I90 LIFE IN IRELAND 



finest on the Curragh, yet they seldom won a plate, and 

 he never won a bet : his house in Stephen's Green was 

 the resort of all the sprigs of fashion, and his 'petit 

 soupers ' were pic iiic in their kind. Sally Sfephe?tso?i 

 dashed through Dublin in an equipage not surpassed 

 by that of the first Dutchess in the land : she sported 

 her box at the new theatre in Hawkins Street, and 

 another at Peter Street, where the asses go to see the 

 horses dance, and the pigeons whistle. At every place 

 of extravagance she led the van as a Jirst rate demirep. 

 Brian had boat races with his cutter in Dublin Bay : 

 he challenged Lord Behnore and the Marquess of Sligo 

 to sail for a thousand pounds aside, from Lambay to 

 Dunleary, and he lost, as usual : he ventured two 

 thousand pounds upon a favourite filly, 'Sally'; she 

 ran on the wrong side of the post, and he lost. — At 

 Darcy's billiard table he shook his elbow, and shook 

 out of his pocket more than three times the annual 

 rent of his estate — 'twas in vain that Sir Shawn 

 O'DoGHERTY and friend Grammachree endeavoured 

 to oppose him ; he was more obstinate than a mule, 

 and more silly than an ass ; and, added to all, he 

 drank to an excess which he had never been accus- 

 tomed to do. His friends gradually fell off one by one, 

 and he was almost alone in the world. Sir Shawn 

 regularly attended him, and frequently partook of his 

 hospitality, and opened his house in return, more for 

 the purpose of weaning him from his errors, than 

 indulging his foibles, which were rapidly leading to 

 ruin. 



Brian had overdrawn his agent in Galway by many 

 thousands, and borrowed money on mortgages over 



