ading the charge so much as to make the hitting of a man at thirty
yards almost certain. The barrels were very short, in order that the
gun might be convenient to carry in carriage or car. This formidable
weapon was to be carried in the hand so as to be ready when
opportunity served; a little ostentation as to one's habit of going
armed being vigorously insisted on as a powerful deterrent.

To any person unacquainted with the humorous side of the Irish
character a morning spent in such converse as I have endeavoured to
indicate might have proved disquieting enough; but those who know
Irishmen and their ways at once enter into the spirit of the thing,
and enjoy it as much as the untamable jokers themselves. Nothing is
more amazing to serious people than the light and easy manner in which
everybody takes everything on this side of the Irish Sea. This is
perfectly exemplified by the tone in which the Kerry murder is
discussed. I have heard it talked over by every class of person, from
a landholding peer to a not very sober car-driver, and the view taken
is always the same. No horror is expressed at the commission of such a
crime, or at the state of society which makes it possible. Nothing of
the kind. A little sympathy is expressed for the poor man who was shot
by mistake, and then the humour of the situation overrules every other
consideration. That poor people resenting what they imagine to be
tyranny should shoot one of their own class instead of the hated agent
is a fact so irresistibly comic as to provoke a quantity of hilarious
comment. As laughter dies away, however, another expression of feeling
takes place, and the slackness of the master in not being ready with
his pistol, and his want of presence of mind to pursue the murderer
and avenge his servant's death, are spoken of with the fiercest
indignation. But nobody appears to care about the general and social
aspect of the case.

Beneath all this humour and a curious tendency to exaggerate the
condition of the West, there undeniably lurked very considerable
uneasiness. It was known that "the Castle" was hard at work, and that,
before proceeding to coercive measures, Mr. Forster was getting
together all the trustworthy evidence that could be obtained as to the
state of the country. As an instance of the absurd rumours flying
about, I may mention that I was in the presence of two Irish peers
solemnly assured that a "rising in the West" was imminent, and not
only i