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other violation of the very stringent code of game-laws then in force in the parent country; whilst the Hibernian would give the response a patriotic twist, by assigning his misfortune to some nocturnal "ribbon" escapade, agrarian outrage, or the bringing to grief a tithe-loving parson or tithe-catching proctor. There was not m u c h harm in such equivocation, though it was far from being swallowed in toto by the "never-convicted" portion of the public. M was an " expiree" engaged in half-a-dozen small businesses, which brought him in a pot of money, which was enjoyed by him until a few years ago, far away from Victoria. Substantial and comfortable in shape, tastefully clad, he strutted smilingly through the streets, one hand in trouser's pocket, the other twirling a massive gold watch chain, and his lips almost unintermittently employed in a muffled whistling. H e was a m a n of means, and took care to let the world know it in divers ways. S o m e offence connected with illicit deer-stalking was commonly reported as the reason for his deportation to a penal settlement; but those w h o were admitted to his Bacchanalian confidences knew better. G o o d stiff punch found special favour with him. After putting away six tumblers of this mixture, his b u m p of caution would disappear, his face assume a solemn sepulchral aspect, and his eyes glare like miniature lamps. His boon companions then knew that the climax was approaching, and to expedite the denouement one of them would indulge in some remark referring to a cemetery. M would jump from his seat, look up the chimney, and peer into corners to m a k e sure no outsider was on the watch. He would go through the mimic process of digging into a grave, finding a coffin, and then, as if extracting a corpse, and bearing it on his shoulders to the window, in imagination heave it out as if into a dead cart in readiness for its reception. After going through this terrible pantomime he would resume his seat, when the frightful impulse of which he had been temporarily the victim would pass away, and he had no recollection whatever of the transition through which he had passed. T h e explanation of all this is that he had followed the vocation of a resurrectionist, or " body-snatcher," in England. T h e circle of acquaintance to w h o m the above was k n o w n was very limited, and the secret of the periodical post mortem performance was remarkably well-kept. as he was known, was another extraordinary assimilation of flesh and blood. H e hailed from Limerick, the Irish city of the historical violated " treaty stone," where a murder was perpetrated as one of the outcomes of a trade combination. " M a c " was not actively implicated in the outrage, but he was convicted on an indictment for a capital conspiracy, and was sentenced to death. Through his wife he acquired some local and political influence which told with such effect upon Spring Rice (afterwards Lord Monteagle), a distinguished Irish statesman that, after considerable deliberation, the Executive at Dublin Castle reluctantly agreed to c o m m u t e the extreme punishment to a life transportation. T h e decision was not, however, known to the Limerick prison authorities until almost literally the last moment. T h e culprit was actually at the foot of the gallows, and about to ascend the fatal ladder, when a mounted courier, waving a whitefla^,rode up to the gaol and stayed the tragedy. In such remote times there were no such instantaneous Mercuries as telegraphic wires, and the Post-Office arrangements were even so slow and uncertain that well-horsed messengers were employed on pressing emergencies. " M a c " therefore escaped, " by the skin of his neck," for in another minute or so, had there been no authorized interposition, his neck would have been stretched, and himself, in journalistic phraseology, " launched into eternity." H e actually told m e himself that just as he was about to ascend to be placed under the rope, the R o m a n Catholic priest in attendance bade him what was believed to be a final earthly farewell, by gently pressing his hand, and saying in a low voice " Good-bye, Michael, be easy and hopeful of mind for in one minute after you die your soul will be in Heaven." Whether such expressions had ever been employed, of course I had no other proof than " Mac's" ipse dixit, not at all times a reliable consideration. I recollect, however, being in 1845 driven to Brighton' by Dean Coffey, " M a c " being then at logger-heads with the authorities at St. Francis. H e was booked as a troublesome, bad boy there, and during our trip he became in some manner "MICKY MAC,"