Come then, be a man. There is Mr. Hycy Burke, a tender-hearted young
gentleman, and if you go on this way you will have him weeping' for
sheer sympathy, not pretermitting Mr. Clinton, his companion, who
is equally inclined to be pathetic, if one can judge from apparent
symptoms."
"I'm obliged to you, Masther," replied M'Mahon, who had not heard, or
rather paid attention to, a single syllable he had uttered. "Of course
it's thruth you're savin'---it is--it is, _fureer gair_ it is; and she
that's gone from me is a proof of it. What wondher then that I should
shed tears, and feel as I do?"
The unconscious simplicity of this reply to such a singular argument for
consolation as the schoolmaster had advanced, caused many to smile,
some to laugh outright, and others to sympathize still more deeply
with M'Mahon's sorrow. Finigan's allusion to Hycy and his companion was
justified by the contrast which the appearance of each presented. Hycy,
who enjoyed his lecture on the tribulations of matrimonial life very
much, laughed as he advanced in it, whilst Clinton, who was really
absorbed in a contemplation of the profound and solemn spirit which
marked the character of the grief he witnessed, and who felt impressed
besides by the touching emblems of death and bereavement which
surrounded him, gradually gave way to the impressions that gained on
him, until he almost felt the tears in his eyes.
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