Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Cultural Geography, Commerce

    Describes a meeting in Dublin of 'noblemen, merchants, and capitalists' who resolved to urge the British government to help 'poor old Ireland' finance the construction of her railways. Likens the relationship between the Dublin railway promoters and English financiers to that of a poor relation who can count on financial assistance from other members of his family 'without remonstrance'. Defines good relations to be those who 'pay the expenses of your misadventures' and 'take your losses on themselves', while bad relations are those who refuse to back schemes that they think will fail and who remind you 'that they told you so' when your scheme does fail. Asks for 'the relations that will behave like buffers when I tumble back upon them' and who will enable the author to regain his former position.