This was
eagerly pointed out to me. The congregation was very small, not half
filling the church.
Between Dublin and Belfast I had as travelling companion a Manchester
merchant, who had run over during his holidays to have a peep at the
turbulent Irish. He had been in Ireland for a few weeks, and had visited
some cabins and spoken to some laborers, and had settled the matter to
his own satisfaction. "The ills of Ireland arise from the inordinate
love of the soil in the Irish, and their lower civilization. For
instance, an English farmer in renting a farm would consider how much
would support his family first, and if the landlord would not accept as
rent what was left the bargain would not be struck. The Irish farmer
would think first how much he could give the landlord, and would
calculate to live somehow, not as any human beings should live, but
somehow on the balance."
This was his theory. He denounced in no measured terms the union of
Church and State, blaming this for the prevalent unbelief.
In many parts of Ireland I have been taken for some one else. I have had
secrets whispered to me under the mistake that I was somebody else, and
words of warning given that were of no use to me, but the funniest of
all was on my way from Dublin to Belfast.
Pages:
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489