pocus; any thing you like.
But I'll have no liberal doings here: no liberality shall be found on
board of me, whilst my name's le Harnois. Damn! I've a character to
support.

"I believe we mistake each other: there are different sorts of
liberality; and what I meant to say was----

"I care nothing about it: it signifies nothing talking about sorts of
liberality: I'll have _no_ sort.--And now, pray, what religion are you
of? Has Smock-face no religion, eh?"

"Really, Captain le Harnois, it does appear to me, that no man is
authorized or commissioned, merely upon the strength of flinging a rope
to a drowning man, or affording him some common office of humanity, to
institute an inquiry into his religious creed."

"Oh crimini! Not commissioned? By my commission I'm to lay hold
of every man that has any thing to say against his Most Christian
Majesty--the Catholic faith--or our Lady. My commission is that I'm to
overhaul _every_ man's religion. And as to what younker says about
flinging a rope,--a rope's end for it! If I fling a rope to a drowning
man and he lays hold of it, by my commission I'm to say--Ahoy there,
waterfowl, are you religious? Is your religion so and so? And, if he
sings out--_No_, my commission is to let go the rope and to say--Then
first of all get baptized with salt water; and, when that's done, come
and tell Captain le Harnois. _That's_ my commission. D---n! I think I
should know what my commission is: d---n!"

"But, Captain, you can surely make allowances for my education: _that_
may have been unfortunate; but still I profess the most entire respect
for the Romish church and her adherents."

"Respect and be d---d! I'll have no respect; I'll have religion--pure,
neat, religion--with none of your Protestant water in it, or d---d half
and half. My ship, a little vixen, _she's_ religious: for I tell you
she's had her decks scrubbed by the chaplain: _I_'m religious; ship's
company's religious: we're _all_ religious. And my passengers shall be
religious: or my name's not le Harnois. For my commission says, that
I'm to have none but the very best of Christians aboard: prime
articles, and none else: no damaged lots."

Bertram was perfectly confounded at hearing of such intense orthodoxy
on board a man of war: but he was disposed to question the entire
accuracy of the representation on chancing to observe, that all the
crew, who were behind the Captain's back, were laughing as they went
about their wor