and pair of trousers. He might have
a finer exterior; but he cares not for this kind of bauble. He knows
that trappings make neither the man nor the Christian, and that
elaborate suits are often the synonym of elaborate foolery. He takes
a pleasure in work; is happy inaction; and hates both clerical and
secular indifference. Priests, he thinks, ought to do their duty,
and men of the world ought to discharge theirs. In education, Father
Cobb is far above the ordinary run of men. He has a great natural
capacity, which has been well regulated by study; he is shrewd; has
a strong intuitive sense; can't be got over; won't be beaten out of
the field if you once get him into it; and is sure to either win or
make you believe that he has. Like all strong Catholics he has much
veneration--that "organ," speaking in the vernacular of phrenology,
is at the top of the head, and you never yet saw a thorough Catholic
who did not manifest a good development of it; he is strong in
ideality; has also a fine, vein of humour in him; can laugh, say
jolly as well as serious things; and is a positively earnest and
practical preacher. He speaks right out to his hearers; hits them
hard in reference to both this world and the next; tells them "what
to eat, drink, and avoid;" says that if they get drunk they must
drop it off, that if they stuff and gormandise they will be a long
while before reaching the kingdom of heaven; that they must avoid
dishonesty, falsehood, impurity, and other delinquencies; and,
furthermore, intimates that they won't get to any of the saints they
have a particular liking for by a round of simple religious
formality--that they must be good, do good, and behave themselves
decently, individually and collectively. We have never heard a more
practical preacher: he will tell young women what sort of husbands
to get, young men what kind of wives to choose, married folk how to
conduct themselves, and old maids and bachelors how to reconcile
themselves virtuously to their fate. There is no half-and-half ring
in the metal he moulds: it comes out clear, sounds well, and goes
right home. In delivery he is eloquent; in action rather brisk; and
he weighs--one may as well come down from the sublime to the
ridiculous--about thirteen stones. He is a jolly, hearty, earnest,
devoted priest; is cogent in argument; homely in illustration;
tireless in work; determined to do his duty; and, if we were a
Catholic, we should be inclined to fig