fant in her arms, and all the appearance of a heart heavily charged
with despondency and grief. An old Irishwoman, seated at the side of
the bed, was making the most violent gesticulations, and audibly calling
upon the spirit of the departed "to see how they onor'd his mimory,"
raising the cross before her, while two or three others came up to the
head, uttered a short prayer, and then sat down to drink his sowl out of
purgation. (See Plate.)

[Illustration: page030]

But the most extraordinary part of the ceremony was the _howl_, or
oration spoken over the dead man by a rough-looking, broad-shouldered
Emeralder, who descanted upon his virtues as if he had been an hero of
the first magnitude, and invoked every saint in the calendar to free
the departed from perdition. For some time decorum was pretty well
preserved; but on my friends Bob Transit and Horace Eglantine sending
Barney out for a whole gallon of whiskey, and a proportionate quantity
of pipes and tobacco, the dull scene of silent meditation ~31~~gave way
to sports and spree, more accordant with their feelings; and the kindred
of the deceased were too familiar with such amusements to consider them
in any degree disrespectful. There is a volatile something in the
Irish character that strongly partakes of the frivolity of our Gallic
neighbours; and it is from this feature that we often find them gay
amidst the most appalling wants, and humorous even in the sight of cold
mortality. A song was soon proposed, and many a ludicrous stave sung,
as the inspiring cup made the circle of the company. "Luke Caffary's
Kilmainham Minit," an old flash chant, and "The Night before Larry was
stretched," were among the most favourite ditties of the night. A verse
from the last may serve to show their _peculiar_ character.

"The night before Larry was stretch'd,

The boys they all paid him a visit;
And bit in their sacks too they fetch'd,

They sweated their duds till they riz it.
For Larry was always the lad,

When a friend was condemn'd to the squeezer.
But he'd fence all the foss that he had

To help a poor friend to a sneezer,
And moisten his sowl before he died."

Ere eleven o'clock had arrived, the copious potations of whiskey and
strong beer, joined to the fumes of the tobacco, had caused a powerful
alteration in the demeanor of the assembled group, who now became
most indeco