of his servants being indispensable, a better ordered hospitality allows free indulgence to individual fancy, and the visiter, when the wine has lost its charm, is allowed a safe retreat, without endangering the loss of life or character. A very different system was once observed in the conduct of an Irish banquet. The entertainer secured his company from retreating by locking them safely in:-" fast and furious"-the drinking commenced; and if an unfortunate individual happened not to be provided with as potent a skull as the more gifted bacchanals who surrounded him, he was either obliged to sit quietly till he tumbled from the chair, or absconded by the fortuitous opening of a door or window, and even then, most probably, accompanied by the tender missive of a decanter hurled at his head. These escapes

were, however, not generally to be effected; and, if this weak vessel had the good fortune to escape prostration under the table, he had still the chance of prostration on the field. If the host was a choice spirit, he would most probably resent this infraction on the laws of Irish orgies, by parading the fugitive in the

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morning, and repay the slight passed upon his port, by tapping the claret" of the offender. It may easily be conceived that drunkenness was not the only ill consequence of those revels. The national spirit, wayward and ungovernable, was prepared to catch at any questionable word or opinion, as contrary interests actuated them. These were unfortunately often called forth in the moment of inebriety, and the consequences of a trifling misconception were fatal to the peace of families. All this is gone bythe memory of our fathers' follies is fresh; and while the chivalrous spirit of Ireland, shrinking from the semblance of insult, secures honour from violation, and delicacy from outrage, these sanguinary scenes of private encounter which were once so frequent, thank God, at this day but rarely occur.

That class of worthies, celebrated by such cognomens as "Five-bottle Jack"-" Fireaway Frank"-"Ten-duel Tom," are nearly extinct, and there are many high-spirited gentlemen, who have never yet been brought to the sod, on whose fathers the honour had been conferred, probably for the tenth time, before they

had reached the years of their children. I have known a gentleman, whose son still preserves the weapons with which seventeen affairs of honour were concluded, (a registry is notched on the handle,) of which number nine fell to the lot of the proprietor, and the remainder were transacted by a few particular friends.

That these, and other similar habits, should have exposed the Irish to the charge of barbarism, was but just; but we must confess that their virtues (few as they might be) were not taken into account by their English neighbours when they formed an estimate of the national character. In the black catalogue of Pat's failings, his peculiarities were construed into crimes; and while the ebullitions of ill-directed courage were termed savage-while popular disapprobation was tortured to rebellion, and no name was considered sufficiently harsh, by which the vassal island should be designated— England forgot to look at herself, and, while she affected to despise the vices of the sister kingdom, she had within herself more of the barbarism she had denounced, without that shade of chivalry which shed a lustre even on

the crimes for which she could find neither pity nor pardon. While every duel, riot, and robbery, occurring in Ireland, were journalized with faithful accuracy and copious colouringas a set-off, we will presume, the next column was devoted to the more gratifying description of a bruising match, whose detail is given by the English editor with a satisfaction which indicates how gratifying the subject must be to the enlightened people who peruse his columns. Every round is critically remarked-each blow correctly examined-nor is this brutality confined to the mercenary wretches of the Fives Court-we are now and then treated with a

mill extraordinary" between a fancy swell and a big-boned Blacksmith. The kiddy alights from his tandem, gives the ribbons to his friend, doffs his lily shallow and upper toggery, and shows his cambric in a jiffy. Then follows a gratifying instance of the superiority of science over strength; each round becomes more exhilarating-Blackie, though a thorough-bred glutton, gets unmercifully nobbed-the swell's hits are delightfully described as the battle proceeds. Blackie, in the course of compli

ments, receives a favour between his nosegaysmeller and potato-trap, which sends down his throat the ivory part of his dinner set. A righthand facer from the amateur's bunch of fives hermetically seals his organ of vision, and thus politely saves him the trouble of looking through two eyes at once, till at last a tie-up in the victualling office completes the job-the swell slips on his Poodle benjamin, and rolls off in his rattler, amid the applauses of a delighted populace; while the knight of the anvil, less fortunate, modestly leaves the ground upon a shutter. This is civilization!

It has been observed by some persons, who had intimately studied the situation of the country one hundred years ago, that the mortal arbitrament to which many of the disputes of the Irish were referred, were not without some advantage to meet the misfortunes inseparable from this summary decision of quarrels. Parts of the kingdom were very thinly attended. The remoter land proprietors lived in a state of feudal potency, and arrogated much of the same authority over the properties, and frequently the lives of their tenantry, which