The
Government have ways of finding out things; they know all though, they
don't let on. There will be a bloody time, in my opinion."
Oh, the wisdom with which the old man shook his head as he said this,
adding in a penetrating whisper, "The times of '98 over again or worse."
IV.
LOYALTY IN THE "BLACK NORTH" - GENTLEMEN'S RESIDENCES - A MODEL IRISH
ESTATE - A GOOD MAN AND HIS WIFE - VISITING THE POOR.
Down in the North the loyalty is intense and loud. An opinion favorable
to the principles of the Land League it would be hardly prudent to
express. Any dissatisfaction with anything at all is seldom expressed
for fear of being classed with these troublers of Ireland.
The weather is very inclement, and has been ever since I landed. Snow,
rain, hail, sleet, hard frost, mud, have alternated. Some days have been
one continuous storm of either snow or sleet.
The roads through Antrim are beautifully clean and neat, not only on the
line of rail but along the country roads inland. The land is surely
beautiful, exceedingly, and kept like a garden. The number of houses of
some, nay of great, pretensions, is most astonishing. Houses set in
spacious and well-kept grounds, with porter lodges, terraced lawns,
conservatories, &c., abound. They succeed one another so constantly that
one wonders how the land is able to bear them all, or by what means such
universal grandeur is supported.
