Some may attribute to the same cause the apparently humane and
charitable actions which Tom, and indeed the other members of his
family, are known frequently to perform. A beggar has seldom left
their farm-yard with an empty wallet, or without obtaining a night's
lodging, if required, with a sufficiency of potatoes and milk to
satisfy even an Irish beggar's appetite; in appeasing which, account
must usually be taken of the auxiliary jaws of a hungry dog, and of
two or three still more hungry children, who line themselves well
within, to atone for their nakedness without. If one of the
neighbouring poor be seized with a fever, Tom will often supply the
sick wretch with some untenanted hut upon one of his two large farms
(for he has added one to his patrimony), or will send his labourers to
construct a shed at a hedge-side, and supply straw for a bed while the
disorder continues. His wife, remarkable for the largeness of her
dairy, and the goodness of everything it contains, will furnish milk
for whey; and their good offices are frequently extended to the family
of the patient, who are, perhaps, reduced to the extremity of
wretchedness, by even the temporary suspension of a father's or a
husband's labour.
If much of this arises from the hopes and fears to which I above
alluded, I believe much of it flows from a mingled sense of compassion
and of duty, which is sometimes seen to break from an Irish peasant's
heart, even where it happens to be enveloped in a habitual covering of
avarice and fraud; and which I once heard speak in terms not to be
misunderstood: "When we get a deal, 'tis only fair we should give back
a little of it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account