158 A YEAR OF liberty; or, 



On we sped, past Screen and across tlie Easkey. Gradually the 

 sun went down, the crimson light faded to a delicate rose tint, and 

 then all was grey. Here and there over the waste a momentary 

 blaze lit up the solitary pane in some mud hut ; deeper and deeper 

 grew the twilight ; and, ere the lamps of Ballina shone out into the 

 darkness, mistress and maid, master and man, had wended far into 

 the drowsy realms of the Land of Nod. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



Ballina The Tideway. 



July 7. 

 Ballina ! What pleasant remembrances will this name summon 

 back, perhaps, to some hard-worked denizen of the metropolis. It 

 may remind him of his short but unforgotten holiday, and, as he 

 sits brain-weary at his desk, may give rise to a train of thought 

 which will cheer him through the day. Reasonable labour is at 

 once man's destiny and his privilege ; but toil, whether of mind or 

 body, should be succeeded by reasonable recreation. What does the 

 unceasing pursuit of wealth lead to, even if the pursuer finds 

 strength to run down his game? What, indeed, but vanity and 

 vexation of spirit ^youth early lost, the power of receiving enjoy- 

 ment from innocent trifles forgotten, temper soured, health impaired, 

 gout, and the doctor's bill ? Yes, these are some of the Mammon 

 worshippers' bad debts to the world, the flesh, and the devil : time 

 and the arch fiend never repay. Too much of a good thing is good 

 for nothing, and even money may be bought too dear. As a boy I 

 thought so; I think so as a man, and now would rather possess 

 innocence and peace, health, and a light heart, than all the wealth 

 of the world, if its winning destroyed the one or crushed down the 

 other. 



