CHAPTER XII.

Kilmallock, and the Desmonds.

Blackrock; Tuesday, October the lOth,— I
hope I shaU have courage to write out the
notes I made during our delightfal journey
here yesterday. It was such a poetry-breathing
day!—^the clouds seemed full of thoughts and
stories; the earth and all its inhabitants
looked happy, and I exclaimed with Words ^
worth,

" There is a blessing in the air,
Which seems a sense of joy to yield."

Really, on some blessed days, all the counte¬
nances we behold seem fuU of joy. Is it
oiH own fascinated gaze, which sees them
through  the  glowing   medium of   our   sunny