d received his discharge, and
was returning to his home in "dear Old Ireland," when a relapse took
place, and he took refuge in the hospital. He also could tell tales of
wondrous interest connected with man-of-war life. He loved to talk of
his cruises in the Mediterranean, of the whizzing of cannon balls, the
mutilation of limbs, decks slippery with gore, levanters, pressgangs,
boatswains' calls, and the cat-o'-nine tails of the boatswains' mates.

The patient, from whom I occasionally borrowed a pair of crutches,
although a pleasant companion, bore upon his person unequivocal marks of
having met with rough handling on the ocean or on the land. He was MINUS
an eye, his nose had been knocked athwart-ships to the great injury of
his beauty, and a deep scar, from a wound made with a bludgeon, adorned
one of his temples! I learned that this man, who seemed to have been the
football of fortune and had received many hard kicks, had never been in
the army or the navy, that his wounds had been received in CIVIL wars,
battling with his countrymen. I was further told by the nurse, as a
secret, that although he was so amiable among his fellow-sufferers in
the hospital, when outside the walls, if he could obtain a glass of gin
or whiskey to raise his temper and courage to the STRIKING point, he
never passed a day without fighting. He was notorious for his pugnacious
propensities; had been in the Infirmary more than once for the tokens he
had received of the prowess of his opponents. In his battles he always
came off second best, and was now in the "accident ward" in consequence
of a broken leg, having been kicked down stairs by a gang of rowdies
whom he had insulted and defied!

There were also in the Infirmary inmates of a more pacific character.
Fortunately for mankind it is not the mission of every one to fight.
Among them was a gardener, a poor, inoffensive man, advanced in years,
who with a cleaver had chopped off accidentally, he said two fingers of
his right hand. The mutilation was intentional without doubt; his object
having been to procure a claim for subsistence in the Infirmary for a
time, and afterwards a passport to the poorhouse in Chester for life. He
had experienced the ills of poverty; had outlived his wife and children;
and able to talk well and fluently, entertained us with homely but
forcible narratives illustrating life in the lowest ranks of society.
When his wounds were healed he was reluctant to quit his co