It is not impossible that this merry mode of dispensing justice may somewhat encourage Paddy in that independence of mind which relishes not the idea of being altogether bound by oaths that are too often administered with a jocular spirit.  To most of the Irish in general an oath is a solemn, to some, an awful thing.  Of this wholesome reverence for its sanction, two or three testimonies given in a court of justice usually cured them.  The indifferent, business-like manner in which the oaths are put, the sing-song tone of voice, the rapid utterance of the words, give to this solemn act an appearance of excellent burlesque, which ultimately renders the whole proceedings remarkable for the absence of truth and reality; but, at the same time, gives them unquestionable merit as a dramatic representation, abounding with fiction, well related and ably acted.

Thumb-kissing is another feature in Paddy’s adroitness too important to be passed over in silence.  Here his tact shines out again!  It would be impossible for him, in many cases, to meet the perplexities of a cross-examination so cleverly as he does, if he did not believe that he had, by kissing his thumb instead of the book, actually taken no oath, and consequently given to himself a wider range of action.  We must admit, however, that this very circumstance involves him in difficulties which are sometimes peculiarly embarrassing.  Taking everything into consideration, the prospect of freedom for his sixth cousin, the consciousness of having kissed his thumb, or the consoling reflection that he swore only on a Law Bible, it must be granted that the opportunities presented by a cross-examination are well calculated to display his wit, humor, and fertility of invention.  He is accordingly great in it; but still we maintain that his execution of an alibi is his ablest performance, comprising, as it does, both the conception and construction of the work.

Both the oaths and imprecations of the Irish display, like those who use them, indications of great cruelty and great humor.  Many of the former exhibit that ingenuity which comes out when Paddy is on his cross-examination in a court of justice.  Every people, it is true, have resorted to the habit of mutilating or changing in their oaths the letters which form the Creator’s name; but we question if any have surpassed the Irish in the cleverness with which they accomplish it.  Mock oaths are habitual to Irishmen in ordinary conversation; but the use of any or all of them is not considered to constitute an oath:  on the contrary, they are in the mouths of many who would not, except upon a very solemn occasion indeed, swear by the name of the Deity in its proper form.