THE BAWN VONE. J 29 



situation was so little central that they had scarcely any intercourse 

 with those of neighbouring counties, a people of warm and hospitable 

 manners, attached to their superiors, and untainted by crime. This 

 was, however, before 98. From that time much distrust was en- 

 gendered amongst all classes in a place which was the chief scene of 

 that national calamity. Long however before this period occurred, 

 the incident I am about to relate first let me pause upon some le- 

 gendary recollections. In fact, let me have my own way. A story 

 is not the better because it proceeds in a right line ; a literary feast 

 is to be approached like a dinner : you do not run in breathless haste 

 to ascertain what is laid upon the table. Oh no! If you be an epicure 

 of the right sort, you jog on briskly, not hastily ; not by a barren 

 road or a short cut, but through a mazy green lane ; not lazily, but 

 indulgingly. So, let me pick up my fruit as I may, His a simple 

 banquet, yet redolent with nature and with truth. 



The house in which dwelt Mrs. H. and her children to the third 

 generation, for she was a grandmother, was one of those old-fashioned 

 domiciles to which you have some difficulty in according a proper 

 qualification. With too much pretension for a farm house, it was yet 

 not sufficiently imposing in its architecture to be called a castle or a 

 seat. To use a modern phrase for getting rid of a dilemma, truth 

 might lie between. It was originally, perhaps, the residence of some 

 farmer, from whom it was purchased, either in the necessity of the 

 moment or from the desirableness of its situation. Additions might 

 then have been made according to the necessity of the case, and time, 

 which reconciles all things, mellowed a union which at first might 

 have looked but ill assorted to the eye. But what gave an imposing 

 air to the whole, what hallowed the connection, was an ample dower 

 of elm and beech, from which a cloud of crows occasionally winged 

 their flight, or rendered musical, for there is no discord in nature, 

 giving an air of hospitality to the place, as it were, by the utterance 

 of their own security. 



At the end of an avenue to which cannot, even for the purposes of 

 the picturesque, be accorded a gate for a happy carelessness was a 

 characteristic of the time might dailv from morning to " dewy eve," 

 be seen the various groups, all waiting for, or chatting with, or 

 leaving their grievances before the Bawn Vone. Never did Beth- 

 saida present so motley a group, for the "halt, the lame, and the 

 blind " were but as a portion of the crowd ; for such was the exercise 

 of her benevolence that it was deemed boundless in its capacity, and 

 often must the good lady have smiled at the infallibility of power of 

 which she was made the mistress. 



Yet let it not be supposed that she was one of those pliant creatures 

 whose merit arose from a mere easiness of temper, a foolish habit of 

 giving for the vanity of temporary respect, or a desire to be rid of 

 importunity. She was the contrary of all that. Hasty, irritable, 

 positive, and proud, she moved more like a queen among her subjects 

 than a gentle benefactress. Her very port and gait were indicative 

 of her temper. Although approaching the climax of threescore and 

 ten, there was not an inclination in her tall figure, her eye shone 

 with an eagle brilliancy, her bold and prominent features were all 

 expressive of authority, but of a command which was not tyrannical. 



