in peace and friendship along the
same road, until they separated either to church, to meeting, or to
chapel; and again return on their way home, in a spirit equally cordial
and kind. The demon of political discord and religious rancor had not
come among them. Each class in the parish worshipped God after its own
manner. All were happy, and industrious, and independent, for they had
not then been taught that they were slaves and natural enemies groaning
under the penal yoke of oppression.

Their fairs and markets were equally peaceful. Neither faction-fight nor
party-fight ever stained the streets with blood. The whoop of strife was
never raised by neighbor against neighbor, nor the coat trailed, or the
caubeen thrown up into the air to challenge an opposite faction. There
was, in truth, none of all this. The people were moral and educated.
Religion they attended with that decorous sense of decency which always
results from a sincere perception of its obligations and influence.

Yet were they not without their sports and rustic amusements. Where
the bitterness of malignity is absent, cheerfulness has full play, and
candor, ever open and benevolent, is the exponent of mirth and good
will. Though their fairs and markets were undisturbed by the savage
violence of mutual conflict, yet were they enlivened by the harmless
pastimes which throw the charm of uncorrupted life over the human heart
and the innocent scenes from which it draws in its amusements. Life is
harsh enough, and we are no friends to those who would freeze its genial
current by the gloomy chill of ascetic severity.

Within about two miles of Ballydhas stood the market town of the parish.
It also bore the traces of peace and happiness. Around it lay a rich
fertile country, studded with warm homesteads, waving fields, and
residences of a higher rank, at once elegant and fashionable. The gentry
were not, it is true, of the highest class; but in lieu of that they
were kind, considerate, and what was before all, resident. If an
accidental complaint happened to be preferred by one man against
another, they generally were qualified by a knowledge of their
characters to administer justice between them, without the risk of being
misled by misrepresentation. This prevented many complaints founded
in malice or party-spirit, and consequently reduced litigation to
an examination of the very few cases in which actual injury had been
sustained.

Many a fair day have we