wy, and good-humoured peer was the true man
for the head of affairs in Ireland. It was of more importance that he
should give balls and suppers, say lively things to the ladies, and be
jocular with the gentleman, than that he should have the brains of
Bolingbroke or the tongue of Chatham. But the position of the
secretary was the absolute antipode of this tranquil and festive
sinecure. He was in Ireland what the premier was in England, but with
ten times more of the difficulty, and ten times less of the power. The
whole conduct of public affairs lay on his shoulders; he was
responsible for every thing, while he was free in nothing; perpetually
assailed by opposition for measures which he was not at liberty to
explain, and standing between the English cabinet and the Irish party
as a scapegoat for the mistakes of the one, and a target for the shot
of the other. But the chief trial of temper was in the House of
Commons. Opposition in Ireland never had a list of more brilliant
names. Government had the majority behind its bench, and that majority
recruited from the ranks of Opposition; but the more distinguished
were fixed to party by their own celebrity; and the recruits, however
able, were so liable to be attacked for their change of side, that
they were paralyzed; in some instances, they were so much galled by
the merciless sharpshooting of their former associates, that they ran
back, and left the minister to fight the field alone.

I was fortunately free from the entanglements of that question, which
has since formed so large a portion of the political disquietudes of
Irish debate. The religion of the south was not yet among
parliamentary topics. The religion of the north, active ardent, and
indefatigable, was our most restless theme; and the political theories
which seemed to grow out of its bold abstractions, kept the government
in perpetual anxiety. The whole northern portion of the island was
ripe for revolt. America had blown the hot-blast of the revolutionary
furnace across the Atlantic, and a spark from France would have now
ignited the whole hot surface of the soil.

One of my first acts after arranging the preliminary business of
office, was to make a flying tour through Ulster. I was astonished at
its beauty. Even after being familiar with the loveliness of the
English landscape, I was in a state of continued surprise at the
variety, richness, and singularity of nature in the northern
counties. Mountain, la