tell 
 you, Ned, when I think them over to myself, so that 
 I can explain them to your satisfaction." 
 
 " Don't bother yourself about me, dear. You know 
 I was ever slow in taking in book-knowledge I am 
 willing to leave it to my superiors to have judgment 
 and understanding, and them sort of things, that a 
 man with his hands full of business couldn't be ex- 
 pected to see the good of." 
 
 " When I found there was truth in all she was say- 
 ing/' continued Mrs. Costigan, "it flashed upon me, 
 that Mr. Duff was far astray, and that the catechism 
 was a bundle of words, without much deep meaning ; 
 and that it was a wonder if our religion came from 
 God, that it could not appeal to his own word for 
 what it teaches, only in an odd place, here and there, 
 just to stop us from using our senses. That thought 
 had lately flitted once or twice through my mind, 
 and I put it away from me ; but now, here it is set- 
 tled," putting her hand to her head, " and it will 
 take more than a mouth-full of Latin prayers to get 
 it out." 
 
 "Oh! Sally, couldn't you crub your spirit, dear, 
 whatever you may think, and not talk against the 
 Latin ; for if we hadn't that, where would we turn 
 to, to be safe from the devil, who would know every 
 word the priest was saying, and spoil all, only he 
 can't understand him in that language ? But," he 
 continued, suddenly rising, " I must go to bed now, 
 being so sleepy that I can't for the life of me, keep 
 my eyes open. A little rest will do yourself good, 
 too, dear : it's all you want to banish them foolish 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 207 
 
 thoughts, that the shaking you got over that bad bit 
 of the road, put into your head/' 
 
 Mr. Costigan was too seriously alarmed at the he- 
 retical sentiments of his wife, to trust to his recipe 
 for dispelling them ; yet he was at a loss what side 
 to turn to for assistance. Father Duff had so com- 
 pletely failed in his attempts to convince her, on the 
 first declaration of her opinions, that it was useless 
 to think of applying to him again ; he therefore, after 
 much deliberation, determined to call in a new auxi- 
 liary, in the person of Mr. O'Floggin, who was a 
 well-drilled controversialist, and had the credit of 
 lately making three converts to Popery one, a drunk- 
 en pensioner, who had married a Roman Catholic 
 wife another, a poor, broken-hearted woman, who 
 was convinced of the errors of Protestantism, by the 
 knock-em-down arguments of her Carmelite hus- 
 band; and the third, a lady of respectable connec- 
 tions, who fell in love with high mass while on a visit 
 to Paris. He was a little apprehensive, at first, of 
 the consequences of his interference, knowing ihe 
 mortal aversion she always expressed for the curate, 
 on account of his lording it over Mr. Duff; but the 
 emergency was pressing ; and, accordingly, the next 
 morning, instead of taking the direct road to the 
 market, he made the circuit of six additional miles 
 for the purpose of calling at the priest's house. It 
 was long before he could prevail upon himself to tell 
 the full extent of the mischief, or hint at any thing 
 that could be construed to her disadvantage. He 
 talked of her sense, and her goodness, and her read- 
 ing, and her grief, and the pestering she got with 
 Christian Rooney ; and the foolish thoughts that peo- 
 
208 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 pie with too much knowledge often had ; and the ne- 
 cessity of having a softness of a sympathy in dealing 
 with one whose senses were not always in their right 
 place with over tender-heartedness; and the cau- 
 tiousness and crabbedness that ought to be used in 
 speaking to a woman, who more than himself said 
 could answer an almanack-maker, if she was put to 
 it ; till he bewildered himself so completely, that he 
 was obliged to commence his story over again, and 
 tell the plain, downright truth without any palliating 
 circumstance ; in the end, beseeching of the priest to 
 use all his skill to reclaim her to a dutiful way of 
 thinking. His request was readily acceded to by 
 O'Floggin ; and as no time was to be lost, it was 
 agreed that he should proceed at once to Kiladarne, 
 and on no account to let on that he had put him up 
 to it. The priest promised to keep his secret, and he 
 felt, for the moment, quite happy, at having managed 
 the business so cleverly, assuring him, as he took 
 leave, that his heart was quite empty of any uneasi- 
 ness now that he had put her into his hands. 
 
 Nevertheless, a little uneasiness lurked at the bot- 
 tom, which began to be troublesome during his ride 
 to Derrynaslieve, and which the hurry of the market 
 could not afterwards keep down. " I'm sure I did 
 right/' he repeated to himself as often as the thought 
 occurred to him " maybe I did wrong ?" " He is a 
 powerful man," was another comforting reflection, 
 which might have done much for him, but for the 
 counter consideration " To be sure, she hates him 
 worse nor a blackymoor." " Any way," he thought 
 again, " I'm glad they have it all to themselves, and 
 that I'm not in it; and now, not a think will I think 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 209 
 
 about it any more. Though, after all/' reconsidered 
 he, " it might be better, every way, if I was there 
 only to sit by. She is hot, and one word from me 
 always cools her. He may be too hard upon her, and 
 she may want my help. Mr. Duff has a right to say 
 what he likes, but there is a differ between one and 
 another ; and a woman of her capabilities oughtn't 
 to be brow-beat by I wish I hadn't been in such a 
 hurry I wish I said to-morrow, instead of to-day 
 I wish I was at home what's to hinder me going at 
 once ? Home I will go, for little business is doing 
 here to-day/' Having come to this resolve, Wat 
 Delahunt was directed to carry back the oats, for 
 which there was no demand, and Mr. Costigan, 
 quickly mounting his horse, and spurring him into 
 a lively trot, reached home three hours before he was 
 expected. 
 
 Although he arrived in time to take a part in the 
 controversy, being informed by Tim, on his alighting, 
 that Mr. O'Floggin was in the parlour, and had been 
 there since twelve o'clock, he appeared in no hurry 
 to pay his compliments to his guest, but dawdled for 
 some time about the out-houses, giving sundry direc- 
 tions in a very confused manner ; and when he, at 
 last, got inside the kitchen-door, the sound of O'Flog- 
 gin's voice, pitched to a very loud, and as he thought, 
 angry key, caused him to make a precipitate retreat 
 again into the yard. To save appearances with Tim, 
 and the other boys, he began immediately to scold 
 them for doing what he had the moment before order- 
 ed to be done, till having thus gradually recovered a 
 certain degree of self-possession, he again entered the 
 house, and proceeded boldly towards the parlour 
 
210 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 We don't like confessing that he stopped to listen at 
 the door we choose rather to say, that he paused 
 there for a few seconds, before he put his hand upon 
 the lock. That pause gave him new life ; for Mrs. 
 Costigan was speaking in a gentle and subdued tone, 
 and the Priest answered without any perceptible 
 warmth. Ned was overjoyed. He suddenly opened 
 the door, and quite forgetting the preconcerted ac- 
 cident, betrayed himself at once, in the exuberance of 
 his self-congratulation. 
 
 " Well, dear/' he exclaimed, " you are not displeas- 
 ed with me, I see. Wasn't it more nor you expected, 
 that I would hit upon so elegant a plan for settling 
 all as it ought to be ?" 
 
 " Mr. Costigan," said the Priest, " you are out in 
 your reckoning, if you suppose she is likely to be 
 brought round to a sense of her duty. She is deter- 
 mined to have her own way, and I am grieved to the 
 heart to tell you, that it is the worst way she could 
 have taken." 
 
 " O dear ! O dear !" cried Ned, in despair. 
 " What's come over the world, at all ? and what will 
 I do, to mend what is beyant my cure ?" 
 
 "It is best never to meddle, Ned, dear, with what 
 is only between the conscience and Him that is high 
 above all," said Mrs. Costigan. " I know you did it 
 all for the best, and I am not displeased with any 
 thing you could do, was it ever so trying to my tem- 
 per. The only thing that troubles me in it is, that I 
 promised Mr. Duff, to open my mind to him first, and 
 he will think I broke my word with him, when he 
 understands how it is from this gentleman." 
 
 " It isn't to Mr Duff J will make my complaint," 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 2J I 
 
 said the coadjutor. " I will go straight to the 
 Bishop, and clear myself of having any hand in your 
 downfall." 
 
 " Go any way is pleasing to yourself, Mr. O'Flog- 
 gin straight or crooked, as your fancy leads you 
 and if one Bishop won't serve your turn why, tell it 
 to two, and more after that, if your tongue likes the 
 exercise. But don't try to lessen your superior, by 
 putting blame on him, which he don't deserve. How 
 could he guess what was close locked up in my own 
 mind ? And when he did come at some of it, he was 
 as anxious as you could be for my good. He had 
 as much reason too on his side, though not so many 
 turnings and twinings, to hide the straight road from 
 my eyes." 
 
 (< Somebody is to blame," said the priest, looking 
 solemnly at Ned. " And I must say, Mr Costigan, 
 that you behaved very imprudent in allowing her to 
 read books, and keep company, that could only lead 
 a foolish woman astray." 
 
 " I had no foolish woman to deal with, Mr. O'Flog- 
 
 gin, but one that always had as much discretion as 
 
 no matter who ; and I don't think it becoming in a 
 gentleman to come into my 'house, only to throw fool- 
 ishness in my wife's face." 
 
 " No offence, I hope," said O'Floggin. " But what 
 am I to say to her, when she tells me she will pick 
 up a new religion for herself, out of the Bible, and 
 won't listen to the commands of the Church ?" 
 
 " Sally, Sally, what's come over you, dear ?" 
 
 " If by the Church, you mean yourself, Mr. O'Flog- 
 gin, and the like of you, I will not listen to your com- 
 mands : and if I am obliged, as you say, to pick out 
 
212 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 a religion for myself, where would I be likely to find 
 a good one so soon as in the Bible ?" 
 
 " You hear that, Mr. Costigan ! She sets up the 
 Bible before the Church, even though I told her be- 
 fore you came in, that Saint Augustine says, he would 
 not believe the Gospel, except on the authority of the 
 Church." 
 
 " What will become of us, and where will it all 
 end ?" cried Ned. " Oh ! Sally think of St. Au- 
 gustine a saint and a holy man, and and every 
 
 thing I suppose that is good/' 
 
 Mrs. Costigan smiled. " There is no harm, Ned, 
 in supposing the best of him, whoever he was which 
 is more than you or I know ; and I don't fault his 
 saying much, so far as I understand it, as I told this 
 gentleman, not many minutes ago arid I repeat it 
 again, Mr. O'Floggin, that neither would I think it 
 safe to believe any thing on my own judgment, at 
 this hour of the day, that was not believed by the 
 Church, from the days of Christ, and which had ne- 
 ver been heard of till I found it out, all by myself." 
 
 " Then why don't you submit to the commands 
 of the Church, if you think so well of it." 
 
 " I will, Mr. O'Floggin, when I find out what it is, 
 and where it is." 
 
 <c And isn't the matter easily settled, then, dear ?" 
 said her husband. " For sure, don't you know that 
 the Priest is our Church ?" 
 
 " No, Ned ; I have your own catechism against 
 you for that. It says, that the true Church is the 
 congregation of the faithful. And how can one man 
 be a whole congregation, Ned ?" 
 
 " It would be hard for him, Sally, if he wasn't a 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 213 
 
 conjuror, and I'd be sorry to have to do with card- 
 cutters, or merry- andrews, or any of their sort." 
 
 " This is all nonsense/' said the Priest, " proud as 
 you are of your ingenuity. You think you have made 
 a mighty fine discovery ; and after all, what can you 
 make of it? 
 
 " Why, Sir, that if the Church is the congregation 
 of the faithful, you don't appear to belong to it, and 
 I don't, or did not, till yesterday, belong to it, (if I 
 do now,) and that I never saw one of my own profes- 
 sion that had the marks of it about them." 
 
 "What do you think of that?" asked O'Floggin, 
 turning triumphantly to Costigan. 
 
 " Don't be frightened, Ned I will make it plain to 
 you, that I am not talking nonsense. What are the 
 faithful but people that believe ? And what are they 
 to believe, but what God says to them ? Mr O'Flog- 
 gin won't deny that, only he says we ought to take it 
 all from the lips of the Priest. Well, I will take it 
 from him, and be thankful to him for it ; but he 
 won't give it he never gave it I believe he don't 
 know it, and the poor people under his teaching can't 
 know it and how can they be called the congrega- 
 tion of the faithful ? And how can I submit to be 
 judged by them, who have no judgment ?" 
 
 "You submit !" exclaimed Ned. " It would be a 
 fine thing, indeed, if a woman like you was to be 
 schooled and outfaced in knowledge, by the tag-rag 
 of the chapel, every Sunday." 
 
 " The very arguments you think so fine, are those 
 of all heretics and schismatics," said the Priest; "and 
 what is the end of them ? The Protestants in Ger- 
 many are all turned infidels, once they set up private 
 
214 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 judgment as their God ; and many of the Protestants 
 in this country are not better. So stop a little in 
 your new course, I advise you, till you think where it 
 may lead you." 
 
 " It cannot lead me to more infidelity than my old 
 notions found me in. Do you know, Sir, that I often 
 doubted if there was a God at all; and a clap of 
 thunder, or a threatening of sickness, did more to 
 convince me in that way, than all the religion that 
 ever a Priest performed in a hundred masses. Then, 
 what was my belief at the best of times ? It was, 
 that through your means, I hoped to cheat God, and 
 steal into heaven ; and I wished, when I was most 
 religious, that he would have nothing to do with me, 
 but let me die quietly, body and soul, and not be 
 threatening me with another world, good or bad." 
 
 " Somebody has been to blame, all along I see 
 that, and" 
 
 " Mr. O'Floggin," she cried, interrupting him with 
 an impatient wave of her arm, " you are to blame 
 you are the most to blame of any that ever spoke to 
 me on the matter ; for all that you have been saying, 
 has made me more sure that you are wrong; and 
 that little can be said on your side. You have never 
 answered a question, without running away to things 
 that don't belong to it, and telling me what this one 
 says, and what that one wrote, and never keep close 
 to what God says. You ask me how I could make 
 an act of faith I make it on his word, Sir, and I 
 won't delay doing so, till you give him a character. 
 You put me off, by asking how I would answer a 
 Sociriian, when I want you to answer me: and you 
 talk of Henry the Eighth, and Queen Elizabeth, as 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 215 
 
 if true religion must be a bad thing, because they 
 had some of it, by times, in their mouths. You 
 might as well tell me, that my new black velvet bon- 
 net would be turned into an old felt caubeen, if 
 Christian Rooney put it on her head. Now, that is 
 foolish. It might not look so well on her as on 
 another, but the stuff would be still the same." 
 
 " Every word that you say has sense upon it, in 
 black and white/' said her husband : ft but I hope, 
 dear, that you won't lend it to her for the patron, as 
 you lent your shawl to poor Ileen, who was another 
 entirely. Why, she would be a show to the world, 
 and she would die of pride before she got as far as 
 Alice O'Neil's. Now, didn't I tell you, Mr. O'Flog- 
 gin, you'd be hard set to find words for her. Oh ! if 
 you could only hear how she bothers Mr. Duff, a 
 man that can speak French as well as I speak Eng- 
 lish, you'd have gone to your books before you 
 ventured to give her instruction." 
 
 " You have small reason to be proud of her, or 
 yourself either," said the Priest, losing his temper at 
 the implied inferiority to his rector ; ' ' and if you 
 had the spirit of a Christian, you would take exam- 
 ple by Jemmy Milady, who, when his wife would 
 not follow him the right way, put her out at once, 
 and is going as a pilgrim through the world, till he 
 spends in that kind of penance the same number of 
 years that he lived with her." 
 
 " Do I understand your Reverence, that it is your 
 advice to me to put Sally out of my house." 
 
 " How do I know whether her name is Sally, or 
 what it is ? I mean that you ought to part that wo- 
 man there, till she mends her manners." 
 
216 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Her manners never displeased me, Sir ; then why 
 would I ask her to change them ? I wouldn't know 
 her other than she is, and I am too old now to cotton 
 to new acquaintances. Ah ! what do you make of 
 me, Sir?" he added, with increased displeasure of 
 voice and manner, " to put me on a par with Jemmy 
 Milady; or what business is it of your's, to come 
 between a man and his nature. Look at that woman, 
 Sir. She and I have lived together twenty-nine 
 years, in love and good-liking : we had our trouble 
 but it didn't come on us by our drawing contrary to 
 one another; and though it was sore, and though it 
 was heavy, we bore it together ; and with the bles- 
 sing of God, we'll not part, come what may, till He 
 that joined us gives the order for dividing us, and 
 then we can't contradict His bidding." 
 
 " You are contradicting his bidding as fast as you 
 can, both one and the other of you," said the Priest ; 
 " and there is no use in throwing away good advice 
 upon you." 
 
 " Well, Sir, if we are so bad, leave us to our bad- 
 ness, seeing we won't mend. You told me already, 
 that I had not the feeling of a Christian. Well, 
 maybe I havn't, but I have the feeling of one of God's 
 creatures, with a heart in my body, and I am ashamed 
 at a man of your description, expressing yourself as 
 if it was a stone wall you were talking to. Sally, 
 would you believe me if I opened the door for you, 
 and told you to be a stranger to me for ever ? No, 
 you wouldn't, dear. This house is your own house, 
 and you have a right to say what you please in it, 
 arid what you don't please; and my heart is sorer nor 
 it felt this many-a-day, for putting you in the way of 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 217 
 
 hearing words that don't become you, and that no 
 other man dar to say to you, in my presence." 
 
 (f I came at your own desire, Mr. Costigan," said 
 O'Floggin, " and I'll not come again in a hurry, till 
 I'm sent for more than once. I was a fool to leave 
 all the business I had to come on such an errand, 
 wasting my time, and having to listen to more non- 
 sense than I heard for the last seven years." 
 
 ef Hollo ! you there in the kitchen!" called out 
 Costigan. " One of you tell Tim to bring round Mr. 
 O'Floggin's horse, and be smart, for the gentleman 
 is in a hurry. Let me help you on with your settoo 
 Sir I believe it's a little tight in the sleeves. I am 
 sorry to be after giving you so much trouble, and to 
 put you out of your way. But you had no loss of the 
 market, if you didn't want to buy, for it was ruining 
 to the country. A gentleman never left this house 
 before without breaking his fast, and if you stop 
 well, well, Sir, it can't be helped That lock is pee- 
 vish let me open it I know the knack Tim, can't 
 you hold the stirrup for the gentleman properly. A 
 good morning to you, Sir, or, better to say, good even- 
 ing; but the day passed so oddly to me, that if a man 
 was to tell me it was grey day-light in 4he morning, 
 I would'nt know how to contradict him." 
 
218 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BEING rather at a loss how to begin this chapter, we 
 shall take the liberty of copying three pages of note 
 paper, closely crossed, from Miss Thorndale to Dora 
 Milward, about a fortnight after Mr. O'Floggin's con- 
 troversy with Mrs. Costigan. 
 
 c( At last I have a spare moment to dedicate to 
 friendship and my dearest Dora. Do not be surprised 
 at the unusual sentimentality of my style. There are 
 good reasons for it, as you will confess, when you 
 are informed of the sad truth, that, within the last 
 half-hour, I have bid adieu, perhaps for ever, to Lord 
 Farnmere. c Farewell, a long farewell to all my 
 greatness.' Indeed, I might leave out the c perhaps/ 
 when I say f for ever ;' for though we, that is, the 
 whole family, dared to do all that was becoming in 
 man or woman, our darings and doings ended in no- 
 thing I shall never be the Viscountess Farnmere. 
 
 fe Poor man' ! we were delighted to get rid of him ; 
 and he was heartily tired of us all, before he was pro- 
 nounced fit to travel. During the three weeks that 
 he was confined to the sofa, with a sprained ancle, his 
 dissatisfaction was expressed in a thousand little fas- 
 tidiousnesses, bordering sometimes, within an hair's 
 breadth, on absolute rudeness ; and he tolerated our 
 civilities evidently for no other reason, than that he 
 could not escape from them. It was too apparent 
 that he felt his situation pretty much as you, for in- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 219 
 
 stance, might be supposed to be affected, were you 
 obliged by dire necessity to spend some time in an 
 Esquimaux hut, surrounded by good-natured sava- 
 ges, and soot, and blubber, and train oil. I give yon 
 due credit for patience, and forbearance, and all the 
 cardinal virtues ; together with that most useful qua- 
 lity, the making the best of every thing ; but still you 
 must allow the situation to be deplorable, and that 
 it would be impossible at all times to conceal your 
 disgust from your harum-scarum hosts, however well- 
 meant their clumsy attentions might be. We must 
 not therefore, be too hard upon Lord Farnmere, par- 
 ticularly when we take into consideration the fact, 
 that good breeding, at least so much of it as consists 
 in respecting the feelings of others, is not the most 
 prominent feature in the English character. I have 
 not blundered upon this discovery myself, otherwise 
 I might be afraid to hint it, even to you ; but I have 
 seen it in print, typed and stereotyped : I have read 
 it as the opinion of foreigners, and it has been can- 
 didly allowed by good authorities among themselves. 
 Now, this is a defect which I wish our neighbours, 
 for their own sakes, as well as for our's, would try 
 and mend : for they really play such fantastic tricks in 
 their bearing to us of the land of potatos, as to move 
 our laughter when they intend to strike us dumb with 
 admiration. In the name of all my countrymen and 
 countrywomen, I acknowledge them to be, as a peo- 
 ple, far, far above us in the scale of civilization, but I 
 protest against being fixed at the very fag end of hu- 
 manity, which they would persuade us to be our pro- 
 per station. And while I admit their superiority, na- 
 tionallyj I cannot allow every individual Englishman 
 
 L 2 
 
220 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 or Englishwoman, to be necessarily superior to every 
 individual Irishman or Irishwoman. I will also con- 
 fess, that they could teach us many things, which it 
 would be well for us to learn ; and we will gladly put 
 ourselves to school, provided our kind instructors will 
 first take the trouble to inform themselves of the real 
 extent of our ignorance, and will, in all cases, confine 
 their instruction to what they are individually com- 
 petent to teach. Do you remember Mrs. Major Cut- 
 tlefish ? Was she superior to mamma in any thing ex- 
 cept her receipts for mock- turtle and sponge cake ? 
 Yet on the strength of these two receipts, she medi- 
 tated a revolution in every department of the state of 
 Charlesborough ; and domineered over my poor mo- 
 ther, to such a degree, that she would net venture at 
 last to wheel the sofa towards the fire without her 
 approbation, lest it might be construed into an Irish 
 hugger-mugger custom. In one lecture on genteel 
 economy, such as Lady Harrowgate practised, she 
 had half persuaded her to metamorphose her old green 
 satin cloak into a gown for me ; arid in another lec- 
 ture on propriety of speech, absolutely frightened her 
 into saying e naughty child/ instead of ( bold child/ 
 Her soup and cake we swallowed, for they really were 
 excellent ; and we still speak of her with respect and 
 gratitude, as far as these articles are concerned, but 
 we stoutly resisted every innovation for which a good 
 reason could not be given. I protested, at once, 
 against the cloak first, because I did not want a 
 gown ; secondly, because I could afford to buy one ; 
 thirdly, because it would be shabby and dishonest to 
 take her lawful perquisite from Mrs. Carrol, who had 
 been expecting it for the last year and a half; and, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 221 
 
 fourthly, because Mrs. Major Cuttlefish was very im- 
 pertinent to interfere with Lady Thorndale and her 
 family. Then Henry, my Eaton-and-Oxford brother, 
 attacked her with literal meanings, and derivations, 
 and synonymous terms, and roots, and analogies, &c. 
 &c. &c. till he proved to our full satisfaction, that 
 'bold' was a much more proper term to apply to a 
 wayward child, than f naughty' the one term clearly 
 expressing all that could be meant in such a case, 
 while the other might mean a great deal more ; and 
 that so far from it being a holiday and lady-like mode 
 of expression, as she would have us suppose, it was 
 adopted by a kind of good-natured slip-slop courtesy, 
 with c pin-a-fore' and 'put him on a frock/ and e she 
 was laying in her cot/ from the slang vocabulary of 
 nursery-maids, and such like well-educated gentry 
 and that if ladies and gentlemen condescended to 
 take pattern by them, for their own private conveni- 
 ence, they have no right to force their barbarisms up- 
 on us, who, truth to tell, have a tolerably competent 
 share of our own." 
 
 " What shall I do ? I have vented my indignation 
 against Lord Farnmere and Mrs. Cuttlefish over so 
 much paper, that I have not left myself room to say 
 half the civil things my mother desired me, in answer 
 to Mrs. Milward's kind note. Th-e sum and substance 
 of them, however, is this that Lady Thorndale, and 
 Mr. George Thorndale, and your humble servant, are 
 very glad to be asked to Rathedmond ; that we shall 
 be with you at five o'clock, and purpose remaining 
 till Saturday, unless my father should return before 
 that day. You will, I am sure, excuse this incohe- 
 rent scrawl, when I subscribe myself your ever af- 
 
222 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 fectionate, though forlorn., forsaken, and heart-broken 
 cousin, 
 
 " HARRIET THORNDALE, alias 
 
 Green Stockings. 
 
 " P. S. I hope you remember the young lady 
 who figures so conspicuously in one of the Polar Voy- 
 ages." 
 
 Miss Thorndale' s sketch of Lord Farnmere might 
 be somewhat caricatured; but on the whole, it was 
 a tolerably good likeness. If it could be said that 
 he ever used any exertion during his stay in Ireland, 
 it was to make himself disagreeable, and he succeed- 
 ed to admiration in this easiest of all undertakings. 
 Nobody liked him nobody admired him not even 
 Conolly Fitzcarrol, who, after practising at home for 
 some days, could not venture upon a wholesale imi- 
 tation a detached piece of his lordship was all that 
 he could make his own, and that only on particular 
 occasions, such as a morning visit to the glebe, when 
 the ladies were alone, or an interview with a tenant 
 of his father's, who happened to be behind hand with 
 his rent. Lady Thorndale was civil and well-bred to 
 the last, though, like bluff King Hal's poor queen, 
 often " vexed past her patience." Sir Ralph, also, 
 was imperturbable, and the young people, who disco- 
 vered that he had a very delicate ear for music, and 
 who were themselves excellent musicians, generously 
 passed by his innumerable impertinences, and con- 
 trived to get up a very respectable concert every 
 evening for his amusement. But towards the end of 
 his visit, Miss Thorndale had an attack of nervous- 
 ness, which seized her unaccountably the moment she 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 223 
 
 sat down to the harp., and affected her so oddly, that 
 she was always a bar and a half before her sister, 
 who made many laudable, though unsuccessful sa- 
 crifices of time in her efforts to overtake her on the 
 piano forte. Her fingers might fly quick as lightn- 
 ing over the keys, but the harp would still maintain 
 its vantage ground ; and Master George Thorndale, 
 who accompanied them on the bass viol, as if afraid 
 of disobliging either of his sisters, kept time with 
 neither, but played his own part straight forward, till 
 the discord often gave more pain to Lord Farnmere 
 thanjiis sprained ancle. 
 
 Perhaps nobody resented his manifold misdemean- 
 ors more than Willy Geraghty, as one after another 
 came to his knowledge, through the various channels 
 by which he contrived to pick up his information. 
 He cordially forgave the repulse he had met with, 
 when he tendered his civilities at the Carragh ; for, 
 as he said, an apology was made, and what could a 
 gentleman require more ? But he was interested in 
 every body's business more than his own ; and so 
 many were aggrieved, either by being overlooked en- 
 tirely, or having too much notice taken of them, in 
 the way of refusing their requests, that he could 
 think and talk of nothing else. 
 
 ff He is the greatest nagur I ev<j>r heard of, besides 
 being stupid and ill-mannered," said he to WatDela- 
 hunt, who had taken shelter under the same hedge 
 with him from a shower, and to whom he unburdened 
 his whole mind in the absence of a more respectable 
 auditor. " His agent told me that he pocketed every 
 shilling of the May rent, and skrewed the arrears out 
 of the unfortunate tenants, to the tune of eight thou- 
 
224 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 sand pounds, Irish money. And what do you think 
 he left after him for the poor ? Just fifteen pounds, 
 to be divided between the three parishes of Rathed- 
 mond, Liscormack, and Knockmandown ! I told Mr. 
 Milward that I would have thrown his dirty five 
 pound note in his face, before I would be under a 
 compliment for such a trifle/* 
 
 "As for that, Sir," said Wat, "five pounds will 
 be a good help to the poor, these hard times." 
 
 " But did you hear, Wat, how he treated Mr. My- 
 ars, when he went to him about a school at Knock- 
 nafushogue? He made him repeat the name ten 
 times over, and then he made him spell it, and then 
 he made him write it down ; and after giving him all 
 that trouble, he gave him nothing else, but said there 
 was an act of Parliament to make the parsons keep 
 all the schools in Ireland, and that they ought to do 
 their duty." 
 
 "It was my grandfather built that old house at 
 Knocknafushogue, where Paddy Rappery lives," said 
 Wat. 
 
 " Oh ! what use is there to talk about our grand- 
 fathers, Wat ? People that never had one are more 
 thought of now-a-days than their betters, if they have 
 a long purse, no matter how they came by it. If you, 
 my poor boy, were your grandfather, and if I was my 
 
 own grandfather but there's no help for spilt 
 
 milk and let it rest there. Do you know the remark 
 he made upon a compliment was paid him by Cap- 
 tain Dartry, Lady Thorndale's brother, a member of 
 parliament, and first cousin to Lord Dunseveric ? 
 The Captain gave him his beautiful bay mare to go 
 to see Lord Colverston, when the spring of his phse- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 225 
 
 ton was mending; and that day at dinner Lady 
 Thorndale asked him, out of a piece of civility, how- 
 he went to Traifield House and what was his an- 
 swer ? ' Somebody,' says he, ' lent me a horse,' and 
 the Captain sitting opposite to him all the while. I 
 leave it to you was that manners, Wat ?" 
 
 " It's no manners to fault any man's baste, to my 
 mind," answered Wat, f and by the same token, Mr. 
 Geraghty, that grey filly of yours is a rale beauty." 
 
 " Is'nt she, Wat ? I'm proud to eay, her match 
 could'nt be had in the three kingdoms ; and for that 
 reason I called her Rob Roy, after Sir Walter Scott, 
 who, Mrs. Falconer told me, is the greatest man in 
 all England. But, talking of horses, Wat isn't that 
 a curious thing that's all through the country, about 
 Ned Costigan putting Priest O'Floggin out of the 
 house, and herself going to turn Protestant ? Will 
 she go to church next Sunday, do you think ?" 
 
 4f Not at all, Sir; they had only a bit of a wrangle, 
 which she is fond of, to show her edication and read- 
 ing. Why she often, as I can hear, leaves Father 
 Duff without a word to say for himself; and it never 
 spoils their friendship for one another. The clouds is 
 breaking fast," he added quickly, looking over the 
 hedge, (( and I hope we will have a fine evening after 
 all/' 
 
 " I like your discretion, Wat, for not being in a 
 hurry to speak of what passes in your master's house; 
 but it is no secret, boy. The bishop called a meeting 
 of his clergy about it, and was stark staring mad. 
 Mr. Duff, and one or two others, got a rap over the 
 knuckles for letting their flock be stolen from them 
 by the ministers." 
 
 L 3 
 
226 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " He needn't be so outrageous for all the harm has 
 been done," said Delahunt. fe He ought to remem- 
 ber that if two or three misguided poor creatures 
 sold themselves for gain, that we got two for one in 
 their place, from your side, and people of responsibi- 
 lity and credit, too/' 
 
 ee I believe all the arithmetic you ever learned was 
 the multiplication table, Wat. But there is a rule 
 called subtraction, which you would do well to learn, 
 before you expose yourself by miscounting. Haven't 
 we thirteen born Romans going to church, and can you 
 reckon more than three turning their backs upon it ? 
 Now, take thirteen from threa no take three from 
 thirteen, and what is your remainder, Wat ?" 
 
 fe Keep them, and make much of them, Mr. Geragh- 
 ty," answered Wat, with perfect good humour, ' e let 
 them be many or few but don't you think we may 
 count a lady like Miss Carberry, against a hundred 
 such riff-raff?" 
 
 ec Not a bit of her, Wat : she belonged to ourselves 
 before her mother was born. She had the bad drop 
 in her by the grandmother, who was of the family of 
 the Dunduckedies a people that it was hard ever to 
 find out the colour of their religion ; and the mad- 
 ness came by the Furlygigs, a very ancient and re- 
 spectable English family, that settled here with Oli- 
 ver Cromwell and drank themselves out of the 
 world, men and women, faster than they could come 
 into it. So between the failings of both the grand- 
 mothers, it would be a natural impossibility for a Car- 
 berry ever to be right, but by a mistake. Few mis- 
 takes, to tell the truth of them, they ever made ; and 
 I never wondered more at any thing, than how a 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 227 
 
 young creature, come of her stock, could have lived 
 eight and twenty years in the world, and do nothing 
 before to prove her pedigree. Why, man alive ! the 
 whole lot of them, root and branch, had not as much 
 learning between them as would make an apothecary. 
 So, proud as you are of her, Wat, we will toss you 
 eleven more Carberrys into the bargain with her ; and 
 after all, we will not let you count more than half a 
 one for the whole dozen." 
 
 " But what will you allow us, Sir, for Mr. Ogland- 
 by, the handsome young gentleman who was on a 
 visit to the Carragh last year, and left his pony with 
 Miss Dora ? They say he likes the old religion best, 
 and has parted his family and friends for the sake of 
 his soul." 
 
 Willy was taken by surprise, and answered at ran- 
 dom. " Is it young Rupert Oglandby you mean that 
 wild young scamp, that was always reading Greek, 
 and talking of the Romans ? Jt was the old Romans 
 he meant, Wat, and not the spalpeens that took their 
 name afterwards. You don't know the difference, 
 but I do. Julius Csesar was king of the one, and 
 young Bonaparte was king of the other. He wouldn't 
 do such a thing for a mine of gold ; and if he did it, 
 it was only to take in the Jesuits, and have a laugh 
 at them in the end. But supposing he did it, what 
 great matter about a foolish boy the youngest son, 
 and one that was always getting into scrapes, and 
 
 .now, I am wrong it's a bad thing to sconce 
 
 the truth : it is not what a gentleman ought to do 
 above all, it is not what a man would be expected to 
 do, who looks to the God of truth. Arid, Wat, I beg 
 your pardon for trying to lead you astray ; and I beg 
 
228 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 his pardon/* raising his hat from his head, " who says 
 we should not do harm that good may come. Yes, 
 Wat, that line young man for he is a fine young 
 man, and a good young man, and mild, and gentle, 
 and true to his word, and honourable as a king's son 
 has struck hands with the Pope, and now uses all 
 his Greek and Latin for nothing, but to rummage out 
 excuses for him, and to defend him for burning, right 
 and left, all that won't obey his orders/' 
 
 " They say, too," said Wat, " that other grand 
 gentlemen, with college learning, to show them what 
 is right, have gone his way ; and this is what makes 
 me judge, Sir, that we can't be so wrong as some in 
 this country would persuade us." 
 
 Willy was again at a loss. He shook his head, and 
 then brushed one cuff with the other ; and then shook 
 his head again. At length he looked his companion 
 steadily in the face. 
 
 " The devil would tempt me, Wat, to disparage 
 them and their learning for my own ends ; and it is 
 as much as I can do, to hinder myself from trying to 
 make you believe I know more about these things 
 than I do. But I won't I'll stick to honesty, in spite 
 of pride and shame. You see, Wat, it's but lately 
 (more shame to my grey hairs !) that I thought about 
 God at all ; and though I know I hare truth on my 
 side, a clever fellow would soon leave me without a 
 word, particularly when I am proud of myself as I 
 was a minute ago." 
 
 "A man must either have learning himself," said 
 Wat, " or look to them that has it, or I believe he 
 would make but a poor hand of religion ?" 
 
 " With or without it, Wat, we would all make a 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 229 
 
 poor hand of it, if we are too proud to take it, just 
 as it comes to us in the Bible, fresh from God. It 
 has often puzzled myself, why learning won't always 
 lead a man right, seeing it is so useful for the world ; 
 but whatever is the reason, it don't do it. When our 
 blessed Lord came to teach, all the learned people set 
 their faces against him, and said his religion was not 
 true ; and you know, Wat, that it was true. I am 
 afraid you will think I want to cry down learning, 
 since I told you how small a part of it fell to my 
 share; but even if you do, I must tell you what 
 strikes my mind, that religion don't depend upon it 
 at all and why ? Because the poor and the ignorant 
 have as good right to it as their betters. Saint Paul, 
 who gives us to understand that he was a well-read 
 man, left all his learning behind him, when he went 
 to preach the Gospel ; and if he ever brings it in, at 
 times, his meaning is clear and plain to all, which 
 differs from the learning of these times, that makes 
 what is dark, darker to them who have not the light 
 of God's word." 
 
 " I like what you say very well, Mr. Geraghty," 
 said Wat, " and if the rain wasn't over, I didn't care 
 how long I stopped talking to you not that you or 
 any other man could talk me out of my religion. 
 Don't be offended, Sir, but I am sure it is the best, 
 and will have the upper hand, sometime or other." 
 
 " Whoever lives longest will see most, Wat, pro- 
 vided he has his eye-sight. But though I think dif- 
 ferently, and though I have no respect for your reli- 
 gion, still I have a friendship for yourself, and would 
 be glad to see you" a prosperous man. Ah ! Wat, 
 keep out of the way of that fellow coming down the 
 
230 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 road there. If he don't mend, he'll have a rope about 
 his neck yet; and take care that he does not tie the 
 knot for you, too." 
 
 Mr. Geraghty turned away ; and Wat, as if mean- 
 ing to take his advice, jumped quickly over the hedge, 
 but the moment he was out of sight, he again regain- 
 ed the road, and walked along at a very slow pace, till 
 Connel St. Leger overtook him. 
 
 The greeting between the two friends was more 
 cordial than on any interview since the affair at the 
 grove. St. Leger spoke in his usual lively and unem- 
 barrassed manner, and instead of making an excuse 
 to take different ways, proposed to go the longest 
 road, to have more of each other's company. Poor 
 Delahunt's heart overflowed with joy. He stopped, 
 and, putting his hand on his companion's shoulder, 
 said, " This is something like old times, when who- 
 ever was two, you and I, Connel, was all as one as 
 one. And now tell me, lad, what made you make 
 strange with me, this ever so long, and shun my com- 
 pany, as if I was your enemy ?" 
 
 " Where was I to find you ?" asked the other 
 " Would you have me go to Ned Costigan's place ? a 
 man that offended me more nor once to my face, and 
 never stops abusing me behind my back. What 
 brought you so low in the world, that you must turn 
 servant-boy to the like of him, and shame your peo- 
 ple, and them that wish you well ?" 
 
 " You might guess, Connel, what drove me to take 
 shelter under a safer roof nor my own. I was in dread 
 of the country. Don't look startled, for I had good 
 reasons for it. Not a man would bid God bless my 
 work, and even yourself changed entirety ; and all for 
 
 * 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 231 
 
 no cause : for if you tore the heart out of my body 
 this minute, you would find no thing in it that wasn't 
 true and loyal to all, and loving, and well-inclined as 
 ever, to yourself/' 
 
 " You had no need to dread the people, but they 
 had a good right to dread you ; for I may as well tell 
 you, Wat, that all the water that falls from the sky 
 wouldn't wash you clean from treachery. As sure as 
 that blessed sun is going down behind Slieve Ronan, 
 you betrayed our secret to that elf, Lanty M'Grail." 
 
 " I did not, Connel. He knew it, as he knows all 
 that passes in the country. The grass can't grow 
 without his hearing it, and he can read a man's looks 
 quicker nor you would understand his words. I don't 
 want to clear myself of trying to save her I was po- 
 sitive about that ; and if it was to do again, I'd do 
 it. Before I consented to take part with you, that 
 evening, when the blood-thirsty hounds would show 
 no mercy to the innocent, I took an oath to myself, 
 that I would save her life, though 1 was hung for it. 
 I didn't know how to do it, till he threw himself in 
 my way, and gave me to understand that he knew we 
 had work on our hands. I only whispered it to him, 
 that it would be better if she stayed at home, and he 
 took my meaning, and promised that if he ham-strung 
 the horses, or did any thing desperate, she shouldn't 
 go to Charlesborough. I left it to him, for he had 
 more schemes of his own nor my head could contrive; 
 and he kept his word. I didn't leave myself trusting 
 to chance neither. My mind was made up, that if he 
 didn't bring me the news before seven o'clock that she 
 was out of danger, to go at once to her father, and 
 tell him to take care of his child that night, if ever he 
 
232 
 
 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 expected to have her arms round his neck again ; and 
 then I would have warned you all what I had done ; 
 arid if you were fixed to run into danger I would have 
 stood by you to the last, once she was out of harm's 
 way/' 
 
 "And you don't call that betraying us ?" said St. 
 Leger, with a sneer. 
 
 " No, Connel ; I would tell no tales, nor give no 
 reason for what I said to the parson, more than that 
 I had a good one. They might do their worst after, 
 to make me speak out ; but if it came to hanging, not 
 a man of you should come to trouble by me." 
 
 Connel bit his lips. " The only thing the people 
 says is, that a man ought to keep his oath, whatever 
 it is ; and that they don't know how to trust one with 
 two minds." 
 
 " That don't hit me, Connel, never having but one. 
 The oath I took was to join in whatever was for the 
 good of the country at least, that was the way it 
 was explained to me by Mulvaney, and the other pol- 
 Hssed villains, for I can call them no better. Well ; 
 I did their commands, even when I could see no good 
 in them. I would have shot Mr. Oglandby, because 
 it was plainly part of my oath to rid the country of 
 his sort ; but what man, barring a brute, would show 
 me the good in murdering her, who has the blessing 
 of old and young to track her steps, wherever she 
 goes ? And you know, Connel, that the very people 
 who are angry with me now for not aiming at her life, 
 would have cursed us in our graves, if she was car- 
 ried home a corpse to her father's door." 
 
 " The people only says," still persisted Connel, 
 ." that when a man's hand is in for it, a trifle oughtn't 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 233 
 
 discourage him ; and that it is hard to guess what one 
 is at, when saying and doing goes by contraries." 
 
 " They won't be long at the trouble of guessing 
 about me, Connel. I'll be far over the sea, before this 
 day comes round in May. The first ship that sails 
 for America, once the days are any length, will carry 
 myself and my mother far from friends and enemies 
 for ever/' 
 
 "Are you in earnest, Wat?" 
 
 " Aye, Connel. Oh ! sure, sure, I would rather stay 
 in my own beautiful country, that there is no compar- 
 ing with all under heaven besides, and where all my 
 forefathers laid their bones, than go to the finest king- 
 dom, though silver and gold might come down from 
 the sky as thick as flakes of snow. But Ireland is no 
 place for a boy that would keep a clean breast, and 
 sleep the night through, without dreams to scar his 
 senses I never willingly wrought with their uncom- 
 mon doings. It took all my love for you to drag me 
 from one thing to another, till we went farther, Con- 
 nel, nor I fear the priest will be willing to take on his 
 own responsibility; and the last that was laid on me, 
 gave me a turn against wickedness that I can't get 
 the better of: so I'll try a strange place, where there 
 is no need for the poor to make laws, which is all the 
 fault I have to ourselves. It has been in my head, 
 too, this many a day," he added, putting his hand 
 affectionately on his friend's shoulder, "to flatter you 
 along with us, Connel. We two would make our way 
 from one end of the world to the other, if we were 
 put to it. We have strong arms that labour couldn't 
 tire, and we have light hearts that wouldn't easily 
 sink, if nothing but hardship pressed on them. And 
 
234 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 what a joyful hour it would be to me, to have you by 
 my side, in a place where we might hold up our heads, 
 and look every man in the face, without fearing what 
 they might lay to our charge/' 
 
 " I can do that where I am, Wat, so I needn't cross 
 the salt sea to get courage. I have a strong pair of 
 arms, no doubt of it, but they get plenty to do at 
 home, and more nor their lawful share, while them in 
 the big houses let theirs dangle by their sides. You'd 
 soon have to bury me if I took to your way. Labour 
 and quietness would never do with me : I must have 
 a turn of sport, and a little bit of mischief now and 
 then, to keep life warm within me. Besides, my boy, 
 I have better prospects at home ; and I'll wait here 
 till my lucky hour comes round upon the dial." 
 
 " That may never come, Connel ; and what a way 
 will your soul be in if you miss a good place in the 
 next world, even supposing you get all you want in 
 this ?" 
 
 " Troth, Wat, I can't say I have over-strong friend- 
 ship for my soul, never having seen it to my know- 
 ledge, and not knowing what it is, or where it lives, 
 or any thing about it. Let it take care of itself, and 
 go to America with you, or any where else it pleases. 
 It is my body I look to, for I know it, and have a 
 liking for it, and I am bound in duty to provide for it, 
 just as it takes a fancy." 
 
 " I don't mind you," said Delahunt : " I know you 
 only want to draw me into an argument, to have a 
 laugh at me in the end." 
 
 St. Leger imprecated a thousand curses upon him- 
 self, if he was not speaking the sentiments of his 
 heart. " The only fault I could ever see in you, Wat, 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 235 
 
 was religion. It has done you harm already, and it 
 will do you more,, if you don't drop it. Leave it to 
 your mother and all the old women, who want em- 
 ployment for their knees. We were born to stand on 
 our feet, and walk up and down, as we choose, and 
 ask nobody's leave for what we do. Religion does 
 very well for Terry Mulvaney to throw in, when he 
 comes across a votcheen like you, that won't do any 
 work till the priest blesses it first ; but he laughs at 
 it, and he laughs at you for being so easy out-witted. 
 I'll tell you all my mind about it, at once, Wat, that 
 you needn't waste your breath with advising me. I 
 only hate the Protestants because they won't join us 
 in putting down the laws, and I hate the parsons be- 
 cause they have houses, and lands, and living, with- 
 out working for them. But when we get shut of 
 them, will we let the priests step into their shoes ? 
 Will we bale the clean water out of the well, only to 
 let the dirty puddle run into it ? No, no, Wat ; we 
 know a trick worth two of that. If they are upset- 
 ting, we'll whistle them after their brother black 
 coats ; and if they don't go at a word, maybe they 
 will with a blow." 
 
 " Try your fortune with me, in America, Connel ; 
 there, I hear, religion won't come in your way, if you 
 don't look for it." 
 
 " Stop," said his friend ; ' f I see Ned Costigan stand- 
 ing on the double ditch, and I am not in the humour, 
 this minute, of bidding him the time of the day. I 
 hate him ; and if you had such a love for me as you 
 say, you would send a lump of a stone after his ugly 
 head, sooner nor turn shoe-boy to one of his stamp." 
 ' ( Shoe-boy !" cried Wat, indignantly ; but repress- 
 
236 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ing his rising spirit, he offered his hand to St. Leger : 
 " There's not a man living I would put before you, 
 Connel ; and time was you would say the same of 
 me. Let that time come back, as it ought, and let 
 us be once more friends, and let us promise that no- 
 thing will put between us again." 
 
 Connel shook him by the hand. " I was jealous of 
 you, Wat, but I see I was wrong ; and from this out 
 we are better friends than ever. Don't be afraid of 
 the boys, I'll set all right between you and them. 
 We'll have many a pleasant day together yet, Wat." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WHEN St. Leger parted from his friend, he struck 
 off into the fields, and followed a path for about a mile 
 and a quarter, which led him to a farm-house, the 
 residence of Mr. Terence Mulvaney. The ostensible 
 cause of this late visit, was to procure a sample of 
 oats for somebody who wanted to purchase a quanti- 
 ty ; but the real motive was to tell him the result of 
 his interview with Delahunt. Mulvany listened at- 
 tentively to the recital, which Connel gave verbatim, 
 with the exception of the epithet pollissed, applied to 
 himself, and in the end, expressed his conviction that 
 they had nothing to fear from him. 
 
 Mulvaney shook his head : " I draw another con- 
 clusion from you, Connel. I see through his scheme 
 at once, and it is a deep one. He will keep quiet 
 till coming on the assizes, and then, when we are off 
 our guard, he will inform against us all ; hang us all ; 
 pocket the eight hundred pounds reward ; and go off 
 to America, to live like a gentleman on his ill-got 
 gains." 
 
 tc If there is truth in man/' said St. Leger, " he 
 don't mean it. Didn't I tell you, how every word he 
 said to me had friendship in it ? Didn't I tell you 
 that he wanted me to go to America with him, and 
 that he has no look out but labour to live by, when 
 he gets there ?" 
 
 " He put his finger in your eye, till his scheme was 
 
238 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ripe. A soft word, I see, Connel, can make a fool of 
 you, as it has of many a fine fellow before you. He 
 told you how strong his love was for you ; he will 
 shew it by putting you out of harm's way ; and he 
 can be at no loss for a friend, having money enough 
 to buy ten in your place." 
 
 e( But what staggers me, Mr. Mulvaney, is, why 
 he didn't inform again us before, if he is the traitor 
 you take him for?" 
 
 " Because he hadn't his lesson pat, till he got a 
 good schoolmaster Ned Costigan is his adviser. 
 From the minute Lord Colverston raised the alarm, 
 and made Government offer money in addition to the 
 large reward offered by the Oglandby faction, I could 
 hear how them two were skulking together, and I 
 soon guessed their business. I watched them close, 
 and the more 1 could hear or see, the more I am sure 
 they are plotting mischief. Costigan can't throw off 
 the guilty look ; for instead of coming up to me free- 
 ly, as one neighbour would to another, he shuffles 
 past me without a word, if he can, or a short un- 
 gracious remark, if he can't help making one." 
 
 " Still I don't see what they would be waiting for, 
 all this time ? Why not turn informers at once, as I 
 said before ?" 
 
 fe How do I know all their reasons ? though some 
 of them are plain enough to a man with half an eye. 
 I know we are walking on traps, though they an't set 
 yet ; and I know we will be caught in them if we 
 don't undermind our enemies. That Ned Costigan 
 is a deep one. With all his easy ways, he never 
 missed the fair minute for his own advantage, since 
 the hour he was born. He is not sound at heart 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 239 
 
 neither for his country. We never could draw him 
 in to take part with us in any good was going on ; 
 but he always made his own gain out of our failure. 
 How did he come by Kiladarne ? Wasn't it when 
 the Killorans had to tly in the rebellion ? And who 
 knows l)ut he is now looking after my poor inheri- 
 tance, or Simon Taaffe's, when he puts up that young 
 fellow to swear our lives?" 
 
 " I can believe any thing bad of him/' said Con- 
 nel, fc since the day he spoke ill of me before the 
 gentlemen. But I can't think that Wat would plot 
 my death." 
 
 "Balderdash ! Connel. Wouldn't you plot his 
 death if it was the only way of saving your own 
 life ? Yes, you would, and so would any man, for 
 life is sweet. Didn't he tell you he was afraid of us 
 all ? Didn't he tell you his own roof darn't shelter 
 him? Look at it in that way, and put two and two 
 together. Look at another thing. Mrs. Costigan 
 has pride for a queen, and learning that would make 
 a judge. She was ever a haughty woman ; but since 
 she lost her young one, she has no feeling left but 
 bitterness against them that are better off than her- 
 self; and she would destroy on all sides, if it was 
 only for the pleasure of destroying. Look farther off 
 again than that. She has turned her reading against 
 religion, and inveigled poor Mr. O'Floggin to the 
 house to offend him ; and when they both vented 
 their malice on him, they showed him the door. Oh, 
 Connel ! Kiladarne may well make us look about us. 
 She gets her instructions from the glebe, and gives 
 them to her husband; and from him they go down to 
 
240 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 his underlings ; and they will soon be too many for 
 us, if we go on careless as we are/' 
 
 " As for what she did to the Priest/' said St. 
 Leger, " I wouldn't care a haporth, if it was only 
 that. He can right himself without our taking his 
 part." 
 
 " Nor would I neither," replied the elder. " It 
 would do them good to give them a check of an odd 
 time ; and I don't let it go with them, when they 
 want pulling down. But she affronts them with the 
 Bible, and won't listen to a word that don't chime in 
 with what she finds in it. Now, Conn el, I am sixty- 
 three years old, and I never knew one to look into 
 that same book, that wasn't done harm to, little or 
 much. It has the power of making the heart unna- 
 tural; and if a man goes on reading it, he won't put 
 out a hand to help his country, but let the magistrates 
 ride over us rough shod, at their will. Why, boy, 
 she'd think it her duty to tell, if she had no other 
 hatred to us." i^K^- 
 
 " If I thought that fellow was deceiving me," said 
 Conned, thoughtfully. 
 
 " He is deceiving you ; and 1 wonder you that are 
 sharp couldn't see through him, when I advised you to 
 pump him, and talk fair to him." 
 
 " I wish you hard him, Mr. Mulvaney, when he 
 cleared himself of intending bad to one of us, and I 
 think you would have judged with myself, that he is 
 true still." 
 
 " Didn't I hear him swear that he would stand by 
 you in doing justice on old Oglandby, and don't I 
 know that his piece was only charged with powder ? 
 That's true, Connel. I know what I know. Didn't 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 241 
 
 he cosher with a fool about playing tricks on Mil- 
 ward's daughter, though his trick was nigh blowing 
 us all up ? Isn't he hand and glove with them that 
 neither wish well to us or the cause ? What company 
 does he keep ? Did it come into your head to ask 
 him what he was doing with Captain Geraghty, who 
 slunk off when you came in view ?" 
 
 "No," replied St. Leger: "for as I told you, I 
 opened out to him, from the first, without wanting to 
 look suspicious." 
 
 "You could have done that, Connel, and made 
 your own remarks all the time. I think that tells 
 against him, with every thing else. Isn't Geraghty 
 whipper-in to him at the Carragh ? And can a straw 
 blow in the wind, that he hasn't it as a story to en- 
 tertain the old tyrant? So that some things, that 
 one would think I ought to know, come first to my 
 knowledge from the footman that attends at table. 
 Ah ! Connel, Connel, we are in a poor way. I can't 
 sleep at night, for the fretting about how we are am- 
 plushed, when all was going on prosperously, till a 
 false-hearted traitor crept in among us. I expect 
 every minute, to be dragged to jail, and a fine set of 
 brave fellows along with me ; and that we will die 
 like dogs, to give room for cowards and turn-coats to 
 live in grandeur." 
 
 " Why need that be the case, Mr. Mulvaney ? 
 Why not play the game first ourselves, if it is to be 
 played at all ?" 
 
 ( ' Because I see you, Connel, who I ever looked 
 upon as a lad of sperrit, and the one that the whole 
 country looks up to, to take the lead I see you 
 shutting your eyes to our danger, and letting your 
 
 M 
 
242 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 worst enemy lead you blindfolded. Then, how am I 
 to expect more conduct from them, without your 
 sense and courage ? Oh ! if your uncle Tom was 
 alive now !" 
 
 " You don't know me, Mr. Mulvaney," interrupted 
 Connel. " Put the work before me, and I'll do it, 
 though I walked through my father's grave to it. I 
 seldom throw away much time in thinking about a 
 thing. If it is to be done, let it be done that's my 
 way. Here's two hands wants employment ; and lit- 
 tle they matter what colour may stain them, so that 
 good is done by them. If they come out red, why 
 there's water enough to wash them clean again." 
 
 " You are what I always thought you, Connel : and 
 you w.ill be a fine man yet, if we go on together as 
 we have begun. One word for all, lad, Ned Costi- 
 gan is your enemy. He makes no secret of that he 
 is all our enemy. His wife would set the LifFey a- 
 iire ; and as for that Wat Delahunt, he is worse than 
 all ; for he is a run-a-gate. Their mouths must be 
 stopped, some way or other, and that soon, or they 
 will tell a story it's better not to have known. I will 
 send you word, the minute I can fix a meeting with 
 the committee, that we may consider it over with 
 discretion, and out- scheme and out-plot them. In 
 the mean while, keep clear of your old comrade, till 
 we see what the committee will do with him. Stop, 
 boy, and take a glass, this could morning. Here's 
 your health, Connel. Let others go to destruction, if 
 they choose, but don't you ever disgrace your name, 
 which was high up in the country once, and will be 
 again, I promise you." 
 
 Although Mulvaney spoke truth, when he com- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 243 
 
 plained of the alteration in Costigan's manner towards 
 him, yet he widely mistook the cause : and had he 
 watched him in his intercourse with others, he might 
 have discovered the same shyness to them, which he 
 conceived was particularly shown to himself. Costi- 
 gan knew that he was the object of general animad- 
 version, on account of his unfortunate disagreement 
 with Mr. O'Floggin, which was most unjustly impu- 
 ted to a secret disinclination, on his part, to the po- 
 pular religion ; and having a very sensitive nature, 
 he became dissatisfied with himself for the part he 
 had acted ; and felt ashamed to meet his acquaint- 
 ances, some of whom would laugh at him for his 
 complaisance to his wife, while the majority would 
 blame him all together. Nor was he much more 
 comfortable in his own famrHy. Christian Rooney 
 and Tim Lonegan openly expressed their horror of his 
 conduct, and prophesied a coming judgment on their 
 master and mistress. Wat Delahunt's disapprobation 
 was as perceptible, though his mode of expressing 
 it was less offensive ; and his workmen and cottiers 
 kept a respectful distance, unless when necessity 
 brought them into contact. But his "greatest cross, 
 as he lamented, was from Sally herself; who, instead 
 of comforting him under every trouble, as in former 
 times, and taking his part, whether right or wrong, 
 now sat gloomy and dejected, and found fault with 
 every thing he said or did. Ten days of real misery 
 passed over his head, and he was beginning to make 
 up his mind to be quietly unhappy all the remainder 
 of his life, when he was, in some measure, relieved 
 by her confessing that she had not felt very well for 
 some time ; and after many struggles to shake off her 
 
 M 2 
 
244 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 illness, she was, at last, obliged to give way to it, and 
 keep her bed. She had no pain or ache, she said, and 
 nothing was the matter with her, but only a shiver- 
 ing, and a heat in her skin, and an oppression about 
 the heart, and a swimming in her head, and restless- 
 ness all over her, and a bad taste in her mouth, and 
 an ugly contradiction in her temper. She was sure it 
 was nothing but a smothering of a cold; and she 
 would not send for a doctor, not being half bad 
 enough ; and she would just take a simple thing or 
 two, and be well the day after to-morrow. Ned saw 
 as little necessity for a physician, except in case of 
 extremity, as herself: not that he grudged the ex- 
 pense, but he had, in common with the generality of 
 Irish in his line of life, a superstitious dread of a 
 physician, such as many civilized English, to whom 
 we look up with all due respect, have to making 
 their wills; and he was willing to put off the evil day 
 as long as he could. The simple things were, there- 
 fore, immediately resorted to. The first was bleed- 
 ing, which operation was performed by a practitioner 
 in the neighbourhood, who had constant employment 
 for his lancet among the peasantry. Then Bora Mil- 
 ward's only recipe of treacle and vinegar, with a few 
 drops of laudanum, which had cured a variety of 
 complaints, far and near, was applied to. Then Mrs. 
 Burro wes's ginger cordial. Then Alice O'Neil's de- 
 coction of ground-ivy and cranes-bill -but all to no 
 effect. She became daily worse, arid showed so many 
 oddities of temper, that she was almost persuaded 
 to believe she was fairy-struck; and was hesi- 
 tating about sending for a fairy-man, from a distant 
 part of the country, when, happily for the poor wo- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 245 
 
 man, Mr. Milward, who suspected, from the con- 
 stant applications at the glebe for all the ladies' nos- 
 trums, that she was worse than was apprehended, 
 paid a visit to Kiladarne, in person, and found her 
 delirious, and with every other symptom of a high 
 fever. A messenger was immediately dispatched for 
 the physician, who verified his suspicions, and shook 
 his head, and looked very grave and wise, as gentle- 
 men of his profession are often obliged to do, when 
 teazed to give an opinion upon the certainty of the 
 death or recovery of the patient, which Mr. Costigan 
 asked ten times in the space of ten minutes. That 
 she had undoubtedly a fever was too true, and the 
 news quickly circulated, to the dismay of the ser- 
 vants, and all the gossoons and runners attached to 
 the establishment. Tim Lonegan was convinced that 
 the judgment had arrived, and determined not to 
 wait for his share of it; and as, fortunately, his quar- 
 ter was to expire in seven hours and a half, he em- 
 ployed that time in scraping together his goods and 
 chattels, and took an unceremonious leave that even- 
 ing, without asking for the three-and-a-penny due to 
 him. Christian Rooney was preparing to follow his 
 example, but as her quarter wanted nearly as many 
 weeks as Tim's did hours before its conclusion-, her 
 master, who feared being left without any assistance, 
 threatened to make her spend the lawful time of her 
 servitude in jail, if she did not remain in the house ; 
 and she was most unwillingly obliged to continue her 
 kitchen employments ; at the same time stoutly re- 
 fusing to go into the room with her mistress, or touch 
 any thing belonging to her. Alice O'Neil's proffered 
 services, as a nurse-tender, were therefore gladly ac- 
 
246 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 cepted by Mr. Costigan, though she was far from be- 
 ing a favourite with him or the invalid ; and, on that 
 account, he contrived to keep her out of sight as 
 much as possible, except when her services were im- 
 mediately required about the sick person, never 
 leaving her bedside himself, during an interval free 
 from delirium. But her dislike to Alice survived her 
 reason. She often failed to recognise her husband, 
 and addressed him as Mr. Mil ward or Mr. Duff, or 
 any body, however unlike him ; but she never was, 
 for a moment, cheated into mistaking her; and if ever 
 she called her by a different name, it was one that had 
 much point in it, and was, consequently, more offen- 
 sive to the old woman, than all the accusations 
 brought against her for real or suspected misdemean- 
 ors. ee A guilty conscience needs no accuser ;" and 
 Alice, well aware that much might be laid to her 
 charge, placed to her own account all the quotations 
 which formed a large portion of Mrs. Costigan's ra- 
 vings ; and she could detect an unpleasant allusion to 
 herself, even in the musical sentimentalities of Young, 
 on the value of time, and the rantings of Hamlet or 
 Macbeth, in their supernatural perplexities. Toge- 
 ther with her dislike to Alice, she was incessantly 
 calling for Ellen Garvey, who, she fancied, was hid 
 behind the bed-curtains, and was kept from her by 
 her unwelcome nurse-tender. For some days Ned 
 tried to soothe her, or, in his own language, to hu- 
 mour her, by telling lies without number, and pro- 
 mising that she should make her appearance in half- 
 an-hour, or half-a-minute, when she had milked the 
 cows, or boiled the potatoes, or completed some 
 other household task. But this humouring had the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 247 
 
 effect of keeping her attention constantly alive to the 
 same subject; and one day, after a more than usual 
 number of excuses had been made for her non-appear- 
 ance, she informed him, with much solemnity, of an in- 
 timation from an angel the night before, that if Ellen 
 Garvey did not give her a drink of spring water, out 
 of the brown jug, by twelve the next day, she would 
 be dead before the clock would give three ticks after 
 that hour. Ned believed every syllable of this very 
 probable story, brown jug and all, and instantly sent 
 a message to Ileen, telling the purport of Mrs. Cos- 
 tigan's vision, and beseeching her by the four years 
 spent in his house, and by the meat, drink, and wa- 
 ges, which were never grudged to her during that 
 time, and by the memory of her grandfather, who 
 was his own foster-brother, to be at Kiladarne before 
 the fatal hour, on the morrow. When he had dis- 
 missed two gossoons on this errand, that one might 
 be a check on the other, if either should forget any 
 part of the message, his mind was tolerably com- 
 posed, for he was certain that Ileen's good nature, 
 which had never before failed, would not desert her 
 on this occcasion ; and to guard against all accidents, 
 he stopped the clock at once ; believing that her life 
 was safe, so long as the hands could not move to- 
 wards the dreaded point of the dial. Alice smothered 
 her anger till she was in private with Christian Roo- 
 ney, when she gave vent to it, in no measured terms. 
 " If ever there was a woman had an evil sperrit, it's 
 her within there ; and it's well for you, Christian, not 
 to be about her, for her talk would corrupt a nun- 
 nery. You never hard the like of how she gets on. 
 One minute she is making as if she was speaking 
 
 I 
 
248 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 fond-like to her Jittle daughter, and coaxing her to 
 stay with her, and lay her head upon her breast and 
 then she will tremble all over, and tell her to go back 
 in a hurry to where she came from, for that if she 
 stayed with her, she would be destroyed. Then 
 her tongue will run on from every thing that is wick- 
 ed, to what is worse. Not a good name ever came 
 into her head, barring thieves, and robbers, and mur- 
 derers, and butchers, and kingdoms, and horses. The 
 only innocent word I could hear from her after a long 
 peramble about all that was terrible, was f bare bod- 
 kin/ reflecting on me about the one was lost before 1 
 came to the house ; and when I axed her, just to try 
 and please her, what she wanted with it, she grinned 
 in my face, arid roared at me to quit her sight, be- 
 cause I had no marrowbones, or spectacles on my 
 eyes. After that it is likely she'll be praying for a 
 quarter-of-an-hour, without stopping, that it is enough 
 to make one run out of the room; for not one word 
 of saint, or angel or the Virgin Mary, will you hear 
 from her lips; but only confessing her sins, and say- 
 ing how she has a promise, and what not. She isn't 
 right, Christian, and I wouldn't sit up another night, 
 only this, with her, to be made a lady, for she has 
 mischief in her head again me. All this day she has 
 been raving about to-morrow, and to-morrow, and 
 to-morrow, always repeating it three times over 
 and then she accused me of a note she lost, and call- 
 ing me the most wonderful nicknames, for being a 
 thief, time out of mind. But she won't catch me to- 
 morrow, 1 can tell her, to make me answerable for 
 her note. Between you and I, Christian, I searched 
 for it in every hole and corner, where I thought she 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 249 
 
 could have put it, just to give it to her, when she got 
 better, and shame her for her evil thoughts. Ileen 
 Garvey will have a chance to find it when she comes, 
 knowing the ways of the place better nor me. We 
 may never hear more of it; but mind now, Christian, 
 if the old mother won't have a new cloak before this- 
 day-month ; and where will it come from ? that is, 
 if the girl hasn't sense to stop where she is. She was 
 glad enough to get her foot out of the house; and it's 
 my rale belief she wont be in a hurry to come back 
 to it." 
 
 Whether this was Alice's real belief or not, she was 
 decidedly wrong in her conjecture ; for Ileen, on re- 
 ceiving her late master's message, which was most 
 faithfully delivered by two gossoons, pledged herself 
 to be at Kiladarne before eleven o'clock, the next day; 
 and would have accompanied her young friends at the 
 moment, but that she was afraid to walk so far in the 
 dark, with such feeble protectors. Mrs. Balf, as 
 might naturally be expected, was a little hurt at not 
 being consulted by her maid, as to the disposal of her 
 time, and read her a long and sharp lecture on her ill 
 manners, in not asking her leave, before she decided 
 upon going to see Mrs. Costigan. Ileen, whose ge- 
 neral deportment was cheerful and civil, soon suc- 
 ceeded in softening her mistress, and every thing was 
 most q,micably settled between them, when Miss 
 Balf, who had hitherto taken no part in the argu- 
 ment, pertly asked her mother, if she wanted to send 
 a message for the fever, and loudly protested that if 
 Ileen went to such a place, she would go off to her 
 married sister, and that they might all die of the 
 
 M 3 
 
250 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 fever, before she would put her life in danger, by 
 coming to look after them. Mrs. Balf became alarmed, 
 retracted her leave, and on Ileen still petitioning, and 
 declaring her positiveness that nothing ailed Mrs. 
 Costigan but a blast, or some sickness that had no 
 name, she cut the argument short, at once, by de- 
 claring that she should not go. 
 
 " And if, after that, you go again my orders," 
 she added, " I'll get another girl in your place, be- 
 fore your back is turned half-an-hour ; and then see, 
 who will let you in, with the character of a fever 
 about you." 
 
 Ileen's heart almost ceased to beat with alarm ; for 
 she dreaded a fever nearly as much as Margaret 
 Balf; and the loss of her place at such a season of 
 the year, might throw her, perhaps for months, a bur- 
 den on her 'mother, who was supported mainly by her 
 wages. But she did not hesitate. 
 
 " I might as well die of the fever at once," she 
 said, " as die after of shame and spite again myself, 
 if I let her go out of the world, without stretching 
 out a hand to help her. So, Mrs. Balf, I'll do my 
 duty; and I won't trouble you by coming again to 
 your door, once I pull it after me. If I live, I will 
 speak well of you, for you deserve nothing else from 
 me and if I die oh ! the sorrow word of miscredit 
 will any body hear coming out of my mouth about 
 you or yours." 
 
 Ileen passed a restless night, and half-an-hour be- 
 fore day, she left the house, carrying her bundle in 
 one hand, and her shoes in the other. 
 
 " I have five hours still, before I'm wanted," she 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 251 
 
 repeated to herself, as she shut the door, " and I may 
 as well do it, since it came into my head. It will be 
 of use to me any how, whatever card comes upmost," 
 She commenced her journey in a half run, and in- 
 stead of taking the direct road to Kiladarne, which 
 was distant about five miles, turned down one which 
 added seven more to her walk. After travelling for 
 upwards of an hour, she made a sudden halt just as 
 the sun appeared above the horizon, at a place where 
 the road ran close to the margin of a lake. The 
 scene was wild and romantic But we are con- 
 scious that we have not the talent for landscape 
 painting, with mere pen and ink, or, indeed if the 
 truth must be told, with any other implements we 
 know of. We must, therefore, confine ourselves to 
 simply saying, that in front of where she stood, there 
 was a well, and a large tree, and a broad lake fringed 
 with wood ; on the opposite shore of which, rose a 
 castellated mansion ; and farther on to the left, a 
 picturesque cottage-house peeped through a thick 
 plantation. At her back, a long range of dusky 
 mountain, thickly studded with cottages, stretched 
 far to the west, under which was snugly sheltered a 
 small neat church, with the parsonage close beside it. 
 Any of our readers, who may take the trouble of 
 grouping these objects properly in their imaginations, 
 can easily conceive the scene, at such an hour, to be, 
 what it really was, beautiful. But Ileen was like Sir 
 William of Deloraine, the accomplished knight, whe 
 did not know his a, b, c. " Little recked she of the 
 scene so fair/' She neither looked at sun, or lake, or 
 mountain, but instantly commenced operations. First 
 she laid her bundle and her shoes on the ground, and 
 
252 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 advancing to the tree, dropped a slight curtsy, made 
 the sign of the cross on her forehead and breast, with 
 a quick motion of her right hand, and then knelt 
 down upon the grass. After continuing in that pos- 
 ture for some minutes, she regained her feet, and en- 
 circled the well, at a slow pace, twelve times, repeat- 
 ing prayers very busily all the while, the amount of 
 which, she carefully registered on the beads, held in 
 both hands. Her devotions, it was evident, depended 
 more upon her fingers than her mind ; for during her 
 perambulation, her eyes were fixed with great cu- 
 riosity upon another devotee, who, early as the hour 
 was, had been on the ground before her. She was an 
 elderly woman, who performed her rounds on her bare 
 knees, in a smaller circle than that described by Ileen; 
 and apparently suffered much pain from her exer- 
 tions. The stations of both pilgrims were completed 
 pretty nearly at the same moment, and as the elder 
 rose from her knees, she cut off a lock of her long, 
 grizzled, black hair and tied it on the thorn-bush 
 overhanging the well. Ileen, who watched every 
 thing that she did, quickly tore off a narrow stripe 
 from the red cotton-handkerchief, which enclosed her 
 stock of wearingapparel, and fastened it also on the 
 bush, which was thickly hung with rags of every 
 stuff and colour. 
 
 " Though I do this, honest woman/' said she, ad- 
 dressing the stranger, "the never a bit do I know 
 what use is in it, being the first station that ever 
 came in my way ; and, it's only half for myself, and 
 half for another. So I would be for ever thankful to 
 you, if you will tell me about it ; for it isn't for no- 
 thing you would destroy so much of your fine head 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 253 
 
 of hair, to stick it up there, only to be a shillycock 
 for the wind/' 
 
 " I do it," replied the other, " afraid they might 
 forget in heaven that I was here, but Saint Losser, 
 when she sees it, will know who it belongs to, and 
 will remind them not to pass me over/' 
 
 " In that case you are safer off than me," returned 
 Ileen ; " for it would be hard to know my poor bit of 
 a handkecher from any other rag, when it is turned 
 white, with the rest of them. But that don't trou- 
 ble me ; for I don't want my business to be remem- 
 bered more nor a week or so, and the pattern won't 
 be bleached out before that. You have a power 
 of duty on you," she continued, " if one may 
 judge from the terrible condition your poor knees 
 is in ?" 
 
 " I have performed at thirteen different wells and 
 holy places," she replied, "since I left home, and I 
 have fifteen more to go to, before I stop." 
 
 " Why, woman, dear !" exclaimed Ileen ; "if you 
 don't take it asy, you'll wear out the bones them- 
 selves, not counting the poor flesh, that is going as 
 fast as it can." 
 
 " It can't be helped, whatever comes of me," said 
 her companion, mournfully. " The soul of one that's 
 gone will have the benefit. Listen to me, girl, 
 and take warning by me, if ever pride comes 
 across you, as it did with me. I had one son 
 The like of him wasn't to be found in any cabin 
 far or near; no, not even in the houses where a 
 coach stood before the door. I was so proud out 
 of him, that I would give him the best laming 
 could be had; and so, I scorned at our own old 
 
254 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Schoolmaster, that nobody thought much about, and 
 sent him to the Lady's School, though it was cursed 
 by the Priest. The boy himself would go, right or 
 wrong, and I indulged him, seeing there was no one 
 could come up to him in the book-knowledge. But 
 the curse came on him at last He sickened with me, 
 and he died I buried him last Michaelmas, when he 
 was just fourteen ; and as soon as my senses came 
 clear to me, I took a vow to go from one blessed place 
 to another, till I completed double the number of 
 stations for every year he lived/' 
 
 " It's a pity to hear you," said Ileen, " and I hope 
 what you are doing will bring comfort to your heart; 
 for it's a terrible sight to think of an elderly body 
 like you scarrifying your two knees to no end. Oh !" 
 she added, taking up her bundle " I have my own 
 pack of troubles, only I can't stop to tell them now 
 but if you knew them, you would wonder how I am 
 able to crawl, much less to walk." 
 
 She again took to the road, and in less than four 
 hours from the commencement of her journey, arrived 
 at the door of Kiladarne, where Mr. Costigan had 
 been watching since the first dawn of the morning. 
 The brown jug filled with clear spring water was in- 
 stantly put in her hand, and by her presented to Mrs. 
 Costigan, who, perfectly unconscious of her presence, 
 drank it off: and then muttering her favourite apho- 
 rism, " Procrastination is the thief of time," which 
 had given so much offence to Alice, sunk into a quiet 
 sleep, from which she awoke in some hours, percepti- 
 bly better, and in a few days was pronounced conva- 
 lescent by her physician. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE day of Mrs. Costigan's first appearance in the 
 parlour, was kept as a little jubilee at Kiladarne ; and 
 Ileen concluded it by treating her fellow-servants, 
 Wat, and Christian, to tea, in the kitchen. On such 
 an occasion she was in her element. She delighted 
 in nothing so much as in giving, and had carefully 
 concealed the intended treat from her mistress, till she 
 had laid in her stock of groceries and white bread, 
 lest she should insist upon providing for it. The 
 pleasure of the entertainment would have been much 
 diminished, had the expense fallen upon another ; but 
 now she was the undoubted mistress of the feast, and 
 was preparing to do the honours of it, with all due 
 bustle and propriety, when the party received an un- 
 expected addition by the arrival of Murtagh Cum- 
 musky. " The more the merrier," was Ileen's motto ; 
 and the tinker would have been welcome for no other 
 reason than that he added one more to the company ; 
 but the welcome was doubly hearty when he told the 
 reason of his calling at that out-of-the-way time of 
 night, which was his uneasiness to hear news of the 
 mistress. 
 
 " Being up the country for the last three weeks," 
 said he, " I never hard one word of her sickness, till 
 not passing four hours ago, and I couldn't sleep a 
 wink all night, if I didn't know what way she was 
 
256 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 in; for there isn't a woman in Ireland I have a 
 greater wish for, nor herself." 
 
 Ileen quickly took down another cup and saucer 
 from the dresser, and, drawing a stool for him next 
 herself, made him take his place at the table, protest- 
 ing, in Mrs. Costigan's vehement style, that she would 
 take no excuse, without perceiving that none had 
 been offered by her guest, who most readily acqui- 
 esced in all her hospitable exactions. From long prac- 
 tice Ileen could talk to half a dozen people on as 
 many different subjects, while she told one story 
 throughout, and never failed to, take up the word in 
 its proper place, however long or excursive the di- 
 gression might have been. She, therefore, found no 
 difficulty in acquainting Cummusky with every cir- 
 cumstance attending Mrs. Costigan's illness, and her 
 own fears, and her courage, and the station, and 
 Lion's joy at seeing her once again ; at the same time 
 reminding Christian Rooney of her head-ache, and 
 how there was no cure for it like another cup, and 
 the smallest taste more of bread and butter ; and re- 
 commending Wat to take plenty of sugar, as nothing 
 was so good for a tickling of a cough ; and scolding 
 the tinker for not making himself more at home. 
 Murtagh exerted himself to please in every possible 
 way. He ate, he drank, and laughed, and joked, and 
 made himself so thoroughly agreeable, that Christian, 
 who had been rather sulky all day, brightened up into 
 an incessant giggle, and Wat almost forgot his dislike 
 to him, in the fascination of his tea-table manners. 
 
 " Well, now," said he, " if it isn't a pleasure to look 
 at ye three, living like so many kings and queens, 
 without a haporth from one years end to the other to 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 257 
 
 give you uneasiness. There's not the house I know, 
 where the boys and girls has the life yourselves has ; 
 and good luck to them that owns it, and good luck to 
 ye that enjoys it ; and may ye long have your health 
 and sperrits, one as well as another, to be this day 
 twenty years what ye are at this very minute/' 
 
 Christian's brow gathered a cloud. "As forme, 
 I'm not going to stop in it," said she. " Hardship 
 and fault-finding never shooted me nor mine, being of 
 another stamp entirely. There's doings, too, going 
 on in this house, that hasn't discretion on the face of 
 them ; and nobody need speak ill of me behind my 
 back, for the sake of my place, for they have my free 
 will and leave to sit down in it and welcome." 
 
 " Christian, dear !" said Ileen, " can't you not be 
 reflecting on them that has no more call to it nor that 
 pewter spoon ! Would I say for or again it, till I 
 opened it out to yourself? And didn't you tell me 
 that you gave warning; and didn't you say on the 
 back of that, that you wouldn't stop an inch beyant 
 your quarter, if the house was turned into a castle ?" 
 
 "Now is it worth the while of a pair of girls, the 
 like of you," said Murtagh, " to be squabbling about 
 sarvice, when one or other of you might have a house 
 of her own to-morrow, with a girl under you to give 
 your orders to ? Why sure, Christian, you have no- 
 thing to do but choose your boy out of a hundred, 
 any day. There's plenty waiting for you. And as for 
 Ileen, we all know how she's provided for. Before 
 May-day, my girl, you'll be fixed in the beautiful 
 meadows of Tarmoncreesh. The bargain is just 
 closed. The stones will be drawing for the house 
 next week ; he has seed praties to plant an acre, so 
 
258 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 that you can begin the world without fore-thought 
 to look after." 
 
 Christian repaired her smiles, and allowed herself 
 to be pressed into taking another cup, though she had 
 declared before the three last were swallowed, that 
 she was full up to the throat. 
 
 " Wat/' said Cummusky, when he had completely 
 succeeded in establishing himself in the good graces 
 of the two ladies, " what's come over you to be the 
 mope the people says you are, since you come to this 
 house ? Is it the cold weather has put stiffness into 
 your bones ? They were all wondering as I came 
 along the road, why you were not at the foot-ball a 
 Sunday evening last, and 1 promised to get you to go 
 next Sunday." 
 
 " I have so much to do, looking after the cattle," 
 said Wat, " that I often can't be in time for prayers. 
 While I am with Mr. Costigan, I must give up di- 
 varsion, he is so watchful about every thing." 
 
 <f I will take your place, Wat," said Ileen, " for a 
 couple of hours, a Sunday evening next, if you get 
 leave ; for keeping company so much with the dumb 
 cattle would take the heart out of a stick, if it had 
 one. I knew what that was at Christie Balf s, where 
 I often thought my tongue would forget how to speak, 
 having no Christian, often for an hour together, to 
 open my lips to, only seven- and- twenty of the most 
 crabbed-minded turkeys that ever sot upon a roost." 
 
 " More's the pity that your tongue should ever be 
 stopped," said Murtagh, " for it would be a loss to 
 more nor yourself. But no fear of that, Ileen ; you'll 
 soon have a companion would desire no better music, 
 nor to hear it going from sunrise to the clouds of the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 259 
 
 night. I must be in Derrynaslieve to-night," he add- 
 ed, throwing his budget over his shoulder, " and it 
 will be late enough when I get there, to look out a 
 lodging. Good luck to yees all, boys and girls, and 
 may I live to see more and more of it on you, and on 
 them will come after you." 
 
 ff That's as pleasant company as I'd wish to sit in 
 a room with," said Ileen, as the tinker left the house. 
 " I never thought that a man with st) ornary a face, 
 could be half so agreeable and lively as he is." 
 
 "He has no more knowledge of being mannerly in 
 company," said Christian, with a very fastidious toss 
 of the head, (( nor an East Indian. Did you notice 
 how he never turned down his cup, or even put the 
 spoon in it when he was done ; and how he ate up 
 every bit was put before him, without leaving a small 
 piece to show he wasn't ravenish and half starved?" 
 
 " Ah ! how would you expect manners from a tink- 
 er ?" said Wat : " where would he come by them ?" 
 
 ce And maybe the place he came from is not all as 
 one as this," apologized Ileen. 
 
 ' f Manners is manners," persisted Christian, " and 
 every body knows that people in company oughtn't 
 miscredit themselves by eating and drinking as if 
 they were dry and hungry. I'm sure I wouldn't have 
 tuck the half of what I did, only you wouldn't listen, 
 and snatched the jcup out of my hand as good as four 
 times." 
 
 " You behaved beautiful, Christian. I wondered 
 at you for your positiveness, and what little sups you 
 contrived to take, only when our heads was turned." 
 
 " When I lived last year at Mr. M'Daniell's" con- 
 tinued Christian, with much self-complacency, " I 
 
260 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 often hard genteel remarks about breeding from the 
 young ladies, after coming from the boording-school 
 at Borris-a-finnegan." 
 
 " Ladies, indeed !" said Wat. " Much about Den- 
 ny M'Daniell's daughters. How would their father's 
 childer come by genteel notions ? They ought to leave 
 that to their betters, and mend their stockings/' 
 
 "Why shouldn't they know about it?" retorted 
 Christian " them that was at school, and went to -a 
 ball was gave by the officers, and carries their hank- 
 echers in bags. They had the best of instruction be- 
 fore and after ; for didn't Miss Haggerty, the school- 
 mistress, come to the house on a visit, while I was in 
 it?" 
 
 fe Is it the school-mistress herself, Christian ?" 
 
 " Not a word of lie in it, Ileen. And it would do 
 your heart good to hear her talk the most wonderful 
 English, and reglate all before her. I one day hard 
 her myself, telling them, when they were all going to 
 dine at Mrs. Doyle's, on no account to touch any 
 thing, but only a little white meat ; and not eat all 
 they got on their plates ; and not, for the life of them, 
 to take one spoonful more pudden after the first help; 
 and, if they were pisoned with the drooth, not to fin- 
 ish the glass of punch, but just put it to their lips 
 once or twice, when Mrs. Doyle would press them." 
 
 " It was a pity to throw away good meat and li- 
 quor on the likes of them," grumbled Wat. 
 
 (f Then," said Christian, who became more animated 
 as she continued her lecture on gentility, e ' she was 
 mad if they said ' very well,' when any body said 
 'how are you?' it was f quite welly they must say 
 not a pin matter whether they were sick or well at 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 261 
 
 the time. Mr. M'Daniell wouldn't be persuaded but 
 it was laming them to tell lies, when, one day, his 
 youngest daughter said her mother was quite well, 
 and she keeping her bed with a terrible cholic. But 
 Miss Haggerty was stiff, and, you know, Ileen, she 
 knew best." 
 
 " To be sure she did," said Ileen. (e But how does 
 it come, Christian, that rale genteel people isn't half 
 so genteel as them sort that only picks up a bit of it 
 at school ? Why there's Miss Dor&, that will be a 
 week together at Traffield House, with her mother, 
 where nobody ever is allowed but lords and ladies, and 
 
 she no, I won't be positive that ever, to my 
 
 knowledge, I see her take a glass of punch, but, if I 
 was on my oath, I could say that I seen her, above 
 in that parlour there, once take a full glass of goose- 
 berry wine to the bottom. And another time that 
 she walked here with Mrs. Falconer, she finished 
 every bit of cold hung beef was on her plate, so that 
 I thought it a pity to have the trouble of washing it 
 after her, she left it so clane." 
 
 " Stop that nonsense," said Wat, <( and ready up 
 the place, till I lock the door. Don't you hear the 
 master calling for the keys ? You are enough to bo- 
 ther the brains out of a man, haranguing about what 
 you know as little of as my foot." 
 
 Long before ten o'clock every one in the house re- 
 tired to bed, and all, in a few minutes, fast asleep, 
 except Costigan himself, whose rest had been so bro- 
 ken, during his wife's illness, by constantly sitting up 
 with her, that sometimes half the night elapsed be- 
 fore he could close his eyes. He had already counted 
 ten and eleven, and was expecting soon to hear the 
 
262 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 next hour strike, when he was roused from an in- 
 cipicent doze by a loud knocking at his window, and 
 a voice earnestly beseeching- him to open the door. 
 His first impulse on leaping out of bed was to seize 
 his gun, which lay in the corner, close to his pillow ; 
 and then as the knocking continued with increased vi- 
 olence, he cautiously opened the shutter, and asked, 
 <f who was there," in that bullying style which always 
 argues a certain degree of apprehension. 
 
 " It's me," cried Lanty M'Grail, endeavouring not 
 to speak louder than was absolutely necessary to be 
 heard by those within. " Open the door, and let me 
 in, in a minute, for there's no time to be lost." 
 
 " Get about your business, you young imp," said 
 Costigan: "what brings you here, disturbing the 
 house at this hour of the night ?" 
 
 " Let me in, I tell you," cried the boy, pulling at 
 the iron bars which protected the window. et They 
 are coming. They are not fifty perch off, and if they 
 find me, they will murder me." 
 
 "Who are they, or what do you mean?" again in- 
 quired Costigan. 
 
 " Better not be parleying, Sir, but let him in, at 
 once," said Wat, who had been awakened by the 
 unusual noise in his master's room, and was stand- 
 ing, half-dressed, in the passage. se He was never 
 given to bad naturally, and I'll answer for him, he 
 has good reasons for calling us out of our beds at 
 this hour." 
 
 " Take the other gun in your hand, then, Wat, 
 and keep close behind me. But," stopping before 
 he reached the door, " how do I know but the fel- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 263 
 
 low has set the house, and is playing the decoy-duck 
 on us ?" 
 
 " I tell you," said Wat, impatiently, " that there is 
 no fear. Give me the key, Sir, quick and stand out 
 of the way you two," pushing back Ileen and Chris- 
 tian, who were hastening to the bed-room. 
 
 " You'll get your death, dear," said Costigan to his 
 wife, " quitting the bed in your weak condition. Let 
 me and Wat manage it, and go with them two fool- 
 ish girls into the room. It is nothing but some stray 
 horse that he is bothering about." 
 
 But Mrs. Costigan kept fast hold of him, and the 
 whole party hurried into the hall. 
 
 Lanty, who had followed the sound of their voices, 
 from the bed-room through the parlour and passage, 
 was now heard whispering through the key-hole 
 
 " If you have the fear of God about you, open the 
 door. If you don't, I'll be killed in the dark night ; 
 and they'll be in upon you, before you know where 
 you are." 
 
 "Ned," said Mrs. Costigan, seeing her husband 
 still hesitating, " it is always safest to do what is 
 right. If the creature is in the danger he says, how 
 could we answer before God, if we did not listen to 
 his cry ? So let him in at once." 
 
 " Are you sure there's nobody behind you?" 
 asked Costigan, as he unlocked the door, and held 
 it a-jar for a few seconds, before he ventured to 
 open it. 
 
 " They are all behind me," said the boy, forcing 
 his way in, and putting his back to the door, which 
 Costigan instantly locked and barred. " They'll be 
 
264 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 here in a minute; and it's your heart's blood they 
 want, Wat, if you don't keep them out." 
 
 " Tell your story, child, that one can understand 
 you," said Mrs. Costigan, trembling with agitation. 
 " Who is coming, and what has Wat to fear from any 
 one ?" 
 
 " Wat knows them, and he knows what they have 
 again him, and I know it's him they are looking after. 
 I was watching them these two hours; for I guessed 
 they had night business, but I couldn't know what 
 airt they would turn, till I see them creeping by the 
 Widdy's mering and they are coming, sure enough; 
 and Wat will never feel the cool of the morning 
 again, if you don't keep them out." 
 
 " Run to the back door, Wat," said his master, 
 " and drag the settle-bed against it; and fix the tongs 
 in the sill ; and stick the bit of bog-fir fast between 
 it and the dresser. This door is strong, and can't be 
 forced without a sledge ; and if they go to that, what 
 will we be doing, with a couple of guns ? Why 
 don't you help the boy, instead of whinging there, 
 you two wonderful girls ? Ah ! go to bed, dear 
 there's nothing at all the matter. Quench that can- 
 dle," he cried angrily, striking it from Christian's 
 hand. " Do you want to show them light to shoot us 
 through the crevices?" 
 
 The back-door was secured almost as soon as he 
 had ended his directions ; and then authoratively in- 
 sisting that no one should speak or move, he leaned 
 his head against the front door, to listen, having sta- 
 tioned Wat with a gun, to defend the other. 
 
 Some minutes passed in profound silence, within 
 and without, when an angry growl, and then a loud 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 265 
 
 bark from Lion, warned them of the approach of 
 somebody, in the direction pointed out by Lanty. 
 
 (e Don't tremble, dear/' said Costigan. " The 
 house defies a regiment, unless they pull it down, 
 stone after stone. And after all, it may be nothing 
 to frighten a man yet/' 
 
 Lion's bark became every instant louder and fiercer, 
 till suddenly the animal gave a frightful yell ; and 
 after a few efforts to bark, which died away in con- 
 vulsive sobs, he ceased to be heard, and a dead si- 
 lence again prevailed. 
 
 Lanty's affection overpowered his fears. He shout- 
 ed in a voice of entreaty, ' ' Oh ! don't kill poor Lion. 
 He's the best minded dog, so he is. He'll never 
 touch you if you speak civil to him, and say no- 
 thing." 
 
 " Whisht your noise," said Costigan, shaking him 
 roughly by the arm. " The only way we can be a 
 match for them, is to be cool and quiet, and take them 
 when they are off their guard." 
 
 A few minutes more elapsed, and then footsteps 
 were distinctly heard, coming round the house, but 
 so noiselessly, that had not the hearing of those with- 
 in been quickened by apprehension, they might not 
 have been noticed. They stopped before the door, 
 and Costigan, supposing the attack about to com- 
 mence in that quarter, motioned Wat to his assistance 
 from his former position, still imposing silence on the 
 others, by gesture and whispered admonition. 
 
 That they were endeavouring to obtain an entrance 
 in the least noisy way, was evident from their opera- 
 tions. Costigan could distinguish the sound of an 
 auger, or some such instrument, which he conceived 
 
 N 
 
266 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 was employed to make an aperture sufficient to ad- 
 mit the hand, by which the bolts and fastenings could 
 be removed, without alarming the inmates. This 
 caution he thought could only proceed from coward- 
 ice, and inspired him with fresh courage. He gave 
 an animating wave of his arm to the terrified women, 
 and again bent his head in the attitude of listening. 
 
 The attack, if such it could be called, upon the 
 door, was continued for some time, but without suc- 
 cess. Their instruments were palpably insufficient 
 to pierce the new plank ; and after whispering toge- 
 ther in a hurried manner, and shaking the door 
 gently, two or three times, they stole off with the 
 same noiseless step, by the way they had approached. 
 " That is Murtagh Cummusky's foot," whispered 
 Lanty to Ileen, as the steps passed the window. 
 " I'd know it among twenty, for he hasn't the walk of 
 another." 
 
 " The terrible man !" exclaimed the girl, ee and the 
 taste of my tea not out of his mouth yet !" 
 
 " Can't you have done there ?" cried Wat : " they 
 are not gone for good yet. I hear them climbing the 
 gate into the yard, to try what luck they will have at 
 the back door, since they were baffled at this." 
 
 " Well, we are ready for them there, too," said 
 Costigan. " Follow me, Wat and you, there, not a 
 word, for your lives." 
 
 Wat was right. The same attempts were made at 
 the back-door, and in the same bungling way ; for 
 though some boring instrument was applied to differ- 
 ent parts of the door, no, impression was made on the 
 inside ; nor were any external means applied to force 
 it in. As in the former case, the door was slightly 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 267 
 
 shaken, again a low whisper was exchanged between 
 the midnight visitors, as they receded towards the 
 gate, a smothered laugh from one of them, would 
 seem to intimate that their designs were rather those 
 of frolic, than the deadly intention suggested by 
 Lanty. This idea, which was eagerly caught at by 
 Costigan, became strengthened, when a quarter of an 
 hour passed, and no voice or footstep was heard 
 through the silence of a very calm night. 
 
 " I believe we are a pack of fools," said he at last, 
 speaking in a louder key than heretofore. " It's a 
 pity we didn't bounce out on them, and spoil their 
 sport. I'll bet any thing, they were fixing a notice 
 from Captain Rock on the door, as they did last year. 
 I'll just step out quietly, and fire a shot in the air, to 
 show that I am not to be taken by surprise." 
 
 " You won't, Ned," said his wife, interposing be- 
 tween him and the door. " The marauders may be 
 lurking about the place still ; and no good brought 
 them here, whatever took them away so peaceably." 
 
 " Well, dear, you must be pleased. Go to your 
 bed, for you'll be perished the way you are. Chris- 
 tian, light the candle now, and go all of you to your 
 beds. Wat and I will sit up by the fire, for a while, 
 to see that every thing is quiet and right ; for it's all 
 over, whatever it is, and I am glad of it." 
 
 " It's little I'd think about it, to crack your ugly 
 skull, you dirty brat," said Christian, turning angrily 
 to Lanty, as she handed the candle to her mistress, 
 " to give us such a start I What business has a 
 fairy-spawn like you, to be telling lies of people, and 
 frightening the world to no end ?" 
 " Don't abuse the poor thing," said Ileen. (< If he 
 
 N 2 
 
268 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 did frighten the life out of us, it was all in love ; 
 and I'll like him the better for it, for ever-out and 
 after." 
 
 " Lanty," said Mrs. Costigan, " tell us now, boy, 
 what reason you have for thinking that them that 
 were about the house, this time back, had bad inten- 
 tions to Wat Delahunt?" 
 
 " I know it's his life brought them here/' he an- 
 swered sturdily, " and I know they'll have it, if he 
 gtops in the country." 
 
 " Who are they ?" asked Costigan, peremptorily. 
 " Out with their names, at once, Sir, or you'll be pu- 
 nished well for your prevaricatings." 
 
 " All the neighbours round you was coming," said 
 he ; and then stuttering for some time, and looking 
 at Wat, as if for permission to speak, he added, 
 " Connel St. Leger was at the head of them, and 
 Murtagh Cummusky followed next after." 
 
 ' c An't you afraid that the tongue would drop out 
 of your head, after such a wicked lie?" said Ileen. 
 f< The boy wasn't about the place this night, so he 
 wasn't." 
 
 ff I hard his laugh, as he quit the door this mi- 
 nute," he insisted, " and I know they won't sleep asy 
 till they have their revenge of Wat." 
 
 " Never listen to him, Wat, and keep your heart 
 quiet, for if it is true (and it isn't) that he would 
 wish you hurt, do you think I would let him, and I 
 in the house ? He wouldn't stir an inch beyant my 
 bidding. He had some trick in his head, and that's 
 all, for he hasn't the nature to rise a hand again his 
 friend. Lanty when every one had a hard word for 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 269 
 
 you, I wouldn't let you be run down, but since I see 
 what you are the back of my hand to you for ever." 
 Lanty was standing by Mrs. Costigan, in his usual 
 lazy attitude, and apparently not much affected by 
 Ileen's censure, when, all at once, his whole frame 
 became violently agitated, his grey eyes seemed start- 
 ing from their sockets, and seizing her by the arm, he 
 screamed at the full pitch of his harsh voice, " The 
 thatch is a-fire over our heads don't you hear the 
 cranching of the blazes ? Don't you see the sparks 
 shooting by the windy ?" 
 
 A deadly shriek rose simultaneously from all pre- 
 sent. Wat dragged open the shutter of the window. 
 " The boy says true," he cried. ee We are lost : 
 The house is a-fire, and we are lost !" 
 
 " Oh! the villian !" exclaimed Christian. "He 
 told me they only wanted to come for the two guns ; 
 and will I be destroyed for trusting to his word ?" 
 
 " Silence !" cried Costigan " Silence all of you, 
 till I speak. We have nothing for it, but to force 
 our passage out. You and I, Wat, will go in front, 
 and clear the way. We'll sell our lives dear, any 
 how : and if they kill us, who knows but their hearts 
 will relent for the women ? Sally this is an awful 
 hour for us, dear I didn't think we'd part in such a 
 hurry. Take my blessing, dear it's all I can do for 
 you now." 
 
 " Let me go first," said Wat ; " my gun carries 
 surer than yours." 
 
 <: The guns are no use," shrieked Christian : " I 
 poured water in the pans, three times this day, as 
 Connel bid me." 
 
 " God forgive you, girl !" said her master, paralyzed 
 
270 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 by this intelligence. But recovering in a moment, he 
 began to tear the bars away from the front door, call- 
 ing on the others to rush out headlong, and not to be 
 daunted by pikes or fire-arms. 
 
 But the door resisted all their united efforts to pull 
 it open, being firmly fastened on the outside. 
 
 " Oh !" exclaimed Mrs. Costigan, with a very hea- 
 vy groan, " we are indeed taken in a trap, and it is 
 too strong for our weak hands to free us from it." 
 
 " Give me the hatchet," roared Delahunt, who had 
 tried the back-door, and found that it was in like 
 manner made fast on the outside. "Give me the 
 hatchet, I say ; -and in three blows 1 will smash it in 
 pieces, and I will smash them in pieces that stop me 
 making my way out after." 
 
 cc It can't be found," again cried Christian, franti- 
 cally : " I flung it behind the dog-house, this evening, 
 for fraid you would hurt them, when they came for 
 the fire-arms." 
 
 Wat calmly crossed his arms, and leaned his back 
 to the door, looking his master steadily in the face. 
 
 " Don't look at me," he said bitterly, ff for how can 
 I help you or myself? The doors won't open, and 
 the windows I made too secure to my own destructi- 
 on. But an't they our neighbours, that often eat of 
 my bread, and who knows when they see our distress 
 but they will relent ?" 
 
 He threw up the window-sash, and called out, 
 " Boys ! isn't it beyant thinking to see what you are 
 about ? We're punished enough already, if we ever 
 injured you, and don't go on to take our lives. Let 
 us out, for the love of mercy, and we'll swear never 
 to tell, and we'll keep our oaths. Boys, boys, don't 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 271 
 
 pretend as if you didn't hear, for I see the shadow of 
 three of you, at the corner, by the light of the fire. 
 Oh ! dear Oh ! dear won't you answer ? Well, then, 
 kill us, men, if you must have blood, and I'll pray 
 for you with my last breath only let the poor women 
 off safe. There is one of them here, that the great 
 God has just reprieved from death, and will you 
 contradict his goodness, and dig the grave again that 
 he ordered to be closed up ? Oh ! boys, don't you 
 hear how I am crying more like a woman than a man, 
 and won't you pity me in my feebleness ? No, they 
 won't/' he added, turning from the window, and 
 throwing his arms round his wife. " They have no 
 heart, for I hear them laughing at my distress," 
 
 Delahunt darted to the window " Connel, I'm not 
 fit to die this minute The Priest's hand wasn't over 
 me since I first saw blood; and you won't destroy me, 
 body and soul, will you ? Connel St. Leger, what 
 did I ever do to you ? I often offended my brother 
 that's dead, for the love of you I first took sin upon 
 my head, for your sake I hardened my heart to 
 plase you What are you about there? Show me 
 some friendship now, and shoot me like a man Shoot 
 me, I say, like a man, you villian." 
 
 " Let me speak," said Ileen, who seemed for some 
 time insensible through terror. " Let me just only 
 get back my voice, to speak cheerful, the way he 
 likes. Now you'll see what one word from me will 
 do. Connel," she called, laughing hysterically, " do 
 you know I'm in it, Connel ? Have done with want- 
 ing to frighten us in play ; for the senses won't stay 
 with me. Connel ! Connel ! I'm the most raving girl 
 
272 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 this minute, and I'm wild arid distracted, and won't 
 you let me out ?" 
 
 " Not he, the villian," said Wat, pushing her from 
 the window, " but if these two arms don't fail me, 
 I'll still make a chance for our lives." 
 
 He seized the massive wooden bar, which barri- 
 caded the front-door, and forcing it between the iron- 
 railing at the outside of the window, strained at it 
 till the bars were bent, so as to make an opening 
 wide enough to ensure their escape, if unmolested by 
 the Rockites. 
 
 ee I'll go first/' he said, " and keep them at bay, if 
 they offer to stop you." 
 
 His body was half out, when he quickly jumped 
 back into the room, being shot through the breast, 
 from the corner, where the murderers stood. 
 
 Another frightful shriek resounded through the 
 house. 
 
 " Oh ! Wat," cried Lanty, supporting him as he 
 tottered to the wall, " won't you think of your poor 
 soul ? And all of you, what good will screeching do 
 you ? Why don't you drop down upon your knees, 
 and call out to God, for death is coming quicker on 
 us nor we thought ?" 
 
 The appeal was not lost upon them. All were in- 
 stantly in the attitude of prayer, and Lanty rapidly 
 poured forth his petitions, scripturally, though rudely 
 expressed ; declaring his own confidence that the fire 
 could not separate him from the Redeemer, pleading 
 for his companions in misery, and asking forgiveness 
 for the poor misguided people without. A solemn 
 awe pervaded the whole party, as they listened to, or 
 joined in the petition of the poor boy, who, a short 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 273 
 
 time before, they looked upon as scarcely superior in 
 intellect to his affectionate companion in the dog-ken- 
 nel. But the quiet was of short continuance. A 
 wreath of smoke was slowly winding- from beneath 
 the door of the inner room, which showed that the 
 fire was fast penetrating the roof on that side; and 
 again the house was filled with cries and lamen- 
 tations ; while, as if in derision of their calamity, a 
 loud shout was raised from those on the outside, and 
 two or three shots were fired in quick succession. 
 
 Ileen's reason seemed to have entirely abandoned 
 her. She laughed, and sung, and danced ; and then 
 leaning her elbow against the window, invited her 
 mistress to look at the reflection of the fire in the 
 pool. 
 
 " Isn't that a beautiful sight ?" she quietly asked a 
 man who then appeared at the window. 
 
 " What are you all about, within there ?" he shout- 
 ed. " Why don't you run out, and the roof just rea- 
 dy to fall on your heads ?" 
 
 " Oh ! Mr. Ward," vociferated Lanty, clapping his 
 hands in ecstasy " We're locked in, Sir burst the 
 door, Sir kick it till you smash it, Sir. Hold me 
 tight, Wat, and I'll drag you, while I have a hand. 
 Another bang, Mr. Ward, and it will be in. Now 
 you have it, Sir. Here we are all. Oh ! let Wat out 
 first the boy that is bleeding. Now, Wat, you are 
 safe and are you alive ? and is nothing the mat- 
 ter with you ?" 
 
 " Lanty, listen to me," said Mrs. Costigan. (e You 
 could bring us to our knees, when the danger was 
 over our heads ; and now, that God has showed his 
 goodness to us, won't you teach us to thank him ? 
 
274 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 For, shame upon us ! you are the only one of us who 
 seems to know how to speak to him." 
 
 " Wait, Ma'am, till I get a place for poor Wat to 
 sit down. But, what's this ?" he said, stumbling over 
 the body of a man, which lay motionless on the 
 ground. 
 
 The fire flashed broadly in that direction, and 
 glared on the wild features of Murtagh Cummusky, 
 with the agony of death freshly stamped upon them ; 
 and at the same moment, the roof fell in, with a 
 hideous crash, and a column of white smoke ascended 
 magnificently from the ruin, into the clear vault of 
 heaven. 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 275 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A LITTLE after nine o'clock, on the following morn- 
 ing, Mr. Milward entered the farm-yard at Kiladarne, 
 already crowded with people. Willy Geraghty has- 
 tened to meet him. 
 
 " Isn't this terrible work, Parson ?" he said, point- 
 ing to the still smoking ruins. 
 
 " Have any lives been lost ?" inquired Mr. Mil- 
 ward ; " for so many different stories have reached me 
 already, that I do not know which to give credit to." 
 
 " Not one only two," replied Willy. " Poor young 
 tDelahunt is not dead yet, but he is speechless ; and 
 the priest is expected every minute to give him the 
 rites of the church. As for Cummusky, the ugly 
 tinker, he was shot by the police right through the 
 head, at once, and he is lying in the cow-house till 
 the coroner comes. Would you like to look at the 
 shot ? You never saw any thing go so fair through 
 and through, as it did." 
 
 "How, and where is Mrs. Costigan?" asked Mr. 
 Milward, detaining Willy, who was proceeding forth- 
 with to the cow-house. 
 
 " She is in bed in the room over the barn, waiting 
 till she can borrow clothes, to be able to go to Derry- 
 naslieve; for nothing else is the matter with her. 
 The night air that ought to have been her death, only 
 revived her the sooner ; and she is as cheerful and 
 well as I saw her any day these twenty years." 
 
276 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " It positively is the most unaccountable thing/' 
 said Mr. Fitzcarrol, riding into the yard, and talking 
 in his most out-Heroding manner to Terence Mulva- 
 ney. ee Is it possible that it could have happened by 
 accident? those kind of servants are so careless 
 about candles. I cannot be persuaded that any mis- 
 chief was intended. It is altogether the most impro- 
 bable story. Persons should be very cautious how 
 they trust their servants with candles, particularly in 
 a thatched house/' 
 
 <e Upon my honour, so they ought/' said Geraghty, 
 drily, " in any house, thatched or slated, if a dirty 
 bit of tallow could fire away, and shoot people, right 
 and left, with powder arid ball." 
 
 " Good morning to you, Mr. Milward. Is not this 
 a most unaccountable thing, and the country so quiet 
 as it has been for such a length of time ? It is really 
 very mysterious I am afraid we shall not come to 
 the bottom of it soon, as Mulvaney tells me that the 
 only witness likely to come forward is that idiot, 
 whose testimony, you must be aware, could not be 
 received in any court of justice/ 
 
 ee I only told your honour," said Mulvaney, hat in 
 hand, which was the way in which Mr. Fitzcarrol 
 liked to be spoken to, ' ' what I heard from Mr. Cos- 
 tigan himself; for how would I know, that was sleep- 
 ing peaceably in my bed, little dreaming what was 
 doing within half-a-mile of me ? He said the poor, 
 half-witted, innocent of a boy did surely mention 
 the names of one or two, in his own blundering way ; 
 and the servant girl, old Rooney's daughter, said 
 something else, but what it was they don't well re- 
 member in their consternation; and the poor crea- 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 277 
 
 ture is nearly out of her senses with the pain of her 
 shoulder, which got a terrible bruise and burn by the 
 chimbley that fell on her, as she was passing round 
 the corner too near the house." 
 
 " The tinker, who I understand was shot," conti- 
 nued Mr. Fitzcarrol, " was, like all of his trade, a 
 great rogue ; and is it not very probable that he was 
 the whole and sole contriver of the burning, hoping 
 to plunder securely in the confusion ? I cannot dis- 
 cover that he had any accomplices, at least on infor- 
 mation that can be trusted." 
 
 ee There were not less than a dozen men at that 
 corner," said the serjeant of police, " when we came 
 up ; and they did not run till they saw their compa- 
 nion fall." 
 
 " And pray, Mr. Ward, what were you and your 
 men doing, that you did not pursue the miscreants ? 
 Why did you let them escape ?" 
 
 f e I thought our first duty, Sir/' said Ward, ' ' was 
 to save the people in the house. When we saw them 
 out of danger, we did our best to come up with the 
 fellows, though they gave us the slip for the present." 
 
 " Slip, Sir ! Is that language to use before gentle- 
 men ? I disapprove of your conduct entirely ; and I 
 promise you it shall undergo a strict investigation." 
 
 "So much the better for you, Linny," said Ge- 
 raghty to the serjeant, " for you will get the thanks 
 of all the respectable gentlemen in the county. You 
 acted like a man of sense and feeling, too, in stop- 
 ping to save the lives of six honest people, instead of 
 galloping after ruffians, who you may catch at your 
 leisure." 
 
 Mr. Fitzcarrol would not condescend to notice 
 
278 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Willy, to whom he had a particular dislike, as he 
 never could convince him that he was a great man. 
 He was therefore obliged again to address himself to 
 Mr. Milward, who was speaking to a man on the 
 other side. 
 
 " The present proselyting system is dreadful," he 
 began ; " it is the cause of all the disturbances in the 
 country. That foolish woman, Mrs. Costigan, has 
 been, I understand, dabbling with controversy ; and 
 I more than suspect that her intolerance has been the 
 cause of this unfortunate business. You must excuse 
 me, Mr. Milward, for speaking my sentiments so 
 plainly, but interference with the religious opinions 
 of any people can never end in good you must ex- 
 cuse me, Mr. Milward, I say." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, but I have not heard what 
 you were saying. May I ask, what is it that [you 
 wish me to excuse ?" 
 
 " Oh ! never heed it, parson, dear," cried Willy, 
 impatiently ; " excuse it all in a lump, whatever it 
 is, as becomes a man of your cloth. It will save you 
 trouble, and leave you at liberty to say a word of 
 comfort to poor Ned Costigan, who is coming over 
 to us." 
 
 Costigan advanced cheerfully to Mr. Milward : 
 <e You are welcome, Sir," he said, " though it's but 
 a poor place I'll have to show you to. However, if 
 I had a castle over my head, you know I would be 
 proud to offer you the best seat in it. My wife is 
 longing to see you, Sir. Poor woman ! she is in a 
 bare condition like myself; for we had hardly time 
 to throw a tatter over us, we were in such confusion 
 and carelessness." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 279 
 
 " I expect my daughter every moment, with the 
 carriage/' said Mr. Milward, " to take Mrs. Costi- 
 gan to the glebe, where I hope you will both remain 
 till you can provide yourselves with a comfortable 
 residence/' 
 
 " Costigan," said Mr. Fitzcarrol, before he could 
 reply to this kind invitation, " I see you will be look- 
 ing for heavy damages from the county ; and I can- 
 didly tell you that I shall most rigorously investigate 
 every circumstance connected with the occurrences 
 of last night; and if I discover that any impropriety 
 of yours has led to this outrage, I shall use all my 
 influence with the grand jury to dismiss your claim 
 at once ; for I am determined not to give a premium 
 to bigots and intolerants for disturbing the peace of 
 the country." 
 
 " All fair and right, Sir," said Costigan. " I will 
 ask nothing that is not agreeable to my character as 
 an honest man a character that I have always kept, 
 and will keep, with a blessing, as long as I live. 
 But supposing the county would never allow me one 
 penny, it's little that would grieve me. Why should 
 it? What am I the worse off since yesterday, only 
 in the loss of a few sticks and stones ? And if the 
 poor boy over there was safe and well, there would 
 not be a joyfuller man upon earth this minute nor 
 myself/' 
 
 ""What'll I do with that Lanty M'Grail, Sir?" said 
 one of the labourers, coming up to Costigan. " If 
 you don't speak to him, there's no use in me giving 
 him a check. He is destroying the garden to no end, 
 burying the dog in the beautiful bed that was laid 
 out for early cabbages, and no place else will serve 
 
280 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 him, because he says the sun will shine on it in win- 
 ter as well as summer." 
 
 " What business is it of yours to meddle with him, 
 Barny Dillon ? Nobody shall contradict him in any 
 fancy he takes with me or mine. If he chooses to 
 carry away the whole garden on his back, he is wel- 
 come to it." 
 
 f< We are only losing time," said Hector. ee Do 
 you hear, Costigan. Manage to get me a chair and 
 something like a table in one of the offices ; and col- 
 lect all the people who have had any thing to do in 
 this transaction, that I may take their examinations 
 before they have time to consult together, and frame 
 a story to implicate those against whom they have 
 private pique." 
 
 Costigan hastened to fulfil these directions first 
 escorting Mr. Milward to the door of the room, or 
 rather loft, where his wife had taken shelter ; and Mr. 
 Fitzcarrol, glad to escape from the neighbourhood of 
 Willy Geraghty, joined Mr. Duff who was then en- 
 tering the gate. 
 
 Christie Balf, his wife, and daughter, though liv- 
 ing five miles from Kiladarne, were among the first 
 on the premises that morning. They had already 
 taken four rounds of the yard, inspecting every thing 
 with the most minute attention, and asking and an- 
 swering questions on all sides ; when, as if to vary 
 the monotony of their route, they slowly crossed 
 the very middle of the yard, till they came within 
 listening distance of Johnny Munroe, who was en- 
 gaged in conversation with Alice O'Neil. 
 
 <: I don't accuse you," said he, <e so what use in 
 clearing yourself to me. But if you would take the 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 281 
 
 advice of a friend that is, of one who wishes you 
 well, as I wish all to be better than they are, and 
 none more than myself, seeing I want it badly you 
 would go home, and not come here till you are sent 
 for. Don't I tell you there's nobody cares for your 
 company. Mrs. Costigan sent you word not to come 
 into her presence, as she don't want to be angry with 
 any body, or say a hard word to her bitterest enemy 
 and that poor Ileen, who has always a commendation 
 for the worst if she can, says she has no call to you 
 at-all, at-all ; and Christian Rooney says you are the 
 sorest sight she ever saw ; and the master himself 
 looked away as he passed you ; and Lanty, your own 
 flesh and blood, is skulking behind the hay- stack 
 from you ; so you may judge between them all there's 
 poor welcome for you here/' 
 
 ce Dear Mr. Monroe, if I could only get my poor 
 orphant away home with me, to give him an advice, 
 and keep him out of harm, I would go away, and 
 pray for yees all, though false lies may be put on me 
 behind my back/' 
 
 "Now, woman, I wish you would let me alone. 
 Don't you see how you are provoking me to say what 
 I don't want to say. Leave the boy where he is. 
 He'll be better without your advice ; and he'll be far- 
 ther from harm the longer way he is off from you." 
 
 " No wonder you are in trouble, Alice," said Mrs. 
 Half, coming forward with a very innocent air, as if 
 she had not overheard the conversation, " Mr. Costi- 
 gan was ever such a friend to you. You'll be lone- 
 gome too, after the house, being used to be looking at 
 it so long." 
 
 " It isn't true, I'm sure, Alice," said Christie, ( ' that 
 
282 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 Cummusky was seen quitting your place only about 
 an hour before he was shot, For, says 1 to the man 
 that told me, it is impossible that any body would be 
 so mischeevious : and the tinker, says T, was a fel- 
 low would push himself any where." 
 
 " Oh ! Mr. Balf, isn't it a wicked world, when a 
 sorrowful woman like myself won't be let die out of 
 it, in respectability, as I always lived, without hav- 
 ing tongues let loose again me ? The man just called 
 in to light his pipe, as he might do at your house, or 
 another's ; and am 1 to be dragged between wild 
 horses, when 1 only handed him a coal in the tongs, 
 what yourself would do, if it was asked when churn- 
 ing was not going on?" 
 
 " One must be neighbourly that's true," said 
 Christie. " And, says I to the same man, what would 
 keep her up to that late hour ?" 
 
 " I have enemies, Mr. Balf, that envies me the 
 character I had for being no mischief-maker nor bag- 
 biter. You see how they'll swear away my life for 
 my tenderness to that straggling child of mine, that I 
 have to sit up for half the night by times, when he 
 takes a wandering fit with him." 
 
 (< There's a power of money's worth lost, any how," 
 said Mrs. Balf: " and what I think most of is, Mrs. 
 Costigan's elegant muff and tippet, and her gold spy- 
 glass. It's a long time before she will make up her 
 fine stock of clothes ; for I hear she saved nothing 
 but a middling flannen petticoat, and her old blue 
 mantle. I'm dying to know about the black silk 
 gown she sent to the manty-maker to be turned, the 
 week before she took the fever. If I could see Ileen 
 Garvey, she would tell me if it ever came back. It 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 283 
 
 would be the greatest pity if that gown was burnt ; 
 for it was as good a silk as ever I handled. It had 
 rale substance in it, and three flounces a finger and 
 a nail broad at the bottom." 
 
 (< Mother, mother/' cried Margaret Balf, " there's 
 Mr. Mil ward's carriage, and Mrs. Burro wes is in it, 
 with the new bonnet was sent her last week from Mrs. 
 Falconer in England. Let us run to the gate that we 
 may get a sight of it." 
 
 At a much quicker rate than they were usually ac- 
 customed to move, all the Balfs proceeded towards 
 the gate, and had an excellent opportunity of satisfy- 
 ing their curiosity ; for Mrs. Burrowes was a long 
 time in alighting from the carriage, and a long time 
 adjusting a large bundle, which Flood had contrived 
 to disarrange during the minute-and-half that he had 
 it in charge ; and a still further delay was occasioned 
 by the necessity of scolding Kitty Moore for her idle- 
 ness in staying out the whole of the morning, and no- 
 body at home to do her business. ' : * 
 
 ee Besides," she continued, " it's an unbecoming 
 thing for one out of a gentleman's house to be curious 
 about robbers and plunderers, and low, mean doings 
 of that kind. Do you think that I would have put a 
 foot inside the place, only that it would not ,be pro- 
 per for Miss Dora to come by herself, and carry the 
 bundle of clothes the mistress is sending to Mrs. Cos- 
 tigan, hearing how the poor woman was keeping her 
 bed from want of covering ? You don't know what 
 is becoming your station, Kitty, living with the fa- 
 mily you do ; and I can tell you I am ashamed of 
 you, and I hope you will be ashamed of yourself/' 
 " Mrs. Burrowes, Ma'am," said Kitty, " you 
 
284 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 wouldn't be angry with me if you knew all I went 
 through. I couldn't walk a step for two hours, with 
 the fright I got, no more nor if I never had a leg un- 
 der me. What did Barny Dillon do with me, Ma'am, 
 the minute I came to the place, but gallopped me off 
 to the cow-bouse, to look at the terrible tinker that 
 mended the dripping-pan, and the colander, three 
 times over, and you know they are wanting to be 
 mended again now, Ma'am. There he was, lying 
 stretched out on the straw. The ball went in at his 
 cheek, and out near the top of his head, the other 
 side. When I seen that, my heart came up into my 
 mouth with fright, at the escape the unfortunate man 
 had, that it didn't hit his eye, for it was within half 
 an inch of it ; and I won't recover it these twenty 
 minutes and more, I am sure." 
 
 While Mrs. Burrowes lectured the housemaid, Mon- 
 roe was speaking to Miss Milward, who, pale and 
 agitated, waited in the back ground, till her elderly 
 companion should think proper to move on. 
 
 "Miss Dora," said he, "you have cause to be 
 thankful and glad ; and you have cause to wonder at 
 yourself, when you think of what you have done 
 only you didn't do it how could you ? But it was 
 done, and I am bound to honour you as an instrument 
 in God's hand to show light to a poor despised crea- 
 ture, that my unbelieving heart would persuade me 
 was born to live and die in darkness. Mr. Costigan 
 told me he learned a lesson from him he can never 
 forget, and she herself is more steadfast than ever to 
 follow the word of God for her guide, seeing that it 
 can give understanding to the simple I see the poor 
 fellow peeping at us from behind the hayrick. Ah ! 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 285 
 
 Miss, won't you beckon him over to you, and say one 
 word of encouragement to him ?" 
 
 " Not now, if you please, Mr. Monroe/' answered 
 Dora, quickly. " There are so many people prepar- 
 ing to listen, that I should certainly talk nonsense, in 
 my anxiety to say something very proper. And then 
 I feel a great inclination to cry ; so much so, that [ 
 am afraid to trust my voice, even speaking quietly 
 to you. But tell him to follow the carriage to the 
 glebe, and tell him tell him every thing that is kind 
 from me, Mr. Monroe/' 
 
 Mrs. Burrowes's eye at this moment glanced on 
 Lanty, and she called him to her, in her voice of au- 
 thority, which he had never yet seen the individual 
 who had ventured to disobey. He, therefore, invo- 
 luntarily obeyed her summons, though strongly tempt- 
 ed to run away ; and he shuffled quickly towards her 
 with a side-long motion his head turned over one 
 shoulder, so that his eyes were looking exactly in the 
 contrary direction to that in which his body was 
 moving. 
 
 " Come here, my good boy," she said : ec I often 
 spoke hardly of you, and I often reflected on you for 
 the faults of others, without considering that many 
 an ugly father has a beautiful child. I am now sorry 
 that ever I did so, for I was wrong, and I am not 
 afraid or ashamed to say so. And I tell it out before 
 all your neighbours here, that there is not one of 
 them, who might not be proud to have a son like you, 
 and that he has marked you to grace. If you never 
 had a friend before, Lanty, I am your friend from this 
 day forward ; and you may trust to my friendship, 
 
286 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 child, for it never yet was given or taken away for 
 nothing." 
 
 A general murmur of approbation from the by- 
 standers followed the housekeeper's speech; and Dora, 
 repressing her inclination to cry, which was momen- 
 tarily increasing, advanced a few steps, and, in a 
 manner almost as confused as his own, said, (( Lanty, 
 I am greatly pleased with you, and every body is 
 pleased with you, and I hope, as nurse says, that God 
 has indeed given you his blessing." 
 
 Tears real tears the first that ever were known 
 to come from Lanty's eyes, rolled down his cheeks, 
 while he listened, with a grateful expression of coun- 
 tenance to the voice of the only human being who 
 had been uniformly kind to him. Mrs. Burrowes, 
 Mrs. Balf, Johnny Monroe, and others, were softened, 
 and applied immediately to their pocket-handker- 
 chief, the corner of a shawl, or the back of their 
 hand, to dry their eyes ; and a general fit of crying 
 was about to commence, when the approach of Mr. 
 Milward gave Lanty the opportunity to slink away 
 to his former retreat, and Mrs. Burrowes, settling her 
 features into a very dignified expression, motioned 
 the young lady to come forward, and take her father's 
 arm. 
 
 " Nurse," said he, as he moved on with his daugh- 
 ter, " I am glad you are come, for Mrs. Costigan is 
 sadly in want of your good offices. She seems un- 
 willing to return with you to the glebe, but perhaps 
 Dora may succeed in making her change her deter- 
 mination." 
 
 " Let me carry that bundle for you, Ma'am," said 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 287 
 
 Monroe, " Oh ! Mrs. Burro wes, I insist upon it it's 
 fitter for me to carry it than for you ; besides, you'll 
 want your hand to hold up your cloak, crossing that 
 dirty step by the turf-clamp. Don't be afraid, 
 Ma'am ; 1 11 be as tender of it as yourself. Your 
 commendation of that poor boy, Mrs. Burrowes, went 
 home to my heart, and I am as thankful to you, as if 
 you made me a justice of peace, or any thing- that 
 never could come into my head/* 
 
 Mr. Milward left his daughter and her attendant at 
 the door of Mrs. Costigan's little apartment, and sat 
 in the stable with Mr. Fitzcarrol, who was engaged 
 in examining Christian Rooney, till he received a 
 message to say that she was dressed, and ready to 
 receive all visitors. 
 
 " Mrs. Costigan is determined on going immediately 
 to Derrynaslieve," said his daughter, on his entrance ; 
 " and will only promise to spend a day with us at 
 some indefinite time, when she is quite strong, and 
 the season advancing towards the spring." 
 
 ec I opened my heart all about it to Miss Dora and 
 Mrs. Burrowes," said Mrs. Costigan, " and I will tell 
 the plain truth to yourself, too, Sir, that you may see 
 it is not ingratitude or incivility. I would desire no- 
 thing better than to sit looking at Mrs. Milward, hour 
 after hour, and she knows that. But then, what 
 would poor Ned do ? He would be put out of all his 
 ways, and he would be uncomfortable, trying to do 
 manners every minute, and not knowing the best way 
 to go about it. Now, Mrs. Burrowes, I put it to you 
 could he sit all the evening in his old slippers, with 
 his feet on the fender, talking to myself? Could he 
 be yawning out loud in the drawing-room, after be- 
 
288 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 ing tired riding all the day ? or could he rout up ser- 
 vants before day-light,, sometimes, to get him his 
 breakfast? and would he ever have a happy minute, 
 running up and down stairs, with nails in his shoes ? 
 I must think of him, Mr. Milward, who never is tired 
 contriving for my comfort, and I know he would not 
 be happy if we were not left to ourselves to go on as 
 usual." 
 
 " I can say no more," said Mr. Milward. (f We 
 were only anxious for your comfort, and you certainly 
 require care after so severe an illness." 
 
 (f There is care over me, Sir, which yourself will 
 confess I may well trust to witness the way I am 
 this morning, strong, and composed, and cheerful, af- 
 ter undergoing what one would suppose was sent for 
 my death, even though I was saved from the fire. 
 And do not be afraid that 1 will presume on his good- 
 ness, by acting hand over head, as if I was to live 
 upon miracles. I will take all the care of myself I 
 ought, and leave the event cheerfully in his hands." 
 
 " I suppose you have not yet determined upon any 
 plans for the future ?" 
 
 (e It is all settled in my own mind, Sir, unless an 
 order comes from heaven to the contrary. We will 
 live in Derrynaslieve, till we build this place over 
 again, and slate it, to avoid accidents another time. 
 The work shall begin at once. It will give Ned em- 
 ployment for his thoughts, and I will be counting the 
 hours till I get back to it." 
 
 " You have the courage of a lion, Mrs. Costigan," 
 said Mrs. Burrowes, " to talk of longing to come back 
 to a place that ought to terrify the life out of you, 
 only to think of." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 289 
 
 cf Courage has nothing to do with it, nurse. The 
 awful passage of last night will, no doubt, often freeze 
 my blood, when a start comes upon me by surprise, 
 in the dead hour of darkness : but I would be sub- 
 ject to that failing, live where I might ; therefore, I 
 may as well follow my fancy, and there is no place 
 suits it like this. Here I spent the happiest days that 
 ever fell to the lot of woman ; and when my turn of 
 sorrow came round, it was here I again found peace 
 a peace, I believe, that will be left with me, what- 
 ever else may be taken. So, nurse, you see I have 
 some cause to be fond of poor Kiladarne." 
 
 "Do you mean to say that you felt any of that 
 peace during the horrors of last night ?" 
 
 " To tell you the truth, Mr. Milward, I felt nothing 
 but terror and bewilderment. My mind was for one 
 minute calmed into something like it, when that crea- 
 ture who had his teaching from above, called upon a 
 God of mercy, and made mention of the sinner's con- 
 solation; but the dreadful death that stared me in 
 the face, quickly put it to flight again. I do not al* 
 lude to any extraordinary feelings of my own then, 
 or at any other time. The peace I speak of comes to 
 me from the promise of Him who cannot lie ; and he 
 will keep his word, I am sure, though my heart should 
 beat quick at the prospect of pain, or my senses re- 
 fuse to help me in a moment of distraction/' 
 
 "After all/' said Mrs. Burrowes, " I never would 
 sleep a night in the same place, if the whole gang, 
 one and all, are not tafcen up and hung, to be a warn- 
 ing to themselves, and others that might follow their 
 ways." 
 
 o 
 
290 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 " Then, with all my heart., nurse, I hope not one of 
 them may be taken. I don't want to meddle with 
 men's lives, and it is my comfort that I can say no- 
 thing to injure a fellow -creature. Stay a minute, Miss 
 Dora/' seeing Mr. Milward about to go away " I 
 have a little private message for your mother. I don't 
 want to speak out," she continued, in a whisper, ef till 
 I prepare Ned, by slow degrees ; but tell her that my 
 mind is made up, to cast my lot for religion with the 
 people who take the Bible for their guide. You may 
 say," 
 
 She was interrupted by the entrance of her hus- 
 band. 
 
 ' { Sally," said he, " here is a gentleman come to see 
 you, dear." 
 
 The gentleman was Mr. Duff. He had a melan- 
 choly and bewildered look, and stopped short on his 
 entrance, as if undecided whether to advance or re- 
 treat." 
 
 " I only came up to inquire how you are this morn- 
 ing," said he, speaking in a very hurried manner, "and 
 I am glad to see you looking so surprisingly ; but as 
 you are engaged with friends, I will not intrude now. 
 Some other time," when you are at leisure, I can give 
 you a call." 
 
 6< They are friends," said she, advancing towards 
 him ; " kind and true friends and none kinder and 
 truer than yourself, Mr. Duff. It would be a strange 
 time, indeed, that you could intrude, or that I could 
 not spare a welcome for you and remember, Mr. 
 Duff, it will be your own fault, if any thing will hap- 
 pen hereafter, that would divide our friendship of so 
 many years standing." 
 
IRISHWOMEN. 291 
 
 " We had all better keep our friends while we can/' 
 said Costigan, mournfully ; " for death will take them 
 from us whether we will or no. I didn't want to tell 
 it to you, dear, till you had left the place, but the 
 cries of the mother won't let it be kept secret poor 
 Wat Delahunt is just departed." 
 
 " Had he his senses in his last hour ?" asked Mrs. 
 Costigan, with an anxious look at Mr. Duff. 
 
 " No/' answered her husband, " not since yourself 
 made the bed for him at two o'clock this morning 
 but what am I about, forgetting my errand here ? 
 You must go down," said he, turning to Ileen, who 
 had hitherto stood in a corner near the window, gaz- 
 ing stupidly at the crowd below : (c Mr. Fitzcarrol 
 wants to take your examinations." 
 
 " What business have they with me ?" said she, 
 " or what can I tell to give them satisfaction ? Will 
 they want me to swear about a dream that just flitted 
 through my memory, and that I disremember how it 
 was ? Will they want me to falsify my belief, and 
 say them was in it that couldn't be in it, for even if I 
 seen him there, I must think it was another in his 
 shape ? And how could I face all the people there, 
 that has nothing to do but stare at me, and make me 
 a common talk ?" 
 
 " I know you have nothing to tell, Ileen, but the 
 gentleman must be satisfied. Now is your time, girl. 
 You can cross the place in a minute, without being 
 noticed; for don't you see all the people thronging to 
 the gate ?" 
 
 " Let me see what is the matter," said she, pressing 
 to the window, and following with her eyes the direc^ 
 
292 IRISHMEN AND 
 
 tion of his arm., she heaved a long-drawn sigh, and 
 covered her face with her hands, as Connel St. Leger 
 and three other men were led hand-cuffed into the 
 yard. 
 
 THE END. 
 
Y '.-*. ^534