218 Lambert's Mural A/fairs of Ireland. 



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

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

 sible that he may have been instructed by his superiors : be that as it may, 

 that the delinquency is general, will admit, if not of positive proof, at least 

 of illustration, however ludicrous, that may be considered tantamount 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 first gem of the sea," and his " occupation 's gone;" in fact, he 

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

 met with between the Giant's Causeway and 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 worthy personages in his denunciation against 

 venomous reptiles, 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 peasant, breasting the storm with wiry 

 sinews, his ragged coat streaming in the wind, 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 6d. to 

 lOd. a yard. 



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

 after having grown his own flax on land, for which he must pay from thirty 

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

 drying, crigging, dressing, spinning, weaving, and taking to market. Then, 

 with the proceeds of the sale of this cloth, together with 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 ! Here is debasement ! A fellow-creature, 

 gifted by the Almighty with all the essentials of manhood equal 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 effects of 

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

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

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

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

 obtained such a mastery over his affections, that even in the very whirl- 

 wind and tempest 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 combine with the commercial people, as they are now 

 beginning to do, to extend the benefits of education : for 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, 

 hospitable, generous, and charitable. They possess not only a high sense 

 of honour and integrity, but a proper and an exalted 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 half 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. 



" Observations on Forest Trees in general." It would amount to an almost 

 positive injustice to quote a single passage from this portion of the work. 

 The author under each head has given plain and practical directions re- 

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



