Chapter V: Part 5

“It is a pleasant thing, sir, to see clergymen of every religion working together to make the people happy.”

“It is certainly so,” replied the curate; “and I am bound to say, in justice to the Protestant clergy, that there is no class of men in Ireland, James, who do so much good without distinction of creed or party. They are generally kind and charitable to the poor; so are their wives and daughters. I have often known them to cheer the sick-bed--to assist the widow and the orphan--to advise and admonish the profligate, and, in some instances, even to reclaim them. But now about your own prospects; I think you should go and see your family as soon as your health permits you.”

“I would give my right hand,” replied Jemmy, “just to see them, if it was only for five minutes: but I cannot go. I vowed that I would never enter my native parish until I should become a Catholic clergyman. I vowed that, sir, to God--and with his assistance I will keep my vow.”

“Well,” said the curate, “you are right. And now lot me give you a little advice. In the first place, learn to speak as correctly as you can; lay aside the vulgarisms of conversation peculiar to the common people; and speak precisely as you would write. By the by, you acquitted yourself to admiration with the Colonel. A little stumbling there was in the beginning; but you got over it. You see, James, the force of truth and simplicity. I could scarcely restrain my tears while you spoke.”

“If I had not been in earnest, sir, I could never have spoken as I did.”

“You never could. Truth, James, is the foundation of all eloquence; he who knowingly speaks what is not true, may dazzle and perplex; but he will never touch with that power and pathos which spring from truth. Fiction is successful only by borrowing her habiliments. Now, James, for a little more advice. Don't let the idea of having been a poor scholar deprive you of self-respect; neither let your unexpected turn of fortune cause you to forget what you have suffered. Hold a middle course; be firm and independent; without servility on the one hand, or vanity on the other. You have also too much good sense, and, I hope, too much religion, to ascribe what this day has brought forth in your behalf, to any other cause than God. It has pleased him to raise you from misery to ease and comfort; to him, therefore, be it referred, and to him be your thanks and prayers directed. You owe him much, for you now can perceive the value of what he has done for you! May his name be blessed!”

Jemmy was deeply affected by the kindness of his friend, for such, in friendship's truest sense, was he to him. He expressed, the obligations which he owed him, and promised to follow the excellent advice he had just received.

The schoolmaster's conduct to the poor scholar had, before the close of the day on which it occurred, been known through the parish. Thady O'Rorke, who had but just recovered from the epidemic, felt so bitterly exasperated at the outrage, that he brought his father to the parish priest, to whom he give a detailed account of all that our hero and the poorer children of the school had suffered. In addition to this, he went among the more substantial farmers of the neighborhood, whose cooperation he succeeded in obtaining, for the laudable purpose of driving the tyrant out of the parish.

Jemmy, who still lived at the “House of Entertainment,” on hearing what they intended to do, begged Mr. O'Brien, to allow him, provided the master should be removed from the school, to decline prosecuting him. “He has been cruel to me, no doubt,” he added; “still I cannot forget that his cruelty has been the means of changing my condition in life so much for the better. If he is put out of the parish it will be punishment enough; and, to say the truth, sir, I can now forgive everybody. Maybe, had I been still neglected I might punish him; but, in the meantime, to show him and the world that I didn't deserve his severity, I forgive him.”

Mr. O'Brien was not disposed to check a sentiment that did the boy's heart so much honor; he waited on the Colonel the next morning, acquainted him with Jemmy's wishes, and the indictment was quashed immediately after the schoolmaster's removal from his situation.

Our hero's personal appearance was by this time incredibly changed for the better. His countenance, naturally expressive of feeling, firmness, and intellect, now appeared to additional advantage; so did his whole person, when dressed in a decent suit of black. No man acquainted with life can be ignorant of the improvement which genteel apparel produce in the carriage, tone of thought, and principles of an individual. It gives a man confidence, self-respect, and a sense of equality with his companions; it inspires him with energy, independence, delicacy of sentiment, courtesy of manner, and elevation of language. The face becomes manly, bold, and free; the brow open, and the eye clear; there is no slinking through narrow lanes and back streets: but, on the contrary, the smoothly dressed man steps out with a determination not to spare the earth, or to walk as if he trod on eggs or razors. No; he brushes onward; is the first to accost his friends; gives a careless bow to this, a bluff nod to that, and a patronizing “how dy'e do” to a third, who is worse dressed than himself. Trust me, kind reader, that good clothes are calculated to advance a man in life nearly as well as good principles, especially in a world like this, where external appearance is taken as the exponent of what is beneath it.

Jemmy, by the advice of his friend, now waited upon the Bishop, who was much surprised at the uncommon turn of fortune which had taken place in his favor. He also expressed his willingness to help him forward, as far as lay in his power, towards the attainment of his wishes. In order to place the boy directly under suitable patronage, Mr. O'Brien suggested that the choice of the school should be left to the Bishop. This, perhaps, mattered him a little, for who is without his weaknesses? A school near the metropolis was accordingly fixed upon, to which Jemmy, now furnished with a handsome outfit, was accordingly sent. There we will leave him, reading with eagerness and assiduity, whilst we return to look after Colonel B. and his agent.

One morning after James's departure, the Colonel's servant waited upon Mr. O'Brien with a note from his master, intimating a wish to see him. He lost no time in waiting upon that gentleman, who was then preparing to visit the estate which he had so long neglected.

“I am going,” said he, “to see how my agent, Yellow Sam, as they call him, and my tenants agree. It is my determination, Mr. O'Brien, to investigate the circumstances attending the removal of our protege's father. I shall, moreover, look closely into the state and feelings of my tenants in general. It is probable I shall visit many of them, and certain that I will inquire into the character of this man.”

“It is better late than never, Colonel; but still, though I am a friend to the people, yet I would recommend you to be guided by great caution, and the evidence of respectable and disinterested men only. You must not certainly entertain all the complaints you may hear, without clear proof, for I regret to say, that too many of the idle and political portion of the peasantry are apt to throw the blame of their own folly and ignorance--yes, and of their crimes, also--upon those who in no way have occasioned either their poverty or their wickedness. They are frequently apt to consider themselves oppressed, if concessions are not made, to which they, as idle and indolent men, who neglected their own business, have no fair claim. Bear this in mind, Colonel--be cool, use discrimination, take your proofs from others besides the parties concerned, or their friends, and, depend upon it, you will arrive at the truth.”.

“O'Brien, you would make an excellent agent.”

“I have studied the people, sir, and know them. I have breathed the atmosphere of their prejudices, habits, manners, customs, and superstitions. I have felt them all myself, as they feel them; but I trust I have got above their influence where it is evil, for there are many fine touches of character among them, which I should not willingly part with. No, sir, I should make a bad agent, having no capacity for transacting business. I could direct and overlook, but nothing more.”

“Well, then, I shall set out to-morrow; and in the meantime, permit me to say that I am deeply sensible of your kindness in pointing out my duty as an Irish landlord, conscious that I have too long neglected it.”

“Kindness, Colonel, is the way to the Irish heart. There is but one man in Ireland who can make an Irishman ungrateful, and that is his priest. I regret that in times of political excitement, and especially during electioneering struggles, the interference of the clergy produces disastrous effects upon the moral feelings of the people. When a tenant meets the landlord whom he has deserted in the critical momont of the contest the landlord to whom he has solemnly promised his support, and who, perhaps, as a member of the legislature, has advocated his claims and his rights, and who, probably, has been kind and indulgent to him--I say, when he meets him afterwards, his shufflings, excuses, and evasions are grievous. He is driven to falsehood and dissimulation in explaining his conduct; he expresses his repentance, curses himself for his ingratitude, promises well for the future, but seldom or never can be prevailed upon to state candidly that he acted in obedience to the priest. In some instances, however, he admits this, and inveighs bitterly against his interference--but this is only whilst in the presence of his landlord. I think, Colonel, that no clergyman, set apart as he is for the concerns of a better world, should become a firebrand in the secular pursuits and turmoils of this.”

“I wish, Mr. O'Brien, that every clergyman of your church resembled you, and acted up to your sentiments: our common country would be the better for it.”

“I endeavor to act, sir, as a man who has purely spiritual duties to perform. It is not for us to be agitated and inflamed by the political passions and animosities of the world. Our lot is differently cast, and we ought to abide by it. The priest and politician can no more agree than good and evil. I speak with respect to all churches.”

“And so do I.”

“What stay do you intend to make, Colonel?”

“I think about a month. I shall visit some of my old friends there, from whom I expect a history of the state and feelings of the country.”

“You will hear both sides of the question before you act?”

“Certainly. I have written to my agent to say that I shall look very closely into my own affairs on this occasion. I thought it fair to give him notice.”

“Well, sir, I wish you all success.”

“Farewell, Mr. O'Brien; I shall see you immediately after my return.”

The Colonel performed his journey by slow stages, until he reached “the hall of his fathers,”--for it was such, although he had not for years resided in it. It presented the wreck of a fine old mansion, situated within a crescent of stately beeches, whose moss-covered and ragged trunks gave symptoms of decay and neglect. The lawn had been once beautiful, and the demesne a noble one; but that which blights the industry of the tenant--the curse of absenteeism--had also left the marks of ruin stamped upon every object around him. The lawn was little better than a common; the pond was thick with weeds and sluggish water-plants, that almost covered its surface; and a light, elegant bridge, that spanned a river which ran before the house, was also moss-grown and dilapidated. The hedges were mixed up with briers, the gates broken, or altogether removed, the fields were rank with the ruinous luxuriance of weeds, and the grass-grown avenues spoke of solitude and desertion. The still appearance, too, of the house itself, and the absence of smoke from its time-tinged chimneys--all told a tale which constitutes one, perhaps the greatest, portion of Ireland's misery! Even then he did not approach it with the intention of residing there during his sojourn in the country. It was not habitable, nor had it been so for years. The road by which he travelled lay near it, and he could not pass without looking upon the place where a long line of gallant ancestors had succeeded each other, lived their span, and disappeared in their turn.

He contemplated it for some time in a kind of reverie. There, it stood, sombre and silent;--its gray walls mouldering away--its windows dark and broken;--like a man forsaken by the world, compelled to bear the storms of life without the hand of a friend to support him, though age and decay render him less capable of enduring them. For a momont fancy repeopled it;--again the stir of life, pastime, mirth, and hospitality echoed within its walls; the train of his long departed relatives returned; the din of rude and boisterous enjoyment peculiar to the times; the cheerful tumult of the hall at dinner; the family feuds and festivities; the vanities and the passions of those who now slept in dust;--all--all came before him once more, and played their part in the vision of the moment!

As he walked on, the flitting wing of a bat struck him lightly in its flight; he awoke from the remembrances which crowded on him, and, resuming his journey, soon arrived at the inn of the nearest town, where he stopped that night. The next morning he saw his agent for a short time, but declined entering upon business. For a few days more he visited most of the neighboring gentry, from whom he received sufficient information to satisfy him that neither he himself nor his agent was popular among his tenantry. Many flying reports of the agent's dishonesty and tyranny were mentioned to him, and in every instance he took down the names of the parties, in order to ascertain the truth. M'Evoy's case had occurred more than ten years before, but he found that the remembrance of the poor man's injury was strongly and bitterly retained in the recollections of the people--a circumstance which extorted from the blunt, but somewhat sentimental soldier, a just observation:--“I think,” said he, “that there are no people in the world who remember either an injury or a kindness so long as the Irish.”

When the tenants were apprised of his presence among them, they experienced no particular feeling upon the subject. During all his former visits to his estate, he appeared merely the creature and puppet of his agent, who never acted the bully, nor tricked himself out in his brief authority more imperiously than he did before him. The knowledge of this damped them, and rendered any expectations of redress or justice from the landlord a matter not to be thought of.

“If he wasn't so great a man,” they observed, “who thinks it below him to speak to his tenants, or hear their complaints, there 'ud be some hope. But that rip of hell, Yallow Sam, can wind him round his finger like a thread, an' does, too. There's no use in thinkin' to petition him, or to lodge a complaint against Stony Heart, for the first thing he'd do 'ud be to put it into the yallow-boy's hands, an' thin, God be marciful to thim that 'ud complain. No, no; the best way is to wait till Sam's _masther_* takes him; an' who knows but that 'ud be sooner nor we think.”

* The devil;--a familiar name for him when mentioned in
connection with a villain.

“They say,” another would reply, “that the Colonel is a good gintleman for all that, an' that if he could once know the truth, he'd pitch the 'yallow boy' to the 'ould boy.'”

No sooner was it known by his tenantry that the head landlord was disposed to redress their grievances, and hear their complaints, than the smothered attachment, which long neglect had nearly extinguished, now burst forth with uncommon power.

“Augh! by this an' by that the throe blood's in him still. The rale gintleman to dale wid, for ever! We knew he only wanted to come at the thruth, an' thin he'd back us agin the villain that harrished us! To the divil wid skamin' upstarts, that hasn't the ould blood 'in thim! What are they but sconces an' chates, every one o' thim, barrin' an odd one, for a wondher!”

The Colonel's estate now presented a scene of gladness and bustle. Every person who felt in the slightest degree aggrieved, got his petition drawn up; and, but that we fear our sketch is already too long, we could gratify the reader's curiosity by submitting a few of them. It is sufficient to say, that they came to him in every shape--in all the variety of diction that the poor English language admits of--in the schoolmaster's best copy-hand, and choicest sesquipedalianism of pedantry--in the severer, but more Scriptural terms of the parish clerk--in the engrossing hand and legal phrase of the attorney--in the military form, evidently redolent of the shrewd old pensioner--and in the classical style of the young priest:--for each and all of the foregoing were enlisted in the cause of those who had petitions to send in “to the Colonel himself, God bless him!”

Early in the morning of the day on which the Colonel had resolved to compare the complaints of his tenantry with the character which his agent gave him of the complainants, he sent for the former, and the following dialogue took place between them.

“Good morning, Mr. Carson! Excuse me for requesting your presence to-day earlier than usual. I have taken it into my head to know something of my own tenantry, and as they have pestered me with petitions, and letters, and complaints, I am anxious to have your opinion, as you know them better than I do.”

“Before we enter on business, Colonel, allow me to inquire if you feel relieved of that bilious attack you complained of the day before yesterday? I'm of a bilious habit myself, and know something about the management of digestion!”

“A good digestion is an excellent thing, Carson; as for me, I drank too much claret with my friend B----y; and there's the secret. I don't like cold wines, they never agree with me.”

“Nor do I; they are not constitutional. Your father was celebrated for his wines, Colonel: I remember an anecdote told me by Captain Ferguson--by the by, do you know where Ferguson could be found, now, sir?”

“Not I. What wines do you drink, Carson?”

“A couple of glasses of sherry, sir, at dinner; and about ten o'clock, a glass of brandy and water.”

“Carson, you are sober and prudent. Well about these cursed petitions; you must help me to dispose of them. Why, a man would think by the tenor of them, that these tenants of mine are ground to dust by a tyrant.”

“Ah! Colonel, you know little about these fellows. They would make black white. Go and take a ride, sir, return about four o'clock, and I will have everything as it ought to be.”

“I wish to heaven, Carson, I had your talents for business. Do you think my tenants attached to me?”

“Attached! sir, they are ready to cut your throat or mine, on the first convenient opportunity. You could not conceive their knavishness and dishonesty, except you happened to be an agent for a few years.

“So I have been told, and I am resolved to remove every dishonest tenant from my estate. Is there not a man, for instance, called Brady? He has sent me a long-winded petition here. What do you think of him?”

“Show me the petition, Colonel.”

“I cannot lay my hand on it just now; but you shall see it. In the mean time, what's your opinion of the fellow?”

“Brady! Why, I know the man particularly well. He is one of my favorites. What the deuce could the fellow petition about, though? I promised the other day to renew his lease for him.”

“Oh, then, if he be a favorite of yours, his petition may go to the devil, I suppose? Is the man honest?”

“Remarkably so; and has paid his rents very punctually. He is one of our safest tenants.”

“Do you know a man called Cullen?”

“The most litigious scoundrel on the estate.”

“Indeed? Oh, then, we must look into the merits of his petition, as he is not honest. Had he been honest like Brady, Carson, I should have dismissed it.”

“Cullen, sir, is a dangerous fellow. Do you know, that rascal has charged me with keeping back his receipts, and with making I him pay double rent!--ha, ha, ha! Upon my honor, its fact.”

“The scoundrel! We shall sift him to some purpose, however.”

“If you take my advice, sir, you will send him about his business; for if it be once known that you listen to malicious petitions, my authority over such villains as Cullen is lost.”

“Well, I set him aside for the present. Here's a long list of others, all of whom have been oppressed, forsooth. Is there a man called M'Evoy on my estate?--Dominick M'Evoy, I think.”

“M'Evoy! Why that rascal, sir, has not been your tenant for ten years? His petition, Colonel, is a key to the nature of their grievances in general.”

“I believe you, Carson--most implicitly do I believe that. Well, about that rascal?”

“Why, it is so long since, that upon my honor, I cannot exactly remember the circumstances of his misconduct. He ran away.”

“Who is in his farm now, Carson?”

“A very decent man, sir. One Jackson, an exceedingly worthy, honest, industrious fellow. I take some credit to myself for bringing Jackson on your estate.”

“Is Jackson married? Has he a family?”

“Married! Let me see! Why--yes--I believe he is. Oh, by the by, now I think of it, he is married, and to a very respectable woman, too. Certainly, I remember--she usually accompanies him when he pays his rents.”

“Then your system must be a good one, Carson; you weed out the idle and profligate, to replace them by the honest and industrious.”

“Precisely so, sir; that is my system.”

“Yet there are agents who invert your system in some cases; who drive out the honest and industrious, and encourage the idle and profligate; who connive at them, Carson, and fill the estates they manage with their own dependents, or relatives, as the case may be. You have been alway's opposed to this, and I'm glad to hear it.”

“No man, Colonel B------, filling the situation which I have the honor to hold under you, could study your interests with greater zeal and assiduity. God knows, I have had so many quarrels, and feuds, and wranglings, with these fellows, in order to squeeze money out of them to meet your difficulties, that, upon my honor, I think if it required five dozen oaths to hang me, they could be procured upon your estate. An agent, Colonel, who is faithful to the landlord, is seldom popular with the tenants.”

“I can't exactly see that, Carson; and I have known an unpopular landlord rendered highly popular by the judicious management of an enlightened and honest agent, who took no bribes, Carson, and who neither extorted from nor ground the tenantry under him--something like a counterpart of yourself. But you may be right in general.”

“Is there anything particular, Colonel, in which I can assist you now?”

“Not now. I was anxious to hear the character of those fellows from you who know them. Come down about eleven or twelve o'clock; these petitioners will be assembled, and you may be able to assist me.”

“Colonel, remember I forewarn you, that you are plunging into a mesh of difficulties, which you will never be able to disentangle. Leave the fellows to me, sir; I know how to deal with them. Besides, upon my honor, you are not equal to it, in point of health. You look ill. Pray allow me to take home their papers, and I shall have all clear and satisfactory before two o'clock. They know my method, sir.”

“They do, Carson, they do; but I am anxious they should also know mine. Besides, it will amuse me, for I want excitement. Good day, for the present; you will be down about twelve, or one at the furthest.”

“Certainly, sir. Good morning, Colonel.”

The agent was too shrewd a man not to perceive that there were touches of cutting irony in some of the Colonel's expressiqns, which he did not like. There was a dryness, too, in the tone of his voice and words, blended with a copiousness of good humor, which, taken altogether, caused him to feel uncomfortable. He could have wished the Colonel at the devil: yet had the said Colonel never been more familiar in his life, nor, with one or two exceptions, readier to agree with almost every observation made to him.

“Well,” thought he, “he may act as he pleases; I have feathered my nest, at all events, and disregard him.”

Colonel B-----, in fact, ascertained with extreme regret, that something was necessary to be done, to secure the good-will of his tenants; that the conduct of his agent had been marked by rapacity and bribery almost incredible. He had exacted from the tenantry in general the performance of duty-labor to such an extent, that his immense agricultural farms were managed with little expense to himself. If a poor man's corn were drop ripe, or his hay in a precarious state, or his turf undrawn, he must suffer his oats, hay, and turf, to be lost, in order to secure the crops of the agent. If he had spirit to refuse, he must expect to become a martyr to his resentment. In renewing leases his extortions were exorbitant; ten, thirty, forty, and fifty guineas he claimed as a fee for his favor, according to the ability of the party; yet this was quite distinct from the renewal tine, and went into his own pocket. When such “glove money” was not to be had, he would accept of a cow or horse, to which he usually made a point to take a fancy; or he wanted to purchase a firkin of butter at that particular time; and the poor people usually made every sacrifice to avoid his vengeance. It is due to Colonel B------ to say, that he acted in the investigation of his agent's conduct with the strictest honor and impartiality. He scrutinized every statement thoroughly, pleaded for him as temperately as he could; found, or pretended to find, extenuating motives for his most indefensible proceedings; but all would not do. The cases were so clear and evident against him, even in the opinion of the neighboring gentry, who had been for years looking upon the system of selfish misrule which he practised, that at length the generous Colonel's blood boiled with indignation in his veins at the contemplation of his villany. He accused himself bitterly for neglecting his duties as a landlord, and felt both remorse and shame for having wasted his time, health, and money, in the fashionable dissipation of London and Paris; whilst a cunning, unprincipled upstart played the vampire with his tenants, and turned his estate into a scene of oppression and poverty. Nor was this all; he had been endeavoring to bring the property more and more into his own clutches, a point which he would ultimately have gained, had not the Colonel's late succession to so large a fortune enabled him to meet his claims.

At one o'clock the tenants were all assembled about the inn door, where the Colonel had resolved to hold his little court. The agent himself soon arrived, as did several other gentlemen, the Colonel's friends, who knew the people and could speak to their character.

The first man called was Dominick M'Evoy. No sooner was his name uttered, than a mild, poor-looking man, rather advanced in years, came forward.

“I beg your pardon, Colonel,” said Carson, “here is some mistake; this man is not one of your tenants. You may remember I told you so this morning.”

“I remember it,” replied the Colonel; “this is 'the rascal' you spoke of--is he not? M'Evoy,” the Colonel proceeded, “you will reply to my questions with strict truth. You will state nothing but what has occurred between you and my agent; you must not even turn a circumstance in your own favor, nor against Mr. Carson, by either adding to, or taking away from it, more or less than the truth. I say this to you, and to all present; for, upon my honor, I shall dismiss the first case in which I discover a falsehood.”

“Wid the help o' the Almighty, sir, I'll state nothing but the bare thruth.”

“How long are you off my estate?”

“Ten years, your honor, or a little more.”

“How came you to run away out of your farm?”

“Run away, your honor! Grod he knows, I didn't run away, sir. The whole counthry knows that.”

“Yes, ran away! Mr. Carson, here, stated to me this morning, that you ran away. He is a gentleman of integrity, and would not state a falsehood.”

“I beg your pardon, Colonel, not positively. I told you I did not exactly remember the circumstances; I said I thought so; but I may be wrong, for, indeed, my memory of facts is not good. M'Evoy, however, is a very honest man, and I have no doubt will state everything as it happened, fairly and without malice.”

“An honest 'rascal,' I suppose you mean, Mr. Carson,” said the Colonel, bitterly. “Proceed, M'Evoy.”

M'Evoy stated the circumstances precisely as the reader is already acquainted with them, after which the Colonel turned round to his agent and inquired what he had to say in reply.

“You cannot expect, Colonel B------,” he replied, “that with such a multiplicity of business on my hands, I could remember, after a lapse of ten years, the precise state of this particular case. Perhaps I may have some papers, a memorandum or so, at home, that may throw light upon it. At present I can only say, that the man failed in his rents, I ejected him, and put a better tenant in his place. I cannot see a crime in that.”

“Plase your honor,” replied M'Evoy, “I can prove by them that's standin' to the fore this minute, as well as by this written affidavit, sir, that I offered him the full rint, havin', at the same time, as God is my judge, ped part of it afore.”

“That is certainly false--an untrue and malicious statement,” said Carson. “I now remember that the cause of my resentment--yes, of my just resentment against you, was your reporting that I received your rent and withheld your receipt.”

“Then,” observed the Colonel, “There has been more than one charge of that nature brought against you? You mentioned another to me this morning if I mistake not.”

“I have made my oath, your honor, of the thruth of it; an' here is a dacent man, sir, a Protestant, that lent me the money, an' was present when I offered it to him. Mr. Smith, come forrid, sir, an' spake up for the poor man, as you're always willin' to do.”

“I object to his evidence,” said Carson: “he is my open enemy.”

“I am your enemy, Mr. Carson, or rather the enemy of your corruption and want of honesty,” said Smith: “but, as you say, an open one. I scorn to say behind your back what I wouldn't say to your face. Right well you know I was present when he tendered you his rent. I lent him part of it. But why did you and your bailiffs turn him out, when his wife was on her sick bed? Allowing that he could not pay his rent, was that any reason you should do so barbarous an act as to drag a woman from her sick bed, and she at the point of death? But we know your reasons for it.”

“Gentlemen,” said the Colonel, “pray what character do M'Evoy and Smith here bear in the country?”

“We have known them both for years to be honest, conscientious men,” said those whom he addressed: “such is their character, and in our opinion they well deserve it.”

“God bless you, gintlemen!” said M'Evoy--“God bless your honors, for your kind Words! I'm sure for my own part, I hope though but a poor man now, God help me!”

“Pray, who occupies the farm at present, Mr. Carson?”

“The man I mentioned to you this morning, sir. His name is Jackson.”

“And pray, Mr. Carson, who is his wife?”

“Oh, by the by, Colonel, that's a little too close! I see the gentlemen smile; but they know I must beg to decline answering that question---not that it matters much. We have all sown our wild oats in our time--myself as well as another--ha, ha, ha!”

“The fact, under other circumstances,” observed the Colonel, “could never draw an inquiry from me; but as it is connected with, or probably has occasioned, a gross, unfeeling, and an unjust act of oppression towards an honest man, I therefore alluded to it, as exhibiting the motives from which you acted. She is your illegitimate daughter, sir!”

“She's one o' the baker's dozen o' them, plase your honor,” observed a humorous little Presbyterian, with a sarcastic face, and sharp northern accent--“for feth, sir, for my part, A thenk he lies one on every hill head. All count, your honor, on my fingers a roun' half-dozen, all on your estate, sir, featherin' their nests as fast as they can.”

“Is this Jackson a good tenant, Mr. Carson?”

“I gave you his character this morning, Colonel B.”

“Hout, Colonel!” said the Presbyterian, “deil a penny rent the man pays, at all, at all. A'll swear a hev it from Jackson's own lips. He made him a Bailey, sir; he suts rent free. Ask the man, sir, for his receipts, an' a'll warrant the truth will come out.”

“I have secured Jackson's attendance,” said the Colonel; “let him be called in.”

The man in a few minutes entered.

“Jackson,” said the Colonel, “how long is it since you paid Mr. Carson here any rent?”

Jackson looked at Carson for his cue; but the Colonel rose up indignantly: “Fellow!” he proceeded, “if you tamper with me a single moment, you shall find Mr. Carson badly able to protect you. If you speak falsehood, be it at your peril.”

“By Jing, sir,” said Jackson, “All say nothin' aginst my father-in-laa, an' A don't care who teks it well or ull. A was just tekin' a _gun_ (* a half-tumbler of punch) with a fren' or two--an d---me, A say, A'll stick to my father-m-laa, for he hes stuck to me.”

“You appear to be a hardened, drunken wretch,” observed the Colonel. “Will you be civil enough to show your last receipt for rent?”

“Wull A show it? A dono whether A wull or not, nor A dono whether A hey it or not; but ef aall the receipts in Europe wur burnt, d---- my blood, but A'll stick to my father-in-laa.”

“Your father-in-law may be proud of you,” said the Colonel.

“By h----, A'll back you en that,” said the fellow nodding his head, and looking round him confidently. “By h-----, A say that, too!”

“And I am sorry to be compelled to add,” continued the Colonel, “that you may be equally proud of your father-in-law.”

“A say, right agane! D---- me, bit A'll back that too!”and he nodded confidently, and looked around the room once more. “A wull, d---- my blood, bit no man can say agane it. A'm married to his daughter; an', by the sun that shines A'll still stan' up for my father-in-laa.”

“Mr. Carson,” said the Colonel, “can you disprove these facts? Can you show that you did not expel M'Evoy from his farm, and put the husband of your illegitimate daughter into it? That you did not receive his rent, decline giving him a receipt, and afterwards compel him to pay twice, because he could not produce the receipt which you withheld?”

“Gentlemen,” said Carson, not directly replying to the Colonel, “there is a base conspiracy got up against me; and I can perceive, moreover, that there is evidently some unaccountable intention on the part of Colonel B. to insult my feelings and injure my character. When paltry circumstances that have occurred above ten years ago, are raked up in my teeth, I have little to say, but that it proves how very badly off the Colonel must have been for an imputation against my conduct and discretion as his agent, since he finds himself compelled to hunt so far back for a charge.”

“That is by no means the heaviest charge I have to bring against you,” replied the Colonel. “There is no lack of them; nor shall you be able to complain that they are not recent, as well as of longer standing. Your conduct in the case of poor honest M'Evoy here is black and iniquitous. He must be restored to his farm, but by other hands than yours, and that ruffian instantly expelled from it. From this moment, sir, you cease to be my agent. You have betrayed the confidence I reposed in you; you have misled me as to the character of my tenants; you have been a deceitful, cunning, cringing, selfish and rapacious tyrant. My people you have ground to dust; my property you have lessened in value nearly one-half, and for your motives in doing this, I refer you to certain transactions and legal documents which passed between us. There is nothing cruel or mercenary which you did not practice, in order to enrich yourself. The whole tenor of your conduct is before me. Your profligacy is not only discovered, but already proved; and you played those villainous pranks, I suppose, because I have been mostly an absentee. Do not think, however, that you shall enjoy the fruits of your extortion? I will place the circumstances, and the proofs of the respective charges against you, in the hands of my solicitor, and, by the sacred heaven above me! you shall disgorge the fruits of your rapacity. My good people, I shall remain among you for another fortnight, during which time I intend to go through my estate, and set everything to rights as well as I can, until I may appoint a humane and feeling gentleman as my agent--such a one as will have, at least, a character to lose. I also take this opportunity of informing you, that in future I shall visit you often, will redress your grievances, should you have any to complain of, and will give such assistance to the honest and industrious among you--but to them only--as I trust may make us better pleased with each other than we have been.--Do not you go, M'Evoy, until I speak to you.”

During these observations Carson sat with a smile, or rather a sneer upon his lips. It was the sneer of a purse-proud villain confident that his wealth, no matter how ill-gotten, was still wealth, and worth its value.

“Colonel,” said he, “I have heard all you said, but you see me 'so strong in honesty,' that I am not moved. In the course of a few weeks I shall have purchased an estate of my own, which I shall manage differently, for my fortune is made, sir. I intend also to give up my other agencies: I am rather old and must retire to enjoy a little of the _otium cum dignitate_. I wish you all goo'd-morning!”

The Colonel turned away in abhorrence, but disdained any reply.

“A say, Sam,” said the Presbyterian, “bring your son-in-laa wuth you.”

“An' I say that, too,” exclaimed the drunken ruffian--“A say that; A do. A'm married to his daughter; an' A say stull, that d------my blood, bit A'll stick to my father-in-laa! That's the point!”--and again he nodded his head, and looked round him with a drunken swagger:--“A'll stick to my father-in-laa! A'll do that; feth, A wull!”*

* This dialect is local.

It is scarcely necessary to inform the reader, that the Colonel's address to Carson soon got among the assembled tenantry, and a vehement volley of groans and hisses followed the discarded agent up the street.

“Ha! bad luck to you for an ould villain. You were made to hear on the deaf side o' your head at last! You may take the black wool out o' your ears now, you rip! The cries an' curses o' the widows an' orphans that you made and oppressed, has ris up agin you at the long run! Ha! you beggarly nager! maybe you'll make us neglect our own work to do yours agin! Go an' gather the dhry cow-cakes, you misert, an' bring them home in your pocket, to throw on the dunghill!”

“Do you remimber the day,” said others, “you met Mr. M., an' you goin' up the street wid a cake of it in your fists, undher your shabby skirts; an' whin the gintlemen wint to shake hands wid you, how he discovered your maneness? Three groans for Yallow Sam, the extortioner! a short coorse to him! Your corner's warm for you, you villain!”

“But now, boys, for the Colonel!” they exclaimed.--“Huzza for noble Colonel B------ the rale Irish gintlemen, that wouldn't see his tenants put upon by a villain!--Huzza! Hell resave yees, shout! Huzza! Huzza! Huzza! Huz--tundher-an'-ounze, my voice is cracked! Where's his coach?--where's his honor's coach? Come, boys, out wid it,--out wid it! Tattheration to yees, come! We'll dhraw it to the divil, to hell an' back agin, if it plases him! Success to Colonel B------! Blood-an-turf! what'll we do for a fight? Long life to noble Colonel B------, the poor man's friend!--long life to him for ever an' a day longer! Whoo! my darlins! Huzza!” etc.

The warm interest which the Colonel took in M'Evoy's behalf, was looked upon by the other tenants as a guarantee of his sincerity in all he promised. Their enthusiasm knew no bounds. They got out his carriage from the Inn-Yard, and drew it through the town, though the Colonel himself, beyond the fact of their shouting, remained quite ignorant of what was going forward.

After Carson's departure, the Colonel's friends, having been first asked to dine with him at the inn, also took their leave, and none remained but M'Evoy, who waited with pleasing anxiety to hear what the Colonel proposed to say--for he felt certain that it would be agreeable.

“M'Evoy,” said the Colonel, “I am truly sorry for what you have suffered through the villany of my agent; but I will give you redress, and allow you for what you have lost by the transaction. It is true, as I have been lately told by a person who pleaded your cause nobly and eloquently, that I can never repay you for what you have suffered. However, what we can, we will do. You are poor, I understand?”

“God he sees that, sir; and afflicted, too, plase your honor.”

“Afflicted? How is that?”

“I had a son, sir--a blessed boy! a darlin' boy!--once our comfort, an' once we thought he'd be our pride an' our staff, but”--

The poor man's tears here flowed fast; he took up the skirt of his “Cotha More,” or great-coat, and, after wiping his eyes, and clearing his voice, proceeded:--

“He was always, as I said, a blessed boy, and we looked up to him alwayrs, sir. He saw our poverty, your honor, an' he felt it, sir, keen enough, indeed, God help him! How an'-iver, he took it on him to go up to Munster, sir, undher hopes of risin' us--undher the hopes, poor child--an' God knows, sir,--if--oh, Jemmy avourneen ma-chree!--doubt--I doubt you sunk undher what proved too many for you!--I doubt my child's dead, sir--him that all our hearts wor fixed upon; and if that 'ud happen to be the case, nothin'--not even your kindness in doin' us justice, could make us happy. We would rather beg wid him, sir, nor have the best in the world widout him. His poor young heart, sir, was fixed upon the place your honor is restorin' us to; an I'm afeard his mother, sir, would break her heart if she thought he couldn't share our good fortune! And we don't know whether he's livin' or dead! That, sir, is what's afflictin' us. I had some notion of goin' to look for him; but he tould us he would never write, or let us hear from him, till he'd be either one thing or other.”

“I can tell you, for your satisfaction, that your son is well, M'Evoy. Believe me, he is well--I know it.”

“Well! Before God, does your honor spake truth? Well! Oh, sir, for His sake that died for us, an' for the sake of his blessed mother, can you tell me is my darlin' son alive?”

“He is living; is in excellent health; is as well dressed as I am; and has friends as rich and as capable of assisting him as myself. But how is this? What's the matter with you? You are pale! Good God! Here, waiter! Waiter! Waiter, I say!”

The Colonel rang the bell violently, and two or three waiters entered at the same moment.

“Bring a little wine and water, one of you, and let the other two remove this man to the open window. Be quick. What do you stare at?”

In a few minutes the old man recovered, and untying the narrow coarse cravat which he wore, wiped the perspiration off his pale face.

“Pray, don't be too much affected,” said the Colonel. “Waiter, bring up refreshment--bring wine--be quiet and calm--you are weak, poor fellow--but we will strengthen you by-and-by.”

“I am wake, sir,” he replied; “for, God help us! this was a hard year upon us; and we suffered what few could bear. But he's livin', Colonel. Our darlin' is livin! Oh, Colonel, your kindness went to my heart this day afore, but that was nothin'--he's livin' an' well! On my two knees, before God, I thank you for them words! I thank you a thousand an' a thousand times more for them words, nor for what your honor did about Yallow Sam.”

“Get up,” said the Colonel--“get up. The proceedings of the day have produced a revulsion of feeling which has rendered you incapable of sustaining intelligence of your son. He is well, I assure you. Bring those things to this table, waiter.”

“But can your honor tell me anything in particular about him, sir? What he's doin'--or what he intends to do?”

“Yes! he is at a respectable boarding-school.”

“Boordin'-school! But isn't boordin'-schools Protestants, sir?”

“Not at all; he is at a Catholic boarding-school, and reading hard to be a priest, which, I hope, he will soon be. He has good friends, and you may thank him for being restored to your farm.”

“Glory be to my Maker for that! Oh, sir, your tenants wor desaved in you! They thought, sir, that you wor a hard-hearted gintleman, that didn't care whether they lived or died.”

“I feel that I neglected them too long, M'Evoy. Now take some refreshment: eat something, and afterwards drink a few glasses of wine. Your feelings have been much excited, and you will be the better for it. Keep up your spirits. I am going to ride, and must leave you: but if you call on me to-morrow, at one o'clock, I shall have more good news for you. We must stock your farm, and enable you to enter upon it creditably.”

“Sir,” said M'Evoy, “you are a Protestant; but, as I hope to enther glory, I an' my wife an' childhre will pray that your bed may be made in heaven, this night; and that your honor may be led to see the truth an' the right coorse.”

The Colonel then left him; and the simple man, on looking at the cold meat, bread, and wine before him, raised his hands and eyes towards heaven, to thank God for his goodness, and to invoke a blessing upon his noble and munificent benefactor.

But how shall we describe the feelings of his family, when, after returning home, he related the occurrences of that day. The severe and pressing exigencies under which they labored had prevented his sons from attending the investigation that was to take place in town. Their expectations, however, were raised, and they looked out with intense anxiety for the return of their father.

At length he was seen coming slowly up the hill; the spades were thrown aside, and the whole family assembled to hear “what was done.”

The father entered in silence, sat down, and after wiping his brow and laying down his hat, placing his staff across it upon the floor, he drew his breath deeply.

“Dominick,” said the wife, “what news? What was done?”

“Vara,” replied Dominick, “do you remimber the day--fair and handsome you wor then--when I first kissed your lips, as my own darlin' wife?”

“Ah, avourneen, Dominick, don't spake of them times. The happiness we had then is long gone, acushla, in one sense.”

“It's before me like yestherday, Vara--the delight that went through my heart, jist as clear as yestherday, or the blessed sun that's shinin' through the broken windy on the floor there. I remimber, Vara, saying to you that day--I don't know whether you remimber it or not--but I remimber sayin' to you, that if I lived a thousand years, I could never feel sich happiness as I did when I first pressed you to my heart as my own wife.”

“Well, but we want to hear what happened, Dominick, achora.”

“Do you remimber the words, Vara?”

“Och! I do, avourneen. Didn't they go into my heart at the time, an' how could I forget them? But I can't bear, somehow, to look back at what we wor then, bekase I feel my heart brakin', acushla!”

“Well, Vara, look at me. Amn't I a poor wasted crathur now, in comparishment to what I was thin?”

“God he sees the change that's in you, darlin'! But sure 'twasn't your fau't, or mine either, Dominick, avilish!”

“Well, Vara, you see me now--I'm happpier--before God, I'm happier--happier, a thousand degrees than I was thin! Come to my arms, asthore machree--my heart s breakin'--but it's wid happiness--don't be frightened--it's wid joy I'm sheddin' these tears--it's wid happiness an' delight In' cryin'! Jemmy is livin', an' well, childhre--he's livin' an' well, Vara--the star of our hearts is livin', an' well, an' happy! Kneel down, childhre--kneel down! Bend before the great God, an' thank him for his kindness to your blessed brother--to our blessed son. Bless the Colonel, childhre; bless him whin you're down, Protestant an' all, as he is. Oh, bless him as if you prayed for myself, or for Jemmy, that's far away from us!”

He paused for a few minutes, bent his head upon his hands as he knelt in supplication at the chair, then resumed his seat, as did the whole family, deeply affected.

“Now, childhre,” said he, “I'll tell yez all; but don't any of you be so poor a crathur as I was to-day. Bear it mild an' asy, Vara, acushla, for I know it will take a start out of you. Sure we're to go back to our own ould farm! Ay, an' what'a more--oh, God of heaven, bless him!--what's more, the Colonel is to stock it for us, an' to help us; an' what is more, Yallow Sam is out! out!!”

“Out!” they exclaimed: “Jemmy well, an' Yallow Sam out! Oh, father, surely”--

“Now behave, I say. Ay, and never to come in again! But who do you think got him out?”

“Who?--why God he knows. Who could get him out?”

“Our son, Vara--our son, childhre: Jemmy got him out, an' got ourselves back to our farm! I had it partly from the noble Colonel's own lips, an' the remainder from Mr. Moutray, that I met on my way home. But there's more to come:--sure Jemmy has friends aquil to the Colonel himself: an' sure he's at a Catholic boordin'-school, among gintlemen's childhre, an' in a short time he'll be a priest in full ordhers.”

We here draw a veil over the delight of the family. Questions upon questions, replies upon replies, sifting and cross-examinations, followed in rapid succession, until all was known that the worthy man had to communicate.

Another simple scene followed, which, as an Irishman, I write with sorrow. When the joy of the family had somewhat subsided, the father, putting his hand in his coat-pocket, pulled out several large slices of mutton.