218 Lanibn/'s JRiiral Affairs of Ireland. 



in making a bargain, and tliat, too, without the least misgiving or com- 

 punction ; liowcvcr, as example is more impressive than precept, it is pos- 

 silile tliat lie iiiav iiave Ik'l'm instructed by Ills superiors : l)c tiiat as it may, 

 that tlie <kliiH|uVntv is general, will admit, if not of positive proof, at least 

 of illustration, however ludicrous, that maybe considered tiintamount to 

 it. A Yorkshire horsedealer is generally considered a shrewd clever man 

 in his calling; but let him once set his foot on '• this first flower of the 

 earth, and fust gem of the sea," and his " occupation 's gone;" in fact, he 

 ■would soon lose his teeth ! Again, a ilescendant of Abraham is not to be 

 met with iietwecn the Giant's Causeway anil Cape Clear; he is indeed a 

 nondescript : he who peregrinates every region of the globe, " to buy 

 and sell, and get gain," cannot exist in this country ! However, St. Patrick 

 may have included these wortiiy personages in his denunciation against 

 venomous rejjtiles, and that will account for their absence. 



Let us take another view of the inmate of the cabin, for he may be found 

 of all tints. Observe the half-clad |)easant, breasting the storm with wiry 

 sinews, his ragired coat streaming in the wintl, travelling to some neigh- 

 bouring market with a load on his shoulders. This load is a web of linen 

 cloth, for which, should he be fortunate enough, he may obtain from Grf. to 

 lOr/. a yard. 



And this trifling sum is all that tiiis man obtains for a yard of cloth, 

 after having grown his own flax on lautl, for which he nuist pay from thirty 

 to eighty shillings per acre; after the labour attending the pulling, watering, 

 drying, crigiiing, dressing, spinning, weaving, anil taking to market. Then, 

 with the proceeds of the sale of this cloth, together w itii the sale of his corn, 

 for these men generally rent three or four acres of ground, he contrives to 

 pay his rent ; while himself and family live, or rather drag out a miserable 

 existence, entirely on potatoes ; for his ducks and fowls, geese and turkeys, 

 are all brought to market to enable him to purchase something to cover 

 his nakedness with ; nor will his utmost exertions enable him to procure 

 better fare. 



Here, then, is degradation I Here is debasement ! A fellow-creature, 

 gifted by the Almighty with all the essentials of manhood ccjual to the 

 proudest sons of earth, is thus bowed down to, and made to bite, the very 

 dust. Is it surprising, then, that such a man, smarting under the ertects of 

 such brutalising wretchedness, his " passions wild and strong," — is it mar- 

 vellous, then, that such a being should equal the Imlian in artifice and 

 cunning, or in ferocity, when his passions are tunudtiiously excited by 

 designing deniagogues, who, by and through the grossest superstition, have 

 obtained such a mastery over his attcctions, that even in tiie very whirl- 

 wind and tcMupest of his passions they can control and mould him to their 

 will ? Nor does there appear any hope of amendment, unless the benevo- 

 lent resident gentry coml)ine with the couunercial people, as they are now 

 beginning to do, to extend the i)eiu'fits of education : fi)r it is the latter 

 class of men that will eventually operate as a lever to raise their humble 

 brethren from such a state of thraldom and degradation ; for the great 

 majority of this class are well educated, kind, open-hearted, high-minded, 

 hospitai)le, generous, and charitable. They possess iu)t only a high sense 

 of honour and integrity, but a proper and an exalteil sense of the relative 

 duties of man. Let then but such a class of men earnestly set their 

 shoulders to the wheel, and the work is luilf done; for until there is an 

 improvement in the moral condition of the peasantry, English capital will 

 flow but tardily into Ireland, and without it the reclaiming of bogs and 

 wastes will proceed but very slowly. 



" ( )bservations on Forest Trees in general." It would anu)uut to an almost 

 positive injnstice to (|uote a single passage from this portion of the work. 

 Tiie author inuler each head has given plain and practical directions re- 

 specting the culture of the various forest trees ; and besides he has in- 



