magination, whether outside
or in, matters not, the fare is the same, and thus you will, at no great
cost, be able to accompany him. But before we proceed further we shall,
in the first place, convey you in ours to the ultimate point of his
journey.

There was, in one of the mountain districts of the county Wicklow, that
paradise of our country, a small white cottage, with a neat flower plot
before, and a small orchard and garden behind. It stood on a little
eminence, at the foot of one of those mountains, which, in some
instances, abut from higher ranges. It was then bare and barren; but at
present presents a very different aspect, a considerable portion of it
having been since reclaimed and planted. Scattered around this rough
district were a number of houses that could be classed with neither
farm-house nor cabin, but as humble little buildings that possessed a
feature of each. Those who; dwelt in them held in general four or five
acres of rough land, some more, but very few less; and we allude to
these small tenements, because, as our readers are aware, the wives
of their proprietors were in the habit of eking out the means of
subsistence, and paying their rents, by nursing illegitimate children
or foundlings, which upon a proper understanding, and in accordance
with the usual arrangements, were either transmitted to them from the
hospital of that name in Dublin, or taken charge of by these women, and
conveyed home from that establishment itself. The children thus nurtured
were universally termed parisheens, because it was found more convenient
and less expensive to send a country foundling to the hospital
in Dublin, than to burden the inhabitants of the parish with its
maintenance. A small sum, entitling it to be received in the hospital,
was remitted, and as this sum, in most instances, was levied off the
parish, these wretched creatures were therefore called parisheens, that
is, creatures! aided by parish allowance.

The very handsome little cottage into which we are about to give the
reader admittance, commanded a singularly beautiful and picturesque
view. From the little elevation on which it stood could be seen the
entrancing vale of Ovoca, winding in its inexpressible loveliness toward
Arklow, and diversified with green meadows, orchard gardens, elegant
villas, and what was sweeter! than all, warm and comfortable homesteads,
more than realizing our conceptions of Arcadian happiness and beauty.
Its precipito