1831.] Dublin Saints'. 309 



oratory ended, and the collection made, than a contest ensues of the 

 most interesting kind, the prizes fought for being of no less value than 

 the persons of those enchanting Missionaries who shall get possession 

 of the man from Madagascar in whose carriage shall the Bible envoy 

 to the court of Bantam be borne from the field who shall have the 

 blessed privilege of entertaining at dinner our evangelical employe at 

 the Ottoman Porte. Coronets have their weight in the religious as well 

 as the political world, and your missionary has no objection to a great 

 house and a large fortune. Well, the carriages draw up, and the fair 

 and titled victors bear away in triumph the precious rewards of their 

 surpassing zeal and sanctity. The Sublime and Beautiful, seated to- 

 gether in the same chariot, yield to the sweet influence of such close 

 neighbourhood, and take each other captive by their spiritual charms : 

 but we might as reasonably pretend to reveal the secrets of the Cabinet 

 as the conversation which passes in a coach : we therefore omit the 

 drive, and hasten to the dinner. The place of honour for the holy man ! 

 His chair is set next her ladyship. " Dear Mr. Sow-the-seed will pro- 

 nounce a blessing," is uttered with a tone and look reserved. for Mis- 

 sionaries alone. He rises to obey : there is a heavenly calm in his aspect, 

 a melodious earnestness in his voice, a seraphic dignity in his manner 

 of stretching his arms over the dishes, that strike the whole com- 

 pany at once, and are hoarded in their memories as carefully as if the 

 reverend guest were no other than Raphael himself ! Five minutes is 

 the established length of a benediction in the religious world ; dear 

 Mr. Sow-the-seed occupies about seven, and then devotes himself in 

 solemn silence to his dinner with the same zeal, alacrity, and patient 

 perseverance in well-doing that characterise the other parts of his life 

 and conversation. Here, at least, his resemblance to the angel is com- 

 plete. The reader recollects the banquet in Eve's bower, and the part 

 played by "the sociable spirit" on that occasion. 



" So down they sat, 

 And to their viands fell : nor seemingly 

 The angel, nor in mist, the common gloss 

 Of theologians, but with keen dispatch 

 Of real hunger." 



In the evening there is a religious rout. Invitations on such an 

 occasion are " high privileges ;" and are canvassed for with an activity 

 scarcely to be paralleled, even in the political world. The Saints 

 arrive in eager groups ; mothers, daughters, aunts, and nieces, escorted 

 by a few sons and brothers, with views, it is probable, somewhat less 

 ethereal than those of their fair relatives. He enters the drawing-room ; 

 matron and maid crowd round him ; every eye, black, brown, and blue, 

 devours him ; he looks, and speaks, and moves, as never man moved, 

 spoke, or looked before; every word and gesture furnishes topic for a 

 twelve-month's conversation ; every smile is chronicled ; his sayings are 

 oracles ; if he takes tea, there is something spiritual in the manner 

 thereof; if he takes snuff, it is not as the world takes it. But she ! the 

 highly- favoured amongst women ! she, whose humble dwelling-place is 

 sanctified and illuminated by such a presence, what language fervent 

 enough to express her gratitude, what language lively enough to des- 

 cribe the ecstacy of her emotions ! Oh ! Lady ! he that has seen 



your eye sparkle, and bosom heave, as the illustrious Joseph Wolff' 



