LIFE IN IRELAND 185 



given from national vanity as admiration of the com- 

 position — vmiiiy and ostentatio?i are the prevailing vices 

 of a real Irish gentle?fiafi ; so that if you took him by 

 the ears, and shook him out of his breeches, vanity 

 would still cling to his rump in the shape of a ragged 

 shirt : this is a national feeling, it is hereditary ever 

 since the days of St. Patrick, and can never be 

 eradicated. In truth, I hope it never will — it excites 

 to deeds of Glory, Patriotism, and Charity ; and of 

 what consequence is it to me or you from what impulse 

 a benevolent action is done, so that society, and the 

 lower orders in particular, benefit from it. Far be it 

 from me to say, that an Irishman does all his actions 

 from vanity alone : no, I think he is possessed of the 

 most liberal and humane sentiments — he considers 

 himself as the child of misfortune, and every son of 

 sorrow as his brother. There is not upon our earth a 

 creature bearing form, native of the savage wild, or 

 gloomy air, for which an Irishman has not some 

 regard ; his exterior is rough, and his manners often 

 rude — but he does not mean it, he would rather die 

 than be dishonoured, and he will dishonour no one, 

 not even in thought : he is impetuous in his disposi- 

 tion — he cannot distinctly see his way before him, but 

 he blunders on in the steeple chase of mankind with 

 fearless intrepidity; nothing can stop his way — he often 

 loses the race, but he never loses his temper and dis- 

 position ; he is the same thoughtless being at the 

 cannon's mouth, and in the drawing-room of folly and 

 fashion — in the latter he will figure, have his double 

 entendre and his laugh — the same in battle ; he will 

 smile and jocosely say, when treading the secret mine of 



