i8 LIFE IN IRELAND 



If Brian did not exclaim with his servant Mooney, his 

 heart beat a responsive note — he was astonished and 

 enraptured. The numerous elegant structures by which 

 the streets and squares of this superb city are formed, 

 the unparalleled public buildings rising in majestic 

 grandeur, the winding canals, the soft-flowing Liffey 

 and her beautiful bridges, the wide bay and numerous 

 shipping, the rough rocks of Howth's Hill, the sloping 

 shores of Dalkey, Dunleary, and Black Rock, and 

 Wicklow's wide-spreading lawns, upon which 



Giant mountains take their stand, 

 Like sentinels through fairy land ; 



All, all combined, threw such an extacy into the spirits 

 of Brian Boru, that he loudly exclaimed, as he flogged 

 his bays into a full gallop, ' The sooner I 'm there the 

 better, for surely the soul of Ireland lies before me; 

 and if there's life in the world it must be in Dublin.' 

 They soon ran down alongside of Nelson's Monument, 

 shook the battlements of Carlisle Bridge, threw dust in 

 the eyes of all the Bank clerks and shoeblacks beneath 

 the pillars of the Parliament House, quartered the 

 College pavement, and ran bang-up to the door of 

 Morrison's Hotel in Dawson Street. 



After a hearty supper, Brian toasted, in company 

 with an old half-pay captain in the Inniskillen Dragoons, 

 whom he had invited to partake of his bottle, * Dublin 

 for ever ! may it be Dublin wealth, DubHn peace, and 

 Dublin pleasure to all who visit it to partake of Life in 

 Ireland ! ' 'A bad pun is better than no pun at all,' 

 says Captain Grammachree, 'so here's — May the fellow 

 be doubly d d that doesn't drink your toast in a 



