palpable. It must be first remarked, that the Irish are a traditional
people, and remarkably conservative of the customs and usages of their
ancestors. They look back into the history of their country, or consult
their fathers and grandfathers, and in vain look back for the existence
of a poorhouse, or any necessity for its existence, before the advent of
the "godly reformation" and the established church in their midst. They
heard of such establishments as the ancient "_beataghs_," or houses of
hospitality, which were provided for the stranger and destitute in every
townland, the doors of which were open day and night, and on the boards
of which cooked victuals for scores of men were continually ready. These
were the substitute for the poorhouse in the days when England and all
Europe sent their poor scholars to receive a gratuitous education among
the inhabitants of the Island of Saints. There the poor and the hungry
could come in and eat, and be filled, and go his way, without being
questioned who he was, without being asked for a _pauper ticket_ to
admit him, without being obliged or compelled to lead a life of
celibacy, or running the risk of his soul's salvation, to keep his body
from perishing of hunger.

In a word, when Brian Boru expelled the Danes from Ireland, when Hugh
O'Niel triumphed over the troops of Elizabeth, as well as when Dathi
held the sceptre, or Nial of the hostages planted his colors on the
Alps, there was enough to feed the poor of Ireland. There was no
necessity for a poorhouse; and there is no need of it now, says the
Irish peasant, if justice was done to Ireland. "Give us back our
monasteries and abbeys, and we will bestow you the poorhouses."

Besides these considerations, the English poorhouse has this advantage
over the Irish one--that the former is conducted and presided over by
Englishmen, who have a sympathy for, or at least are of, the same blood,