must separate; for in those good old times evening parties were what their names imported, and the company attending them separated at what in our days would be considered ridiculously early hours, being in fact the time when modern parties begin; and so it came to pass that at a wholesome, seasonable hour, our friends separated, well pleased with themselves and each other.

CHAPTER X.

"Come, send round the wine, and leave points of belief To simpleton sages and reasoning fools;

This moment's a flower too fair and too brief

To be withered and stained by the dust of the schools."

THE marriage of Alderman Elliott spread much alarm and commotion throughout Orangedom. From his wealth, his high character, and his hitherto unswerving allegiance, he had hitherto proved a tower of strength to the party; but now that he had intermarried with a Roman Catholic, his actual defection from its ranks was looked forward to as by no means improbable. As time wore on, the brethren found that their apprehensions were not without foundation; for Elliott continued to absent himself from the Lodge, although reminded by Bob Coates that his attendance there was looked forward to with impatience. The fact was, that having given up the degrading habit of punch drinking, which, owing to his connexion with the Orange fraternity, he had been obliged to indulge in, and having separated himself from the stupid, besotted companions he used to waste his time with, his naturally fine mind assumed its healthy tone, so that he was enabled clearly and im

partially to consider the nature, scope, and tendency of the Orange confederation, the position it assumed, and the consequences resulting from it. In the course of his deliberations he reviewed his whole life, and looked back upon the history of his country for the previous thirty years of which he had a personal knowledgeand the following were the conclusions he arrived at:— That the Orange confederacy, to which he had been so long blindly attached, was an unnecessary, corrupt, and mischievous organization,-detrimental, in the highest degree, to the spread and progress of Protestantism; that it was fraught with ruinous consequences to Ireland as a nation; and that, so far from being a strength or support, it was a positive weakness to the British Empire; that its tendency was to promote and foster sectarian animosity, and to spread distrust and disunion amongst men whose interest it was to live together in peace and unity; that in the name of religion it performed the work of Satan more effectually than the most active agents of Lucifer ever succeeded in accomplishing; that his whole life, politically speaking, had been a great mistake,-inasmuch as, while intending to promote the prosperity of his country, and the diffusion throughout it of true religion, he had been assisting to promote results the very opposite; and that, for all these reasons, he would now, even though it might be at the eleventh hour, make the best atonement he could by dissevering himself from the Orange cause.

When it was found that he was not returning to the Lodge, and the rumour spread that he was changing his

opinions, the members of "the Grand Lodge of the Purple Arch and the Scarlet Banner" held a special sitting, at which, aided as usual by abundant libations of "King Billy's cordial"-for they never met without first baptizing themselves well with it-they discussed the momentous matter, and took counsel as to the most advisable means to be adopted

"To lure the tassel gentle back again,"

and regain the truant; for Elliott had been their idol; his gentlemanly manner, and kind and genial nature, lent such harmony to their meetings, that no disagreement or discord ever arose amongst them; while his purse was ever open to contribute to the support of the cause, to which his name and character imparted a respectability and importance it could never otherwise have attained. Without him it was feared their Lodgecomposed at it was, for the most part, of a coterie of miserable drunken debauchees, banded together only by the love of drink, and an insane hatred of Popery and of all who differed from them in their fanatical opinions-must either cease to exist, or become a disorganized and broken clique. Before deciding as to how they should act, they arranged to communicate with the members of the Dublin Corporation who were colleagues of their friend David Elliott, and were all of the right true blue stamp ; accordingly, two of the brethren were selected to confer with the Corporation on the subject. Not less shocked were the civic dignitaries at the doleful intelligence of Alderman Elliott's desertion from the Orange ranks: such a

man they could not now afford to lose; for these were troublous times. A powerful though peaceful agitation had been set on foot by the Roman Catholics for the assertion and attainment of their rights, and the removal of the galling disabilities they laboured under; while at the same time strong symptoms of disaffection began to appear amongst the rank and file of the Orange party. The leaven of political truth was operating steadily and surely amongst the Protestant community, who were growing weary of the intolerant opinions that prevailed. The violent Orange party saw with alarm that the cherished fabric they had so long striven to uphold was beginning to display signs of a speedy downfal. Seeing that Catholic Emancipation was looming in the future, they endeavoured by every means that bigotry and blind intolerance could suggest to avert the dreaded evil, or at least to stave it off to as remote a day as possible. Not only were their prejudices but their selfinterest involved in the struggle; for by the removal of the civil disabilities that Catholics at the time laboured under, the members of that creed would become entitled to share in the "loaves and fishes" of the State, from which they had hitherto been rigidly excluded. Under all these circumstances, it was with real alarm that the Tory party saw the intelligence and rapidly increasing wealth of the Roman Catholic community, as well as the decided change that was taking place in public opinion. With disgust and horror they looked forward to the time when the Romanist should stand on an equality with themselves,—a day, it was too plain,