favorably. Hot and ungovernable in
temper, he unquestionably was, and capable of savage and cruel acts;
but at the same time his capricious and unsteady impulses rendered him
uncertain, whether for good or evil; so much so, indeed, that it was
impossible to know when to ask him for a favor; nor was it extraordinary
to find him a friend this day to the man whose avowed enemy he
proclaimed himself yesterday; and this same point of character was
true the other way---for whilst certain that you had him for a friend,
perhaps you found him hard at work to oppress or over-reach you if he
could. The consequence of this peculiarity was that he had a two-fold
reputation in the country. Some were found to abuse him, and others to
mention many acts of generosity and kindness which he had been known to
perform under circumstances where they were least to be expected. This
perhaps was one reason why they made so strong an impression upon the
people, and were so distinctly remembered to his advantage. It is true
he was a violent party man, but then he wanted coolness to adjust his
principles, and thus make them subservient to his private interests. For
this reason, notwithstanding his strong and out-spoken prejudices, it
was a well know fact, that the Roman Catholic population preferred him
as a magistrate to many who were remarkable for a more equal and even
tenor of life, and in whom, under greater plausibility of manner,
there existed something which they would have readily exchanged for his
violent abuse of them and their creed.

Such was Dick o' the Grange, a man who, as a middleman and a magistrate,
stood out a prominent representative of a class that impressed
themselves strongly upon their times, and who, whether as regards their
position or office, would not find at the present day in the ranks of
any party in Ireland a single man who could come forward and say they
were not an oppressive evil to the country.

Dick o' the Grange, at this period of our narrative, was far advanced in
years, and had, some time past, begun to feel what is known in men
who have led a hard convivial life, as that breaking down of the
constitution, which is generally the forerunner of dissolution. On
this account he had for some time past resigned the management of his
property altogether to his son, young Dick, who was certainly wild and
unreflecting, but neither so impulsively generous, nor so habitually
violent as his father. The estimate of hi