raisin' her head, came in contact wid the cord that united the
goats; an' the goats, havin' lost their commandin' position, came in
contact wid the neck o' the mare. _Quid multis?_ They pulled an' she
pulled, an' she pulled an' they pulled, until at length the mare was
compelled to practise the virtue of resignation in the ditch, wid the
goats about her neck. She died by suspinsion; but the mettlesome ould
crathur, wid a love of justice that did her honor, hanged the goat's
in requital; for they departed this vale of tears on the mountain side
along wid her, so that they had the satisfaction of dyin' a social death
together.--Now, Phadrick, you quadruped, the case of conscience is,
whether Parra Ghastha has a right to make restitution to Barny Branagan
for the loss of his goats, or Barny Branagan to Parra Ghastha for the
loss of his mare?"

"Bedad, that's a puzzler!"

"Isn't it, Phadrick? But wait till you hear how he'll clear it up! Do it
for Phadrick, Dinny."

"Yis, Phadrick, I'll illusthrate your intellects by divinity. You see,
Phadrick, you're to suppose me to be in the chair, as confessor. Very
well,--or _valde_, in the larned languages--Parra Ghastha comes to
confess to me, an' tells me that Barny Branagan wants to be paid for his
goats. I tell him it's a disputed point, an that the price o' the goats
must go to the church. On the other hand, Barny Branagan tells me
that Parra Ghastha wishes to be paid for his mare. I say again, it's
a disputed point, an' that the price o' the mare must go to the
church--the amount of the proceeds to be applied in prayer towards the
benefit of the parties, in the first instance, an' of the faithful in
general afterwards."

"Phadrick!!!"

"Oh, that I may never, but he bates the globe!"

Denny's character is a very common one in the remote parts of Ireland,
where knowledge is novelty, and where the slightest tinge of learning
is looked upon with such reverence and admiration, as can be properly
understood only by those who have an opportunity of witnessing it.
Indeed, few circumstances prove the great moral influence which the
Irish priesthood possesses over the common people more forcibly, than
the extraordinary respect paid by the latter to such as are designed for
the "mission." The moment the determination is made, an incipient
sanctity begins, as it were, to consecrate the young priest; and a high
opinion of his learning and talents to be entertained, no matter how
du