THE GUERNSEY LILY. 299 



striking lustre was the finished work of tne Lord 

 Jesus Christ. It was not the studied language of 

 a man who can speak well on a subject where he 

 has thought much — it was the overflow of a full 

 heart, which had felt much. His utter abhorrence 

 of himself, as a lost sinner, his unqualified and 

 shuddering renunciation of all the merit-monger- 

 ing work of popery ; his fervent, passionate ap- 

 peals, with uplifted eyes and streaming tears, for 

 more of the Holy Spirit's teaching ; and his tor- 

 rents of adoring thanksgiving for the redeeming 

 love which had paid so costly a price for the ran- 

 som of his soul, when no help was to be found 

 save in that atonement — all spoke the humbled, 

 convinced, seeking, rejoicing believer in Christ 

 Jesus. He was energetic, to a degree that would 

 have been deemed too vehement in an English- 

 man ; but O'Neil was thoroughly Irish, as I soon 

 found, when, on my subsequent visits, I took an 

 Irish reader to him. He was indeed quite a 

 scholar in that tongue ; and it was most affecting 

 to behold his crippled, distorted, fingers contriving 

 to retain within their grasp the blessed Book, and 

 to turn over its pages. 



I soon found that O'NeiPs wife had a sad pro- 

 pensity for strong drink ; and that the donations 

 bestowed, in money or linen, on this interesting 

 character, too generally found their way to the 

 tap-room below. The noble lady, whose mansion 



