proceedings of the steeds. The furrow which is to be the depository
of the future crop is not unlike, either in depth or regularity, to
those domestic furrows which the nails of the meek and much-injured
wife plough, in some family quarrel, upon the cheeks of the
deservedly punished husband. The weeds seem to fall contentedly,
knowing that they have fulfilled their destiny, and left behind
them, for the resurrection of the ensuing spring, an abundant and
healthy progeny. The whole is a scene of idleness, laziness, and
poverty, of which it is impossible, in this active and enterprising
country, to form the most distant conception; but strongly
indicative of habits, whether secondary or original, which will long
present a powerful impediment to the improvement of Ireland.

The Irish character contributes something to retard the improvements
of that country. The Irishman has many good qualities: he is
brave, witty, generous, eloquent, hospitable, and open-hearted; but
he is vain, ostentatious, extravagant, and fond of display, light in
counsel, deficient in perseverance, without skill in private or
public economy, an enjoyer, not an acquirer--one who despises the
slow and patient virtues--who wants the superstructure without the
foundation, the result without the previous operation, the oak
without the acorn and the three hundred years of expectation. The
Irish are irascible, prone to debt and to fight, and very impatient
of the restraints of law. Such a people are not likely to keep
their eyes steadily upon the main chance like the Scotch or the
Dutch. England strove very hard at one period to compel the Scotch
to pay a double Church, but Sawney took his pen and ink, and finding
what a sum it amounted to became furious and drew his sword. God
forbid the Irishman should do the same! The remedy now would be
worse than the disease; but if the oppressions of England had been