rather say, the Catholic Rector of this parish, is of a somewhat
different habit of thought or contemplation. I dined with him
to-day--ehem--dined with him upon an excellent joint of mutton--I say,
father--the mutton was good--and with his proud, pertinacious curate,
whom I do not at all relish; whether, as Homer says--I enumerate his
scurrilous satire, or his derogatory insinuations. His parochial pastor
and spiritual superior is a gentleman, or, as Horace says, _homo factus
ad unguem_--which is paraphrastically--every inch a gentleman--or more
literally, a gentleman to the tops of his fingers--ehem--hem--down to
the very nails--as it were.

"Well--having discussed that--_observatis observandis, quoad
sacerdolem_--having passed my eulogium upon Father Finnerty--upon my
word and credit though, punch is _prima facie_ drink--and father, that
brings me to remember an omission which I committed in my dialogue with
you this morning. I forgot to say, that after my dinner, in the manner I
expounded to you, it will be necessary to have a tumbler of punch--for,
as Father Finnerty says, there is nothing which so effectually promotes
the organs of digestion. Now, my introduction of this, in the middle
of my narrative, is what the hypercritics call a Parenthesis, which
certainly betrays no superficial portion of literary perusal on my part,
if you could at all but understand it as well as Father Finnerty, our
Worthy parochial incumbent, does. As for the curate, should I ever come
to authority in the Irish hierarchy, I shall be strongly disposed to
discountenance him; if it were only for his general superciliousness of
conduct. So there's another clause disposed of.

"Well--to proceed--I say I have intelligence regarding myself, that will
be by no means unsavory to you all. Father Finnerty and I had, about
an hour before dinner this day, a long and tedious conversation, the