86 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



difficulty was a moral difficulty and nothing else 

 in the true sense of the word mores as I think no 

 one could doubt who saw the typical Irish tenant as 

 I saw him forty years ago, dirty and ragged, his 

 breeches without a button at the knees, and his 

 worsted stockings about- his heels, hopelessly unim- 

 provable for any useful end involving continued hard 

 work or steady purpose. I had no thought either for 

 or against clearing the estate, as it is called. I wanted 

 it in the hands of good tenants. 



The hindrances to any man's prosperity in Ireland, 

 of whatever class, are simply his own faults. A few 

 may have met with hardships and drawbacks, as some 

 will do in every country under the sun, I suppose, so 

 long as this world is not Heaven. But every honest 

 industrious man in any walk of life in Ireland has 

 chances of prospering better than he would have else- 

 where, so far as my knowledge extends. And the 

 best proof is that honest, industrious men invariably 

 prosper. I am constantly asked by men of different 

 classes, What they shall do with their sons ? I have 

 the same answer for all. If honest and true, their 

 chances in Ireland are far better than any others I 

 know of anywhere. 



There has been no difficulty in the way of any 

 man in Ireland that ordinary industry and energy 

 could not get over. The true hindrances have been 

 his own faults. Drink, indolence, debt, and schem- 

 ing, with ignorance and want of self-reliance as 



