168 Walks in Ireland. [FEB. 



blood, or partook of his guilty prosperity, in bargain, in friendship, but 

 above all in marriage. 



This man had an only child, a daughter, and secluded as she was from 

 all society, by both popular opinion, and by the sour ascetic habits of 

 her father, it seemed not unlikely that, in spite of her attractions as an 

 heiress, the curse of old maidenhood might fall upon her, and thus the 

 fatal race perish root and branch but it fell out otherwise ; her singular 

 story reached the ears of one who was entitled by prescription to defy 

 the devil and all his works a man who bore a charmed life, who was 

 shielded alike by circumstances and profession from all apprehensions 

 either as to this world or the next, inasmuch as he had already gone 

 " deeper than ever plummet sounded" in actual practical experience of 

 the evils of the one, and theoretical acquisition of a title to those of the 

 other, being, at once, a pauper, a rogue, and an attorney. This esti- 

 mable gentleman having nothing to lose, and as little to fear, had, of 

 course, every thing to hope and gain, and despising prophecy and warn- 

 ing, made up his mind to win the mysterious heiress. Introduction in 

 the ordinary way was, of course, out of the question ; his intended was, 

 as I have said, shutout from the world by the very circumstances which 

 constituted her attraction in his eyes, and even had the case been other- 

 wise, nobody who knew him would have had the hardihood to intro- 

 duce him as an eligible acquaintance, much less as a suitor, to her, or 

 any one else. 



An obstacle like this, however, was a trifle to the enamoured man of 

 law ; he borrowed a steed from a credulous client, taking care that it 

 was not a white one, lest the colour should excite unpleasant recollec- 

 tions, and commending himself to the patronage and protection of Mer- 

 cury and St. Nicholas, set forth to achieve an introduction for himself. 

 Arrived at the gate of his land of promise, his charger, hitherto as meek 

 and patient as Rozinante himself, became suddenly unmanageable, upon 

 instinct, I suppose, he reared, and kicked: and snorted, and bounded, as 

 if he actually had discovered what an attorney he had got upon his 

 back. The gatekeeper and family ran out to see what was the matter, 

 and just as they appeared, down came the adventurous equestrian at their 

 feet. When the compassionate group raised him from the ground, he, 

 in a faint voice, begged to be carried to their master's house, as he felt 

 so ill from the effects of the fall he had received, that he was utterly 

 unable to proceed ; his request was accordingly complied with, and a 

 few minutes found him languidly reclining on a sofa, under the pitying 

 eye of the gentle object of his wishes, and ready to be fallen in love with 

 after the most approved fashion. They were married of course. 



They were married, and, to all appearance, their situation was as pros- 

 perous as heart could wish. The unjust steward was called to account for 

 his stewardship before One from whose eye no secrets are hid ; and the 

 fatal possessions of " the man with the white horse" passed into the hands 

 of his son-in-law, without inquiry or dispute. The story began to die in 

 the country ; the new possessor was of a gay and hilarious temperament, 

 and that goes a great way to conciliate the world, worthless and unprin- 

 cipled as he undeniably was; at all events he was a good-humoured 

 rogue, and cheated facetiously, and the ludicrous trick by which he had 

 won the hand of the heiress, formed, by antagonism as it were, a sort of 

 set off in his favour against the ghostly suspicions which rested on the 

 memory of her father. In his case there was no foul practice against life, 



