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felt a degree of hesitation in laying down the matter for my approval; at length she opened it with great adroitness :-"Musha, an to be sure he will, Katty dear an darlin-and mightn't you know he wid-the refusin to do it is'nt in his face, as any body that has eyes to see may know-you ashamed-and what for wid ye be ashamed?-astore its 'imself that's not proud, or he would'nt tramp it, barefooted, along with two ould crathurs like huz; him that has no sin to answer fur--but I'll spake to 'im myself, and ye'll see its he that wont refuse id.-Arrah! your Reverence, but Katty an I war thinkin, that as there's only three iv is, an the town's before is, where we'll rest a while, plase God -for by that time the shower that's away over there will be comin down;-that as there's but three iv is, would it be any harm if we sed a bit of a rosary, and your Reverence to join us ?"This was, indeed, a most unexpected attack; but it was evident that I was marked down by this curious woman as a paragon of piety; though indeed her object was rather to smooth the way in my mind, for what she intended should be a very excellent opinion of her own godliness.

I looked about me, and as far as my eye could reach, the road appeared solitary. I did, tis true, debate the matter with myself, pro and con, for I felt the absurdity of my situation, and of this abrupt proposal, more than I was willing to suppose I did. Still, thought I, it is a serious thing to refuse praying with this poor woman, because she is poor-God is no respecter of personsthis too is a rosary to the blessed Virgin; besides nothing can be too humbling for a person when once engaged in this holy station-" So pride I trample you under my feet," said I to myself, at a moment when the appearance of a respectable person on the road would have routed all my humility. I complied, however, with a very condescending grace, and to it we went. The old women pulled out their beads, and I got my hat which had one of my shoes in it, under my arm. They requested that I should open the rosary, which I did: and thus we kept tossing the ball of prayer from one to another along the way, whilst I was bending and sinking on the hard pebbles in perfect agony.

But we had not gone far, when the shower, which we did not suppose would have fallen until we should reach the town, began to descend with greater bounty than we were at all prepared for, or than I was, at least; for I had no outside coat; but indeed the morning was so beautiful, that rain was scarcely to be apprehended. With respect to the old lady, she appeared to be better acquainted with the necessary preparations for such a journey, than I could be for as soon as the shower became heavy, (and it fell very heavily) she whipped off her cloak, and before I could say a syllable to the contrary, had it pinned about me. She then drew out of a large four cornered pocket of red cloth, that hung at her side, a hare's skin cap, which, in a twinkling was on her own cranium. But what was most singular, considering the heat of the weather, was the appearance of an excellent frieze jacket, such as porters and draymen usually wear, with two outside pockets on the sides, into one of which she drove her arm up to the

elbow, and in the other hand carried her staff like a man- -I thought she wore the cap too a little to the one side on her head. Indeed a more ludicrous appearance could scarcely be conceived than she now exhibited. I on the other hand cut an original figure, being six feet high, with a short grey cloak pinned tightly about me, my black cassimere small clothes peeping below itmy long, yellow, polar legs, unincumbered with calves, quite naked; a good hat over the cloak-but no shoes on my feet, marching thus gravely upon my pilgrimage, with two such figures!

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In this singular costume did we advance, the rain all the time falling in torrents. The town however was not far distant, and we arrived at a little thatched house, where "dry lodging" was offered above the door, both to "man and baste." On entering the town, we met a carriage, in which were a gentleman and two ladies: I chanced to be walking a little before the woman, but could perceive by casting a glance into the carriage, that they were in convulsions with laughter; to which I have strong misgivings of having contributed in no ordinary degree. But I felt more indignant at the wit, forsooth, of the well-fed serving man, behind the coach, who should also have his joke upon us; for as we passed, he turned to my companion, whom he addressed as a male personage-" and why, you old villain, do you drive your cub to the island' pinioned in such a manner ?-give him the use of his arms, you sinner,"-thus intimating that I was a booby son of her's, in leading strings. The old lady looked at him with a very peculiar expression of countenance; I thought she smiled; but never did a smile appear to me so pregnant with bitterness and cursing scorn. Aye," said she, "there goes the well-fed heretic, that neither fasts nor prays-his God is his belly-they have the fat of the land for the present, your Reverence-but wait a bit. In the mean time we had betther get in here, a little, till this shower passes-ye see the sun's beginnin to brighten behind the rain, so it can't last long and a bit of breakfast will do none iv is any harm." We then entered the house aforesaid, which presented a miserable prospect for refreshment: but as I was in some measure identified with my fellow travellers, I could not with a good grace give them up. I had not at the time the least experience in life, was incapable of that discrimination which guides some people, as it were by instinct, in choosing their society; and had altogether but a poor notion of the more refined decorums of life. When we got in, the equivocal lady began to exercise some portion of authority: Come," said she, "here's a clargyman, and you had betther lose no time in gettin his Reverence his breakfast:" then, said the civil creature to the mistress, in the same kind of half audible tone,— "Avourneen, if you have any thing comfortable, get it for 'im; he is generous an will pay you well for id: a blessed crathur he is, too, as ever brought good luck under yer roof; Lord luv ye, af ye hard 'im discoursin uz along the road, as if he was wan iv ourselves, mild and sweet; I'm shure I'll always have a good opinion iv myself, for puttin on the jacket this bout, at any

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rate, as I was able to spare his Reverence the cloak, a-haygur! the mild crathur!"

While my fellow traveller was thus talking, I had time to observe that the woman of the house, was a clean looking creature, with something of a sickly appearance. An old grey headed man sat in something between a chair and a stool, formed of one solid piece of ash, supported by three legs sloping outwards; the seat of it was quite smooth by long use, and a circular row of rungs, capped by a piece of semicircular wood, shaped to receive the reclining body of whoever might occupy it, rose from the seat in presumptuous imitation of an arm chair. There were two other chairs beside this, but the remainder of the seats were all stools. The room was square, with a bed in each of the corners adjoining the fire, covered with blue drugget quilts-stoutly quilted; there was another room in which travellers slept. Opposite me on the wall was the appropriate picture of St. Patrick himself, with his crosier in his hand, driving all kinds of venomous reptiles out of the kingdom. The Hermit of Killarney, was on his right, and the Yarmouth Tragedy, or the dolorious history of Jemmy and Nancy, two unfortunate lovers. I have been the more exact in describing this place of entertainment, (I wish my readers may find it so) because such is the rigorous economy of a pilgrimage-and such the circumstances of the greater part of those who undertake it, that it is to houses of this description the generality of them resort. These "dry lodging" houses may not improperly be called pilgrim's inns, a great number of them being opened only during the continuance of the three months in which the stations are performed.

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Breakfast was now got ready, but it was evident that my two companions had not been taken into account; for there was "an equipage" only for one. I enquired from my speaking partner if she and her fellow traveller would not breakfast. only reply I received was a sorrowful shake of the head, and No, avourneen machree, no!" in quite an exhausted cadence. On hearing this the kind landlady gave them a look of uncommon pity, exclaiming at the same time, as if in communication with her own feelings, Musha, God pity them, the poor crathers; an they surely can't but be both wake an hungry afther such a journey this blessed and broilin day-och! och! if I had it, or could afford it, an they should'nt want any way-Arrah wont yees thry and ate a bit iv sumthin," addressing herself to. them"-" Och, then no, a lanna, but I'd jist thank drink iv could waather, if ye plaase; an that may be strengthening of uz a bit." I saw at once that their own little stock of provisions, if they really had any, was too scanty to allow the simple creatures the indulgence of a regular meal; but I thought they might, if they felt so weak, have taken even a slight refreshment from their bags. However, I was bound in honour and also in charity to give them their breakfast, which I ordered accordingly for them both, it being, I considered, only fair, that as we had prayed together we should eat together. Whilst we were at breakfast, the landlady, with a piece of foresight for which I af

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terwards thanked her, warmed a pot of water, in which my feet were bathed, laid my shoes on their sides upon the hearth stone, where they were soon quité dry-then took out of a large three cornered pincushion with tassels, which hung at her side, a darning needle, and having threaded it, she drew a white woollen thread, several times along a piece of soap, pressing it down with her thumb until it was quite soapy-this she drew very tenderly through the blisters which were risen on my feet, cutting it at both ends, and leaving a part of it in the blister. It is decidedly the best remedy that was ever tried, for I can declare that during the remainder of my pilgrimage, not one of these blisters gave me the least pain. When breakfast was over, and these kind attentions performed, we set out once more; and from this place, I remarked, as we advanced, that an odd traveller would fall in upon the way: so that before we had gone many miles farther, the fatigue of the journey was much lessened by the society of the pilgrims. These were now collected into little groups, of from three to a dozen, each, with the exception of myself and one or two others of a decenter cast, having the staff and bag. The chat and anecdote, were upon the whole very amusing; but although there was great variety of feature, character, and costume among so many, as must always be the case, where people of different lives, habits, and pursuits, are brought together, still I could perceive that there was a shade of strange ruminating abstraction apparent on all. I could observe the cheerful narrator relapse into a temporary gloom, or a fit of desultory reflection, as some train of thought would suddenly rise in his mind. 1 could sometimes perceive a shade of pain, perhaps of anguish, darken the countenance of another, as if a bitter recollection was awakened; yet this often changed, by an unexpected transition, to a gleam of joy or satisfaction, as if a quick sense or hope of relief flashed across his heart. When we came near Petigo, the field for observation was much enlarged. The road was then literally alive with pilgrims, and reminded me, as far as numbers were concerned, of the multitude that flock to market on a fair day. Petigo is a snug little town, three or four miles from the lake, where the pilgrims all sleep on the night before the commencement of their stations. When we were about 5 or 6 miles from it, the road presented a singular variety of grouping.There were men and women of all ages, from the sprouting devotee of twelve, to the hoary, tottering pilgrim of eighty, creeping along, bent over his staff, to perform this soul-saving work and die.

Such is the reverence in which this celebrated place is held, that as we drew near it, I remarked the conversation to become slack: every face put on an air of solemnity and thoughtfulness, and no man was inclined to relish the conversation of his neighbour, or to speak himself. The very women were silent. Even the lassitude of the journey was unfelt, and the unfledged pilgrim, as he looked up in his father's or mother's face, would catch the serious and severe expression he saw there, and trot silently on, forgetting that he was fatigued.

For my part I felt the spirit of the scene strongly, yet perhaps, not

with such an exclusive interest as others. I had not only awe, terror, enthusiasm, pride, and devotion to manage, but suffered heavy annoyance from the inroad of a villainous curiosity, which should thrust itself among the statelier feelings of the occasion, and set all attempts to restraiu it at defiance. It was a sad bar to my devotions, which, but for its intrusion, I might have conducted with more meritorious steadiness. How, for instance, was it possible for me to register the transgressions of my whole life, heading them under the "seven deadly sins," with such a prospect before me as the beautiful waters of Lough Erne?

Despite of all the solemnity about me, my unmanageable eye would turn from the very blackest of the seven deadly offences, and the stoutest of the four cardinal virtues, to the beetling, abrupt, and precipitous rocks which hung over the lake, as if ready to tumble into its waters. I broke away, too, from several "acts of contrition," to conjecture whether the dark indistinct inequalities which terminated the horizon, and penetrated, methought, into the very skies, far beyond the lake, were mountains or clouds: a dark problem which to this day I have not been able to solve. Nay, I was taken twice, despite of the most virtuous efforts to the contrary, from a Salve Regina, to watch a little skiff, which shone with its snowy sail spread before the radiant evening sun, and glided over the waters, like an angel sent on some happy message. In fact, I found my heart on the point of corruption, by indulging in what I had set down in my vocabulary, as the lust of the eye, and had some faint surmise that I was plunging into obduracy. I accordingly made a private mark, with the nail of my thumb, on the "act of contrition" in my prayer book, and another on the Salve Regina, that I might remember to confess, for these devilish wanderings. But what all my personal piety could not effect, a lucky turn in the road accomplished, by bringing me from the view of the lake, and thus ended my temptations and my defeats on these points.

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When we got into Petigo we found the lodging houses considerably crowded. I contrived, however, to establish myself as well as another, and in consequence of my black dress, and the garrulous industry of my epicene companion, who stuck close to me all along, was treated with more than common respect. And bere I was deeply impressed with the remarkable contour of many visages which I had now a better opportunity of examining than while on the road. There seemed every description of guilt, and every degree of religious feeling mingled together in the same mass, and all more or less subdued by the same principle of abrupt and gloomy abstraction. There was a little man, dressed in a turned black coat and drab cassimere small-cloths, who struck me as a remarkable figure; his back was long, his legs and thighs short, and he walked on the edge of his feet. He was pale-faced, bags hung under his eyes, drooping eye lids, no beard, no brows, and no chin; for in the place of the two latter, there was a slight frown where the brows ought to have been, and a curve in the place of the chin, merely perceptible from the bottom of his under lip to his throat. He wore

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