They don't think much on the other side of Irish
railways or Irish railway men." This, I daresay, was true, though he,
well known, liked and admired as he was, ought to have been considered an
exception, and why no British railway company, when posts were going,
ever snapped him up is hard to say. Later on, even I, once or twice
narrowly escaped obtaining a good thing on the English side of the
Channel, but it never _quite_ came off, and so I was left to make myself
as happy as I could in Ireland.
Perhaps it was as well. Railway life in Ireland, though not highly
remunerated, had its compensations as most situations in life have. There
the pressure of work was less constant and severe than in England. A
railway manager was not confined to crowded cities, and enjoyed more
breathing space. When he travelled on his line he came in contact with
bucolic interests instead of the whirring wheels of trade. Time moved
more slowly, greater leisure prevailed, the climate was softer, the
country greener, manners easier, and more wit and humour abounded. Yes,
on the whole, I was more fortunate than had my ambitious hopes been
realised to the full.
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