suffering and want rung in his ears from morning till night; and yet, to
his unaccustomed eyes, the evidences betrayed few, if any, of the evils
of great poverty. The majority were not without bread--the very poorest
had a sufficiency of potatoes. Their dwellings were neat-looking and
comfortable, and, in comparison with what he was used to, actually
luxurious. Neither were their clothes like the ragged and tattered
coverings Owen had seen at home. The fustian jackets of the men were
generally whole and well cared for; but the children more than all
struck him. In Ireland, the young are usually the first to feel the
pressure of hardship--their scanty clothing rather the requirement of
decency, than a protection against weather: here, the children were
cleanly and comfortably dressed--none were in rags, few without shoes
and stockings.

What could such people mean by talking of distress, Owen could by no
means comprehend. "I wish we had a little of this kind of poverty in
ould Ireland!" was the constant theme of his thoughts. "'Tis little
they know what distress is! Faix, I wondher what they'd say if they saw
Connemarra?" And yet, the privations they endured were such as had not
been known for many years previous. Their sufferings were really
great, and the interval between their ordinary habits as wide, as
ever presented itself in the fortunes of the poor Irishman's life.
But poverty, after all, is merely relative; and they felt that as
"starvation" which Paddy would hail as a season of blessing and
abundance.

"With a fine slated house over them, and plenty of furniture inside, and
warm clothes, and enough to eat,--that's what they call distress! Musha!
I'd like to see them, when they think they're comfortable," thought
Owen, who at last lost all patience with such undeserved complainings,
and could with difficulty restrain himself from an open attack on their
injustice.

He arrived in London at last, and the same evening hastened to Belgrave
Square; for his thoughts were now, as his journey drew to a close,
painfully excited at the near prospect of seeing his landlord. He found
the house without difficulty: it was a splendid town-mansion, well
befitting a man of large fortune; and Owen experienced an Irishman's
gratification in the spacious and handsome building he saw before him.
He knocked, at first timidly, and then, as no answer was returned, more
boldly; but it was not before a third summons that the door was