CHAPTER III

THE IRELAND THAT TROLLOPE KNEW

A fresh start--Off to Ireland--The dawn of better things--Ireland in the forties and after--The Whigs and Tories in turn make vain efforts to remove the nation’s chief grievances--The most deep-seated evils social rather than political--Trollope’s bond of union with the “distressful country”--Sowing the seed of authorship on Bianconi’s cars and in the hunting-field--“It’s dogged as does it”--Ireland’s hearty welcome to the Post Office official--Trollope and his contemporaries on the Irishman in his true light--The future novelist at Sir William Gregory’s home--The legislation of 1849--The history and race characteristics of the Irish and the Jews compared--Irish novelists of Trollope’s day--Marriage with Miss Heseltine in 1844--His social standing and hunting reputation in Ireland--Interesting notabilities at Coole Park--Triumphant success of Trollope’s Post Office plot--Scoring off the advocate 39