sed, by cleverness and management, to the full as much on my
mines and private estates as they were worth; so the scoundrels were
disappointed in THIS instance; and as for the plate and property in the
London house, they could not touch that, as it was the property of the
heirs of the house of Lyndon.

I passed over to Ireland, then, and took up my abode at Castle Lyndon
for a while; all the world imagining that I was an utterly ruined man,
and that the famous and dashing Barry Lyndon would never again appear in
the circles of which he had been an ornament. But it was not so. In the
midst of my perplexities, Fortune reserved a great consolation for me
still. Despatches came home from America announcing Lord Cornwallis's
defeat of General Gates in Carolina, and the death of Lord Bullingdon,
who was present as a volunteer.

For my own desires to possess a paltry Irish title I cared little. My
son was now heir to an English earldom, and I made him assume forthwith
the title of Lord Viscount Castle Lyndon, the third of the family
titles. My mother went almost mad with joy at saluting her grandson as
'my Lord,' and I felt that all my sufferings and privations were repaid
by seeing this darling child advanced to such a post of honour.

CHAPTER XIX. CONCLUSION

If the world were not composed of a race of ungrateful scoundrels, who
share your prosperity while it lasts, and, even when gorged with your
venison and Burgundy, abuse the generous giver of the feast, I am sure I
merit a good name and a high reputation: in Ireland, at least, where
my generosity was unbounded, and the splendour of my mansion and
entertainments unequalled by any other nobleman of my time. As long as
my magnificence lasted, all the country was free to partake of it; I had
hunters sufficient in my stables to mount a regiment of dragoons, and
butts of wine in my cellar which would have made whole counties drunk
for years. Castle Lyndon became the headquarters of scores of needy
gentlemen, and I never rode a-hunting but I had a dozen young fellows of
the best blood of the country riding as my squires and gentlemen of
the horse. My son, little Castle Lyndon, was a prince; his breeding and
manners, even at his early age, showed him to be worthy of the two noble
families from whom he was descended: I don't know what high hopes I had
for the boy, and indulged in a thousand fond anticipations as to his
future success and figure in the world. But stern Fa