tractable, or I should have no objection to take him from you myself," said Mr. Stapleton, "he certainly appears strong and active."

"Is it sthrong?-ah! thin he's that any way, let alone active; an' only he's got de top hand o' me, his ould mother, there niver was a bitter b'y than Barney, that I'll say for him, if he is mine, 'till he left his larnin'; an' whether it's the prates, yer honor, is too nourishin' food for him, or de growin' he was tuk with, but he flogs de world for strength, if he'd put it out."

"What say you, Barney? will you promise to be a diligent industrious boy if I take you into my service. Will you do as you are bid to the best of your ability, and thereby relieve your parents from the task of supporting you in idleness."

"Musha den, I'd go to de world's ind to plaze yer honor, an' git out o' this, for its no pace o' my life I have among dem."

"Barney! I'm ashamed, an' that's thruth, you should be spakin' in that manner agen your own blood, and de father and mother that reared you; its time for ye to be seekin' yer fortin, but I hope de jintleman 'll be marciful, an' not judge ye be yer ingratitude to dem that's

brought ye up, an' fed, an' clothed ye, ye graceless creature, that ye are!"

"I dunno want to be clothed," retorted Barney; "'tis the brogues an' that, I'm sick on all out."

"But if you come with me, you must submit to wear shoes and stockings always; we have an objection to see bare feet in England."

"If it's to England yer honor 'ud take me, I'd agree to wear me clothes, in doore an' out; an' do any thing at all at all, to plaze yer honor, for I know I'd be a made man, onst I sot foot in England."

"You can mention the circumstance to your husband, Mrs. Mahoney," said Mr. Stapleton, "and I will call on you to-morrow, to discuss the matter farther. I am in want of a strong lad of Barney's age, to carry messages and parcels; if he conducts himself well, and is willing to learn, I may probably take him into my house as servant to my son, but this depends entirely on his own conduct. I ought, perhaps, to tell you, I am a London merchant, and I will give you a reference, which I have no doubt will be satisfactory, to Messrs. Beamish and Crawford, in Cork. But I wish you fully to understand,

that should Barney fail in obedience and industry, I shall consider myself at liberty to return him on your hands, paying his expences home."

"Yer honor's too good entirely, an' I'm sure Mr. Mahoney 'll say the same, an' no call in life for reference, but whatever yer honor plazes; and its me blessin' he'll get, if he's a good b'y an' does yer honor's biddin', an' his father an' me 'll talk to him be de blessin' o' Providence."

"The storm is over, I think, Mrs. Mahoney; good day to you: I'll probably see you to-morrow,-good day."

"Yer honor's sarvent! yes, the storum's over I b'lieve, an' a blessid storum it was for me an' mine, God willin'. Where's his honor's cloak? Put down the jintleman's gloves, there, Katy! will you never-Barney, where's yer leg, ye villyan. Get out o' that, Dinnis, I bid ye! Is it blockin' up his honor's way, ye are standing right forenent the doore?"

The cabin in which the above scene took place, was one of those miserable looking mud hovels, so well described by some English traveller, as most resembling "pig styes of a larger growth." Two rooms, with their bare

earthen floor, formed the fundamental accommodations; and in virtue of its numerous inhabitants, it possessed the rare luxury of an upper chamber, or loft, in the thatched roof, approachable by a ladder, to be placed or removed at pleasure; "a blessed invintion," to use Mrs. Mahoney's own words, "for securin' pace an' quietness," on despatching to this attic dormitory, six or eight of the most refractory of the younger branches of her family. The building had originally possessed a window; indeed, a second luxury of that nature had been projected, as was evident from the remaining frame work, which still marked its intended situation; but as Murty Mahoney obtained the cabin in a half finished state, and was unconscious of a positive necessity for any window at all, it is not surprizing that he suffered, rather than preserved the one completed, and plastered up the space meant for the other.

Four panes of glass, a liberal allowance in Murty's calculation, had once adorned the window; but as family accidents, and other contingencies, had one after the other demolished them, their vacancies had been filled up in the natural, that is, the Irish natural way, by an old hat, the frail remains of a superannuated

petticoat; or, in default of these, a wisp of straw; any of which auxiliaries were, in Murty's eyes, a welcome substitute for the displaced glass. He declared them to be more effectual in "keeping out the could," and was certainly con scious of an increase of happiness by the change. As the cabin possessed no chimney, the smoke was retained a tolerably close prisoner, and its usual results appeared in the dark visages and dingy habiliments of its inhabitants. The earthen floor of the general apartment owned no obedience to the levelling system. There still remained, however, two or three situations in which, by care and circumspection, a chair might stand with some degree of firmness on its four legs, if it happened to retain so many; but the previous examination necessary to secure this position, reduced the inmates to the less troublesome, therefore more agreeable practice of sitting on stools, so long as one remained untenanted. When the stools failed, there was the washing tub, which, turned bottom upwards, made an excellent seat for three or four urchins, who, at the same time, secured a musical instrument in its sides, which they ceased not to batter incessantly. A large iron pot, for the purpose of