ted Irish: nor is it from the lowly race, who driven forth
by starving penury, crowd our more prosperous shores, ~23~~that we can
justly estimate the true character of the peasantry of that unhappy
country. The Memoirs of Captain Rock may have done something towards
removing the national prejudices of Englishmen; while the frequent and
continued agitation of that important question, the Emancipation of the
Catholics, has roused a spirit of inquiry in every worthy bosom that
will much advantage the oppressed, and, eventually, diffuse a more
general and generous feeling towards the Irish throughout civilized
Europe. I have been led into this strain of contemplation, by observing
the ridiculous folly and wasteful expenditure of the nobility and
fashionables of Great Britain; who, neglecting their starving tenantry
and kindred friends, crowd to the shores of France and Italy in search
of scenery and variety, without having the slightest knowledge of the
romantic beauties and delightful landscapes, which abound in the three
kingdoms of the Rose, the Shamrock, and the Thistle. How much good
might be done by the examples of a few illustrious, noble, and wealthy
individuals, making annual visits to Ireland and Scotland! what a field
does it afford for true enjoyment! how superior, in most instances, the
accommodations and security; and how little, if at all inferior, to the
scenic attractions of foreign countries. Then too the gratification
of observing the progress of improvement in the lower classes, of
administering to their wants, and consoling with them under their
patient sufferings from oppressive laws, rendered perhaps painfully
necessary by the political temperature of the times or the unforgiving
suspicions of the past. But I am becoming sentimental when I ought to be
humorous, contemplative when I should be characteristic, and seriously
sententious when I ought to be playfully satirical. Forgive me, gentle
reader, if from the collapse of the spirit, I have for a moment turned
aside from the natural gaiety of my ~24~~style, to give utterance to the
warm feelings of an eccentric but generous heart. But, _allons_ to the
wake.

"Plaze ye'r honor," said Barney O'Finn (my groom of the chambers), "may
I be _axing_ a holiday to-night?" "It will be very inconvenient, Barney;
but------" "But, your honor's not the jontleman to refuse a small trate
o' the sort," said Barney, anticipating the conclusion of my objection.
There was