250 LIFE IN IRELAND 



was no occasion — he has laughed and wept with me 

 when there was not much occasion for either : he has 

 lied for me because he thought it would serve my 

 interests ; and he is ready to lay down his life for me 

 if I should require it. He shall never want a friend 

 whilst I exist, or those that come after me. 



I won't offend you, said the Baronet, as you are now 

 in a condition to repay me : here are two hu7idred 

 pou7ids at your service, and henceforth let Gramma- 

 CHREE be your agent, and I '11 be your banker ; and if 

 you ever draw the principal, the men o^ principle will 

 draw upon you, either a smail sword or a hair-trigger. 

 Matters were soon arranged, and the clouds that shed 

 a gloomy influence over the fortunes of Brian Boru 

 were dispersed by the bright beams of a sun which 

 rose in splendour never to set in gloom. 



There is something pleasing in retrospection : when 

 we look over the dark and dreary path that we have 

 trod, from the cradle to maturity, and the perils we 

 have encountered, have overcome, or given way beneath 

 the pressure, we feel a grateful regard for that Being 

 who has carried us through every ill. If the morning 

 of our life has been unsullied by a single cloud, and 

 one bright ray of happiness has shed its lustre over our 

 day-spring, how sweet must be the contemplation, that 

 Heaven has smiled upon us from the hour of our birth, 

 and will in all probability smile upon us on the brink 

 of the grave. 



The heart of an Irishman is not harder than that 

 of his neighbours ; and Brian Boru accounted himself 

 blest by Heaven, that his piinishnefit had not been 

 adequate to his sins. 



