els now as I did then?
Who can tell how little the cold, unmeaning reality before him resembles
the spiritualized creation the fervor of his love and the ardor of his
devotion may have placed upon that altar? Who can limit or bound the depth
of that adoration for an object whose attributes appeal not only to every
sentiment of the heart, but also to every sense of the brain? I fancy
that I can picture to myself how these tinselled relics, these tasteless
waxworks, changed by the magic of devotion and of dread, become to the
humble worshipper images of loveliness and beauty. The dim religious light;
the reverberating footsteps echoed along those solemn aisles; the vaulted
arches, into whose misty heights the sacred incense floats upward, while
the deep organ is pealing its notes of praise or prayer,--these are no
slight accessories to all the pomp and grandeur of a church whose forms and
ceremonial, unchanged for ages and hallowed by a thousand associations,
appeal to the mind of the humblest peasant or the proudest noble by all the
weaknesses as by all the more favored features of our nature."

How long I might have continued to meditate in this strain I know not, when
a muttered observation from Mike turned the whole current of my thoughts.
His devotion over, he had seated himself upon the steps of the altar, and
appeared to be resolving some doubts within himself concerning his late
pious duties.

"Masses is dearer here than in Galway. Father Rush would be well pleased
at two-and-sixpence for what I paid three doubloons for, this morning.
And sure it's droll enough. How expensive an amusement it is to kill the
French! Here's half a dollar I gave for the soul of a cuirassier that I
kilt yesterday, and nearly twice as much for an artilleryman I cut down at
the guns; and because the villain swore like a heythen, Father Pedro told
me he'd cost more nor if he died like a decent man."

At these words he turned suddenly round towards the Virgin, and crossing
himself devoutly, added,--

And sure it's yourself knows if it's fair to make me pay for devils that
don't know their duties; and after all, if you don't understand English nor
Irish, I've been wasting my time here this two hours."

"I say, Mike, how's my friend the major! How's Major O'Shaughnessy?"

"Charmingly, sir. It was only loss of blood that ailed him. A thief with
a pike--one of the chaps they call Poles, bekase of the long sticks they
carry with them--stuc