236 LOUGH DERG. 



not Lord Palmerston very popular here ? ' 

 ' Was not his domain in fine order ?' — ' Was 

 not he an excellent landlord ?' and so forth ; 

 and then sallied forth with his 'intelligent 

 guide ' to judge with his own eyes as before. 

 His intelligent guide, who had not exactly 

 expected this, was a little taken aback ; and 

 being pretty well aware that Lord Palmer- 

 ston's estate would not pass muster, took 

 him to the next estate, and showed him a 

 nice little village which had just been built 

 on the side of Benbulben by my old friend 

 and schoolfellow, Sir Robert Gore Booth. 

 Inglis might have said, and with very great 

 justice too, that the landlord of that village 

 was, if not the best, at least one of the best 

 landlords in the land ; but this, as Sir Robert 

 was a wicked Tory, would have suited neither 

 Inglis's purpose nor that of his intelligent 

 guide, whose object was to procure him the 

 peculiar sort of information he was so anxi- 

 ously seeking. So the guide suppressed 

 names, but went on examining the people, 

 and helping Inglis to elicit all sorts of praise 

 of their landlord, which in truth their land- 

 lord fullv deserved — all this was carefullv 



