To Massingbred's great astonishment, he learned that vast as the estates, and large as was the fortune of the Martins, that they were deeply encumbered with bond-debts and mortgages. The wasteful habits of the gentry generally, combined with great facilities for obtaining money at any emergency, had led to this universal indebtedness; and, in fact, as the lawyer expressed it, an old estate was supposed to be the victim of debt, as an elderly gentleman was liable to gout; nobody presuming to think that the tenure, in either case, was a whit the more precarious on account of the casualty. “Now,” said Repton, as they reached a point of the road from which a view of the country could be obtained for miles on every side--“now, as far as you can see belongs to Martin. Beyond that mountain yonder, too, there is a large tract--not very productive, it is true--extending to the sea. The fine waving surface to your left is all tillage land; and the islands in the bay are his. It is really a princely estate, with even greater hidden resources than those palpable and open to view. But, were I to show it to you on a map, and point out at the same time every spot on which some moneylender has a claim--how much has been advanced upon this--what sums have been lent upon that--you 'd be more amazed at the careless ease of the proprietor than you now are at the extent of his fortune.” “But he is spending immensely in improving and developing the property,” said Jack. “Of course he is, sir. That new-fangled notion of 'gentleman-farming '--which has come to us from countries where there are no gentlemen--won't suit Ireland, at least in the present generation. What _we_ want here is, not to make more money, but to learn how to spend less; and although the first very often teaches the last, it is a hard way for an Irishman to acquire his knowledge. There's your borough, sir,--that little spot in the valley yonder is Oughterard. Do you feel, as you behold it, as though it were to be the mainspring of a great career? Is there an instinctive throb within that says, 'The honorable member for Oughterard will be a great name in the “Collective Wisdom “'?” “I can scarcely say yes to that appeal,” said Jack, smiling; “though, if what you have just told me of the mediocrity of public men be true--” “Can you doubt it? You have them all before you,--their lives, their sayings, and their doings. Show me one in the whole mass who has originated a new idea in politics, or developed a new resource in the nation. Do they exhibit the common inventiveness displayed in almost every other walk of life, or do they even dress up their common platitudes in any other garb than the cast-off clothes of their predecessors? Mediocrity is a flattery when applied to them. But what's this coming along behind us, with such clattering of hoofs?” “A tandem, I think,” said Jack, looking backward, “and very well handled, too.”