h a simultaneous impulse both
approached--entered--and took one last look of a spot to which their
hearts clung with enduring attachment. They then returned; and as they
passed, Owen put forth his hand, picked a few small pebbles out of the
wall, and put them in his pocket.

"Farewell!" said he, "and may the blessing of God rest upon you! We
now lave you for ever! We're goin' at last to beg our bread through the
world wide, where none will know the happy days we passed widin your
walls! We must lave you; but glory be to the Almighty, we are goin'
wid a clear conscience; we took no revenge into our own hands, but left
everything to God above us. We are poor, but there is neither blood, nor
murder, nor dishonesty upon our heads. Don't cry, Kathleen--don't cry,
childher; there is still a good god above who can and may do something
for us yet, glory be to his holy name!"

He then passed on with his family, which, including himself, made in
all, eight paupers, being an additional burden upon the country, which
might easily have been avoided. His land was about two years waste,
and when it was ultimately taken, the house was a ruin, and the money
allowed by the landlord for building a new one, together with the
loss of two years' rent, would if humanely directed, have enabled Owen
M'Carthy to remain a solvent tenant.

When an Irish peasant is reduced to pauperism, he seldom commences the
melancholy task of soliciting alms in his native place. The trial is
always a severe one, and he is anxious to hide his shame and misery from
the eyes of those who know him. This is one reason why some system
of poor laws should be introduced into the country. Paupers of this
description become a burden upon strangers, whilst those who are capable
of entering with friendly sympathy into their misfortunes have no
opportunity of assisting them. Indeed this shame of seeking alms from
those who have known the mendicant in better days, is a proof that
the absence of poor laws takes away from the poorer classes one of the
strongest incitements to industry; for instance, if every Pauper in
Ireland were confined to his own parish, and compelled to beg from his
acquaintances, the sense of shame alone would, by stirring them up to
greater industry, reduce the number of mendicants one-half. There is a
strong spirit of family pride in Ireland, which would be sufficient to
make many poor, of both sexes, exert themselves to the uttermost rather
than cas