276 Uneducated Man the Creature of Passt< 



barbarous as is the penal code, the mildness 

 with which it is administered greatly disarms it 

 of its horrors. 



To dilate on the morals of the people of Ire- 

 land, would require a more intimate knowledge 

 of their character, and a much longer residence 

 in the country than has been permitted us on 

 the present occasion. Their conduct is fre- 

 quently marked by the most incredible absurdity 

 and opposite extremes ; one hour dignifies the 

 man with every kind and noble sentiment the 

 next degrades his nature by acts of the most 

 brutal malevolence. Man, uneducated, is the. 

 creature of passion ; and in his contempt of 

 legal restraint, he feels he has a right to become 

 the avenger of his own wrongs. The instances 

 of savage ferocity, which occasionally occur, 

 operate to the general discredit of the Irish 

 character. 



Mr. Arthur Young has furnished a deplorable 

 picture of their moral state in some parts of 

 Ireland, exhibiting the lower orders as so lost 

 to all sense of decency, as to consent to the 

 prostitution of their wives and daughters to 

 their landlords and superiors ! This accusation 

 has recently been repeated. In conversations 

 with the well-informed, in various parts of Ire- 



