enter into convivial enjoyments, can
be ignorant of the remarkable flow of spirits which the prospect of an
abundant and hospitable dinner produces among them.

Father Finnerty was one of those priests who constitute a numerous
species in Ireland; regular, but loose and careless in the observances
of his church, he could not be taxed with any positive neglect of
pastoral duty. He held his stations at stated times and places, with
great exactness, but when the severer duties annexed to them were
performed, he relaxed into the boon companion, sang his song, told his
story, laughed his laugh, and occasionally danced his dance, the very
_beau ideal_ of a rough, shrewd, humorous divine, who, amidst the
hilarity of convivial mirth, kept an eye to his own interest, and
sweetened the severity with which he exacted his "dues" by a manner at
once jocose and familiar. If a wealthy farmer had a child to christen,
his reverence declined baptizing it in the chapel, but as a proof of his
marked respect for its parents, he and his curate did them the honor
of performing the ceremony at their own house. If a marriage was to
be solemnized, provided the parties were wealthy, he adopted the same
course, and manifested the same flattering marks of his particular
esteem for the parties, by attending at their residence; or if they
preferred the pleasure of a journey to his own house, he and his curate
accompanied them home from the same motives. This condescension, whilst
it raised the pride of the parties, secured a good dinner and a pleasant
evening's entertainment for the priests, enhanced their humility
exceedingly, for the more they enjoyed themselves, the more highly did
their friends consider themselves honored. This mode of life might, one
would suppose, lessen their importance and that personal respect which
is entertained for the priests by the people; but it is not so--the
priests can, the moment such scenes are ended, pass, with the greatest
aptitude of habit, into the hard, gloomy character of men who are
replete with profound knowledge, exalted piety, and extraordinary power.
The sullen frown, the angry glance, or the mysterious allusion to the
omnipotent authority of the church, as vested in their persons, joined
to some unintelligible dogma, laid down as their authority, are always
sufficient to check anything derogatory towards them, which is apt to
originate in the unguarded moments of conviviality.

"Plase your Reverence,