THE GUERNSEY LILY. 301 



ous characters ; but I liked them all. One was 

 what is irreverently called craw-thumping. Every 

 one knows that the poor Romanist, at confession, 

 is instructed to strike hard upon his breast with 

 the right fist, as a sign of contrition ; and this 

 practice O'Neil never laid aside. His self-con- 

 demnation, and his prayers for divine teaching, 

 were accompanied with so many blows from his 

 poor hand, that I have seen some of the Irish rea- 

 ders in no small commotion about it — disposed to 

 question the reality of his conversion, while so 

 shockingly popish a habit was retained. To me 

 it bespoke the sincerity of the man, far more clear- 

 ly than its abandonment could have done. An- 

 other foible was his extreme politeness : when 

 friends entered, he would, raising himself in the 

 bed, call to his wife to place the box here, and the 

 chair there, and the stool beside it, and, waving 

 his hand with the most ceremonious and courteous 

 gesture, he would direct the process of seating the 

 company ; then, from beneath his pillow, draw 

 forth an antique horn snuff-box, and pass it round 

 with an air wholly inimitable. More than one 

 good person has said to me, in this stage of the 

 business, ' The man is all artificial : what has a 

 beggar to do with such absurd forms V To which 

 I have replied, ' O'Neil is not going to beg of you ; 

 so be quiet, and take a lesson in good manners.' 

 I never knew any one leave him under other im- 



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