The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-30 00:00:00

LITE RA7 (IRE.

Mick Tracey, the Irish Scripture Reader ; or,
The Martyred Convert and the Priest. A Tate
of Facts. By W. A. C., of Canada West. Lon-
don : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
" Mick Tracey" will amuse most readers, and
interest many others on deeper grounds than those
of mere entertainment. We have had heroes of
various kinds in humble life lately in our most
popular novels—Uncle Tom, and Adam Bede, for
instance—but an Irish Scripture reader, with his
native Irish mother wit, is, so far as we know,
quite a new hero. We must not mislead our
readers, however, by the supposition that they
have in " Mick Tracey" the orthodox three volume
novel, the development of an artificial plot being
only complete at its close. W. A. C., whom we
suppoze to have been himself a Scripture reader,
gives us rather a dramatising of a series of facts,
than a fiction founded on facts, though his story
has a beginning, a middle, and end. The chief
serious interest of the story is for those who would
take pleasure in seeing how the native shrewdness
of an illiterate man who had withdrawn his faith
from an infallible Pope and church,who had learned
to regard priests and ceremonies as impositions and
superstitions, and had given his implicit confidence
to the Holy Scriptures, could baffle in argument a
dogmatic priest, and overcome his bullying and
curses by unfailing good nature. It is, in brief, a
story of the conversions effected by such a humble
agent, of the wrath of the priest, of the persecutions
following, including some scenes like those we have
too lately witnessed in Ireland ; and all, we are as-
sured, veiled by a very thin disguise of names. To
many the unpolished narrative in this form will
be of more interest than one which had more in it
of creation and less of fact-painting. We add, as
an illustration of the author's manner, a tale told
by old Pat, a faithful Catholic servant of a good
Protestant landlord, to his boon companions at a
hotel where his master spends the night. He de-
scribes to them how he manages his master :
"I mustn't forget to tell ye all about the great cuffin'
match we had whin fishin' in the Lee. That same is five
an' twinty year ago, or more, an' I'll be afther tellin' ye
all about it. Ye see, the big man says to me, says he,
Pat,' says he, one day, ' Have everythin' ready to
go salmon-fishing' to morrow,' says he; ' Lord F---,
an' that Italian gintleman is goin' wid us,' says he, an'
if yerself an' meself don't show 'em how to crass-fish, thin,'
says he, our names ain't Pat an' Augustus,' says he."
"Niver say it twice, yer honour," says I. An' so airly
in the mornin', sure enuff, we were all at the river side ;
an' I sat to work an' fitted up the rods an' flies for the gin-
demon named, sat! thin proceeded to fit a pair for ineselt
an' himself. Now does the company ondherstand crass •
fishin?" enquired Pat.
The whole assembly seemed oblivious as to the nature of
the science, purposely to have it described to them by one
so qualified and experienced as their entertainer, a circum-
stance which gave him exquisite delight.
" Whillaloo I whillaloo I" he vociferated ; thin I must
insinse ye all into it afore I purseed. In crass. fishin' thin,
there must be one on aich side o' the sthrame, an' yer lines
must be jined together, ye .see; an' thin, there must be a
lot o' flies on both lines to stretch acrass the river or
sthrame; an' if a fish rises at your side, you must wind up
your line quick as lightnin', an' the man at the t'other side
must give his out as fast as ye wind in. Well thin, to
shorten me story, ye see I had a bottle o' brandy in me
basket, an' somethin' put into me head to take a dhrop out
av it, feelin' quare as I thought after an airly breakfast;
and I no sooner swally'd the liquor thin it cum into me head
to play trick on the Masther. So accordin'ly, whin I put
his flies ao the line, I takes a small pair o' pliers I had wid
me, an' brakes off the beard av ivery hook, so that whin a
fish took the fly there was nothin' to hould him ; an' if the
big man was fishin' till he was as ould as Mathooselam,
he wouldn't ketch a fish wid the same flies, indade he
wouldn't.

"Well, behould ye, we fished and fished ;—an' if we
did,—l had no fewer than siven as butiful sammon as ever
cum out o' wather, afther about two hours, at the ind o'
which time I could see the Masther was ready to burst wid
rage. Lord F—, an' the Italian gintleman wor away
a mile or so down the river, an' he, at the top o' his voice,
shouts out from t'other side,—' What's the rayson,' says
he, 6 I can't hook a fish as well as you ?' says he : They
rise at my flies as well as yours,' says he, ' an' how is it
they get aff ?" Be gannies,' says I, very innocently, "tis
meself that would like to know, sir. I put up the same flies,
colours, an' all, on your honour's lines as on me own, as
you may see in the sun; but, may be, your fishes bit off
your hooks,' an' at that sayin' I hooks a big whapper' av
a fish, an' if I did, the big man, thin an' there, threw
his rod into the sthrame, an' let me wind away; at the same
time jumpin' into the wather up to his waste, so he did,an'
rushin' like a mad man over in a jiffy to me. Afther a
while I ploy'd my fish, an' brought him to land, an' if I
did, down goes the Masther, bilin over with pashin, an'
tries to take him aff o' the hook, an' whin he did he es-
amin'd the fly, an' pullin' the fine through his fingers, 'till
he cum to his own flies, he found 'em all as I tould you,
bit aff. I saw plainly snuff the storm gatherin', and there
was nothing for him but laugh him out av it, if I could.
Well, an' behould ye, he made short work av it, an' dhrew
himself up to me, an' widout sayin' be your lave,' up wid
his fist an' hit me Bich a blow acrass the face, as made me
see stars be day-light. Now, I couldn't stand that, even
from the Hon. Augustus Stanley, so be way av returnin' the
complimint, I up wid my fist and hit him in the same way.
iea
by
'Now,'ougrais, egmh'ye,th e
an'world
e e at
ts
itw i
wd wide,' '
ianyts
rale.
' There' says I, take that. If Ido lose my situation by it,
if ye have any consait o'
mt young,
u Btoiut ge:fellow,widan
darlint' pummillin' aich Othor for about an hour, at the ind
o' which you could scarcely see at, nye in aither av our
heads. Well, why Lord F. wondhered what was a keepin'
us so far behind, an' layin' down his rod, he walked up fair
an' airy till he came to a bend in the sthrame, an' there he
was within four or five yards av us, an' seein' us wheltin'
each other for the bare life. 'IN arm work,' says his lord-
ship, says he. Never mind,' returned the Master, says
he, 'just sit an' look on, an" says he, ' Pat an' meself
want to settle this betune ourselves,' says he, an' so sayin',
his lordship laughed loud an' long, an' sat down on the
bank. So to make me story short, knowin' he'd niver give
in, I purtinded to begin to feel tired. An' in boxin' about
we cum to a bank over a very deep hole in the wather, an'
though I couldn't swim a sthroke, I thought to meself if I
could manage to role into that hole, it would put an honour-
able ind to the skrimmage. Are you ready for another
round, Pat ?' says he, quite friendly. ' I'm your sarvent,
sir 1' says I, an' bound to plaza ye or lave yer service,:
(shootin' the action to the word, an' aquaria' at him aagoign)tol
at the same time worked meself round till I got Inc back
tr.
the river, an' jist as I was about to experience anothuer,
_nt'oPr
on the countenance, I threw meself back, as ifdtosrPnran.
defind it, in doing which me feet slipt from. n h
:to the wather
souse I wint bang head over heels, roulin'
may
his
like a sea-horse ; an' if I did, the Masth!rrstweati av one of
blow, came afther me in a dive, so that.dn .!
care 9, fig, for
us, there was a pair. For that he didn't
duck, but not so
wather to him was jist all's one at;ilas°
ther, agra I let me
to meself. I holloo'd out—
° let me be devour'd
die on dhry land, says I, ' an' don'tthis,
he struck out,
by ells,' says I. neerill'keateht ma by the nape
an' cummin' up to me safe to dhry land. ' I give
o' me neck, and dhrew
hint()
no
more "Tis time for
in,' says I, fig Nvell, why. to shorten me story,
you,' says Lord F----.--
sired to
d. for an Apothecary an' fiver so
we were obleeged faces, an' all wint to a
put on our counthry
many leeches to psted
three or four days, till our features
inn, where we
ashumed their natural shape. The whole affair Was kept
a Buret, sa.‘kap. me place, an' I'm glad av it."
"Bravo 1
Bravo! me bouchal I"—greeted Pat, from all