The contumacy of Guardians and genteel ratepayers is a less
agreeable symptom. Asked to repay advances, the Guardians of Fermoy declare that they are paying for support of the poor as much and as fast as they can, and they won't be driven. The Grand Jury of Galway complain that the public works have been expensive and useless ; and, instead of repaying the cost, they politely offer to take the Works at a valuation ! Some openly talk of " repudiation." The notion which dictates these dishonest sentiments and evasive propositions seems to be, that the sums for which Ireland has been made responsible during the famine are so large that Irishmen can never repay them ; and the argument is derived entirely from past experience as to what Irishmen have done. In spite of all the talk about the resources of Ireland, it does not appear to have occurred to these would-be bankrupts, that additional exertions might enable Ireland to liquidate yet heavier burdens. That a better spirit obtains to some extent, is proved not only by the greater attention paid to agricultural re-
formers like Mr. Naper of Lougbrew and Mr. Monsen of Tervoe, or by the express exhortations of Mr. Moore and Mr. Keogh, but also by the very conduct of the people themselves. Their in- creased vigour in the fields has already begun to place Ireland in a safer and more solvent position. There is, then, a struggle going on between the old Milesian indolent helplessness and the new activity engendered between recent adversity and dawning hope. It will be the part of Go- vernment to foster the new spirit, by such practical measures as tend to exercise it.
