"But, as an historian, my dear young friend," said the doctor, "I need not remind you, that dragoons have been considered 'good lookers-on' in Ireland since the days of Strafford." "Ay!" said Edward; "and scandalous it is, that the abuses of the seventeenth century should be perpetuated in the nineteenth.[24] While those who govern show, by the means they adopt for supporting their authority, that their rule requires undue force to uphold it, they tacitly teach resistance to the people, and their practices imply that the resistance is righteous." [24] When Strafford's infamous project of the wholesale robbery of Connaught was put in practice, not being quite certain of his juries, he writes that he will send three hundred horse to the province during the proceedings, as "good lookers-on." "My dear Master Ned," said the doctor, "you're a patriot, and I'm sorry for you; you inherit the free opinions of your namesake 'of the hill,' of blessed memory; with such sentiments you may make a very good Irish barrister, but you'll never be an Irish judge--and as for a silk gown, 'faith you may leave the wearing of _that_ to your wife, for stuff is all that will ever adorn your shoulders." "Well, I would rather have stuff there than in my head," answered Edward. "Very epigrammatic, indeed, Master Ned," said the doctor. "Let us make a distich of it," added he, with a chuckle; "for, of a verity, some of the K. C.'s of our times are but dunces. Let's see--how will it go?" Edward dashed off this couplet in a moment-- "Of modern king's counsel this truth may be said, They have _silk_ on their shoulders, and _stuff_ in their head." "Neat enough," said the doctor; "but you might contrive more sting in it--something to the tune of the impossibility of making 'a silk purse out of a sow's ear,' but the facility of manufacturing silk gowns out of _bores'_ heads." "That's out of your bitter pill-box, Doctor," said Ned, smiling. "Put it into rhyme, Ned--and set it to music--and dedicate it to the bar mess, and see how you'll rise in your profession! Good bye--I will be back again to see the fun as soon as I can, but I must go now and visit an old woman who is in doubt whether she stands most in need of me or the priest. It's wonderful, how little people think of the other world till they are going to leave this; and, with all their praises of heaven, how very anxious they are to stay out of it as long as they can." With this bit of characteristic sarcasm, the doctor and Edward separated. Edward had hardly left the hustings, when Murphy hurried on the platform and asked for him. "He left a few minutes ago," said Tom Durfy.