PLACES AND PEOPLE ABROAD.        49
wedged in and lost our companions ; and on one occasion
I was separated from the lady, and took shelter under a
cart standing in the street. After being jammed and
pulled about for nearly two hours, I returned to my
lodgings, where I found part of my company, who
had come in one after another. At eleven o'clock we
had all assembled, and each told his adventures and
, " hair-breadth escapes ; " and nearly every one had lost
a pocket-handkerchief or something of the kind ; my own
was among the missing. However, I lost nothing ; for a
benevolent lady, who happened to be one of the company,
presented me with one which was of far more value than
the one I had lost.
Every one appeared to enjoy the. holiday which the
royal visit had caused. But the Irish are indeed a
strange people. How varied their aspect, how contra-
dictory their character ! Ireland, the land of genius
and degradation, of great resources and unparalleled
poverty, noble deeds and the most revolting crimes, the
land of distinguished poets, splendid orators, and the
bravest of soldiers, the land of ignorance and beggary !
Dublin is a splendid city, but its splendor is that of
chiselled marble rather than real life. One cannot
behold these architectural monuments without thinking
of the great men that Ireland has produced. The names
of Burke, Sheridan, Flood, Grattan, O'Connell and
Shiel, have become as familiar to the Americans as
household words. Burke is known as the statesman;
Sheridan for his great speech on the trial of Warren
5