‘And is this my father’s town of Clonbrony?’
thought Lord Colambre. ’Is this Ireland?—No,
it is not Ireland. Let me not, like most of those
who forsake their native country, traduce it.
Let me not, even to my own mind, commit the injustice
of taking a speck for the whole. What I have
just seen is the picture only of that to which an Irish
estate and Irish tenantry may be degraded in the absence
of those whose duty and interest it is to reside in
Ireland to uphold justice by example and authority;
but who, neglecting this duty, commit power to bad
hands and bad hearts—abandon their tenantry
to oppression, and their property to ruin.’
It was now fine moonlight, and Lord Colambre met with
a boy, who said he could show him a short way across
the fields to the widow O’Neill’s cottage.
All were asleep at the cottage, when Lord Colambre
arrived, except the widow, who was sitting up, waiting
for him; and who had brought her dog into the house,
that he might not fly at him, or bark at his return.
She had a roast chicken ready for her guest, and it
was—but this she never told him the only
chicken she had left; all the others had been sent
with the duty-fowl as a present to the under-agent’s
lady. While he was eating his supper, which he
ate with the better appetite, as he had had no dinner,
the good woman took down from the shelf a pocket-book,
which she gave him: ‘Is not that your book?’
said she. ’My boy Brian found it after
you in the potato furrow, where you dropped it.’
‘Thank you,’ said Lord Colambre; ’there
are bank notes in it, which I could not afford to
lose.’
‘Are there?’ said she; ‘he never
opened it—nor I.’
Then, in answer to his inquiries about Grace and the
young man, the widow answered, ’They are all
in heart now, I thank ye kindly, sir, for asking;
they’ll sleep easy to-night anyway, and I’m
in great spirits for them and myself—for
all’s smooth now. After we parted you, Brian
saw Mr. Dennis himself about the lase and memorandum,
which he never denied, but knew nothing about.
“But, be that as it may,” says he, “you’re
improving tenants, and I’m confident my brother
will consider ye; so what you’ll do is, you’ll
give up the possession to-morrow to myself, that will
call for it by cock-crow, just for form’s sake;
and then go up to the castle with the new lase
ready drawn, in your hand, and if all’s paid
off clear of the rent, and all that’s due, you’ll
get the new lase signed; I’ll promise you
that upon the word and honour of a gentleman.”
And there’s no going beyond that, you know, sir.
So my boy came home as light as a feather, and as
gay as a lark, to bring us the good news; only he
was afraid we might not make up the rent, guineas and
all; and because he could not get paid for the work
he done, on account of the mistake in the overseer’s
tally, I sold the cow to a neighbour—dog-cheap;
