Datasets:

NicholasSynovic

/

Modified-VEAA

like 0

this practice for it is both sinful d god bless your an many thanks to ur gracious reverence for us well we tow that it s the blessed thing to folly your words bring over that naked starved looking man who stirring the fire under that pot said his be looks hke famine itself the poor scholar will you come over here to his honour he s goin to give you something said adding of his own accord the last of the message the tattered creature approached him with a gleam of expectation in his eyes that appeared like insanity god bless your honour for your goodness i exclaimed it s me that s in it sir sir sure enough but indeed i m the next thing to my own ghost sir now god help me what and for whom are you cooking the smallest in life sir o to keep the in that lonely sir the poor scholar pray how long is it since you have eaten anything yourself the tears burst from the eyes of the miserable creature as he replied before god in glory your honour an in the presence of his here i only got about what ud make nor half a male the last day sir twas a grain o male that i got from a friend an as ned here me that this had to make the for him why i shared it him he couldn t even beg it sir if he wanted it an him not able to walk the worthy s eyes with a moisture that did him honour without a word of observation he slipped a crown into the hand of who looked at it as if he had been oh thin said he fervently may every hair on your honour s head become a mould candle to light you into glory the world s goodness is in your heart sir and may all the s of heaven rain down upon you an yours the two gentlemen then gave assistance to the poor scholar whom the bishop addressed in kind and encouraging language come to me my good boy he added and if on further inquiry i find that your conduct has been the scholar as i believe it to have been you may rest id provided also you continue of my opinion that i shall be a friend and a protector u call on me when you get well and i will to you at greater length r ell observed when they were gone own hard puzzle the bishop had me in the milk it the grain tell him the lie so i had to a bit o to keep my conscience clear for sure there was man among us that could tell him we we t to say doesn t all the world that a man t to himself that any way but a scruple i d have in m the other not but that he s one o the best sort quit at that crown bt the an give the boy his he s n it agitation of spirits produced by s cheer i with the bishop was for two or three j afterwards somewhat to his in less than a week however he was settled with mr o s family whose proved to him quite as warm as he had ted en he had remained with them a few days he ed to his studies under his tyrant r he certainly knew his future attendance school would be to him but he had s looked forward to the accomplishment of his as a task of difficulty and distress the severity expected from the master could not he thought than that which he had already suffered decided if possible to complete his tion under him school when appeared in it had been ore than an hour assembled but the of not only proved the and distress m the parish but sharpened s aspect into an e the poor scholar countenance singularly and gloomy when the lad entered a murmur of pleasure and welcome ran through the scholars and joy beamed forth from every countenance but that of teacher when the latter noticed this his rose above restraint and he exclaimed u and apply to business or i shall some of you to immediately no school ever can prosper in which that called a poor scholar is permitted i thought i told you to and your wild project some other wing than mine i only you replied our poor hero to suffer me to join the class i left while i was for about another year i ll be very quiet and humble and as far as i can will do everything you wish me ah you are a crawling replied the savage and in my opinion nothing but a and i think you have imposed yourself upon mr o for what you are not that is the son of an honest man i have no doubt but many of your nearest relations died after having seen own your mother you wasn t your father s wife i be the spirit of the boy could bear this no longer his eyes flashed and his stood out in the energy of deep indignation k it is false he exclaimed it is as false as your own cruel and cowardly heart you wicked and tyrant in everything you have said or my father mother and friends and of myself too you are a liar from the hat on your head to the dirt your a liar a coward and a villain the fury of the was he ran at the still feeble lad and by a stroke of his fist dashed him senseless to the earth there were now no large boys in the school to his resentment he therefore kicked him in the back when he fell many voices

exclaimed in alarm oh the poor scholar don t kill him oh sir dear don t kill him on t kill poor sir an him still sick kill him replied the master kill him faith he d be no common man who could ill him he has as many lives in him as a cat he can live behind a ditch the on his dying and he would live if he was stuck n tie spire of a in the mean time the boy gave no symptoms of life and the master after desiring a few of he scholars to bring him out to the air became pale s death apprehension he immediately withdrew his private apartment which joined the and sent out his to assist in restoring him animation with some difficulty this was the unhappy boy at once remembered what ad just occurred and the bitter tears from is eyes as he knelt down and exclaimed merciful of heaven and earth have pity on me you ee my heart great god and that what i did i did or the best said the woman he s passionate n never mind him come in an beg his for him a liar an i ll become for you come an til get lave for you to in the school still oh i m said the poor youth i m inwardly somewhere about the back and bout my ribs the pain he felt brought the tears his pale cheeks i wish i was at home said ie i ll give up all and go home the lonely boy hen laid his head upon his hands as he sat on the and indulged in a long burst of sorrow well said a manly looking little fellow whilst he tears stood in his eyes i ll tell my father this ny how i know he won t let me come to this school ny more here is a piece of my bread may e it will do you good i couldn t taste it frank dear said god bless you j but i couldn t taste iv the do said frank maybe it will back the pain don t ask me frank dear said a i couldn t ate it i m inwardly bad luck to me the indignant boy if ever my ten toes will this school door by the farmer if they ax me at home to do it i run away to my uncle s so i will wait i be big an be the blessed farmer i give the same a of sore bones the holy an blessed minute i m able to do it many of the other boys declared that they would their friends with the master s cruelty to the poor scholar but requested them not to do so and said that he was determined to n home the moment he should be able to travel the woman could not prevail upon him to seek a reconciliation with her husband although the expressions of the other scholars induced her to press him to it even to entreaty arose and with considerable difficulty reached the s house found him at home and with tears in his eyes related to him the conduct of the master v very well said this excellent man i am glad that i can venture to ride as far as s tomorrow you must accompany me f or such cannot be permitted to go knew that the was his friend and although he would not himself have thought of the master to answer for his yet he in the s opinion he stopped that night in the house of the worthy man to whom mr o had recommended him on his first entering the town it appeared in the morning however that he was unable to walk the blows which he had received were then felt by him to be more dangerous than had been supposed mr o on being informed of this procured a car on which they both sat and at an easy pace reached the colonel s residence the poor scholar the was shown into an room and sat in the hall the colonel joined the former in a few minutes he had been in england and on the continent accompanied by his family for nearly the last three years but had just returned in order to take possession of a large property in land and money to he succeeded at a very critical moment for his own estates were heavily he was now proprietor of an additional estate the rent roll of which was six thousand per and also master of eighty five thousand pounds in the funds mr after him upon his fortune introduced the case of our hero as one i which in his opinion called for the colonel s inter position as a magistrate i have applied to you sir he proceeded rather than to any other of the neighbouring gentlemen because i think this lad has a peculiar claim upon any good offices you could render him a claim upon me how is that mr o the boy sir is not a native of this province his father was formerly a tenant of yours a man as have reason to believe remarkable for good conduct ind industry it appears that his circumstances so long as he was your tenant were those of a comfortable independent farmer if the story which his son relates be true and i for one believe it his family have been dealt with in a manner unusually cruel and your present agent colonel who is known in his own neighbourhood by the of yellow sam thrust him out of his farm when his wife was sick for the purpose of putting into it a man who had married his daughter if this be found a correct account of the transaction i have no hesitation in saying that

you colonel b as a gentleman of honour and humanity will investigate the conduct of your agent and see justice done to an honest man who must have been oppressed in your name and under colour of your authority ii my agent has dared to be unjust to fc fc the poor scholar tenant said the colonel in order to provide for his by my sacred honour he shall cease to be an agent of mine i admit certainly that from some circumstances which a few years ago i have reason to suspect his integrity that to be sure was only so far as he and i were concerned but on the other hand during one or two visits i made to the estate which he i heard the tenants thank and praise him with much gratitude and all that sort of thing there was thank your honour long may you reign over us sir and oh colonel youve a mighty good man to your agent and so forth i do not think mr o that he has acted so harshly or that he would dare to do it upon my honour i heard those warm expressions of gratitude from the lips of the tenants themselves if you knew the people in general colonel so well as i do replied the you would admit that such expressions are often either or the result of fear you will always find sir that the independent portion of the people have least of this forced among them a and agent has in his own hands the power of and the under him the class most hateful to the people are those low wretches who spring up from nothing into wealth accumulated by and they are proud and jealous even to of the least want of respect it is to such that the poorer classes are most civil but it is also such persons whom they most hate and they them to their faces tis true even to but they seldom spare them in their absence of this very class i believe is your agent yellow sam so that any favourable expressions you may heard from your towards him were most probably the result of and fear besides sir here is a from m s parish priest in which his the poor scholar is spoken of as an honest moral and man if what you say mr o be correct observed he colonel you know the irish much than do decidedly i have always thought hem in conversation exceedingly candid and sincere respect to from priests to n behalf of their tenants upon my honour i am sick f them i actually received about four years ago an excellent character of two tenants as induced ne to suppose them worthy of encouragement but was the fact why sir they were two of the greatest on my estate and put both me and ny agent to great trouble and expense no sir i wouldn t give a curse for a priest s upon an occasion these fellows were subsequently convicted of on the evidence and well sir i grant that you may have been n that instance however from what i ve observed he two great faults of irish are these in he first place they suffer themselves to remain ignorant of their so much so indeed that they deny them access and when the x or people are anxious to them with their for it is usual with to refer hem to those very agents against whose cruelty and they are appealing this is a a the agent to upon them if he pleases in ihe next place irish too frequently employ ignorant and men to manage their estates men who have no character no property or standing in society beyond the reputation of being keen shrewd and active these persons sir make fortunes and what means can they have of wealth except by either the landlord or his tenants or both a history of their conduct would be a black catalogue of oppression and treachery respectable men resident on or near the state possessing both character and the poor scholar always be selected for this important above all things the curse of a agent he and drives and o without consideration either of market or pr order that his may be ample and income large why o you appear to be better ac with all this sort of thing than i who am i proprietor by the by sir without meaning you respect it is the of ireland who about the great mass of its inhabitants and also add about its history its literature the of the people their customs and their pr the know this and too often their ignorance there is a landlord s sadly wanted in ireland colonel ah very good o very good we certainly inquire into this case and if i fi yellow sam has been playing tne goes i am now able to manage him which not readily do before for by the by he on my property i would take it colonel as a personal ii you would investigate the transaction i ha undoubtedly i shall and that very about this outrage committed against the boy we had better take his and fellow certainly i think that is the best way conduct to the poor youth has been detestable we must put him out of this country call the lad in in this case i shall myself although that assisted by the entered th and the humane colonel desired him as he a ill to sit down the poor scholar at is your name t asked the colonel les m he replied i m the son sir in who was once a tenant of yours and pray how did he cease to be a tenant of y sir your agent sam put him out of n when my poor mother was on her

life either as tenants who cultivate our lands or as members of moral or christian society well well i believe what you say is too the poor scholar the records of virtue in humble life who would record it when nothing goes down days but what is either monstrous or true colonel yet in my humble opinion a us irish peasant is far from being so low a ter as a man of rank ell well well come o we will drop th t in the meantime touching this boy as i tie must be looked to for he that in him ought not to be neglected we shall now see bis d d be punished for his cruelty worthy colonel in a short time dismissed poor y with an heart but not until he had i a sufficient sum in the s hands for ng him to make a respectable appearance al advice was also procured for him by which overcame the effects of his master s ity their way home related to his friend the which he had had with his bishop in the and the kind interest which that gentleman had in his situation and prospects mr o im that the bishop was an excellent man much and benevolence and he is the clergyman who him they have both gone among the people g this heavy of disease and famine advice and assistance them those which they sometimes commit driven by hunger they attack provision carts a shops or the houses of farmers who are known a stock of meal or potatoes god knows n kind of robbery yet it is right to in them is a pleasant thing sir to see of religion working together to make the people j j is certainly so replied the and i am i to say in justice to the ax the poor scholar there is no class of men in ireland james who do so much good without distinction of creed or party they are generally kind and charitable to the poor so are their wives and daughters i have often known them to cheer the sick bed to assist the widow and the orphan to advise and the and in some instances even to them but now about your own prospects i think you should go and see your family as soon as your health you i would give my right hand replied just to see them if it was only for five minutes but i cannot go i vowed that i would never enter my native parish until i should become a catholic clergyman i vowed that sir to god and with assistance i will keep my vow well said the you are right and now let me give you a little advice in the first place learn to speak as correctly as you can lay aside the of conversation peculiar to the common people and speak precisely as you would write by the you yourself to admiration with the colonel a little stumbling there was in the beginning but you got over it you see james the force of truth and simplicity i could scarcely restrain my tears while you spoke if i had not in earnest sir i could never have spoken as i did you never could truth james is the foundation of all eloquence he who speaks what is not true may and but he will never touch with that power and pathos which spring from truth fiction is successful only by her now james for a little more advice don t let the idea of having been a poor scholar deprive you of self respect neither let your unexpected turn of fortune cause you to forget what you have suffered hold a middle course be firm and independent without on the one hand or vanity on the other you have also too much good sense the poor scholar and i hope too much religion to what this day has brought forth in your behalf to any other cause than god it has pleased him to raise you from misery to ease and comfort to him therefore be it referred and to him be your thanks and prayers directed you owe him much for you now can perceive the value of what he has done for you may his name be blessed was deeply affected by the kindness of his friend for such in friendship s truest sense was he to him he expressed the obligations which he owed him and promised to follow the excellent advice he had just received the s conduct to the scholar had before the close of the day on which it occurred been known through the parish o who had but just recovered from the felt so bitterly exasperated at the outrage that he brought his father to the parish priest to whom he gave a detailed account of all that our hero and the poorer children of the school had suffered in addition to this he went among the more substantial farmers of the neighbourhood whose co operation he succeeded in obtaining for the purpose of driving the tyrant out of the parish who still lived at the house of entertainment on hearing what they intended to do begged mr o to allow him provided the master should be removed from the school to decline him he has been cruel to me no doubt he added still i cannot forget that his cruelty has been the means of changing my condition in life so much for the better if he is put out of the parish it will be punishment enough and to say the truth sir i can now forgive everybody maybe had i been still neglected i might punish him but in the meantime to show him and the world that i didn t deserve his severity i forgive him mr o was not disposed to e a

v c the took that did the boy s heart so much honour he v on the colonel the next m acquainted s wishes ami thy was immediately after the s removal from i situation our hero s personal appearance was by this t changed for the better his countenance naturally expressive of feeling firmness and now appeared to additional advantage so di whole person when dressed in a decent suit of h no man acquainted with life can be ignorant of tl improvement which genteel apparel produces in tl j carriage tone of thought and principles of an in a it gives a man confidence self respect a a sense of equality with liis companions it i him with energy independence delicacy of courtesy of manner and elevation of face becomes manly bold and free the and the eye clear there is no through h lanes and back streets but on the contrary th smoothly dressed man steps out with a determination not to spare the earth or to walk as if he trod mi or no he onward is tho first w liis friends gives a careless bow to this a nod to that and a how d ye do to a third who is worse dressed than himself trust mt kind reader that good clothes are calculated to advance a man in life nearly as much as good principles especially in a world like this when external ance is taken as tho of what is beneath it by the advice of hi s friend now wait upon the bishop who was much surprised at the u common turn of fortune which had taken place in favour he also expressed his to i forward as far us l iy in his power towards tl of his wishes in order to place the i directly under suitable patronage mr o s that the choice of the school should be left v the poor scholar metropolis was accordingly fixed upon to which now furnished with a handsome was accordingly sent there we will leave him reading with eagerness and whilst we return to look after colonel b and his agent one morning after james s departure the colonel s servant waited upon mr o with a note from his master a wish to see him he lost no time in waiting upon that gentleman who was then preparing to visit the estate which he had so long neglected i am going said he to see how my agent yellow sam as they call him and my tenants agree it is my determination mr o to investigate the circumstances attending the removal of our father i shall moreover look closely into the state and feelings of my tenants in general it is i shall visit many of them and certain that will inquire into the character of this man it is better late than never colonel but still though i am a friend to the people yet i would recommend you to be guided by great caution and the evidence of respectable and disinterested men only you must not certainly entertain all the complaints you may hear without clear proof for i regret to say that too many of the idle and political portion of the are apt to throw the blame of their own folly ana ignorance yes and of their crimes also upon those who in no way have occasioned either their poverty or their wickedness they are frequently apt to consider oppressed if are not made to which they as idle and indolent men who neglect their own have no fair claim bear this in mind be cool use take your proofs from others besides the parties concerned or their friends and depend upon it you will arrive at the truth o you would make an excellent agent i have studied the people sir and know them i have breathed the atmosphere oi w tes the poor scholar habits manners customs and i have felt them all myself as they feel them but i trust i have got above their influence where it is evil for there are many fine touches of character among them which i should not willingly part with no sir i should make a bad agent having no capacity for business i could direct and overlook but nothing more well then i shall set out to morrow and in the meantime permit me to say that i am deeply sensible of your kindness in pointing out my duty as an irish landlord conscious that i have too long neglected it what stay do you intend to make colonel v i think about a month i shall visit some of my old friends there from whom i expect a history of the state and feelings of the country you will hear both sides of the question before you act v certainly i have written to my agent to say that i shall look very closely into my own affairs on this occasion i thought it fair to give him notice well sir i wish you all success farewell mr o i shall see you immediately after my return the colonel performed his journey by slow stages until he reached the hall of his fathers for it was such although he had not for years resided in it it presented the wreck of a fine old mansion situated within a of stately whose and ragged trunks gave symptoms of decay and neglect the lawn had been once beautiful and the a noble one but that which the industry of the tenant the curse of also left the marks of ruin stamped upon every object around him the lawn was little better than a common the pond was thick with weeds and water plants that almost covered its surface and a light elegant bridge that a river which ran before the house was also moss grown and the poor scholar dated the

hedges were mixed up with the gates broken or altogether removed the field was rank with the of weeds and the grass grown avenues spoke of solitude and desertion the still appearance too of the house itself and the absence of smoke from its time tinged chimneys all told a tale which one perhaps the greatest portion of ireland s misery even then he did not approach it with the intention of there during his in the country it was not nor had it been so for years the road by which he travelled lay near it and he could not pass without looking upon the place where a long line of gallant ancestors succeeded each other lived their span and disappeared in their turn he contemplated it for some time in a kind of reverie there it stood sombre and silent its gray walls its windows dark and broken like a man forsaken by the world compelled to bear the storms of life without the hand of a friend to support him though age and decay render him less capable of enduring them for a moment fancy re it again the stir of life mirth and echoed within its walls the train of his departed relatives returned the din of rude and boisterous enjoyment peculiar to the times the cheerful tumult of the hall at dinner the family and the and the passions of those who now sleep in dust all all came before him once more and played their part in the vision of the moment as he walked on the flitting wing of a bat struck him lightly in its flight he awoke from the which crowded on him and his journey soon arrived at the inn of the nearest town where he stopped that night the next morning he saw his agent for a short time but declined entering upon business for a few days more he visited most of the neighbouring gentry from whom he received sufficient information to satisfy him tn t ta a the scholar himself nor his agent was popular among his many flying reports of the agent s and tyranny were mentioned to him and in every instance he took down the names of tne parties in order to ascertain the truth m s case had occurred than ten years before but he found that the remembrance of the poor man s injury was strongly and bitterly retained in the recollections of the ft circumstance which from the blunt but somewhat sentimental soldier a just observation i think said he that there are no people in the world who remember either an injury or a kindness so long as the irish when the tenants were of his presence among them they experienced no particular feeling upon the subject during all his former visits to his estate he appeared merely the creature and of his agent who never acted the bully nor himself out in his brief authority more than he did before him the knowledge of this them and rendered any expectations of or justice from the landlord a matter not to be thought of if he wasn t so great a man they observed who thinks it below him to speak to his tenants or hear their complaints there ud be some but that of hell sam can wind him round his finger like a thread an does too there s no use in to petition him or to lodge a complaint against stony heart for the first thing he d do ud be to put it into the boy s hands an thin god be ul to that ud complain no no the best way is to wait till sam s takes an who knows but that ud be sooner nor we think they say another would reply that the colonel is a good for all that an that if he could once know the truth he d pitch the boy to the ould boy no sooner was it known by his that the head landlord was disposed to their the the poor scholar and hear their complaints than the smothered attachment which long neglect had nearly extinguished now burst forth with uncommon power by this an by that the blood s in him still the to for ever we knew lie only wanted to come at the an thin he d back us the villain that us to the that hasn t the ould blood in what are they but an every one o an odd one for a the colonel s estate now presented a scene of gladness and bustle every person who felt in the slightest degree got his petition drawn up and but that we fear our sketch is already too long we could gratify the reader s curiosity by a few of them it is sufficient to say that they came to him in every shape in all the variety of that the poor english language admits of in the s best copy hand and of in the but more terms of the parish clerk in the hand and legal phrase of the attorney in the military form evidently of the shrewd old ana in the classical style of the young priest for each and all of the foregoing were in the cause of those who had to send in to the colonel himself god bless him early in the morning of the day on which the colonel had resolved to compare the complaints of his with the character which his agent gave him of the he sent for the former and the following dialogue took place between them good morning mr excuse me for your presence to day earlier than usual i taken it into my head to know something of my own and as they have me with and letters and complaints i am anxious to have your

opinion as you know them better than i do before we enter on business ax o s the poor scholar inquire if you feel relieved of that attack yon complained of the day before yesterday of a habit myself and know something about the management of a good is an excellent thing as for me i drank too much with my friend b y and there s the secret i don t like cold they never agree with me nor do i they are not constitutional your father was celebrated for his colonel i remember an anecdote told me by captain by the by do you know where could be found now sir r not i what do you drink v a couple of glasses of sir at dinner and about ten o clock a glass of brandy and water you are sober and prudent well about these cursed you must help me to dispose of them a man would think the tenor of them that these tenants of mine are ground to dust by a tyrant ah colonel you know little about these fellows they would make black white go and take a ride sir return about four o clock and i will have everything as it ought to be wish to heaven i had your talents for business do you think my tenants attached to me f attached sir they are ready to cut your throat or mine on the first convenient opportunity you could not conceive their and except you happened to be an agent for a few years so i have been told and i am resolved to remove every tenant from my estate is there not a man for instance called he has sent me a long petition here what do you think of him r show me the petition colonel i cannot lay my hand on it just now but you shall see it in the meantime what s your opinion of the fellow the scholar why i know the man particularly well he is one of my what the deuce could the fellow petition about though i promised the other day to renew his lease for him oh then if he be a favourite of yours his petition may go to the devil i suppose is the man honest remarkably so ana has paid his rents very he is one of our safest tenants do you know a man called v the most scoundrel on the estate indeed oh then we must look into the merits of his petition as he is not honest had he been honest like i should have dismissed it sir is a dangerous fellow do you know that rascal has charged me with keeping back his and with making him pay double rent ha ha ha upon my honour it s fact the scoundrel we shall him to some purpose however if you take my advice sir you will send him about his business for if it be once known that you listen to malicious my authority over such as is lost well i set him aside for the present here s a long list of others all of whom have been oppressed is there a man called m on my estate m i think m why that rascal sir has not been your tenant for ten years his petition colonel is a key to the nature of their in general i believe you most do i believe that well about that rascal why it is so long since that upon my honour i cannot exactly remember the circumstances of his he ran away who is in his farm now a very decent man sir one an exceedingly worthy honest industrious fellow i take some credit to myself for bringing on your estate is married has he a v m i j the poor i it married let me see why yes i is oh by the by now i think of it he is m and to a very respectable woman too remember she usually him wh pays his rents then your system must be a good one ct t you weed out the idle and to replace i by the honest and industrious precisely so sir that is my system yet there are agents who your some cases who drive out the honest and and encourage the idle and who at them and fill the estates they their own or relatives as the case m you have been always opposed to this and tn to hear it no man colonel b filling the situation i have the honour to hold under you could your interest with greater zeal and knows i have had so many quarrels and with these fellows in order to money out of them to meet your difficulties j upon my honour i think if it required five j oaths to hang me they could be procured upon s j estate an agent colonel who is faithful fc it landlord is seldom popular with the tenants i can t exactly see that and i have k an landlord rendered highly popular i judicious management of an enlightened and h agent who took no and who n from nor ground the under h something like a of yourself but may be right in general is there anything particular colonel in wh can assist you now not now i was anxious to hear the those fellows from you who know them come i about eleven or twelve o clock these i be assembled and you may be able to assist me r colonel remember i you that if the poor scholar into a of difficulties which you will ver be able to leave the fellows to sir i know how to deal with them besides my honour you are not equal to it

in point of you look ill pray allow me to take home papers and i shall have all clear and satisfactory fore two o clock they know my method sir they do they do but i am anxious they ould also know mine besides it will amuse me p i want excitement good day for the present u will be down about twelve or one at the farthest certainly sir good morning colonel the agent was too shrewd a man not to perceive at there were touches of cutting irony in some of colonel s expressions which he did not like was a too in the tone of his voice and blended with a of good humour taken altogether caused him to feel he could have wished the colonel at the yet had the said colonel never been more in his life nor with one or two exceptions to agree with almost every observation made him well thought he lie may act as he pleases ve my nest at all events and disregard n colonel b in fact ascertained with extreme that something was necessary to be done to the good will of his tenants that the conduct his agent had been marked by and incredible he had from the general the performance of duty labour to such an tent that his immense agricultural farms were with little expense to himself if a poor in s corn were drop ripe or his hay in a precarious ite or his turf he must suffer his y and turf to be lost in order to secure the crops the agent if he had spirit to refuse he must to become a martyr to his to v t w his were a the poor scholar thirty forty and fifty guineas he claimed as a fee for his favour according to the ability of the party yet this was quite distinct from the renewal fine and went into his own pocket when such glove money was not to be had he would accept of a cow or horse to which he made a point to take a fancy or he wanted to purchase a of butter at particular time and the poor people usually made every sacrifice to avoid his vengeance it is due to colonel b to say that he acted in the investigation of his agent s conduct with the honour and he every statement thoroughly pleaded for him as as he could found or pretended to find motives for his most proceedings but would not do the cases were so clear and evident against him even in the opinion of the neighbouring gentry who had been for years looking upon the system of selfish which he practised that at length the generous colonel s blood boiled with indignation in his veins at the contemplation of hie he accused himself bitterly for his duties as a landlord and felt both remorse and shame for having wasted his time health and money in the fashionable of london and paris whilst a cunning played the with his tenants and turned his estate into a scene of oppression and poverty nor was this all he had been endeavouring to bring the property more and more into his own a point which he would ultimately have gained had not the colonel s late succession to so large a fortune enabled him to meet his claims at one o clock the tenants were all assembled about the inn door where the colonel had resolved to hold his little court the agent himself soon arrived as did several other gentlemen the colonel s friends who knew the people and could speak to their character the first man called was m no the poor scholar ill sooner was his name uttered than a mild poor looking man rather advanced in years came forward i beg your pardon colonel said here is some mistake this man is not one of your tenants you may remember i told you so this morning i remember it replied the colonel this is the rascal you spoke is he not m the colonel proceeded you will reply to my questions with strict truth you will state nothing but what has occurred between you and my agent you must not even turn a circumstance in your own favour nor against mr by either adding to or taking from it more or less than the truth i say this to you and to all present for upon my honour i shall dismiss the first case in which i discover a f the help o the almighty sir i ll state nothing but the bare u how long are you off my estate v ten years your honour or a little more how came you to run away out of your farm v run away your honour god he knows i didn t run away sir the whole knows that yes run away mr stated to me this morning that you ran away he is a gentleman of integrity and would not state a falsehood i beg your pardon colonel not positively i told you i did not exactly remember the circumstances i said i thought so but i may be wrong for indeed my memory of facts is not good m however is a very honest man and i have no doubt will state everything as it happened fairly and without malice an honest rascal i suppose you mean mr said the colonel bitterly proceed m m stated the circumstances precisely as the reader is already acquainted with them after which the colonel turned round to his agent and inquired what he had to say in reply you cannot expect colonel b t that with such a oi ow the hands i could remember after a lapse of ten the precise state of this particular case perhaps i may have some papers a or so at home that may throw light upon it at present i

can only say that the man failed in his rents i him and put a better tenant in his place i cannot see a crime in that your honour replied m i can prove by them that s to the fore this minute ai well as by this written sir that i offered him the full at the same time as god is my judge part of it afore that is certainly false an and malicious statement said i now remember that the cause of my yes of my just resentment against you was your that i received your rent and withheld your receipt then observed the colonel there has been more than one charge of that nature brought against you you mentioned mother to me this morning if i mistake not i have made my oath your honour of the of it an here is a man sir a that lent me the money an was present when i offered it to him mr smith come sir an up for the poor man as you re always to lo i object to his evidence said he is my open enemy i am your enemy mr or rather the enemy of your corruption and want of honesty said smith but as you say an open one i scorn to say behind your back what i wouldn t say to your face right well you know that i was present when he you his rent i lent him part of it but why did you and your turn him out when his wife was on her sick bed allowing that he could not pay his rent was that any reason you should do so barbarous an act as to drag a woman from her sick bed and the scholar j the point of death but we know your rear or it said the colonel pray what do m and smith here bear in the te have known them both for years to be honest men said those whom he addressed is their character and in our opinion they well ve it od bless you said m god your honours for your kind words sure ly own part i hope always your opinion although but a poor man now god ne f ray who the farm at present mr man i mentioned to you this morning sir is id pray mr who is his wife v h by the by colonel that s a little too close the gentlemen smile but they know i must beg answering that question not that it we have all sown our wild in myself as well as another ha ha ha le fact under other circumstances observed could never draw an inquiry from me it is connected with or probably has occasioned as and an unjust act of oppression is an honest man i therefore alluded to it as ting the motives from which you acted she is daughter sir i ie s one o the baker s dozen o them your ir observed a humorous little i sarcastic face and sharp northern accent for for my part a he one on every all count your honour on my fingers a half dozen all on your estate sir as fast as they can this a good tenant mr v the poor scholar i gave you his character this morning colonel b colonel said the a penny rent the man pays at at swear a it from s own lips he made him a sir he rent free ask the man sir for his an a ll warrant the truth will come out i have secured s attendance said the colonel let him be called in the man in a few minutes entered said the colonel how long is it since you paid mr here any rent n looked at for his cue but the colonel rose up indignantly fellow he proceeded if you with me a single you shall find mr badly able to protect you if you speak falsehood be it at your peril i by j ing sir said all say my father in an a don t care who it well or a was a gun with a j or two an d me a say all stick to my father for he stuck to me you appear to be a hardened drunken wretch observed the colonel will you be civil enough to show your last receipt for rent v a show it a whether a or not nor a whether a it or not but ef the in europe burnt d my blood but all stick to my father in your father in law may be proud of you said the colonel by h a ll back you en that said the fellow nodding his head and looking round him confidently by h a say that too and i am sorry to be compelled to add continued the colonel that you may be equally proud of your father in law a say right d me bit a ll back that too and he nodded confidently and looked around a ham et ol the poor scholar ie room once more a d my blood bit o man can say it a m married to his an by the sun that shines a ll still p for my father in mr said the colonel can you facts can you show that you did not i from his farm and put the husband of your daughter into it that you did not his rent decline giving him a receipt and afterwards compel him to pay twice because ne could not the receipt which you withheld gentlemen said not directly replying to he colonel there is conspiracy got up against ne and i can perceive moreover that there is some unaccountable intention on the part of colonel b to insult my feelings and injure my when paltry circumstances

that occurred ten years ago are up in my teeth i have to say but that it proves how very badly off the must have been for an against my conduct and discretion as his agent since he finds compelled to hunt so far back for a charge that is by no means the heaviest charge i have to ring against you replied the colonel there is no of them nor shall you be able to complain that hey are not recent as well as of longer standing your in the case of poor honest m here is lack and he must be restored to his farm but by other hands than yours and that instantly from it from this moment sir cease to be my agent you have betrayed the confidence i in you you have me as to the character of my tenants you have been a cunning selfish and tyrant my people you have ground to dust my property you have lessened in value nearly one half and for your motives in doing this i refer you to certain transactions and legal documents which passed between us there is nothing cruel or which you did not practise in order to l t i thb i whole tenor of your conduct is is not only discovered but already proved and you played those i because have been mostly an do think however that you shall enjoy the fruits of your i will place the circumstances and ti proofs of the respective charges against you in tin hands of my and by the sacred heaven me you shall the fruits of your my good people i shall remain among you for fortnight during which lime intend to go throng my estate and set everything to rights is can until i may a humane and feeling i r as my such a one as will have at least i li to lose also take this opportunity of ir forming you that in future i shall visit you oft will your should you have any ti complain ot and will give such assistance to i honest aud industrious among you but to them w as i trust may us better pleased with other than we have been do not you go m until i speak to you c during these observations sat with a i or rather a his lips it was the en a purse proud villain confident that his wealth i matter how ill gotten was still wealth and worth its l value colonel he i have heard all yon said hi you see me so strong in honesty that i am n moved in the course of a few weeks i shall purchased an estate of my own which i will i for my fortune is made sir f intend to give up my other i am rather old must retire to enjoy a little of i wish you all good morning the colonel turned away in but any reply a say sam said the bring your son in you an a say that too exclaimed the drunken the poor scholar an a say that d my blood bit a ll stick to my father in that s the point and again he nodded his head and looked round him with a drunken a ll stick to my father in a ll do that a it is scarcely necessary to inform the reader that the colonel s address to soon got among the assembled and a vehement of groans and followed the discarded agent up the street ha bad luck to you for an ould villain you were made to hear on the deaf side o your head at last you may take the black wool out o your ears now you the cries an curses o the an that you made and oppressed has up you at the long run ha j you maybe you ll make us neglect our own work to do yours long life to noble colonel b the poor man s friend long life to him for ever an a day longer my ta e warm interest which the colonel took in m s behalf was looked upon by the other tenants as a of his sincerity in all he promised their enthusiasm knew no bounds they got out his carriage from the inn yard and drew it through the town though the colonel himself beyond the fact of their remained quite ignorant of what was going forward after s departure the colonel s friends having been first asked to dine with him at the inn also took their leave and none remained but m who waited with pleasing anxiety to hear what tne colonel proposed to for he felt certain that it would be agreeable m said the colonel i am truly sorry for what you have suffered through the of my agent but i will give you and allow you for this dialect is the poor scholar what you have lost by the transaction it is i have been lately told by a person who cause nobly and that can never you for what you have suffered however can we will do you are poor i understand v god he sees that sir and afflicted too honour afflicted how is that t i had a son a blessed boy a bo once our comfort an once we thought he d be pride an our staff but the poor man s tears here flowed fast he took the skirt of his more or great coat and al wiping his eyes and clearing his voice proceeded he was always as i said a blessed boy and looked up to him always sir he saw our your honour an he felt it sir keen enough god help him how an he took it on him t go up to sir hopes of the

i do they go into my at the time an how could i forget them but i in t bear somehow to look back at what we i feel my heart well look at me t i a poor wasted now in to what i was thin v god he sees the change s in you but ire t your t or mine either well you see me now happier before rod i m happier happier a thousand degrees than i as thin come to my arms my s but it s happiness don t be it s i m these it s id happiness an delight i m is q well he s an well the star f our is an well an happy kneel own kneel down bend before the great k d an thank him for his kindness to to our blessed son b fe l the poor scholar along all said he the colonel me my dinner i ate myself an these in my pocket for you but the il a one o me knows what kind o mate it is an jt wine too oh well they may talk but wine he bring me the ould knife till i make divide of it among ye what kind o te can it be for myself doesn t any t bacon an a bit o of an odd hey all ate it with an air of sagacity t was rather amusing none however had ever bed mutton before and consequently the name of meat remained on that occasion a profound to m and his family it is true they ed it to be mutton but not one of them could it to be such from any positive knowledge its peculiar well said it s no what the ne of it is in regard that it s good mate anyway them that has enough of it vith a fervent heart and streaming eyes did this family offer up their grateful prayers to that d whose laws they had not and whose providence they owed so much nor was ir benefactor forgotten the strength and energy the irish language being that in which the usually pray were well adapted to express depth of their gratitude towards a man who had they said himself to look into their as if he was like one of themselves tor upwards of ten years they had not gone to bed e from the of care or the wasting grasp poverty now their hearth was once more peace and contentment their re removed their beat freely and the of happiness again was heard under their there are hundreds of yes m x tea in ireland who have never tasted mutton the poor scholar humble roof even sleep could not repress the vivacity of their they of their brother f or in the irish heart the domestic affections hold the first place they of the farm to which those affections had so long they trod it again as its legitimate its fields were brighter its corn waved with softer murmurs to the breeze its were richer and the song of their harvest home more cheerful than before their delight was tumultuous but intense and when they arose in the morning to a sober certainty of waking bliss they again knelt in worship to god with hearts and again offered up their sincere prayers in behalf of the just man who had asserted their rights against the colonel b was a man who r without having been aware of it possessed an excellent capacity for business the neglect of his property resulted not from want of feeling but merely from want of consideration there had moreover been no precedent for him to follow he had seen no of rank ever bestow a moment s attention on his they had been for the most part like himself and felt satisfied if they succeeded in receiving their half yearly in due course without ever reflecting for a moment upon the situation of those from whom it was drawn nay what was more he had not seen even the resident gentry enter into the state and circumstances of those who lived upon their property it was a mere accident that determined him to become acquainted with his tenants but no sooner had he seen his duty and come to the resolution of performing it than the decision of his character became apparent it is true that within the last few years the irish have advanced in knowledge many of them have introduced more improved systems of and instructed their tenants in l the poor scholar ing them but during the time of which we write an irish landlord only saw his tenants when them for their and them in and not reflecting that he was then teaching them to practise the arts of and fraud against himself this was the late system let us hope that it will be by a better one and that a landlord will think it a duty but neither a trouble nor a condescension to look into his own affairs and keep an eye upon the morals and habits of his the colonel as he had said remained more than a fortnight upon his estate and as he often declared since the recollections arising from the good which he performed during that brief period rendered it the portion of his past life upon which he could look with most satisfaction he not leave the country till he saw m and his family restored to their farm and once more independent until he had every well founded complaint secured the affections of who had before detested him and diffused peace and comfort amongst every family upon his estate from watched the interest for his tenants and soon found that in their welfare and them in their

is the poverty of the people they are poor and therefore the more easily wrought up to outrage they are poor and think that any change must be for the better they are not only poor but imaginative and the for those vague speculations by which they are let their condition be improved and the most fertile source of popular tumult and crime is closed let them be taught how to labour let them not be bowed to the earth by rents far above the real value of their lands the which float among them must be not by theory but by practical lessons performed before their eyes for their own advantage let them be taught ih w to between their a the poor scholar prejudices and none can teach them all this so effectually as their if they could be roused from their and induced to undertake the task who ever saw a poor nation without great crimes v very true o quite true i am resolved to inspect personally the condition of those who reside on my other estates but now about our how is he doing v extremely well i have had a letter from him a few days ago in which he to the interest you have taken in himself and his family with a depth of feeling truly affecting you write to him let him know that i have placed his father in his old farm and that is out say i am sure he will conduct himself properly in which case i charge myself with his expenses until he shall have accomplished his purpose after that he may work his own way through life and i have no doubt but he will do it well and colonel b s pledge on this occasion was nobly our humble hero pursued his studies zeal and success in due time he entered where he distinguished himself not simply for as a student but as a young man possessed of a mind far above the common order during all this time nothing occurred worthy of particular remark except that in fulfilment of his former vow he never wrote to any of his friends for the reader should have been told that this was originally comprehended in the determination he had formed he received at the hands of his friend the bishop whom we have already introduced to the reader and on the same day he was appointed by that gentleman to a in his own parish the colonel whose regard for him never cooled presented him fifty pounds together with a horse saddle and bridle so that he found himself in a capacity to enter upon his duties in a decent and becoming manner another circumstance that added considerably to i fc fo the poor scholar was the appointment of mr o to a pa joining that of the bishop james s the means of bringing the merits of that lent man before his spiritual superior who i much attached to him and availed earliest opportunity of his piety and benevolence no sooner was his completed tha long suppressed after his home came upon his spirit with a power that could n restrained he took leave of his friends with a ing heart and set out on a delightful summer m ing to all that had been notwithstanding long absence and severe trials so strongly into his memory and affections our readers n therefore suppose him on his journey home and j themselves to be led in imagination to the ho of his former friend where we must lay t scene for the present s residence has the same comfortable ai warm appearance which always tl habitation of the independent and virtuous mai what however can the stir and bustle and which prevail in it mean v the daughters run out a little mound or natural terrace beside the and look anxiously towards the road then return an almost immediately appear again with the same ii tense anxiety to catch a glimpse of some one who they expect they look keenly but why is it thi their disappointment appears to he attended with sue dismay they go into their father s house once wringing their hands and betraying au the of affliction here is their mother too coming peer into the distance she is rocking with that peculiar to when suffering distress si places her open hand upon her brows that she ms collect her sight to a particular spot she is blind y her tears j breaks out into a low wail and something like the darkness of despair on h she goes into t he the poor scholar the kitchen and enters into a bed room seats herself on a chair beside the bed and her low but bitter wail of sorrow her husband is lying in that state which the know usually the agonies of death for the sake of the god said he on seeing her is there any sign o them not yet a but they will they must soon be here an thin your mind will be oh alley alley if you could know what i suffer for i d die without the priest you d pity me i do pity you but don t be cast down for i have my trust in god that he won t you in your last hour you did what you could my heart s pride you bent before him night an and sure tne poor neighbour never from your door his behind him the dying man raised his hands feebly from the bed clothes ah he exclaimed i thought i did a great alley but now but now it appears to what i ought to a done when i could still my life s not unpleasant when i look back at it for i can t that i ever purposely a mortal all i want to satisfy me is the

no you did not for it wasn t in you to a child alley you ll pardon me an forgive me if if ever i did what was to you an call in the till i see them about me i want to have their forgiveness too i know i ll have it for they good an ever loved me the daughters now entered the room exclaiming beloved father is com in by himself but no priest blessed queen of heaven what will we do oh father are you to die without the holy v my the poor scholar the sick man clasped his hands looked towards heaven and groaned aloud oh it s hard this said he it s hard upon me yet i won t be cast down i ll trust in my good god i ll trust in his blessed name his wife on hearing that her son was returned without the priest sat with her face by her apron weeping in grief that none but they who the dependence which those belonging to her church place in its last rites can comprehend the children appeared almost distracted their grief had more of that character which unexpected calamity than of sorrow for one who is gradually drawn from life at length the messenger entered the room and almost choked with tears stated that both priests were absent that day at conference and would not return till late the hitherto grief of the wife arose to a pitch much than the death of her husband could under ordinary circumstances occasion to die without to pass away into eternity without being from the inherent of humanity was to her a much deeper affliction than her final separation from him she cried in tones of the most piercing despair and clapped her hands as they do who weep over the had he died in the calm confidence of having received the or before death his would have nothing remarkably in it beyond usual of a similar nature now the grief was intensely bitter in consequence of his expected departure without the priest his sons and daughters felt it as forcibly as his wife their were full of the strongest and agony for nearly three hours did they remain in this situation poor sinking by degrees into that state from which there is no possibility of he was merely able to speak and recognise the poor scholar da family but every moment advanced him with ul certainty nearer and nearer to his end a great number of the neighbours were now assembled all in the awful feeling which and anxious to by their prayers for the absence of that confidence derived by roman during the approach of death from the spiritual aid of the priest they were all at prayer the sick room and kitchen were crowded with friends and acquaintances many of whom knelt out before the door and joined with loud voices in the which was offered up in his behalf in this crisis were they when a dressed in black approached the was instantly turned round with a hope that it be the parish priest or his out alas they were doomed to experience a fresh disappointment the stranger though enough in his appearance presented a countenance with which none of them was acquainted on glancing at the group who knelt around the door he appeared to understand the melancholy cause which brought them together how is this v he exclaimed is there any one here sick or dying n poor sir is departing glory be to god an what is terrible all out upon himself and family he s the priest they re both at sir and can t come mr an his make way said the stranger throwing himself off his horse and passing quickly the people show me to the sick man s room be quick my friends i am a catholic clergyman in a moment a passage was cleared and the stranger found himself beside tne bed of death grief in the room was loud and bitter but his presence it despite of what they felt my dear friends said he you know there should be silence in the apartment of a dying man for shame shame i cease this v s i the po e scholar from his mind or the great trial that before him sir said n s wife seizing ma hand hers and looking in his face are priest f heaven s sake ell us i am he replied leave the room every one yon i hope your husband is not speech sweet queen of heaven not yet may her name but near it your wi din little no time of it whilst they spoke he was engaged in putting i stole about his neck after which he cleared the and hearing i s confession the appearance of a priest and the consolation ed rallied the powers of life in the ben farmer he became more collected made and satisfactory confession received the of extreme and felt himself able to with distinctness and precision the i of all this were astonishing a placid serenity of hope and confidence beamed from the pale ai worn features of who was but a few minutes l of terror altogether when his wife and family after having been in observed this change they immediately in his tranquillity death had been deprived its sting ami grief of lis bi sh their still deep but it was not darkened by the dread future misery they felt for him as a beloved a kind husband and a dear friend who had lived virtuous life feared god and waa now about to p into happiness when the rites of the church were and the family again assembled round ti priest sat down in a position which enabled him see the features of the good man

more distinctly i would be glad to know a that god in goodness has sent to smooth b bed in death if it id be sir to you to t the poor scholar do remember replied the priest a young a whom you met some years ago on his way to as a poor scholar you and your family ere particularly kind to him so kind that he has ever since forgotten your affectionate hospitality we do your reverence we do a mild gentle he was poor boy i hope god him you see him now before you said the priest i am that boy and i thank god that i can testify slightly my deep sense of the virtues which on exercised towards me although i regret that the is one of such affliction the farmer raised his eyes and feeble hands towards praise an glory to your name good god e exclaimed praise an glory to your holy name i know that i m not forgotten when you brought the little kindness i did that boy for your sake so many to me in the hour of my an this now that m goin to lave for ever always to the stranger an that s poor an in sorrow f you do god won t forget it to you but will bring t back to when you stand in need of it as he done me this day you see dear how o that kind depend on one another if i t thought of his reverence here when he young and away from his own he wouldn t think jf upon us this day as he was you see the hand of god is in it which it is indeed in everything that passes about us if we could only see it as we ought to do thin but i d like to look upon your face sir if it s to you a little more to the light sir there i now see you ay indeed its changed for the better it the same mild clear countenance but not sorrowful as when i seen it last suffer me to put my hand on your head sir i d like to bless you before i die for i can t forget what you to do for your parents the priest sat near him but finding that he was scarcely able to raise his hand to na n v i i down and tbe farmer before he seated the blessing inquired sir may i ax yon able to do anything to help your family as you expected god said the priest made me the ii of raising them from their poverty they are comfortable and happy ay well i knew at the time an i said it that would your an my may yon never depart from til right way may the of god rest npon yo for ever i m tin wake near me till till i bless you too for the time they good they were ever u always good to me an to their poor mother you an god forgive me ii it s a sin but feel a great o my heart an my love them but sure i m their father an god i mi will look over it now afore i bless as your forgiveness if ever i was to tf i ought the children with a movement his bed and could not reply for never father us don t in tin hearts but forgive us father oh f did you i i ll break way o w father v bless us an don t against an for it s only now that we see warn t towards you as we ought to be forgive an pardon us he then made them all kneel around his bed an with solemn words and an impressive manner place his hand upon their heads and blessed them with virtuous father s last blessing he then called for his and the scene not only more but more elevated n exultation in her manner and an of vi rites l ll ill tl ll u u cl vivid hope in her eye arising from the fact of husband having received and been soothed by rites of her church that gave evident proof of the scholar attachment borne by persons of her class to the catholic religion the arrival of our hero had been so unexpected and the terrors of the tender wife for her husband s soul so great that the administration of the almost from her heart every other sensation than that of triumph even now in the midst of her tears that triumph kindled in her eye with a light that shone in melancholy beauty upon the bed of death in proportion however as the parting scene which was to be their last began to work with greater power upon her sorrow so aid this expression gradually fade away grief for his loss resumed its dominion over her heart so strongly that their last parting was even to look upon when it was over once more addressed the priest now sir he observed but with great difficulty u let me have your an your prayers an along that your reverence if you a request i once made to you i remember it well replied the priest you allude to the masses which you wished me to say for you should i ever receive orders make your mind easy on that point i not only shall offer up mass for the repose of your soul but can assure you that i have mentioned you by name in every mass which i celebrated since my he then proceeded to direct the mind of his dying benefactor to such subjects as were best calculated to comfort and strengthen him about day break the next morning this man of

in a is who am with you beloved mother of my hei she smiled but only for a moment the poor scholar looked at him laid his head upon her his face with her tears and muttered out in a kind of sweet musical the irish cry of joy we are incapable of describing this scene further our readers must be contented to know that the delight and happiness of our hero s whole family were complete son after many years of toil and struggle had at length succeeded by a virtuous course of action in raising them from poverty to comfort and in his own object which was to become a member of the catholic during all his y trials he never failed to rely on god and it is seldom that those who rely upon him when striving to attain a purpose are ever ultimately disappointed regret to inform our readers that the scholar is dead he did not in fact long survive the accomplishment of his wishes but as we had the particulars of his story from his nearest friends we thought his virtues of too exalted a nature to pass into oblivion without some record however humble he died as he had lived the friend of god and of man x j c h the irish what a host of light hearted associations are revived by that living fountain of fun and an irish everything connected with him is agreeable pleasant jolly all his anecdotes songs jokes stories and secrets bring us back from the pressure and cares of life to those happy days and nights when the heart was as light as the heel and both beat time to the sound of his fiddle the is a character looked upon by the irish rather as a musical curiosity than a being specially created to contribute to their enjoyment there is something about him which they do not feel to be in perfect sympathy with their habits and amusements he is above them not of them and although they respect him and treat kindly yet he is never received among them with that spontaneous of warmth ana cordiality with which they welcome their own the the in fact belongs or rather did belong to the gentry and to the gentry they are willing to leave him listen to his music when he feels disposed to play for them but it only their curiosity instead of their hearts a fact sufficiently evident from the circumstance of their seldom attempting to dance to it this preference however of the fiddle to the harp is a feeling by change of times and circumstances for it is well known that in days gone by when t f x t m the irish more hereditary than they are now the harp was favourite instrument of young and old of high low lie only instrument that can be said to rival the le is the but every person knows that ind is a loving country and that at our and other places of amusement and his sweetheart are in the habit of in a certain quiet and affectionate kind of the tones of which are sadly he sharp jar of the it is not in fact instrument for love making the is an ay to sentiment and it is an unpleasant thing a pretty blushing girl to find herself put to the of out her consent at the top of lungs which she must do or have the da lost in its drowsy and monotonous murmur might do for war to which with a slight it has been applied but in our opinion it fit to be danced to by an assembly of people are hard of hearing indeed we have little bt but its cultivation might be introduced with d effect as a system of medical treatment suit to the pupils of a deaf and dumb institution if anything could bring them to the use of their its sharp and notes surely would effect he however is the instrument of all others it essential to the enjoyment of an and love are very closely connected and of the fiddle is never thought of or heard the tenderest and most agreeable tions its music soft sweet and cheerful is the thing for who under its influence of its spirit and becomes soft sweet ana rf ul himself the very tones of it act like a n him and produce in his head such a bland and that he finds himself making just as naturally as he would eat na ix is all the of his heart w m liis veins gives honey to a tongue that was in knows sufficiently sweet without it and gifts h with a pair of feather im l might and to crown ill him pleading his in a quiet corner with a of invention easy which nothing can sur pass in fact with great respect for my friend mr the fiddle it is that to he our nation hi st ru merit as it is that which is mast closely m agreeably associated with the best and happiest in of the irish heart the very language of il people themselves is a proof of this for neither harp nor is ever introduced as ill it peculiarities of by any reference i their influence the fiddle is an agreeable instrument in their hands in senses than one highest notion of flattery towards the other set if boldly expressed by an image drawn from it for he that he can by words impress sue an agreeable delusion up ni his sweetheart as to her imagine that there is a on every a the house there can be no strongly or beautifully expressive of the charm flows from the tones of that sweet however is very often hit by his own at i time when he least expects it when pleading ui cause for

instance and promising lays to b fair one he is not met by ay ay it a sugar enough e d be n year married a j are mi and an up your hind the door by which she means to with the probability of being agreeable when abroad but in his own family having thus shown that the fiddle and its mm e mixed up so with our language ft and amusement it is now time to in ireland it is impossible on h all the classes of society w a the irish so perfectly free from care or in stronger words so completely happy as the especially if lie he blind which he generally is his want of eight his other wants and whilst it his not only renders him unconscious of their loss but gives a greater zest to those that are left him simple and innocent as they are he is in truth a man whose lot in life is happily cast and whose lines have fallen in pleasant places the phase of life which is presented to him and in which he moves is one of innocent mirth and harmless enjoyment marriages dances and merry of all descriptions create the atmosphere of mirth and happiness which he ever breathes with the dark designs the crimes and of mankind he has nothing to do and his light spirit is never depressed by their influence indeed he may be said with truth to pass through none but the of life to hear nothing but mirth to feel nothing but kindness and to communicate nothing but happiness to all around him he is at once the source and the centre of all good and friendly feelings by him the aged man forgets his years and is agreeably cheated back into youth the a pleasant moment from his toil and is happy the ceases to remember the anxieties that press him down the boy is with delight and the child is charmed with a pleasure that he feels to be wonderful surely such a man is important as filling up with enjoyment so many of the pauses in human misery he is a thousand times better than a and is a true philosopher without knowing it every man is his friend unless it be a rival and he is the friend of every man with the same exception every house too every heart and every hand is open to him he never knows what it is to want a bed a dinner or a shilling good heavens what more than this can the of a human heart desire for my part i do not know what m i fc m but i am of opinion that in such a world a this the highest proof of a wise man would be a wish to live and die an irish and yet alas there is no condition of life without t some remote or sorrow many a scene have i witnessed connected with this very subject that would the tears out of any eye and find a tender pulse in the hardest heart it is indeed a melancholy alternative that the poor lad to an employment that is ultimately productive of so much happiness to himself and others this alternative is seldom resorted to unless when some poor child perhaps a favourite is deprived of sight bv the terrible of the small in life there u scarcely anything more touching than to witness in the innocent invalid the first effects both upon himself and his parents of this the utter helplessness of the pitiable and his total dependence upon those around him his with the relative situation of all the places that were familiar to him his tottering and timid step and his affecting call of where are you joined to the bitter consciousness on her part that the light of affection and innocence will never sparkle in those beloved eyes again all this a scene of deep and bitter sorrow when however the sense of his passes away and the cherished child grows up to the proper age a fiddle is procured for him by his parents if they are able and if not a is made up among their friends and neighbours to buy him one all the family with tears in their eyes then kiss and take leave of him and his mother taking him by the hand leads him as had been previously arranged to the best in the neighbourhood with whom he is left as an there is generally no fee required but he is engaged to hand his master all the money he can make at dances from the time he is enough to play at them such is the simple process of putting a blind boy in e y of acquainted with the science oi o j the irish tn my native parish there were four or five all good in their way but the of the district was the far m where properly lived i never could actually discover and for the best reason in the world he was not at home once in twelve months as says in the play he was a kind of here and a stranger nowhere this however mattered little for though perpetually shifting day after day from place to place yet it somehow happened that nobody ever was at a loss where to find him the truth is he never felt disposed to travel because he knew that his interest must suffer by doing so the consequence was that wherever he went a little of local fame always attended him which rendered it an easy matter to find his whereabouts was blind from his infancy and as usual owed to the small the loss of his eye sight he was about the middle size of rather a slender make and possessed an intelligent countenance on which

beamed that singular expression of inward serenity so peculiar to the blind his temper was sweet and even but capable of rising through the of his own humour to a high pitch of and enjoyment the dress he wore as far as i can remember was always the same in colour and fabric to wit a brown coat a sober tinted cotton waistcoat grey stockings and black poor i think i see him before me his head erect as the heads of all blind men are the case under his left arm and his staff held out like a exploring with the nature of the ground before him even although some happy leads him onward with an eye an honour of which he will boast to his companions for many a mortal month to come the first time i ever heard play was also the first i ever heard a fiddle well and distinctly do i remember the occasion the season was summer but summer was summer a was m belonging to frank thomas had been finished and was just ready to receive him and his family the floors of irish houses in the country generally consist at first of wet clay and when this is sufficiently well smoothed and hardened a dance is known to be aa excellent thing to bind and prevent them from on this occasion the evening had been appointed and the day was nearly half advanced but no appearance of the the state of excitement in which i found myself could not be described the name of m had been ringing in my ears for god knows how long but i had never seen him or even heard his fiddle every two minutes i was on the top of a little eminence looking out for him my eyes straining out of their and my head dizzy with the prophetic expectation of rapture and delight human patience however could dear this painful suspense no longer and i privately resolved to find or perish i accordingly proceeded across the hills a distance of about three miles to a place called where i found him waiting for a guide at this time i could not have been more than seven years of age and how i wrought out my way over the lonely hills or through what mysterious instinct i was led to him and that by ft path too over which i had never travelled before must be left until it shall please that power which guides the to its home and the bird for thousands of miles through the air to disclose the principle upon which it is accomplished on our return home i could see the young persons of both sexes flying out to the little eminence i spoke of looking eagerly towards the spot we travelled from and immediately in again clapping their hands and shouting with delight instantly the whole village was out young and old standing for a moment to satisfy themselves that the intelligence was correct after which about a dozen of the sprang forward with the speed of so many to meet us whilst the elders the irish b it not less satisfied manner into the houses then commenced the usual battle as to who should be honoured by permission to carry the fiddle case oh that fiddle case for seven long years it was an honour exclusively allowed to myself whenever attended a dance anywhere at all near us and never was the lord s to which by the way with great respect for his it bore a considerable resemblance carried a heart or a more eye but so it is u these little things are great to little men blood alive you re welcome how is every bone of you we you up no we didn t give you up never heed him sure we knew very well you d not the boys de ah won t you sing there was a devil came over the wall to be sure he will but wait till he comes home and gets his dinner first is it off an empty stomach you d ave him to sing give me the fiddle case won t you no to me never heed them you promised it to me at the dance in boys the truth is none of can get the fiddle case my fiddle hasn t been well for the last day or two and can t bear to be carried by any one myself blood alive sick is it an what her why some o the doctors says there s a f ro in her an others that she has got the but i m goin to give her a dose of when i get up to the house above ould harry says s with fiddle an if that s true boys maybe some o won t be in luck i ll be able to spare a young fiddle or two among many a tiny hand was clapped and many an eye was lit up with the hope of getting a young fiddle for gospel itself was never looked upon to be more true than this assertion of s k i ei m the fact is he used to amuse himself by making small of deal and horse hair which he carried about with him as presents for as he took a fancy to this he made a serious business of and it on with an importance becoming the intimation just given indeed i remember the time when i watched one of them which i was so happy as to receive from him day and night with the hope of being able to report that it was growing larger for my firm belief was that in due time it would reach the usual size as we went along with his usual tact got out of us all the information respecting the

several of the neighbourhood that had reached us and as much too of the village gossip and scandal as we knew nothing can exceed the overflowing kindness and affection with which the irish is received on the occasion of a dance or merry making and to do him justice he loses no opportunity of his own importance from habit and his position among the people his wit and power of are necessarily cultivated and sharpened not one of his ever fails a circumstance which his for nothing on earth it so much as knowing that whether good or bad it will be laughed at by the way was a and though blind was able as he himself used to say to see through his ears better than another could through the eyes he knew every voice at once and every boy and girl in the parish by name the moment he heard them speak on reaching the house he is bound for he either of or at least is offered refreshment after which the moment to the but all this is done by due and solemn preparation first he calls for a pair of with which he pairs or seems to pair his nails then asks for a piece of and in an instant half a dozen boys are off at a break neck pace to the next to procure the irish it whilst in the mean time he deliberately a piece out of his pocket and his bow but heavens what a ceremony the opening of that fiddle case is the of the blind man as he runs his hand down to the key hole the turning of the key the taking out of the fiddle the and then the first sound as the bow is drawn across the strings then comes a then a delicious saw or two again another and away he goes with the favourite tune of the good woman for such is the etiquette upon these occasions the house is immediately thronged with the neighbours and a preliminary dance is taken in which the old folks good humoured violence are literally dragged out and forced to join then come the congratulations ah jack you could do it says an can still you have a kick in you yet why i seen in my time the old man will reply his brow relaxed by a remnant of his former pride and the of the moment but you see the breath isn t what it used to be me when i could dance the on the bottom of a ten but i think a glass o will do us no harm after that well well i m sure i thought my days over an you matched any how rejoined the carried as light a heel as ever you did a woman of her years ever i seen could cut the her you would know the tune on her feet still ah the truth is the good woman would say we have no now as there was in my days that glass but as good eh here s to you both and long may ye live to shake the toe be that s great stuff come now sit down jack till i give you your ould favourite these were happy moments and happy times which m might well be looked upon as the simple manners of country life with very little of moral shadow to obscure the cheerfulness which lit up the irish heart and hearth into humble happiness with his usual good nature never forgot the younger portion of his audience after entertaining the old and full grown he would call for a key one end of which he placed in his mouth in order to make the fiddle sing for the children their favourite song beginning with oh grand mamma will you squeeze my wig this he did in such a manner through the medium of the key that the words seemed to de spoken by the instrument and not by himself after was oyer he would sing us to his own accompaniment another favourite there was a devil looked over the wall which generally closed that portion of the entertainment so kindly designed for its upon those moments i have often witnessed marks of deep and pious feeling occasioned by some memory of the absent or the dead that were as beautiful as they were affecting if for instance a favourite son or daughter happened to be removed by death the father or mother remembering the air which was loved beat by the departed would pause a moment and with a voice full of sorrow say there is one tune that i would like to hear i love to think of it and to hear it i do for the sake of them that s gone my son that s low it was he that loved it is ear is closed against it now but for his sake for your sake we will hear it once more always played such tunes in his best style and amidst a silence that was only broken by sobs suppressed and the other tokens of profound sorrow these however of natural feeling soon passed away in a few minutes the smiles returned the mirth broke out again and the lively dance went on as if their hearts had been of such affection for the dead affection at once the irish bo deep and ten der but many a time the light of cheerfulness plays along the stream of irish feeling when cherished sorrow lies removed from the human eye far down from the surface these preliminary amusements being now over is conducted to the dance house where he is carefully in the best chair and immediately the dancing it is not my purpose to describe an irish dance here having done it more than once

elsewhere it is enough to say that is now in his glory and proud may the young man be who fills the honourable post of his companion and sits next him he is a living store house of intelligence a travelling for the parish the lover s text book the young woman s best companion for where is the courtship going on of which he is not where is there a marriage on the with the particulars of which he is not acquainted he is an authority whom nobody would think of questioning it is now too that he his jokes about ana so correct and well trained is his ear that he can frequently name the young man who dances by the peculiarity of his step ah ha you re there sure i d know the sound of your irons any where is it that you for down to to kill the for but what you have v is that grace on the you can do it devil o your likes i see any where ill lay to a penny that you could dance your own the the brown girl upon a spider s it don t be in a hurry grace dear to tie the knot til wait for you several times in the course of the night a plate is brought round and a collection made for the this was the moment when used to let the jokes fly in every direction the timid he into liberality the vain he praised a g x m he assailed by open hardy satire all managed however with such an under current of good humour that no one could take offence no joke ever tow better than that of the broken string whenever this happened at night would call out to some soft fellow blood alive ned martin will you bring ine a candle i ve broken a string the young man forgetting that he was blind would take the candle in a hurry and fetch it to him ned i knew you list fit for t a candle to a dark man isn t ne a beauty boys look at him girls as as a it is unnecessary to say that the mirth on such occasions was another similar joke was also played off by him against such as he knew to be at the collection smith i want a word you i m goin across the as far as ned s and i want you to help me along the road as the night is dark to be sure i ll bring you over as snug as if you on a plate man alive thank you you ve the in you an kind father lor you maybe i ll do as much for you some other time never spoke of this until the trick was played off after which he published it to the whole parish and of course was made a standing for being so silly as to think that night or day had any difference to a man who could not see thus passed the life of m and thus pass the lives of most of his class serenely and happily as the sailor to his ship the to his gun so is the attached to his fiddle his hopes and pleasures though limited are full his heart is necessarily light for he comes in contact with the best and brightest side of life and nature and the consequence is that their mild and mellow lights are reflected on and from himself i am ignorant whether poor is dead ox j i the irish ie forgets the boy to whose young spirit he so much delight and who often danced vith a and careless heart to the pleasant of his fiddle m farewell whether living or dead peace be with you who is still living remembers the writer of this well and felt very much flattered on hearing the above notice of himself read w c the country dancing master in those old times when the manners and v of were more simple and pastoral thai are at present dancing was cultivated as one chief amusements of life and the dancing d looked upon as a person essentially necessary t proper enjoyment of our national the amusements peculiar to our population da is by far the most important although certainly less so now than it has been even within memory in ireland it may be considered as just indication of the spirit and character of th pie so much so that it would be extremely di to find any test so significant of the irish hear its varied impulses as the dance when in its most comprehensive spirit in the first no people dance so well as the irish and for th reason in the world as we shall show da every one must admit although a most amusement is not a simple nor distinct nor pi one on the contrary it is merely little else t happy and agreeable method of enjoying music its spirit and character must necessarily d upon the power of the heart to feel the which the limbs and body move every nation fore remarkable for a of music remarkable for a love of dancing unless some other adequate obstacle arising from an a condition of society to music and dancing being in a the dancing master one on the other as cause and effect it requires little argument to prove that the irish who are so alive to the one should in a very high degree at the other and accordingly it is so nobody unless one who has seen and also felt it can conceive the incredible nay the inexplicable of the heart which a dance to the of ireland indeed it not so much enthusiasm as inspiration let a stranger take his place among those who are assembled at a dance

in the country and mark the change which takes place in s whole temperament physical and moral he first rises up rather his own sweetheart and assuming such a station on the floor as renders it necessary that both should face the he on the dance then goes quietly at the outset gradually he begins to move more by and bye the right hand is up and a crack of the fingers is heard in a minute afterwards both hands are up and two cracks are heard the and brightness of his eye all the time keeping pace with the growing that is coming over him and which eye by the way is most lovingly fixed upon or we would rather say into that of his modest partner from that partner he never receives an open gaze in return but in of this an occasional glance quick as thought and brilliant as a seems to pour into him a delicious r that is made up of love sometimes a little of kindness pride of his activity and a reckless force of momentary happiness that description now the dance in earnest up he bounds in a fling or a crack go the fingers cut and go the feet heel and toe right and left then he the right heel up to the ham up again the left the whole face in a furnace heat of delight your move your elbow this to the quicker quicker man alive or you ll lose sight of me that s the girl handle your feet l back stand to me for our side of house and thus does he proceed with a vigour and an and a truth of time that are incredible especially when we consider the of enjoyment which he has to direct the conduct of his partner whose face is lit up into a modest blush is evidently tinged with his enthusiasm for who could resist it but it is exhibited with great natural grace joined to a delicate vivacity that is equally gentle ami animated and in our opinion precisely what dancing in a female ought to be a of exercise and innocent enjoyment there is a considerable variety of dances in ireland from the simple of two up to the country dance all of which are there are however others which are serious and may be looked upon as the of the pathetic spirit of our country of the latter i fear several are altogether lost and i question whether there be many persons now alive in ireland who know much about the horn which from the word it begins with must necessarily have been danced only on mournful occasions it is only at wakes and customs in those remote parts of the country where old are most clung to that any of the ana others of our forgotten dances could be obtained at present i believe the only serious one we have is the or as they term it in the country the cut a long i myself have witnessed when very a dance which like the was performed out by one man this however was the only point in which they bore to each other any resemblance the one i allude to must in my opinion have been of or descent it was not necessarily performed to music and could not be danced without the of a stick and handkerchief it was addressed to an individual passion and was unquestionably one of those dances that tc w s a m rites the country dancing master and had the late henry o seen it there is no doubt but he would have seized upon it as a illustration of his system having now said all we have to say here about irish dances it is time we should say something about the irish dancing master and be it observed that we mean him of the old school and not the poor creature of the present day who unless in some remote parts of the country is scarcely worth description and has little of the national character about him like most persons of the professions the old irish dancing master was generally a bachelor having no fixed residence but living from place to place within his own walk beyond which he seldom or never went the farmers were his and his visits to their houses always brought a holiday spirit along with them when he came there was sure to be a dance in the evening after the hours of labour he himself good supplying them with the music in return for this they would get up a little collection for him probably to a couple of shillings or half a crown which some of them under pretence of taking the snuff box out of his pocket to et a pinch would delicately and slip into it lest he might feel the act as bringing down the dancing master to the level of the mere he on the other hand not to be in kindness would at the conclusion of the little desire them to lay down a door on which he usually danced a few favourite to the music of his own fiddle this indeed was the great master feat of his art and was looked upon as such by himself as well as by the people indeed the old dancing master had some very marked outlines of character peculiar to himself his dress for instance was always far above the s and this was the pride of his heart he also made it a point to wear a or hat be the same shocking bad or otherwise but above all things his soul within him was set i cm x ta back no one could gratify him more than before company what o clock it was he also contrived to carry an ornamental staff made of mahogany or some rare description

plots and did this little of society present there was the the the and the as sharply marked within this their humble sphere as if they appeared on the world s wider stage with half its wealth and all its temptations to draw forth their prevailing there too was the bully the the liar the and the coward each as perfect and distinct in his kind as if he had run through a lengthened course of fashionable or spent a fortune in acquiring his particular character the elements of the human heart however and the passions that make up the general business of life are the same in high and low and exist with impulses as strong in the cabin as in the palace the only difference is that they have not equal room to play back s system in originality of design in comic conception of decorum and in the easy practical assurance with which he wrought it out was never equalled much less surpassed had the impudent little rascal confined himself to dancing as usually taught there would have been nothing so ludicrous or uncommon in it but no he was such a for example in every thing that no other mode of instruction would satisfy him dancing why it was the least part of he taught or professed to teach in the first place he undertook to teach every one of us for i had the honour of being his pupil how to enter a drawing room in the most fashionable manner alive as he said himself secondly he was the only man he said who could in the most agreeable and polite style a how to salute or as a i wn to back a this he taught he said great success he could every and how to make the most beautiful bow or on by only himself one that would cause a thousand people they were all present to think that it was particularly intended only for o themselves he taught the whole art o courtship all and success as it was practised in paris the last he could how to write and to the great of compliments which was supposed to be by when he was writing love to both his wives he was the only person who could the famous dance called sir de or the drag which itself all the advantages and beauties of his whole system in which every was at liberty to pull every where he and every was at liberty to go wherever he pulled her with such advantages in prospect and a method of instruction so agreeable it is not to be wondered at that this establishment was always in a most flourishing condition the truth is he had it so contrived that every gentleman should salute his lady as often as possible and for this purpose actually invented dances in which not only should every gentleman salute every lady but every lady by way of returning the compliment should render a similar kindness to every gentleman nor had his male pupils all this of salutation to themselves for the little rascal always commenced first and ended last in order he said that they might the manner from himself i do this and as your moral model and because it s part o my and then he would ce that the country dancing master was too barren to produce more than an smile and like a over the floor in a manner that he thought irresistible whether back was the only man who tried to reduce kissing to a system of education in this country i do not know it is certainly true that many others of his stamp made a knowledge of the arts and mode of courtship like him a part of the course the forms of love letters c were taught their pupils of both sexes with many other polite particulars which it is to be hoped have disappeared for ever one thing however to the honour of our we are bound to observe which is that we do not remember a single result with virtue to follow from the little fellow s system which by the way was in this respect peculiar only to himself and not the general custom of the country several unquestionably we had more than might otherwise taken place but in not one instance have we known any case in which a female was brought to or shame we shall now give a brief sketch of back s manner of begging our at the time to rest assured that any sketch we could give would fall far short of the original walk out an your room an let miss go out along you an come in as mrs faith i m i ll make a bad hand of it but sure it s something to have here to keep me in countenance is that by way of compliment mr you should ever an always to a in an tone for that s the cut and retire come up here now that we re a little an you miss come up along him miss you are of your five positions te back i yes sir very well can f perform the positions also v yes sir but you i stuck at the attitude sir no well do you know how to a t it s hard to say sir till we but very to it til do my best an the best can do no more very well now me you approach your in this style politely as i do miss will you allow me the honour of a heavenly bow ma am you are to you know a little lower ee you now you say the greatest pleasure in life sir an many thanks for the there now you are to make another politely an say thank you kind sir i owe

you one now proceed i m to imitate you as well as i can sir i believe v yes sir you are to me but sir did you see me my lips or pull up my breeches be that s first make a a bow i mane to miss stop again sir are you goin to the why one would think that it s about to of her for ever you are gently gently there well that s an improvement practice practice will do all but don t so loud though where s our room folk go out one of you for an mrs s face now appears peeping in at the door lit up with a comic expression of genuine fun from whatever cause it may have proceeded an where s mrs are we both to e tb s sky the c dancing master certainly turn out both your turn them out i say sir it s said than done some of us i know that mr but practice is every thing the bow legs are strongly against you i grant hut tut why if your toes where your heels is you d be exactly in the first position well both of you turn out your look street forward clap your hem your your ome arm an walk into the middle of the your head up stop take care o the post now take your i mane in your right hand give it a flourish mrs mane it s not you that s to flourish well flourish your and thin make a graceful bow to the company and and i m your most i m your most man alive that s not a bow look at this there s a bow for you why instead of a bow you appear as if you goin to sit down an in your back well practice is every thing an there s luck in dick will you come up and if you can meek any thing of that step you re a lad a pair o left legs an you to expect to to dance but don t man alive i m not but i ll meek a graceful slip o you yet can you meek a t u not right sir i doubt well sir i know that but you ought to know how to meek both a bow and a you marry a wife it t come wrong for you to know how to her a have you the and you yes sir very well on them the on the right foot or what ought to be the right foot an the upon what ought to be x back yes sir come thin do as i bid you rise upon an sink upon rise upon an sink upon rise upon sir you re upon an upon the very thing you ought not to do but god help you sure you re left legged ah it ud be a long time before you d be able to dance or the college upon a drum head as i often did however don t if i could only get you to know your right leg but god help you sure you such a thing from your left i d make something of you yet dick the irish dancing masters were at among themselves but as they seldom met they were forced to abuse each other at a distance which they did with a and pro to the space between them back ad a rival of this description who was a sore thorn in his side his name was and from having been a horse he gave up the turf and took to the calling of a dancing master back sent a message to him to the effect that if he could not dance on the drum head he had better his tongue for ever to this replied by asking if he was the man to dance the upon the saddle of a blood horse and the animal at a three quarter gallop at length the friends on each side from a natural love of fun prevailed upon them to decide their claims as follows each master with twelve of was to dance against his rival with twelve of his the match to come off on the top of hill which commanded a view of the whole parish i already mentioned that in back s school there stood near the middle of the floor a post which according to some new of his own was very convenient as a guide to the dancers when going through the figure now at the spot where this post stood it was necessary to make a m to f part the country dancing master of the figure of eight which they were to follow but as many of them were rather impenetrable to a due conception of the line of beauty he forced them to turn round the post rather than make an acute angle of it which several of them did having thus much we proceed with our narrative at length they met and it would have been a matter of much difficulty to determine their relative merits each was such an admirable match for the other when back s pupils however came to perform they found that the absence of the post was their ruin to the post they had been trained accustomed with it they could dance but wanting that they were like so many ships at sea without or of course a scene of ludicrous confusion ensued which turned the laugh against poor back who stood likely to with shame and in fact he was in an agony turn the post he shouted stamping upon the ground and his little hands with fury the post oh for the honour of don t be the post the post

if you love me alive the post be the will distance us replied bob it s likely to be the post to him anyhow any money shouted the little fellow any money long bam h d do the post to the life mind it boys dear mind it or we re lost a bit they heed me it s a flock o bees or sheep they re like sam where are you the post you oh dear if we had even a rod or a or a we might do yet but anyhow we had better give in for it s only worse we re at this stage of the proceedings came over and making a low bow asked him how do you feel for such was back s name back the dancing master sir replied back bowing low in return i ll take the shine out of you yet you a me that s the chat com show them what s than fifty your partners like for ever the scene that ensued all description tl fact is the little fellow had them trained as it to kiss in and the spectators were literal with laughter at this most novel ai ludicrous character which back gave to i defeat and the ceremony which he introduced tl truth is he turned the laugh completely against rival and off the ground in high exclaiming he know how to a wh the poor never kissed any woman but mother an her only when she was f such reader is a slight and very imperfect of an irish dancing master which if it possesses ai merit at all is to be ascribed to the circumstance th it is drawn from life and however most of the points essential to our conception of t character mary the irish match maker though this word at a glance may be said to explain itself yet lest our english or scotch readers might not clearly understand its meaning we shall briefly give them such a definition of it as will enable them to comprehend it in its full extent the irish then is a person selected to conduct of the heart between lovers themselves in the first instance or where the principal parties are indifferent between their respective families when the latter happen to be of opinion that it is a safer and more prudent thing to consult the interest of the young folk rather than their inclination in short tne match maker is the person engaged in carrying from one party to another all the messages letters tokens presents and secret communications of the tender passion in whatever shape or character the said parties may deem it proper to them the match maker therefore is a general in all such matters of love or interest as are designed by the or their friends to in the honourable bond of marriage for with nothing morally improper or or approaching to the character an will the regular irish have anything at all to do the match maker therefore after all is only the creature of necessity and is never engaged by an unless to remove such preliminary obstacles as may stand in the way of his own direct operations in q fa mary match maker is nothing but a who after t plan of the attack has been laid down aw some of the difficulties until the advance is made the siege opened in due form ai the successfully entered by the principal we have said thus much to prevent our fair of england and scotland from imagining tl because such a character as the irish match mat exists at all are personally deficient in tl energy which is so necessary to express t emotions of the tender passion has to the satisfaction of any rational mind that modes and assurance are that a blushing fa may accompany a courageous nay a desperate he and that on the contrary an abundance of ass may be associated with a very handsome of modesty in love matters i grant modesty is t of an whose character in this has been unconsciously hit off by the poet he may truly be termed which means when translated looking for a wife an is a boy of an face and remarkable modesty at the head of the match makers and far above stands the irish of whose ab ties in this way it is impossible to speak too high and let not our readers imagine that the duties upon her as well as upon match makers general are slight or easily discharged to matter of this kind great tact knowledge of cl and very delicate handling are necessary be faithful to both parties not to gi offence to either and to detection in case secret bias or partiality demand talents of no co mon order the amount of fortune is often to regulated the good qualities of the parties placed the best or what is often still more judicious in most suitable light and when there happens to b of the it must be furnished her own invention tne a to softened the irish match maker contemptuous tone of the purse proud lowered without offence the and sometimes the over reached now all this requires an able as match making in general the irish does indeed i question whether the that ever attempted to manage a treaty of peace between two hostile powers could have a more difficult card to play than often falls to the lot of the irish match maker the however from her confidential intercourse with the sex and the respect with which both young and old of them look upon her is peculiarly well qualified for the office she has seen the youth shoot up and into the young man she has seen the young man into the husband and the husband very frequently lost in the wife now the marks and tokens

by which she noted all this are as perceptible in the young of this day as they were in the young of fifty years ago she consequently knows from experience how to manage each party so as to bring about the which she so devoutly wishes upon second thoughts l however we are inclined to think after all that the right of upon this point does not exclusively belong to the or at least that there exists another person who it with her so strongly that we are scarcely capable of their respective claims this is the the in ireland is a woman who goes from one relation s house to another from friend to friend from acquaintance to acquaintance is always welcome and uniformly well treated the very extent of her makes her independent so that if she receives an otherwise a cold reception from one she never feels it to affect her comfort but on the contrary carries it about with her in the shape of a complaint to the rest and details it with such a rich spirit of enjoyment that we believe in our soul some of her k what occupation it et her from pure kindness the is the very of industry unless when asleep no mortal living ever saw her hands idle her principal employment is knitting and whether she sits stands or walks there she is with the end of the under her arm knit knit knitting she also and and whenever a is going forward she can tell you at once in what neighbour house the f was used last and where it is now to be had and when it has been got she is all bustle and business ordering and commanding about her her large red three hanging at her side a lump of chalk in one hand and a of in the other ready to mark the pattern whether it be wave square or diamond the is always dressed with neatness and comfort but generally wears something about her that reminds one of a day gone by and may be considered as the lingering remnant of some old custom that has fallen into this slight as it is her to many for it stands out as the memorial of some old and perhaps affecting associations which at its very appearance are called out from the heart in which they were it is impossible to imagine a happier life than that of the she has evidently no trouble no care no children nor any of the various claims of life to disturb or ner wherever she goes she is made and finds herself perfectly at home the whole business of her life is carrying about intelligence making and projecting matches singing old songs and telling old stories which she frequently does with a feeling and not often to be met with she will sing you the different sets and variations of the old airs repeat the history and traditions of old families interpret dreams give the origin of old local customs and tell a ghost story in a style that would make your hair stand on end she is a bit of a too aa and the irish match maker is very skilful and lucky among children in short he is a perfect gentleman s magazine in her a regular of lore a and of social dealing in every that is time worn or old and handling it with such a quiet and antique air that one would imagine her life to be a life not of years but of centuries and that she had passed the greater portion of it long as it was in u wandering by the shores of old romance such a woman the reader will at once perceive is a formidable for popular confidence with the indeed there is but one consideration alone upon which we would be inclined to admit that the latter has any advantage over and it is that she is the a word which is a tower of strength to her not only against all professional but against such characters as would intrude even upon any of her subordinate or offices as match makers it is extremely difficult to decide between her and the so much so indeed that we are disposed to leave the claim for in this respect each in the same harness and as they are so well matched we will allow them to on side by side drawing the of the neighbouring villages slowly but surely towards the land of matrimony in humble country life as in high life we find in nature the same principles and motives of action let not the mother of rank nor the imagine for a moment that the plans and trap falls with which they endeavour to secure some wealthy fool for their daughter are not known and practised ay and with as much and too by the very of their own sex in these matters they have not one whit of superiority over the lowest and most f gossip of a country village where the arts of women are almost as practised and the small scandal as detailed as in the highest circles of fashion mary the third great master of the art of match r is the who is nothing more or less it of the for as the never of the male sex so the is never female with respect to their habits and m life the only difference between them is that is never idle so the never i and the latter is a far superior authority in old lar and as a the comes infinitely short for the truth is that this branch of falls naturally within the spirit of a woman our readers are not to understand that in there exists like the or dancing master character openly known by the match maker no such thing on the they

and the mention the name of an individual or a family to the and the medium through which her memory passes back to them is that of her professed employment a at wakes and don t you know young of v i do replies the and what about him why he was married to day to ould jack m s daughter well god grant them luck an happiness poor things i do indeed his father s an funeral well ould of a corpse he made for his years an well he looked but indeed i by the colour that in his cheeks and the limbs remaining for the twenty four hours after his departure that some of the family ud follow him afore the year was out an so she did the youngest daughter poor thing by of a could she got over herself at a such is the mary dance was stretched beside him that very day was eleven months and god knows it was from the heart my grief came for to see the poor handsome laid low so soon but when a consumption sets in sure we all know to happen in churchyard they the lord make both their beds in heaven day the very reverse of this but at the same time as professional was mary god save you mary god save you kindly eh let me look at you aren t you red m s son from am mary an mary how is yourself an the world an can t complain dear in such times how are all at home well mary thank god an you you heard of my grand uncle s death big ned m i did god rest him sure it s well i his wedding poor man by the same that i know one that helped him on it a he was married in a blue coat and an wore a scarlet waistcoat that you d see three miles off oh well i it an he was out that to the priest s house ned says i an i f him a button on the right knee afore you get the word said said he a smile an he slipped ten into my as he spoke til do it said he and thin a fig for the because you see if there s a button of the right knee left the this day s friday god stand us and harm can do neither hurt nor harm to or body an sure that s a great he left two line slips o girls behind him he did so as good girls as there s in the parish an kind mother for them she ll be i m she bein a fresh good woman the irish match maker why it s very likely mary its natural what can a lone woman do such a large farm upon her hands having some one to manage it for her an her from bein imposed on but indeed the first thing she ought to do is to marry off her two girls loss of time in regard that it s hard to say how a an might agree and i ve often known the mother herself when had a fresh family an her to be as unnatural to her as if she was a stranger to and that the same blood did t run in their veins not saying that mary m will or would act that way by her own for indeed she s come of a kind ould stock an ought to have a good heart tell her when you see her that i ll a day or two her let me see the day after to morrow will be palm sunday why about the holidays indeed i will mary with great pleasure an dear tell her that i ve a thing to say to her that i had a long dish o about her a friend o mine you won t forget now oh the a forget thank you dear god mark you to grace when you re a little maybe i ll be a friend to you yet this last intimation was given with a kind of mysterious benevolence very visible in the complacent of her face and with a twinkle in the eye full of grave humour and considerable leaving the mind of the person she spoke to in such an agreeable uncertainty as rendered it a matter of great difficulty to determine whether she was serious or only in jest but at all events throwing the of inquiry upon him the case and tact with which mary could involve two young persons of opposite sexes in a mutual attachment were very remarkable in truth she was a kind of matrimonial ic v mary the country holding her torch now to this again to that first to one and then to she had the parish more or less in a flame we consider the materials of i irish heart is composed it is no wonder in the labour of taking the in ireland at such a rapid rate during the time th between the periods of its being made out for instance met a young woman of her accidentally and it was wonderful to think these accidental meetings took place s address her probably somewhat as follows how are you a bravely thank you mary how indeed thin a bit o the health we plain of this pain in comes upon us the last time i seen you sue was of a i h poor woman hut bad to the thing her s light a foot as e re a one of us an can dam son s brush as well as ever she an i m proud to hear it s morning brush and it was she ti do it sure i her wedding

day li day ay far an near her fame as a d the made girl that ever came from like do i it an how t himself an the ladies from the big house ca to see herself an your father the bride and an it wasn t on every hill head you d get the same s it was far and near her fame for dan an is there no news you at all the word mary where ud i g sure it s yourself that s always on the tl to have the news for us woman alive a co l the irish match maker an maybe i have too i was to a friend o mine about you the other day a friend o yours mary why what friend could it be r a friend o mine ay an of yours too maybe you have more friends than you think and kind ones too as far as you well goes t any rate ay have you an friends that e re a girl in the parish might be proud to hear named in the one day her we re in luck thin for that s more than i knew of an who may these great friends of ours be mary v as a boy as ever broke bread the same boy is and says he if i had in i d it too little for that girl lad he s not or happy in his mind in regard o that i m says ne that she d put scorn upon me an not think me her an no more i am says he again for where all would you get the likes of v poor boy my heart for him well can t you fall in love him yourself mary whoever he is indeed an if i was at your age it would be no shame to me to do so but to tell you the truth the often ever the likes of paul came me paul why mary replied smiling with the assumed lightness of indifference is that your beauty if it is why keep him an make much of him oh the differ there is between the hearts an tongues of some people one from another an the way they behind others backs well well i m sure that wasn t the way he spoke of you an god forgive you for down the poor boy as your i believe you re the only girl would do it who me i m not mary him up nor down i have neither good nor bad to say about him the boy s a black stranger to me to know his face an he s in you these three months past an to be at the dance on friday next in jack s new house now good bye keep your own counsel till the time comes mind what i said to you it s not behind every ditch the likes of paul grows my be you thus would mary depart at the critical moment for well she knew that by her information and leaving the heart something to find out she took the most effectual steps to excite and sustain that kind of interest which is apt ultimately to even from its own agitation into the attachment she is anxious to promote the next day by a meeting accidental she comes in contact with paul who honest lad had never probably bestowed a thought upon in his life morrow paul how is your father s son morrow mary my father s son wants but a good wife mary an it s not every set day or night that a good wife is to be had paul that is a good one as you say for there s many o them in the market as they are i was about you to a friend of mine the other day an i m you re not worth all the abuse we gave you more power to you mary i m to yon but who is the friend in the v poor girl when your name slipped out an her the point of a rush would take a drop of blood out o her the way she up an mary says she if ever i know you to breathe it tc the irish match maker ee a favoured girl for both face and figure this many a day than the same is that long jack s daughter of f the same but paul if a syllable o what i you hut mary honour bright do you think me a that i d go and inform on you w paul she ll be at the dance on friday next in jack s new house so an think o what i to you thus did mary very quietly and bind two young hearts together who probably might otherwise have never for a moment even thought of each other of course when paul and met at the dance on the following friday the one was the object of the attention to the other and each being prepared to witness strong proofs of attachment from the opposite party everything fell out exactly according to their expectations sometimes it happens that a of a fellow during his calf love will employ a male friend to plead his suit with a pretty girl who if the principal party had might be very willing to marry him to the credit of our fair however be it said that in scarcely one instance out of twenty does it happen or has it ever happened that any of them ever fails to punish the faint by the fair lady upon what is called the or whom he to make love for him in such a case it is very naturally supposed that the latter will speak two words for

himself and one for his friend and indeed the result bears out the supposition now nothing on earth the heart of the established match maker so much as to hear of such a disaster a she over his misfortune for months and his shame to the bounds of her own little world him as a poor pitiful who had not the courage to speak up for to ss j fc fc mary that could in fact she much feeling against him that a regular towards some weak minded patient who p ignorance of a to the skill ar of an able and educated medical characters like mary are fast land and indeed in a country where the life were generally inadequate to the wai they were calculated however v may look back upon the memory of vices to do more harm than good by folks to enter into early and they certainly sprang up from a state of s thoroughly formed by a proper education i ledge where the language of a people t many extensive districts in such a state of as in the of affection to absolutely necessary we have ours marriages where the husband and the one english and the other irish each with difficulty to understand the other i cases mary was invaluable she spoke english and indeed was every thing in the slightest or most necessary to the conduct of a love affair f glance up until the priest had pronounce words or to speak more correctly until t ing of the mary was invariably placed upon the the seat of comfort and honour at a farmer and there she sat neat and tidy all of the parish telling them how such a mai one unbroken a sure proof bj that she herself had a hand in it ana aj another one did not turn out well and sh there was always a bad in the hi but mv dear the girl herself was for him made her own bed she must lie in it any way thanks be to goodness i had it r the irish match mary was to be found in every fair and market and always at a particular place at a certain hour of the day where the parties engaged in a courtship were sure to meet her on these occasions she took a glass but never so as to become unsteady great deference was paid to every thing she said and if this was not to her she it with a high hand nobody living could drink a health with half the comic significance that mary threw into her eye when saying well young couple here s everything as you wish it i mary s motions from place to place were usually very slow and for the best reason in the world because she was frequently interrupted for instance if she met a young man on her way ten to one but he stood and held a long and earnest conversation with her and that it was both important and confidential might easily be gathered from the fact that whenever a stranger passed it was either suspended altogether or carried on in so low a tone as to t e this held equally good with the girls many a time have i seen them their steps and probably walking back a mile or two all the time engaged in discussing some topic evidently of more than ordinary interest to themselves and when they shook hands and bade each other good bye heavens at what a pace did the latter across fields and in order to make up for the time she had lost nobody ever saw mary receive a penny of money and yet when she took a fancy it was beyond any doubt that she has often been known to assist young folks in their early struggles but in no instance was the slightest aid ever afforded to anyone whose union she had not herself been in bringing about as to the when and the how she got this money and the great quantity of female apparel which she was known to possess we think we see our readers smile at the simplicity of those who may not be able to guess the several sources from whence she obtained it mary one other fact we must mention before this sketch of her character there w we will not for we dare not say into which mary was never seen to enter ever was not her fault every one knew t she did she did always for the best and small bits of were occasionally her it was not more than the parties other all marriages cannot oe happy ar it was a creditable proof of mary s that so few of those effected through her ir were unfortunate poor mary match making was the of your simple but not absolutely harmless are lone since we trust gone to the ha where there are neither nor g marriage but where you will have a long from your old habits and tendencies we more reasons than either one or two to thin faded crimson cloak shoes s grey eye and nose and chin that were s character as you used to say yourself my blessing be with you bob or the that the irish are a ready people is a fact to the truth of which testimony has been amply borne both by their friends and enemies many causes might be brought forward to account for this questionable gift u it were our intention to be philosophical but as the matter has been so generally it would be but a waste of logic to prove to the world that which the world cares not beyond the mere fact that it is so on this or any other topic one illustration is worth twenty arguments and accordingly instead of a theory we shall relate a story

behind the hill or rather mountain of lies one of those deep and almost valleys on which the practised eye of an would dwell with delight as a not likely to be invaded by the feet of the and his red coats in point of fact the spot we speak of was from its peculiarly isolated situation nearly invisible unless to such as came very close to it being so completely hemmed in and concealed by the round and of the mountain hills you could never dream of its existence at all until you came upon the very verge of the little which led into it this advantage of position was not however its only one it is true indeed that the moment you had entered it all possibility of its being applied to the purposes of at once vanished and you consequently could not i l ss bob or u what a pity that so safe and beautiful a not have a single spot on which to erect a or rather on which to raise a sufficient st water to the elevation necessary for the p if a actually came to chasm and cast his eye over it t immediately perceive that the i still in such a place was a piece of folly not to be found in the plans of those who have to such this however of the requisite con was only apparent not real to the right a hundred yards above the entrance to it ran rocks some fifty feet high or so along brows near the ground grew thick of long heath which covered the a cave about as large and as high as an house through a series of small in which formed its roof descended a stream of water precisely in body and volume sue actually required by the but ing up this mass of heath no human being a moment imagine that there existed any sin or so unexpected and easy an entrance to there was a private still house made by th nature herself such as no art or could equal now it so happened that about the period of there lived in our parish two individual to each other in their pursuits of question whether throughout all the of nature we could find any two destructive of each other than the two we wit bob the and the was well trained fellow of about fifty more steady and sure and with all the points of the high bred about him man thin but with a could scent the thread oi m s the of a hound his dark eye was deep set and in its expression and his seemed always to be engaged in calculating whereabouts his foe little george that him when almost in his very might then be to be brief was for his sagacity and in and little george was equally for having always baffled him and that too sometimes under circumstances where escape seemed hopeless the incidents which we are about to detail occurred at that period of time when the wisdom of our thought it advisable to impose a fine upon the whole in which the still head and worm might be found thus opening a door for and fraud and as it proved in most cases rendering the innocent as liable to suffer for an offence they never contemplated as the guilty who planned and it the consequence of such a law was that still houses were always certain to be erected either at the very verge of the neighbouring districts or as near them as the circumstances of convenience and situation would permit the moment of course that the hue and cry of the and his was heard upon the wind the whole apparatus was immediately heaved over the to the next from which the fine imposed by parliament was necessarily raised whilst the and offending district actually escaped the state of society by such a and barbarous as this was dreadful in the course of a short time law suits battles and multiplied to such an extent throughout the whole country that the who occasioned such commotion were compelled to their own act as soon as they found how it worked necessity together with being the mother of invention is also cause of many an accidental discovery had been so frequently i s bob or george that he vowed never to rest until he had secured him and george on the other hand frequently told him f or they were otherwise on the best terms that he defied him or as he himself more expressed it that he defied the devil the world and the latter however was a very sore thorn in his side and drove him from place to place and from one haunt to another until he began tc despair of being able any longer to him or t within the parish any spot at all suitable with which was not acquainted in this state stood matters between them when george fortunately discovered at the hip of hill the natural we have just so briefly now george was a man as we have already hinted of great of resources but there existed in the same parish another who him in that far sighted cunning which is so necessary in or such a sharp scented old hound as this was little m a short little fellow with bow legs who might be said rather to creep in his motion than to walk george and were intimate friends of their joint against the and truth to tell much of the mortification and many of the which experienced at george s hands were tub to be attributed to george was a from none of the motives which generally others of that class he was in truth an philosopher a natural never out of some new experiment and we have reason to think have been the or

or of his day had he only received a scientific education not so honest who never troubled his head about an experiment but only thought of making a good running and the the first thing of course that george did was to consult and both accordingly took a walk up to the scene ol their future operations on sa ss i the perceiving its advantages it might well be said that the look of exultation and triumph which passed between them was not unworthy of their respective characters this will do said george don t you think we ll put our finger in s eye yet over his beard and after a second glance gave one grave grin which spoke volumes it ll do said he but there s one point to be got over that maybe vou didn t think of an you know that half a half a point is enough for what is it what do you intend to do with the smoke when the fire s lit there ll be no that down let see but as much smoke as would come out of an ould woman s an he d have us george started and it was clear by the vexation and disappointment which were visible on his brow that unless this circumstance could be managed their whole plan was and the cave of no value what s to be done he inquired of his cooler companion if we can t get over this we may bid good bye to it never mind said i manage it and do still ay but how v it s no matter let us not lose a minute in to work lave the other thing to me an if i don t account for the smoke without the entrance to the still i ll give you lave to crop the ears of my head george knew the cool but steady self confidence for which was remarkable and accordingly without any further they both proceeded to follow up their plan of operations in those times when might be truly considered as almost universal it was customary for farmers to build their out houses with secret chambers and other requisite necessary for carrying it on several of them had private stores built between false walls the entrance to which waa o w r bob nd or few and many of them had what were called sunk in hidden recesses and hollow for the purpose of the and afterwards of turning and it until it was sufficiently hard to be dried and ground from the mill it was usually conveyed to the still house upon what were termed a kind of car that was made without wheels in order the more easily to pass through and which no wheeled vehicle could encounter in the course of a month or so george and aided by their friends had all the apparatus of c together with still head and worm set up and in full work and now inquired his companion how will you manage about the smoke for you know that the two worst against a private a is a smoke by day an a fire by night i know that replied an a smoke we ll have for a little puff wouldn t do us come now an i ll show you they both ascended to the top where had closed all the open of the roof with the exception of that was directly over the fire of the still this was at best not more than six inches in breadth and about twelve long over it he placed a piece of strong plate iron with holes and on this he had a fire of turf beside which sat a little boy who acted as a the thing was simple but effective of turf were at every side of them and the boy was instructed if the whom he well knew ever appeared to heap on fresh fuel so as to increase the smoke in such a manner as to induce him to suppose that all he saw of it proceeded merely from the fire before him in fact the smoke from the cave below was so completely identified with and lost in that which was the fire above that no human being could penetrate the mystery if not made previously acquainted with it the writer of this saw it o t y of the and failed to make the discovery although told that the still house was within a circle of three hundred yards the he stood on being considered the centre on more than one occasion has ire from home and spent a whole night in the place seized with that indescribable fascination such a scene holds forth to as well as from his irrepressible anxiety to hear the old stories and legends with the recital of which they generally pass the night in this way well provided against the indeed much better than our readers are yet aware of as they shall understand by and bye did george and their friends proceed for the greater part of a winter without a single visit from several successful had come off which had of course turned out highly profitable and they were just now preparing to commence their last not only for the season the last they should ever work together as george was making preparations to go early in the spring to america even this running was going on to their satisfaction and the had been thrown again into the still from the worm of which projected the strong first shot as the commenced this last term meaning the spirit in its pure and finished state on this occasion tne two were more than ordinarily anxious and certainly doubled their usual precautions against a surprise for they knew that s visits resembled the of a hawk or the springs of a tiger more anything else to

which they could compare them in this they were not disappointed when the was about half finished he made his appearance attended by a strong party of reluctant soldiers for indeed it is due to the military to state that they never took delight in the country people at the command of a hunter as they generally the it had been arranged that the at the iron plate should whistle a particular tune the moment aa a bob or or a red coat or in fact any person whom he did know should appear accordingly about o clock in the morning they heard tie little fellow i his highest key whistling up that well known an very significant old irish air called go to the an shake yourself which in this case was to the in anything but an sense be the pins which was george s usual oat be the pins it s over with us here for there s the sign paused for a moment and listened ve gravely then out a tobacco it said he i half a dozen fires the hills any one as like this as your right hand is your left i didn t spare trouble for i knew that we d get over day we d be out of his power well mv good lad said the what s this fire for what is it for is it v yes if you don t let me know instantly blow your brains out and get you hanged and afterwards this he said with a voice a large horse pistol at the same time why sir said the boy it s a am but be the hole of my coat if you tell upon r it s upon these coals i ll be soon where is the still then an the still where is it oh as to where the still or still is they wouldn t tell me that why didn t you say this moment you w watching a still i meant sir replied the lad with a face t spoke of pure that it was the i an i was to whistle upon my fingers to the boy at that fire on the hill there above know i he was who told you to do so little george sir an m ay ay right enough ro re t the most notorious they are both now like a good boy tell me the truth an til give you the price of a shoes do you know where the still or still house is because if you do an won t tell me here are the soldiers at hand to make a prisoner of you an if they do all the world can t prevent you from being hanged drawn and oh bad may seize the morsel o me knows that out if you u give me the money sir i ll tell yon who can bring you to it for he me that he knew an offered to bring me there last night if i d steal him a bottle he d put in it well my lad who is this boy do you know harry or mankind sir i do my good boy well it s a son of his sir an look sir do you see the smoke farthest up to the right sir to the right yes well tis there sir that is and he says he knows how long have you been watching here this is only the third day sir for me but the rest of them boys above has been here a good while have you seen nobody stirring about the hills since you came only once sir i seen two men an empty sack or two across the hill there above at this moment the military came up for he had himself run forward in advance of them and he repeated the substance of his conversation with our friend the upon examining the of his countenance in which there certainly was a deficiency of meaning they agreed among themselves that his appearance justified the truth of the story was a given to harry who was a and made the necessary vessels for bob or which he told the and upon being still ft they were confirmed that none stupid like himself would to his ke any secret worth knowing they now themselves into as many detached parties as were fires burning on the hills about them the g himself to make for that which had in his keeping for he could not help thi that the story was too natural to be they were just in the act of separating pursue their different when the lad said look sir look sir bad be from ir there s a still any way sure i often seen a that s just like the one that philip the mended in george s barn boys exclaimed stoop i they are coming this way and don t see us no them no they have discovered us now and towards by jove this will be a trick if they succeed confound them they ar for which is my own property and j be hanged but if we do not them it is self who will have to pay the fine the pursuit instantly commenced with a vigour equal to the ingenuity of this act of on the himself being long v from much practice in this way and being f stimulated by the loss which he dr made as beautiful a run of it as any man of his could do it was all in vain however he i got far enough to see the still head and across the march ditch into his own pre and to reflect after seeing it that he was have the double consolation of being made a joke of for life and of paying heavily for the je of his

own pocket in the mean time he was of course to seize the still and report the ca and as he himself the in the fine was to the last shilling upon th natural principle that if be aa fc ii x t the no man would have attempted to set up still so convenient to his own residence and pro of keeping in reserve an old or set of apparatus for the purpose of acting the and the was afterwards practised with success but the first f it was undoubtedly m although the honour of the discovery is attributed to his friend george the matter however did not actually here for in a few days afterwards some malicious wag in other words george himself had correct information sent to touching the locality of the and the secret of its entrance on this occasion the latter brought a larger military party han usual along with him but it was only to make liim feel that he stood in a position if possible still more ridiculous than the first he found indeed the marks of recent in the place but nothing else every vessel and connected with the process had been removed with the exception of one of to which was attached by a bit of the following friendly note mb take this bottle home and drink your own health you can t do less it was under your nose the first day you came to look for us and for you while you were speaking to the little boy that made a hare of you being then under your nose let it be drunk in the same place and don t forget while doing so to drink the health of g s the incident went abroad like and was known everywhere indeed for a long time it was the standing topic of the parish and so sharply was it felt by that he could never keep his temper if asked mr when did you see little george a question to which he was never known to give a civil reply the fate ii op m we have met and conversed with the various classes that compose general society and we feel ourselves bound to say that in no instance have we ever met any individual no matter what his class or rank in life who was really indifferent to the subject of dreams and they are topics that interest the imagination in all and the head of age is inclined with as much interest to a ghost story as the young and eager ear of youth wrought up by all the and apprehensive powers of early fancy it is true the belief in ghosts is fast disappearing and that in is already almost gone but with what new wonders they shall be replaced it is difficult to say the physical and natural we suppose will give us enough of the marvellous without having recourse to the spiritual and supernatural steam and gas if science advance for another half century at the same rate as she has done in the last will give sufficient exercise to all our faculties for wondering we know a man who travelled eighty miles to see whether or not it was a fact that fight could be conveyed for miles in a pipe under ground and this man to our own knowledge possessed the organ of to a surprising degree it is singular too that his fear of ghosts was in proportion to this to wonder as was hia d tl ta v the fate of frank m chimney corner to talk incessantly of such topics calculated to excite it our opinion ghosts and will be seen they are much talked of and a belief in r existence cultivated and nourished so long as powers of the imagination are kept warm and m by exercise they will create for themselves such as they are in the habit of or upon and these when the individual to be in the appropriate position will even by mere force of association the particular which is in the mind as an of this i shall mention two cases of occurred in my native parish one of which that of a ghost and the other of the to e who have read my traits and stories of the the first which i shall may ss some interest as being that upon which i the tale of the midnight mass the are simply these here lived a man named m at the hip of of the hills which divide the county from that of this m two sons one of whom was in the habit of tracing is of a sunday whenever there happened to be a of snow his father it seems had frequently with him upon what he considered to be of the lord s day as well as for his neglect of mass the young man however otherwise harmless ana was in matter quite insensible to paternal reproof and to trace whenever the of labour id allow him it so happened that upon a morning i think in the year there a deep fall of snow and young m instead to mass got down cock stick which is much thicker and heavier at one end than at the r and prepared to set out on his favourite his father seeing this him seriously insisted that he should attend the fate op frank m for the sport however was his love of religion and he refused to be gi his father s advice the old man during t got warm and on finding that the s scorned his authority he knelt do prayed that if the boy persisted in following will he might never return from the less as a corpse the which was as harsh as it was and senseless mi startled many a mind from a purpose that the least of

it at with religion respect due to a father it had no effect upon the son who is said to have he ever returned or not he was de on going and go accordingly he did he however alone for it appears that three or fc neighbouring young men accompanied him their sport was good or otherwise is not to pose neither am i able to say but the st that towards the latter part of tne day they larger and darker hare than any they had and that she kept on before them b leading them to suppose that every the cock stick would bring her down it was afterwards that she also led them into the r the mountains and that although they her course they could not su doing so as evening advanced the m began to feel the folly of farther and to perceive the danger of losing in the mountains should night or a snow st upon them they therefore proposed to the chase and return home but m w hear of it if you to go home y said he as for me i ll never leave the h have her with me they begged and ent him to and return but all to no appeared to be what the scotch call act as if he were moved by some impulse t to death and from the n l oi the op m not withdraw himself at length on finding him obstinate they left him pursuing the hare directly into the heart of the mountains and returned to their respective homes in the meantime one of the most terrible ever remembered in that part of the country came on and the consequence was that the young man who had equally trampled on the of religion and parental authority was given over for lost as soon as the tempest became still the neighbours assembled in a body and proceeded to look for him the snow however had fallen so heavily that not a single mark of a footstep could be seen nothing but one wide waste of white hills met the eye wherever it turned and of m no trace whatever was visible or could be found his father now remembering the unnatural character of his was nearly distracted for although the body had not yet been found still by every one who witnessed the sudden rage of the storm and who knew the mountains escape or was felt to be impossible every day for about a week large parties were out among the hill seeking him but to no purpose at length there came a and his body was found on a lying in a posture within a circle which he had drawn around him with his cock stick his prayer book lay opened upon his mouth and his hat was pulled down so as to cover it and his face it is unnecessary to say that the rumour of his death and of the circumstances under which he left home created a most extraordinary sensation in the country a sensation that was the greater in proportion to the uncertainty occasioned by his not having been found either alive or dead some affirmed that he had crossed the mountains and was seen in others that he had been seen in in in but despite of all these agreeable reports the melancholy truth was at length made clear by the appearance oi stated the fate of frank m now it so happened that the house spot where he lay was inhabited by a mar l i think but of the name i am not c who was a herd or care to dr port bishop of the situation of this ho the most lonely and desolate looking that imagined it was at least two miles distant fr human habitation being surrounded by one wi dreary waste of dark by this house route of those who had found the corpse and the door of it was borrowed for the purpose o it home be this as it may the the melancholy procession as it passed s through the mountains and when the place an are all considered we may admit th ignorant and superstitious people whose minds upon ordinary occasions were strongly affected such matters it was a sight calculated to leave it a deep if not a terrible impression time s proved that it did so an incident is said to have occurred at the which i have alluded to in the midnight mass which is certainly in fine keeping with the t spirit of the whole melancholy event when procession had advanced to a place called a large dark coloured hare which was recognised by those who had been out with him the hills as the identical one that led him to fate is said to have crossed the roads about yards or so before the coffin the story goes tha man struck it on the side with a stone and that blow which would have killed any ordinary hare i only did it no injury but occasioned a sound to p from the body resembling the hollow one by an empty barrel when struck in the meantime the took place and sensation began like every other to die away in natural progress of time when behold a report i abroad like that to use the language of people frank m waa k bald the of m e was the rumour of an apparition composed of so strongly calculated to win popular assent k rational investigation as every man is a or a so will until such are made properly intelligible continue field to testimony which would convince judgment on any other subject the case in furnished as fine a specimen of a true freed from any suspicion of or den as could be submitted to a philosopher and notwithstanding the array of apparent facts con ted

with it nothing in the world is or of solution ne night about a fortnight after his funeral s daughter of the herd a girl about fourteen bed saw what appeared to be the like of who had been lost she screamed and covering her head with the bed clothes told father and mother that frank m was in house this alarming intelligence naturally great terror still who notwithstanding belief in such matters possessed a good deal of courage was cool enough to rise and examine j house which consisted of only one apartment is gave the daughter some courage who on finding her father could not see him ventured to look and she then could see nothing of him herself e very soon fell asleep and her father attributed at she saw to fear or some accidental combination shadows proceeding from the furniture for it was moon light the light of the following j a great deal of their apprehensions i comparatively little was thought of it until even again advanced when the fears of the daughter to return they appeared to be prophetic for s said when night came that she knew ne would ear again and accordingly at the same hour he l so this was repeated for several successive until the girl from the ery t the fate of frank m began to become so far to the as to venture to address it in the name of god she asked what is troubling you or why do you appear to me instead of to some of your own family or relations f the ghost s answer alone might settle the question involved in the of its appearance being as it was an account of one of the most ludicrous that ever a spirit was despatched upon i m not allowed said he to to any of my friends for i parted them in anger but i m come to tell you that they are about my breeches a new pair that got made for christmas day an as i was up to in the mountains i thought the ould one ud do an of i didn t put the new pair an me my for appearing he added ft is that you may tell my friends that none of them is to wear them they must be given in charity this serious and solemn intimation from the ghost was duly communicated to the family and it was found that the circumstances were exactly as it had represented them this of course was considered as sufficient proof of the truth of its mission their conversations now became not only frequent but quite friendly and familiar the girl became a favourite with the and the on the other hand soon lost all his terrors in her eyes he told her that whilst his friends were bearing home his body the or poles on which they carried him had cut his back and occasioned him great pain i the cutting of the back also was known to be true and strengthened of course the truth and of their the whole neighbourhood was now in a commotion with this story of the apparition and persons by curiosity began to visit the girl in order to satisfy themselves of the truth of what they had heard every thing however was and the child herself without any symptoms of anxiety or terror related the the op m spirit hitherto their had been all but now that the ghost found his footing made good he put a hardy face on and ventured to appear by day light the girl also fell into states of and while the fits lasted long conversations with him upon the subject of the blessed virgin and heaven took place between them he was certainly an excellent and gave the best advice swearing and every evil of our nature were against with a degree of eloquence quite surprising common fame had now a topic dear to her heart and never was a ghost made more of by his best friends than she made of him the whole country was in a tumult and i well remember the crowds which to the lonely little cabin in the mountains now the scene of matters so interesting and important not a single day passed in which i should think from ten to twenty thirty or fifty persons were not present at these singular nothing else was talked of thought of and as i can well testify of i would my have gone to s were it not for a confounded i had that perhaps the ghost might take a fancy of appearing to me as he had taken to cultivate an intimacy with the girl j and it so happens that when i see the face of an individual nailed down in the coffin and gloomy operation i experience no particular wish to look upon it again many persons might imagine that the herd s daughter was acting the part of an by first and then such a delusion if any one however was an it was the ghost and not the girl as her ill health and wasted cheek might well testify the appearance of m continued to haunt her for months the reader is aware that he was lost on christmas day or rather on the night of it and i remember seeing her in the early part of the following summer during which time she vas still the victim of a ed ma i s k s in fact that could e io ss the fate op m they brought her to a priest named who lived down at for the purpose of getting her cured as he had the reputation of performing of that kind they brought her also to the doctors who also did what they could for her but all to no purpose her fits were

longer and more frequent occurrence her appetite left her and ere four months had elapsed she herself looked as like a as the ghost himself could do for the life of him now this was a pure case of illusion and precisely similar to that detailed so by the german and to others mentioned by the image of m not only appeared to her in daylight at her own house but subsequently followed her wherever she went and what proved this to have been the result of organization produced at first by a heated and excited imagination was that as the story went she could see him with her eyes shut whilst this state of mental and physical feeling lasted she was a subject of the most intense curiosity no matter where she went whether to chapel to fair or to market she was followed by crowds every one feeling eager to get a glimpse of the girl who had actually seen and what was more spoken to a ghost a live ghost now here was a young girl of an temperament and large imagination leading an almost solitary life amidst scenery of a lonely and desolate character who happening to be strongly impressed with an image of horror for surely such was the body of a dead man seen in association with such peculiarly frightful circumstances as filial and a father s curse were calculated to give it cannot shake it off but on the contrary becomes a victim to the disease which it there is not an image which we see in a fever or a face whether of angel or devil or an uncouth shape of any kind that is not occasioned by excitement ot of the nervous system to that j mi ter i saw ra ss aa the fate op frank m ber clearly that her pale face dark eye and very intellectual forehead gave indications of such a temperament as under her circumstances would be apt to receive strong and fearful impressions from images calculated to excite terror especially of the supernatural it only now remains for me to mention ths simple method of her cure which was effected without either priest or doctor it depended upon a word or two of advice given to her father by a very sensible man who was in the habit of thinking on these matters somewhat above the superstitious of the people if you wish your daughter to be cured said he to her father leave the house you are now living in take her to some part of the country where she can have companions of her own class and state of life to mingle with bring her away from the place altogether for you may rest assured that so long as there are objects before her eyes to remind her of what happened she will not mend on your hands the father although he sat rent free took this excellent advice even at a sacrifice of some comfort for nothing short of the temptation of easy circumstances could have induced any man to reside in so wild and remote a solitude in the course of a few days he removed from it with his family and came to reside amidst the cheerful aspect and intercourse of human life the consequences were precisely as the man had told him in the course of a few weeks the little girl began to find that the visits of the were like those of angels few and far between she was sent to school and what with the confidence derived from human society and the of new objects and images she soon perfectly recovered and ere long was thoroughly set free from the fearful creation of her own brain now there is scarcely one of the people in my native parish who does not believe that the spirit of this man came back to the world and actually appeared to this little girl t ie v i the fate of frank m coming when these empty will altogether disappear and we shall entertain more reverend and becoming notions of god than to suppose such senseless could be played by the soul of a departed being under his permission we might as well assert that the imaginary beings which surround the couch of the madman or have a real existence as those that are up by terror weak nerves or blood the spot where the body of m was found is now marked by a little heap of stones which has been collected since the melancholy event of his death every person who passes it throws a stone upon the heap but why this old custom is practised or what it means i do not know unless it be simply to mark the spot as a visible means of preserving the memory of the occurrence s house the scene of the supposed apparition is now a ruin which could scarcely be seen were it not for the green spot that once was a garden and which now shines at a distance like an but with no agreeable or pleasing associations it is a spot which no solitary school boy will ever visit nor indeed would the in the popular nonsense of ghosts wish to pass it without a companion it is under any circumstances a gloomy and place but when looked upon in with what we have just it is lonely desolate and awful the in the preceding paper we have given an account of what the country folks and we ourselves at the time looked upon as a genuine instance of apparition it appeared to the simple minded to be a clear and distinct case exhibiting all those minute and subordinate details which by an arrangement naturally happy and without concert go to the formation of truth there was however but one in the matter and that was the ludicrous and inadequate nature of the moral

we have said hungry and is accounted for as we have already stated the walks and haunts of the are to be considered as very sacred and for instance it is dangerous to throw out dirty water after dusk or before sunrise lest in doing so you them on their passage for these little gentry are peculiarly fond of cleanliness and neatness both in dress and person bishop for the gives as and correct a notion of their personal habits in this way and their disposition to reward cleanliness in servants as could be written we shall ourselves relate a short anecdote or two touching them before we come to frank martin s case to our readers that we could if we wished fill a volume ay three of with anecdotes and legends connected with our irritable but good humoured little friends s wife was for several years afflicted with a kind of complaint which could properly understand she v aa sick and she was not sick she was well and sha as n v aa a the wish to be who love their lords and she was ot as such ladies wish to be in fact nobody could ll what the matter with her was she had a t the heart which came heavily upon her husband or with the help of god a appetite than the amounted to could not oe met with of summer s day the poor woman was delicate belief and had no appetite at all so she t a little relish for a mutton chop or a or a bit o anyway for sure god her she hadn t the inclination for the or the o sour along it especially as she was so poorly and indeed for a in her condition for sick as she was poor always was made to believe her in that condition but god s will be done she didn t care a an a grain o salt was a welcome to her glory be to his name as the best roast an boiled that ever was dressed an why not there was one comfort she wouldn t be long him long him it little what she got but sure she knew herself that from the at ner heart she could never do good the little bit o now and then an sure if her own husband it to her who else had she a right to expect it well as we have said she lay a invalid for long enough trying doctors and of all sorts sexes and sizes and all without a s benefit until at the long run poor was nearly brought to the last pass in striving to keep her in the bit o the seventh year was now on the point of closing when one harvest day as she lay her hard condition on her bed beyond the kitchen a little woman dressed in a neat red cloak comes in and sitting down by the hearth says well youve had a long of it there on the broad o yer back for seven wa you re as far from bein cured a eve the rival ay said the other in that s what i was this ov and a sorrowful it s to me it s yer own t thin says the little woman an indeed for that matter yer t that ever you there at all how is that asked sure i wouldn t be here if i could help it do you think it s a comfort or a pleasure to me to be sick and no said the other i do not but i ll tell you the truth for the last seven years you have us i am one o the good people an as i have a regard for you i m come to let you know the why you ve been sick so long as you are for all the time you ve been ill if you ll take the to your out yer dirty dusk an before sunrise at the very time we re yer door which we pass twice a day now if you avoid this if you throw it out in a different place an at a different time the complaint you have will lave you so will the at the heart an you ll be as well as ever you if you don t follow this advice why remain as you are an all the art o man can t cure you she then bade her good bye and disappeared who was glad to be cured on such easy terms immediately complied with the of the fairy and the consequence was that the next day she found herself in as good health as ever she enjoyed during her life m had married a wife and of course it was necessary to have a house in which to keep her now had taken a bit of a farm about six acres but as there was no house on it he resolved to build one and that it might be as comfortable as he selected for the site of it one of those green circles that are supposed to be the play ground of the was warned against this but as he was a man and not much given to fear he said v o l i the situation for his house to oblige all the in europe he accordingly proceeded with the which he finished off very neatly and as it usual on these occasions to give one s neighbours id friends a house warming so in compliance with lis good and pleasant old custom having home the wife in the course of the day got a and a lot of and gave those who had me to see him a dance in the evening this was all ry well and the fun and were

gets will be a happy woman for he s the moral of a good boy that s nothing but the truth anyhow replied sighing for fear you may be sure that she herself might lose him and indeed a young woman might sigh from many a worse reason but said she changing the subject you appear to be tired honest woman an think you had better eat a bit an take a good drink of thick milk to help you on your journey thank you kindly a said the woman i ll take a bit if you e at the same time that you wont be the poorer of it this day twelve months sure said the girl you know that what we give from kindness ever an always leaves a blessing behind it yes when it is given from kindness she accordingly helped herself to the food that placed before her and appeared after eating to be very much refreshed now said she rising up you re a very good girl an if you are able to find out my name before tuesday morning the day i tell you that you ll win it and gain the husband why said i never saw you before don t know who you are nor where you live how then can i ever find out your name you never saw me before sure enough said the old woman an i tell you that you never will see me again but once an yet if you have not my name for me at the close oi l lose all an the rival that will leave you a sore heart for well i know you love so saying she went away and left poor quite cast down at what she had said for to tell the truth she loved very much and had no hopes of being able to find out the name of the little woman an it appeared so much to her depended it was very near the same hour of the same day that sally was sitting alone in her father s thinking of the when who should walk into her but our friend the little red woman god save you honest woman said sally this is a fine day that s in it the lord be praised it is said the woman as fine a day as one could wish for indeed it is have you no news on your travels v asked sally the only news in the neighbourhood replied the other is this great that s to take place at m s they say you re either to win him or lose him then she added looking closely at sally as she spoke i m not very much afraid of that said sally with confidence but even if i do lose him i may get as good it s not easy as good rejoined the old woman an you ought to be very glad to win him if you can let me alone for that said sally s a good girl i allow but as tor she never saw the day she could leave me behind her won t you sit an rest you she added maybe you re tire a it s time for you to think of it thought the woman but she spoke nothing but she added to herself on reflection it s better late than never i ll awhile till i see a little closer what she s made of she accordingly sat down and upon several such as young women like to talk about for about half an hour after which she arose and taking lier little staff in hand she bade sally good bye and went her way after passing a t wa poor now made all the old woman but to no spoke to about her had ever woman she felt very heart for there is no doubt that it would have cost her many a knew she would never get his e one that she loved so well a came and with it all the pretty g hood to s among we to decide their right to bin li ii far and to be sure it was a the and n a laugh and sweet song that day and sally as were far a head of the rest but s nine that the could not declare which was the best h and head and head between the all who were at the felt tht hie highest pitch of interest an which of them would be success the day was now more than h was between them when sorrow of every one present b broke in two and so to all test in favour of her rival j and mortification she was as woman s name as ever what v that could be done was done i about fourteen years of age hap when the accident took place ha father and mother to bring the rival went on between the rival was accordingly despatched with all speed to m s the in order to get the mended that being s last but hopeless chance anxiety that his sister should win was of course very great and in order to lose as little time as possible he struck across the country passing through or rather close by forth a place celebrated as a resort of the what was astonishment however as he passed a white thorn tree to hear a female voice singing in accompaniment to the sound of a spinning wheel the following words there s a girl in this town doesn t know my name bat my name s even trot even trot there s a girl in this town said the lad who s in great distress for she has broken her and lost a husband i m now goin to m w s to get it mended what s her name t said the

as to ns ii al frank martin and the thing else he was as sensible sober and rational as any other man but on the topic of the man s was peculiarly strong and immovable indeed i remember that the expression of his eyes was singularly wild and hollow and his long narrow temples sallow and now this man did not lead an unhappy life nor did the malady he under seem to be productive of either pain or terror to him although one might be apt to imagine otherwise on the contrary he and the maintained the most friendly intimacy and their which i fear were one sided ones must have been a source of great pleasure to him for they were conducted with much mirth and laughter on his part at least well frank did you see the v there s two dozen of them in the shop the weaving shop this minute there s a little ould fellow on the top of the an all to be rocked while i m the sorrow s in them but they re the greatest little alive so they are see there s another of them at my go out o that you or bad to me if you don t but i ll lave you a mark ha cut you thief you frank t you af o them v is it me what ud i be o them for sure they have no power over me and why haven t they frank i was against them what do you mean by that v why the priest that me was by my father to put in the prayer against the an a priest can t refuse it when he s an he did so if s well for me that he did let the alone you little see there s a thief o them my you the are a species of which is brushed into the to keep the thread round and even and to prevent it from being by the of the and the see it was their intention to make me king o the is it possible p devil a lie in it sure you may ax them an they ll tell you what size are they frank oh little we fellows with green coats an the little shoes ever you seen there s two o them both ould acquaintances o mine along the beam that ould fellow with the bob wig is called jim jam an the other chap with the three cocked hat is called nick plays the pipes give us a tune or til come now shore now listen the poor fellow though weaving as fast as he could all the time yet bestowed every possible mark of attention to the music and seemed to enjoy it as much as if it had been real but who can tell whether that which we look upon as a may not after all be a fountain of increased happiness greater perhaps than any which we ourselves enjoy t i forget who the poet is who says mysterious are thy laws the vision s finer than the view her landscape nature never drew so fair as fancy draws many a time when a mere child not more than six or seven years of age have i gone as far as frank s weaving shop in order with a heart divided between curiosity and fear to listen to his conversation with the good people from morning till night his tongue was going almost as incessantly as his ana it was well known that at night whenever he awoke out of his sleep the first thing he did was to put out his hand and push them as it were off his bed go out o this you thieves you go out o this now an let me alone is this any time to be the pipes and me wants to sleep go off frank martin and the if do you ll see what give to morrow sure i ll be new dressing and if behave maybe i ll lave the o the pot there now poor things they re sure they re all gone poor red cap that doesn t like to lave me and then the harmless would fall back into what we trust was an innocent slumber about this time there was said to have occurred a very remarkable circumstance which gave poor frank a vast deal of importance among the neighbours a man named frank thomas the same in whose house m held the first dance at which i ever saw him as detailed in a former sketch this man i say had a child sick but of what complaint i cannot now remember nor is it of any importance one of the of thomas s house was built against or rather into a forth or called or properly forth it was said to be haunted by the and what gave it a character peculiarly wild in my eyes was that there were on the southern side of it two or three little green which were said to be the graves of children over which it was considered dangerous and unlucky to pass at all events the season was mid summer and one evening about dusk during the illness of the child the noise of a hand saw was heard upon the forth this was considered rather strange and after a little time a few of those who were assembled at frank thomas s went to see who it could be that was in such a place or what they could be at so late an hour for every one knew that nobody in the whole country about them would dare to cut down the few white thorns that grew upon the forth on going to examine however judge of their surprise when

after surrounding and searching the whole place they could discover no trace of either saw or in fact with the exception of themselves there was no one either natural or supernatural visible they then returned frank martin and the to the house and had scarcely sat down when it was heard again within ten yards of them another examination of the premises took place but with equal success now however while standing on the forth they heard the in a little hollow about a hundred and fifty yards below them which was completely exposed to their view but could see nobody a party of them immediately went down to ascertain u possible what this singular noise and invisible labour could mean but on arriving at the spot they heard the to which were now added and the driving of nails upon the forth above whilst those who stood on the forth continued to hear it in the hollow on comparing notes they resolved to send down to s for frank martin a distance of only about eighty or ninety yards he was soon on the spot and without a moment s hesitation solved the tis the said he i see them and busy they are but what are they frank they are a child s coffin he replied they have the body already made an they re now the lid together that night the child certainly died and the story goes that on the second evening afterwards the car e enter who was called upon to make the coffin a table out from thomas s house to the forth as a temporary bench and it is said that the and necessary for the completion of his task were precisely the same which had been heard the evening but one before neither more nor less i remember the death of the child myself and the making of its coffin but i think the story of the supernatural carpenter was not heard in the village for some months after its frank had every appearance of a about him at the time i saw him he might be about thirty four years oi age but i do not think from the of his frame and health that and the has been alive for several years lie was an object considerable interest and curiosity and often have i been present when he was pointed out to strangers as the man that could see the good people with respect to his solution of the supernatural noise that is easily accounted for this superstition of the coffin making is a common one and to a man like him mind was ir with it the illness of the child would naturally suggest the probability of its death which ho ly is with the and agents to be found in hia unhappy malady a legend of what irish man woman or child has not heard of our renowned the great and glorious fin m not one from cape clear to the giant s nor from that back again to cape clear and by the way speaking of the giant s brings me at once to the beginning of my story well it so happened that fin and his gigantic relatives were all working at the in order to make a bridge or what was still better a good stout road across to scotland when fin who was very fond of his wife took it into his head that he would go home and see how the poor woman got on in his absence to be sure fin was a true and so the sorrow thing in life brought him back only to see that she was snug and comfortable and above all things that she got her rest well at night for he knew that the poor woman when he was with her used to be subject to nightly and that kept him very anxious decent man striving to keep her up to the good spirits and health that she had when they were first married so accordingly he pulled up a fir tree and after off the roots and branches made a walking stick of it and set out on his way to or rather fin lived at this time on the very tip top of hill which faces a cousin of its own called that rises up half hill on the opposite side east east by south as the sailors say when they wish to puzzle a now the truth is for it must come out that honest fin s affection for his wife though cordial enough in itself was by no ot t aa s the real cause of a legend of his journey home there was at that time another giant named some say he was irish and some say he was scotch but whether scotch or irish sorrow doubt of it but he was a no other giant of the day could stand before him and such was his strength that when well vexed he could give a stamp that shook the country about him the fame and name of him went far and near and nothing in the shape of a man it was said had any chance with him in a fight whether the story is true or not i cannot say but the report went that by one blow of his fists he a and kept it in his pocket in t he shape of a to show to all his when they were about to fight him undoubtedly he had given every giant in ireland a considerable beating fin m himself and he swore by the solemn contents of s that he would never rest night or day winter or summer till he would serve fin with the same if he could catch him fin however who no doubt was the cock of the walk on his own had a strong to meet a

giant who could make a young earthquake or a when he was angry so he accordingly kept about from place to place the note by the messrs chambers in whose admirable journal the above legend appeared a most extraordinary coincidence between my illustration of s strength and that of the giant alluded to by the messrs chambers the above paper gives a good idea of the strange hues which the national humour and fancy have thrown over most of the early popular legends of ireland fin or m is the same half being who figures as in s s poems he was probably a distinguished warrior in some early stage of the history of ireland different authorities place him in the fifth and the ninth centuries whatever his real age and whatever bis real qualities he was afterwards looked back to as a giant of immense size and strength and became the subject of numerous wild and warlike legends both in ireland and in the of scotland our poets of the middle ages give evidence of the great fame then enjoyed by both and the son of for instance in represents his hero robert as making allusion to these two personages at in who died in their names into his poem the palace of honour great and t they should be gods in ireland y a legend of not much to his credit as a to be sure whenever he happened to get the hard word that was on the scent of him this then was the of the whole movement although ne put it on his anxiety to see and i am not saying but there was some truth in that too however the short and the long of it was with reverence be it spoken that he heard was coming to the to have a trial of strength with him and he was naturally enough seized in consequence with a very warm and sudden sit of affection for his wife poor woman who was delicate in her health and leading besides a very lonely uncomfortable life of it he assured them in his absence he accordingly pulled up the fir tree as i said before and having it into a walking stick set out on his affectionate travels to see his darling on the top of by the way another poem of obscure but of the same age as the above entitled an of the s part play the extravagant popular notions of the day respecting the vast stature of not only fin and but of fin s wife of fin it at ay when he danced the after he grew at u v eleven mile wide was his mouth his teeth were ten miles square he upon his stand and the down with his hand and set them in a gold above his wife s hair f the wife it may be enough to say for she took the fever for all the in france and not be till her leg a though she was young and tender in irish narrative as appears from mr s present sketch fin and his dame are kept within something comparatively moderate as respects bulk and strength at the same time that enough of the giant is retained to contrast with the modern and natural feel in assigned to them and the motives and on which they and their enemy are represented as acting fever a a legend of in truth to state the suspicions of the country at the time the people wondered very much why it was that fin selected such a windy spot for his and they even went so far as to tell him as much what can you mane mr m said they by your tent upon the top of where you never are without a breeze day or night winter or summer and where you re often forced to take your without either going to bed or turning up your little finger ay an where besides this there s the sorrow s own want of water why said fin ever since i was the height of a round tower i was known to be fond of having a good prospect of my own and where the neighbours could i find a better spot for a good prospect than the top of as for water i am sinking a pump f and goodness as soon as the s made i intend to finish it now this was more of fin s philosophy for the real state of the case was that he pitched upon the top of in order that he might be able to see coming towards the house and of course that he himself might go to look after his distant transactions in other parts of the country rather than but no matter we do not wish to be too hard on fin all we have to say is that if he wanted a spot from which to keep a sharp look out and between ourselves he did want it or or its own cousin he could not find a or more convenient situation for it in the sweet and sagacious province of god save all here said fin good on putting his honest face into his own door fin an you re welcome home to a common name for the cloud or rack that hangs as a of wet weather about the peak of a mountain t there is upon the top of this hill an opening that bears a very strong resemblance to the of an extinct there is also a stone upon which i have heard the rev smith f t c now of the adjoining parish say that he found characters aud if do not mistake i think he took a ac ol y a legend of your own you bully here followed a that is said to have made the

waters of the lake at the bottom of the hill curl as it were with kindness and sympathy faith said fin beautiful an how are you and how did you sport your figure during my absence my never a as a grass widow as ever there was in sweet among the bushes fin gave a short good humoured cough and laughed most heartily to show her how much he was delighted that she made herself happy in his absence an what brought you home so soon fin said she why said fin putting in his answer in the proper way never the thing but the purest of love and affection for yourself sure you know s truth anyhow fin spent two or three happy days with and felt himself very comfortable considering the dread he had of this however grew upon him so much that his wife could not but perceive that something lay on his mind which he kept altogether to himself let a woman alone in the meantime for or a secret out of her good man when she wishes fin was a proof of this it s this said he that s troubling me when the fellow gets angry and begins to stamp he ll shake you a whole and it s well known that he can stop a for he always carries one about him m the shape of a to show to anyone that might it as he spoke he clapped his thumb in his mouth which he always did he wanted to or to know anything that happened in his absence and the wife who knew what he did it for said very sweetly fin darling i hope you don t bite your thumb at me dear said fill but i bite my thumb said he a legend op yes jewel but take care and don t draw blood said she ah fin don t my bully don t he s coming said fin i see him below thank goodness dear an who is it glory be to god that replied fin and how to manage i don t know if i run away i am disgraced and i know that sooner or later i must meet him for my thumb tells me so when will he be here v said she tomorrow about two o clock replied fin with a groan well my bully don t be cast down said depend on me and maybe i ll bring you better out of this scrape than ever you could bring yourself by your rule o thumb this fin s heart very much for he knew that was hand and glove with the and indeed to tell the truth she was supposed to be a fairy herself if she was however she must have been a kind hearted one for by all accounts she never did anything but good in the neighbourhood now it so happened that had a sister named living opposite them on the very top of which i have mentioned already and this was quite as powerful as herself the beautiful valley that lies between them is not more than about three or four miles broad so that of a summer s evening and were able to hold many an agreeable conversation across it from the one hill top to the other upon this occasion resolved to consult her sister as to what was best to be done in the difficulty that surrounded them said she are you at home t no said the other i m picking in the devil s well said get up to the top of look about you and then tell us what you see well replied lam there now a legend of what do you see asked the other goodness be about us l exclaimed i see the biggest giant that ever was known coming up from ay said there s our difficulty that giant is the great and he s now up to leather fin what s to de done t i ll call to him she replied to come up to and refresh himself and may be that will give you and fin time to think of some plan to get yourselves out of the scrape but she proceeded i m short of butter having in the house only half a dozen and as i m to have a few giants and to spend the with me i d feel thankful if you d throw me up fifteen or sixteen or the largest you have got and you ll oblige me very much ill do that with a heart and a half replied and indeed i feel myself under great obligations to you for your kindness in keeping him off of us till we see what can be done for what would become of us all if anything happened fin poor man v she accordingly got the largest of butter she had which might be about the weight of a couple a dozen so that you may easily judge of its size and calling up to her sister said she are you ready i m going to throw you up a so be prepared to catch it i will said the other a good throw now and take care it does not fall short threw it but in consequence of her anxiety about fin and she forgot to say the charm that was to send it up so that instead of reaching as she expected it fell about half way between the two hills at the edge of the broad near my curse upon you she exclaimed you ve disgraced me i now change you into a grey stone lie there as a testimony oi i and a legend of may evil the first living man that will ever attempt to remove or injure you and sure enough there it lies to this day with the mark of the four

fingers and thumb in it exactly as it came out of her hand never mind said i must only do the best i can with if all fail i ll give him a cast of to keep the wind out of his stomach or a of oak bark to draw it in a bit but above all things think of some plan to get fin out of the scrape he s in otherwise he s a lost man you know you used to be sharp and ready and my own opinion is that it will go hard with you of you ll yet she then made a high smoke on the top of the hill after which she put her finger in her mouth and gave three and by that knew he was invited to for this was the way that the irish long ago gave a sign to all strangers and travellers to let them know they were welcome to come and take share of whatever was going in the meantime fin was very melancholy and did not know what to do or how to act at all was an ugly customer no doubt to meet with and moreover tne idea of the confounded cake the very heart within him what chance could he have strong and brave though he was with a man who could when put into a passion walk the country into and knock into the thing was impossible and fin knew not on what hand to turn him right or left backward or forward where to go he could form no guess whatsoever said he can you do nothing for me where s all your invention am i to be like a rabbit before your eyes and to have my name disgraced for ever in the sight of all my tribe and me the best man among them how am i to fight this man mountain this huge cross between an earthquake and a m k wc sl s pocket that was once j legend up easy fin replied of you keep your toe in your pump talking of maybe weu give aa good as any he brings with otherwise if i don t treat him to as smart feeding he s got this many a day never trust again leave him to me and do just as l bid you tliis relieved fin very much for after all he ii great confidence in his wife knowing as he did she had got him out of many a the present however was the greatest of all b still lie began to get mil rage and was able to eat i as usual then drew the threads of different colours which she did to find out the best way of succeeding in an thing of importance she went about she them into three with three colours in putting one on her right arm one round her hear and the third round tier right ankle for then knew that nothing could fail with her that undertook having everything now prepared she sent to the neighbours and and twenty ire which she took ami into the hear of aud twenty cakes of bread and these she on this ire in the usual way setting them aside in tl cupboard according as they were done she then pi down a large pot of new milk which she made and and gave i m di r instructions how to use tiie when t should come done all this she sat down quite contented wai for his arrival on the next day about two o clock the hour at which he w is expected for fi knew as much by the of his thumb j this was a curious ty kin s thumb but notwithstanding all the wisdom and logic he tn out it could never have here were it not for the wit of his wife in tliis thing moreover he was very much resembled by foe for it was u huge strength possessed all lay i a legend op of his right hand and that if he happened by any to lose it he was no more notwithstanding his bulk than a common man at length the next day he was seen coming across the valley and knew that it was time to commence operations she immediately made the cradle and desired fin to lie down in it and cover himself up with the clothes you must pass for your own child said she so just lie there snug and say nothing but be guided by me this to be sure was to fin i mean going into the cradle in such a cowardly manner but ne knew well and finding that he had nothing else for it with a very face he gathered himself into it and lay snug as she had desired him about two o clock as he had been expected came in god save all here said he is this where the great fin m lives t indeed it is honest man replied god save you kindly won t you be sitting v thank you ma am says he sitting down you re mrs m i suppose i am said she and i have no reason i hope to be ashamed of my husband no said the other he has the name of being the strongest and man in ireland but for all that there s a man not far from you that s very desirous of taking a shake with him is he at home why then no she replied and if ever a man left his house in a fury he did it appears that some one told him of a big of a giant called being down at the to look for him and so he set out there to try if he could catch him i hope for the poor

giant s sake he won t meet with for if he does fin will make of him at once well said the other i am and i have been seeking him these twelve months but he always kept clear of me and i will never rest night or day tm i lay my hands on him a legend of j at this set up a loud laugh of great contempt by the way and looked at him as if he was only a mere handful of a man j did you ever see fin t said she changing her j manner ail at once how could i v said he he always took care to keep his distance i thought so she replied i judged as much and if you take my advice you poor looking creature you ll pray night and day that you may never see him for i tell you it will be a black day for you when you do but in the mean time you perceive that the wind s on the door and as fin himself is from home maybe you d be civil enough to turn the house for it s always what fin does when he s here this was a even to but he got up however and after pulling the middle finger of his right hand until it cracked three times he went outside and getting his arms about the house completely turned it as she had wished when fin saw this he felt a certain description of moisture which shall be nameless out through every pore of his skin but depending upon her woman s wit felt not a whit then said she as you are so civil maybe you d do another obliging turn for us as fin s not to do it himself you see after this long stretch of dry weather we ve had we feel very badly off for want of water now fin says there s a fine somewhere under the rocks behind the hill here below and it was his intention to pull them asunder but having heard of you he left the place in such a fury that ne never thought of it now if you try to find it i d feel it a kindness she then brought down to see the place which was then all one solid rock and after looking at it for some time he cracked his right middle finger nine times and stooping down tore a about four hundred feet deep and a quarter of a mile in length which has since been c i ta ax g a legend of ford s this feat nearly threw herself off her guard but what won t a woman s sagacity and presence of mind accomplish you ll now come in said she and eat a bit of such humble fare as we can give you fin even although he and you are enemies would scorn not to treat you kindly m his own house and indeed if i didn t do it even in his absence he would not be pleased with me she accordingly brought him in and placing half a dozen of the cakes we spoke of before him together with a can or two of butter a side of boiled bacon and a of she desired him to help himself for this be it known was long before the invention of potatoes who by the way was a as well as a hero put one of the cakes in his mouth to take a huge out of it when both fin and were stunned with a noise that resembled something between a growl and a yell blood and fury he shouted how is this here are two of my teeth out what kind of bread is this you gave me what s the matter said coolly matter shouted the other again why here are the two best teeth in my head gone why said she that s the only bread he ever eats when at home but indeed i forgot to tell you that nobody can eat it but himself and that child in the cradle there i thought however that as you were reported to be rather a stout little fellow of your size you might be able to manage it and i did not wish to a man that thinks himself able to fight fin here s another cake maybe it s not so hard as that at the moment was not only hungry but so he accordingly made a fresh set at the second cake and immediately another yell was heard twice as loud as the first thunder and lie roared take your bread out of this or i will not have a tooth in my head there s another pair of them gone i a legend of well honest man replied if you re not able to eat the bread say so quietly and don t be the child in the cradle there there he s awake upon me fin now gave a that startled the giant as coming from such a as he was represented to be mother said he i m hungry get me something to eat went over and putting into his hand a cake that had no in it fin whose appetite in the meantime was sharpened by what he saw going forward soon made it disappear was and secretly thanked his stars that he had the good fortune to miss meeting fin for as he said to himself i d have no chance with a man who could eat such bread as that which even his son that s but in his cradle can before my i d like to take a glimpse at the lad in the cradle said he to for i can tell you that the infant who can manage that is no joke to look