lar hatred of "Bony," but
rather admired him.

Bianconi's conduct was of course quite loyal in the matter; he merely
bought the guineas as a matter of business, and sold them at a profit
to the bankers.

The country people had a difficulty in pronouncing his name. His shop
was at the corner of Johnson Street, and instead of Bianconi, he came
to be called "Bian of the Corner." He was afterwards known as "Bian."

Bianconi soon became well known after his business was established. He
became a proficient in the carving and gilding line, and was looked
upon as a thriving man. He began to employ assistants in his trade,
and had three German gilders at work. While they were working in the
shop he would travel about the country, taking orders and delivering
goods--sometimes walking and sometimes driving.

He still retained a little of his old friskiness and spirit of
mischief. He was once driving a car from Clonmel to Thurles; he had
with him a large looking-glass with a gilt frame, on which about a
fortnight's labour had been bestowed. In a fit of exuberant humour he
began to tickle the horse under his tail with a straw! In an instant
the animal reared and plunged, and then set off at a gallop down hill.
The result was, that the car was dashed to bits and the looking-glass
broken into a thousand atoms!

On another occasion, a man was carrying to Cashel on his back one of
Bianconi's large looking-glasses. An old woman by the wayside, seeing
the odd-looking, unwieldy package, asked what it was; on which
Bianconi, who was close behind the man carrying the glass, answered
that it was "the Repeal of the Union!" The old woman's delight was
unbounded! She knelt down on her knees in the middle of the road, as
if it had been a picture of the Madonna, and thanked God for having
preserved her in her old age to see the Repeal of the Union!

But this little waywardness did not last long. Bianconi's wild oats
were soon all sown. He was careful and frugal. As he afterwards used
to say, "When I was earning a shilling a day at Clonmel, I lived upon
eightpence." He even took lodgers, to relieve him of the charge of his
household expenses. But as his means grew, he was soon able to have a
conveyance of his own. He first started a yellow gig, in which he
drove about from place to place, and was everywhere treated with
kindness and hospitality. He was now regarded as "respectable," and as
a person worthy to hold some local o