n Connor spoke, as
his friends carried him on the door of a cabin, hastily unhinged for the
purpose, towards his home.

"Erra! he's safe enough, Owen," said one of his bearers, who was by no
means pleased that Mr. Leslie had made the best of his way out of the
fair, instead of remaining to see the fight out.

"God be praised for that same, anyhow!" said Owen piously. "His life was
not worth a 'trawneen' when I seen him first."

It may be supposed from this speech, and the previous conduct of him
who uttered it, that Owen Connor was an old and devoted adherent of the
Leslie family, from whom he had received many benefits, and to whom he
was linked by long acquaintance. Far from it. He neither knew Mr. Leshe
nor his father. The former he saw for the first time as he stood over
him in the fair; the latter he had never so much as set eyes upon, at
any time; neither had he or his been favoured by them. The sole tie that
subsisted between them--the one link that bound the poor man to the
rich one--was that of the tenant to his landlord. Owen's father and
grandfather before him had been cottiers on the estate; but being very
poor and humble men, and the little farm they rented, a half-tilled
half-reclaimed mountain tract, exempt from all prospect of improvement,
and situated in a remote and unfrequented place, they were merely known
by their names on the rent-roll. Except for this, their existence had
been as totally forgotten, as though they had made part of the wild
heath upon the mountain.

While Mr. Leslie lived in ignorance that such people existed on his
property, they looked up to him with a degree of reverence almost
devotional. The owner of the soil was a character actually sacred in
their eyes; for what respect and what submission were enough for one,
who held in his hands the destinies of so many; who could raise them
to affluence, or depress them to want, and by his mere word control the
Agent himself, the most dreaded of all those who exerted an influence on
their fortunes?

There was a feudalism, too, in this sentiment that gave the reverence a
feeling of strong allegiance. The landlord was the head of a clan, as it
were; he was the culminating point of that pyramid of which they formed
the base; and they were proud of every display of his wealth and his
power, which they deemed as ever reflecting credit upon themselves. And
then, his position in the county--his rank--his titles--the amount
of his property-