LIFE IN IRELAND 13 



Brian's acquirements at the boarding-school were 

 numerous, he had money ad libitum^ so that the books 

 were not much attended to, but merely looked at for 

 form's sake, as a judge does at a jury. All the life 

 that was to be seen in Limerick he saw ; country vices 

 are so gross that they are disgusting ; town vices are 

 'thrown off' with such elegant refinement, that they 

 appear like virtues. 



Brian fought the fishermen, and smoked the Orange 

 Lodges, drank sweet pea (whiskey) with Poll Codec the 

 wig-seller before daylight, and often finished the night 

 by dancing at Mother Murphy's on the Coal Quay, till 

 he could hardly reel to bed ; nay, more than once he 

 stretched his carrio?i amongst the wolf-dogs in Galway 

 Gaol. There he was in safety, even had he committed 

 a felony. A criminal under the gibbet in Green Street, 

 Dublin, was accosted by a real Con naught boy, his 

 friend, with 'Arrah why my dear jewel, and what are 

 you going to be hanged for?' — 'For the want of a 

 Galway jury,' replied the fellow; for they would surely 

 have acquitted him. 



With all his faults, Brian had a warm heart ; he was 

 good-tempered, affable, and condescending; generous 

 in the extreme ; and every son of sorrow he considered 

 as a brother : a more hearty, honest, country squire 

 never set out to see Life in Dublin. 



Thus far I have thought it necessary to premise of 

 our country hero ; his character will unfold as we go 

 along, and at the end of the Essay upon Life, the 

 reader may form an opinion of it himself, or let it 

 alone, just as he pleases. 



During the short stay Brian made at Belfast, he 



