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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16958-8.txt b/16958-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..94d9ac9 --- /dev/null +++ b/16958-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7215 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cross and the Shamrock, by Hugh Quigley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cross and the Shamrock + Or, How To Defend The Faith. An Irish-American Catholic + Tale Of Real Life, Descriptive Of The Temptations, + Sufferings, Trials, And Triumphs Of The Children Of St. + Patrick In The Great Republic Of Washington. A Book For + The Entertainment And Special Instructions Of The Catholic + Male And Female Servants Of The United States. + +Author: Hugh Quigley + +Release Date: October 28, 2005 [EBook #16958] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme Mackreth and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) + + + + + + +THE + +CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK, + +OR, + +HOW TO DEFEND THE FAITH. + +AN + +IRISH-AMERICAN CATHOLIC TALE + +OF REAL LIFE, + +DESCRIPTIVE OF THE + +TEMPTATIONS, SUFFERINGS, TRIALS, AND TRIUMPHS + +OF THE + +CHILDREN OF ST. PATRICK + +IN THE + +GREAT REPUBLIC OF WASHINGTON. + +A BOOK + +FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OF + +THE CATHOLIC MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS OF THE +UNITED STATES. + + +WRITTEN BY + +A MISSIONARY PRIEST. + +[Transcriber's Note: a pseudonym for Hugh Quigley.] + +BOSTON: + +PATRICK DONAHOE, + +3 FRANKLIN STREET. + +1853. + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by + +PATRICK DONAHOE, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + +STEREOTYPED AT THE +BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. + + + + +DEDICATION. + + +To the faithful Irish-American Catholic citizens +of the whole Union, and especially to the working +portion of them, on account of their piety, +their liberality, their patriotism, and their steady +loyalty to the virtues symbolized by the "Cross +and the Shamrock,"--on account of their attachment +to the land of St. Patrick, and to the +religion of her patriot princes and martyrs,--this +work, written for their encouragement and instruction, +is respectfully inscribed by + +Their humble servant, + And devoted friend and fellow-citizen, + THE AUTHOR. + +September, 1853. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +"There are moments when every citizen who feels that he can say +something promotive of the welfare of his countrymen and of advantage to +his country is authorized to give _public_ utterance to his sentiments, +how humble soever he may be."--_Letter of Archbishop Hughes on the +Madiai_, February, 1853. + +"There may be, in public opinion, an Inquisition a thousand times more +galling to the soul than the gloomy prison or the weight of +chains."--_National Democrat_, March, 1853. + +1st. The above extracts, from different but respectable sources, +comprise the author's chief motives in the publication of the following +work. It is a well-known fact, that thousands of our fellow-Christians, +in all parts of this vast _free country_, are continually subjected to a +most trying ordeal of temptation and persecution on account of their +religion, and that the wonderful progress of Catholicity and renewed +power of the church only add to the malice, if not to the influence, of +sectarians, in their efforts to make use of this odious persecution of +servant boys and servant girls, of widows and orphans, to build up their +own tottering conventicles, and to circumscribe the giant strides of +what they call "the man of sin." + +A very intelligent American lawyer lately remarked to the writer of +this, "that, about twenty-five years ago, the parsons fulminated all +their eloquence against Satan; but they seem to have formed a league +with him now, for all their vengeance is directed against the pope, who, +they say, is far more dangerous than Old Harry." + +When we know this to be literally true, and find our poor, neglected, +and uninstructed brethren in danger accordingly, how can any thing that +can be said, written, or done, to alleviate their condition, or to +remove prejudice from the public mind, be counted a work of +supererogation? + +2d. The corruption of the cheap trash literature, that is now ordinarily +supplied for the amusement and instruction of the American people,--and +that threatens to uproot and annihilate all the notions of virtue and +morals that remain, in spite of sectarianism,--calls for some antidote, +some remedy. In every rail car, omnibus, stage coach, steamboat, or +canal packet, publications, containing the most poisonous principles and +destructive errors, are presented to, and are purchased by, passengers +of both sexes, whose minds, like the appetites of hungry animals, will +take to eating the filthiest stuff, rather than want food for +rumination. It is for the philanthropists of the present day, and for +those who are paid for making such inquiries, to trace the connection +between the _roués_ of your cities, your Bloomer women, your spiritual +rappers, and other countless extravagances of a diseased public mind, +and between the abominable publications to which we allude. + +3d. Our people are not generally great readers of the trashy newspapers +of the day; and in this respect they show their good sense, or at least +have happened on good luck: it is therefore our duty to supply them with +cheap and amusing literature, to entertain them during the few hours +they are disengaged from work. And what reading can afford the Irish +Catholic greater pleasure than any work, however imperfect, having for +its end the exaltation and defence of his glorious old faith, and the +vindication of his native land--his beloved "Erin-go-bragh"? Impress on +his susceptible mind the honor and advantage of defence and fidelity to +the CROSS and the SHAMROCK, and you give him two ideas that will come to +his aid in most of his actions through life. We are ashamed here of the +cross of Christ, when we see it continually dishonored and trampled on +by heretics and modern pagans, in their scramble for money and pleasures. +On the other hand, the poverty, humiliation, and rags of old Erin, of +the kings, saints, and martyrs, scandalize us; and from these two false +notions the degradation and apostasy of many Irishmen commence. Hence they +no sooner land on the shores of America than they endeavor to clip the +musical and rich brogue of fatherland, to make room for the bastard +barbarisms and vulgar slang of Yankeedom. The remainder of the course of +the apostate is easily traced, till, ashamed of creed and country, he ends +by being ashamed of his Creator and Redeemer, and barters the inheritance +of heaven for the miserable and short enjoyments of this earth. + +A _fourth_, and a leading motive in the publication of this work, is to +record the manly defences which the people among whom the author lives +have made of the creed of their fathers, and to enable them to refute, +in a simple, practical manner, for the edification of their opponents, +the many objections proposed to them about the faith. By placing a copy +of this work in the hands of every head of a family in the congregation +in which he presides, the author thinks he will have done something +towards the salvation of that parent and his house, by showing him how +he may educate his children, and save them from those subtle snares laid +to rob them and him of happiness here and hereafter; for, without true +religion and virtue, there is neither enjoyment nor happiness even in +this world. + +But are the principles sound, and the estimate he has formed of American +character and the conduct and motives of the sectarian parsons correct? +There may be, and undoubtedly there is, great variety in American +character; and, so far, what may be true of the people of one state or +county, may not at all be applicable to those of the rest; but as far as +regards sectarianism and its slanders of the church, and the low +character, intellectually and morally, of the parsons, ministers, +dominies, and preachers, with few honorable exceptions, it may be said, +in the words of the poet,-- + +"Ex uno disce omnes." + +"They are all chips of the same block;" and the description in the +following pages of their attempts to proselytize, seduce, and corrupt, +is not at all exaggerated, as thousands of candid American Protestants +can testify. Perhaps the sectarian dominies do not see the sad +consequences that are infallibly produced on the minds of their hearers, +after they come to detect the frauds and falsehoods which the parsons +inculcate on them when children; but they are in _the cause_, and +morally responsible for that doubt, irreligion, and downright infidelity +which are the well-known characteristics of the male and female youth +of our great country, and which threaten such disastrous consequences to +society. + +Yes, dominies, you are responsible for all the extravagances of modern +times, for the irreparable loss to virtue and society of the noble youth +of your country. You hate the church of God because she is a witness +against you. The priest, the nun, and the recluse are objects of your +malice; for they are living examples of what you call impossible morals, +and refuters of the code of low virtue you practise and preach. The +faith of the Catholic laity, too, you endeavor to destroy, in order more +securely to deceive your hearers, and to secure your children, your +wives, and yourselves, that bread which you eat by the dissemination of +error, contradiction, and contention, and which you are too lazy to +"earn by the sweat of your brow." + +_Finally._ This work is submitted to the reader by one who will be well +pleased if it affords the former any pleasure or amusement during one or +two of such few hours of leisure as it took the latter to write it. +Regarding style, method, and arrangement of the matter, the author has +no apology to offer, except that the work has been written in great +haste, and by one who, in five years, has not had a single entire day +for recreation or unoccupied by severe missionary duty. Let not the +critics forget this. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE +CHAPTER I. +A DEATH BED SCENE, 13 + +CHAPTER II. +GETTING THE MOTHER'S BLESSING, 23 + +CHAPTER III. +AN OFFICIAL, 32 + +CHAPTER IV. +THE POORHOUSE, 41 + +CHAPTER V. +THE O'CLERYS, 52 + +CHAPTER VI. +THE COUNCIL, 60 + +CHAPTER VII. +A RUDE LOVER OF NATURE, 69 + +CHAPTER VIII. +THE ORPHANS IN THEIR NEW HOME, 77 + +CHAPTER IX. +THE PRYING FAMILY, 87 + +CHAPTER X. +A RAY OF HOPE, 97 + +CHAPTER XI. +VAN STINGEY AGAIN.--HOW HE GETS RICH AND ENDS, 106 + +CHAPTER XII. +MASS IN A SHANTY, 117 + +CHAPTER XIII. +THE TEMPTER AT THE WOMAN, 129 + +CHAPTER XIV. +THE FRUITS OF THE CROSS, 136 + +CHAPTER XV. +THE CONVERSION, 145 + +CHAPTER XVI. +THE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS, 155 + +CHAPTER XVII. +"HE AND HIS WHOLE HOUSE BELIEVED," 164 + +CHAPTER XVIII. +"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION," 178 + +CHAPTER XIX. +WHAT HAPPENED TO LITTLE EUGENE O'CLERY, 187 + +CHAPTER XX. +THE SAME, CONTINUED, 201 + +CHAPTER XXI. +CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS, 213 + +CHAPTER XXII. +THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS, 223 + +CHAPTER XXIII. +IN WHICH THE SCENE OF OUR TALE IS CHANGED, 240 + +CHAPTER XXIV. +SHOWS HOW THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK WERE PERMANENTLY +UNITED AFTER A LONG SEPARATION, 251 + +CHAPTER XXV. +CONCLUSION, 260 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A DEATH-BED SCENE. + + +A cold evening in the month of January, a drizzling rain storm blowing +from the south-west, a cheerless sky, a dull, threatening atmosphere, +together with almost impassable roads,--these are the chilling and +uninviting circumstances with which, if we pay regard to truth, we must +introduce our narrative to our readers. It is usual, with writers of +fiction and romance, to preface their literary exhibitions with +high-wrought and dazzling descriptions of natural and artificial +objects--the sun, moon, and stars; the clouds, meteors, and other +fantastic creations of the atmosphere; the seas, rivers, and lakes; the +mountains, fields, and gardens; the birds, fishes, and the inhabitants +of the savage forests, as well as the forests, groves, and woods +themselves,--in a word, all nature seems as if conscious of the effects +likely to result to the morals, habits, and projects of men, while some +of your modern novelists are arranging their matter, sharpening their +scissors, preparing pen, ink, and paper, and taking indigestible suppers +to make way into the world for the offspring of their creative fancies. +Ours being a tale of truth,--yes, of bare, unvarnished truth, yet of +truth more interesting, if not "stranger, than fiction,"--it is not to +be wondered that, when we acknowledge the homely dame, and her alone, as +our guide, inspirer, and preceptor, we lack the advantage of romancers, +and cannot command "a special sunset," or a storm made to order, or +other enchanting scenery, to introduce us to our patrons. + +We must take things as we find them; and this is why cold, rain, and +frost, the whistling of merciless winds, together with false and +pitiless ice, constitute the principal features of our introductory +chapter. The merry chimes of sleigh bells, as if to add gloom to the +scene, were silent, no snow having fallen this winter, and the ice being +irregular and lumpy. The streets of the city of T---- were almost +entirely deserted of foot passengers, owing to the danger of walking +over the slippery pavement; while cabmen and omnibus conductors had +cautiously driven their teams to the stable or smithy, to have them +"sharpened" for the frozen coat of mail which enveloped the earth. When +about dusk, an aged gentleman, in a cloak, with a sharp-pointed cane in +his hand, might be observed moving along the gutter of a narrow street. +Occasionally he would slip so as to come on one knee, and now he would +steer himself along by taking hold of the sills of windows, and of the +railings which here and there were erected in front of a few houses on +the retired and deserted street on which he crept along. + +At length he approaches an old three-story, red, frame-built house, +which, from its shattered and dilapidated windows, at first seemed to +be deserted, but which, from the description left by a messenger with +his domestic in the forenoon, he could not doubt was the place where he +heard the emigrant widow lay at the point of death. + +"Is this where the sick woman is?" said he to an old woman who opened +the door. + +"Yes, your reverence," answered Mrs. Doherty, at once recognizing the +priest; "and thank God you are come. The Lord never deserts his own, +praise be to his holy name." + +"Is she very ill?" said Father O'Shane; for thus was named the sole +pastor of the city of T---- in those days. + +"That she is, your reverence, and callin' for the priest this three +days; but as we heard your reverence say that you would be in the +country till this day, we thought it no use to give in the sick call +sooner. I myself gave it in this morning afore my poor, sick old man got +up." + +"God help the poor!" muttered the tender-hearted priest, as he ascended +to the third floor, where the dying woman lay. + +"Amen!" answered Mrs. Doherty, aloud. "You would pity her, your +reverence, if you seen the misery they are in this two months; and it is +easily telling they saw better days in the ould country. It is easily +knowing _that_, by the _dacent_, mannerly children she has around her, +God help 'em." + +"Pax huic domui, et omnibus habitantibus in ea"--"Peace to this house, +and all that dwell therein," uttered the priest of God, as he opened +the latchless door of the room on the third story of the old "Oil Mill +House," where the patient was extended on her "pallet of straw." For a +moment he stood on the threshold, for within an unusual and solemn sight +presented itself to his view. A woman of fair and comely features, +between about thirty and forty years of age, lay as described on the +floor, with four children kneeling around her. The eldest, a lad of +about fifteen years, read aloud the litanies and prayers of the church +for the dying, while the three younger children repeated the responses +in fervent but trembling accents. + +"Lord, have mercy on her," cried Paul, the eldest boy. + +"Christ, have mercy on her," answered the younger children. + +"Holy Mary." _R._ "Pray for her." + +"All ye holy angels and archangels." _R._ "Pray for her." + +"All ye choirs of the just." _R._ "Pray for her." + +"All ye saints of God." _R._ "Make intercession for her." + +"From thy anger, from an unhappy death, from the pains of hell." _R._ +"Deliver her, O Lord." + +"By thy cross and passion, by thy death and burial, by thy glorious +resurrection, in the day of judgment." _R._ "Deliver her, O Lord." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant from all danger of hell, and +from all pain and tribulation." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Enoch +and Elias from the common death of the world." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Noah from +the flood." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Abraham +from the midst of the Chaldeans." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Job from +all his afflictions." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Isaac +from being sacrificed by his father." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Lot from +Sodom and the flames of fire." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Moses +from the hands of Pharaoh, King of Egypt." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Daniel +from the lions' den." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst the three +children from the fiery furnace and from the hands of an unmerciful +king." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Susanna +from her false accusers." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst David +from the hands of Goliah and Saul." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Peter +and Paul out of prison." _R._ "Amen." + +"And as thou deliveredst that blessed virgin and martyr, St. Thecla, +from most cruel torments, so vouchsafe, O Lord, to deliver the soul of +this thy servant, and bring it to the participation of thy heavenly +joys." _R._ "Amen." + +"Depart, Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of God, the +Father Almighty, who created thee; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of +the living God, who suffered for thee; in the name of the Holy Ghost, +who sanctified thee; in the name of the angels, archangels, thrones and +dominations, cherubims and seraphims; in the name of the patriarchs and +prophets, of the holy martyrs and confessors, of the holy monks and +hermits, of the holy virgins, and of all the saints of God. Let thy +place be this day in peace, and thy abode in _Sion_, through Christ, our +Lord." _R_. "Amen." + +The offering up of this most beautiful prayer by the children for their +dying parent was not unattended with several breaks and pauses, caused +by the overwhelming grief of the poor orphans. They "gave out" the short +prayers of the litany very well, and without much interruption; but when +they came to the more solemn portion of that beautiful service, the +"recommendation of a departing soul," they could no longer restrain +their tears or suppress their lamentations. + +Small blame to the poor children for this manifestation of grief, since +we have known instances of the most hardened hearts being touched, and +the most manly eyes yielding their tribute of tears, at the bare recital +of the most beautiful form of prayer for the "soul departing." We have +ourselves read this service a thousand times, at least, by the death +bedsides of many "departing souls;" and never could we once go through +the form of it entire without yielding to the weakness of nature, and +becoming speechless by the violence of our tears. Let the most obstinate +unbeliever attend but a few times by the bedside of a dying Catholic, +and observe the piety and faith of the priest and people around the bed +of the "soul departing;" and if he be not an atheist or a blasphemer of +God's providence, it is impossible for him not to perceive the +superiority of the Catholic religion to all other forms of worship that +ever existed. But to be present at the death hour of a Christian is a +privilege which Protestants and unbelievers seldom or never enjoy; their +levity and want of devotion, with their impiety and irreverence, being +sufficiently powerful obstacles to their admittance into such sacred +places as the chamber in which the sacred offices of religion are +administered to the "departing soul." It is only the true believers, and +not "those outside," who have the privilege of hearing the "prayer of +faith" that saves the sick man--it is only they who enjoy occasionally +the consolation from the inspiring words of the church to join their +tears, and unite their sighs, sobs, and sorrows with those of their +pastors and fellow-Christians, for the happy passage and merciful +judgment for their departing brother. Such were the tears and sadness +that Paul O'Clery and his little attendants shed around the bed of +their dying mother. + +"Paul, my child, why do you act so?" said she, gently chiding him. + +"O mother! mother! how can I help it? Stop ye your crying there," said +he, taking courage, and turning to his younger associates. "Silence +Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene. Answer me distinctly, and hold your grief. +It will vex mother." And he continued the prayer from where he left off +with as good grace as he could. + +The venerable priest, though inside the door, was unperceived during +this affecting scene; and the heavy tears might be seen stealing down +his furrowed cheeks as he surveyed the group before him. + +"O, faith of my Lord, O, best gift of God, how precious thou art! Thou +canst change men into angels, earth into paradise, and convert the +misery and poverty of the poor emigrant into a picture like this, that +heaven itself must delight to gaze on. That's right, my darling son," +said he, "you have finished well; you have done your duty towards your +mother, for which God will bless you, and I bless you in his name. In +nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." + +"The priest, mother!" whispered Bridget. "I know him by his cloak." + +"Glory, honor, and praise be to the Almighty," said the calm and now +rejoicing widow, as she saw the face of the venerable minister of +religion. "The Lord is too good to me, not to let me die in a strange +land, without the consolations of my holy religion," she continued, +kissing the silver crucifix of her beads. + +The heart of the good man was too full to give utterance to many words; +and seeing that Death was at hand, that already he was master of all but +the heart,--for the extremes were cold and without feeling,--he ordered +the children down to Mrs. Doherty's, while he heard the short and humble +confession of the poor departing soul, administered the most holy +viaticum, with extreme unction, and read the last benediction of the +church--"In articulo mortis." + +He then strengthened her soul with a few words of exhortation, and +having prescribed a few short, ejaculatory prayers, bidding her to have +the name, as well as the image, of Jesus ever in her heart and lips, he +departed, promising to call again as soon as possible, taking the +precaution to leave two dollars in silver and a three dollar bill on the +little stool that stood by her bed. He had now, he said, to go about +forty miles into the country; and he would, after his return, call to +see how she was, and to comply with her request about the children. + +"I commend you now to the care of God and his angel. God bless you," +said he, departing. + +"Into thy hands I commend my spirit. O Lord, receive my soul. Jesus, +Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me. O God of love, goodness, and mercy, +accept my imperfect thanksgiving; save my soul, redeemed by thy precious +blood, and make me worthy to see thy glory. I believe in thee, O Lord, +I hope in thee, and I love thee. O my God and my Lord, who am I that +thou shouldst visit me!" + +With these and other fervent aspirations, this pure and exalted soul +prepared for the manifestation of the glory of her Lord, and sighed to +be dissolved, and to fly to the beatific vision that faith promised her, +and through the merits of Christ she expected to obtain. After this, the +symptoms of her disease became sensibly less dangerous than before the +visit of the priest; but this calm, this seeming relief, was only +temporary. Presently the impress of pale death was unmistakably settled +on her calm brow. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GETTING THE MOTHER'S BLESSING. + + +When the priest departed from the precincts of "Oil Mill House," in +company with the impatient messenger that required his services in the +country, after a few words of encouragement and advice spoken to Paul, +Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene,--for so were widow O'Clery's children +named,--they returned to the bedside of their dying mother. Little +Bridget was the first to observe on the small bench by the bedside the +money left there by Father O'Shane. + +"Paul," she whispered, "look here! This is money left, I suppose, by the +priest." Paul, who was acquainted with American coin, took up the eight +pieces, or quarters, in silver, and the bill, and examining them by the +candle, said, "O Bid, see how good the priest is! He has left us five +dollars, or one pound, without saying a word about it. Mother, how do +you feel? Look! the priest left us a deal of money here quietly." + +"God reward him for it," answered she, with a hoarse and broken voice. +"Paul, darling, go on your knees, you and your sister and brothers, till +I give ye my blessing before I die. Quick, children, quick, while I have +strength." + +"O mother! mother! sure you aren't going to leave us orphans? May be +you will get better now, after extreme unction." + +"Kneel down here by my side, my children," said she, feeling that her +time was now short. "Paul, do you promise me you will be a good boy, +love God, and keep his commandments?" + +"Yes, mother, with God's help. O woe!" + +"Will you watch over your brothers, and sister Bridget, and go with them +to the priest, telling him not to forget that I gave ye all up to his +care, and the care of God and his blessed mother?" + +"O, I will." + +"Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene, will ye obey, and be said by Paul, who is +the oldest?" + +"Yes, mother, please God," they answered, amidst sobbing and tears that +half choked them. + +"God bless ye, and guard ye, and save ye from all dangers of soul and +body. I give ye up to God. I place ye under the holy care of the +blessed mother of God. I pray that ye may preserve pure the faith +of Saint Patrick. I bless ye. O, pray for me. Jesus, into thy +hands--Jesus--Mary--Jesus----." There was a sigh, and by a single effort +the soul extricated itself from its prison of clay to join the ranks of +its kindred spirits. The widow O'Clery is no more, and Paul and his +brethren are orphans indeed. + +For a few minutes there was a deep silence in that chamber of death, and +Paul repeated the "De Profundis," in English, out of his Prayer Book; +but when the cold and ghastly form of death was perceived by this poor +company to be all that was left of their darling and affectionate +mother, loud and mournful were their lamentations. Then, and not till +then, did the forlorn state to which they were reduced reveal itself +even to their juvenile minds. There they were, helpless and destitute, +without father or mother, friend or relation; on every side strangers, +cold, hunger, and want. The mysterious hand of Providence conducted them +from comparative comfort, if not luxury, through several stages of +trial, danger, and trouble, till they were now entirely stripped, like +Job, of all but an existence to which death was preferable. Many are the +phases of misery and crosses with which the life of man is surrounded in +this vale of tears; but we think the condition of the orphan, deprived +of both parents, and thrown for support or existence on a strange and +selfish world, the most desolate of all. A policeman was the first who +was attracted to the house of mourning by the wailing and cries of those +whom this night saw alone and desolate. Mrs. Doherty, attended by an +Irish servant maid from a neighboring house, were the next visitors; +and, after piously kneeling around the corpse to offer their fervent +prayers for the soul, they prepared to "lay out" the body. This +consists, as all are probably aware, of washing the corpse, clothing it +in clean linen, extending it on a table or bed, and putting up such +temporary fixtures as would deprive the room in which it lies of the +gloom and repulsiveness attendant on such an event. After arranging all +things so that she looked "a decent corpse," with the _religious habit_ +around her, Mrs. Doherty hung up the crucifix, pinned to a white linen +sheet at the head of where she lay, placed her "Ursuline Manual" on her +breast, and her beads on her arms, crossed on the body. + +"She was a handsome, fine woman, in her day, God bless her," said Mrs. +Doherty. + +"Yes, any body can tell that," answered Norry. "I wonder how they came +here at all." + +"I know it well," answered old Peggy Doherty. "She telled me all about +it afore she took bad entirely. Her man was well off, and had a brother +next to the bishop in the church, in the county of C----. When landlords +began to root out the people from their homes, the brother of Mr. +O'Clery, her husband, wrote letters in the newspapers about the cruelty +of the landlord, who was called 'Lord Mandemon;' and on that account, +and because the priest took part with the poor,--as they always do, God +bless 'em!--the landlord came down on Mr. O'Clery, sold out his sixty +milch cows, after being twenty-one days in pound; and though the cows +were worth ten pounds each, Lord Mandemon's agent sold them by auction, +and he bought them back himself for two pounds each; and so the poor +family was ruined. After that, O'Clery sold out another farm he had; +and, collecting all that was due to him, he came to America, against the +advice of the priest, his brother. He thought, he said, to live with his +family in 'a free country,' where there were no landlords or tyrants, +and, while he had some means, to buy a farm which he could call his own. +But he took the cholera when within sight of land, and he only lived a +few days. God rest his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed. +And God help those poor orphans," she said, piously, looking to where +the little group, wearied from grief and crying, lay asleep on a straw +bed. + +"I do really pity the poor creatures," said Norry. "I suppose they will +have to go to the poorhouse." + +"I hope not; God forbid, _asthore_, the poorhouse is such a dangerous +place for Catholics. I heard the priest say he would call to-morrow; and +may be he will _do for_ the little dears." + +"'Tis hard for him to provide for all that are in distress," said Norry. + +"I know it; but it would be a murther to let such well-reared and decent +children into the hands of those poormasters, but especially that Van +Stingey, whose great delight is, they say, to convart the children of +Catholics to his own sect. See what he done to the little Cronin +children, whose father and mother died lately." + +"I heard of that; but I am afraid the priest won't be able to call on +to-morrow, as he promised, if it continue to snow so." + +"_O yea_, God forbid; but it is a terrible night. Do ye hear how it +blows? _O Heirna Dioa._" + +"Yes, and the snow is falling in mountains; the roads will be blocked +up, and hills and hollows will be on a level in the morning." + +"God help every poor Christian that is out to-night," said Mrs. Doherty. +"I hope the Lord will save his reverence from all harm." + +"Amen!" answered Norry. "He will have a hard night of it. Had he far to +go?" + +"He had, _agra_, forty miles out in Vermont; but sure he could not +refuse going. The woman is just dying; and besides, she is a Protestant, +who wants to die in the faith." + +"Happy for her," said Norry, "if he overtakes her alive. How good the +priests are to these Yankees, although they are always ridiculing the +clergy; yet, if one of them is going to die, the priest not only +forgives them, but is willing to travel any distance to do them a +service." + +"Sure that's the orders of God and the church," said Mrs. Doherty. "It +is not for them alone they are working, but for God, you know." + +"That's true," said Norry. "But still and all, when one hears how they +are always ridiculing priests and nuns, and sees how they hate our +religion, it is very hard, I think, to forgive them." + +"Yes, _agra_," said Peggy, who was better informed than Norry; "so it is +hard for flesh and blood to forgive the heretics; but, unless we forgive +them, God won't forgive us. The priest knows this well; and so, if there +were two sick calls to come at one time to him, as happened lately, one +a Protestant and the other a Catholic, he would go to the Protestant +first." + +"That beats all," said Norry, "and is more than I would do, if I were +the priest; for I know well all that is said of him behind his back." + +"What harm will all that scandalous talk do the priest?" said Peggy. "It +only does him good; and he has a blessing for being 'spoken evil of' +like our Lord. He forgives all those whom God forgives; and so, if his +enemy, the Protestant, falls sick, and wants his services, he goes to +him _first_, in order that he may be brought into the church, where +alone he can be saved." + +"Thanks be to God," said Norry. "Is not it a wonder the Protestants +don't understand this, and look on the priests and the church as their +best friends, seeing that the priests are as ready, and readier, to +attend to them than to the Catholics themselves?" + +"How can they understand it when they are blinded by love of money, +impurity, and the hatred that the ministers excite against the church in +the minds of their hearers? Wasn't our Lord himself hated by those whom +he most loved, and put to death by them? It is so with every priest who +follows his steps, now as well as then. The world will always hate +good." + +This Christian philosophy was a little too sublime for poor Norry's +mind, who was a long time among the Yankees, sufficiently instructed in +the customs of this "free country" to be ready to observe the law of +"Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and life for life;" and who, besides, had +her naturally warm temper rather spoiled from her continual rencontres +with her mistress on such subjects as confession, priests' celibacy, +purgatory, and other subjects too profound for the understanding of her +mistress to know any thing about them, and too sacred in the eyes of +Norry to allow them to be irreverently handled without saying something +in their defence. It requires not only a perfect acquaintance with the +sublime and heavenly tenets of Catholicity to speak of them with +precision and propriety, but, in addition to a deep study of the truths +of true religion, the _practice of her precepts_, and the frequent +reception of the sacraments, are necessary to imbue the mind with the +true Christian notions regarding her high commands. + +Poor Norry "had not a chance," she said, of going to her duties for +several years; and that is why she considered "Peggy Doherty's" talk +about forgiveness so strange and unaccountable. + +"Yes, a _Greffour_," resumed "old Peggy," "we must forgive all the +world; and myself would forgive any thing sooner than kidnappin' or +stealing away the children of Catholics, which these Yankee parsons are +so fond of doing." + +"O, so they are, the villains," said Norry. "Did they take away or steal +any of this poor woman's children? 'Tis a wonder if they didn't." + +"Well, besides the four children you see here, _asthore_, she had +another neat child, one year old, named Aloysia, whom a lady up town +took with her, two months since, to rear her up along with her own +children; and it was only about ten days since she got news of her +death. When the poor woman heard this, the heart broke entirely within +her, especially as she could not be present at the child's death bed or +at the funeral." + +"Why, that's rather strange," said Norry. "Did they send her word that +she was sick?" + +"Not a word. It was only when I went up to Mrs. Sillerman's, the other +day, to inquire about the child, she comes out and tells me the child +died, and was decently interred. When I told the mother, she cried out, +'O Aloysia, Aloysia, my darling! are you, too, gone?' And she was not +herself since." + +"I do think there must be something wrong in the matter," said Norry. +"Did you tell the priest?" + +"No, I did not, for I had not time," said Mrs. Doherty. "God forgive me. +I have a doubt in my own mind that the lady of the house (I renounce +judging her) was not honest when she told me of the child's death. +'Perhaps,' says I to myself, 'she is kidnapped.' And she was such a +purty angel, with a face you would delight looking on; and on her right +hand,--the Lord save us!--a circle like a ring was on her middle finger. +She was too good to live; and was made for heaven, I suppose. Glory be +to God." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +AN OFFICIAL. + + +Our poormaster, Van Stingey, was a very conscientious officer. He never +squandered what he called the people's property, the commonwealth. He +was none of your vulgar, ordinary poormasters. He did not want the +office; they only forced it on to him. Like some of your great +statesmen, he acted for _man_, as he emphatically said; not for poor +widows and orphans, taken one by one; that was only a secondary +consideration. His whole duty, his very existence, seemed to be needed +for the good of man, or humanity in general. The question with him was, +not how to relieve this or that poor man or woman. _That_ might engage +the attention of a man of no intelligence, no education, or no +philosophy: what he aspired to was, always to act by principle; to act +so that the state, or the people who owned _real estate_, and who +elected him against his will, to see that their interests were attended +to, whatever became of the poor. Accordingly, when he heard of any case +of particular distress, such as that a poor emigrant died of misery in a +cold, deserted house, our poormaster regretted it, as an individual; +but, as an officer, he said, he acted according to principle. He could +not betray his constituents, who elected him against his will, by any +act of extravagance; and the good of the many must be consulted. "Even +the Lord," he used to say,--for he was a religious man,--"when he +created the sun, left spots in it." The best statesman must sometimes do +what may be cruel to the few; but, in the end, it would turn out for the +good of man. This district, since his election, now twice successively, +had made a saving of some two hundred a year since he became its +officer; and that would, in time, open the eyes of the people as to who +were proper candidates for office, tend to diminish taxes, and, in fact, +be a work for man--progress and virtue. Besides this, Mr. Poormaster Van +Stingey had "got religion," by which he was wonderfully enlightened, +having been so lucky as to gain that valuable accomplishment just six +months, and only six months, before his election, at a camp meeting held +near the village of M----ville. + +"I tell you what, the fact of the matter is, Mr. Knicks," said he, +"there is nothin' like religion. Before I got religion, and jined the +church, I didn't have any knowledge of God. I used to pity these +emigrants, seeing them poor and pale looking as death; but now, sir, I +reads my Bible, and finds that the Lord must not regard nor love these +Papists, wher'n he lets them run down so. The word of life is great." + +"Wal, I do not know. I care not a straw about any church; but my old +mother used to teach us, when children, that poverty and crosses were no +sign of the Lord's displeasure; as witness holy Job and Christ himself, +who were poor. In fact, she never stopped telling us, when boys, that +riches were dangerous, the love of money the root of all evil, and that +'whom he chastiseth the Lord loveth.'" + +"O, but your mother was a stiff Papist, you know, and did not understand +the word of God." + +"Yes, sir-ee, she did that; for I well recollect that, in the many +arguments she had with father, she always had the best of it. That she +had." + +"She may argue from Jesuit books and the like; but the Bible she durst +not look at, you know, Knicks." + +"I know better, Van. Don't you talk so. I have got the very Bible she +used and read every day--a great large one, printed in London. Mother +was English, and herself a convert to the church of Rome, though father +was Dutch." + +"Why, I never knowed that, Knicks. That was a great misfortune. These +priests, by the arts of Antichrist, will come round simple folks so, +that they often succeed in leading them down to destruction." + +"Well, sir," said Knicks, "I can tell you I never met a Christian but my +mother; and I cannot believe or listen to you say she went to +destruction, but to heaven, if there is such a place. And again: if I +were to embrace any religion, it would be the Roman Catholic religion; +for it is the only _honest religion_ there is. Father often brought +Methodist and Presbyterian ministers to make mother give up her'n; but +it was no go. She always treated them civil; but they had the worst of +the argument, I can tell you. They brought their Bibles, and she her'n; +and then they would set to, and be at it, till at last they were obliged +to give up. The only difference between her Bible and theirs is, that +her'n contained some fourteen or fifteen books more than the Protestant +Bible. The end of it was, that father turned with mother, and had the +Irish priest O'Shane to attent him afore he died. Mother got us all +baptized too." + +"Indeed!" carelessly ejaculated our official. "I must call and see that +Bible of yours some day." + +This conversation--which happened a few days before the death of our +emigrant widow--between his neighbor "Knicks" and our official shows +what an _enlightened gentleman_ he was. Since his elevation to office, +he also got promotion to another situation, which, though not so +lucrative as that of poormaster, in the course of time, by proper +management, promised to come to something. In a certain school house in +his vicinity, where the faithful were too poor, too irreligious, or too +pernicious to hire a preacher, our official held forth every Sunday, and +several evenings on the week days, at prayer meetings, protracted +meetings, and other roaring exercises. And to do him credit, his nasal +accent and piercing shrill voice made him a capital substitute for the +_hired_ regular Methodist preacher. He could be heard for nearly a mile +distant calling on the _brethern_ and _sistern_ to come to heaven. + +"O, let us come!" he would cry; "we were made and intended for heaven. I +see the shining seats, I see the crystal fountains, I see the Lord +sitting on the throne. Come, sisters, come! I could embrace ye all for +the Lord's sake. I could hide ye in my bosom. O! O!" + +There were some whose faith was not strong enough to place implicit +reliance on the veracity of this very enlightened "minister of the +word;" but the great majority believed, or pretended to believe, and +expressed their faith by crying out, "Glory! glo-ry! glo-r-y!" + +If a more particular or personal description of our official is +required, we can state, from minute observation, that Mr. Van Stingey +was of the middle size, of thin, cadaverous appearance, short neck, +snake head, with lank, sandy hair, nose flat and simex-like, small eyes, +one of which he kept continually shut, as if he supposed himself a match +for the poor whom he had to deal with by keeping one "eye skinned," +reserving the other for some important office in church or state, to +which he unquestionably aspired. Several times during the two months the +destitute widow and her family were reduced to penury and sickness. Our +worthy master was apprised of their condition by the neighbors; but he +always answered that the law did not allow him to spend any more, just +now; that these emigrants ought to remain at home; that they had no +right to this country; that he heard a very godly minister foretell last +year, at camp meeting, that the Romanists would yet have this country; +that too many were coming by millions; that he feared that they could +not be converted as fast as they were arriving; that they ought to be +made pay a heavy sum, or sent back. "In short," said he one day to poor +Mrs. Doherty, "I was not elected by them Irish paupers, and I never +expect to be." + +"If every thing you say was as true as that last word, I think you would +be an honest man for wonst," said Mrs. Doherty; "for there is no fear +that an Irishman's or a Christian's vote will ever elect the like of +you. God forgive you this day!" + +To suppose that any man could display such _bona fide_ ignorance as this +official did in the foregoing, would be to form an incorrect and +inadequate estimate of the human mind. The fact was that Van Stingey was +a false, low, cruel man, whose soul, steeped in the sensuality of his +past life, had lost all that was divine in its nature. His circumstances +were so reduced by his crimes and dissipation, that, being "too lazy to +work, and ashamed to beg," he assumed first the guise of religion to +gain popularity; and when he had "got religion," then the teachers of +the stuff which they call by that noble name, to keep it respectable, +procured him this office as a reward for his hypocrisy. + +This was the official who startled the inmates of our house of mourning +about five o'clock in the morning, when, thrusting his head inside the +door, he cried out, "A corpse there, eh?" + +"The Lord save us! Who are you, or what brings you here this hour o' +night?" said old granny Doherty, suspecting him as "nothing good." + +"Like you Irish, allers asking questions," said he, discharging a mass +of tobacco almost in her face. "I am the poormaster; and, having +received a report that there was a dead pauper here, thought I would +have it put out of the way early, before the folks would get up." + +"You are a very polite gintleman, God bless you. I hope she won't be +buried so soon. This is not the custom in any Christian country. After +to-morrow will be soon enough. You need not be in a hurry. We expect the +priest here to see to the children, as he has already left some help, +God bless him." + +"She must be enterred this morning, having died with the ship fever, I +suppose. The citizens expect me to do my _dooty_; and that I will do, if +the Lord spares me." + +"The dickens a ship fever nor no other fever she had; but the poor +woman's heart broke, seeing what she had come to in a strange country," +said Mrs. Doherty, pityingly. + +"Wal, wal, if she had trusted in the Lord, and knew the word of God, he +would not have deserted her as he has," hypocritically answered the +official. + +"I beg your pardon, sir, don't judge rashly. She was not deserted by +God, but died content and happy, after all the rites of her holy +religion were administered to her," was the prompt reply. + +"You think so; but I want to know how she could love God without the +Bible; and you Roman Catholics are not allowed its use." + +"God help those that can't read so," said Mrs. Doherty. "There is no +chance for me or my old man, for neither of us can read it; but not so +Mrs. O'Clery, God be good to her. She had her Bible, and many more good +books." + +"Yes, sir," said Paul, joining in the dialogue. "We have always had the +true Catholic Bible, and mother always read it on her knees." + +"Wal, my good lad, you are _pooty_ smart; and now get you ready, with +the rest of you little critters, and come on the sleigh I will send for +you. Let's see how many of you there are. One, two, three, four--a great +lot of ye. As I was saying, be ready to come up to the county house till +I can get some folks to take ye in to keep till ye are of age." + +"The priest, sir," said Paul, "promised to call to-day; and as he +already has left us a good sum of money, I know the good man will +provide for us till he writes to my uncle, who would be very sorry to +hear of our going to the poorhouse or the county house, though it may be +a better place." + +"My young lad, you will be provided for by law, and don't fail to be +ready by ten o'clock," said the official, sternly, as he left the room. + +In a few hours after, the body of the widow O'Clery was deposited in a +rough, unplaned pine coffin, and placed on board a two-horse, open +sleigh. The four orphans were stowed around in the same vehicle, and, in +care of a constable, the _cortege_ drove off at full speed to the +cemetery. By half past eleven, the remains of the widow were consigned +to their kindred earth, the few lumps of hard frozen clay on the surface +her only monument--the sobs, sighs, and prayers of her own dear children +the only requiem uttered over her lowly and soon-to-be-forgotten tomb. +"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth now, saith the +Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." (Apoc. xiv. 13.) + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE POORHOUSE. + + +When Father O'Shane left for the village of B----, in Vermont, to +administer the rites of Christian unction to a departing soul, the roads +were very hard to travel, and his progress, in company with his faithful +guide, was tedious and slow in the extreme. The call was to a sick woman +named Finmore, who was in the last stage of consumption, and who had +often, during her illness, expressed a desire that she should be +attended by a priest before she would die. Her husband did not oppose +her wish, but was yet either too indifferent on the subject, or too +lazy, to go such a journey as to the city of T---- in search of a +personage of whom he stood in such awe, and knew so little of, as the +Catholic priest. A neighboring Irish farmer, named O'Leary, hearing of +the wish of the dying woman, volunteered to bring the priest, if "there +was one to be found in all America," he said, "provided he got a horse +and wagon from the stable of the rich Yankee." And it was in company +with this simple but brave and faithful man that Father O'Shane set out +on the evening of the widow's death. They had not advanced many miles, +however, when the wind veered round to the north-west, and a most +violent snow storm blew quite in their face. Slow and unpleasant was +their progress over the hard, icy road; but in the course of a few hours +their farther advance became an utter impossibility with a wagon. They +had, therefore, to stop at a tavern; and after a good deal of entreaty, +and after having fed their horse, they succeeded in hiring from the boss +the use of a sleigh to carry them along to Vermont. + +"Ye can't travel nohow to-night," said the boss; "the roads will be +blocked up, chuck full." + +"We'll have to travel, sir," said the Irishman, "or die in the attempt; +so let us have the cutter. Charge what you have a mind to." + +"Why, what in the world can be the matter? Ye ain't subpoenaed, or going +to arrest somebody?" said the jolly boss. + +"Ah, no such thing, man," said the farmer; "but there is a woman +dangerously ill, and yon gentleman in the sitting room is a doctor, +going to visit her. Cost what it may, we must go ahead." + +"O, that alters the case. Why did you not say so at first? and you +should have had it and welcome. It will be ready in no time. Hitch on to +that new, light cutter in the shed, Sam," said he to the hostler. + +"Ya, ya," said Sam; and in five minutes the priest and his guide were +again proceeding on their charitable mission. They reached their +destination about two o'clock in the night, just one hour before the +death of her on whose account they had come such a journey. Father +O'Shane--poor old gentleman!--suffered terribly; had his ears +frostbitten, and two of his fingers frozen. But no matter; a soul was to +be saved, and that consideration alleviated all his sufferings, and +rendered him dead to every thing--cold, pain, watchings, hunger, thirst, +and weariness; nay, even death itself was but a trivial, inadequate +price to be paid by a mortal man to gain an immortal soul to Christ and +eternal happiness. + +"'Tis an awful night, reverend sir," said O'Leary. "I fear we can't go +ahead." + +"What matter, O'Leary," said Father O'Shane, "as we reached in time? +What is this night and all its violence compared with the sufferings of +a poor soul in the next world? All I regret is that you did not send me +in the sick call sooner. All is well, however; she was perfectly +conscious, and, I hope, worthily received all the rites of religion. +Hold up! you will rest well to-night, your conscience at ease, after +having been engaged in such a meritorious act of charity." + +In nothing does the church of God manifest the divinity of her origin +and mission more than in the care which she bestows on her children, the +adopted brethren of Jesus Christ, at the awful hour of death. She +reserves all her good things for this her last service to her children. +She sends her keys there, to the bedside of the dying man, to open to +him the gate to the calm and peaceful walks of justification. She sends +her oils thither, too, to anoint the Christian gladiator for his last +and final struggle with his powerful enemies. She sends her divine +manna, to strengthen him and sustain him for the trying and unknown +journey; and she sends the music of her sweet hymns and litanies to +cheer him on, and the light of indulgences and benedictions to guide his +soul, illumine his understanding, and shed the rays of their heavenly +reflection on the difficult passage that he has to traverse. And this +food, these blessings, gifts, and graces, she has ready for all +repentant sinners without exception, be they the inmates of the true +fold, or straying without the boundaries of the city of God; be they the +timorous souls who are already washed, or the negligent, who have +followed the hard ways of the world. If, in her other functions, the +spouse of Christ is "terrible as an army set in array," "fair as the +moon, and beautiful as the setting sun," in this, her last office at the +death bedside, she is all mercy, tenderness, and goodness. O, how cold, +selfish, and intolerable would life be, if the Catholic church was not +present, on all occasions, with the graces, blessings, and consolations +of Christ! + +"O Lord, if it be thy will, deprive us of every thing--riches, health, +renown, pleasure; but never leave thy creatures, thy inheritance, thy +children, without the consolations of thy church! O Lord, the many sheep +that are here not of thy fold gather and bring in speedily, that there +may be but one fold and one Shepherd, as thou thyself hast foretold." +Thus prayed this pious priest of God, after having added another strayed +sheep to the fold of his divine Master; and his soul was at peace. + +For two days the storm continued unabated, the whole country becoming +like an undulating ocean of snow. Drift snow, mountain high, was +accumulated in the valleys between hills; whole herds of sheep and +cattle were suffocated; and the bodies of several teamsters, whose teams +were overset, were dug out lifeless from under the drifts by the men who +had assembled with their ox teams and shovels to open the interrupted +communication with the city. + +Father O'Shane bemoaned his fate in doleful terms; the more so as Sunday +was approaching, when he feared he should be absent from his +congregation; and he also regretted that he had it not in his power, +according to his promise to the widow O'Clery, to visit her next day, +and provide for her poor orphans among the benevolent of his flock. And, +well aware of the character of the hard-hearted Van Stingey, he +shuddered for the fate of the children. + +The apprehensions of the good priest were not groundless; for no sooner +was the body of Mrs. O'Clery consigned to its narrow, cold habitation, +than the official, assisting the children into the sleigh that had borne +their mother's body to the tomb, drove off in a rapid trot towards the +poorhouse. + +"Have we far to go yet, sir?" said Paul, thinking that the "county +house" was something different from the much dreaded poorhouse. "I am +afraid Bridget will perish with cold, sir." + +"No fears of her; she's hardy, I guess." + +"Yes, sir, but her dress is so very light." + +"Well, she can pull that ere buffalo around her." + +"Ou, hou, hou!" cried Bridget, breathing on her little bare hands, which +she kept pressed to her lips. + +"I hope, sir, you are not going to take us to the poorhouse," said Paul; +"we don't want to go there. The priest that attended my mother--God rest +her soul!--told us he would provide for us." + +"Indeed! How can he do so?" said Van Stingey. + +"Why, sir, I don't know; but perhaps he will write to my uncle, who is a +vicar general in Ireland, and he will send us money to take us back +home." + +"Is your uncle in the British sarvice, then, and a general in the army?" + +"No, sir, but he is a priest next to the bishop in station in the +church." + +"That's it, eh? Wal, I guess you better not talk of going back, any how. +You must live here in this free country, and learn to be a man and a +Christian--a thing you could not be at home, in the old country." + +"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Paul; "the very best Christians are in +Ireland, which was once called the 'Isle of Saints,' when all the people +were Catholics; and where I came from, even now, they are all mostly +Catholics. There are in the whole parish but two _peelers_, the minister +and his wife, and the tithe proctor, or collector of tithes; in all, +five Protestants." + +"You are a lad, I see," said the official, as he dismounted from the +sleigh and ordered the children to enter their new home. + +"O, woe, woe, woe!" cried they, as they found themselves admitted as +_paupers_, and enclosed within the precincts of the terrible poorhouse. +"O Lord, what will we do?" cried they. "O sir, don't keep us here, or +send word to the priest first. I will go to his house, myself," said +Paul. + +"Shet up, ye little fools!" said the official; "this is a better place +nor ye think. Ye ain't going to get no potatoes, nohow, but something +better than ye ever were used to. Take these young 'uns to the stove in +the kitchen," said he to an under official. And the sobs and groans of +the destitute orphans were drowned in the uproarious rumbling of the +gong that called the officers of the establishment to dinner, it being +now noon. + +The repugnance of the Irishman to the poorhouse is proverbial. Neither +prison, dungeon, nor death is invested with greater horror, in the minds +of the peasantry of Ireland, than this institution. Solely founded, as +they are told, for their special use and benefit, there are instances, +countless, on record, where the affectionate mother has thanked Heaven, +when by fever, plague, or hunger it deprived her of her darling infant, +rather than that it should become an inmate of the poorhouse! + +"Is not this prejudice unreasonable and strange?" it will be asked. "And +why is it that the Irishman shuns and abhors an institution which his +English neighbor enjoys and petitions to enter?" The reasons are +numerous, and the difference in the feelings of both obvious and +palpable. It must be first remarked, that the Irish are a traditional +people, and remarkably conservative of the customs and usages of their +ancestors. They look back into the history of their country, or consult +their fathers and grandfathers, and in vain look back for the existence +of a poorhouse, or any necessity for its existence, before the advent of +the "godly reformation" and the established church in their midst. They +heard of such establishments as the ancient "_beataghs_," or houses of +hospitality, which were provided for the stranger and destitute in every +townland, the doors of which were open day and night, and on the boards +of which cooked victuals for scores of men were continually ready. These +were the substitute for the poorhouse in the days when England and all +Europe sent their poor scholars to receive a gratuitous education among +the inhabitants of the Island of Saints. There the poor and the hungry +could come in and eat, and be filled, and go his way, without being +questioned who he was, without being asked for a _pauper ticket_ to +admit him, without being obliged or compelled to lead a life of +celibacy, or running the risk of his soul's salvation, to keep his body +from perishing of hunger. + +In a word, when Brian Boru expelled the Danes from Ireland, when Hugh +O'Niel triumphed over the troops of Elizabeth, as well as when Dathi +held the sceptre, or Nial of the hostages planted his colors on the +Alps, there was enough to feed the poor of Ireland. There was no +necessity for a poorhouse; and there is no need of it now, says the +Irish peasant, if justice was done to Ireland. "Give us back our +monasteries and abbeys, and we will bestow you the poorhouses." + +Besides these considerations, the English poorhouse has this advantage +over the Irish one--that the former is conducted and presided over by +Englishmen, who have a sympathy for, or at least are of, the same blood, +religion, and race with its inmates. But in Ireland the case is +different. The poorhouses, prison-like edifices, in Elizabethan style of +architecture, presided over by Englishmen, generally, and nominees of +the crown, are a monument of conquest and tyranny. + +The inmates being principally "mere Irish," and the cost of their +support derived chiefly from the land, the landlords consider their +health, comfort, or life of only secondary importance. Hence we find the +number of deaths in these charnel houses averaging that of years of +plague; and each pauper is allowed far less weekly for his support than +the lord of the soil allows the meanest dog in his kennel. Add to these +the separation of man and wife, the isolation of members of the same +family, the dangers of perversion and proselytism to the thinning ranks +of the "law church;" and then, if you can, blame the poor Irishman for +his horror of the dreadful poorhouse of England. He saw hundreds of his +neighbors enter the gates of the poorhouse, but he never saw one return +back. Less active imaginations than that of the Irish peasant would be +worked on so as to conclude that some means more _active_ than sickness +or old age were had recourse to, for the purpose of lessening the taxes +on land, by getting rid of the poor. + +In truth, the British poorhouse is a great government establishment, +where the sons of the low squirearchy are provided for--a terrible mill, +where the bodies and souls of Irishmen and women are ground up and +annihilated--a labor-saving machine of political economy, introduced +into the world by the robbers of the reformation, in order to get rid of +surplus population, and in order that the Lazaruses of society might not +disturb the false repose of their hypocrisy, by begging the crums that +fall from their plunder-burdened tables! + +The American poorhouse, however, is of quite a different description, +and the promptitude and unanimity of the public mind regarding the +necessity of a law to provide for the support of the poor are among the +most laudable traits in the American character. In America, the +patrimony of the poor was never wrested from the church, to which God +committed their care; the charities and bequests of ages were not +plundered and squandered by the vilest of the human race, as in Britain; +hospitals, churches, abbeys, monasteries, convents, and other endowed +provisions for the poor, were not robbed and confiscated by the +sectarians of the new world, (probably because they did not exist +there;) and hence the essential difference between the English and +American poorhouse. There is no part of the Scripture the reformation +people so rigidly adhered to, or now pretend to adhere to, as the +advice of Judas, "Let this be sold and given to the poor." They made the +sale, but the poor they left unprovided for, till their numbers +increased so as to threaten the ill-gotten goods of the plunderers, who +at length passed laws compelling the poor to support the poor. And this +was the origin of poorhouses--a true Protestant creation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE O'CLERYS. + + +The O'Clery family was an ancient and honored one in Ireland. Princes, +chieftains, and warriors of the name were renowned before Charlemagne or +Alfred ascended the throne, or before any of the petty princes of the +heptarchy ruled over the barbarous Saxons. Like all the royal and noble +houses of Europe, the O'Clerys, after ages of glory and prosperity, had +their hour of decline and decay also. But it was a question whether the +virtues of this renowned house were more brilliant or conspicuous in the +zenith of its glory, or in its fallen or humbled state. The Irish church +founded by Saint Patrick never wanted an O'Clery to adorn her sanctuary +or to record her victories. The annals of the Four Masters will stand to +the end of the world as a proud monument of the services rendered to the +Irish church and to history by these illustrious annalists; and when the +deeds of the most renowned knights and chieftains of this royal house +shall have been obliterated by the merciless chisel of time, the authors +of the Four Masters' Annals will become only brighter among the shining +stars that adorn the literary firmament of old Ireland. + +The martyrology of the Irish church can attest the virtues of constancy +and patriotism with which the O'Clerys bore their share of the wrongs of +Erin and of her faithful sons. Whether or not the subjects of our +narrative, the poor emigrant orphans, had any of this royal and noble +blood flowing in their veins, is a thing that we cannot genealogically +vouch. But that they were not degenerate sons of Erin, or faithless to +their allegiance to the glorious old church of their fathers, we trust +this history will amply demonstrate. At all events, the uncle of our +hero, Paul O'Clery, held a very high station in the Irish hierarchy. +Having, with eclat, finished his ecclesiastical and literary primary +studies in the colleges of his native land, he subsequently repaired to +Rome, where he won with distinction the title of "doctor in divinity and +canon law," and carried the first premium from many French, German, and +even Italian competitors. Hence, soon after his return from abroad, on +account of his learning, as well as his tried virtues, he was appointed +the vicar general of the diocese of Kil----, a promotion which, far from +exciting the envy, gained the unanimous approval, of the diocesan +clergy. During the horrors of the general landlord persecution of the +Irish Catholics, (for it is nothing else than a persecution of +Catholics,) the O'Clerys found their name on the roll of the proscribed, +and got notice to quit the homestead of their fathers. The principal +cause for this proscription by the landlord was, that Dr. O'Clery, in +the newspapers, exposed the system of cruel and barbarous extermination +which took place on the extensive estates of Lord Mandemon--a gentleman +who said he thought it far more honorable, as well as profitable, to +have his princely estates in Munster tenanted by fat cattle than by +Irish Papists. His lordship had also the mortification to learn that all +the meat, money, and clothing he had employed for the last five years +could not make one single sincere convert to his rich "law +establishment." When the "praties" were dear, and the crops failed, +there were a few, to be sure, who would profess themselves ready to "ate +the mate" on Friday; but as soon as plenty returned, the "new lights" +went out, or returned to ask pardon of God, the priest, and the people; +and Lord Mandemon and his soup were pitched to the "seventy-nine +devils." This failure, this result, so often before seen and felt, and +so certain to follow, was, in his zeal for proselytism, attributed by +his lordship to Dr. O'Clery's zeal and learning. For, whenever or +wherever he went among the peasantry to preach to them in their own +sweet and loved dialect, the "jumpers, the new lights, and the soupers" +disappeared like the locusts from Egypt when exorcised by the magic rod +of Moses. Hence the hatred with which the O'Clerys were persecuted. +Hence, also, the oath of Lord Mandemon, that he would never return to +his home in England till every Papist on his estates was rooted out. +This oath was kept by his lordship, probably the only true one he ever +swore; for in less than a fortnight he fell a victim to the cholera, and +expired on board the Princess Royal steamboat on her return to +Liverpool. + +Arthur O'Clery, father to the subject of our tale, sold out a second +farm he held near Limerick, turned all his effects into money, bade +adieu to his beloved brother, Dr. O'Clery, who was averse to his +emigration, and, in the autumn, set sail from Liverpool for New York, in +the ship Hottinguer. He had all his family with him: they were +comfortably provided with all necessaries, and, besides, had one +thousand pounds, in hard cash, to start with in the new world. They were +not long out at sea, when, owing to the crowd on board, the lack of +proper arrangements, and room, or ventillation, as well as on account of +the cruelly of the inhuman captain, ship fever and cholera broke out on +board. + +The number of bodies consigned to the ocean from that unlucky vessel was +from five to ten daily, and among the victims of the plague was Arthur +O'Clery. He was the only one of the cabin passengers who was attacked by +the epidemic, which, in the ardor of his charity, he contracted while +attending on, and ministering to, the wants of the poor steerage +passengers. + +Sad and impressive was the scene when the Rev. H. O'Q----, a young Irish +priest on board, in the middle hold of the ship, where O'Clery had been +removed by order of the captain, called on the six hundred surviving +passengers to kneel while he was administering the rites of the church +to the benefactor of them all. Never was a call on the piety and faith +of any number of men more cheerfully obeyed. Instantaneously that mixed, +nondescript crowd--Irish, English, Scotch, Welsh, Dutch--Catholic, +Protestant, infidel--fell on their knees, and, if they did not pray, +they paid that _outward homage_ to Religion which sometimes the most +indifferent and irreligious cannot resist paying her. Infidelity is a +great coward, as well as a false guide. In her hour of ease and satiety, +she pretends to scorn the threats and judgments of the Most High, and, +like Satan in his pandemonium, to make war on Heaven; but no sooner does +the roaring of the thunderbolt shake the earth, or the vast abyss open +its devouring throat to swallow her unhappy victims, than she hides her +head in the caves of the earth, or, flying to some secure place, +abandons her votaries to the forlorn hope of trusting to the weakness of +their own minds for resources to extricate themselves from the evils +that threaten them. It was so on board the ill-fated Hottinguer. Those +who, under the influence of the security offered by the prosperous +sailing of the few first days, were bold, independent, and defiant of +danger, no sooner did they see their comrades thrown overboard, after a +few hours' sickness, than their hearts failed within them, their tone of +defiance was turned into despair, their mockery of religion ceased, and +that priest of God, whom they ridiculed, insulted, and despised for the +first few days, was now respected, confided in, and regarded by them +with sentiments bordering on religious homage. + +Fervently did that priest, who thanked God that he was on hand, pray, +not that God would restore him to his wife and children,--for all hope +of recovery was now gone,--but that, in accordance with the anxious +desire of the dying man, he should have the privilege of burial in a +Christian, consecrated tomb. + +"Pray, father," said he, "that, if it be God's holy will, I may be +buried in a consecrated soil. It seems to me a sort of profanation, that +the cruel fishes and those monsters of the deep, which we see leaping +around the vessel, should devour my flesh, united with, and I hope +sanctified now by, the flesh and blood of my Lord." + +The priest did pray, and the people joined in that impulsive prayer of +faith, and that prayer was heard; for, though O'Clery breathed his last +on board, and, by the captain's orders, the sailors--poor fellows!--were +standing around his berth, prepared, as soon as the last breath left +him, to throw him overboard, yet he lingered for three days after; and +they reached quarantine before that pure soul quitted its tenement of +clay and winged its flight to heaven. The wife and her children had the +body conveyed to shore and interred in the Catholic cemetery of New +York, where a neat marble monument could be seen with these words +inscribed:-- + +_"Pray for the soul of Arthur O'Clery, whose body lies underneath. +Requiescat in pace. Amen."_ + +It was thus that the O'Clerys were deprived of their good and virtuous +father, and the widow of her husband; but this, as already has been +partly seen, was but the beginning of their woes; for, after their +arrival in New York, an individual, who, during the voyage, ingratiated +himself with the family by his attention around the sick man's bed, +joined them at their lodgings. But in a few days they found him gone one +morning, after their return from mass at Barclay Street Church, and with +him the canvas bag, containing the thousand pounds in gold and Bank of +England notes left by them in a trunk. Thus were six persons, strangers +and destitute in a great city, reduced from competency to poverty at +"one fell swoop" by the villany of a pretended friend and associate. + +"O Lord, pity me! One misfortune never comes alone," groaned the now +poor and afflicted widow O'Clery, when she was informed by little +Bridget that the "trunk was broke open," and all the things ransacked +"through and fro." + +She soon saw that all she had was gone, and concluded that Cunningham, +as he was absent from breakfast contrary to his wont, must be the thief. +The police got immediate notice; advertisements were issued, and rewards +offered, and in a day or two after Cunningham was arrested; but as none +of the money was found on his person, and as there was no direct +evidence of his guilt, the magistrate discharged him. The articles of +dress in her well-supplied wardrobe were detained, in payment of her +board bill, by the hotel keeper where she lodged in New York; and with +the few shillings that remained in her purse, she, with her children, +took passage on one of the Hudson River boats, hoping to make out +certain acquaintances of her husband, whom she heard were settled in the +vicinity of T----. The rest has been already told--namely, how she took +sick and died after great sufferings; how her children were left +destitute, and next to naked; how they were now reduced to the rank of +paupers, and secured within the precincts of the county house. + +"Of all the things which we brought from home with us, we have nothing +of value now left, Bridget," said Paul, "but this silver crucifix, which +belonged to my grandfather. Glory be to God. Let us be glad that this +has been left," said he, kissing it with religious affection. "This is +all we have now left. Let us defend it." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE COUNCIL. + + +Father O'Shane was now several days weather bound and laid up sick in +Vermont, where, with great anxiety, he waited the first opportunity to +return home to his mission; and the orphans were safely lodged in the +poorhouse, where our friend Paul, to calm the anxiety and dispel the +grief of his younger companions, began to contrast, with an air of +satisfaction, the aspect of things here with what he had heard of the +horrors of the Irish poorhouse. + +"What nice men we have in America over the poorhouse," said he; "they +are very kind to us." + +"Yes; but I don't like that man with the great beard," said Bridget; "he +frightens me when I meet him. O, such a _feesage_; a robin redbreast +could make her nest in it," said she, smiling. + +"He might be a nice man for all that, Bid. Most people here don't shave +at all, you know, as we saw in New York. And did you notice that sailor +that saved the boy who fell overboard, what a long beard he had? And he +must be a brave, good man, to risk his own life to save another's." + +"Yes, Paul; but he was a Catholic, and from Ireland, too; for he made +the sign of the cross on himself in Irish before he leaped out, for I +was near him; and besides, I saw him going to confession to the same +priest we went to the day after we landed." + +"And are not they all Catholics here, Paul?" said Patsy. "I seen crosses +on three churches, the time I went with Mrs. Doherty for the priest for +mother, God be good to her." + +"No, Patsy, they are not; for if they were, there would be more than one +priest for this large town; and you heard Father O'Shane say that there +was only himself for all the city and a great part of the country," said +Paul. + +"I hope somebody will take us to mass on Sunday," said little Patrick; +"and, Paul, will you ask the priest to allow me to answer mass? You know +Father Doyle told us never to forget the lessons we learned of him." + +"I'd know are there any nuns here," said Bridget. "O, how beautiful the +convent chapel in Limerick was! I hope I have not lost my beautiful +little silver medals and crucifix they gave me when I was coming away. +No; here they are, and my Agnus Dei, too," she said, kissing them. "God +rest mother's soul, how glad she was when I got these from the holy +nuns!" And the tears streamed down her fair cheeks in floods. + +"Hold your tongue, Bridget, again," said Paul, with emphasis. "Don't you +know that mother told us not to grieve, but pray for her soul? And +besides, in the 'Imitation of Christ,' which I read for you this morning +and last night, it is said that grief kills devotion, and excessive, +sorrow is a sin. You can serve mother, or rejoice her soul, by praying, +but not by crying, Bridget." + +"O, how can I help it? 'Tis against me will, Paul," said she, wiping her +eyes. + +"Always look attentively at that crucifix," said Paul, "and you need +never grieve for any thing except sin. This is what Father Doyle used to +say." + +"O Paul, we have no father or mother now." + +"Yes we have, Bridget--our Father in heaven, and the blessed virgin +mother of God, our mother also," said the young preacher. + +"How well the priest did not call as he said he would." + +"May be he could not help it; he had to go far into the country, and the +snow might stop him. You know he will find us out. The priest always +visits the poorhouse in Ireland." + +While this conversation was going on between the members of this poor +orphan family, Paul acting the meritorious part of a comforter, (I say +acting, for his own noble soul was almost crushed with grief, which he +thought it better to disguise than to have his little charge rendered +quite stupid and almost dead from crying and sobbing;) while this was +the way Paul entertained his little charge, in another part of the +poorhouse, in a well-furnished room, were seated around a table +containing the "_reliquiæ"_ or remnants of a good dinner, five persons, +engaged in earnest chat about the late importation of orphans. + +"Really they are likely young 'uns, and no mistake," said Mr. Van +Stingey, wiping his mouth with the corner of the tablecloth. + +"Dear me!" said a lady who formed one of the council. "Charles, if you +saw them, they are perfect beauties, you would say. The oldest boy is as +noble-looking a lad as ever you did see--Roman nose, raven hair, +delightfully-carved mouth, and lips, and eyes, and eyelashes quite +indescribable, so beautiful are they. The little girl is a perfect +Venus; while the two younger children, Patrick and Eugene, are as if +they came from the chisel of Powers, or some renowned artist of +antiquity." + +"Why, my love," said Parson Burly, "you are quite classical in your +description; whether or not it is a correct one, is another thing." + +"I assure you, Mr. Burly," said Van Stingey, "that your lady has not +described them beyond what is true. They are almighty fine young 'uns." + +"I want you to adopt that eldest one, Mr. Burly," said the parson's +wife, who was president of the council. "He would make such an elegant +preacher, I am sure. You must also change the name of the second boy +from Patrick, which is so Irish, to Ebenezer, Zerubabbel, or some +Scripture name, or even classical one." + +"Why, madam, I am beginning to get jealous, and to think you don't +sufficiently admire my powers of oratory," said her husband. + +"Well, my dear, putting aside jokes," she solemnly remarked, "you know +how much we need Irish ministers to preach to the Irish amongst us, who +are the best church attenders on earth, I believe. And it is notorious, +that those whom we can take out from the ranks of Papacy while young +become the greatest ornaments to our denomination. Witness Kirvoin, +Maclown, Moffat, and several others." + +"Well, well, my fair refuter," said the parson, who really feared his +wife would rivet her affections on the young orphan if adopted; "you +know it would never do to keep that little fellow with us. How old did +you say he was--about fifteen? Well, fifteen or sixteen--ya--you +recollect how that old priest acted last July, at the village of Scurvy? +A little girl I sent out to Brother Prim this priest smelt and hunted +out; and actually broke in the room door where she was confined, and +took her off by physical force to a Roman Catholic orphan house. These +priests are terrible fellows; and your young fancy orphan, Paul, would +soon find out the priest, and have his grievance redressed. And what is +worse, this priest got Americans--ay, members of my own church--to +applaud his conduct, and defend him from prosecution! The Irish are +getting so powerful in this country," said the parson, after a pause, +"from their admirable union of purpose and the perfect organization of +their church, that I dread their influence. In fact, 'you catch a +Tartar' when you get one of them into your family. Ten to one, instead +of converting this young Papist, he would convert our whole family to +his own creed." + +"O Burly," said the disappointed wife, "you are always a prophet of +evils. I tell you, I must have that young lad, for I want him." + +"You do? Cynthia, my dear," said the parson, "we cannot have the lad in +our family. We _dare not_, without the consent of the trustees, who pay +us our salary. Do you understand _that_, my fair disputant?" said he, +triumphantly. + +"Well, Burly, as soon as I recover the means my father willed me, I +shall have that young man--already almost fully educated, as you can +perceive--brought up for the church." + +"O, _then_ you can try it, madam," said the man in white neckcloth, in a +sharp, sarcastic style; "but as for me, and I think my opinion is of +some weight, I tell you much can never be made out of that shrewd boy." +There was a solemn, ominous silence, for a moment, in the company. "Did +you remark the sort of dignified and independent motions of the fellow," +continued he, "when you had him here just now?" + +"Fellow!" said his wife, looking at her husband, in anger. "Is that a +proper term to apply to the child?" + +"It is not an improper or inappropriate one, not more so than calling +him 'child,'" said he. "I was just going to remark the coolness of his +reply when you introduced my name as the parish clergyman. 'A Catholic +clergyman, I hope, sir,' said he; 'as such, I am very glad to see you.' +Did you observe how sad and demure he looked when told he was to be sent +to school, where he could read the Bible, and become acquainted with the +word of God?' O sir,' said he, 'much obliged to you; I have got a Bible +already, and other good books of devotion, which we brought from home. I +should be very glad to learn what is good,' said he; 'but I trust I have +got my catechism well committed to memory; and having made my first +communion and been confirmed, I was discharged from class, and appointed +a Sunday school teacher, by our good priest, Father Doyle.' And on my +telling him that he could be a teacher here of a better religion than +that of his country, he shook his head, declining the honor of the post +offered, and remarking that 'it was impossible to have a better religion +than that which had God for its author--the Catholic religion.' With +this bit he retired (ye all saw him, I need not repeat more) from our +presence, a blush of mental triumph playing on his smooth cheek." + +"Sartain there was such a feelin'," said an old gray-headed Yankee, who +sat at the head of the table, and who was guardian of the establishment. +"You can't do nothin' with these Papists," continued he. "I have seed +the attempts made time and agin, but allers fail. The very children, +only five years of age, of that ere religion, refuse to eat flesh on +Friday, or to disobey such other darned ceremonies of their church as +they are brought up to." + +"Wal, Mr. Burly, madam, and my esteemed brother Valentine, my plan is +this," said Van Stingey: "send them, separate or in couples, here and +there, into the country, and there, with the farmers, they will soon get +used to our church ways, and be gradually broke in." + +"That you can't do safe, neither, Van," said the boss of the house, +"for they would raise such a dust as would bring half the city around +us; and you know the people would never consent to any thing like +cruelty towards one so young and interesting as these here are." + +"You say the truth there, sir," said the parson. + +"It would be cruel to separate the dear ones," said the wife; "wherever +they are sent, let them go together. I could pledge my watch and wedding +diamond ring to help to raise such beauties," said she, passionately. +"Surely they cannot be Irish, or they must belong to some race different +from the Celtic half savages which we have read inhabit Ireland." + +"You mistake, Cynthia, my dear," said the parson; "these are Irish, and +genuine Celts, too, as one can tell from the hair and nose. I think, +however, you exaggerate their beauty. Have you not read the European +letters of Thurlow W---- and Horace G----, which described the middle +and upper classes of the Irish as the most beautiful complexioned and +dignified people in Europe or the world? Now, this is my mind, that you +must get some farmers in a good Protestant neighborhood to adopt these +children, so that they may all live in the same vicinity, if not in the +same family; and by this means all unpleasant consequences will be +obviated." + +"I say ditto to that," said the Nestor of the council, old Valentine; +"but you must lose no time, for the eldest lad told me the priest +promised to call for them; and if that gentleman gets them into his +hands, I'll warrant all your plans will be frustrated." + +"That's just it. You have hit the nail on the head, friend Valentine," +said Van Stingey. "I will take charge on them, and take them to that +gentleman's house, in W---- county, who was here last week looking for a +boy and a girl to raise; and _mebbee_ I will scare up somewhere else for +the other two young critters." + +"Take 'em along, then, and see that you get your pay," said the boss, +rising. + +"O, never mind, leave that to me," said the vile, wily knave, as he went +to see to his arrangements for carrying the orphans to parts unknown. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A RUDE LOVER OF NATURE. + + +Father O'Shane, who had suffered severely from the effects of exposure +to the late violent storm, no sooner found himself a little recruited, +and the roads passable, than he prepared to return to his residence in +the city. He had, as conductor, a green young Irishman, lately arrived, +who felt almost inspired by the unusual luxury, presented for the first +time to his view, of a North American snowfall, and petitioned earnestly +to accompany his reverence back to the city to enjoy the "glorious +sport," as he called it, of a sleigh ride. The enthusiasm of the young +native of the perennial green fields of Munster did not escape the +notice of Father O'Shane, who himself was once not less enthusiastic, +and now not altogether insensible, to the chaste and almost sublime +beauty of Nature, when arrayed in her bridal robes of white on the +advent of spring. + +"Well, Murty, how do you like this manner of travelling?" + +"Be gonnies, your reverence, there is nothing I like better. What a fine +time it would be for tracking the hare, or hunting the fox!" + +"You are fond of sport, I perceive." + +"Bedad, sir, I would rather be out such a day as this, with dog and +gun, than eating bread and honey. I wonder if they would put you to jail +or transport you here, as they would at home, for fowling a bit in these +woods?" + +"No, Murty, I believe not." + +"No," said Murty, doubtingly. "You don't tell me so, your reverence?" + +"I tell you that there are no game laws, or only very nominal ones; so +that, when you come back, if you and your dog traverse yonder mountain +from top to bottom, you need not be afraid of the rifle of the +gamekeeper, or of a sentence to a free passage to Van Diemen's Land." + +"Murther! Must not they be very fine gentlemen here, to be so liberal? +Signs by I shall, please God, one of these days, visit that old, grand +mountain with the white head; and if there be a hare's form in his rough +sides or his curly beard, I will ferret it out, and soon have pussy by +the hind legs." + +"I can see, Murty, you are growing poetical in your description of old +Mount Antoine," said the priest. + +"Your reverence, did you ever see such a grand sight? I can't help +comparing that grand mountain there to the king of yon wild regions. The +snow on the trees, on the summit, causes them to look like gray locks; +and, looking down on the smaller mountains on every side, they appear +like his subjects or his sons, which, in time, are to grow big like +himself, affording shelter and refuge from the snares of the hunter to +the wild animals of nature. O, how I like America!" said he, his +enthusiasm still rising. + +"That's right, Murty; I am glad you do like it. Wait till summer or +autumn, and then how beautiful these bleak hills will appear during +these delightful seasons!" + +"O sir, it is a great, grand country! No tyrants, no landlords, no +poverty." + +"No poverty, Murty, except what is purely accidental, or brought on by +the improvidence of individuals. In the very best regulated society +there must, of necessity, be poverty less or more," said the priest, by +way of qualification. + +"Every thing is free, and there is liberty for all. The very fences, you +see, sir, unlike our stone walls at home, give liberty to the winds and +storms to blow through them. The mountains are free to the huntsman; the +very snow is free to blow and form itself into those beautiful banks, +and little mountains, and castles, and stacks, and curtains, and drapery +that we see on every side of us as we glide along." + +The priest listened with astonishment. + +"Was there ever seen any thing so _purty_," continued the peasant, "as +those ridges and mounds of snow? I have seen the grandest buildings in +Ireland,--Marlborough Street Church, in Dublin, the stone carving and +ceiling in Cashel of the Kings, the stucco work on the old Parliament +House in College Green,--but I think I see work in these fantastic snow +banks that beats them all hollow. And--glory be to God!--all this +beauty, so dazzling, so chaste, was created by a storm, when all nature +was in a rage, and men shut themselves up in houses from its violence! I +am glad now," said he, "our landlord turned us out. I now forgive him +for being the cause of our coming to this country of the brave and the +free." + +"Was it a landlord who has been the occasion of so much enjoyment to +you, Murty?" said Father O'Shane, drawing him out. + +"Yes, sir. It vexes me to think of it, much more to speak of it," said +the simple youth, with a tear full created in his eye. "We, and our +forefathers before us, had the farm of Lapardawn for more than three +hundred years. A new landlord coming in possession of the estate, we got +notice to quit, in the middle of winter. My father refused to yield the +hearth of his forefathers without a struggle, and locked himself and +family up. My mother was just after her confinement, and becoming short +of provisions and even of water, she begged of the police who kept guard +to hand her in a drink. They refused. She then begged, for God's sake, +to have a messenger go for the priest. For two days, the police refused +to let any body out of the house, unless we surrendered. My father, who +had cut a hole in the roof of the house to catch at rain water for my +dying mother, made his escape through it. A neighbor, who handed me a +drink of water through a broken pane in a window, had his hand cut off +by a stroke from the police sergeant's sabre. My poor mother died before +the priest arrived. My oldest brother, seeing his mother dead, and that +we had nothing now to guard, surrendered. We were all lodged in jail +that night, and all our means were sold at auction. It was lucky for us +we were put into jail; for, one week from that day, the landlord that +was the cause of all our misery and of my mother's death was shot dead +on the road from our farm to the town of Ennis. If we were out of jail, +we would all have been accused of the cruel landlord's murder, and +hanged; but we were, after one year in prison for the crime of defending +our homestead, liberated, and came out in a body to America. And now I +am glad of it, for two signs of tyranny I find wanting here--landlords +and game laws. The absence of one allows me to trace the steps of the +wild quadruped; and of the other, to trace my title to the soil which I +shall possess, down to the middle of the earth and up to the sky, +unfrowned on, or unawed by the landlord's tyranny or the 'peeler's' +cruelty. This is partly why I like to see these mountains of snow," said +he, "for I think that neither landlords nor 'peelers' could exist here. +They would become buried under these snow banks, for it is by night that +they are generally patrolling the highways, and plotting against the +peace of innocent families; and such a storm as the late one could not +but be fatal to the villains." + +These and the like sentiments are those which generally pervade the +bosom of the Irish emigrant after landing on this enfranchised land. +Wonder not, then, you natives of this God-provided country, that the +foreigner is likely to become more republican than yourselves, and that +his is a keener sense of enjoyment than yours, from the evils of his +antecedent life. Do not, therefore, become jealous of his purer and more +ardent love for this republic, the inheritance of the oppressed; but, +instead of envying his growing influence in this country of his choice +and adoption, receive him with open arms, and make him a participator +with yourselves in the good things which you and your fathers have +enjoyed for ages, and your claims to which are grounded on no better +title than that of the emigrant; and which title is founded on the +adventitious discovery of this continent by a Catholic and a foreigner, +and on oppressions undergone by your fathers in their native lands. +Wonder not, then, that the Irish Catholic is the best lover of this +country, and that he feels himself at home here; for his sufferings in +the cause of liberty and of conscience have been such as to give him the +strongest title deed to the liberties and privileges, if not to the +enjoyments and comforts, of this favored land. Every prejudice is +unreasonable, but none more irrational than that which would throw +obstacles in the way of the gallant emigrant towards procuring a home +and a sanctuary in this land of refuge and freedom. + +The land is wild and uncultivated, with its womb groaning under the +burden of plenty and fertility that have been dormant for ages upon +ages, and that must remain so for ages to come, unless the thrifty hand +of husbandry assist them into birth; and where are we to find, or when +will the "nativists" be able to procure, as busy hands and stalwart +arms, sufficiently numerous to bring into cultivation the millions of +acres within the extent of our country, if the emigrant and foreigner +are to be discouraged, and the mad clamor of the "nativists" is to +prevail? It was not all native blood that was spilled in the +establishment of the republic. It was not native genius alone that +created the constitution, laws, and institutions of our country. It was +not "natives," of course, that first discovered, settled, or established +the several states that form the grand Union. It was by emigrants, by +"furriners," that all these things were done. What, therefore, can be +more ungrateful, if not more unjust, in the "nativists," than to attempt +to rob the poor emigrant of the rewards of his labor and merit, in order +that they may enjoy all the fruit of the latter's toil? This is the +height of ingratitude and injustice; a far more glaring instance of both +than that of the _reputed_ forefathers of these "nativists" when they +robbed the old Britons of their homes and of those liberties which they +were _hired_ to defend. What models of honesty, justice, and truth you +are, most distinguished "nativists"! The foreigner built your house, +after having first procured the site or the lot; they furnish the house +with all useful, and necessary, and ornamental furniture; and these very +emigrants are yet necessary to keep the house in order; and you come and +threaten to turn them out, telling them you can now dispense with their +services, and that they are "furriners"! And, what is more inconsistent +and unjust still, by this policy of yours, if it could prevail, you +would be doing the most effectual thing to annihilate yourselves, both +physically, politically, morally, and socially. For, if you turned off +all the "furriners," not only would you sink in wealth and +resources,--your ships unmanned, your factories unworked, your canals +and railroads undug, and your battles unfought,--but your very blood +would corrupt, and turn into water! Your physical stature would soon be +reduced to the standard of the Aztecs; and, what is worse, following the +natural channel of your Anglo-Saxon instincts, you would become a +godless race of Liliputians! Yes, followers of Mormon Smith, Joe Miller, +Theodore Parker, and spiritual raps. O nativists, to what an abyss your +mental intoxication was hurrying you, in your blind zeal against the +emigrant and the foreigner! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE ORPHANS IN THEIR NEW HOME. + + +After the arrival in the city of the wearied missionary, his first visit +was to the scene of his late visit to the dying widow; and learning all +the particulars there that came under the cognizance of Mrs. Doherty, he +next drove rapidly to the poorhouse, where, as we have already stated, +the _pious_ officials had arranged the details so as to disappoint the +Popish priest of his benevolent designs, and to secure, if possible, the +adhesion of the young and interesting orphans to what they called "Bible +religion." + +When Father O'Shane called at the county house, he learned from an under +official that the boss "_warn't to home_; and," said he, "the children +hadn't been here mor'n a few hours, when a highly-respec'able farmer had +taken them with him to bring up." He couldn't "tell nothin' about who +the farmer was, or where he was from; but the children wor well done +for, that's all." It was in vain the priest represented that the +children were no paupers, but of highly-respectable connections, who +were able and willing to provide for them. He didn't "know nothin' about +that; but he knowed papers were signed, (as he was directed falsely to +assert,) and that sartain the children could not now be claimed by any +persons except their parents. They were now under the care of +guardians." After repeated visits, continued for weeks and months, to +the same establishment, Father O'Shane could gain no more satisfactory +knowledge of the fate of the orphans. He was obliged to relinquish his +search in despair, concluding that the children were kidnapped, and +that, except by God's mercy, their faith and morals were doomed, under +the influence of cold, contradictory infidelity or heresy. He mentioned +the case to his congregation, earnestly soliciting their prayers for +these poor orphans of Christ; and he oftentimes offered the holy +sacrifice, to enlist the influence of heaven in their regard. + +Let it not be said we exaggerate this account of the conduct of the +poorhouse officials; and from the improbability of such an instance of +injustice and cruelty happening in our day, let not our readers conclude +that such a case, and many such cases, happened not in times gone by. +Then the Irish Catholic population of the state was not much more than +what that of one county is now. Then an Irish Catholic could not get the +office of constable or bailiff; now we have Catholic cabinet ministers, +judges, senators, legislators, and aldermen. + +Then the ballot box was surrounded but by a few Irish naturalized +citizens, and these not of such importance as to influence the election +of a constable or poormaster; now the Irish adopted citizen, by the +power he exercises in his vote, is solicited by candidates, from a town +officer to the president; and whoever would attempt to reënact the +kidnapping of Van Stingey, and many other officials of his class, in +their days of petty power, would be sure to be compelled to retire +forever from public life, and pass into the gloom and infamy of his +depraved private circle. There were many exposures and wailings of the +children of Israel on the waters of the river of Egypt, before Moses; +and there was many an instance of the kidnapping of Irish Catholic +children from their parents, or natural guardians, by the jealous +Pharaohs of sectarianism, before the attempt made by Mr. Van Stingey to +kidnap Paul O'Clery and his brethren. + +In their new home, however, up to this time, Paul and his little charge +were well treated, as far as meat and clothing were concerned. Even in +regard to religion, and the devotional exercises prescribed by its +precepts, there was no obstacle thrown in their way; although the +fidelity of Paul and his sister Bridget to their morning and night +prayers was quite astonishing to their patrons. A few indirect, covert +attacks were all that, for many months, it was thought prudent they +should have to encounter from the family, named Prying, with whom they +staid. The truth was, that Paul, the eldest of the children, was such a +smart, watchful, prudent young lad, his younger brothers and sister were +so accustomed to obey him, and he exercised such emphatic authority over +them, that it was the advice of the most prudent of the preachers who +interested themselves in his case, to let him alone for the present. The +change intended to be brought about was to be left to time, +conversation, and the influence of common school education to +accomplish. His education, in Ireland, was principally religious and +classical, rather than commercial; and he was just now acquiring, in his +present trying noviceship, what was precisely wanting to his previous +course. He and his brothers, who lived in the next farmer's house, +together with Bridget, his sister, who was under the same roof with +himself, obstinately refused to attend the Sunday school, the meeting +house, or to join in the prayer with which school was daily opened. +Hence they were more than once publicly prayed for by the fanatical +Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Mr. Gulmore, at whose church the Prying +family attended. There was a sufficiency of prayers now "put up," in Mr. +Gulmore's opinion, to begin the work of more practical conversion. +Accordingly, a "big dinner" was prepared, a turkey cooked, and Friday +fixed upon--the appetite being chosen, after a very ancient pattern in +paradise, as the channel through which to "open the eyes" of these blind +young Papists! Some neighboring ministers were of opinion that it was +too soon to begin; but they were but Methodist, Universalist, and other +preachers, who were jealous of the influence and of the salary of Mr. +Gulmore, and who, besides, did not think it exactly fair that all the +children should be converted to Presbyterianism, while there were a +dozen as good denominations around, "and better too." But the +good-salaried disciple of John Calvin had no respect for such opinion; +so "forthwith the good work must begin," as he authoritatively said. He +should not be trifled with any longer, or have it said that, after all +the prayers "put up," and pains taken, "they should still be left +wallowing in the mire of Popery." + +"It should not be! It could not be! The power of the Lord must be made +manifest. He could not any longer allow the light to remain under a +bushel. It should shine, and he should then and there convert those +obstinate young things to vital religion." + +"Some turkey, Paul, my dear?" said Gulmore, after having first served +the ladies and senior members of the family. + +"Not any, sir, thank you," said Paul. + +"Not any!" repeated the parson, frowning. "Why so? That's not good +manners, my lad." + +"If it be not, I am sorry, sir," said Paul. "I cannot be expected to be +very polite, or to know the usages of this country, as yet. So I beg to +be excused." + +"You should not refuse the gifts of God when offered you," replied _his +reverence_. + +"But I do not think it would be good for me to use these gifts of God in +the present instance." + +"You must eat meat, Paul, and use the good things of our glorious +country, or you will fail and die." + +"I know I will die," said Paul; "and I guess eating turkey won't make me +immortal." + +A loud laugh followed this remark from all but the parson and a female +member of the family. This "raised his dander a _leetle_," as old uncle +Jacob afterwards used to say. + +"That is more unmannerly still, Paul," said the parson. + +"You think you are smart; but I tell you, child, you are ignorant, and +impudent to boot." + +"I should be sorry to make a saucy or impudent answer to any body, much +more to a clergyman of any church; but I thought you were aware that it +is counted very insulting to Catholics to offer them meat on Fridays, as +if they were apostates who would sell their souls for a 'mess of +pottage;' and I thought you were aware that we are Catholics, and that +our religion forbids us to eat flesh on Friday." + +"I know, sir, the Romish faith forbids her votaries the use of meat; +but, Paul, I thought you were now thoroughly weaned from such notions, +from what you have seen since you came to this free and Protestant +country." + +"All I have seen since I was unfortunately compelled to come to these +parts, only confirms me in my attachment to the religion of our +ancestors," said Paul. + +"My child, I love you," said the parson, seeing he had been committed by +his temper, and now changing his air of haughtiness into that of +affected kindness; "I love you in my soul, and that is why I want to +teach you to know Jesus, and to cause you to give up the fooleries of +Popery. What can be more foolish than to abstain from what God has given +for man's use?" + +"I hope I appreciate that _love_, sir," said Paul; "but if you wish not +to insult me, and if you do not want to cause me to doubt the sincerity +of your love, you won't call any prescription of the church of Christ +foolish. The Scriptures tell us that we may lawfully and meritoriously +abstain from many good and useful gifts of God--as Samson abstained +from wine; St. John the Baptist from flesh and the luxury of apparel; +St. Paul fasted and chastised his body; the Jews were commanded to +abstain from the use of pork and other meats. Finally, our Savior +promises to reward those publicly who will fast or abstain from food." + +"Ah, poor, lost, ignorant one," exclaimed the parson, "you are in error; +sunk in superstition!" + +"I hope your assertions do not prove me so." + +"Paul, child, don't you speak so to the minister," interrupted old Mrs. +Prying. "He is for your good, and desires to make you a Christian." + +"Ma'am, I don't wish to insult any body, as I said before; but I can't +hear my religion run down and misrepresented while I know the contrary +to be the fact." + +"Well, madam, let me alone; I will soon catch the lad in his own Jesuit +net. Paul, you _know_ the Bible, you think; where in the Bible do you +find it ordered to fast from flesh on Fridays?" + +"Where in the Bible," said Paul, "do you find it ordered to keep Sunday +holy instead of Saturday, the Sabbath? where are you ordered to build +churches? where do you find authority for establishing feasts and fasts? +where to hold synods or assemblies? where to baptize infants?" + +"O Paul, the Bible does not order these things expressly; but the +Christian church does." + +"Well," said Paul, "it is only our church that forbids her children the +use of flesh on Friday; and 'he that does not hear the church, let him +be to thee as the heathen and publican.'" + +"But you ought not to obey the church in what is evidently wrong; and it +must be wrong to forbid the use of meat made for man's use." + +"If it was wrong, God would not have forbidden the Jews the use of meat +that we now use as a gift of God." + +"That was in the old law. You cannot find any such prohibition in the +gospel." + +"I can. In the Acts of the Apostles, xv. 29, the use of blood and +strangled meat is forbidden. Besides, our Lord fasted forty days from +the use of all the good gifts of God in the shape of food. The +Israelites fasted from flesh in the desert, and were terribly punished +for asking for it; over seventy thousand of them having died as a +punishment for their carnal desires." + +"Paul, I fear the Lord has deserted thee," said this ignorant hypocrite, +when he saw himself refuted by this young boy. "Don't we read from the +mouth of truth itself, that 'what entereth into the mouth defileth +not'?" + +"I think I heard the teetotal lecturer on the road there say that a +glass of brandy defiled a man; and I am sure a quart or two of it would +cause a man to sin, and thus defile him. And as the apple in the garden +defiled Eve, not by its nature, but by reason of the prohibition of God, +so the meat on Friday does not defile of itself, but by reason of the +prohibition of the church." + +"You should not obey the church, Paul, in all these things. It is +slavery the most vile, so it is." + +"Is it slavery in one to obey his parents in what is good and useful?" + +"No." + +"Well, then, the church is my mother; and when she prohibits an +indifferent thing, I, as a good child, am bound to obey her, +particularly when I have the promise of Christ that she can never +err--that 'the gates of hell can never prevail against her.' We have an +instance in this very county," said Paul, now warming into the argument, +"of the effects of a prohibitory law. A few years ago it was no harm to +fish for pickerel in the lakes and brooks of this county; but some of +the people petitioned the legislature, and got a law passed forbidding +the fishing for such fish for twenty years; and now, whoever is detected +in violating the law is fined or imprisoned. So it was no sin to eat +meat on Friday; but the church, for wise reasons, and to encourage +mortification, has forbidden its use; and so now, after the prohibition, +just as after the passage of the law in regard to fishing, whoever +knowingly violates the law disobeys the church; and he who disobeys the +church, or his parents, offends God, and will be punished by +imprisonment, death, or eternal condemnation." + +"That boy will never do any good, and is a dangerous viper in a family," +said the parson, abruptly rising, and taking his hat. + +"Well done, my young paddy," said uncle Jacob, as he saw the dominie +retire; "you have beaten the minister holler. Ha! ha! ha! I am really +glad you silenced his gab, for he is 'tarnally blabbing about his +religion; though I think he hain't much of it himself, except +counterfeit stuff, like a bad bill,--ha! ha!--that he wants to pass." + +"I hope he is not angry," said Paul, timidly. + +"Pshaw! And who cares, Paul? Let him cool, if he is mad, the darned +fool," said uncle Jacob. "I am glad to have the house shet of him." + +Paul and uncle Jacob, with whom he was of late becoming a great +favorite, retired for the evening to the latter's bed room, where Paul +was accustomed to read aloud for him out of his Catholic books of +instruction. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRYING FAMILY. + + +The farms of the brothers Prying were situated in a beautiful valley. On +the one side were the Vermont snow-crowned and cloud-capped mountains, +rising up like eternal ramparts against all eastern hostile incursions +of the elements. On the other, or the western side, were the pleasant +hills of York State, which, in contrast with the mountains of Vermont, +looked like so many tumuli of the deceased Indian giants of ages gone +by. In the centre between, in a southerly course, ran a clear, silver +brook, well stocked with an abundance of trout and other species of the +finny tribe. On both sides of this stream were situated the extensive +farms of the Pryings. They had abundance of woods from the elevated +extremes on either side. The rivulet constituted a cooling retreat for +cattle in summer, and in spring afforded an abundant source of +irrigation to the rich meadows on both sides. + +Ephraim's family, where Paul and Bridget remained, consisted of Mrs. +Prying, Amanda, the senior daughter, Melinda, and Mary, called after her +grandmother, who was Irish. There were besides, Calvin, Wesley, Cassius, +and Cyrus, younger members of the family, together with old uncle +Jacob, an unmarried brother of Ephraim, the head of this family. We may +as well here remark that Mr. Prying was, from the beginning, averse to +receive these orphans into his house, seeing, as he said, "that he +wanted no more such hands as they were;" but Amanda persuaded him, in +order to have the glory of being instrumental in the conversion of the +"interesting orphans," as they were called. + +There were frequent friendly contentions in the family to see who would +have the special care of the new comers. Little Mary insisted on having +Bridget to sleep with herself instead of her sister Melinda, whom she +wanted to dispossess. Wesley, Calvin, and Cassius wanted to monopolize +Paul, especially on Sundays, when each of them were about to separate +for their respective meetings to hear the preacher. + +"Father," said Calvin, "won't Paul come with me? Our minister, Mr. +Gulmore, is such a clever preacher, and our Sunday school the best and +the largest." + +"I say he shan't, now, Calvin," replied Wesley. "Your minister, the old +feller, is nothing, compared with ours, Mr. Barker." + +"Well, brothers," said Cassius, "I don't see the use of your jawing +about it. But I say Paul had better come to our meeting--the very name, +Universalist, signifying the same with Catholic, as I was telling Paul +yesterday, while a-fishing, and as our minister said." + +"Well, boys," said uncle Jacob, laughing, "my advice to you is; to see +first whether Paul is willing to go with any of ye to yer meetings. I +think his mind is made up to stay at home, like myself." + +Amanda now stepped forward to inform this conference that Paul had been +spoiled by their example; that he cried when told he must go to meeting; +and that it was better now not to urge the matter further. In future, +she intended to instruct Paul and Bridget herself; and she was resolved +to cut off all intercourse between them and the younger members of the +family. + +Our readers are aware that Amanda was the Miss Prying, a child of her +father by a former marriage; and besides this, she was an old maid. In +addition to the foregoing circumstances, she became pious, attended camp +meetings, donation parties, and _quilting matches_ at young ministers' +houses, who were just preparing to get a _rib_. And though she was +praised as the best needle lady in the town, her epistles on love to +young preachers were the most admirable mixture of classical and +biblical composition that could be found. Though she had a good pair of +hands at making pies, puddings, and other culinary preparations, though +she was praised, flattered, and admired, yet nobody ever yet went beyond +this. All was admiration, praise, flattery, no more. Again: Amanda, +though a strict old school Presbyterian, in order to exhibit her +liberality and prove that she had no objection to a partner from any of +the other countless sects of Protestantism, be he Baptist, Methodist, or +Unitarian--in order to prove her liberality, she attended the donations +of the six ministers of her village, and each of the dominies received +from her a neatly-worked handkerchief for pulpit use. Yet, though she +was at once liberal and strict, pious and politic; though she induced +one Sally Dwyer to join her church and declare she "got the change of +heart;" though she was eternally working and planning to bring others to +her way of thinking, and had some success in her proselyting +efforts,--she never could, with all her art, biblical lore, and policy, +succeed in causing any body to say, "I take thee, Amanda, to my wedded +wife." This was the chief point; and here is just where she failed. What +was the cause of it? She was not too old--not near so old as Miss +Longface, whom the youthful parson Barker lately wedded. "And besides," +said she, in a soliloquy, "when I was young, it was just the same bad +luck. Is it that men are less numerous than ladies? There might be +something in that, for she had seen it stated in their newspaper, 'The +Home Journal,' that female births exceeded that of males by forty +thousand annually in certain European kingdoms. The number of Popish +priests also," she said, "who remain unmarried, adds greatly to the +superfluity of the female sex. Hence there is no part of the wicked +Popish system I regard so much contrary to God's holy word as celibacy. +Celibacy!" she cried aloud; "one of the doctrines of devils, as any one +can tell, who has been these twenty years in search of a mate, and could +never yet find one! O horrid thought!" She had consulted the famous +fortune teller at the state fair of Vermont, and, after having paid that +"seer of future events" a fee of ten dollars, she found his prediction +was false. For she was told she would be married within two years, and +to a neighboring minister; but now it was twenty-six months since, and +the only single minister around lately got married to Miss Longface, a +very ignorant and unamiable person. But there was no taste, or judgment, +or discernment nowadays in men, as this fact clearly proved. +"Thunderation on them!" said she, in a rage. + +Such were the ideas that were passing through the brain of Amanda one +Sunday morning, as she lounged on the sofa of her sitting room, when, +upon her looking out towards the lawn in front, she perceived Paul and +Bridget kneeling by a seat, at the foot of a large wild plum tree that +stood at the end of the green plot in front of the house, and that had +its branches bent within a few feet of the ground by the embraces of a +rich grape vine that for years had grown around it and impeded its +development. For a few moments she watched the movements of the orphans +as they smote their breasts at the "Confiteor," or bowed their heads at +the "Sanctus," accompanying the priests who, they knew, in thousands of +churches, were engaged in offering sacrifice to God; and reading the +"Prayers at Mass" out of the Key of Heaven manual of devotion. + +Instead of admiring this sincerity of devotion, or giving thanks to God +for the grace of fidelity and piety that his mercy had vouchsafed to +these children of grace, Amanda, as if she could not endure the sight of +such happiness, or mortified at the miscarriage of her vain attempts to +rob these innocent hearts of the treasure of true faith and piety which +they possessed, still pale with rage in consequence of her ruminations +about her own misfortune, the ill-tempered old maid there and then +resolved to try another and a severer plan to effect her purpose of +proselytism. + +"Confound yer impudence, ye little Popish paupers!" she said to herself. +"I shall soon make ye give up these superstitious practices. Paul, Paul, +dear," she said, tapping at the window, "come in out of that, come in +Bridget, ye little fools; the sun will spoil yer features, cover ye with +tan." + +"Yes, miss, in a few minutes; we are just finishing," said Paul. + +Ever since Paul came to this house, in obedience to the advice of his +mother, as well as in accordance with the prescriptions of the excellent +religious education he received at home in the diocesan seminary, he +always read the "Prayers at Mass," accompanied by his sister Bridget, +first; and after having read them with her at home, he went across the +brook to Reuben Prying's, where his brothers lived, and taking them into +the fields, or to the barn if the weather did not answer, he read for +them the same devotions, causing them to answer "Amen" after the end of +each prayer, and reading to them a chapter of the catechism for +committal to memory. And to do justice to Reuben, whose wife was a +southern lady, there was no obstacle thrown in the way of the children +to prevent them from discharging their duties to their religion. On the +contrary, the fidelity of Paul, and his watchfulness over the faith and +morals of his younger brothers Patrick and Eugene, commanded the +highest approbation of Mrs. Reuben Prying. And such was her horror of +any thing like the domestic tyranny or intolerance of Amanda, that Mrs. +Reuben always allowed the two young lads to say their own prayers in +private, notwithstanding the advice of the ministers to the contrary. +The only times that Pat and Eugene were ever asked into the parlor to +pray was on some rare occasions, when Mrs. Reuben, through a laudable +curiosity, and to serve as an example to her own children, caused the +orphans to say their prayers aloud before retiring to bed. The two +little fellows, one five and the other eight years of age, joining their +hands before their breasts, repeated the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, the +Apostles' Creed, the General Confession, the Acts of Faith, Hope, and +Charity, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, the Prayer of the Angel +Guardian and Patron Saint, and Prayers for the Dead: these they repeated +aloud, and correctly, to the astonishment of the other children and the +edification of the mistress. + +"Ah, Reub, Ben, and Will," she said, "when will you be such good boys as +Patsy and Geny? You can't say the Lord's Prayer yet." + +"I can tell," said Reub, blushing, "more than Pat can. I know how old +Mathusalem was, who was the wife of Abraham, and who was the mother of +Solomon, and the wife of Putiphar." + +"I don't know how to say so many prayers," said Ben, contemptuously; +"but I can tell how many cents in ten dollars, how many states in the +Union, and how large England is." + +"I can sing a hymn," said Will, "which I heard in the choir in the +Methodist meeting house when I went there with cousin." + +"Let us hear you, Will," said his mother. + +"Mother, I have only a little of it," said Will. + +"Say all you remember," said she, "and sing it." + +"The ladies first said, ma," said he, commencing,-- + + 'O for a man--O for a man--O for a mansion in the skies.' + +"The men answered,-- + + 'Send down sal--send down sal-- + Send down salvation to our souls.'" + +At this specimen of ludicrous poetical composition the mother burst out +a-laughing, in which she was joined by the two arch Irish lads; and +Will, discouraged, blushed and stopped. + +"I would rather not have any prayer than have that foolish hymn," said +Ben. "O Will! O, you goose!" + +"Silence, boys!" said Mrs. Prying. "Pat and Eugene, can you not sing? +Come, let us hear how you can sing. Commence. Don't be ashamed." + +"Will we sing, ma'am, what the Christian brothers taught us?" + +"Yes, Pat, any thing; don't be shy," said the lady. The lads began thus, +with joined hands and uplifted eyes:-- + + "Ave Maria! hear the prayer + Of thy poor helpless child! + Beneath thy sweet maternal care + Preserve me undefiled. + + "Ave Maria! do I sigh + In deep affliction's hour. + Nor to a suppliant heart deny + Thy mediative power. + + "Ave Maria! for to thee, + Whom God was pleased to choose + The mother of his Son to be, + No prayer will he refuse. + + "Ave Maria! then implore + One only grace for me-- + This heart to give forevermore + To God alone and thee." + +"To bed, children, with you all," said the good lady, covering her face +with her handkerchief, for the tears started from their source in her +noble soul on hearing this delightful hymn sung by the poor orphans, +whose countenances looked like those of angels' while chanting it. "God +forgive those," she said to herself, in a half-audible tone, "that would +rob these poor children of that divine religion that teaches her +children such heavenly hymns." + +This incident recalled to her mind vividly the days of her girlhood, +when, in the "sunny south," she heard Catholic hymns sung and Catholic +devotion practised in the convent where she, though a Protestant, +received her education. And probably her conscience, too, reproached her +for the neglect of the good resolutions she formed while there. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A RAY OF HOPE. + + +Many times during what we shall call his captivity within the gates of +the strangers Paul had contrived to write letters to Father O'Shane in +the city of T----, as well as to his uncle in Ireland; but from some +cause or other, to his innocent mind inexplicable, the letters never +reached their destination, nor were they ever after heard of. The +postmaster of S----, not generally supposed to be a very exact man, +particularly when remitting money in letters for farmers' boys to their +Irish friends in eastern or western parts, was ever ready to oblige, and +with hearty good will entered into the views of, Parson Gulmore, when he +called on him, according to the advice of Amanda, "to have Paul's +letters seen to." And never mind they were "seen to" and secured. + +This disgraceful proceeding, so disreputable to all concerned, and so +characteristic of the fidelity with which the business of "Uncle Sam" is +managed, was not confined to the detention and destruction of the poor +orphan's letters, but to the piracy of their contents too. + +There is no department of the public service in the United States so +badly managed as the post-office department. Not only do robber +postmasters continue in office after their exposure and their plunder of +money letters, but they can be bribed to convey the epistles of +individuals to interested parties, who would come at their secrets; and +thus the most sacred and secret concerns of life are liable to exposure, +and to be sold for gain. We knew a postmaster who for years continued to +rob with impunity the letters that were deposited in his "den of +thieves;" and when he was exposed and disgraced through the +instrumentality of the writer of this tale, whole bushels of letters, +directed to Ireland by poor emigrants to their fathers, wives, and sons, +were found thrown aside in a nook of his office; the sole motive for +this scandalous robbery being the plunder of the twenty-four cents paid +on the letters to free them to Europe. + +Sadly did the mysterious miscarriage of his letters puzzle the ingenuous +heart of poor Paul; though he had reason to suspect, from certain hints +thrown out by Amanda, that she, somehow or other, was in possession of +their contents. On a certain day, however, a circumstance convinced Paul +that he could not now expect an answer from his letters to Father +O'Shane; for Miss Amanda had just pointed out to him a paragraph in the +newspaper stating that the Catholic priest of T---- had died of ship +fever, taken by him in the discharge of his duties among the sick of his +flock. + +"God rest his soul," said Paul, raising his eyes to heaven; "he was a +good friend to us in our hour of need." + +"What's that you say, Paul?" said Amanda, with a frown. "Did I not tell +you repeatedly, Paul, that it was useless to pray for the dead?" + +"I know _you told_ me that often, 'Mandy; but am I bound to believe you, +when I know the church teaches me the contrary? In fact, the Bible says +it is 'a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they +may be loosed from their sins.'" (Mac. xii. 42.) + +"Don't you call me 'Mandy, Paul," said the vain old maid; "my name is +Miss A-man-day." + +"A-man-a-day," said Paul, with a sarcastic smile. "I beg pardon," said +he, "miss; I must guard against that blunder in future, and say +_A-man-a-day_." + +"Ah, you naughty boy!" she said, catching him by the hand. "Come here to +me till I teach you the knowledge of God's word. Now, Paul, that passage +you quoted I do not find in my Bible." + +"No," said Paul, "for your Bible is no other than an imperfect, +mutilated Bible, corrupted by the men who made your religion. The +Catholic church, from which the Protestants stole their piecemeal Bible, +always regarded the book of Machabeus as the inspired word of God." + +"But, Paul, it is so foolish, this 'half-way house.'" + +"Then, miss, you must blame God, who created it, for the folly of his +not consulting with some Protestant philosopher before he created such a +'half way.' For most certainly there was always, since the dawn of +creation, a third place; as, for example, the place where the souls of +the just were confined before Christ, who was the first to ascend into +heaven, as himself says in his gospel. Now, the Bible does not say that +this half way was 'foolish,' or abolished either. Besides, it is but +reasonable that there should be a place to purify the frail and +imperfect soul before admitting her to God's holy presence." + +"Where the tree falleth, there it lieth," said she. + +"Yes, fallen," said Paul, "it lieth there till it is taken away to +another place. Where the soul falleth,--that is, whether in a state of +grace or in sin,--there it will lie forever; but those who go to +purgatory die in a state of grace, and so their eternal destiny is +heaven--like those just souls who died before Christ; yet they are not +fit for heaven immediately, for 'nothing defiled can enter therein.'" + +"You wrote to the priest, didn't you, to say masses for your mother's +soul in purgatory? How do you know she is there?" said Amanda, +unguardedly. + +"I hope she is in no worse place," said Paul, the fire kindling in his +dark Celtic eye; "and whether in heaven or in hell,--which God +forbid!--the mass can do no harm, but tend to the honor and glory of +God, and I hope procure me and the celebrant merit. But, Amanda, how do +you know that I wrote any such request to the priest? I know you are +above reading my letters, though I should leave them open under your +eye; but I am afraid that hypocritical-looking postmaster may have kept +my letters, and given them to somebody. In Ireland, that crime deserved +hanging as a punishment; and I do not know what I would do to any body I +would detect in opening my letters, and pilfering my secrets," said he, +raising himself up. + +"O, my dear Paul," said the old maid, perceiving her imprudence, "I only +guessed at the contents of your letters. We Yankees are great at +guessing, you know. Be silent; shut up, my good fellow," she added, +going over to the window. "What crowd is that there below on the road?" + +An unusual sight in that part of the country now presented itself to +view. Slowly moving along the road was a crowd of men and women--the +men, as they came up, taking off their hats, and the women courtesying, +in that way that only Catholics can courtesy, to a young gentleman, who, +seated in a one-horse carriage, the top lowered down, seemed to be +engaged, as he was, in earnest conversation about some subject of an +absorbing interest to those around him. In truth, any body, even Amanda, +who never saw one, could have guessed that this personage, surrounded by +so many of the Irish railroad laborers lately settled in the vicinity, +was no other than the Catholic priest. Paul's eye, so lately kindled +into passion from the hints dropped by Amanda about the foul play +regarding his letters, became immediately subdued into composure, and, +taking out a small miniature reliquary and silver crucifix which he ever +wore on his breast, he pressed them to his lips, saying to himself, +"Glory be to God; and Mary, his virgin mother, be ever blessed. I see +the priest, if he is alive." And instantly he was over the fence and on +the road. + +"There is one of 'em," said Mrs. Murphy, "your reverence; and it would +be a charity to do something for the poor children, for they were well +reared." + +Paul could not, owing to the tears that rushed on him in floods, dare +for some time to join the crowd to offer his respects to the +representative of religion; and it was a full quarter of an hour before +he could say, "Welcome to these parts, your reverence." + +"Thank you, my child," said the priest, reaching him his hand. + +"Forgive me, sir," said the poor youth; "I can't but weep, 'tis so long +since I saw a priest or heard mass." + +There was not a dry eye in the crowd as the young lad clung to the +priest's hand, embracing it, and crying aloud, "O my uncle! my uncle!" + +"Take him into the shanty and calm him a little," said the stalwart +missionary. "Poor little fellow! poor child! poor child!" + +"O, God help the orphan!" said Mrs. Murphy again, fearing she had not +touched his reverence's heart. "It would be the charity of God to do +something for them. The men would be all willing to subscribe." + +"We will do all we can," said his reverence. "God will provide for them, +if they be what you represent. Meet me here to-morrow, at six o'clock. +We will have mass and confessions here in the shanty, as we could +procure no better place. Give word around through the entire +neighborhood. Good by for the present," said he, moving along towards +the village of S----. + +"God speed your reverence," answered a hundred voices, as they returned +the adieu. + +This was the first night since the death of his beloved mother, and that +was over two years, that the slightest ray of hope penetrated the +burdened but confiding soul of Paul. For himself he did not much care. +He could have escaped any day, and repudiated the iniquitous contract by +which the villanous poormaster had sold him and his brethren; but what +was to become of his younger sister and brothers? He knew how to plough, +mow, cradle, and farm it, as well as any body of his age. He knew how to +read, count, write, and even defend his religion, against all opponents, +as he did last winter at the Lyceum; but what was to become of Bridget, +Patrick, and little Eugene, who had yet many years to serve? This was +what puzzled him. But now the priest had come for the first time to this +remote region, and _he_ knew what to do, and would not desert the +orphan, for no priest ever had done so. He felt there was to be now a +change, and he felt assured that it would be for his good. "Thank God," +said he, "I saw the priest at last. I return thee thanks, my God, and +thee, my mother in heaven, now my only mother, and I thank all the +heavenly citizens and all heaven, for this dawn of hope that I feel in +my soul. O Lord, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." + +Fervent and pious were the prayers offered to God on this night by Paul, +as he thanked him for having seen one in whom he could confide as a +friend, as well as because he was preparing to go to his religious +duties on the morrow. Let it not be said that it was superstition in +Paul to thank God so fervently for having permitted him once more to +converse with his priest. What can be imagined a more worthy cause for +thanksgiving than the meeting with a true friend? What better gift can +we receive from God than a friend? And who ever, in need, has failed to +find the good priest a friend in all emergencies? + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +VAN STINGEY AGAIN.--HOW HE GETS RICH AND ENDS. + + +After a year or two in office, our friend Van Stingey found Fortune +rather adverse to him, a thing not unusual with the worshippers of that +fickle goddess; for not only was he put out of office by the influence +of the "furren" vote thrown against him, but his farther promotion even +in the church became almost problematical. His was now a rather +unpleasant situation. He was not only defeated at the ballot box by the +"Irish element," according as Mrs. Doherty foretold, but he was in +disgrace with many of his regular church-going brethren. This latter +trial was caused by the well-known fact that a negro girl, who was put +under this _religious_ man's care by the abolitionists, and who was now +two years in his family, had just given birth to a young mulatto child +in his house. Yes, and worse; the miserable yellow thing not only was +born, and in health, under the roof of this _religious teacher_, but he +was mortified to find that it had his very nose on its face, and could +not by any possibility be fathered on any body else. Thus were the +prospects of this pious gentleman blasted in one day. He got religion, +but now it failed him. He was of the true nativist stamp in politics; +but here again his defeat was signal and complete, and all through the +suffrages of foreigners. + +What was he to do for a living? He must give up religion and politics, +and take to some other pursuit. Loafing or living on his neighbors was +now impossible, as he was in disgrace with many; and besides, he had a +wife and family to support. Peddling was so common, that nothing could +now be made in that line; and besides, it took some capital to start +with--a thing that was out of the question in our ex-official's case. + +The only chance now open for him was the railroad, and to the railroads +he said he would betake himself as soon as he could. On the railroad he +saw men of little talent, of less honesty, and of no capital, amass not +only a competency, but wealth, in a few years; and our official was very +anxious to try his luck in that line of business. Accordingly, when the +Northern Railroad was about to be let, Van Stingey, in company with four +others, put in their estimate, which was the very lowest, and they thus +succeeded in getting ten miles of the road. The partners of Van Stingey +were one Purse, one Mr. Kitchins, one Timens, generally called Blind +Bill, one Whinny, together with Mr. Lofin, an Irishman. They had the job +now, but had neither horses, carts, shovels, nor any of the various +implements necessary to carry on the work. A council was held among +these five worthies to see what was to be done. They had neither money, +nor means, nor credit to begin with, and how were they to fulfil their +contract? Most of them were novices in this sort of business; but there +was Mr. P. Lofin, whose experience was something, and who suggested a +plan which could not but succeed, if his advice was followed. The plan +was, that they should advertise for three thousand men and several +hundred horses, and on the strength of their advertisements, and their +certificate of having obtained such a respectable contract, try to +borrow some provisions on three months' credit. + +In a few days, the public places of the cities of T---- and A---- were +posted up with large placards, and advertisements were inserted in all +the daily papers, which read thus:-- + + WANTED. + + Three thousand men to work on the Northern Railroad at one dollar + a day of twelve hours. Men who wish to work extra time will + receive extra wages. + + Wanted, also, six hundred horses to hire, at three dollars a day + for every team, on the same work. + + P. LOFIN, + VAN STINGEY, + KITCHINS, & CO. + +In a few days, not only did the three thousand men make their +appearance, but twice that number were now located on the site of the +proposed line. But how were so many men to live? There was some delay in +proceeding with the works, and Van Stingey and Co., having represented +themselves as very independent and wealthy contractors, said that, as +they did not like to be hard on the men, they would give them free sites +for their shanties, which the men could afterwards have without the +necessity of having to pay so much a month for their use, as was the +custom with other but less honorable contractors than Van Stingey, +Purse, Lofin, & Co. + +This bait took "capitally," as Van used to say, and not only were two +hundred shanties built, but the praise of the "ginerous contractors" was +in every mouth; and "Hurrah for Lofin, Van Stingey, & Co.," became a +regular toast among the men, as they went to spend a shilling in the +company's grocery store. The shanties were now up, and the horses, three +hundred in number, all ready for work; but a week, and another, and a +third passed on, and not a sod of ground was broke on the ten miles of +our independent company's contract. Here was now a sad and alarming +spectacle. Thousands of men, women, and children, seduced into a +wilderness by the specious promises of these vile knaves; and now, after +having spent every penny they had earned for years, brought to the very +verge of starvation. Some were obliged to trade off and sell their +clothes for food; others had to open small retail groceries to keep +themselves and their neighbors from starving. The more independent in +circumstances were obliged to mortgage their horses and carts for +provisions and fodder; and all had, as far as their means went, to +patronize the new store opened by the contractors, who retailed +provisions and groceries, to those who had any thing to lose, at a +profit of one hundred and a quarter per cent. on their original cost. +For three months this was the state of things on the contract of our +_honorable_ company. Works not yet commenced, men and horses half +starving, occasional murmurs among the most knowing of the hands--which +murmurs were, however, soon allayed by the representations of the bosses +and their countryman Mr. Lofin, who pledged _his honor_ as a "gintlemon +that the whault lied intirely with the directors, and the _faurmuns_, +who refused to settle for the right uv way." The mystery was soon +cleared up by the appearance on the ground of Messrs. Van Stingey, +Lofin, & Whinny, with fifteen constables, who laid an injunction on all +the shanties, and quietly, revolver in hand, drove off the three hundred +horses to the county town, to secure those contractors in their pay for +the debt into which they brought all those men whom they got to deal in +their store, or who had any property. This is the way thousands of men +were deceived, betrayed, and robbed of all they possessed in the wide +world. And this is the way in which Messrs. Van Stingey, Timens, +Kitchins, Whinny, & Lofin supplied themselves with horses, carts, +shanties, and all other necessaries for carrying on the work according +to agreement. The plan had so far succeeded; the only question now was, +how to deprive these poor men of all legal redress, and have them +exterminated from the neighborhood. This was not difficult to effect +with poor men who were half starved, and who had to look out for work +somewhere else for the support of their families. Those men who had the +means left had quitted this cursed ground already, and Mr. P. Lofin +struck on an expedient by which others, the more bold, were soon +compelled to follow them. He proceeded some eighty or a hundred miles +into the State of Massachusetts, where he represented to several hundred +men from the part of Ireland to which himself belonged, which was +Connaught, that several of their countrymen were driven off and ill +treated by Munster men and _far-downs_, and that now they had not only a +chance of defending the _honor_ of the _province_, but, by driving off +their _far-up_ and _far-down_ enemies, they could have a year's job, and +a dollar a day. + +This was enough; one thousand men immediately started for the scene of +action, breathing vengeance against their fellow-countrymen, and +determined on establishing the "anshint ghilory of Connaught." Every +unfortunate Munster or Ulster man they met on their route was knocked +down, and left senseless on the road; and shouts of victory were heard, +and shots were fired, in anticipation of the triumph that awaited them. +Lofin, the head mover in all these disgraceful scenes, now drove off to +the capital of the state; and--will it be believed?--this vile, low +wretch, who could neither read nor write, succeeded in getting the loan +of _one thousand muskets_ out of the state arsenal to enable him to +carry out his murderous and swindling scheme! A few days previous to +this, Lofin got some few boards on his work set fire to, in order to +have a case made out for the authorities, and by this means, and through +the influence of political wirepullers, he succeeded in getting the arms +of the state placed in the hands of his ignorant dupes, for the murder +of their plundered countrymen. During these troublesome times, the house +of Father Ugo, the priest of these parts, was literally besieged with +weeping women and enraged men, stating their grievances, and asking for +advice and counsel; for they had no other friend. + +"Surely," said his reverence to one Hannohan, whose eight horses were +seized, and who had used some violence in defending his property, +"surely the law will not sanction such barefaced plunder. I am witness +myself of the cruelty to which many of you have been subjected by these +villanous contractors. I know the decision of the law will be in your +favor." + +"Law!" said poor Hannohan. "God help us if we have to look to _law_ for +justice; go to law with Old Nick, and the court held in the low +countries! Besides, we are going to be attacked and butchered in our +beds by night. You know Mr. Lofin's men are all up and armed every +night, firing rounds, and shouting till our wives and children are +almost scared to death." + +"What can I do?" said the priest. "You know I have been censured before +for interfering when some of the men were on a strike for higher wages; +and I can't expect to have any influence with such men as you have to +deal with. They are a lawless and hardened set of knaves." + +"God help us, then, your reverence," said Hannohan; "I and my family may +as well go into the poorhouse or starve, if you can't influence that Mr. +Lofin, who is a Catholic, to let me have my eight horses and carts, for +I owe him not one single cent." + +"He may call himself a Catholic, Mike," said Father Ugo; "but he cannot +be a Catholic, or even a believer in God's justice, if he is guilty of +all those villanies which are laid to his charge. It would be no use +for me to speak to such an abandoned scoundrel and robber as, by all +accounts, he is." + +Poor Hannohan got the benefit of law, which resulted in his losing his +eight horses and carts: a warrant was issued for his capture, for +threatening the robbers of his property with chastisement. He was taken +in a few days, and lodged in prison, where he died in a fortnight of the +injuries inflicted on him by the drunken constables, who succeeded in +arresting him after a two days' chase through the woods. No doubt _the +good Catholic_, Mr. Lofin, rested quiet when he heard of the death of +this formidable opponent. And I suppose, by way of appeasing the public +indignation,--for I do not think he had any dread of the anger of +Heaven,--his name appeared, a few days after, at the head of a list of +subscriptions for the support of an orphanage in the city. And well he +might spend a little of his profits in _charitable_ objects, for he and +his partners had, by the late manoeuvre got up under Lofin's auspices, +saved not less than five thousand nine hundred dollars' worth of +property in horses, carts, harness, and shanties! We have heard of +robbers in Italy and Spain, who, after they rob and murder the rich, are +very _liberal_ to the poor, although, like your railroad-contract robber +the poor Italian brigand has not the chance of having his name published +in the newspapers, or read out from the pulpit, as a good, charitable, +and humane gentleman. Of the two charities, I think that of the obscure +brigand is the most worthy and laudable. + +One Sunday evening, as Father Ugo was returning from service in the +country, where he officiated every two weeks, he came up with a large +and enraged crowd of people on both sides of the road on which he +travelled. On one side of the way about one hundred carts were placed in +a line, so as to form a rampart and protect some two hundred men, who, +with loaded muskets, crouched behind the carts as if watching for an +object to fire at. An occasional shot was fired from this rampart, and +the volley was returned slowly but deliberately from an old house in +front, on which this large body of men were making an assault. While the +priest stood at a distance, looking on at this horrid contest, he was +perceived by the people in the house, who at once despatched a messenger +to inform his reverence of the danger they were in, assailed by so many +men resolved on their extermination. At no small risk, leaving the +messenger in charge of his horse, he entered between the ranks of the +combatants, and, with crucifix in hand uplifted, he implored the +assailants, in the name of Christ, to desist from their cruel warfare, +and take some other means and time than the Lord's day for getting +possession of that old house about which the contention arose. By a +great deal of difficulty, and after a speech of an hour, he succeeded in +quelling this cruel and disgraceful riot, and before he left the ground +he had all the arms secured in one pile, and conveyed to an adjacent +farmer's house for security. + +After this the work went on peacefully. Van Stingey & Co. made money, +and were now rich; the poor priest had every thing but the thanks of the +contractors for his pains, and he concluded, from his experience of +this and other railroads and public works in America, that, of all the +men living, the railroad and day laborer of this "free country" is the +most ill treated and oppressed. He has to work from dark to dark; he has +to take _store pay_ for his wages; and he has to obey the nod, look, and +arbitrary commands of the lowest, cruellest, and most brutal class of +men on earth. I ask any man, Is not this slavery? Van Stingey was now +rich--had horses, wagons, and a splendid mansion. He took another, and a +third contract, in which he was very successful. One day, however, he +was on his work, and a blast having failed to go off, Van ordered his +men to return to the dump. They refused. He stamped and swore, and then +and there discharged all the "darned paddies," who were not fools enough +to get killed. So himself and his nephew, who bossed for him, returned +to the "cut," where they were no sooner arrived than the blast went off, +and poor Van Stingey was blown into atoms. + +Thus perished, at the height of his success and of his guilt, the +meanest and most worthless of the human race--the mocker and robber of +the poor, the persecutor and kidnapper of Paul O'Clery and his brethren, +the merciless swindler and defrauder of the laborer's wages, and, +finally, the hypocritical sensualist and drunkard. We boast of our +progress, and advertise, as proof of it, the number of railroads in +operation, their extent, and the rapidity of the motion over their iron +surface; but the trials, tears, labors, sufferings, and injustice which +our indifference or avarice has inflicted on those thousands of our +fellow-creatures whose hands have built them never occur to our minds or +cause us a single regret, while glorying in the advancement of our +"great country." "How can we help _that_?" answers Uncle Sam. "It is the +contractors that are unjust and cruel, and the men themselves that are +not 'wide awake enough' in allowing themselves to be so imposed upon." + +The whole fault is yours, "Uncle," and lies at the doors of the people, +who, having the power to protect the laborer by law, neglect to exercise +that power, and, by this their neglect of duty, create your Van +Stingeys, your Lofins, your Blind Bill Timenses, your Whinnys, and other +villains, who are a disgrace to our country, and whose crimes, +encouraged by our silence and tolerance, will ultimately bring the +vengeance of Heaven on us and our children. _Quod avertat Deus_. + +It has been remarked by some, that if the tears shed by emigrants on the +bosom and on the banks of the great Father of Waters, the Mississippi, +were preserved in a great reservoir, they would form a lake many fathoms +in depth and many miles in circumference. With less exaggeration can it +be stated, if the number of men killed, murdered, and otherwise cut off, +on the railroads of the Union, by the ill treatment, neglect, cruelty, +avarice, and malice of contractors, storekeepers, overseers, and +bosses,--if all these men's dead bodies were placed within three feet of +one another, or even side by side, they would cover, from end to end, +the ten thousand miles of railroad that are within the United States. +And if the tears shed on the Mississippi would make a lake the size of +the Lakes of Killarney, the tears shed on the railroads would form a +body of salt, burning water, as great in bulk as Lakes Superior and +Ontario together. If there be any irresponsible, cruel, barbarous +despotism on earth, in savage or civilized life, it is emphatically in +the discipline that prevails on the railroad _régime_. There is no man +daring enough to speak a word in favor of the cruelly-oppressed railroad +man, except an odd priest here and there; and even he has often to do it +at the risk of having a revolver presented at him, or having his +character maligned by the slanders of the moneyed ruffians whose crimes +and excesses he may feel it his duty to reprimand. Father Ugo was not +the man to wink at the cruel treatment to which, in the part of the +railroad that ran through his mission, his poor fellow-men and +fellow-Christians were submitted; and he had, consequently, often to +experience no small share of the malice, and a _tolerable_ share of +outrage, in the shape of threats and insulting language, from our +independent company, Lofin, Van Stingey, Whinny, & Co. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MASS IN A SHANTY. + + +There was great bustle and preparation in the valley of R---- Creek, on +Ascension Thursday. Hired men were up at _three_ o'clock that morning to +do "chores," and hired girls were busy the night before in arranging the +household, so that the female _bosses_ of the several farm-houses would +be able to find all things in order. Many and violent also were the +arguments that passed between Catholic servants and their heretical +masters and mistresses, on one hand to ignore, and on the other to +assert, the right to worship according to one's conscience. Yes, to +their shame be it told, the Protestant sects in America, as they do in +all countries where they have sway or are tolerated, practically deny +that article of the federal constitution that guarantees the right to +every citizen to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or +individual judgment. With the word _liberty_ ever on their lips, like +the lion's skin on the ass, to deceive, the sects, great and small, from +the Church of England down, down, down to the Mormons or +Transcendentalists, through the grades of Presbyterian, Methodist, +Baptist, all play the tyrant in their own way. All act the despot, and +would exercise spiritual tyranny, if in their power. For proof of this, +the history of the "Blue Laws" in the land of the Pilgrims is only to be +consulted on this side of the Atlantic; and at the other side, modern as +well as by-gone records show, that, wherever Protestantism had the +power, _there_ the few were oppressed by the many. Every sovereign, from +Elizabeth down to Victoria, acted the tyrant over the Catholics; and in +Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and the Protestant Swiss cantons, persecution +is now a part of the laws of these several states. Persecution is not +sanctioned by the laws of the United States, if we except the +prescriptive code of New Hampshire, which comes under that genus; but if +it be not legalized, we are not to thank Protestantism for that. +Wherever it has sway in the family, in the town council, or the +assembly, there the cloven foot of intolerance and persecution is seen +from under the sanctimonious gown it puts on. Indeed, although the +compulsion of the conscience is not enforced by State laws, it is +attempted, as far as practicable, where its effects are more galling, +and its existence more intolerable,--namely, in the family at home, or +in the camp or barrack abroad. Catholic servants are not only denied the +right to attend their duties in many families, but actually forced to +hear the disgusting ranting or ludicrous prayer of any impostor who may +take on himself the office of preacher. And Catholic soldiers are +punished by fine and severe corporal chastisements for refusing to +attend the service of an heretical chaplain. And no senator, zealous +for liberty, raises his voice on behalf of the Catholic soldier, and of +the Catholic servant girl, while they are exposed to a persecution such +as no Catholic government, king, or despot ever attempted to force on +the consciences of their dissenting subjects, not even Queen Mary, of +England, excepted; for the so-called persecution by Catholic princes has +never been to compel men to adopt a new religion. Protestants in Europe +and here attempt to compel the adoption of their false tenets by those +who are neither desirous nor willing to adopt them, and who already +profess a true religion. This is what makes a vast difference between +the persecution your "Madiai" suffer, and this ten times worse +persecution which many an otherwise honest and kind-hearted American +farmer allows to take place in his family. The Day of Judgment alone +will reveal to light what trials, crosses, and real persecution Catholic +servant men and women have to endure in remote and country places from +the bigotry, hypocrisy, and cruelty of ignorant, unfeeling farmers and +their wives, goaded on, no doubt, and urged, by low, base, and brutal +parsons, who have scarcely enough to eat, and who envy the priest the +comparative independence which the liberality and true Catholic charity +of his flock enable him to maintain. + +By these remarks I am not to be understood as saying that good-nature, +justice, and even generosity, do not govern the conduct of the American +people. I am aware of their kindness, hospitality, and philanthropy; but +these fine traits of character are obscured, perverted, and rendered +abortive, whenever the demon of sectarian influence touches them with +her black rod. And, like the Jews, while they are persecuting the Holy +One of God in his humble members, they think they are doing a service to +God. Such is the effect of the poison, in the shape of religious +instruction, infused into the minds of this noble people by the lying +and ignorant teachers that they allow to instruct them. The American +people are generally so busy, so intent in making a fortune or a +livelihood, that they have not time, as they cannot have the +inclination, to pay much attention to religious training. Hence it is in +the science of the soul and salvation, as in that of medical science, +the number of impostors and quacks is infinite. + +The following dialogue between an Irish Catholic servant and her +_evangelical_ mistress will serve faintly to illustrate what is the +weekly, if not daily, recurrence in tens of thousands of families all +over this "free country": + +"You can't go, that's the amount of it, Anne," said Mrs. Warren to an +Irish Catholic servant maid of hers, who heard of the priest's being at +the shanties on this morning. + +"Why so, ma'am?" said Anne. "All the girls of the country around are +allowed to go; but I never get a Sunday or holy day to myself. It is too +bad." + +"Why don't you come with us to our meeting, where all the decent folks +go, and none of your Irish are present?" + +"Many decent folks go to 'Old Harry!'" cried Anne, in anger. "Is that +the reason I must go too?" + +"Anne, your obstinacy in refusing to join our family worship has made me +resolve not to let you go to hear the old priest. And your refusal to +attend to the sermon of our preacher, Mr. Scullion, has also displeased +me much. I mean to punish you according." + +"Why should I go hear the old sinner's stuff," said Anne, "when your own +sons laugh at him and say he is a fool? Besides, I am told he is ever +abusing the Catholics, and I heartily despise his nonsensical, lying +cant." + +"Well, Anne, I am determined to punish you for it," calmly replied the +mistress. "So you can't see the priest to-day. That settles it." + +"I beg your pardon, ma'am; the priest I will see, please God, let what +will happen." + +"You must leave this house, then." + +"Small loss, madam. America is wide, thank God!" answered Anne. + +"Don't you know Mr. Scullion is a brother of mine?" + +"I don't care, ma'am, if he was your father. I know he is ignorant or +malicious, either one or the other, or maybe both, or he would not speak +of the Catholic Church as he does. Oh, dear," she cried, bursting into +tears of anger, "what a 'free country' it is! The Protestants in Ireland +were decent. They came, attended by the peelers, to their tenants, +telling them they must conform to the will of the landlord, or quit +their homes; but here ye say all religions are equal, and yet ye try to +compel us to go to listen to low, ignorant preachers, who know they are +lying about the Church of Christ. Ye want us to change the religion of +St. Patrick and of the martyrs for such ridiculous churches as ye have +here. Oh, dear! oh, dear!" said the poor girl, as she contrasted her +present situation with what it was when she was at home at her father's, +where she heard Mass daily, and knew not what it was to suffer +persecution for conscience' sake. + +While scenes such as we have here described were taking place in the +farmers' houses, and such scenes are not occasional nor unusual, all was +busy preparation at the shanties. The largest shanty in the "patch" was +cleared of all sorts of lumber. Forms, chairs, tables, pots, flour and +beef barrels, molasses casks, and other necessary stores were all put +outside doors. The walls, if so we can call them, of the shanty, were +then hung round with newspapers, white linen tablecloths, and other +choice tapestry, while a good large shawl, spread in front of the altar, +served as a carpet on which his reverence was to kneel and stand while +officiating. Green boughs were cut in a neighboring wood lot and planted +around the entrance by the men, while around the altar and over it were +wreaths of wild flowers and blossoms, gathered by the little girls of +the "patch" in the adjacent meadows, in order to prepare a decent place +for the holy Mass. At an early hour the priest made his appearance, and +was very much pleased to see the transformation which the piety of +these poor, hard-working people wrought in the appearance of the humble +shanty. For fifteen miles along the line the crowds were gathering, and +the works were suspended for the day. The overseers and contractors, to +do them justice, had no objection to this occasional interruption of +their profits. At all events, they knew it was a holy day; and even +they, with all their irresponsible control over their men, had ample +proof that, even in the wild deserts and savage woods of America, the +Irish Catholic "remembers" the Sabbaths and festivals of his God or his +Church. + +Long before the hour of Mass, the shanty was crowded, and many were the +comments and remarks made on the physical powers and other external +accomplishments of the new priest. + +Some remarked that his reverence,--God bless him!--need not be afraid of +travelling alone through these lonesome glens, for it would require "a +good man to handle him; that it would." + +"That's thrue," said another; "he would be able to 'settle bread' on a +half-dozen Yankees any day; that is, provided they did not use any +weapon but the arm that God gave 'em." + +"But you know," said a third, "these Yankees always carry a _rewolwer_ +or two in their pockets, the treacherous rogues. Look how they killed +that Irish peddler, and robbed him, and fired six shots into Michael +Gasty's house the other night, and he in bed quietly sleeping." + +This and other such narratives and comments were the order of the day +outside the door, only where those who were careless or not preparing +for their duties were congregated. Inside, a large crowd of women and +rough-fisted men gathered around the door of the temporary confessional, +and it was near noon before the priest ascended the temporary altar to +offer up the "victim of peace" for the assembled sons of toil. Upon his +reverence asking if there was anybody to answer or serve Mass, several +presented themselves; but he accepted the services of Paul, because he +had been accustomed from his childhood to wait round the altar, and he +was the most intelligent of those who offered to assist the priest while +celebrating. + +The substance of the priest's discourse was, that they should not forget +that it was God's will that the holy sacrifice should be offered in +"every place, from the rising to the setting of the sun," and that +probably they were made the instruments which he made use of for the +_literal_ fulfilment of that famous prophecy; for if they were not here +employed on these public works, probably the holy sacrifice would not +be, for years and years to come, offered up in such places as this. That +they should all regard themselves as missionaries engaged in God's +service to spread the knowledge of the true religion in this virgin soil +among a people who had lost the true mode of God's worship, though a +generous and successful race of men. That they should guard against +drunkenness and faction fights, for these crimes brought their proper +punishment both here and hereafter; and that they should, by pure morals +and fidelity to their religion, rather than by controversy or +disputation, make a favorable impression on, and confute the errors of, +those opponents of their faith among whom their lot was cast. In fine, +that they should lose no opportunity of receiving the sacraments, for, +without their use, salvation was very difficult, if not absolutely +impossible. Let them not regret the loss of this day, or think it too +much to dedicate it to God's service: that was the chief end for which +they were created. When population was small, and a livelihood easily +obtained, and men had to work but little, God had appointed one day in +the week to rest and service. Now, when the cares, distractions, and +labors of life had increased a thousandfold, it seemed not too much if, +instead of one day, two or more days were devoted to rest and worship. +And if the Church had her way unrestricted, she, by her festivals and +holy days, would do a great deal towards alleviating the present +hardships of labor, and men would be taught to be content with a +competency, and employers would treat their men with kindness and +justice combined. + +"You, poor fellows, have to work hard, frequently for years, without +having a chance to frequent the sacraments. Thank God, then, and be +grateful for this opportunity, and spend this day as becometh +Christians. You are exposed to dangers from accidents, and frequently +from the influence of evil-advising men. In Religion and her resources +alone you can find the only safeguard against the effects of the former, +and the best security against the wiles of your enemies: keep the +commandments, and hear the Church." + +On this day no less than ninety-five received, and the effects of this +one visit even were felt by the overseers and employers of these men for +months to come. Even Anne Council, the girl whom we introduced as +disputing with her ignorant mistress about "the freedom of +worship,"--and which dispute was then decided in Anne's favor by the +interference of the boss, who remonstrated with his wife on her +imprudence in resolving to discharge her maid in the midst of their +hurry, while there was no chance of having her place supplied,--even +Anne, brought to a better sense by the advice of the priest administered +in confession, when she came home asked her saucy mistress's pardon for +speaking back to her this morning. + +"I forgive you, Anne," she said; "though I am sure there is not a _lady_ +in the hollow that would put up with your impudence but myself." + +"I know I am hot," answered Anne, smothering her anger at this second +provocation in being called _impudent_. "The priest told us to be +obedient to those even who are not amiable nor kind; to serve them for +God's sake, as a punishment for our sins." + +"Now," said Mr. Warren to his wife, "you see Anne has rather improved by +her visit to the priest, which you thought to prevent. Were you and I to +be _at her_ for six months, we could not get her to acknowledge as much +as she now has. The fact is, I am certain those much-abused priests are +far ahead of our dominies in knowledge of religion and human nature. It +is impossible otherwise to account for the influence they exercise over +the ungovernable Irish race, and over those millions whom they instruct +and rule." + +"It's all priestcraft," said his wife. + +"I don't know, Sarah, what craft it is, but I wish our ministers learned +a little of the same craft; for they are fast losing all influence over +the minds of the people, and especially over that of the youth. That we +can all see." + +"That's because people are daily getting worse," said this female +philosopher. + +"Worse! Then whose fault is it that they are? What have we ministers +for, but to prevent this state of things? There are six of them in the +small village of S----, and it can't be beat in the Union for blacklegs +and rowdies. Would we have so many wild, irreligious young men, and +women, too, if, instead of six preachers, we had six Catholic priests? I +would like to see one of your young ones show such signs of a superior +mind and training, such manliness and fortitude, as that Irish Catholic +lad, Paul, down at Prying's. They have had all the ministers within +fifty miles of you to convert him, but they could no more move him than +they could Mount Antoine. In fact, he beat them all to pieces in +Scripture and argument. Take no more pains about religion, wife," said +the honest Yankee; "let Anne alone. I won't have her disturbed any more +on the subject. If there be any religion on earth, those very people +have it whom you want to bring round to the exact pattern of your +favorite minister's manner of doubting. It's ridiculous, wife," said +he, rising, and calling his men to the fields; "it's ridiculous to try +to convert these Catholics, who appear to have some religion, to the +countless systems of NO RELIGION that are so numerous on all +sides around us. I say it's ridiculous," said he, departing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE TEMPTER AT THE WOMAN. + + +It was arranged among the Pryings and their advisers, one day in August, +that, as Amanda said Paul was an incorrigible young man, he should be +sent off to the State fair of Vermont, and, in the meantime, a certain +"true blue" Presbyterian minister, named Grinoble, should try his hand +at converting Paul's little sister Bridget. It was, some thought, wrong +to begin with Paul, as all experience, but especially scriptural +testimony, taught that temptation was more likely to succeed when woman +was the subject or the instrument. So thought Parson Grinoble; and, with +true serpent wisdom, he concluded that it was through the woman, the +weaker sex, that, in this instance, Popery was to be conquered. Besides, +this old hand at proselytism read somewhat of the epistles of St. Paul, +and read there of the success of his predecessors in unbelief in +seducing "silly women," and ensnaring their confiding souls within the +meshes of their wily nets. So thought Mr. Grinoble, and he began to act +on it on the day in question, by going into the kitchen and addressing +himself to Bridget, as she was peeling apples for cooking, in the +following manner: + +"Come here, my dear, and shake hands," said his dominieship to the girl. + +She walked over shyly, holding the knife in one hand, and stretching +forward for the other. + +"Sit down here beside me, on the settle, my dear." + +"I must do what 'Mandy ordered me, sir," she said, excusingly. + +"Oh, don't you fear Amanda," he said; "I will be your security, my +little woman, that she won't be displeased. Dear me, what nice hair and +purty curls you have! and such beautiful teeth! Don't you think Miss +Amanda is jealous of your charms? eh? Why do you turn away your head, my +pet?" + +"I don't like such talk, sir," she answered. "My Prayer Book, in the +'Table of Sins,' says it is a sin to listen to praise or flattery." + +"Well said, my little lady," said the tempter. "You are right, Bridget; +I was only trying you. I do not wish you to sin. You know I am the +minister. I love you, and wish to see you a good Christian," said he, +caressing her. + +"I thank you, sir," was her answer. + +"Now, my little good one, I want to tell you some news. I have a message +for you,--a letter from a friend." + +"Please show it, sir," she said, impatiently; "perhaps it is from my +uncle, in Ireland, to whom Paul often wrote, but never got an answer +back." + +"No, my dear, it is from your father," said the tempter. + +"My father is dead, sir," she quickly rejoined. "It can't be from him, +anyhow, God rest his soul." + +"It is from your Father in heaven,--behold it!" said he, in a dramatic +accent, and pulling out of his breast-pocket a small octodecimo Bible. + +"Queer letter carrier, and purty heavy letter," grinned a young fellow, +who was sitting by, waiting for the return of the boss to employ him. + +"Christ sent you this by me," said the dominie, presenting the Bible. +"It will teach you the knowledge of the Lord, and the true spirit of his +gospel." + +"Never knew before that the Lord kept a post-office," said the young +Celt; "but I'm sure he never sent the like of you to be +letter-carrier,--too slow, too stupid, entirely, entirely; and not very +honest, maybe." + +"I am not addressing you, sir," said the parson, gruffly. "How do you +like that, Bridget?" said he, plying his arts. + +"It is very nicely bound, sir," said she; "but I dare not take it +without acquainting my brother Paul." + +"Now, my little favorite," said the representative of the serpent, "if +your uncle at home left you all his property, would you not like to be +able to read the _will_, or would you wait for Paul's leave to read a +document by which you inherited so much wealth?" + +"Perhaps not, sir," she answered, "particularly if he did not forbid me +to do so." + +"Very well, this is the will, the testament of God to all men, to me, +to you. Now, Bridget, learn this will, read it, study its contents, +without consent of priest or brother. Don't you see how proper this +advice is?" said he, thinking he had her little reasoning powers +conquered. + +"Yes, old fellow," said the young man at the table; "but if that will +was disputed, which would you do,--submit it to an able lawyer, or go +into court yourself without advice or counsel? You surely would fee a +lawyer, if money or property was at stake. Well, you '_omadawn_,'" said +our young stranger, "don't you see that, though that Bible is the will, +the devil, and his small heretical attorneys--Luther, Calvin, +Wesley--dispute the will, and the Church is the able advocate, and +judge, too, that will conquer the devil, and put to shame his agents, +and secure the stake, which is heaven, and the salvation of the soul? +Let the child alone," said he, boldly, "as you see she doesn't want your +biblical pills, or, 'be the tinker that mended _Fion-vic Couls' pot_,' I +will turn you out of doors, if I were to hang for it after. Let the +child alone this minute," said he, firmly. + +"Who are you, sir?" said the indignant parson, turning to view his +antagonist. "How dare you interrupt me when I am not addressing you?" + +"I am an Irishman and a Catholic," said he; "and furthermore, if you +wish to know my name, it is, sir, Murty O'Dwyer, Tipperary man and all." + +The reader will recollect the rollicking young attendant who drove +Father O'Shane in the snowdrifts from Vermont, a specimen of whose +oratory we have given in a preceding chapter. The antagonist of Parson +Grinoble was no other than the same young man. He had rambled up to this +neighborhood in search of work, and hearing that Mr. Prying was in need +of a hay hand, he waited his return from the Vermont State fair. + +The minister Grinoble returned to the parlor to report progress to +Amanda, and to represent the controversial rencontre which he had with +O'Dwyer, while Murty learned with wonder and indignation from Bridget, +that they were the children which cost Father O'Shane so much vain +search, and that they were kept in continual annoyance by all sorts of +male and female religious quacks and mountebanks, all bent on the work +of perversion. "Oh, thunder and age!" said he; "and ye are widow +O'Clery's children, God rest her soul! What a murthur Father O'Shane +could not find ye out before he died! The Lord have mercy on him." + +"We have heard he died," said Bridget. "Is it long since, sir?" + +"Almost two years. He published ye in the Boston _Pilot_, and all the +newspapers. He even offered a reward for yer discovery. Oh, _mille +murther_! what a pity I did not know ye were so near home!" + +"I suppose uncle wrote to him, and sent us money to take us home again?" +added pensive Bridget. + +"Money!" said the disinterested young man; "what money? I would give all +I earned since I came to this queer country myself to have ye found +out. We all thought ye were lost, drowned, or killed on the railroad +cars. I am glad I have found ye out; ye will have to leave right off. I +will take ye away myself to-morrow." + +"Oh, no, sir!" said Bridget; "we can't leave this till our time is +served out or our board paid,--two dollars a week for nearly three +years. The priest, not long since, came here to see if he could get my +brother and me off, but they told him they would not let us go. And +besides that, they insulted his reverence by telling him, if he dared to +come to try to kidnap us, they would tar and feather, or shoot him, the +Lord save us." + +"I wish to God I was present," said Murty; "I would settle bread on some +of them; that I would, and no mistake," said he, bringing his clenched +fist down on the table, "if I heard them insult the minister of Christ +in any shape or form. Oh, America! America!" said he, in an undervoice, +"I am deceived in you. I thought you were a second paradise, where all +was peace, and comfort, and justice, and prosperity, and true liberty. +But alas! I find all my ideas of your character erroneous and false. All +the crimes of the old world are not only here, where we thought the very +soil was virgin pure and unstained, but here in the most odious forms. +The poor at home were naked, and hungry, and ground; but most of them +were _innocent_, and _an innocent man is not entirely miserable_. The +poor here, besides their poverty and wretched slavery, working eighteen +out of the twenty-four hours, are almost all wicked in addition. The +crimes in the old country, that aristocratic institutions kept up in +the inaccessible palaces of the rich,--like the panther's den on the +summit of yonder mountain,--here are familiar to the lowest and +vulgarest of the populace. In the old country, the few and the rich were +unjust, cruel, wicked; it was so in Ireland. Here the vices of the few +are ingrafted on the many, and, like the small-pox, they do not become +weaker, but stronger, by universal propagation. I wish I never saw you, +America," said he, musing, his head resting against the wall; "I wish I +was in the grave with my two sisters and mother, rather than here to +witness the slavery, corruption, and vice of America." The remainder of +his musings were lost in the sighs and emotions that proceeded from his +manly bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE FRUITS OF THE CROSS. + + +Paul was now a free man, the term of apprenticeship having expired. It +was his right now, according to the terms of the implied contract, not +only to receive support and clothing, but wages; and Mr. Prying was very +willing to keep him in the house and give him a man's wages; but this +conflicted with Amanda's plan and that of her advisers; consequently, +Paul was reluctantly obliged to part with the society of his sister +Bridget, who had yet a part of her term to serve, and to look out among +the neighboring farmers for a situation. This he soon found in a +gentleman's family named Clarke, who was very glad to receive such a +modest and intelligent young man into his family. This Mr. Clarke was +not a farmer by profession, but a lawyer, and editor of a daily journal +in the capital of Vermont, and only spent a few days in the summer and +fall with his family at the farm. Paul's chief occupation was to attend +young Master Clarke in his sports of fishing, fowling, and riding on +horseback. The duties of his present situation afforded Paul not only +time and leisure to keep up his accustomed religious exercises, but, in +addition, he was able to revise what he had previously studied, and to +add considerably to his stock of useful knowledge. The equal terms and +familiarity in which he stood in his relation with his young employer +afforded him an opportunity of revising Virgil, Sallust, Lucian, and +other classical authors, the use of which he was so long obliged to +discontinue. + +Mr. Clarke was delighted when he learned from his son that Paul knew +Greek and Latin much better than his former teacher in the academy. And +this information he knew to be correct, from the fact that he found his +son had learned more during vacation, in company with Paul, than he did +during the whole year before in college. He therefore advanced Paul's +wages by one-third, and prolonged his son's stay in the country beyond +the usual period. This generous and kind-hearted man was also sensibly +affected when Paul, at his request, related how he came to know Latin; +how he was nephew of the grand vicar of Kil----; how he had spent five +years in college; how his father was obliged to emigrate with his +family; how he had died on the voyage; how they were robbed of a +thousand pounds; how his mother sunk under her trials; how he and his +brethren were kidnapped out hither; how the priest of T---- had +advertised for them; and how, "I suppose," said he, "they gave us up in +despair; thinking, probably, that we were lost in some of the late +steamboat disasters; but here we are yet, thank God!" + +Mr. Clarke, with the instinct of a true-hearted Yankee, immediately saw +into the snare laid for the faith of the young orphans; and he thanked +his God mentally that he had come to the knowledge of these facts, for +he was the man to expose and reprobate such foul play. "I now well +remember, Paul," said he, "the advertisements respecting you and your +brothers and sister. I shall see to this business, I promise you. In the +meantime, be you and Joe good friends. Don't spend too much time at +fishing and gunning, but study a good deal. Good-by, Joe, my son. +Good-by, Paul. I shall soon return again to see you." + +Paul took every favorable opportunity to visit his sister and brothers, +to console and strengthen them against the temptations to which he knew +they were exposed. + +"Now, Patsy, my boy," he said to the elder of his younger brothers, +"every time you look at that cross--show it to me--have you lost it?" + +"No, sir-ee; I never put it off my neck since mother put it on," said +Patrick, pulling it out of his bosom. + +"Every time you look at that crucifix," continued Paul, "think how our +Lord God Himself suffered; how, when he was a boy like you, he was good, +obeyed his parents, and was subject to them. Now, you have no parents +here but one, the Catholic Church; and if you obey not her counsels and +precepts, you will not be rewarded by Christ, whose image you wear +around your neck. Say the Six Precepts of the Church for me, Pat." + +"First. I am the Lord thy God--" + +"Oh, Pat, you are saying the ten commandments of God. Your little +brother Eugene can say _them_. I examined you in these before." + +"Oh, I forgot. 1st. To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. +2d. To fast and abstain on the days commanded. 3d. To confess our sins +at least once a year. 4th. To receive communion at Easter. 5th. To +contribute to the support of our pastors. 6th. Not to solemnize marriage +within forbidden degrees, nor clandestinely." + +"The first precept, Patrick, we cannot keep here, as we are not near the +church. But the second, 'to abstain on the days commanded,' we can keep. +Do you ever eat meat on Friday, Pat?" + +"Never but once, through mistake," said Pat. "I thought it was Thursday. +Mr. Prying is always wanting me to eat it every day, and so was a +gentleman whom he called the _priest_,--sure he is not a right priest, +is he, Paul?" + +"Not at all, Pat; he is only a Protestant minister." + +"A minister!" said Pat, in astonishment. "Why did they call him a +priest? He wanted me and Eugene to eat meat on Friday; but I said I +could not, it would make me sick. Then Mrs. Prying told him to let me +be; that she could not allow any interference with our religion; and +since that, the minister never returned to our house, or nobody said a +word about it. I think she is very good. She often cries when she hears +me and Eugene speaking of father and mother, God rest their souls! +Paul," said Pat, introducing a new subject, "ain't there a hell to +punish the wicked, as well as a heaven to reward the good?" + +"Certainly, Pat; does not the Catechism say so?" + +"Yes, but yesterday, Cassius Prying tried to persuade me that there was +no hell. He said all would go to heaven, in the end. I told him it was +no such thing. He said the minister said so." + +"Oh, Patrick, my boy, beware of Cassius; you must not listen to his +talk, for it is wicked. God tells us there is a hell, and we must +believe all he teaches us by his church and his word, or we will be +condemned to hell forever." + +"Oh, the Lord save us! I won't hear to Cassius no more." + +"That's a good boy, Patsy; mind to watch Eugene, and make him do as you +do. We will all soon be going home to uncle's, please God." + +"How soon, Paul? I am tired of being in 'Merica." + +"Very soon, please God. Good-by, and be good: learn this, the eighth +chapter of the Catechism, next." + +"I will, Paul, with God's help." + +This is the way Paul, our hero, took care of the responsibility God had +thrown on his tender shoulders at the age of fifteen. Never did +missionary or priest labor, by prayer, and prudence, and anxiety, to +save souls to Christ, as Paul did to save his brothers. He was to them +the true Joseph, who not only kept their bodies from starving, but +preserved their souls from a worse than Egyptian captivity. And not only +did his exertions produce the desired effect on the immediate objects of +his solicitude, but God added as the reward of his zeal other souls, +"not of this fold." + +Old uncle Jacob was all but disconsolate at the loss of Paul. He was his +bed-fellow for years, and every night and morning was witness of his +piety and punctuality in prayer. And although poor uncle Jacob himself +had long since learned to doubt of all forms of faith, he could not be +indifferent to the example set him by Paul's steady devotion. The poor +old man, besides, led a very innocent life, and the grace of God had few +obstacles to contend with in its influx into his empty but innocent +soul. He was often heard to say in presence of even Mr. Gulmore, the +minister, and Amanda, who might be called the female parson, that, if +any religion was worth having, it was that one which made Paul so +victorious in his arguments, and so pure and pious in his conduct. "That +was the young one," said uncle, his voice trembling with feeling, for he +loved Paul as a son, "that was the child that deserved to be called one; +that knowed what he owed to God, and man too." + +"He was as cunning as a fox, and as full of the spirit of Popery as an +egg is of meat," said Mr. Grinoble bitterly. + +"I know him to be as innocent as a dove," said uncle Jacob, warmly, "and +believe him to be as full of the Spirit of God as Samuel was in the +temple. There, now." + +"Then, uncle Jacob, I see you are beginning to believe in the Bible," +sarcastically added the parson. "I am glad to find your mind inclined in +that way. I hope you will soon get religion and the change of heart." + +"I hope and pray to the Lord," said the old man, in a voice little +removed from that of one in tears, "to change my heart, and give me +religion, as I now believe there is such a thing on earth. But, Mr. +Grinoble, your hard and cruel religion, I trust, shall never be mine. +God forbid! _It_ will never change my heart." + +"Uncle, don't you talk that way," said Amanda. "This is very unpleasant. +Take no notice of him, sir," said she, addressing the parson, who +appeared to be disconcerted at this pointed attack of uncle Jacob. + +"Amanda, I will talk so, I must talk so," said poor uncle, rising. "How +can ye reconcile it to religion, to justice, or to charity, the snares +and plots laid by you, miss, in company with those _men of God_, to rob +that poor child Paul, and his little sister and brothers, of their +ancient, noble, and holy religion? Fie, fie, fie! Is it such conduct you +call religion? It is the very reverse. It resembled more the conduct of +the serpent in paradise, than that of the meek disciples of Jesus +Christ. It was more like the religious profession of Herod, to get the +Child at Bethlehem into his clutches, than anything else we read of, +your conduct was. There is more Bible for you, Mr. Grinoble," said he, +slamming the door after him, and retiring to his room. + +"'Tis not much use attempting to convert such an old hardened sinner," +said Grinoble, smothering his mortification at the rebuff of uncle +Jacob. + +"That Paul has ruined him," said Amanda. "I would not be a bit +surprised if he died a Papist yet." + +"Sure you would not let the Popish priest visit him, on any account?" +said the tolerant parson. + +"I fear pa would, for you know uncle Jacob left him this farm, and more +than half what he possesses in money and stock. Come, tea is ready." + +Poor uncle Prying, as we have said already, was the senior brother of +Ephraim and Reuben Prying, and was now about seventy-two years of age. +During the last twenty years of his life he labored under a slight +asthmatic affection, which lately increased in violence, and, joined +with a disease of the liver, which physicians said he suffered from, now +seriously endangered his life. Since he was eighteen years old, Mr. +Jacob Prying never went inside a meeting-house or professed any +religion; a conclusion which he partly was drove to by the hypocrisy of +a certain minister in his neighborhood, who wanted to have Mr. Jacob +married to a daughter of his, who, two days before the marriage, he +found out, accidentally, had been seduced by an ex-senator in Boston. +This piece of deception on the part of the religious teacher, and the +treachery of the _maid_ herself, so disgusted Jacob Prying, that he +registered a vow in heaven that he never again would allow himself to +become the victim of hypocrisy or of female dissimulation. The parsons, +all round, because he was proof against their transparent baits, to fill +their meeting-houses, cried him down as an infidel, whose heart was +hardened, and who despised the Bible. Uncle Jacob never attempted to +dispel the prejudices raised against him by the malice of despised +dominies; but his heart refuted their lies, for it was open to every +noble and humane influence, and, above all, undefiled from the +corruption of the world. Hence, in his hour of sickness, in his hour of +trial and need, the Almighty rewarded him for his natural good parts, +and sent His angel to conduct him, by the simple means herein recorded, +to the bosom of that holy religion, outside which there is nothing but +bitterness and woe, and without which "it is impossible to please God." +Knowing the nature of the enemies he had to contend with, poor Mr. Jacob +Prying was silent on the subject of his religious doubts till the advent +of Paul to the farm. Like the ancient noble Roman, who, under the garb +of folly, concealed his profound heroic wisdom, uncle Jacob was content +to be called an infidel and unbeliever, so that he might preserve his +heart undefiled, and ready for that precious pearl "of great price" +which his heart sighed for, and which he was about now to receive; +becoming, in his latter days, a further illustration of the Divine +narrative that "God adds daily to the Church those who are to be saved." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE CONVERSION. + + +"The Lord be praised; I am glad to hear it," said Paul, one day, as he +sat by the bedside of uncle Jacob, who was now in the last stage of his +disease. "Paul," said the dying man, "while I was robust, and +independent in means, I relied too much on these gifts of God, and too +little on the Giver of them. But now, when this frail wall, that shuts +the soul in from her world of kindred spirits, is nearly worn down, and +the glorious light of eternity shines through the chinks of this earthen +rampart, in all directions I see the necessity of having the soul +prepared, thoroughly washed, before she goes into a world of such purity +and justice; and you have convinced me, or, rather, God has taught me, +that it is only in that religion of which God alone is the Author that +the means of purification can be found. So, Paul, in God's name, take a +team, and go for the priest of God immediately; there is no time to be +lost. 'Tis consoling to reflect that there is a priest of God now to be +had on earth, as well as in the days of the ancient patriarchs. How +merciful God was," said he, soliloquizing, "in leaving us on earth a +priest, a representative of his divine Son, to prepare the soul for the +terrible voyage of eternity! All eternity is not too long to thank him +for this blessing." + +Paul communicated the wishes of his dying brother to Mr. Ephraim Prying, +who answered, "Certainly, Paul; why not? Go for the priest; take the +best team--that black mare, there, is the fastest traveller. O my poor +brother, why will you leave us?" said he, as he rushed up to his +brother's bed room. + +It soon went abroad that uncle Jacob was at the point of death; and all +the friends and many neighbors were assembled around the bed, and among +others Mr. Barker, the Methodist preacher, who thought, as the +Presbyterian dominie's nostrums were rejected by Jacob, his own, as +being more novel, might have the desired effect. And though these +several ministers were jealous each of the influence of his neighbor, +yet any thing with them was preferable to the priest. Let uncle Jacob +turn Turk, Jew, or Heathen, any thing but a Papist, and the six +sectarian teachers of the village of S---- were content. + +"Now, brother Jacob," said his roaring reverence, after a long-winded +prayer, in which he professed to command great influence with the powers +above, "how do you feel? Tell us your experience, and what you see." + +"I am afraid, if I tell ye what I think and feel," said the feeble +invalid, "ye may not like to hear it, and I do not wish to give offence. +I have something else now to occupy my time besides talking for your +entertainment." + +"O, by all means, brother," said the reverend roarer, "tell what you +experience; we will not be displeased, but I hope edified. I have +prayed earnestly to the Lord Jesus for thee, and he has answered me--I +have been heard." + +"Well, my experience and conviction are, that there is no real religion, +but superstition or infidelity, in all the sects that I ever yet knew +around here. My experience is, that I led a very worthless and careless +life, for which I expect God's pardon; but I fear ye parsons will have a +hard account to settle for the contradiction and confusion ye have +introduced into the Christian religion. Ye first attempted to make an +infidel of me, by your glaring contradictions and hypocritical +pretensions; and now, on the very brink of eternity, ye would deceive my +soul into the delusion that I am fit for glory direct, in the blossom of +my sins, 'unhouselled, unanointed, and unannealed.' Retire from my +presence, ye deceivers, and make way for the minister of God's church, +who can absolve me from my sins in the person of Christ, give me his +true body to repair the ruins in my own body and soul, and strengthen +me, by the oil of faith, against the terrible struggle that I must +encounter, and the awful journey over which I must pass. O Lord," he +cried, "forgive these persecutors of my soul; and, O virgin mother of +Jesus, obtain for me to confess my sins and repent ere I die." + +All were astonished at the foregoing impassioned speech of uncle Jacob. +The parson retired like an evil spirit exorcised by the powerful words +of holy writ. The room was empty, and the priest was soon after at the +dying man's bedside. After a full, sincere, and humble confession, +conditional baptism was administered; and, confirmed by all the rites of +the church, purified by penance, strengthened by the holy eucharist, and +healed by the holy unction of heaven, that pure soul passed away to God +in two days after, having become speechless in about an hour after the +administration of the sacrament. + +"Now," said the priest, addressing Paul, "did I not tell you God had +some mysterious design in view by the succession of trials which he +enabled you to pass through? But for you, probably, this good soul would +not have heard of the Catholic church; but for your mother's death you +could not be out here, where the malice of those who wanted to rob you +of your faith sent you. It is owing to the robbery of the money you +possessed that your mother died; and, finally, but for the cruelty of +the landlord and his injustice, you might be now at home in Ireland, and +probably studying in Maynooth College. See how God brings good from +evil. See how, as he made the hardness of Pharaoh's heart contribute to +the glory and miraculous power of Moses and Aaron, he continually makes +use of the tyranny of the landlords of Ireland--not inferior to the +cruelty of Pharaoh or Herod--to contribute to the spread of the faith, +without which there is no salvation, among the generous and naturally +good people of this vast country." + +"I understand it all now," said Paul, "and thank God for all that has +happened to us." + +"That's right, my boy; you will be yet a priest, perhaps, yourself. I +must now prepare to return." + +As Father Ugo passed down stairs, he was met by Mrs. and Mr. Prying, +who invited him to the parlor, and by a good deal of persuasion +prevailed on him to remain there over night, rather than go to the hotel +six miles off. Even the bigoted Amanda was very anxious to have an +argument with a real priest--that mysterious sort of being whom she +never saw, but heard so much about. + +Father Ugo was a robust, brave-looking man, of unaffected manners, +bordering on plainness, though highly educated, and accustomed in +Europe, where he was chaplain to Lord C----d, to the most aristocratic +society. Perhaps it was owing to his knowledge of the vanity of +aristocratic airs that he affected such a plainness of manners, being +thoroughly tired of the odd, unmeaning ceremonials of fashion. It must +be confessed, at any rate, that he entertained no small contempt for the +mushroom aristocratic imitations that he witnessed in America; and this +made him a little sarcastic, and therefore rather rude, in his +association with what he called "the monkey aristocracy" of the new +world. + +Such being the sentiments of Father Ugo, the reader ought not to be +surprised that his reluctance to enter into a theological discussion +with Amanda was great, and his answers to that indefatigable _she bore_ +rather curt and ironical. After a good deal of conversation about the +weather, crops, the telegraph, railroads, thunder storms, electricity, +and such other subjects as were suggested by the climate and state of +the weather, Mr. Prying left the room, wondering where this priest got +his knowledge, and how could he be one of that low, canting, +Scripture-phrase class to which all ministers he ever knew belonged, and +in which he thought the priest must have exceeded the ministers in +degree as much as the Green Mountain exceeded the little knoll in front +of his house. + +"That's a well-read, intelligent fellow," said he to his wife. + +"We allers heard they knowed nothing but ignorance and idolatry," she +carelessly remarked. + +"I guess those who represented the Catholic priests as such are the most +ignorant," was the remark of Ephraim. + +"Well, sir," said Amanda, who was now alone with the priest in the +parlor, "there are many admirable things in your religion; there are +indeed." + +"I am glad you think so; but are not all its institutions admirable and +perfect?" said the priest. + +"I can't concede that, by any means," she replied, with a consciousness +of her logical powers. "For instance, there's celibacy; why don't you +priests get married? I think this very wrong; the Bible calls it the +'doctrine of devils' to encourage that institution." + +"I am astonished, if you think so, miss," said the priest, "you have not +got married yourself before this, for you appear to be of age." + +"O, that, perhaps, is my own choice," she said, coughing with +embarrassment. + +"Well, it is my fixed and determined choice," rejoined Father Ugo, "to +lead a single, unmarried life, free from care and anxiety." + +"I think you are mistaken, sir," she said; "the single life is one of +much more care and anxiety than the married. Witness pa and ma; how +happy _they_ have lived for thirty-five years in this our homestead." + +"Although such may have been _your_ experience, miss," said Dr. Ugo, "I +must beg leave to decline accepting it as an authority, particularly +when I have my own experience, though not so venerable as yours, to +balance it. Besides, does not the inspired St. Paul tell us that those +who are married are divided, and have heavier cares; while those who +lead a single, chaste life, as he did, would be better able to serve God +free from anxiety?" + +"O, Paul," she replied, "was very poor authority on the subject, being a +bachelor when he wrote that passage. Probably in after life his opinions +underwent a change on the subject. I am aware of his oddity in that +way." + +"Do you joke, miss?" said the priest, solemnly. "If you do not joke, I +have no hesitation in saying you blaspheme, in thus trifling with the +words of the Holy Ghost." + +"I am serious, sir," she said; "it is your church that is guilty of +misinterpretation of God's word, and, in addition, denies its 'free use' +to the people." + +"I hope my church, miss, will never allow her children to trifle with +God's holy word as you have now been guilty of," said the priest. + +"What's this? At theology again, Amanda? I think you have met your match +at last, daughter," said Mr. Prying. "This young lady has taken to the +study of Scripture and theology," continued he; "she and the several +ministers who visit here are ever at controversy, and she seldom comes +off second best, I tell you." + +"Don't you speak so, father," she said; "no, I don't, neither. I have +been arguing with this gentleman about celibacy, and we can't agree +about the interpretation of a text; that's all. But this is the +birthright of every American citizen, the right to differ; the right to +read the word of God, and to interpret it each for himself, without let +or hinderance." + +"I have no great desire, nor does it at all accord with my notions of +propriety, I assure you," said the priest, "to enter into controversial +disputations around the fireside, in a family whose hospitality I am +enjoying, and especially when a lady is my antagonist." + +"O you need not be particular," said this female bore; "we are used to +such discussions. I had a few questions to put to you as a Catholic +priest, of which I had taken notes, and my object is information on +those points, as much as the refutation of your church doctrines." + +"Any information you require I am ready to afford, if in my power; but I +have a horror--I suppose from the invariable habit of my past life--of +introducing either political or religious discussions into the fireside +family circle." + +"We are always disputing here," she said. "I am a Presbyterian, Cassius +a Universalist, Wesley a Methodist, and Cyrus has taken to the spiritual +rapping, and is a 'medium.' So you see controversy is no novelty here." + +"In Europe, miss," said the priest, "we never introduce----" + +"In Europe," she said, interrupting Father Ugo, "there is nothing but +tyranny, despotism, poverty, and superstition. We despise the customs of +Europe, sir. I am told," she added, after a glance at her notes, "that +priests in general, and you in particular, forbid Catholics to attend +the meetings, or join in the prayers or worship, of other denominations. +Is this true, or how can you reconcile it with liberty or religion?" + +"Certainly," said the priest, "it is our duty to guard the Catholics +from such immoral customs. We do not believe any of the sectarian +denominations, into which I regret to learn your family is divided, +derive their existence or institutions from God, or contain the +_ordinary means_ of salvation. And while under this belief, in which we +are joined by millions upon millions of Christians, living and dead, how +can we join your prayer or worship, when we know it to be spurious and +illegitimate?" + +"I shall, before I am done with you, sir," she replied, "prove your +church idolatrous, and all Papists idolaters; and this is one of the +proofs, this horrid opinion of yours, sir." + +"It is not my _opinion_ at all, miss," said he, coolly; "it is my +_faith_, and that of God's church in all ages. Now, on the very plea +that we all are idolaters, as you call us, for this very reason you +should except your hired help from joining in your 'long prayers.' For +if you have any faith in God, or believe you address him in prayer, why +should you insult and mock him by taking an unenlightened, Papistical +idolater to join your petitions? If you were to go to ask a favor of a +king, or of the president, would you deem it prudent to take one to +accompany you who was guilty of high treason? Would not this lead to +your certain rejection from the presence of majesty or excellency with +disgrace and punishment? Now, Catholics, if they be idolaters, are +guilty of treason against Heaven. Do not, then, insult heaven and its +divine Majesty, by asking them to join in your 'holy prayers.'" + +This "nonplussed" the self-confident and vain Amanda; all she could +answer was, that "that was fine Jesuitism." + +"Meditate well on it," said the priest, "and repent, if you have been +guilty of violating the laws of God, the laws of your country, and the +dictates of reason, by compelling Catholics to join in your, to them, +repulsive and unlawful worship. Forgive me, miss; I must be off. Good +by. God bless you," said he, departing. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS. + + +"Any news this morning, squire?" said Mr. Wakely, the tavern keeper, to +his _honor_ Squire Wilson, as he entered the bar room with a cigar in +his mouth. + +"Wal, nothin' except this report of the turning of old uncle Jacob +Prying, if we can give credit to such a rumor." + +"I seed the priest riding past here two days since," said the tavern +man, "and his team half dead from driving. There can be little doubt of +Jac's conversion to the Romish faith. I asked that young lad Paul, who +used to stop at Prying's, and he said it was true." + +"'Tis really astonishing," said Benjamin Lifford, the Quaker. "I'd have +let him die without a minister, if he did not content himself with the +inflooence of the speerit. These is how I would sarve thee, Jacob." + +"I consider Mr. Prying rather simple to allow such a man as the priest +to come into his house at all," said his _honor_ Squire Wilson, the +Universalist. + +"Had it been my brother," said old Elder Fussel, "I would pay no +attention to the dying request of old uncle Jacob. That would be the way +to bring him to." + +"That would be cruel," said High Sheriff Walter, "seeing that Jacob +left him all his property, real and personal. Besides, this is a free +country, and I say a man ought to be allowed to embrace any religion he +has a mind to. That's my creed, at all events." + +"Yes," said Mr. Ebenezer White, the Methodist class leader, "_pervided_ +the creed he wanted to jine was the religion of the Bible; otherwise +not." + +"Do not the Roman Catholics ground their doctrines on the Bible?" said +the sheriff. "That they do, and their Bible contains many books that +yours does not contain." + +"Nonsense, sheriff!" said his enlightened _honor_. "The Papists never +read the Bible. I have a boy, Thomas Noonan,--you know him,--and he +neither will read it himself, nor listen to it read. The priest won't +allow him. No Catholic is allowed to have or read a Bible." + +"You state what is not true," said a loud, emphatic voice from behind +the stove. It was the voice of Murty O'Dwyer. + +"I guess, squire, you are in error there," said the sheriff. "My boy, +you know, Patrick, a very strict Catholic, every month at confession +with the priest, has a Bible with him in my house, which Bible the +priest gave him. I have read the book time and again. Nay, I heard the +priest preach out of our Bible last summer." + +"Is it not astonishing," began Murty again, "that, though ye all differ +in opinion, ye agree in hating and maligning the church of Christ? +Though ye can't 'join in love,' ye know well how to 'join in hate.' Here +are unbaptized Quakers, groaning Methodists, blaspheming Presbyterians, +faithless Universalists and Unitarians, and humbug spiritual rappers; +and yet ye not only coincide in hating the pope, but ye are all +intolerant and cruel save this gentleman here," said he, pointing to Mr. +Walter. "Now, will any body tell me whence is this hatred?" said the +Irishman, pausing. "Is it grounded on knowledge or well-formed opinion? +No; for ye are all grossly ignorant of the principles and facts of +Catholicity, as ye have shown by your statements about the Bible. In +truth, it is impossible to evade the conclusion that ye hate the church +for the same cause that the devil envied and hated our first parents; +namely, because he saw them the heirs of that bliss which he and his +rebellious crew had lost." + +"Take care what you say, my man; the law does not suffer any person to +disparage the Bible so," said the squire, threateningly. + +"I am not afraid, sir, to speak my mind, whatever you, as the +representative of the law, may threaten. 'Tis really amazing that ye +should be so busy and troubled about Catholics, take such pains in +kidnapping Catholic children, and forcing Catholic servants to go to +listen to your disgusting prayers and bellowing preachers, when your own +children are beyond your control; go to bed like cattle, without ever +bending a knee in prayer; and if they go to 'meeting,' as it is properly +called, it is only to mock the 'old fool' who holds forth to them." + +"There is some truth in what he says," added the sheriff, looking at the +squire. + +"Agree among yourselves first," said the Irish peasant, "before you +commence to convert Catholics. Convert the rowdies that crowd your +village and city tavern bar rooms before you extend your zeal to those +who are in no need of it, or on whom it will be all spent in vain. Agree +about the meaning of one single text in your Bible before you hand it to +us for our study." + +"We all agree it's the word of God." + +"Well, the word of God cannot contradict itself, and yet the religious +system of each of you contradicts that of his neighbor. One man says +Christ is God; another denies this; and both quote Scripture in proof. +This man says bishops are necessary and divinely appointed; the next man +denies this totally. The Quaker denies what the disciple of Calvin or +Knox believes, while the Universalist ignores what the latter professes; +and now the Mormons, spiritual rappers, and Transcendentalists explode +the Bible altogether. The Catholic church, with those countless millions +of her children that constitute her body, has been reading the Bible and +studying it these nineteen hundred years, and never yet, with all her +learning, could find two opposite meanings to one single text; never +once contradicted herself." + +"You don't say the Catholics are allowed the use of the Bible, do you? +or that there was any Bible in the world but the one Luther found in the +monastery hid, in the year 1517?" said the elder, who did not well hear, +as he was somewhat deaf. + +"Do you seriously believe that we Catholics have not leave to use the +Bible? I tell you we have, and always had, the unquestioned right to its +proper use. Even before the art of printing was discovered by a +Catholic, and when books were scarce, a Bible, in large, plain writing, +was chained to a stand or desk in each parish church in most countries, +so that all who wished could read. I saw one of these stands, which +turned on a pivot, in an old Catholic church in Yorkshire, England, +where it remains to this day. And as regards the absurdity that Luther +found the only copy of the Bible extant in a monastery or university, +that story is refuted by the fact that there were millions of Bibles, +and countless editions of it, printed before Luther was born. Indeed, I +have just read in this Protestant paper, here, that there is a Bible in +Cincinnati, printed in 1470; that is, nearly fifty years before Luther +began to revolt." + +"Why, Betsey Darcy, that jined our kirk at the late revivals, told us, +public, in the meeting house, that the priests in Ireland would not +allow any Catholic to read the Bible; and she said that was the first +one she ever saw which I handed to her," said the pious elder. + +"Don't you believe her, elder," said Murty, "for I saw that same girl +handle a true Protestant Bible in Ireland, when she attempted to father +her illegitimate child on an honest man, but when she was, instead, +convicted of perjury the most gross. She has had two other fatherless +children since she came to 'free America;' and now, after having been +rejected from the humblest society of Catholics on account of her +immoralities, she, of course, takes refuge among the impeccable saints +of Presbyterianism, where she ranks high in the scale of sanctity." + +"Sartin," said the sheriff; "she is a hard one, I do believe. I saw her +drunk at the donation visit of dominie Grinoble, last winter." + +"Yes," said Murty, "when you get such a convert as this unfortunate +reprobate, you boast and write tracts to herald the conquest; but such +conversions as those of Spencer, Brownson, Wilberforce, Newman, Lords +Camden, or Freeling, are as nothing in your eyes. You stuff your ears +when you hear of them, cautiously keep them out of hearing of your sons +and daughters, and these glorious conversions never appear in your +shabby, lying newspapers. I do really pity the blindness of +Protestants," said he, rising and walking out of doors. + +Next day after these events, the funeral of uncle Jacob took place, and +these ministers, whom, while he lived, he could not endure, and who +heartily hated him, came, when he was dead, to offer their services over +his remains. If any thing was required to show the meanness and +inconsistency of Protestantism and its teachers in this country, it is +the readiness with which they will officiate over the body of a man +dead, over whose soul, while living, they could exert not the smallest +influence. We have known several instances where Methodist and +Presbyterian hirelings, in consideration of the fee of three or five +dollars paid them, preached long sermons, and opened the gates of _their +Elysium_ to the souls of men who became converted from the sects to +which these hireling parsons belonged. Nay, in cases where the deceased +committed suicide by hanging or poisoning, we heard parsons officiate, +and promise the friends, for certain, that the soul of the suicide was +in glory, because sometime ago he happened to get religion, or join the +Sons of Temperance, or conform to some other requirement of fanaticism. +Thus, in the present case of uncle Jacob, Mr. Barker, the Methodist, and +Parson Grinoble, the Presbyterian, and Mr. Gulmore, another style of +Presbyterianism, all three vied to see who would _be hired_ to do the +last service to him whom, while alive, they all despised. Mr. Gulmore, +however, had the best luck, and accordingly mounted the pulpit to pass +sentence on the departed soul of uncle Jacob. He descanted for a +considerable time on the virtues of the deceased while young, told all +he knew of his religious experience, not forgetting the virtues of the +entire family, and what they had done for religion by circulation of +tracts, by subscription to Bible societies, by adopting and raising of +destitute orphans, and other good deeds, all tending to the honor of +Calvinism. "The only instance of any thing like want of belief that +happened for a hundred years in the family," said he, "was the seduction +of our brother to the ranks of Popery. His faith was weak, my friends," +he continued; "but if he did not believe strongly, _we believed_, and +our faith saved him. His soul is in glory, I have no doubt. The faith of +his family and all our faith saved him. Glory be to the Lord. Amen." + +The conclusion of this discourse was applied to the warning of the +faithful against the influence of the Papists; the necessity and +obligation incumbent on all to compel their Catholic servants to join +their prayer and other meetings; and, above all, to take care that all +Popish books and publications, should be excluded from their houses. "We +are fallen on dangerous times, my friends," he said; "and if the friends +of the Bible and free religion do not combine their efforts against the +common enemy, our institutions are doomed, and the glory of our country +is extinguished forever." + +The reader is not to imagine that Mr. Gulmore and men of his class are +so brutally ignorant as some would imagine. When, therefore, we hear +them speak of our _institutions_ being in danger, they mean the +_institutions_ of heresy and sectarianism; namely, parsons, and their +wives and children, and countless sects and contradictions in +creed--institutions that, sure enough, are in imminent danger, and +doomed to fall before the irresistible and unerring progress of +Catholicity. But will this divinely decreed result be injurious to the +progress or prosperity of the republic? On the contrary, there can never +be a real union among the States till the minds of the people, north and +south, are united in faith and sentiment. And by the annihilation of +sectarianism and its castes, the people will be freed from a very +burdensome tax now going to the support of a large and lazy body of men, +women, and children, whose only object in existence seems to be to eat +and consume, and who, besides, by their idleness and habits, keep up a +system of detraction, jealousy, and discord among otherwise +well-disposed citizens, that, like so many cancers, are eating into the +very vitals of the public morals. Let not the American citizen, +therefore, bewail the certain decline and rapid decay of the +_institutions_ of sectarianism, but rather pray for the dawn of that +glorious approaching day when, as we are but a one people and a united +nation, we may have but one religion, and a country that will know no +sectional divisions. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +"HE AND HIS WHOLE HOUSE BELIEVED." + + +Paul, now, though full of anxiety and care on account of his young +charge, was comparatively well off. His good fortune removed him from +the neighborhood of all that was low, fanatical, and cruel in New York, +to the capital of Vermont. And he felt the change for the better, +sensibly, in quitting the birthplace of "Millerism," and going into a +comparatively enlightened region. He thought there were, as he said, +some gentlemen and ladies here in Vermont; but he could never see one of +either species, properly so called, where he lately lived. The truth +was, Mr. Clarke, his present employer, was a well-bred, full-blooded +Yankee; and though his notions of Catholicity were such as he gleaned +from the rabid discourses of half-educated preachers, and a few +anti-Popery tracts which he read, his gentle and noble mind could not +sanction for an instant any thing like persecution on account of +religion. Hence, besides the favorable impression which the talents of +Paul made on him, he considered it time to show him some kindness, to +compensate for the ill treatment he underwent under the machinations of +Parson Gulmore and Amanda Prying, and their clerical associates. + +"Paul," said Mr. Clarke, on Saturday night, at supper, "I am glad you +are beginning to like this part of the country. I will endeavor to +convince you that all America is not like your late home in York: all +parsons are not like Mr. Gulmore, whose conduct in regard to your +letters I cannot sufficiently condemn; nor are all young ladies of the +same temper as Miss Amanda Prying." + +"I do not blame Amanda much, sir," said the youth, fearing that he might +be led to any thing bordering on detraction; "she was very kind to me in +all things, except that she wanted to keep me from mass, and tried to +force my sister and myself to attend Mr. Gulmore's church." + +"That was very wrong of her, Paul. I do not think Miss Martha, here, +will be so cruel as to require you to do any thing against your will; +nor would she interfere with your letters to your friends, as I have no +doubt Amanda has interfered. Well, Martha," said the good-natured +father, looking with pride towards his eldest daughter, a bright girl of +sixteen, "are you going to force Paul with you to church; to compel him, +whether he likes it or not, to eat flesh meat on days forbidden by his +church? And will you forbid him to write to his uncle, who, I doubt not, +is a very respectable gentleman in Ireland?" + +"God forbid, father, that I should be guilty of half that. However, we +shall be very glad if Paul comes to our meeting house, seeing we often +go to hear the priest, Father O'C----, of the Catholic church." + +"I should be very sorry to disoblige any body, but especially one so +amiable as yourself, miss," said Paul; "but I do not think I can +conscientiously go to any church except the Catholic church." + +Mr. and Mrs. Clarke smiled, and a significant glance passed between them +at the gallantry of this speech. + +"Why, Paul," said he, "I think you are a leetle too particular. It would +do you no harm to hear our preacher, Mr. Holdforth; I do not see what +can be wrong in it, no more than our going to hear the priest." + +"The only difference is," said Paul, quickly, "that our religion and +service being right, and yours being wrong, you can attend our service +without scruple, but I could not attend yours without sin. It would be a +loss of time, a bad way to spend the Sabbath, or Sunday; the sin of +curiosity, or the danger of being an encourager of, or countenancing, a +false worship, unauthorized by God or his church." + +"Ah, Paul," said the editor, "this is taking a high ground, and rather a +new one to me; and besides, this is not very logical, for this is what +we want to see. This is just the question in dispute between the Roman +Catholic church and the Protestant; viz., to which of the two belongs +true and lawful worship." + +"You are a lawyer, sir," said Paul, "and you must know well the evidence +is all in favor of the Catholic church--being that founded by Christ, +and ruled and guided by the apostles. For, go back to the very apostolic +ages, and you will find the rites and the ceremonies of the church, +recorded in the writings of the ancient fathers,--as, for instance, in +the works of Tertullian, Ireneus, Ignatius,--to be the very same as +those now practised in the Catholic church in this country and all over +the world." + +"I confess, Paul," said he, "that the external evidences are rather +favorable to Catholicity; but we principally depend on internal +evidence, or the feelings of our minds." + +"That," said Paul, "is no evidence at all; for you have to do with +external facts. Institutions, history, monuments, testimony of men, +customs, and habits, are the only evidence you can bring to bear on this +controversy. How would you like to try a criminal by internal +evidence--to tell a jury that you had 'internal evidence' of the +innocence or guilt of the man accused? How could you discover whether or +not Cæsar lived by the light of internal evidence? Is it by internal +evidence you learn that such cities as Rome, Paris, or Constantinople +exist? No, sir; it is by _external_ evidence, which is altogether in +favor of our church; and this is more valuable than all the internal +evidence that ever existed in the minds of fanatics, from Simon Magus to +John Wesley, or from the Gnostics to the spiritual rappers." + +"Husband," said Mrs. Clarke, "I am afraid of your reputation in this +argument about religion." + +"Madam, it is not _reputation_ I seek, but truth; and if I can find it +in the Catholic church, I shall embrace it myself, and all my family." + +"You may bid adieu to most of your subscribers, then, after you become a +Roman Catholic," said madam. + +"My dear wife," said he, impressively, "you ought to know me +sufficiently well to be convinced that not only the success of my +journal, but even the entire of my means, with my personal feelings, +would be willingly sacrificed by me, in order to secure for myself, and +for you all, what is infinitely beyond all earthly or temporal +considerations; namely, the salvation of our immortal souls." + +"I did not want to insinuate, my dear, for a moment, that you could be +influenced by such a consideration as the success of your journal in a +matter of such everlasting importance. I only dropped the remark +casually and without reflection," said madam. + +In order to explain more fully the seriousness of Mr. Clarke's desire to +learn more and more regarding the Catholic church, and to account for +his rather too easy concession to the arguments of Paul, we think it +right to state that he had lately become a member of a literary and +religious society established in his native city, under the +presidentship of a minister of an Episcopal church. The object of this +society, partly religious and partly literary, was to infuse a new +spirit into the thinning ranks of Episcopalianism, by searching for, and +bringing to light, in the popular form of lectures and dissertations, +the evidences in favor of Protestantism, which, they supposed, were to +be found in the writings of the primitive or ante-Nicene sages of the +church. We do not think it would be appropriate to class this society +under the appellative "Puseyite," for they had no direct connection or +communication with that now rather celebrated school of schismatics, +but undoubtedly the objects of both were analogous. Mr. Clarke's +occupation was so much confined to the business of his lawyer's office, +and his time so much engrossed by the attention required of him as an +editor, that he had very little leisure to attend the regular meetings +of the society, of which he was elected an honorary member; and hence, +while he was at home and at the table, the whole discourse was on +religion; for these were his only leisure hours. Paul he found not only +well instructed in his religion, but capable of explaining very +satisfactorily to him various points connected with such an important +matter as that on which his mind of late turned its attention, and on +which he desired the fullest information. + +Great was the joy and consolation of Paul, after the dialogue given +above; and long and fervent were his thanksgivings to God, for choosing +him so far to be the instrument in bringing his employer to the +resolution of _examining_ Catholic doctrines. For who ever seriously +examined and did not find the truth? "No," said Paul to himself, "never +did any body examine into or compare the relative claims of the Catholic +church and her countless opponents to be considered divine, that did not +decide in favor of the former." And well knowing that Mr. Clarke was a +man not to be turned aside from his resolution by any human motives or +selfish considerations, Paul wisely concluded that "he and his whole +house" would become reconciled to the church. And so they were. Mr. +Clarke was the first member of the "Literary and Religious Society of +Vermont" who became a convert. The next was the reverend president of +the society; afterward one and another, till the entire society, +consisting of some fifty members, submitted themselves to the sweet yoke +of faith; and now there is a church, a resident priest, in that very +locality, and using the very meeting house where the ex-Episcopalian +minister preached. Under God, all these conversions were owing to the +tact, prudence, and other admirable virtues, as well as the thorough +Catholic education, of Paul. To this very day, Mr. Clarke, the Rev. Mr. +Strongly, and many other members of the society acknowledge that it is +to the circumstance of Paul's living in Mr. Clarke's family that he owed +his conversion, and that the secession of Mr. Clarke from their ranks +was what principally hastened the conversion of the whole society. Thus +God frequently makes use of what appears to us very inadequate means to +the most glorious results. Thus are the weak and humble of his church +made use of, like David, to subdue her enemies, and bring them under the +salutary sway of her dominion. And while this servant boy and that hired +girl are acting the hypocrite in attending this master's meeting, or +joining his long prayers, or eating meat on Friday, in violation of the +precepts of the church, they are becoming stumbling blocks on his way to +salvation--resisting the design of God, who wishes all men to be saved, +as well as ruining their own souls. "He that despiseth small things +shall fall by little and little." + +While these events were the order of the day in Vermont, the +proselytizers in York were not idle. Amanda now, since Paul had not only +left the house, but even went away from the neighborhood, thought she, +and her coadjutors the parsons, would have little difficulty in +converting Bridget. But the latter now, besides having once a month an +opportunity of hearing mass,--the new priest, Father Ugo, having made it +a rule to visit the railroad laborers as often as he could, and being +pretty well grounded in the catechism,--in addition to these very +important aids to combat temptation, Bridget had also Murty O'Dwyer, who +was hired in the house, to take up the cudgels for her against Amanda +and Parson Gulmore. + +"Prepare, Bridget, to come with me this evening to Sabbath school," said +the persevering Amanda. "I want to show them how well you can read, and +also I want them to admire these nice flowers of your hat, and your +pretty new dress, to see how smart you look." + +"Why, miss, if that be all you want, I can't go, for that would be a +sin. Vanity, you know," said the little roguish girl, looking +sarcastically at Amanda. + +"I am the best judge of that, missy," said the old maid. "Go on and +prepare: you must come. You are getting very ugly since you got the +habit of seeing that old priest of late." + +"I beg your pardon, miss. It is not for the priest's advice I refuse +joining your worship, but because God forbids it and the church. Before +the priest ever came here, I refused, during more than two years, to go +to Protestant meetings or Sunday schools, which cost me many a tear and +a scolding; and the priest's advice has not made me more determined than +I was before never to put my foot inside your ugly meeting house or +Sunday schools." + +"If I asked you to go to the priest to pay him a quarter to pardon your +sins, you naughty Irish girl, you," said Amanda, in a passion, "how +readily you would obey me, you naughty thing, you!" + +"You're welcome to your joke, miss," answered Bridget; "but if you are +in earnest, I must say that it is not true that Father Ugo, or any other +priest that ever lived, charged any money for hearing confession. +Confession was ordained by Christ, our Lord; and those who do not go to +confession cannot lead a pure life of virtue, nor preserve the love of +God in their souls." + +"Indeed, miss!" said Amanda, with a sneer. "I see the priest has been +giving you a lesson. As if none but Papists knew what purity or virtue +was--the low set of Irish that they are!" + +"Our books of devotion say as much," said Bridget; "and it stands to +reason, for if Catholics who frequent confession have enough to do to +keep themselves undefiled, how much more difficult is it for those who +do not confess at all? Besides, by confession restitution is enforced, +and whatever your neighbor loses by fraud is restored." + +"Is it not strange, then, that the Irish Papist who robbed your mother +of the money does not think of restoring it? And you say he had the +priest's certificate of confession in his pocket?" + +"That is not the fault of confession, miss. May be he would make +restitution yet, if God give him grace." + +"I have been listening to you, miss, this half hour," interposed Murty, +who now entered from the back kitchen where he was smoking, "and I am +really shocked to find you tamper so with the virtue of this innocent +girl. You first attempt to reach her pure soul through her vanity, by +praising her dress and accomplishments; and she nobly rejects the +temptation. Next you attempt to conquer her fortitude, by maligning and +ridiculing the most sacred institutions of her holy religion; and here +again you fail. It is the strangest thing in the world, in my mind, that +you should continually annoy that poor orphan, and stranger again, that +her noble fortitude, her piety, her faith, fidelity, and other heroic +virtues have not converted you, and those who have been for years +witness of them, to something like admiration of them." + +"But she is so obstinate, Murt," said the old maid. + +"Yes," said he, "and in that she is right. Yourself had an opportunity +of information on all these subjects, and, I understand, discussed them +at length with the priest in person. You ought to know better, then, +than to repeat to this child a pure fable, that you dare not hint in the +presence of the priest; namely, that he levies a tax of two shillings or +half a dollar on every penitent whose confession he hears." + +"That is generally believed," said she, ashamed that her violent attack +on Bridget had been overheard by one whose good opinion, of late, she +was rather anxious to secure, for a delicate reason that shan't be +mentioned here. + +"It is generally _talked_, but not _believed_, dear miss, unless by the +idiots and children into whose minds it is continually dinned by +malicious persons, who know that their occupation would be gone if the +truth were known, and who struggle to shut out the light and knowledge +of Catholicity from the souls of their wretched hearers with the same +cruelty that the tyrant shuts out the light of heaven from the dungeon +of his captive. I thought this was a free country," he continued; "but I +find the most odious of tyrannies, domestic tyranny, and the tyranny of +opinion, established here. I, myself, have been its victim in no less +than six instances. Yes, miss, I was turned out of employment, and +cheated out of my wages, as I would not say my prayers with, or square +my creed in accordance with, the notions of my eccentric and fanatical +employers." + +"That was too bad, Murt," said she, laughing. "Ha, ha, ha!" + +"It was almost as bad as your own attempt to rob these orphan children +of the faith of their fathers. For they were young, innocent, and +helpless; but for me, I am able to work, and can defy any tyrant your +country affords," said he, in a passion. "There is not, I believe," he +added, "on earth, a more odious tyranny, except the landlord tyranny in +Ireland, than that of your sectarian Methodist, Presbyterian, +Episcopalian, Nothingarian tyranny in America." + +"You Irish should learn to correspond with the institutions of the +country, and should not attempt to introduce Popery into this Protestant +land." + +"Protestant land!" said Murty. "We never dream of this being a +Protestant land when we land on its shores. We look on it as the land of +liberty, where no form of religion is dominant, and where all are +equally protected. Protestant land! Why, this sounds odd in a world +first discovered and trod on by Catholics. This sounds bad in a republic +established by the aid of Catholic arms, blood, and treasure, despite of +the tyranny of Protestant England. This slang of Protestant land is +intolerable in a people against whose liberties no Catholic sword was +ever unsheathed, though the founder of the sect of which your friend Mr. +Barker is preacher, John Wesley, offered George III. the services of his +forty thousand Methodists to put down the American rebellion. What +American, what republican, then, of spirit or intelligence, can for an +hour profess himself a follower in religion of such a fanatic as Wesley, +with this well-known fact staring him in the face? How noble the conduct +of Catholic France, or Catholic Ireland, when compared with Protestant +England or Protestant Germany, at the time of the revolution! The two +former Catholic nations sent their men, ships, money, clothing, and +provisions, to aid your insurgent ancestors; Germany and England sent +their armed vessels, their cannon, and their hireling soldiery, to burn +the homesteads, desolate the fields, and murder the wives and children +of your forefathers." + +"I am afraid, Murt," she said, "you will convert me to your notions." +This was said with a tenderness that could not be mistaken. + +"I fear not, miss; you are too old for that," said he, meaningly. + +"I am not so very old as you suppose. I am not so old as uncle Jacob, +yet," she said, perceiving that her meaning was understood by Murty; +"and he became a Papist before he died." + +"God gave him the grace, and I pray that you may receive a like grace; +but I suppose you allude to a different sort of conversion?" said he. + +The truth was, Amanda, having failed to secure the permanent regard of +any of her numerous admirers, was foolish enough, as most old maids are, +to suppose that some green, young, inexperienced lover would be most +likely to be caught in her net. Hence she had her mind fixed on Murty, +whom she regarded, as he really was, a young man of talent, and whose +dependent and menial condition she considered as calculated to balance +the disparity in their age, and as likely to insure her success. This +was why she felt so mortified at being detected by him in her late +attempt on the faith and resolution of Bridget, having, since her +designs on Murty, promised to let the orphans have their own way, after +having attempted to convince him that she was quite indifferent on the +subject of religion, and "that she would be very glad to know more from +him about the Catholic church." + +The detection of her insincerity in this instance, and of the falsity +of her professions, put an end to all her further hopes regarding the +gallant young Irishman, who could not tolerate a falsehood in any body, +but especially in a lady, and who ever after avoided her society as much +as possible. His presence, however, in the house was a sure guaranty to +Bridget of full religious toleration, Amanda's fiery zeal for religion +being succeeded by a flame of a somewhat different nature. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION." + + +We devote this chapter of our narrative to the record of a very strange +succession of circumstances, no less so, however, than true. They may +serve as an illustration of the wonderful and mysterious workings of +Religion on the soul, and, at the same time, afford an instance of the +absolute insufficiency of speculative belief or theoretic religion, +without the every-day practice of her sublime and simple lessons. + +One morning, in the town of Sheffield, England, one John Cunningham, +after confession and communion, called on the Catholic pastor of that +town, for the purpose of procuring a line of commendation, or +testimonial of character, that might be of use to him, as he thought, to +get him employment in some part of the new world, to which he was +preparing to emigrate. The poor fellow then little dreamed that a +priest's recommendatory paper, instead of a dollar bill, was the worst +possible substitute in certain parts of America; and, if of any +conceivable effect, was likely to prove an occasion to him of such +annoyances, on account of his faith, as we have described in these +pages. "The character," however, he succeeded in procuring, and written +in no niggard terms. If it offended in any thing, it was in being too +favorable to the bearer. It was by means of this paper, with the +respectable name of Rev. Dr. H---- at its foot, that Cunningham +succeeded in ingratiating himself into the confidence and favor of the +O'Clerys during the voyage, as well as by his attention to Mr. Arthur +O'Clery during his fatal sickness. The reverend gentleman whose +signature stood at the foot of the "character" was well known to the +O'Clery family; and hence, undoubtedly, originated the intimacy, +strengthened by his asserting falsely that he was a relative of the +priest, which subsequently enabled him to rob the poor widow and her +orphans of their entire means. Accomplished villain as he was, Religion +had not yet lost her whole sway over his soul, and by way of punishing +himself, but in reality, making bad worse, the second day after his +liberation from arrest consequent on the theft, he listed in the United +States army, and was hurried off forthwith to the field of battle, in +Florida. The gnawing worm of remorse still followed him on board of +ship, and in barrack, and on the scorching plains of the south. He had +less dread of the sabre, or grape, or rifle of the enemy, than of the +thought that he had robbed the poor widow, and availed himself of the +confidence of confession to elicit from his too confiding director the +paper that principally enabled him to do so. He had plundered an honest +family of their all, and it was of no use to him. The injury done was +severely felt by not only one, but several. The pleasure, comfort, or +happiness to him was nothing at all. Unhappy man, what was he to do? He +could not help it now; the enemy was before him, and he could not turn +his back, and the money was lost forever. He feared death would deprive +him of the means of making restitution, for he had a presentiment he +would fall on this very day. First, that sin he committed in Liverpool, +when, in an evil hour, yielding to the advice and example of wicked +companions, he took to drink in order to smother the thought of it; and +drink caused him to rob the widow, and to shun further the thought of +these crimes he enlisted in the army; but yet, here, in the very ranks, +with drums beating, and music playing, amid the shouts of Indians and +din of battle, the sins were uppermost still in his mind. How horrid +must be the feelings of poor Cunningham, with death staring him in the +face, and yet he expected nothing but judgment after death! In vain did +he look around for the tall and venerable form of Father McEl----, to +cast himself at his knees, and ask for advice, blessing, and +forgiveness. He was nowhere now to be found. O misery unspeakable! And +but yesterday, but this very morning, four hours ago, that father went +through the ranks, encouraging the men, and exciting them to contrition. +Ah, yes! But yesterday Cunningham had got some drink, and, not +perceiving the danger, refused to confess. But now, if he could see the +priest! "O God!" said he, "where is the priest?" Some of his comrades, +who heard this exclamation expressed aloud, laughed; others taunted him +on his evil conscience. However, down on his knees he fell, as if +unconscious of the presence of his comrades, and promised, if God spared +him, on the first opportunity, that he would not only restore the +stolen treasure, but, if necessary, travel the whole Union in search of +those whom he robbed; and ask their forgiveness for the injury done +them. He had scarcely risen into the ranks of his comrades when the +hostile fire opened on the plains of Tampa, and a bullet from the rifle +of the enemy shattered his arm to pieces. A few hours decided that +well-known victory of the Americans, and Cunningham had not long to +remain on the field, exposed to the scorching sun, when he was conveyed +to the hospital. Though the pain he felt in his arm was great, that +which rankled in his bosom was greater; and on his reaching the +hospital, he called out for Father McEl----, before he would allow the +surgeon to inspect his arm. + +After the amputation of the limb he recovered, got his discharge, came +back to New York, and, in company with a respectable Catholic citizen, +went out about seven miles east of Brooklyn, and there, at the foot of a +maple tree, they dug out of the ground, three feet deep, the bag sure +enough, containing every sovereign and note of the money stolen from the +widow O'Clery. They went with it right straight to the priest of St. +Peter's Church, who, upon hearing the recital of the now penitent thief, +promised that he should suffer no legal consequences, and inserted +advertisements in the papers to find out where the O'Clerys might be. + +This information was communicated to Paul by Mr. Clarke, and to Bridget +by Father Ugo, on the same day. + +This news, when made known, created the most intense excitement. Amanda +was now very polite to Bridget, whom she marked out in her own mind as a +suitable wife for her eldest brother Calvin. Paul was declared to be a +young "likely gentleman," of real genius. The two younger brothers, +Patrick and Eugene, were lauded, flattered, and admired. In fine, the +sudden change which took place in the relation in which they stood in +the house of bondage was such as to cause Murty to remark to Paul,--who +lost no time in coming to pay for his brothers' and sister's board, +although the term of servitude of Bridget was now almost +expired,--"Paul, I see that it is not our faith that is so much hated by +these goodly Christians as our poverty." + +"There may be some truth in that," replied Paul. + +"Ever," continued Murty, "since it appeared in our papers here that you +had your thousand pounds restored to you, all mouths are full of your +praise. You were uncommon children, and it was cruel of the minister +Gulmore to conspire against you. It was infamous in him, they now say, +to have your letters 'burked' in the post office, as it appears from +Amanda, who has turned informer on the parson, because he did not marry +her after his first wife's death. Before this ye were paupers, Irish, +and Papists; now, you and your sister and brothers are noble and likely +young people." + +"O Murty," said Paul, "I can see the hand of God in all this. Where I +have lived for the last three years, several families, together with my +friend and former employer, Mr. Clarke, have been converted. The very +minister, Mr. Strongly, has embraced the true faith; and another parson, +Rev. Mr. H----, I am sure, only waits instruction to enter the gate of +life within the true church." + +"Thank God!" said Murty O'Dwyer. "I thought these Yankees never could be +good Catholics, they are so fond of money, trading, cheating, and legal +swindling, such as assigning, and mortgaging, and the like." + +"O, bless you, Murty, all Yankees are not alike. There are no better +Catholics on earth than Americans, when they once get the faith. Mr. +Clarke, and my friends in Vermont, who consider me as instrumental in +bringing them to the true faith, have paid for my education in the +college of G----, after they found that I was resolved to embrace the +clerical state." + +"That was very generous of them, indeed, sir," said Murty, assuming a +little less familiarity; "those here, in this neighborhood, cannot be +much blamed for their bigotry; they know no better, imposed on for ages +by such fellows as Miller, Scullion, Barker, Gulmore, Grinoble, Scaly, +and the like." + +"But it is not so in the cities, Murty," continued Paul; "and it will +not be so here long; for now railroads are building, light, and +liberality, and, I trust, charity, are extending their influence. We +must do our part, by being good, and virtuous, and prudent; try to gain +them by our good example, rather than by argumentative or angry +discussion. 'They know not what they do' when they contemn, or attempt +to stop the progress of, our faith. They are a naturally good and +kind-hearted people; as witness how they assist the sick and give +hospitality. Such virtues must ultimately gain for them the grace of +conversion. The greatest obstacle in their way is the low cunning of the +unprincipled parsons, who, from being peddlers, and poor, shiftless +mechanics, without any proper discipline or preparation, take to the +less laborious trade of preaching. Pray for them, Murty--pray for them." + +"I have a far stronger inclination to curse them," said Murty. + +"Fie, fie, Murty; that is not Christian." + +"That I know," said Murty; "but have you heard that I have been cheated +out of near two hundred dollars by my employer, and all through the +influence of a villanous parson who got divorced from his wife, on +account of a short answer I made him?" + +"What was the answer, Murty? I suppose it must be droll." + +"One day," said Murty, "this Parson Boorman dined where I worked for two +years, and, to convert me from the error of my ways for observing +abstinence on Friday, commenced saying, 'Don't you see, Murty, how +foolish and unreasonable you act? You eat butter and use milk that come +from the cow, and you refuse to eat her flesh. It's all the same, my +Irish friend,' continued the dominie, pitying my ignorance. 'I have no +great desire, Mr. Dominie,' said I, 'now, for controversy, being +fatigued after my hard day's work; though it takes but little learning +to refute your profound logic. If there is no difference between +drinking milk and eating flesh, then you may as well eat your mother's +flesh, parson, as suck her breast; and as you, I expect, have done the +latter, therefore, dominie, you must be a cannibal. How do you like +this?' said I. + +"'O,' said the dominie, 'the butter, you know, that comes from the cow, +what do you say to that?' 'I say, parson, that there is another +substance besides butter that comes from the cow, and you would not like +to dine on it.' At this the whole company laughed outright in his face, +and from that time to this the dominie never ceased to persecute me." + +"That was a very queer way you took to silence the dominie," said Paul; +"but I presume, after that ludicrous answer, you met with very little +religious controversy afterwards." + +"That's true," said Murty; "but I have suffered the loss of my wages +through the unrelenting malice of the Presbyterian dominie." + +"Never mind, Murty; do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse +you, pray for those who persecute and calumniate you. For your kindness +to Bridget while I was away, I feel bound to give you some remuneration. +Have courage, have courage, and think better of the Yankees. The more +you know of them, the better you will like them. They have their +faults,--as what nation has not?--but they have their virtues also." + +This conversation took place between Paul and Murty in the farm house of +Mr. Clarke, where he had just arrived, as well to spend the vacation as +to make arrangements regarding the future of his brothers and sister. +Murty, upon hearing of his arrival, lost not a moment's time in going +across lots from the Pryings' farm to that of Mr. Clarke, thinking he +might be the first to communicate to Paul the joyous intelligence +regarding the recovery of the lost money, and the pleasing change in the +opinion of all regarding him and his brethren. + +Paul could not but feel grateful for the kindness of his friend Murty; +but he was too well practised in Christian perfection to indulge in any +thing like excessive joy, and too well accustomed to refer every thing +to God to claim any merit, or take any pleasure, in the flattering +eulogies of all his acquaintances, as repeated by Murty. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +WHAT HAPPENED TO LITTLE EUGENE O'CLERY. + + +Fortune now began to smile on Paul O'Clery, and to make amends for the +long course of ill usage to which she had subjected himself and his +kindred. He had not only enjoyed the sympathy of friends, and his +talents had not only gained him the good will and respect of his +superiors and classfellows, but he now unexpectedly found himself in +possession of a handsome sum of money, the fruit of the honest industry +of his parents. The true Catholic training which Paul received from his +very infancy taught him the impropriety of immoderate joy or gladness, +and the severe trials of the last few years had chastened his naturally +hilarious and pleasant mind to a temper of habitual calm and reserve +bordering on melancholy. It must be confessed, in this instance, +however, that his spirit felt unusually buoyant and glad, as he +returned, under present circumstances, to the scene of his late trials +and humiliation. + +There are few persons born, however propitious the position of their +horoscope, who have not, some time or other, to experience the feeling +attendant on a transition from an inferior condition to one of more +respect and honor. It will not, therefore, be difficult to imagine what +were the sentiments of our young hero on his return from the south, on +this occasion. He was a slave; he is now a freeman. He was a menial; he +is now a gentleman. He was the subject on which the hypocrite and the +impostor sought to try the success of their well-taught deceptions; now, +his virtues, his manners, and his success are in the mouths of all men; +and those who plotted against his soul are ready to do homage to his +accomplishments. When St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, returned to +the house of his former master, who held him in slavery,--the glorious +prelate and saint to the hut of the slave,--what must have been the +feelings of his exalted and inspired soul? Not those of hatred, vanity, +or earthly exultation, but those of charity, thanksgiving, and apostolic +zeal, if not those of gratitude, to his pagan master. Kindred to these +was the mental exultation of Paul O'Clery, on approaching the valley of +R---- Creek, the scene of the most meritorious part of his life, and +still the novitiate of those who were the most dear to him on earth. + +He determined not only to redeem his sister and brothers, by paying the +customary sum for whatever clothing and board they had received, but +resolved, as soon as possible, to have them placed in a suitable +educational establishment. Bridget was already free, and by right +entitled to something handsome in remuneration of the services she had +rendered in the family in which she was so long a menial; but Paul was +determined that she should not only refuse accepting what was to fall to +her share, and what in justice she could claim, but said every thing +should be paid for--board, lodging, and even her "_common-school_" +education. "This last item," he said, "was not of the most choice +description,--that is, the 'common-school' learning,--but such as it is +I am unwilling to accept it gratuitously." He had come to the same +conclusion regarding Patrick and Eugene. O, it was on account of these +latter children, principally, that Paul rejoiced and thanked God that +restitution had been made of the stolen money; for he had a burden of +care and anxiety on his mind on account of these two children. It was so +difficult a work, especially as himself could not be with them, to save +young boys like them from the contagious vice so prevalent in this +country; and, above all, so hard to preserve young boys in the +atmosphere of your "common schools." Bridget might be said to be safe, +for she could remove to a better and more Christian neighborhood, or +return to her friends in the old country; but Patrick, and, above all, +Eugene, who were in the hands of utter strangers, how were they to be +saved from the universal corruption, when deprived of the continual +guardianship of their faithful brother? These were the considerations, +and not the sole recovery of the money restored to him, that contributed +to the increase of the joy, and gratitude, and thanksgiving in the heart +of Paul that now pervaded it. Alas! that this joy and these pleasant +anticipations of future prospects were of such short duration! + +In order to understand the following statement of facts in relation to +the fate of poor Eugene O'Clery, it is necessary here to observe that, +just after Paul had, by means of the support received from his convert +friends in Vermont, been enabled to enter college, a gentleman, who +stated that he took a great interest in Paul, from what he learned from +the Rev. Mr. Strongly about him, wrote him a long letter. + +The burden of the epistle was, that the writer was a minister, with +views not far removed from those of the Rev. Mr. Strongly, the convert +to the Catholic church; that he had heard a good deal about Paul and his +trials and success; that he lately visited at Mr. Reuben Prying's, where +his two little brothers now remained; that he pitied them, but +especially the younger, for that they lacked the opportunity of a better +and more _Catholic_ education; that, in fine, he, Dr. Dilman, if Paul +consented, would take the younger, Eugene, with him into the city, where +his education could be attended to, and where he, at least, might be +saved from the influence of the barbarous mannerism and irreligious +taint of these country "common schools." His reverence the doctor +furthermore added, that Mr. Prying had no objection to the arrangement +he proposed, and that he had conquered the repugnance that Mrs. Prying +had to the separation of the brothers by the very flattering terms on +which he offered _to do_ for the child. + +In a postscript of this letter, it was stated by this veracious +_Christian minister_, as he signed himself, that he would send Paul +quarterly or monthly bulletins of Eugene's progress in science and +virtue, and, above all, that his faith should not be tampered with in +the slightest. + +The effect of such an artful piece of diplomacy may be easily +conceived. The bait of the parson took, and Paul was for once +overreached. The unsuspecting youth took this gentleman to be a +clergyman of the same stamp with his friends Rev. Messrs. Strongly and +H----. And the fact that Parson Dilman was acquainted with the former +honorable men, was enough to throw Paul off his guard. The parson's +talk, too, about "_Catholic education_," and the "barbarous" common +schools, served still to deceive, not only Paul, but even the professors +of the college to whom the epistle of Parson Dilman was submitted for +advice and direction. + +Paul was enthusiastic in the praise of his two reverend convert friends +in Vermont, (who were the only two Protestant parsons he intimately knew +before or after conversion,) and hence, when questioned by the +professors about what he might know of his correspondent, he answered +that he knew nothing; but the fact of his intimacy and acquaintance with +the ex-parsons Strongly and H----, his friends and patrons, was "a good +sign of his honesty and honor." The shrewd Jesuit professors smiling at +the poor child's credulous and confiding disposition, told him that, as +he had such an opinion of the worth and honor of the fraternity of +dominies, he might commit his brother to the charge of one, and +especially as he stood in very great danger to his faith and morals +where he was at present. His situation might be ameliorated, but could +not be much worse; but the good fathers declined taking the +responsibility of giving a decision on the subject. + +"The letter promised what was fair and honorable, but there might be +deception," said they. + +"Deception, reverend fathers!" said Paul. "I can't suspect any such +thing in one so intimate with my dearest and best friends, the converted +clergymen in Vermont." + +"Well," said the sons of Ignatius, whose wise experience had taught them +to have little faith in heretical parsons, "you can use your own +discretion, my child." + +Paul, acting on the impulse of his own feelings, thinking it would be a +rash judgment in him to suspect evil design in one who professed himself +favorable to Catholicity, and, besides, was of the same sentiments in +religion, or nearly the same, with his convert friends in Vermont, +immediately wrote in answer to Dr. Dilman, consenting to have Eugene go +with him. But there was to be no legal binding in the matter, and honor +was to be the only bond under which his younger brother was to be held +bound. + +The day now arrived for Eugene to part--alas! that it should be +forever--from the society of his brother and sister. At first, some +opposition was made by Patrick and Bridget; but when shown the letter of +their brother Paul, they were reconciled to what they thought the +temporary separation. Eugene himself was calmed, and his sorrow turned +into joy, by being told that he was going towards where Paul was, and +that, like enough, he would meet him on his way. + +"Can I see Paul there?" said he, drying the tears that stood in his +eyes. + +"Sartain you can. Don't you like that, Bob?" said Reuben, who was in +the plot with Dilman. + +"Well, I'll go, then," said the child. "Good by, Bid; good by, Pat. You +stay there till Paul and I come to see ye." + +All the household of Reuben embraced Eugene, and made him some little +present, before he set out. An abundance of tears were shed by young and +old, as the melancholy and thoughtful face of Eugene was seen by them +for the last time. + +Truth compels us to say a word or two in reference to the antecedents of +this reverend doctor of Presbyterianism into whose _protection_ this +innocent lamb was taken. Dr. Dilman was about sixty years old at this +time; and after having lived in some manner with his first wife for near +thirty years, had lately taken out a bill of divorce by law against the +"old woman," to make room for a young _religious lady_ in his reverend +bed. During his long life, he had changed his creed no less than nine +times. He was first an Episcopalian; but having been refused ordination +in that sect, on account of some peccadilloes of his youth, he joined +the Methodists, from whom he received conversion and a call. Being a man +of undoubted talent, and thinking the Methodists were too slow in +promoting him, he became a Baptist. His next hop was to the +Universalists, whom, because he found too penurious, he deserted for the +Congregationalists, from whom he got a call to a southern pro-slavery +church, where, after amassing considerable wealth in cash and "human +chattels," he resigned his charge, came to the north again to recruit +his sinking constitution, and, after trying two or three other minor +sects, he settled down an old-school anti-slavery Presbyterian. Poor +man! his star has gone down now, and his memory will soon be forgotten; +but the anecdotes and tales that his extraordinary life illustrated will +not be forgotten for generations to come. The passage in his study, +through which he used to admit his "Cressida" from a secret door +communicating with his "basement church," is now shown as a specimen of +his skill. The transformations and metamorphoses he used to undergo, +like Jupiter of old, in order to pass unobserved to the retreats of his +"Europas," on the sides and on the summits of the classically-sounding +hills of the city of his ministry,--all these things, and more, are +known to the poorest retailers of interesting stories and anecdotes. In +a word, he was as impure as Caligula, as cruel as Nero or Calvin +himself, and as violent as Luther or John Knox. + +Yet it is a melancholy fact in connection with, and illustrative of, the +spirit of the Protestantisms of the United States, that for twenty years +and more, with all this guilt, with all the crimes in the calendar on +his head, with the full knowledge of all his sins of impurity, +hypocrisy, intolerance, and cruelty to his wife, this _reverend +gentleman_ was the most popular, well-supported, and _respected_ +minister in the whole state in which he resided. He was a good preacher, +an eloquent expounder of the word, a smart man; that was enough. +Protestantism could not afford to lose him now, when she was so spare of +the giants to which she owes her existence. + +This was the Rev. Dr. Dilman who took Eugene under his care about whom +Reuben Prying remarked, after he had left the house, that the doctor was +a "real smart man." "Your church, Murty," said he, "can't scare up such +a grand preacher as that. Did you hear that lecture he delivered last +winter against Popery? He is an honor to our church, I can tell you." + +"Why so?" said Murty; "what has he done that you esteem him so high?" + +"Nothin', but bein' so eloquent and talented, and able to address such a +feeling prayer _to his hearers_." + +"Bless you, I know one much more talented than ever he will be," said +Murty. + +"I guess not, Murty," said he, shaking his head; "who is it?" + +"Why, the devil," said Murty, "beats him all to pieces. Your parson only +opposes the pope, you say; whereas the devil opposes both the pope and +the Almighty. What is any of your ministers to great 'Ould Harry'? I bet +you are beat now. Ha! ha! ha!" said the Irishman, laughing. + +"You are a curious feller, Murty," said Mr. Prying. + +"Am I not right?" said Murty. "You praise your minister, _not_ because +he is good, charitable, humane, chaste, or pious, (all which he possibly +may be,) but solely because he is talented or endowed with genius. Well, +then, I tell you this gains him no merit, for he received this gift from +God. He may abuse it; and, at any rate, the devil, the very enemy of +God, is endowed with more genius than he and all the Protestant parsons +living put together. I think this is fair _arguing_, Mr. Prying, don't +you?" + +"Let's drop it, Murty," said Mr. Prying, not liking to hear any more of +such "arguing," particularly as the children were present, and seemed +much to enjoy the home-spun comparison between the Dominie Dilman and +"Old Harry." This was the first time they were observed to laugh since +the departure of poor Eugene. + +Meanwhile, poor Eugene arrived in the city of the parsonage of his +reverend protector, where he was received with apparent affection by +that gentleman's wife. During the first three days after his arrival, +several of the "saints," male and female, of the doctor's church, came +to see the new acquisition, as well as to congratulate the parson on the +success of his plan. The little orphan was flattered, caressed, and +encouraged by the promise of nice clothes and other presents. And it +would be unnatural to expect that the innocent heart of a child of his +age, now between eight and nine years, could remain insensible to the +caresses and favors bestowed. The little lad felt quite content; nay, a +gradual sunshine began to spread over the calm melancholy of his angelic +face. + +They first imposed on the child by telling him that his reverend +protector was the priest. He believed it for some time; but when, after +two weeks were elapsed, he was permitted to go to church, he was +perfectly surprised at "the quare way the priest said mass." He saw no +candles lighted on the altar. He heard no little bell rung at various +parts of the service. He saw no persons "bless themselves" there, +either. "I suppose," said he to himself, "they would not tell a lie; but +that was a very strange mass I was at to-day." + +Friday came round soon after, and then little Eugene learned where he +stood. Then he saw what hypocrites the self-styled priest, his wife, and +all in his house were. He had perceived his reverence help himself +plentifully to fat meat; and Eugene was invited to eat it himself, but +declined, saying, "I would be a Protestant if I eat meat on Friday; and +I fear ye are all here Protestants." A suppressed laugh was all that his +remark could elicit from these worthies whose gluttony gave him such +scandal. + +Eugene's eyes were further opened by some boys at school, who laughed +heartily at his expense when he asked about the "strange mass" that he +had heard on Sunday. + +"What mass?" said they; "sure it is only the Popish priests that offer +mass, and it is a wicked thing to go to mass." + +The poor child, on seeing the snare laid for him, burst into tears and +wept aloud, calling for his brother Paul by name, and crying, "O woe! +woe! woe!" + +The school madam was attracted by the lamentable cries of the lad, and, +learning the cause of them, reprimanded the impudent boys, and tried to +console him. Her attempts were, however, in vain. The child seeing +himself sold and betrayed, his candid soul fell back to its former +melancholy, and he drooped under the weight of the injustice of which he +was the victim. + +From that day forward he refused to attend either the night prayers of +the "false priest," or to go to any of his meetings, and to the hour of +his death this resolution could never be shaken by all the wiles of his +persecutors. Several new arts and schemes were tried to vanquish his +resolution, but all to no purpose. He was alternately coaxed and +threatened, but all attempts either to flatter or force him proved +ineffectual. He was several times locked up in a dark room, which was +the terror of a young nephew of the parson, who was in the house, but +which had far less terror for this young confessor than the smiles of +his false friends. He was heard by young Sam, who often went to the door +of the dread prison, chanting his favorite hymn, thus:-- + + "Ave Maria! hear the prayer + Of thy poor, helpless child; + Beneath thy sweet, maternal care, + Preserve me undefiled." + +And when spoken to through the keyhole, he answered that he was not a +bit afraid of "Spookes," and that there was plenty of light for him to +say his prayers. Even the parson himself, in company with his wife, went +to listen at the door of where their prisoner was confined, and for a +moment their hard hearts even were softened by the sweet, plaintive +chant of the "Ave Maria." + +"Are you sorry for your disobedience, now, Eugene?" said the parson; +"and will you attend prayers and meeting when you are told?" + +"I can't promise to do what would displease God, and what my brother +Paul and the priest told me not to do, sir," said the child. + +"Don't you know, Eugene, the priest is a wicked man, and the Lord will +punish you in a dark dungeon, darker than that room you are in, if you +do not do what I tell you?" added the persecuting parson. + +All this talk was lost on poor Eugene, who continued chanting his little +hymn, or repeating the "Hail Mary" and "Holy Mary," for his father and +mother's souls. In a word, after a series of whippings, confinements, +and scoldings, after compelling him either to eat flesh on Friday, or +fast all day without any other food, Parson Dilman, out of sheer shame, +gave him up, and confessed himself vanquished by the Catholic child. He +did not give him up for good, however, but, by way of making more sure +of his victim, he sent him out into the country, to undergo the +treatment of a more zealous and perfect disciplinarian than himself. +This pious Christian was no other than Shaw Gulvert, who was known to be +a prodigy of sanctity, and had a world of zeal in reconciling obstinate +heretics, or pagans, (as he called all but his own sect,) to the true +standard of old Presbyterianism. He could boast of having most of the +Old Testament by heart, making a prayer or "asking a blessing" of one +hour's duration in the delivery; and by these virtues, and others he +knew how to practise, every person who lived in his house, or came +within the influence of his zeal, was sure "to get religion in no time." +'Tis true, he met some unlucky converts, and one or two very obstinate +Papists whom he did not convert at all; but he soon despatched and +discharged these latter. And he was especially mortified at the conduct +of one Tipperary man, named Burk, who had the audacity to bring the +priest to say mass in a house which the latter rented from him. The +house has ever since been locked up, the pious Christian, Mr. Shaw +Gulvert, preferring to let it rot and totter in ruin, rather than run +the risk of having a Catholic tenant, who, like Burk, would be wicked +enough to allow the priest inside the threshold. + +This is the gentleman who is intrusted with the conversion of poor +Eugene O'Clery, the Irish emigrant orphan; and he set about the work in +right earnest fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE SAME, CONTINUED. + + +During the first two months, Eugene had comparatively but little to fear +from the bigotry of his protector at Greenditch; but he was not indebted +for this limited peace to the generosity of Mr. Shaw Gulvert. Indeed, +that ignorant and cruel man dared not to execute his designs regarding +the little confessor of the cross, while his two hired men, named +Devlin, were in his house to enlighten his ignorance and reprimand his +audacity. These two young men, brothers, were hired for a year by +Gulvert, under the impression that they were native born; but after the +contract between them was signed, and especially when Friday came on, +Mr. Gulvert found he was _gulled_, and ran off to the parson, one +Waistcoat, to see what was to be done. The young men told him not to be +alarmed if he thought their presence would endanger his peace of mind, +or that any dangerous consequences were to be apprehended from two such +formidable soldiers of the Pope as they were; that he could easily get +rid of them by paying them their year's wages, and they would go +elsewhere to work; but that, while in his house, they insisted on +perfect religious and mental independence. "And in future," said they, +"we expect to see cooked and on the table, on Fridays and fast days, +such food as we can partake of without scruple of conscience, or +violating the rules of the Catholic religion, of which we are unworthy +members." + +"This is strange," said Gulvert; "why did you not tell me ye belonged to +Rome, and were Irish?" + +"Why did we not tell you? Because you did not ask us. And besides, boss, +you hired us to work, and not to worship or believe according to your +notion." + +"I have never before kept a Papist to work for me," said he, drawing a +heavy sigh. + +"Well, boss, you can't know much about them, then. Perhaps you will be +agreeably disappointed, and find that, if we do not join your very long +prayers, we will _work_ as well as the most red-hot Presbyterian." + +"I am much in doubt about that," said the boss. + +"Why so, boss? Can we not handle the plough, use the scythe, or the +cradle as well as if we were of your school of heresy?" + +"I allow; but the good book says that 'men don't gather grapes of +thorns, or figs of thistles;' so I am afraid my crops would not prosper, +if religious men were not employed in my fields." + +"O, you need not be alarmed, boss. God makes his sun to shine on the +good and the bad; and though we Papists appear very wicked in your pious +Presbyterian eyes, or in those of your amiable Methodist lady here, we +will guaranty your crops will be as good as those of your neighbors, +otherwise we will ask no pay. Ain't this fair?" + +"Yes; but the good book, you know. The Bible says so plainly," answered +the wife, "that men gather not grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." + +"Bless you, madam," said the elder Devlin, "you are mistaken in the +meaning of that text, which has a figurative sense, and has no reference +to corn, pumpkins, rye, or any other crop that your farm produces." + +She shook her head in dissent to this speech, and in a most sanctified +tone said, "Our minister, Dr. Waistcoat, always applied that text to the +Papists when advising us against employing Romanist hired help." + +"That only proved him a booby, madam," said Devlin. "That text partly +alludes to the Presbyterian sect, and partly to the Methodist, to which +you belong." + +"I would like to see how you can show that," said she, affecting great +learning in such interpretations. + +"As clear as mud, madam," resumed Devlin. "The Presbyterian religion is +the 'thorn' tree on which no 'grapes' grow; for that sect reject the +Holy Eucharist, containing the blood of Christ, of which the grape is a +figure. It is full of thorns, for it persecutes and stings the head of +the Savior in his representative the pope; and it produces no 'grape,' +no sacrament, no good works, no refreshing food or drink. Again: the +'thistle,' that produces no figs, is the Methodist religion; because, +though it has plenty of stings and prickles to wound the hand that +touches it, the very ass that goes the road can bite off its head. Or, +in other words, though ye Methodists are malicious enough, all your +malice is harmless to the church, and a very fool can refute or crop +the most formidable of your arguments." + +This queer _private interpretation_ disconcerted the _learned_ boss and +his better half, and during the remainder of the service of the Devlins +they did not hear much more about the religious interpretations of these +professors of two contradictory sectarian creeds. The Devlins showed, +not only to the boss and his wife, that they knew more about the Bible +than themselves, but the minister, Mr. Waistcoat, was soon convinced, by +conversation with them, that they were not to be duped. The consequence +was, that the persecution to which Eugene was subjected was arrested for +a time; and it was not till after the Devlins were paid off that this +innocent child was again subjected to a series of punishments and brutal +treatment without parallel in the records of modern persecution. + +Every Friday that the young confessor refused, after the example of holy +Eleazer, "to eat flesh, or go over to the life of the heathens," (2 Mac. +vi. 24.) he was compelled to go without food till the Sunday following. +He was flogged with a "black snake," till the blood flowed in rills, +every time he refused going to meeting. He was compelled to stand out +under rain and storm, scorching sun and chilling frost, during the time +the family spent in prayer. Yes, tied with a thong to the pump by his +little soft, white hands, the juvenile martyr had to bear the merciless +violence of the elements, or consent to share in the blasphemous prayers +of his persecutors! And, O God! worse than all, they robbed him of his +rosary, and of the little bunch of shamrocks which were the only legacy +of his dying mother to him, and which his sister Bridget and he took so +much pains to keep alive in a small glass vase brought from Ireland. The +"_Agnus Dei_" and "_Gospel_" which it is usual with Irish Catholic +children to wear around the neck, were also forcibly stripped off his +person and put into the stove. + +All his much-prized memorials were now gone--his beads, or rosary, with +the crucifix attached, to remind him of his Redeemer; his little vase of +shamrocks, to remind him of Ireland and St. Patrick; and his "Gospel of +St. John," and "Agnus Dei," to recall to his mind his dignity and +obligations as a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and his +confidence in the Lamb of God who took away his sins. These constituted +all the riches and treasure of Eugene, and of these he was plundered and +stripped ere he was confined in the old deserted house that stood a few +rods away from the dwelling house, and where soon all the persecutions +he suffered were terminated. + +One evening in October, the team of Mr. Gulvert broke loose from the +post to which they were tied while he was at meeting, and, taking +fright, rushed along at full speed on a narrow by-road by the river that +ran through the village, till, coming in contact with the root of a tree +that protruded from the road, the horses and wagon were precipitated +over a fall of some twenty feet into the channel of the river beneath. +As the night was dark, and the road the animals took in their furious +course was not known, it was not till next morning that the fate of the +team was discovered, though not only Gulvert himself, but his hired +help, including his servant girl and wife even, were out all night on +the search for them. + +If the most unexpected calamity had visited these _enlightened_ +Christians--if two of their children, instead of two of their horses, +had met with a sudden death,--their grief could not be more heartrending +or despairing than on this occasion. The whole family was in an uproar. +There were wringing of hands, lamentable cries, and bewailings the most +bitter, of the death of the best team in the town of Greenditch. The +very children, down to the youngest of six years old, joined their tears +to those of their parents and the adult members of the family. Not a +wink was slept, not a morsel of victuals cooked, nor even a fire kindled +in Mr. Culvert's house that night, and it was more than a week before +the pious Mrs. Gulvert could be consoled or prevailed on to show herself +down stairs. She was either really sick, or affected sickness, so that +it was doubted whether or not she could survive the loss of her "darling +team." O, what a loss was there! "The team would fetch two hundred +dollars between two brothers, and it was only last month the new wagon +cost seventy or eighty dollars; and all now gone." + +"What a misfortune that I went out to hear that preacher at all on the +Sabbath!" said Gulvert. "Had I remained at home, or walked down to +meeting, I would be three hundred dollars richer to-day than I am now." + +"Pa, where were the two Paddies, Pete and Bill, that they did not mind +the team while you were in meeting?" said young Harry. + +"Hang the cusses, Harry! They wanted to hear the preacher, too," +answered the father. + +"If I were you, pa," said little Libby, "I would keep the price of the +hosses out of Pete and Bill's wages, the ugly fellows, that did not mind +and keep the team from running away." + +"That would be but sarving 'em right, Lib," said her mother, heaving a +sigh. + +"Yes, wife," said Gulvert, "that I would gladly do; but you know they +are in my debt. I will be glad enough if they wait to work out the money +that I have advanced them." + +"You didn't _advance_ them money, did you, Gulvert?" said his wife. + +"Yes, I did that," said he, "by the advice of that old fool Parson +Waistcoat, who expected, as he succeeded in converting Pete and Bill +Kurney, that he would also convert the rest of their friends, if they +were out here from Popish Ireland." + +"O Gulvert," said his better half, sobbing again anew, "you will kill +me! I cannot live with you, that is the amount of it! How dare you, sir, +lend money, or dispose, of my means, without first having consulted me! +I lay my death at your door!" she added, in a sharp, angry tone. + +"Dear wife, don't blame me----" + +"Away, old man!" she interrupted, "away, and leave me here to despair! I +fear I will never again leave this bed; and if I find myself able, I +shall never after spend a day in your house, but go back to my native +state, and take out a bill of divorce against a man who knows nothing +but to spend and squander the means of his family." + +"O ma," said Libby, "do go away from father, the ugly fool, and I will +go with you, won't I?" + +"He ain't nothing else, sis," said she, "but a poor ugly fool, a +shiftless, good-for-nothing old man. O, me! O, me! I could easily have +known that this would be the case, from the dreams I had for two +nights." + +"I had a dream too, ma," said sis, who, though only going in her eighth +year, was perfectly well versed in all the arcana of the science of +interpretation. "I dreamed I saw you crying, ma," continued Lib, "and +that there was blood on the stairs, and all way up garret, and that +Shaw, my father, had spilt the blood all round." + +"That's just it, sis," said her mother; "the blood signifies the death +of our 'darling team;' my crying is on account of them; and Shaw, the +fool, your father, was the cause of all this trouble, and that is why he +appeared to you to spill the blood. My dream was not so clear as yours, +but I could have guessed that something was going to be the matter." + +Poor Gulvert was in great pain, in consequence, among other things, of +the oft-repeated threat of his wife to separate from him; and, to give +vent to his sorrowful reflections, he went up garret as quietly as he +could, and folding himself up in several heavy "comforters," or padded +quilts, he forgot his grief by falling into a sound sleep. Meantime Pete +and Bill Kurney, the two Irish converts of Parson Waistcoat, seeing +things in confusion, thought that now was the time for them to free +themselves forever from the hypocrisy, as well as bad board, of Mr. +Culvert; and, to add to the grief of Mrs. Gulvert, next morning they +were not to be had. These knowing fellows, hearing of Gulvert's +character, put themselves in his way, and being questioned as to the +nature of their doctrines, and finding them suitable to his taste, he +hired them, and brought them home to work on his farm. They not only +became "converts" during the first week in his house, but went to +meeting regularly, where they were complimented on their highmindedness +and independence in shaking off Popery, and got frequent chances to tell +their experience. Besides their hypocrisy, these were thorough +scoundrels; for they not only robbed their employer of the two hundred +dollars which he had advanced them to bring out their parents from the +old country, but in addition to this, and to the severity of the +punishments which their apostasy occasioned Eugene, these consummate +miscreants seduced the two sisters of Mr. Gulvert, one of them an old +maid, whom they imposed upon by their lying representations and profane +discourses. Here was a little more of the natural fruit of Mr. Gulvert's +great zeal for his sect. His two hired men were gone, without having +served one eighth of the two years they had agreed to work for the money +advanced to them; both his sisters, _pious things_, yielding to +temptation, were in a fair road to disgrace; and, to cap the climax of +the unfortunate man's guilt and remorse, Eugene O'Clery, neglected in +his prison in the old house, on the morning of All Saints' day, first of +November, was found dead on its damp floor! Yes, this spotless, +innocent, and almost infant but heroic confessor of Christ, after a +course of worse than pagan persecution continued for more than two +years, in the midst of legions of blessed spirits passed out of this +world, to add to the joy and glory of heaven by his heroic virtues. O ye +mock philanthropists, ye lovers, on the lip, of freedom of conscience, +where was your voice, where your sympathy, where your indignation, where +your meetings, speeches, and resolutions, when this Catholic child, this +destitute orphan, this noble son of Catholic Ireland, this spotless +confessor and glorious martyr of Christ, was being sacrificed, like his +divine Master, to the demon of cruel sectarianism? O, the blood of this +innocent Abel, of this infant martyr, shed by the cruel Herod of +Presbyterianism, will cry to Heaven for vengeance on your heads, and +bring a curse on your hypocrisy and dissimulation. + +The news of Eugene's death, communicated by the servant maid, created a +sudden fear, but very little sympathy, in the brutal family of Mr. +Gulvert. Overwhelmed by the loss of their "darling team," and confounded +by the loss of the money which the mock converts succeeded in cheating +them of, they had neither tears nor sympathy to spare for such a trifle +as the death of a "little Papist child." + +The servant girl, however, who was a Scotch lassie, called Jane McHardy, +cried bitterly over the death of the "poor orphan laddie," and, in +company with two neighboring workmen, or cotters, who _passed_ for +Protestant Irishmen, watched around the corpse all night, and on the +day of its interment in the pagan cemetery, situated in a barren corner +of Gulvert's farm, they lingered for a considerable time around the +spot, to the scandal of the religious people who assembled to take a +look at the "face of the dead," and who began to suspect that those two +pretended Protestants were Catholics in disguise. Their suspicions were +well founded, as their subsequent conduct proved; for the two cotters, +on the Sunday following Eugene's death, went to the meeting house for +the last time, where they, in giving their experience, boldly professed +themselves Catholics, asked pardon of the people for having deceived and +imposed on the public, inveighing, at the same time, against the system +of persecution and underhand proselytism that prevailed, and which +produced the death of Eugene O'Clery. + +"Your ministers think they have great merit," said the Irish cotters, +whose names were Lee and Twohy, "when they succeed in causing a lax +Catholic to trample on every precept of his religion and to perjure +himself; but as God is just, and as those who counsel to evil partake of +its guilt, and will have to suffer its punishment, so will all the sins +that your minister's cruel advice led us to commit be laid to his charge +before the just tribunal of Christ." + +After this speech, the two Irish Catholic cotters retired from the +meeting, and ever since these two men have proved, by their repentance, +zeal, humility, and perseverance, that, though they fell from the +external practice of their faith, they did so influenced by the evil +advice and misrepresentations of persons who took advantage of their +inexperience and poverty to lead them astray. They were gradually, +however, becoming reconciled to the hard life of hypocrisy and sin which +they were induced to enter on, and might have forever continued in the +reprobate path on which, in an evil hour, they walked, had not the cruel +martyrdom of the holy orphan child aroused them from their slumbers. +Thus, as of old, does the "blood of martyrs become the seed of new +Christians;" and thus is Erin, even in America, still true to her +Heaven-appointed destiny--which is, that of being a missionary and a +martyr in the new world as well as in the old. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + "Considerate, et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus." + "Attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." + + LAM. JER. + + +There was a complete suspension of the ordinary occupations on the farm +of Gulvert for near ten days, owing to the trials with which his family +was visited. The wife was still confined to her room, and continually +threatening her husband with the divorce, who, on his part, had no heart +to conduct the necessary work of his farm, he felt so dispirited at the +loss of his team and of the money out of which "his converts" had +tricked him. Add to this that there were very ugly rumors going the +round of the neighborhood in reference to the ill usage the little Irish +orphan met with. While he was living and in suffering, there was nobody +to sympathize with him or to say a word in his favor; but now, when that +sympathy could do him no good, according to the custom of modern +philanthropy, there was an abundance on hand, and the conduct of Shaw +Gulvert, as the agent of Parson Waistcoat, was censured by a thousand +tongues. This is characteristic of Protestant charity: when one is dying +of hunger, or forced to beg a crum of bread, she shuts her ears, and +points to the prison or poorhouse, as the only proper retreat for +whoever is compelled to commit the _sin_ of mendicity; but no sooner +does the victim of her own neglect or misdirected benevolence die, no +sooner is he out of the reach of all human relief, than the heralds of +Protestant charity gather round his tomb, to proffer their assistance, +aid, and liberality--like the Jews building the tombs of the prophets +put to death by their own malice. + +This was the case in the instance here related. Some were for having the +body of the martyred Eugene exhumed, to see if there were any marks of +violence visible. Some proposed to raise a collection to have a monument +raised on his grave, and all unanimously condemned Gulvert's cruelty to +the "dear little child." What principally turned the current and force +of public opinion against Gulvert was, that he was impudent enough to go +and demand restitution of Parson Waistcoat, of the money that, on +account of his recommendation, he advanced to the runaway converts. And +the parson, to be revenged on Gulvert, on next meeting day called on the +congregation for their prayers, to save said Gulvert from the relapsing +gulf into which he had fallen. The parson, enraged at being held +accountable for the money lost by Gulvert, through his own "want of +godliness," as he termed it, and incensed on account of Gulvert's +declaration of deserting his church, held him up continually as a stray +sheep, and already, if not lost, far advanced on the broad way to +perdition. In the midst of this excitement, the progress of public +feeling against Gulvert was suddenly checked by the following +afflicting and sudden accidents. + +The wife of Gulvert, being a Boston lady, of course was altogether in +favor of the Sons of Temperance; but, by some means or other, she +happened always to keep a little in the house for medicinal purposes. It +was well known, among the well informed, that this lady, having been +"jilted," or, in other words, deceived, by a merchant in her native +city, who promised to marry her, was subject to frequent melancholy +attacks, and on these occasions especially did she make use of +"medicinal brandy." She suffered from one of these periodical attacks +now, and, consequently, the medicinal glass was always within her reach. +On the small stand by her bed stood two tumblers, one containing the +medicinal "eau de vie," and the other was half full of vinegar. + +She ordered Jane, on this fatal day, to pour a little laudanum into that +tumbler that contained the vinegar, to see if, by applying it to her +temples, it would not allay the terrible headache which she said had +tormented her. Instead of pouring the poison into the vinegar glass, +where would the Scotch Abigail empty the cruet but into the tumbler with +the brandy in it? Her mistress soon after quaffed off the liquor into +which the poisonous drug had been poured, and in an hour after she was a +lifeless corpse. This was not all; for, on the day of the funeral, young +Harry, Mr. Gulvert's son and heir, in order to show his devotion to his +beloved parent's remains, was all the morning busy in collecting flowers +with which to deck the room where she was laid in state, and, +attempting to reach a flower that grew out of the side of a deep, +deserted well, in the lower end of the garden, the little fellow fell in +and was drowned. "When the feet of them who buried" Mrs. Gulvert "were +at the door," they found out the corpse of Harry was at the bottom of +the well. It was a long time before any body could be induced to go into +that well, as well because it was very deep as on account of the +prevalent report in the neighborhood that Gulvert's father had killed a +negro and cast him into the well, with heavy weights attached to him. +After several unsuccessful attempts to raise the body, they at length +succeeded, by the aid and undaunted courage of a young man who was just +after riding up to the crowd, and who, on learning the cause of such a +gathering, generously volunteered to go into the well, notwithstanding +the hints he received from some of the bystanders that the "nigger" was +at the bottom. In a few minutes Paul O'Clery was at the bottom of the +"enchanted well," and, amid shouts of "Bravo!" and "Well done!" almost +instantly returned, with the lifeless body of little Harry in his arms. +But what's this that he finds tangled in the drowned child's hands? It +is surely the beads of his beloved mother, which she bequeathed as her +dying legacy to his youngest brother Eugene. How did it get into the +well? He trembled visibly as it struck his mind that possibly Eugene +might have fallen in too. + +"Are you sure there is nobody else in?" said he to the bystanders. + +"No, there ain't nobody else in," said Gulvert; "all we have left, now, +are around here." + +"And how came this relic to get into the well?" said Paul. "I think I +saw this before." + +"That? O, that's a toy that a young Papist orphan which we had used to +say his prayers on." + +"And where is that orphan now? O, tell me, where is he? For God's sake +tell me, where is my beloved brother?" exclaimed Paul. + +"He is dead." + +"O, don't mock me, but tell me the truth. I assure you I am a brother of +the orphan child, Eugene O'Clery. What has become of him?" + +"We do not joke, my young gentleman," said an aged man in the crowd. +"Your brother, the orphan you allude to, died suddenly on the night of +the first of this month, and was interred in yon mound on the second of +the month." + +"O Lord! O Lord! grant me patience. O my brother! O Eugene! O beloved +child of our hearts! what has become of you? Did you die on your bed, or +meet with an accident? or how did these beads you loved so well come +into this horrid, pestiferous well? O, woe is me! Why did I ever let you +out of my sight? Why did I not remain in servitude and slavery, rather +than let you into the care of the cruel, false-hearted stranger? O +villanous deceiver! O infamous prevaricator! Parson Dilman, why did I +listen to your seductive promises?" + +The reader may imagine, for we cannot adequately describe, the burden +of woe and grief which took possession of the soul of Paul when he found +that his darling brother, on whose account he suffered so much anxiety +and came such a distance, was gone forever from his sight. And when he +learned how he died; how, after countless tortures, by whippings, by +hunger, and by confinement, the delicate martyr of Christ was allowed to +perish on the damp floor of an old, deserted house; how he was deprived +of the memorials of his faith and country; how he was buried with as +little ceremony, and as much indifference, as if he had been an +irrational animal,--when he learned all these circumstances from the two +Irish cotters, Lee and Twohy, it took him to pray continually not to +yield to feelings of hatred and revenge. + +A circumstance related to him, however, by the peasants, whose +hospitality Paul consented to avail himself of for a few days, served to +reconcile him to Eugene's fate, and to inspire him with the most exalted +sentiments of forgiveness and good will towards the murderers of his +brother. Every night since Eugene's burial a bright column of light was +seen rising from his tomb, and terminating in the heavens above, where +the column became gradually wider, till it became like a wide circle of +glory, similar to that which appears around the moon on a winter's +night, when the atmosphere is at the snowing temperature. In the centre +of the circle appeared a beautiful cross of most perfect proportions, +and so bright in the bright circle that it was perfectly dazzling, and +the sight could with difficulty be fixed on it for an instant. + +This phenomenon was seen by the two Irish cotters frequently, and all +the neighbors around had observed the lower part of the column, but +concluded that it was phosphorus, which, they said, from some cause or +other, either the nature of the soil or from the bodies interred there, +ascended to the clouds, attracted by some atmospheric body there. Paul, +too, was blessed with this happy sight, but without indulging in the +gratification of a too curious or protracted observation of this vision; +and being fully convinced that it was no phosphoric combination of +natural phenomena, concluded to take off the body of his beloved +brother, and have it interred, in a Christian manner, in the same +consecrated tomb in which the remains of his father reposed. He was also +fortunate enough, by the payment of a liberal bonus, to succeed in +raising the body of his mother, whose tomb he was able to find out, by a +measurement which, on the day of her interment, he had made, and from +certain stones placed by him at the head of her coffin. + +Thus, by the piety of a son and a brother, were the three bodies of +these members of this pious and renowned family united again after a +temporary separation. "Lovely and comely in their life, even in death +they were not divided." In a Catholic cemetery, in the vicinity of New +York, can now be seen a beautiful monument of Italian marble, with the +names, ages, and places of the nativity of Arthur O'Clery, and his wife +Cecilia, and their son Eugene, inscribed in a neat cruciform slab in one +of the faces of the monument. In another slab are carved, in "bold +relief," the little vase of shamrocks brought by the family from +Ireland, together with the _Rosary and Cross_, suspended from the hand +of the virgin holding the child. On the third square of the tomb is +conspicuous a figure of Erin, holding in her right hand a crucifix, and +with the left hand pointing it to her children, with the words, "_Sola +spes nostra, ubi crux ibi patria_"--"This is our only hope; wherever the +cross is honored, call that your country." + +After having seen to the proper execution of all things in reference to +the tomb of his family, Paul O'Clery, with a heavy heart, returned to +acquaint his little brother Patrick and sister Bridget about the fate of +Eugene. He did not forget, however, before quitting the last +resting-place of his parents and brother, to have the grave fenced round +with a neat iron rail; and fixing all inside the fence in the form of +two pretty flower beds, he, with his own hands, carefully planted the +roots of the shamrocks which were brought from Ireland, and which he +luckily found in Mr. Gulvert's kitchen garden, where they had been +thrown, after having been taken from Eugene. And to this very day these +shamrocks flourish--neither frost, nor cold, nor parching heat, nor +inclement seasons being able to retard their growth; as if their verdure +and flourishing vegetation were supplied from the pure and genuine +Irish clay to which the bodies of the three O'Clerys have been long +since reduced. + +Paul now saw his people reduced by more than one half. When they left +Ireland, they were seven in number; now they were only three. He was too +well trained in Christian resignation, however, to repine at what +evidently appeared to him the dispensation of Heaven. After the example +of holy Job, therefore, he praised the Lord, to whom, if he deprived him +of his good parents, he was also indebted for being placed under the +care of such patterns of virtue. These several trials, and the +consequent distractions in which they involved him, made him more +disgusted than ever with the world; and his desire to consecrate himself +to God in the holy priesthood became stronger and stronger every day. +The Almighty seemed to have some special mission in view for this +spotless child of St. Patrick, when his mercy had conducted him, like +the children in the fiery furnace, so early through such meritorious +trials and sufferings, as it requires the most faithful correspondence +with grace to endure, and it falls to the lot of a few to encounter. + +The end of all his difficulties and trials had now arrived. From this +day forward the breeze that bore him along in his ecclesiastical voyage +became fairer and fairer, till, advancing from virtue to virtue, and +honor to honor, he became the glory of the church, and exercised such +influence on the destinies of his countrymen and of those committed to +his charge, that he might adopt the language of Joseph to his brethren: +"God hath sent me before you into Egypt, that you may be preserved on +the earth, and have _food to live_." (Gen. xlv. 7.) But this is +anticipating what naturally should have its place at the conclusion of +our narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS. + + +"Now," said Murty O'Dwyer, one Sunday evening, as all the members of the +Prying family were seated around the tea table, "will any body doubt the +usefulness of confession? The very robber who, while under the influence +of drink and evil advice, plundered the widow O'Clery and her orphans of +their money, has returned from the scorching plains of the south, in +obedience to the advice of the priest to whom he confessed, to make +restitution; and he has made it." + +"It beats all I ever heard," said Mr. Prying. + +"That is only an ordinary occurrence with Catholics," rejoined Murty. +"Thousands of dollars, and I might say millions of money, are yearly +restored to those to whom it belongs, through the influence of this +divine institution." + +"I wonder what has Paul done with the rest of the money, after paying +for the board of himself and his sister and brothers?" said Calvin. + +"He has given me two hundred of it," said Murty, "to compensate me for +what I lost on account of the malice of Dominie Boorman, the +Presbyterian, because I could not believe according to his cruel code of +irreligion. He paid one hundred dollars for masses for the soul of poor +Cunningham, who died of fever and ague one week after his having made +the restitution. Two thousand, I believe, Paul paid into the convent +where his sister Bridget has gone to become a nun. And the rest, I +believe, he spent in raising an elegant monument over his parents and +beloved Eugene's remains. O, yes, I forgot; he paid five hundred dollars +towards the new Catholic church, S.A., where his convert friends +reside." + +"It is to me the strangest thing on earth," said old Mrs. Prying, "how +liberal these Catholics are in paying to the support of their religion. +Where on earth do they get the means to put up such costly buildings as +they have erected in scores, within my own knowledge, these past five +years?" + +"So far from this being strange," said Murty, "madam, it is the most +natural thing in the world. We know the Catholic religion is true. We +know it has God for its Author, and that through its teachings all men +must be saved that will be saved. Knowing this, we understand the merit +of supporting such an institution. What is the whole world to a man if +he lose his soul? and how can a man save his soul, if true religion be +wanting?" + +"Ah, what a noble critter that Bridget O'Clery was!" said Calvin, +changing the subject to her whose image stood uppermost in his mind, +"What a pity," he continued, "that she should ever become a nun! Do nuns +ever get married, Murty?" + +"Don't you know so much yet, Calvin? Certainly, they never do get +married. They vow to consecrate their hearts forever to God. In fact, +they anticipate, here in this life, what all the blessed do in the next +life--to live in God, and for God. I think the life of a holy nun," said +Murty, kindling into enthusiasm, "is superior to that of an angel, and +the merit far greater." + +Here it is as well to state that Calvin Prying, of late years, lost all +that zeal for stiff Presbyterianism that possessed him in his younger +days,--an ordinary occurrence with American Protestant young men,--and +that, instead of his former zeal, he now had the utmost indifference, if +not contempt, for the teachers of the hard creed of his cruel namesake +of Geneva. He had a heart, too; and though a phlegmatic and a rude one, +it could not remain insensible to the chaste charms and virtuous beauty +of Bridget O'Clery. For years this feeling was growing on him--the +exhortations, and lectures, and advices of little Parson Gulmore to the +contrary notwithstanding. In a word, though she was "Irish" and a +pauper, in the slang of parsons and officials, and though the vulgar +little dominie was continually ridiculing the Irish and the Catholics, +Calvin saw that Bridget was beautiful in countenance, and light as a +humming bird in heart--circumstances which insensibly made an impression +on the rude material of which his own was made, creating there a feeling +of love bordering on admiration and distant esteem. No sooner, however, +did it reach his ears that the money was restored to the orphans, and he +was told that Bridget was likely to have a portion of some thousands of +dollars, than his former esteem and admiration, as if by magic art, was +turned into love. And now, who dare say word against her? and how low, +contemptible, and wicked the counsels of Parson Gulmore, who attempted +to prejudice him against such a treasure, such a model of every virtue, +such an angel, as she "always appeared to him to be"! He would have +cheerfully "accepted the hand" of the poor "Irish" orphan when that hand +had some thousands of gold dollars in its beauteous grasp. The Yankee is +not remarkable for having an eye for the beautiful in nature or art; but +when _dimes_ and _dollars_ are in prospective, none is more penetrating +or sharpsighted than he. Beautiful paintings, cathedrals, the noblest +creations of the chisel, the most enchanting landscapes have just as +much attraction for his genius as they can be made available "for making +money," and no more. It was from the same principle that Calvin Prying's +love for Bridget O'Clery originated. Hence he was highly enraged at the +idea of her going into a convent, and had a strong notion in his head to +call a "public mass meeting," and pass resolutions against the +constitutionality of allowing young ladies of respectable fortunes to +enter convents. Indeed, he so far succeeded in creating an excitement in +his favor about deterring Bridget from entering the convent, as to get, +by the payment of a small sum, one of the daily papers of the city to +write an article in his favor, entitled "_Abduction_!" During a few +days, the editor of the same filthy sheet repeated his scurrilous +attacks on Catholicity, not forgetting to squirt a good deal of his dirt +on the Rev. Dr. Ugo, whom he blamed for encouraging the girl's +vocation, and thus depriving the _hungry_ Presbyterian Calvin of a fair +wife and a handsome fortune. + +There was no great tumult created, however. Election was approaching, +and that absorbed all the excitable matter of the people, in spite of +the newspapers. The disputes and defences of the faith which Murty +O'Dwyer had to maintain since the departure of the young, "beautiful +Irish girl," as Bridget was called, were many and critical; but an event +now happened, that fanned the latent but active anti-Catholic fire into +a furious flame. + +One evening, at supper, after the news arrived at R---- Valley that Paul +O'Clery was not only a priest, but stationed in the second city then in +the Union, Amanda, casting her malicious eye at her youngest sister +Mary, on whose calm cheek she saw, and seemed to envy, the innocent +blush that started there, on having heard the paragraph alluding to Paul +read and commented on, thus addressed her:-- + +"Ah, Mary, what do you say, now, to Paul, who is forever estranged from +you? for he is not only a priest, but a missionary among the 'Irish,' +and, of course, can never care about you again." + +"I am glad to hear he is a priest," said Mary, in a gentle voice; "for I +believe he will be more happy so than in any other situation in life. I +am sure I wish him happy, for he was ever good and amiable." + +"But yet," rejoined the old maid, "he never made you any return for all +your fondness for him. He never writes you any loving letters, nor +cares whether you are living or dead, or else he would write, or send +you some tokens of friendship." + +"You know a little too much, Amanda," said Mary. "I never asked him to +write; and I know he loves me so far as to pray for me, and that's all +he ever pretended to; and as for presents, I do not covet them, as I +have got this beautiful one, a miniature of the mother of God, set in +gold, which Paul presented to me when here last. See it here," she said, +drawing it from her bosom. "I would not give this for all the presents +in New York." + +"Idolatry! idolatry!" cried out Amanda. "Idolatry!" cried out Calvin and +the rest of the family. "Idolatry! yes, as the Lord liveth," groaned a +hollow, dramatic voice, as he entered by the woodshed way to the dining +room. It was that of Rev. Mr. Gulmore, who after a long absence, hearing +the Romanizing tendencies that threatened to desolate this once stanch +Presbyterian family, came, he said, "with his sickle," to cut down the +cockles, and "weed out this once fertile but now overgrown garden." + +"What is this I have been hearing?" thundered the little thick man, +stamping on the floor. "Is it possible that my senses deceive me? or +have I heard and seen the daughter of my friend, my Orthodox--once +Orthodox--friend, draw forth her idolatrous bawble from her American +bosom, and defend its use and veneration with her tongue? Is this true? +Tell me! Speak!" + +There was a short pause after this short declamation, delivered in the +most passionate form. At length, Mr. Prying, senior, coolly answered, +"Yes, Mr. Gulmore, I 'spect Mary is lost to your church, and inclined to +the Catholic system." + +"O Lord, forbid it!" cried the little thick man in white choker. "It +cannot be; we cannot allow it. I shall storm heaven with prayers. I +shall do violence to the Lord. I shall catch hold of him, and not let +him go till he give back this lamb to my bosom." + +Such were only _some_ of the expressions, blasphemously familiar, which +this clerical mountebank made use of during a full half hour, that he +almost electrified the whole company by his half-mad gesticulations and +discourses. At length, when his legs began to fail, he got on his knees, +or rather on his _heels_--a posture the Irish call "on his _grugg_." He +prayed, and roared, and screamed, and he cried, as it were, shedding +tears, to the alarm of the oldest members of the family, who feared he +might burst a blood vessel, as he was a short-necked, plethoric, chunk +of a man; and to the infinite amusement of Murty O'Dwyer and the younger +members of the family, who, from the violence of the laughter that +seized them, were in danger of meeting that fate from which the former +wanted to save the parson. + +This levity on the part of the youngsters did not escape the notice of +his _weeping_ reverence; and he no sooner recovered himself than he +administered a sharp reprimand to all concerned, but especially to +Murty. + +"I pity men of your country," said he, addressing Murty,--who, it must +be recollected, had made very great improvement in his education since +we first introduced him to our readers,--"I pity men of your country, on +account of the ignorance in which they are kept by the soul-destroying +system of Popery that binds them down." + +"Indeed, Mr. Gulmore," said Murty, "I am sorry you don't take some other +means, besides those not very enlightened prayers you have volunteered +to favor us with, to dispel and instruct our ignorance." + +"Why, thou Papist boor, durst thou deny the power of prayer?" + +"No, sir. I have great faith in prayer, especially the prayer of a 'just +man;' but God forbid that I should regard your eccentric, indeed, I +might say blasphemous, effusions as prayer! You talk of the 'ignorance' +of my countrymen! Ah, sir, I have no hesitation in saying the most +ignorant among them would be ashamed of such silly-acting and disgusting +cant as you have just now delivered." + +"I blame you not," deluded Papist; "you have not felt the 'power of +prayer,' brought up in all the ignorance and idolatry of the 'scarlet +lady.' But it is not for you I prayed or wrestled with the Lord, but for +my beloved dove, this innocent victim of your idolatry and the hellish +arts of your church. Do you not feel the change of heart, Mary, my +love?" he said, approaching near to the girl. "Tell me, have I gained +thee? Has the Lord heard my groanings, and sighs, and petitions for thy +restoration to the creed of our Protestant fathers? Do, Mary dear, tell +me the feelings of thy heart! Do, love, comfort me by the assurance +that I have gained thee!" + +"Mr. Gulmore," answered the good child, "I thought you had long since +ceased visiting us, and we hoped never again to be annoyed by your +ministrations. Your conduct in combining with my step-sister here, in +conjunction with the late postmaster of S----, to prevent Paul from +holding correspondence, has disgusted, not only me, but even father, +beyond the limits of reconciliation; and whatever I may think of your +religion, be assured I have no two opinions about yourself." + +"O, she is lost, I greatly fear! Fallen is an angel from heaven! Save, +save, O Lord!" cried the parson, as Mary Prying rose up from her seat +and left the room. + +The foregoing rebuke of the spirited girl brought this craven-hearted +dominie at once to his senses, and during the remainder of the evening +he was more rational in conduct and discourse, seeing that Mary was the +darling of her father, who would allow the parson to make no reflections +on the motives that actuated her in the steps she was about to take. + +"I am afraid, parson," said Murty, breaking the embarrassing silence +that continued for a few minutes, "I am afraid the lady has eluded the +forceful grasp of your powerful prayer. I guess she will become a nun, +too, notwithstanding your great efforts to make her sing + + "But I won't be a nun; I can't be a nun; + I'm so fond of pleasure that I can't be a nun." + +"I greatly fear, yer riverince," said he, affecting the broadest Irish +brogue, "y'ill have to phray a great deal yet afore you convart her from +her resolution." + +"We must submit to the decree of the Lord in all that he has planned +from the beginning of the world, Murty," said the parson, resignedly. + +"Think the Lord has decreed Mary for the nunnery, reverend and learned +sir?" said Murty, affecting great politeness. + +"Not exactly, Murty; but the Lord, by his inscrutable decree before the +creation, has passed sentence on all accountable beings: some he has +delivered over to irremediable wrath, and others he has predestined to +glory and bliss eternal; and no efforts of men can reverse these +irrevocable decrees." + +"O, dreadful!" said Murty. "I always heard that God willed all men to be +saved; that it was in every man's power to avoid evil, and do good; that +the giving of the commandments supposed the perfect liberty of men; and +that, supposing the grace of God, all men had the means of salvation +within their reach. If your system were true, all efforts of man to save +himself would be useless, and all your pulpits and sermons would be +worse than useless; for they would be a gross imposition, and a loss of +time." + +"There is where you are in error, Murty," said the parson. "Churches, +pulpits, Bibles, and ministers are the machinery the Lord makes use of +to secure the perseverance of the elect." + +"That talk appears to me silly," rejoined Murty. "The elect are to be +saved, or they are not; if they are to be saved by the decree of God, +then there is no use of you and your machinery; if they can lose their +'election,' and become reprobate, then your theory is contradictory, +absurd, and grossly perversive of the gospel. Take your choice of the +horns of the dilemma." + +The parson here entered into a very unintelligible explanation of a +subject which constitutes, in defiance of common sense and of the +plainest teaching of the gospel, the leading dogma of Presbyterianism; +namely, foreordination, or the eternal decree of every man's election or +reprobation, irrespective of free will, good works, or even the +all-saving merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. + +"How contradictory the tenets of sectarianism!" said Murty. "You, that +accuse Catholicity of teaching absurd and incredible doctrines, are +yourselves enslaved by the most incredible and contradictory creeds. It +is the same in every sect. Take the Methodists, and they are the very +contrary of what their name signifies. Instead of following any _method_ +in their mad orgies, they would seem to be, _intellectually_, the +successors of the ancient bacchanalians. They would carry man back to +his primitive _woods_, and, by the medium of plenty of 'straw,' would +annihilate the distinctions between the sexes, by introducing a +promiscuous intercourse, and legalizing, by custom, the most indecent +practices." + +"You have been at a camp meeting then, I see," said the parson, glad +that attention was turned from his own sect to one that was a rival of +it. + +"Yes, sir, I have, I regret to be obliged to confess," said Murty; "and +I must say that the Methodists, by their conduct there, showed +themselves more ingenious in inventing the means of election than those +of the church of Calvin." + +"How so, Murty? In what do they exceed the Presbyterians?" + +"Why, in this, that they have beat you hollow in securing salvation. You +make use of churches, pulpits, parsons, Bibles, and anti-Popery lectures +to secure the election for the brethren; but the Methodists secure the +same gift by means of some 'straw.' At the camp meeting held last year +at M----ville, of which the Irish laborer who spent a night there said, +'that there were more _souls made there_ than convarted,'--at that +meeting, where there were twenty thousand persons present, I heard a +preacher cry out, 'More straw! more straw! Fifty souls lost for the want +of straw!' Now," continued Murty, "this is what I call progress, to make +as much out of a good bed of straw as you do out of all your church +machinery for saving souls." + +"Ha! ha! ha!" said the parson, turning to Mrs. Prying. "He is right; I +saw and heard them myself at such absurdities." + +"Then," said Murty, "you or any other Americans who are aware of such +gross impositions on the credulity of your people, and of their gross +ignorance, should be the last persons on earth to reproach the Irish or +any other people with ignorance, superstition, credulity, or fanaticism. +Good night, parson, and every time you are tempted to reproach an +Irishman with ignorance, think of 'More straw! more straw! Fifty souls +lost for the want of straw!' and that this sermon was preached in +enlightened America of Bibles!" + +After the departure of Murty from the room, Gulmore, to make amends for +his senseless conduct in his attempts to convert Mary Prying, became +very complaisant, and, for the want of a better subject, resumed the +subject of the extravagances of the Methodists where Murty left off. He +knew, also, that old Mrs. Prying had an antipathy to that sect. + +"The Irishman is an amusing fellow, I perceive," commenced he; "he is +not far wrong in his description of the Methodists, I can tell you." + +"I never could bear that denomination," said Mrs. Prying, "especially +since the time that Morefat carried on over in Vermont; and I am still +more displeased since that Minister Barker seduced Amanda to his +meeting, together with others of our regular members." + +"They are a horrid set!" said the dominie. "Did you not hear of the +donation party at brother Funny's, last new year's?" + +"No. Do you mean the talk about Miss Talebearer?" + +"Worse than that, although nothing secret. Nothing that the whole town +has not heard. You know Mr. Funny was rather poor, having been but a few +months on the 'circuit;' and so Mrs. Plumpcheek, wife to Aaron +Plumpcheek, while he was off in Virginia, went to the party, and there +offered to kiss every man that would pay her a dollar for the proceeds +of the donation! The consequence was, that she realized seventy-five +dollars in hard cash, though most of the boys paid her but two +shillings. And thus poor Brother Funny made a handsome sum by the _free +charms_ of Mrs. Plumpcheek! Ever since her husband is made jealous, and +I think he has reason." + +Sectarians, you who are so loud in your pretended zeal for education and +morals, you who talk so much and loudly about the corruption of Popery +at home and abroad, why do you not cast the beam out of your own impure +eyes, and then you may see in your own land of plenty, carried on under +the _sanction of what you call religion_, scenes such as the annals of +paganism can scarcely parallel. + +We can prove the facts related above by Parson Gulmore to be literally +true, and to have happened annually for years under the sanction of +_religious_ ministers, and exposed to the cognizance of fathers and +mothers accompanied by their _daughters_ and _sons_. + +We publish these things reluctantly, on account of our readers; but we +must tell the truth, though it be piecemeal and in fractional parts, +rather than in the full view of its naked reality. + +Is it not time to say to these hypocritical sects, "Physicians, heal +yourselves"? Look into the conduct and constitutions of your own bodies +ere you turn censors on others. The corruptions and deformities of your +own bodies will take all your zeal, all your energy, and all your +lives, to correct, purify, and eradicate, leaving the Catholic church to +reform whatever abuses may have crept into the lives or morals of her +children by the ordinary resources, which are ample, and always within +her reach. + +Really, the hypocrisy, audacity, and malice of the Pharisees of old, in +persecuting Jesus Christ in the flesh, were not equalled, in degree or +intensity, to the malice and hypocrisy of sectarians, under every +Protestant title, in their unrelenting hatred of the same divine Person +in his mystical body here on earth! + +'Tis all nonsense to reproach _Catholics_ with conduct similar, or as +gross, as these instances of immorality which we justly charge on the +Protestant sects. Catholics, as individuals, may be, and have been, +guilty of grave crimes and scandalous immoralities; but does the church +countenance or connive at their conduct? No; we say, emphatically, No. +On the contrary, she condemns vice in every shape, and denounces, like +another Baptist in the wilderness, the wrath of Heaven on the workers of +iniquity. Is there one of her precepts, counsels, or rules, that guards +not against sin and its occasions? According to the accusations of her +enemies themselves, who reproach her, with too much severity, of +imposing too many restrictions on the passions, is she not continually +preaching up to her followers the necessity of self-denial, humility, +purity, charity, prayer, fastings, watchings, and, above all, OF +SHUNNING THE OCCASIONS OF SIN? Hence, in the whole volume of her +history for eighteen centuries and better, we read not of one _camp +meeting_ sanctioned by her, nor that she ever authorized her ministers +to _feel "for the change of heart_" in young ladies, to proclaim the use +of "more straw" for the conversion of both sexes, or to raise funds by +the abominable practices of the "donation parties" for the support of +her institutions. And mind, these scandals the sectarian churches +sanction and carry on under the sun of heaven, by day as well as by +night, exposed to the jeers and ridicule of one another, and to the +condemnation of the Catholic church. When they are such in "the +greenwood, what would they be not in the dry"? If, like the Catholic +church, they had the world to themselves for "a thousand years and +more," what abominations would their spurious churches have not only +tolerated, but have instituted and approved? If they have produced +Mormons, Transcendentalists, Universalists, and spiritual rappers, in +the nineteenth century, what monsters would they not have produced in +the ninth? + +In the "dark ages," the Catholic church saved the world, preserved +literature, civilized real barbarians, and, above all, practised, as +well as preached, a PURE MORALITY. The Protestant sects in this +enlightened age, by their novelties, by their dissensions, and, above +all, by the low standard of morals which they inculcate, threaten to +throw the world back again to the dark chaos from which Catholicity has +drawn it, and to substitute for the glory of Christianity the miserable +philosophism and superstition of the degenerate days of paganism. + +In proof of these statements, we refer any candid mind to the +"spiritual rappers," "women's rights," "Mormonism," "gold hunting, and +other manias," which, within the last few years, have sprung from the +sectarian systems and their teaching, and from no other source. + +We are horrified at the morals and tenets of the Gnostic sects, the +Manicheans, the Albigenses, and other defunct heresies of old; but we +doubt if any thing more impious, immoral, or absurd happened under the +auspices of these by-gone sects than the blasphemies, delusions, and +corruptions carried on under the cloak of your "camp meetings," +"revivals," "mediums," "spiritual wife system," and other modern +_reproductions_ of the Protestant Christian churches, falsely so called. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +IN WHICH THE SCENE OF OUR TALE IS CHANGED. + + +The events recorded in the foregoing chapters, as you are aware, good +reader, happened principally among the poor and humble of life; and this +was in accordance with the scope of our narrative, having no higher +ambition than to chronicle the lowly annals of that numerous class of +the community. _Nunc paulo majora._ Now we must introduce you into high +life. We turn our eyes to one of those grand mansions of the rich,--one +of those palaces of the "upper ten,"--where few of the humble are +privileged to enter, much less to be introduced or admitted on terms of +familiarity. It is our privilege to introduce you, friend of the +blistered hand and dusty coat, but of the honest heart, into that palace +of the merchant prince of the second city in the Union, in order that +you may see and judge for yourselves whether or not more happiness +dwells there than in your homely residence. See the imposing structure, +with the neatly-mowed lawn in front. Observe the taste and artistic +skill with which the walks, the little hedges, and the shrubberies are +laid out. You can yet get but an imperfect view of the proud edifice +itself, which seems as if a monarch, that looks down with dignity and +authority on the countless array of ordinary buildings that extend as +far as the eye can reach on every side. The gates, as you enter the +enclosure, are of massive iron, painted green, and, by the help of +machinery, yield to the gentlest pressure of the hand, as if some spirit +of the ancient fabled Olympus kept guard at their hinges. It is a +complete "_rus in urbi_," inside the outer wall. Here the luxuriant +grape vine creeps along in graceful festoons, groaning under the +pressure of her full paps; there the lofty and beauteous palm spreads +his cooling and protecting branches. + +On one side see the fruitful lemon and orange trees, bending under the +weight of their golden and emerald productions; on the other the +fragrant apple, the sweet pear, and mellow peach borrow support from the +strong granite wall to bring their burdens to maturity. Behold there two +fountains casting their crystal and refreshing contents aloft, as if +making restitution to the thirsting atmosphere for what they stole from +him under ground. The water falls back again, however, and is received +by the marble basin at the base, to form a neat pond, where gold and +silver fish sport and gambol. A little at a distance, to the rear, the +fragrance of honey and the busy hum of the bee are perceived by your +grateful senses. The place looks like an earthly paradise; every thing +there seems to laugh without restraint, from the creeping rose fastened +to the hedge to the tall, princely-looking mountain ash, with its +bunches of red berries. + +The only one living thing that seemed pensive and sad there was a +lovely, delicate fawn, which rested, with her head drooping, at the foot +of a rose bush, on the summit of the little green mound which was the +centre of this delightful spot. Perhaps the lovely creature is after +being weaned from the udder of its affectionate dam; or, perhaps, she +grieves for the absence of some favorite in the palace of whom she is +the pet. But that the creature grieves is evident, for you could see the +two moist tracks furrowed on the smooth face, from the tears that have +flowed there. + +But the inside of the "great house," who can describe it? From the +ground floor to the uppermost attic, the rooms presented that waste of +furniture, in the shape of sofas, ottomans, easy chairs, couches, +carpets, tapestries, curtains, paintings, pier glasses, plate, and a +thousand other articles contributive of ease and luxury, which the most +extravagant expenditure could procure or vanity suggest. In truth, the +interior was the exact counterpart of the exterior, in the artistic +arrangement and splendor of every thing. To the eye of an observer, on +an ordinary occasion, every thing appeared gorgeous in the extreme; but +on the occasion we describe, when preparation was making for a grand +reception, all was joy, mirth, luxury, and happiness. Servants of every +color and hue were seen moving through the labyrinths of the saloons and +chambers of this great palace, uncovering the long-concealed splendors +of valuable articles, and arranging every thing for the most +advantageous show. + +And + + "Now through the palace chambers moving lights + And busy shapes proclaim the toilet's rites; + From room to room the ready handmaids hie, + Some skilled to wreathe the headdress tastefully, + Or hang the veil, in negligence of shade, + O'er the warm blushes of the youthful maid." + +Splendid services of gold and silver plate met the eye in every +direction, on their way to the grand dining room; while, from the +remotest part of the building, the sense of smelling was simultaneously +assailed by several currents of delightful culinary exhalations, which, +like the winds in the cave of Æolus, struggled for egress from their +confined birthplace. + +This is one of those occasions on which the Dives of this sumptuous +palace, Mr. Goldrich, intends to celebrate his birthday; and as he can't +tell where he was born, nor can he show any genuine images of his +ancestry, (except that he came down a scion from the great "Anglo-Saxon +race,") he is determined to make amends for this calamity he could not +help, and the want of taste in his father, whoever he was, by spending +an ordinary fortune in the present celebration, and thus combine the +splendors of all the possible past anniversaries of his birth in one +grand, unrivalled celebration to-day. + + "And here, at once, the glittering saloon + Bursts on the sight, boundless and bright as noon." + +The select music of splendid bands now announced the movements of +guests towards the grand banquet room. In pairs they enter, and +singular; the short procession is now at an end, and the places are +filled up with the scanty number of twoscore guests, male and female. + +You would have supposed, from the preparation, that the inhabitants of +the entire city were invited; but no, the exact number was forty, +besides the members of the rich man's family. And this happened not by +accident, or because of the penury or avarice of Mr. Goldrich, but +because in the whole city there were no more than twenty families who +ranked in the sphere of the "upper ten" in which "mine host" moved. +These shining figures, that you can scarcely look at without risk to +your eyes from their jewelry, are the ladies who leave us in doubt which +they love most to exhibit--their charms, or the richness of their +ornaments. Among that bright array of female beauty there is missed the +fair form of one who was, heretofore, an ordinary occupant of an +honorable place at the family table. It was the chair of the +rosy-cheeked Alia that was unoccupied at this splendid circle. The +presiding queen of the feast, Madam Goldrich, apologized for the absence +of "poor Alia," by representing her indisposed; and at the announcement +of this dispiriting intelligence, disappointment marked the countenances +of the guests, for Alia was the brightest star that shone in that +brilliant galaxy of fashion. + +Being the oldest among the children of Mr. Goldrich, Alia possessed all +that graceful and dignified superiority over those whom she regarded as +her younger sisters, which are the acknowledged privileges of age in +every well-regulated family, and which her superior talent seemed +naturally to enforce. + +Years rolled on, and the dear child lived in blissful ignorance of her +origin and desolate condition, till the jealousy of her younger sisters +excited her suspicions, and she began to mistrust the genuineness, as +she felt the coldness, of that parental affection which the pretended +authors of her existence so long counterfeited. During many months, if +not years, these suspicions preyed on the poor girl's mind; and though +she never dared to mention them to any save old Judy, the negro woman, +she felt satisfied that her sisters and herself could not belong to the +same stock or the same race. The transparent delicacy of her complexion, +the rosy tint on her cheek, unrivalled by the costly paint of her +sisters, the shining blackness of her splendid hair,--all these +circumstances pointed her out and proclaimed her as of a different race +to those whom she hitherto regarded as her kindred. Long had she mused +on the cause of this disparity, and much had she suffered, in the depth +of her soul, from the representations and suggestions of her active +imagination in reference to her origin, and many were the tears shed by +her while oppressed with these doubts. But the events of this day, added +to the late insolent conduct of her sisters, which provoked the +reprimand of her peevish mother guardian, who told her to curb her +"Irish temper,"--these cleared up all her doubts; and, filled with a +melancholy joy at a revelation she owed to the jealousy and vanity of a +proud mother and her daughters, Alia retired to her room to give vent to +her feelings in sobs and tears. + +"Thank God," she cried, "I know what I am, or ought to be. Thank God I +am Irish, too, for I often wished I belonged to that much-abused and +persecuted people. But O, where shall I find my parents? or how came my +lot to be cast in this proud palace, which, alas! I too long regarded as +my home? O, who, who will restore this poor 'exile of Erin,' to the home +of her unknown parents? How gladly would I exchange all the splendor of +this place for the homeliest cot in that land of the shamrock and the +cross; ay, the poorest 'cabin, fast by the wild-wood,' in the land of +St. Patrick, and my unknown ancestors." + +Such were the soliloquies of poor, despised Alia, in her room on the +third floor, where old aunt Judy, the negro, having missed her favorite +from the grand company, after having sought her in vain in the lower +saloons of the house, just entered her room. + +"Dere, now, Miss Ali', am poor aunt Judy half kilt from sarching for you +all over. What make you be here, and all the gran' gem'men asking for +you?" + +"Ah, aunt Judy, why have you all along denied of me all knowledge of my +extraction, parentage, and race? Did you not know that I was Irish? and +yet you always denied that I was, though I have suspected I was, and you +must have known it, having lived so long in the family. This is not what +I expected from you, aunt Judy," she said, casting a look of gentle +reproach at the old negro. + +"O, dear, miss--O, dear," cried the poor affectionate creature, bursting +into tears; "don't blame dis ole nigger, but massa and missus, and Miss +Sillerman, sister to the missus who died last year. They forbid aunt +Jude to tell who rosy-faced Ali' was. I was bound to swear not to tell. +If they knowed I did hab a _parle_ vit you on de subject, they would +turn poor ole Jude out de door to die in the poor _maison_." + +This poor negro woman was a native of St. Domingo, and, at the time of +the revolution there, came to New Orleans, in care of a child belonging +to one of the white planters who was murdered--which child, by the way, +has since become a pious and eminent clergyman. By some accident or +other she fell in with the Goldriches, in their commercial visits to New +Orleans, and, though brought up a Catholic, the poor thing forgot all +practice of her religion, and this accounts for her evasions and denials +to the repeated questions of Alia regarding her parentage and birth. + +"'Pon my fait, miss," she ever said, "I know nothing about you, 'cept +that you are the rose-cheeked Ali', the _fleur de lis_ of the flock." + +Promises, and flattering presents, and all other persuasive arts of Alia +to get the secret out of Judy proved useless. She had promised to keep +it, and no human authority, she thought, could ever cause her to violate +that promise. Although Judy had, through fear of displeasing her +patrons, given up all public practice of her religion, she nevertheless +never denied that she was a "Catholique," and never omitted to recite +full five decades of the beads after going to bed. She declared she +could not fall asleep till she complied with this rather lazy effort of +prayer. Besides these rather faint evidences of her faith, she often +told her loved Ali' that she intended calling in the priest at the hour +of her death; and she confided to the honor of the young lady this +secret desire of hers, and elicited many promises from her Ali' to send +for his reverence when she would perceive her end approach. "This is +rather a singular notion of yours," Alia used to say. "If you are a +Catholic, and believe your faith the best, or the only true one, why do +you not practise its teachings, and fulfil all the requirements of your +church? I am sure neither father nor mother would blame you." + +"O miss, I feard, I feard," the poor, timid soul would answer. "But tink +of vat I tol' you; when I go to die, send for the _bon_ priest, who know +how to do the '_parle Française_,' and I pray for you when I go to +heaven." + +"I shall do that for you, poor aunt Judy, or even attend you now, while +you are in health, to the Catholic church, where you can go to the +sacraments, and become a member again of that church which you have so +long neglected, but which yet seems still to retain a strong hold of +your affections and heart. Won't this be the best course, aunt Judy? I +will attend you to the church of that zealous young Irish priest whom I +see so often hurrying along here to his sick calls up town; and as I +suspect I am 'Irish' myself, I hope he will not be displeased at my +call." + +"O, you no Irish, miss, at all, but good Yankee. But tish better not go +for de priest till he come to me when I go to die. Now I have religion +here in _mon coeur_; ven I die, I profess her open." + +"Well, Judy, act as you wish; but it appears to me your conduct is +singular. I shall do my part, however; and if there is a priest to be +had in the city when you take to your death bed, you must have him to +attend you." + +It was by such communings and conversations as the foregoing, during the +leisure hours of aunt Judy and her loved Ali', that mutual confidence +and disinterested friendship grew into maturity between them--the +childish and helpless simplicity of the one, and kind and good-natured +condescension of the other, producing the like effects in the hearts of +both respectively--that is, disinterested friendship. Yet strong as this +friendship was, and enthusiastic as was the love of Judy for her +"rosy-cheeked" favorite, they were not sufficient to cause her to reveal +the secret of her birth and adoption, even at this hour of Alia's +deepest grief and affliction. + +There were two causes for this her unaccountable silence. Firstly, she +had promised not to mention the slightest circumstance connected with +the adopted child, and she feared punishment from the anger of her proud +massa, whose disgrace might be the consequence. And again, having been +in the habit of hearing all sorts of reflections on the "Irish," whom +some mad abolitionists would gladly enslave in place of the blacks, poor +Judy thought to save Alia from the mortification of finding herself +"Irish," by her equivocation and falsehood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +SHOWS HOW THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK WERE PERMANENTLY UNITED AFTER A LONG +SEPARATION. + + +Paul O'Clery had been appointed pastor of one of the principal churches +in the second city in the Union, as we have before mentioned, and +already the evidences of the "care of souls" with which he was charged +for several years began to manifest themselves on his placid brow. His +was a life of unceasing activity. The visitations of the sick, the calls +of charity, the hearing of confessions, together with the instruction of +youth and the preaching of God's word,--these, the ordinary lot of +pastors, constituted but a share, and not the largest one, of his +onerous duties. Ever mindful of his own destitute condition while an +orphan deprived of both parents, all the orphans of the +thickly-inhabited district that constituted his mission became objects +of his special care. And at a time when such an institution as a +Catholic orphanage was regarded as visionary, or the ephemeral creation +of a too ardent zeal, this good pastor succeeded in founding and +supporting an asylum which has since become of incalculable value, not +only to the Catholics as a body, but to the inhabitants of the whole +city and state. A house of refuge for repentant Magdalens, placed under +the care of the Sisters of Mercy, commanded his next care. In a word, +the founding of schools, hospitals, confraternities, guilds, and other +pious institutions exercised all of his time that was not devoted to +his strictly ecclesiastical duties; so that his sister Bridget, known in +religion as Sister St. John of the Cross, complained a good deal of his +want of charity in not having visited her but once in seven years. "Ad +majorem Dei gloriam,"--"To the greater glory of God,"--was this pious +Levite's motto; and he was dead to all the ties of flesh and blood, and +heedless of all calls save those of charity to his God and his neighbor. + +In the pulpit, the spontaneous eloquence of his heart chained the +attention of his hearers; and his discourses, though rather inclined to +asceticism than controversial, went to the hearts, and convinced the +understandings, of unbelievers of the divinity of the doctrine he +preached. No class of his fellow-creatures was excluded from the +influence of his boundless zeal. Protestants--to whom he was very mild, +on account of his knowledge of the ignorant prejudices in which they are +bound by the malice of their teachers--heard him, and became converts to +the church of God. Even the neglected negro race claimed and received a +full measure of his zeal. He established a school for the children of +these neglected sons of Africa, and never lost an opportunity of +visiting them at the death bed or in the hour of serious sickness. + +It was on occasion of one of these visits that God rewarded his priest, +even in this world, by the joyous disclosure which we here record, and +which, next to his grace of vocation to the priesthood, of all the +manifestations of God's mercy to him, claimed his sincerest gratitude +and thanksgiving. After the end of the grand "birthday banquet," which +lasted for a day and two nights, Alia's position at the palace became +more disagreeable than ever. The young girls frowned on her and shunned +her society, and Madame Goldrich, after she had got over the fatigue of +the party, read her a smart lesson on her "ill manners and Irish +temper," because she dared to absent herself, to the disappointment of +the guests, from a table at which she was denied her proper and usual +place. "Alia, this conduct of yours must be reformed, and that quick, or +your separation from this family, to which you do not belong, must soon +take place. I ain't goin' to let you take precedence of my children no +longer." + +To this vulgar speech of the "princess, our hostess," as she was +flatteringly toasted by a John Bull guest who was there, Alia answered +not a word, but, having retired to her room, fell on her knees and +prayed long and fervently to the God of her fathers to assist her by his +inspirations, and direct her to the best, in her present perplexity. +Having unburdened her bosom of a load of grief by a copious effusion of +tears, and felt in her spirit that calm resignation which a sense of its +own forlorn condition and a total reliance on God are calculated to +inspire even in the unregenerate and imperfect soul, Alia now proceeded +to the chamber of old Judy, whose expected illness had at last arrived, +having been ill now for three days. On perceiving her entrance into the +room, the old negress appealed to her in most supplicating terms to +fulfil her promise to send for "de priest, for now de hour am come. O +Ali', angel, dear," she cried, "do not let me die without the 'bon +Dieu,' or I lost foreber. O, haste! O, haste!" + +Alia lost no time, but, taking pen and paper, wrote as follows to the +bishop of the diocese:-- + +"The Right Rev. Catholic bishop is respectfully informed that there is a +negro woman lying dangerously ill at Mr. Goldrich's, who, being a +Catholic, desires the last rites of that church. Being a native of St. +Domingo, the French is her vernacular tongue; for which cause it will be +desirable, if possible, to send, a clergyman who can speak that +language." + +A young negro lad was the bearer of this despatch, and he returned in +less than an hour, attended by Rev. Paul O'Clery, whom the bishop sent +to answer this urgent call, all those of the episcopal residence having +been out since early morning attending on the sick in their respective +localities. In order to avoid any further cause of displeasure to Mrs. +Goldrich, Alia had given the negro lad instructions to bring the priest +in through a private door that communicated with the garden, rather than +attract attention by entering the hall door. She had a full view of the +countenance of the young priest, through the window, while he was +crossing that part of the garden that lay next the houses of the city, +and, strange! her heart throbbed, and an indescribable sensation passed +over her frame. + +"How happy," she thought, "must be the sister of such a gentleman as +that! how different her lot from mine!" + +The priest entered, and was received with a very polite bow by Alia, +which was returned profoundly. Declining to take a seat, on account of +his many other urgent calls, he was escorted to old Judy's chamber by +his fair guide, who, on the way thither, explained to him what sort of a +person she was, and how odd in her notions about religion. Having +conducted him to her bedside, she made a polite bow, and retired, asking +if her services were further needed. + +The priest answered, "No; that he believed all the requirements for this +holy but melancholy service were prepared, and that he supposed he had +to thank her for the nice arrangements he observed." + +"Yes, mon pere," said old Judy, in half French, half English, "there is +the '_chandel_,' the '_eau-benite_,' the '_la croix_,' and the rest, +that I keep many year for my deathday." + +It was only when she retired from the chamber that the priest caught a +full view of the fair Alia; and now + + "A strange emotion worked within him, more + Than mere compassion ever worked before." + +He saw in this interesting stranger the strongest resemblance to his own +sister Bridget. There were the same raven hair, the same candid and +large eyes, the same broad and well-set teeth so peculiar to the +O'Clerys, and the same form almost to a line. The groans and urgent call +of his penitent Judy, however, soon recalled his mind from its reveries, +and he banished all thoughts of Alia, as temptations, or, at least, +speculations, which it was for the present useless to entertain. He put +on his stole, and after a short aspiration for light and grace to +discharge his duty to the sick woman, was just in the act of repeating +the prayer, "_Dominus sit in corde tuo et in labiis_,"--"May the Lord be +in your heart and lips,"--when the creature, raising herself up in her +bed, prevented him, saying, "Mon pere, I vant, before I begin the +confession, to tell you a secret that burden my mind long time." + +She then proceeded to tell how that young lady he had just seen had been +adopted, or rather kidnapped, by the family she now lived with; how her +name was changed from Aloysia to Alia; how this scheme was planned and +carried out by Miss Sillerman, Mrs. Goldrich's sister, who died not long +since; how, till of late, she was brought up as one of the family; how +carefully she was instructed in all the ways of the Presbyterians; and, +above all, how they endeavored to conceal her family name, for fear of +being claimed by her friends. "But, mon pere," said she, in +continuation, "though I forget the family name of this young, lubly +lady, I have an article here (loosing an old-fashioned workbag) which +may tell her family name." + +With that she handed Father Paul a neat ruby necklace, with a rather +heavy gold clasp, on which were carved deeply a cross, interwoven with +shamrocks, with these words, in italics, "_The O'C---- Arms_." This was +enough for Paul O'Clery; he had no doubt of having seen and conversed +with his own dear, long-lost sister, a few moments before. He sunk down +on his knees, buried his face in his hands, and tried as well as he +could to suppress the emotions that pervaded his bosom. After having +prepared old Judy for heaven,--having first prevailed on her to make +these disclosures in presence of witnesses, on condition that the +circumstances of her revelation should not be published till after her +death,--the priest retired from that palace, promising to call again, +accompanied with another gentleman, in the afternoon. Lest his feelings +should betray him, he retired from the house with as little delay as was +consistent with politeness; and he trembled all over as he a second time +returned the greeting of his dear Aloysia, as she conducted him to the +door. + +With as little delay as possible, he sought the office of his legal +adviser, and, accompanied by a judge of the Supreme Court of eminent +character, and the legal adviser, and a third, all Protestant gentlemen, +he sought the sick chamber of the old negress again, and there her +deposition, and a confirmation of her previous account of Alia's +bringing up and captivity, were obtained. They had scarcely concluded +her testimony, when poor Judy bid farewell to the world and its crosses, +and the priest had the satisfaction of bidding God speed to her soul in +its passage to eternity, having read for her the last benediction a +second time. + +The presence of so many strangers in the house naturally created some +surprise among the inmates, and shortly the death chamber of Judy was +filled with the members of the family, of both sexes. + +An explanation of this unusual and unauthorized proceeding was demanded +by Mrs. Goldrich, which the eminent judge consented to give, provided an +_adjournment_ to a more appropriate court was agreed to. + +His honor was in the act of unravelling the mysterious but +well-connected development of old Judy--a work of supererogation on his +part, as far as madam was concerned--when the fair-faced Alia herself +made her appearance; and her reverend brother Paul, no longer able to +check his feelings, sprang forward, and, seizing her white hand, kissed +it, saying, "My dearest sister Aloysia, welcome to the embrace of your +brother! 'You were lost, and I have found you; you were dead, and are +again come to life! Rejoice, and be glad.'" + +This was too much happiness for Alia to bear up against without +momentarily yielding to the shock, and she sank, as if lifeless, on a +couch. She was soon restored, however, and surrounded by the seemingly +affectionate caresses of her envious _mother_ and jealous sisters. She +had to hear all their arguments to persuade her to prefer her present +splendid misery to the equivocal boon of having found out a poor, +destitute brother, though it was not yet clear whether she could call +him by that name. Appearances were deceitful. + +Father Paul listened meekly to the smooth discourses and flattering +promises of the rich lady and her children, not doubting, if she were an +O'Clery, which side she would choose. + +"You are young, my dear Aloysia, but yet at or near the age of mature +understanding; and I know a brother cannot command you as a parent could +in this 'free country.' You have your choice--the traditional glory of +the old family of O'Clery, two brothers, and a sister as fair as +yourself, together with the old faith of St. Patrick,--the glorious +CROSS and the immortal SHAMROCK,--all these balanced against this grand +palace, probably great earthly comforts, and a religion that 'is not fit +for a gentleman.' Have your choice; choose boldly, and at once, and free +your brother from suspense." + +"Are you my brother?" she said, wildly, "or do I dream? Have I a brother +on earth, and one so worthy as thou? O, I have no second choice," she +cried, falling at his feet, and wetting them with her tears. + + "Plant this Cross in my bosom, + And this Shamrock in my hair; + And these are the only ornaments + I ever again shall wear." + +The spirited girl prepared immediately to quit the splendid palace, and +she came to the resolution of taking nothing with her, either of dress, +or trinkets, or jewelry. "Naked and bare I came into this family, and +with one single dress shall I leave it," said she, "feeling sufficiently +enriched in what I have this day found--a brother, with the Cross and +Shamrock of the O'Clerys. O, what complete changes! Instead of Alia, I +am Aloysia; instead of Goldrich, I am O'Clery." + +Paul did not think it prudent to allow his sister to quit the house of +her rich patrons so quickly, especially as Mr. Goldrich was from home, +and till the public should be satisfied, and all doubts about her +identity resolved. There was some opposition made by the parsons, one of +whom, a Mr. Cashman, was long fishing for the fair hand of Aloysia; but +this little dust raised by the "white necks" was soon hushed, when the +record of the baptism of Miss O'Clery was produced, and when the book of +heraldry was consulted to verify the armorial bearings of the O'Clerys, +which were, as we said, carved on the clasp of her necklace; and, above +all, when, on the left-hand ring finger of the young lady, the same +impression of a ring appeared which several persons testified having +seen on it when an infant. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +CONCLUSION. + + +During the _dénouement_ of the events recorded in the preceding chapter, +and the discussion of them by the various _religious_ newspapers,--each +of which, like a well-trained spaniel, tried to bark so as to secure the +approbation of those from whom it derived its food,--Father O'Clery +continued in the discharge of his ordinary duties as if nothing strange +had happened. He addressed one letter on the subject to the leading +secular journals of the city, showing, by the most convincing chain of +evidence, the identity of the lady passing so long for a daughter of Mr. +Goldrich with his own younger and long-lost sister, and satisfying all +but fanatics and bigots of his prudence, and the propriety of the steps +taken by him for her recovery. + +Mr. Goldrich, in the mean time, returned home, and though he could not +but feel astonished at the developments which took place in his absence +respecting his adopted daughter, he was too shrewd and too keen a man of +business to make himself a tool in the hands of bigoted parsons, or to +deny the validity of the evidence proving her to be no other than +Aloysia O'Clery. This was enough. What now was become of all the +talking, writing, swearing, and preaching of the dominies? To what +purpose was this big talk, loud exclamations, puzzling interrogatories, +and flaming articles of the Babylonian press? For a whole month nothing +was published by the editors but "leaders," "articles," "paragraphs," +"communications," "reports," "speeches," "lectures," "sermons," "mass +meetings," "resolutions," "protests," and "letters of correspondents," +regarding this "Popish plot," "this Romanist aggression," "this priestly +insolence," and a thousand other names, threats, and unflattering +epithets against persons and institutions, whose only connection with +the case of Miss O'Clery was, that they belonged to the Catholic church, +or dared to speak the truth, or claim their rights. Now the +hundred-headed Cerberus of the press is silenced, and skulks into its +dark lair, beaten and silenced, but not ashamed of the filthy dribblings +of its lying tongue. Now all the talk, articles, and "leaders" go for +nothing, since Mr. Goldrich acknowledges "the priest is right; she is +his sister." But did not that clamorous press, that bellowed and +hallooed on the rabble to rob, murder, and destroy,--did it not recall +its words, apologize for its naughty language, and retract every charge +groundlessly made? Like a convicted felon, did it cry _peccavi_--I have +sinned, been misled, or misinformed? No; not a sign of repentance has +been manifested, not an apology made, not a word of retraction uttered +by these self-styled philosophers of the press, who think they are +responsible to no law, human or divine, and who say they have a world to +redeem, and nations and peoples to regenerate. We have read countless +folios of calumnies, misrepresentations, and black libels on every thing +sacred and venerable on earth, by the American press, during several +years that we have read newspapers; but we never yet found one editor to +retract, apologize, or mend his manners and language, except when +compelled by the cudgel or by the law. What an anomaly does the +observation of the conduct of the world present to us! They refuse "to +hear the church," or be guided by the teaching of men who have spent +their lives in preparing and qualifying themselves for the office of +public teaching; and they submit themselves blindly and without control +to the guidance of men whom they know not, who have not always the best +moral characters, and whose training, in most instances, does any thing +but qualify them for the dangerous office they fill. + +The instance which is here given of the almost unanimous hostility of +the press to the cause of justice, truth, and honor, illustrates what we +say; and the obvious conclusion is, that the "fourth estate" itself +needs reclaiming--the great modern reformer needs reformation. + +Soon after Mr. Goldrich's return home, he called on Father Paul O'Clery, +and, with a great deal of good nature, congratulated him on his very +providential discovery of his sister, "my dear adopted child. And now, +reverend sir," said he, affectionately, "I beg to tender you the +hospitalities of our house. As your sister has been for so many years +one of the family,--and not the least loved one, I assure you,--I hope I +may, without impropriety, by right of relationship by adoption, claim +you as a member also." + +Father Paul answered by assuring him he appreciated his kindness; that +he acknowledged the honorable connection in full; and that, though this +very affectionate advance had not taken place, Mr. Goldrich would ever +be regarded by him with feelings of veneration and love, on account of +his affectionate kindness to his sister, in giving her such a superior +education, and treating her on terms of equality with his own children. +The highminded and liberal gentleman, after having shed tears at the +idea of losing his dear adopted girl, departed, having previously +extorted a promise from Father Paul to attend a great party in honor of +Aloysia, at the palace, on the evening of the next day. + +In the mean time, Aloysia's room was besieged with crowds of anxious +visitors and voluntary condolers on her resolution of renouncing wealth, +pleasure, and Protestantism, for poverty, Popery, and penance. Rich +merchants came, offering to settle annuities on her for life; rich +widows came, with their tracts and Bibles in one hand, and their real +estate deeds and scrip in the other, hoping to conquer her resolution; +and eloquent parsons, with their "sweet speeches and flattering +discourses," were chasing one another, like clouds driven by the winds, +to and from the well-furnished boudoir, all charged with the same +apostolic office of saving a soul, a beautiful, interesting one, from +falling into that world-wide "net" of Popery with which St. Peter and +his successors have never ceased to "catch men," since the days of Jesus +Christ. All the discourses, prayers, entreaties, threats, crocodile +tears, flatteries, misrepresentations, legacies, settlements, and other +seductive allurements have miscarried, this time. A Catholic Aloysia was +baptized, and a Catholic she is resolved to live and die, with God's +grace. + +The "big dinner" was prepared at the rich man's house, where Father Paul +through courtesy attended, and where he was obliged to defend, in a +speech of some length, the violent assault of that Parson Cashman, who +we told was fishing for the hand of Aloysia, but who now, because she +rejected him with scorn, had the bad taste to insult the whole company +by his _champagne_-inspired attack on Ireland, her creed, and her +children. + +Paul completely refuted his charge of ignorance of the Irish, by +contrasting their religious knowledge with that of the English and +Americans; in the former one of which countries there are seven or eight +millions of pagans, and in the later so many thousands who follow such +impostors as Miller, Smith, spiritual rappers, Transcendentalists, +Fourierites, and other impostors notorious for their crimes. + +"The reverend gentleman forgets," said he, "that Ireland was once, and +for ages, the most enlightened country on earth, and deserved to be +called "the Island of Saints;" and that whatever of ignorance, poverty, +and crime--which, thank God, is little--she is afflicted with, was +inherited by her from the curse introduced into her by the upas tree of +Protestantism. Ah, sir, the eulogy of England comes with a bad grace +from the lips of a son of America, which she oppressed, and which, but +for Catholic arms, might be now, instead of a great republic, a +badly-ruled province of Protestant England. Study history, sir; study +history; and you will soon think better of Ireland and Catholicity, and +less of England and her persecuting Protestantism." And with that he +retired. + +The remaining part of our tale is soon told. Paul O'Clery, from being a +good priest, became, in addition, a great man; his virtues, learning, +and genius soon attracted the notice of the princes of God's church. He +was consecrated bishop, "_in partibus infidelium_," and he is now a +pillar of God's church, and an ornament in his sanctuary, as archbishop +in one of the great cities of British India, in Asia. Behold, my young +readers, how the church opens the gates of her treasures, and encourages +the promotion of the humblest of her children. Virtue and genius are the +only titles to nobility which she regards. Every office in her gift (and +she has stations too high for angels) is open to the humblest aspirant +to perfection. How many scores of young men might be now shining lamps +in God's sanctuary, instead of being degraded to the level of the +drudges of the earth and the slaves of the world, if they only resisted +the glittering bait of temptation at first, and took as their model Paul +O'Clery, the orphan boy! + +What became of Aloysia, do you wish to know? She joined her sister +Bridget in the nunnery, and after atoning by her tears and repentance +for the _material_ heresy of her youth, she lately fell a victim to +fever, contracted by her in caring for the poor negro slaves of New +Orleans. She preferred to die a saint than live a princess. + +Eugene, as you already know, died a martyr for his faith, having been +persecuted to death by Parson Dilman and Mr. Shaw Gulvert of evil +memory. + +Patrick returned to Ireland, where he has lately purchased an estate +under the encumbered estates law--the very same estate on which his +father lived under Lord Mandemon. + +You recollect Van Stingey, the first persecutor of the orphan family, +was blown up by powder, and perished miserably. Amanda Prying met a fate +little better. Having been in the habit of imbibing strong drafts of +chloroform, for purposes of intoxication, she was found dead in bed one +December morning, after having imbibed too strong a dose. + +The youngest child of Reuben Prying met with his death in this way: +Willy, the youngest but one, hearing that somebody was to be hanged, +asked his pa how the operation was performed. The father, of course, +believing that "knowledge was power," taught the child how to act the +hangman, and the lesson was not taught in vain; for, the next day, +Willy, experimenting on the "knowledge" communicated, hanged his younger +brother, Lory, dead. Thus perished the darling son of him who combined +with the parson to kill Eugene O'Clery. + +I forgot to say that Mary Prying, the innocent, good girl, and the +admirer of Paul, became a convert, and is now a nun, called Sister Mary +Magdalen. + +But what of the Parsons Grinoble, Gulmore, Barker, Scullion, and the +others, who had a hand in robbing the orphans of their faith? They are +all alive yet, and, according to their limited capacities, doing all the +harm it is possible for them to do, in propagating error and +disseminating discord. And your friend Dr. Ugo, who was instrumental in +saving the orphans, is yet living, and battling for the faith, never +omitting to inculcate fidelity to the CROSS and attachment to +the SHAMROCK on all his beloved parishioners and hearers. Amen! + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Cross and the Shamrock, by Hugh Quigley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK *** + +***** This file should be named 16958-8.txt or 16958-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/9/5/16958/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme Mackreth and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cross and the Shamrock + Or, How To Defend The Faith. An Irish-American Catholic + Tale Of Real Life, Descriptive Of The Temptations, + Sufferings, Trials, And Triumphs Of The Children Of St. + Patrick In The Great Republic Of Washington. A Book For + The Entertainment And Special Instructions Of The Catholic + Male And Female Servants Of The United States. + +Author: Hugh Quigley + +Release Date: October 28, 2005 [EBook #16958] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme Mackreth and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h4>THE</h4> + +<h1>CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK,</h1> + +<h4>OR,</h4> + +<h2>HOW TO DEFEND THE FAITH.</h2> + +<h4>AN</h4> + +<h2>IRISH-AMERICAN CATHOLIC TALE</h2> + +<h2>OF REAL LIFE,</h2> + +<h3>DESCRIPTIVE OF THE</h3> + +<h3>TEMPTATIONS, SUFFERINGS, TRIALS, AND TRIUMPHS</h3> + +<h4>OF THE</h4> + +<h2>CHILDREN OF ST. PATRICK</h2> + +<h4>IN THE</h4> + +<h3>GREAT REPUBLIC OF WASHINGTON.</h3> + +<h3>A BOOK</h3> + +<h4>FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OF</h4> + +<h3>THE CATHOLIC MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS OF THE +UNITED STATES.</h3> + + +<h4>WRITTEN BY</h4> + +<h4>A MISSIONARY PRIEST.</h4> + +<h5>[Transcriber's Note: a pseudonym for Hugh Quigley.]</h5> + +<h3>BOSTON:</h3> + +<h3>PATRICK DONAHOE,</h3> + +<h5>3 FRANKLIN STREET.<br /> +<br />1853.<br /><br /> +<br />Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by<br /> +<br />PATRICK DONAHOE,<br /> +<br />In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.<br /> +<br />STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.</h5> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>DEDICATION.</h2> + + +<p>To the faithful Irish-American Catholic citizens +of the whole Union, and especially to the working +portion of them, on account of their piety, +their liberality, their patriotism, and their steady +loyalty to the virtues symbolized by the "Cross +and the Shamrock,"—on account of their attachment +to the land of St. Patrick, and to the +religion of her patriot princes and martyrs,—this +work, written for their encouragement and instruction, +is respectfully inscribed by</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Their humble servant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">And devoted friend and fellow-citizen,</span><br /></p> +<p class="right">THE AUTHOR.<br /> +</p> + +<p>September, 1853.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>"There are moments when every citizen who feels that he can say +something promotive of the welfare of his countrymen and of advantage to +his country is authorized to give <i>public</i> utterance to his sentiments, +how humble soever he may be."—<i>Letter of Archbishop Hughes on the +Madiai</i>, February, 1853.</p> + +<p>"There may be, in public opinion, an Inquisition a thousand times more +galling to the soul than the gloomy prison or the weight of +chains."—<i>National Democrat</i>, March, 1853.</p> + +<p>1st. The above extracts, from different but respectable sources, +comprise the author's chief motives in the publication of the following +work. It is a well-known fact, that thousands of our fellow-Christians, +in all parts of this vast <i>free country</i>, are continually subjected to a +most trying ordeal of temptation and persecution on account of their +religion, and that the wonderful progress of Catholicity and renewed +power of the church only add to the malice, if not to the influence, of +sectarians, in their efforts to make use of this odious persecution of +servant boys and servant girls, of widows and orphans, to build up their +own tottering conventicles, and to circumscribe the giant strides of +what they call "the man of sin."</p> + +<p>A very intelligent American lawyer lately remarked to the writer of +this, "that, about twenty-five years ago, the parsons fulminated all +their eloquence against Satan; but they seem to have formed a league +with him now, for all their vengeance is directed against the pope, who, +they say, is far more dangerous than Old Harry."</p> + +<p>When we know this to be literally true, and find our poor, neglected, +and uninstructed brethren in danger accordingly, how can any thing that +can be said, written, or done, to alleviate their condition, or to +remove prejudice from the public mind, be counted a work of +supererogation?</p> + +<p>2d. The corruption of the cheap trash literature, that is now ordinarily +supplied for the amusement and instruction of the American people,—and +that threatens to uproot and annihilate all the notions of virtue and +morals that remain, in spite of sectarianism,—calls for some antidote, +some remedy. In every rail car, omnibus, stage coach, steamboat, or +canal packet, publications, containing the most poisonous principles and +destructive errors, are presented to, and are purchased by, passengers +of both sexes, whose minds, like the appetites of hungry animals, will +take to eating the filthiest stuff, rather than want food for +rumination. It is for the philanthropists of the present day, and for +those who are paid for making such inquiries, to trace the connection +between the <i>roués</i> of your cities, your Bloomer women, your spiritual +rappers, and other countless extravagances of a diseased public mind, +and between the abominable publications to which we allude.</p> + +<p>3d. Our people are not generally great readers of the trashy newspapers +of the day; and in this respect they show their good sense, or at least +have happened on good luck: it is therefore our duty to supply them with +cheap and amusing literature, to entertain them during the few hours +they are disengaged from work. And what reading can afford the Irish +Catholic greater pleasure than any work, however imperfect, having for +its end the exaltation and defence of his glorious old faith, and the +vindication of his native land—his beloved "Erin-go-bragh"? Impress on +his susceptible mind the honor and advantage of defence and fidelity to +the <span class="smcap">Cross</span> and the <span class="smcap">Shamrock</span>, and you give him two ideas +that will come to his aid in most of his actions through life. We are +ashamed here of the cross of Christ, when we see it continually +dishonored and trampled on by heretics and modern pagans, in their +scramble for money and pleasures. On the other hand, the poverty, +humiliation, and rags of old Erin, of the kings, saints, and martyrs, +scandalize us; and from these two false notions the degradation and +apostasy of many Irishmen commence. Hence they no sooner land on the +shores of America than they endeavor to clip the musical and rich brogue +of fatherland, to make room for the bastard barbarisms and vulgar slang +of Yankeedom. The remainder of the course of the apostate is easily +traced, till, ashamed of creed and country, he ends by being ashamed of +his Creator and Redeemer, and barters the inheritance of heaven for the +miserable and short enjoyments of this earth.</p> + +<p>A <i>fourth</i>, and a leading motive in the publication of this work, is to +record the manly defences which the people among whom the author lives +have made of the creed of their fathers, and to enable them to refute, +in a simple, practical manner, for the edification of their opponents, +the many objections proposed to them about the faith. By placing a copy +of this work in the hands of every head of a family in the congregation +in which he presides, the author thinks he will have done something +towards the salvation of that parent and his house, by showing him how +he may educate his children, and save them from those subtle snares laid +to rob them and him of happiness here and hereafter; for, without true +religion and virtue, there is neither enjoyment nor happiness even in +this world.</p> + +<p>But are the principles sound, and the estimate he has formed of American +character and the conduct and motives of the sectarian parsons correct? +There may be, and undoubtedly there is, great variety in American +character; and, so far, what may be true of the people of one state or +county, may not at all be applicable to those of the rest; but as far as +regards sectarianism and its slanders of the church, and the low +character, intellectually and morally, of the parsons, ministers, +dominies, and preachers, with few honorable exceptions, it may be said, +in the words of the poet,—</p> + +<p class="center">"Ex uno disce omnes."</p> + +<p>"They are all chips of the same block;" and the description in the +following pages of their attempts to proselytize, seduce, and corrupt, +is not at all exaggerated, as thousands of candid American Protestants +can testify. Perhaps the sectarian dominies do not see the sad +consequences that are infallibly produced on the minds of their hearers, +after they come to detect the frauds and falsehoods which the parsons +inculcate on them when children; but they are in <i>the cause</i>, and +morally responsible for that doubt, irreligion, and downright infidelity +which are the well-known characteristics of the male and female youth +of our great country, and which threaten such disastrous consequences to +society.</p> + +<p>Yes, dominies, you are responsible for all the extravagances of modern +times, for the irreparable loss to virtue and society of the noble youth +of your country. You hate the church of God because she is a witness +against you. The priest, the nun, and the recluse are objects of your +malice; for they are living examples of what you call impossible morals, +and refuters of the code of low virtue you practise and preach. The +faith of the Catholic laity, too, you endeavor to destroy, in order more +securely to deceive your hearers, and to secure your children, your +wives, and yourselves, that bread which you eat by the dissemination of +error, contradiction, and contention, and which you are too lazy to +"earn by the sweat of your brow."</p> + +<p><i>Finally.</i> This work is submitted to the reader by one who will be well +pleased if it affords the former any pleasure or amusement during one or +two of such few hours of leisure as it took the latter to write it. +Regarding style, method, and arrangement of the matter, the author has +no apology to offer, except that the work has been written in great +haste, and by one who, in five years, has not had a single entire day +for recreation or unoccupied by severe missionary duty. Let not the +critics forget this.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b><br /> + A DEATH BED SCENE,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b><br /> +GETTING THE MOTHER'S BLESSING,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b><br /> +AN OFFICIAL,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b><br /> +THE POORHOUSE,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b><br /> +THE O'CLERYS,</a> <br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b><br /> +THE COUNCIL,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b><br /> +A RUDE LOVER OF NATURE,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b><br /> +THE ORPHANS IN THEIR NEW HOME,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b><br /> +THE PRYING FAMILY,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b><br /> +A RAY OF HOPE,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b><br /> +VAN STINGEY AGAIN.—HOW HE GETS RICH AND ENDS,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII.</b><br /> +MASS IN A SHANTY,</a> <br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII.</b><br /> +THE TEMPTER AT THE WOMAN,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b><br /> +THE FRUITS OF THE CROSS,</a> <br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV.</b><br /> +THE CONVERSION,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b><br /> +THE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b><br /> +"HE AND HIS WHOLE HOUSE BELIEVED,"</a> <br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII.</b><br /> +"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION,"</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX.</b><br /> +WHAT HAPPENED TO LITTLE EUGENE O'CLERY,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>CHAPTER XX.</b><br /> +THE SAME, CONTINUED, </a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI.</b><br /> +CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII.</b><br /> +THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII.</b><br /> +IN WHICH THE SCENE OF OUR TALE IS CHANGED,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV.</b><br /> +SHOWS HOW THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK WERE PERMANENTLY<br /> +UNITED AFTER A LONG SEPARATION,</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV.</b><br /> +CONCLUSION,</a><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2>A DEATH-BED SCENE.</h2> + + +<p>A cold evening in the month of January, a drizzling rain storm blowing +from the south-west, a cheerless sky, a dull, threatening atmosphere, +together with almost impassable roads,—these are the chilling and +uninviting circumstances with which, if we pay regard to truth, we must +introduce our narrative to our readers. It is usual, with writers of +fiction and romance, to preface their literary exhibitions with +high-wrought and dazzling descriptions of natural and artificial +objects—the sun, moon, and stars; the clouds, meteors, and other +fantastic creations of the atmosphere; the seas, rivers, and lakes; the +mountains, fields, and gardens; the birds, fishes, and the inhabitants +of the savage forests, as well as the forests, groves, and woods +themselves,—in a word, all nature seems as if conscious of the effects +likely to result to the morals, habits, and projects of men, while some +of your modern novelists are arranging their matter, sharpening their +scissors, preparing pen, ink, and paper, and taking indigestible suppers +to make way into the world for the offspring of their creative fancies. +Ours being a tale of truth,—yes, of bare, unvarnished truth, yet of +truth more interesting, if not "stranger, than fiction,"—it is not to +be wondered that, when we acknowledge the homely dame, and her alone, as +our guide, inspirer, and preceptor, we lack the advantage of romancers, +and cannot command "a special sunset," or a storm made to order, or +other enchanting scenery, to introduce us to our patrons.</p> + +<p>We must take things as we find them; and this is why cold, rain, and +frost, the whistling of merciless winds, together with false and +pitiless ice, constitute the principal features of our introductory +chapter. The merry chimes of sleigh bells, as if to add gloom to the +scene, were silent, no snow having fallen this winter, and the ice being +irregular and lumpy. The streets of the city of T—— were almost +entirely deserted of foot passengers, owing to the danger of walking +over the slippery pavement; while cabmen and omnibus conductors had +cautiously driven their teams to the stable or smithy, to have them +"sharpened" for the frozen coat of mail which enveloped the earth. When +about dusk, an aged gentleman, in a cloak, with a sharp-pointed cane in +his hand, might be observed moving along the gutter of a narrow street. +Occasionally he would slip so as to come on one knee, and now he would +steer himself along by taking hold of the sills of windows, and of the +railings which here and there were erected in front of a few houses on +the retired and deserted street on which he crept along.</p> + +<p>At length he approaches an old three-story, red, frame-built house, +which, from its shattered and dilapidated windows, at first seemed to +be deserted, but which, from the description left by a messenger with +his domestic in the forenoon, he could not doubt was the place where he +heard the emigrant widow lay at the point of death.</p> + +<p>"Is this where the sick woman is?" said he to an old woman who opened +the door.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your reverence," answered Mrs. Doherty, at once recognizing the +priest; "and thank God you are come. The Lord never deserts his own, +praise be to his holy name."</p> + +<p>"Is she very ill?" said Father O'Shane; for thus was named the sole +pastor of the city of T—— in those days.</p> + +<p>"That she is, your reverence, and callin' for the priest this three +days; but as we heard your reverence say that you would be in the +country till this day, we thought it no use to give in the sick call +sooner. I myself gave it in this morning afore my poor, sick old man got +up."</p> + +<p>"God help the poor!" muttered the tender-hearted priest, as he ascended +to the third floor, where the dying woman lay.</p> + +<p>"Amen!" answered Mrs. Doherty, aloud. "You would pity her, your +reverence, if you seen the misery they are in this two months; and it is +easily telling they saw better days in the ould country. It is easily +knowing <i>that</i>, by the <i>dacent</i>, mannerly children she has around her, +God help 'em."</p> + +<p>"Pax huic domui, et omnibus habitantibus in ea"—"Peace to this house, +and all that dwell therein," uttered the priest of God, as he opened +the latchless door of the room on the third story of the old "Oil Mill +House," where the patient was extended on her "pallet of straw." For a +moment he stood on the threshold, for within an unusual and solemn sight +presented itself to his view. A woman of fair and comely features, +between about thirty and forty years of age, lay as described on the +floor, with four children kneeling around her. The eldest, a lad of +about fifteen years, read aloud the litanies and prayers of the church +for the dying, while the three younger children repeated the responses +in fervent but trembling accents.</p> + +<p>"Lord, have mercy on her," cried Paul, the eldest boy.</p> + +<p>"Christ, have mercy on her," answered the younger children.</p> + +<p>"Holy Mary." <i>R.</i> "Pray for her."</p> + +<p>"All ye holy angels and archangels." <i>R.</i> "Pray for her."</p> + +<p>"All ye choirs of the just." <i>R.</i> "Pray for her."</p> + +<p>"All ye saints of God." <i>R.</i> "Make intercession for her."</p> + +<p>"From thy anger, from an unhappy death, from the pains of hell." <i>R.</i> +"Deliver her, O Lord."</p> + +<p>"By thy cross and passion, by thy death and burial, by thy glorious +resurrection, in the day of judgment." <i>R.</i> "Deliver her, O Lord."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant from all danger of hell, and +from all pain and tribulation." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Enoch +and Elias from the common death of the world." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Noah from +the flood." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Abraham +from the midst of the Chaldeans." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Job from +all his afflictions." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Isaac +from being sacrificed by his father." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Lot from +Sodom and the flames of fire." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Moses +from the hands of Pharaoh, King of Egypt." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Daniel +from the lions' den." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst the three +children from the fiery furnace and from the hands of an unmerciful +king." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Susanna +from her false accusers." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst David +from the hands of Goliah and Saul." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Peter +and Paul out of prison." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"And as thou deliveredst that blessed virgin and martyr, St. Thecla, +from most cruel torments, so vouchsafe, O Lord, to deliver the soul of +this thy servant, and bring it to the participation of thy heavenly +joys." <i>R.</i> "Amen."</p> + +<p>"Depart, Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of God, the +Father Almighty, who created thee; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of +the living God, who suffered for thee; in the name of the Holy Ghost, +who sanctified thee; in the name of the angels, archangels, thrones and +dominations, cherubims and seraphims; in the name of the patriarchs and +prophets, of the holy martyrs and confessors, of the holy monks and +hermits, of the holy virgins, and of all the saints of God. Let thy +place be this day in peace, and thy abode in <i>Sion</i>, through Christ, our +Lord." <i>R</i>. "Amen."</p> + +<p>The offering up of this most beautiful prayer by the children for their +dying parent was not unattended with several breaks and pauses, caused +by the overwhelming grief of the poor orphans. They "gave out" the short +prayers of the litany very well, and without much interruption; but when +they came to the more solemn portion of that beautiful service, the +"recommendation of a departing soul," they could no longer restrain +their tears or suppress their lamentations.</p> + +<p>Small blame to the poor children for this manifestation of grief, since +we have known instances of the most hardened hearts being touched, and +the most manly eyes yielding their tribute of tears, at the bare recital +of the most beautiful form of prayer for the "soul departing." We have +ourselves read this service a thousand times, at least, by the death +bedsides of many "departing souls;" and never could we once go through +the form of it entire without yielding to the weakness of nature, and +becoming speechless by the violence of our tears. Let the most obstinate +unbeliever attend but a few times by the bedside of a dying Catholic, +and observe the piety and faith of the priest and people around the bed +of the "soul departing;" and if he be not an atheist or a blasphemer of +God's providence, it is impossible for him not to perceive the +superiority of the Catholic religion to all other forms of worship that +ever existed. But to be present at the death hour of a Christian is a +privilege which Protestants and unbelievers seldom or never enjoy; their +levity and want of devotion, with their impiety and irreverence, being +sufficiently powerful obstacles to their admittance into such sacred +places as the chamber in which the sacred offices of religion are +administered to the "departing soul." It is only the true believers, and +not "those outside," who have the privilege of hearing the "prayer of +faith" that saves the sick man—it is only they who enjoy occasionally +the consolation from the inspiring words of the church to join their +tears, and unite their sighs, sobs, and sorrows with those of their +pastors and fellow-Christians, for the happy passage and merciful +judgment for their departing brother. Such were the tears and sadness +that Paul O'Clery and his little attendants shed around the bed of +their dying mother.</p> + +<p>"Paul, my child, why do you act so?" said she, gently chiding him.</p> + +<p>"O mother! mother! how can I help it? Stop ye your crying there," said +he, taking courage, and turning to his younger associates. "Silence +Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene. Answer me distinctly, and hold your grief. +It will vex mother." And he continued the prayer from where he left off +with as good grace as he could.</p> + +<p>The venerable priest, though inside the door, was unperceived during +this affecting scene; and the heavy tears might be seen stealing down +his furrowed cheeks as he surveyed the group before him.</p> + +<p>"O, faith of my Lord, O, best gift of God, how precious thou art! Thou +canst change men into angels, earth into paradise, and convert the +misery and poverty of the poor emigrant into a picture like this, that +heaven itself must delight to gaze on. That's right, my darling son," +said he, "you have finished well; you have done your duty towards your +mother, for which God will bless you, and I bless you in his name. In +nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."</p> + +<p>"The priest, mother!" whispered Bridget. "I know him by his cloak."</p> + +<p>"Glory, honor, and praise be to the Almighty," said the calm and now +rejoicing widow, as she saw the face of the venerable minister of +religion. "The Lord is too good to me, not to let me die in a strange +land, without the consolations of my holy religion," she continued, +kissing the silver crucifix of her beads.</p> + +<p>The heart of the good man was too full to give utterance to many words; +and seeing that Death was at hand, that already he was master of all but +the heart,—for the extremes were cold and without feeling,—he ordered +the children down to Mrs. Doherty's, while he heard the short and humble +confession of the poor departing soul, administered the most holy +viaticum, with extreme unction, and read the last benediction of the +church—"In articulo mortis."</p> + +<p>He then strengthened her soul with a few words of exhortation, and +having prescribed a few short, ejaculatory prayers, bidding her to have +the name, as well as the image, of Jesus ever in her heart and lips, he +departed, promising to call again as soon as possible, taking the +precaution to leave two dollars in silver and a three dollar bill on the +little stool that stood by her bed. He had now, he said, to go about +forty miles into the country; and he would, after his return, call to +see how she was, and to comply with her request about the children.</p> + +<p>"I commend you now to the care of God and his angel. God bless you," +said he, departing.</p> + +<p>"Into thy hands I commend my spirit. O Lord, receive my soul. Jesus, +Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me. O God of love, goodness, and mercy, +accept my imperfect thanksgiving; save my soul, redeemed by thy precious +blood, and make me worthy to see thy glory. I believe in thee, O Lord, +I hope in thee, and I love thee. O my God and my Lord, who am I that +thou shouldst visit me!"</p> + +<p>With these and other fervent aspirations, this pure and exalted soul +prepared for the manifestation of the glory of her Lord, and sighed to +be dissolved, and to fly to the beatific vision that faith promised her, +and through the merits of Christ she expected to obtain. After this, the +symptoms of her disease became sensibly less dangerous than before the +visit of the priest; but this calm, this seeming relief, was only +temporary. Presently the impress of pale death was unmistakably settled +on her calm brow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h2>GETTING THE MOTHER'S BLESSING.</h2> + + +<p>When the priest departed from the precincts of "Oil Mill House," in +company with the impatient messenger that required his services in the +country, after a few words of encouragement and advice spoken to Paul, +Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene,—for so were widow O'Clery's children +named,—they returned to the bedside of their dying mother. Little +Bridget was the first to observe on the small bench by the bedside the +money left there by Father O'Shane.</p> + +<p>"Paul," she whispered, "look here! This is money left, I suppose, by the +priest." Paul, who was acquainted with American coin, took up the eight +pieces, or quarters, in silver, and the bill, and examining them by the +candle, said, "O Bid, see how good the priest is! He has left us five +dollars, or one pound, without saying a word about it. Mother, how do +you feel? Look! the priest left us a deal of money here quietly."</p> + +<p>"God reward him for it," answered she, with a hoarse and broken voice. +"Paul, darling, go on your knees, you and your sister and brothers, till +I give ye my blessing before I die. Quick, children, quick, while I have +strength."</p> + +<p>"O mother! mother! sure you aren't going to leave us orphans? May be +you will get better now, after extreme unction."</p> + +<p>"Kneel down here by my side, my children," said she, feeling that her +time was now short. "Paul, do you promise me you will be a good boy, +love God, and keep his commandments?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother, with God's help. O woe!"</p> + +<p>"Will you watch over your brothers, and sister Bridget, and go with them +to the priest, telling him not to forget that I gave ye all up to his +care, and the care of God and his blessed mother?"</p> + +<p>"O, I will."</p> + +<p>"Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene, will ye obey, and be said by Paul, who is +the oldest?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother, please God," they answered, amidst sobbing and tears that +half choked them.</p> + +<p>"God bless ye, and guard ye, and save ye from all dangers of soul and +body. I give ye up to God. I place ye under the holy care of the blessed +mother of God. I pray that ye may preserve pure the faith of Saint +Patrick. I bless ye. O, pray for me. Jesus, into thy +hands—Jesus—Mary—Jesus——." There was a sigh, and by a single effort +the soul extricated itself from its prison of clay to join the ranks of +its kindred spirits. The widow O'Clery is no more, and Paul and his +brethren are orphans indeed.</p> + +<p>For a few minutes there was a deep silence in that chamber of death, and +Paul repeated the "De Profundis," in English, out of his Prayer Book; +but when the cold and ghastly form of death was perceived by this poor +company to be all that was left of their darling and affectionate +mother, loud and mournful were their lamentations. Then, and not till +then, did the forlorn state to which they were reduced reveal itself +even to their juvenile minds. There they were, helpless and destitute, +without father or mother, friend or relation; on every side strangers, +cold, hunger, and want. The mysterious hand of Providence conducted them +from comparative comfort, if not luxury, through several stages of +trial, danger, and trouble, till they were now entirely stripped, like +Job, of all but an existence to which death was preferable. Many are the +phases of misery and crosses with which the life of man is surrounded in +this vale of tears; but we think the condition of the orphan, deprived +of both parents, and thrown for support or existence on a strange and +selfish world, the most desolate of all. A policeman was the first who +was attracted to the house of mourning by the wailing and cries of those +whom this night saw alone and desolate. Mrs. Doherty, attended by an +Irish servant maid from a neighboring house, were the next visitors; +and, after piously kneeling around the corpse to offer their fervent +prayers for the soul, they prepared to "lay out" the body. This +consists, as all are probably aware, of washing the corpse, clothing it +in clean linen, extending it on a table or bed, and putting up such +temporary fixtures as would deprive the room in which it lies of the +gloom and repulsiveness attendant on such an event. After arranging all +things so that she looked "a decent corpse," with the <i>religious habit</i> +around her, Mrs. Doherty hung up the crucifix, pinned to a white linen +sheet at the head of where she lay, placed her "Ursuline Manual" on her +breast, and her beads on her arms, crossed on the body.</p> + +<p>"She was a handsome, fine woman, in her day, God bless her," said Mrs. +Doherty.</p> + +<p>"Yes, any body can tell that," answered Norry. "I wonder how they came +here at all."</p> + +<p>"I know it well," answered old Peggy Doherty. "She telled me all about +it afore she took bad entirely. Her man was well off, and had a brother +next to the bishop in the church, in the county of C——. When landlords +began to root out the people from their homes, the brother of Mr. +O'Clery, her husband, wrote letters in the newspapers about the cruelty +of the landlord, who was called 'Lord Mandemon;' and on that account, +and because the priest took part with the poor,—as they always do, God +bless 'em!—the landlord came down on Mr. O'Clery, sold out his sixty +milch cows, after being twenty-one days in pound; and though the cows +were worth ten pounds each, Lord Mandemon's agent sold them by auction, +and he bought them back himself for two pounds each; and so the poor +family was ruined. After that, O'Clery sold out another farm he had; +and, collecting all that was due to him, he came to America, against the +advice of the priest, his brother. He thought, he said, to live with his +family in 'a free country,' where there were no landlords or tyrants, +and, while he had some means, to buy a farm which he could call his own. +But he took the cholera when within sight of land, and he only lived a +few days. God rest his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed. +And God help those poor orphans," she said, piously, looking to where +the little group, wearied from grief and crying, lay asleep on a straw +bed.</p> + +<p>"I do really pity the poor creatures," said Norry. "I suppose they will +have to go to the poorhouse."</p> + +<p>"I hope not; God forbid, <i>asthore</i>, the poorhouse is such a dangerous +place for Catholics. I heard the priest say he would call to-morrow; and +may be he will <i>do for</i> the little dears."</p> + +<p>"'Tis hard for him to provide for all that are in distress," said Norry.</p> + +<p>"I know it; but it would be a murther to let such well-reared and decent +children into the hands of those poormasters, but especially that Van +Stingey, whose great delight is, they say, to convart the children of +Catholics to his own sect. See what he done to the little Cronin +children, whose father and mother died lately."</p> + +<p>"I heard of that; but I am afraid the priest won't be able to call on +to-morrow, as he promised, if it continue to snow so."</p> + +<p>"<i>O yea</i>, God forbid; but it is a terrible night. Do ye hear how it +blows? <i>O Heirna Dioa.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the snow is falling in mountains; the roads will be blocked +up, and hills and hollows will be on a level in the morning."</p> + +<p>"God help every poor Christian that is out to-night," said Mrs. Doherty. +"I hope the Lord will save his reverence from all harm."</p> + +<p>"Amen!" answered Norry. "He will have a hard night of it. Had he far to +go?"</p> + +<p>"He had, <i>agra</i>, forty miles out in Vermont; but sure he could not +refuse going. The woman is just dying; and besides, she is a Protestant, +who wants to die in the faith."</p> + +<p>"Happy for her," said Norry, "if he overtakes her alive. How good the +priests are to these Yankees, although they are always ridiculing the +clergy; yet, if one of them is going to die, the priest not only +forgives them, but is willing to travel any distance to do them a +service."</p> + +<p>"Sure that's the orders of God and the church," said Mrs. Doherty. "It +is not for them alone they are working, but for God, you know."</p> + +<p>"That's true," said Norry. "But still and all, when one hears how they +are always ridiculing priests and nuns, and sees how they hate our +religion, it is very hard, I think, to forgive them."</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>agra</i>," said Peggy, who was better informed than Norry; "so it is +hard for flesh and blood to forgive the heretics; but, unless we forgive +them, God won't forgive us. The priest knows this well; and so, if there +were two sick calls to come at one time to him, as happened lately, one +a Protestant and the other a Catholic, he would go to the Protestant +first."</p> + +<p>"That beats all," said Norry, "and is more than I would do, if I were +the priest; for I know well all that is said of him behind his back."</p> + +<p>"What harm will all that scandalous talk do the priest?" said Peggy. "It +only does him good; and he has a blessing for being 'spoken evil of' +like our Lord. He forgives all those whom God forgives; and so, if his +enemy, the Protestant, falls sick, and wants his services, he goes to +him <i>first</i>, in order that he may be brought into the church, where +alone he can be saved."</p> + +<p>"Thanks be to God," said Norry. "Is not it a wonder the Protestants +don't understand this, and look on the priests and the church as their +best friends, seeing that the priests are as ready, and readier, to +attend to them than to the Catholics themselves?"</p> + +<p>"How can they understand it when they are blinded by love of money, +impurity, and the hatred that the ministers excite against the church in +the minds of their hearers? Wasn't our Lord himself hated by those whom +he most loved, and put to death by them? It is so with every priest who +follows his steps, now as well as then. The world will always hate +good."</p> + +<p>This Christian philosophy was a little too sublime for poor Norry's +mind, who was a long time among the Yankees, sufficiently instructed in +the customs of this "free country" to be ready to observe the law of +"Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and life for life;" and who, besides, had +her naturally warm temper rather spoiled from her continual rencontres +with her mistress on such subjects as confession, priests' celibacy, +purgatory, and other subjects too profound for the understanding of her +mistress to know any thing about them, and too sacred in the eyes of +Norry to allow them to be irreverently handled without saying something +in their defence. It requires not only a perfect acquaintance with the +sublime and heavenly tenets of Catholicity to speak of them with +precision and propriety, but, in addition to a deep study of the truths +of true religion, the <i>practice of her precepts</i>, and the frequent +reception of the sacraments, are necessary to imbue the mind with the +true Christian notions regarding her high commands.</p> + +<p>Poor Norry "had not a chance," she said, of going to her duties for +several years; and that is why she considered "Peggy Doherty's" talk +about forgiveness so strange and unaccountable.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a <i>Greffour</i>," resumed "old Peggy," "we must forgive all the +world; and myself would forgive any thing sooner than kidnappin' or +stealing away the children of Catholics, which these Yankee parsons are +so fond of doing."</p> + +<p>"O, so they are, the villains," said Norry. "Did they take away or steal +any of this poor woman's children? 'Tis a wonder if they didn't."</p> + +<p>"Well, besides the four children you see here, <i>asthore</i>, she had +another neat child, one year old, named Aloysia, whom a lady up town +took with her, two months since, to rear her up along with her own +children; and it was only about ten days since she got news of her +death. When the poor woman heard this, the heart broke entirely within +her, especially as she could not be present at the child's death bed or +at the funeral."</p> + +<p>"Why, that's rather strange," said Norry. "Did they send her word that +she was sick?"</p> + +<p>"Not a word. It was only when I went up to Mrs. Sillerman's, the other +day, to inquire about the child, she comes out and tells me the child +died, and was decently interred. When I told the mother, she cried out, +'O Aloysia, Aloysia, my darling! are you, too, gone?' And she was not +herself since."</p> + +<p>"I do think there must be something wrong in the matter," said Norry. +"Did you tell the priest?"</p> + +<p>"No, I did not, for I had not time," said Mrs. Doherty. "God forgive me. +I have a doubt in my own mind that the lady of the house (I renounce +judging her) was not honest when she told me of the child's death. +'Perhaps,' says I to myself, 'she is kidnapped.' And she was such a +purty angel, with a face you would delight looking on; and on her right +hand,—the Lord save us!—a circle like a ring was on her middle finger. +She was too good to live; and was made for heaven, I suppose. Glory be +to God."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h2>AN OFFICIAL.</h2> + + +<p>Our poormaster, Van Stingey, was a very conscientious officer. He never +squandered what he called the people's property, the commonwealth. He +was none of your vulgar, ordinary poormasters. He did not want the +office; they only forced it on to him. Like some of your great +statesmen, he acted for <i>man</i>, as he emphatically said; not for poor +widows and orphans, taken one by one; that was only a secondary +consideration. His whole duty, his very existence, seemed to be needed +for the good of man, or humanity in general. The question with him was, +not how to relieve this or that poor man or woman. <i>That</i> might engage +the attention of a man of no intelligence, no education, or no +philosophy: what he aspired to was, always to act by principle; to act +so that the state, or the people who owned <i>real estate</i>, and who +elected him against his will, to see that their interests were attended +to, whatever became of the poor. Accordingly, when he heard of any case +of particular distress, such as that a poor emigrant died of misery in a +cold, deserted house, our poormaster regretted it, as an individual; +but, as an officer, he said, he acted according to principle. He could +not betray his constituents, who elected him against his will, by any +act of extravagance; and the good of the many must be consulted. "Even +the Lord," he used to say,—for he was a religious man,—"when he +created the sun, left spots in it." The best statesman must sometimes do +what may be cruel to the few; but, in the end, it would turn out for the +good of man. This district, since his election, now twice successively, +had made a saving of some two hundred a year since he became its +officer; and that would, in time, open the eyes of the people as to who +were proper candidates for office, tend to diminish taxes, and, in fact, +be a work for man—progress and virtue. Besides this, Mr. Poormaster Van +Stingey had "got religion," by which he was wonderfully enlightened, +having been so lucky as to gain that valuable accomplishment just six +months, and only six months, before his election, at a camp meeting held +near the village of M——ville.</p> + +<p>"I tell you what, the fact of the matter is, Mr. Knicks," said he, +"there is nothin' like religion. Before I got religion, and jined the +church, I didn't have any knowledge of God. I used to pity these +emigrants, seeing them poor and pale looking as death; but now, sir, I +reads my Bible, and finds that the Lord must not regard nor love these +Papists, wher'n he lets them run down so. The word of life is great."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I do not know. I care not a straw about any church; but my old +mother used to teach us, when children, that poverty and crosses were no +sign of the Lord's displeasure; as witness holy Job and Christ himself, +who were poor. In fact, she never stopped telling us, when boys, that +riches were dangerous, the love of money the root of all evil, and that +'whom he chastiseth the Lord loveth.'"</p> + +<p>"O, but your mother was a stiff Papist, you know, and did not understand +the word of God."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir-ee, she did that; for I well recollect that, in the many +arguments she had with father, she always had the best of it. That she +had."</p> + +<p>"She may argue from Jesuit books and the like; but the Bible she durst +not look at, you know, Knicks."</p> + +<p>"I know better, Van. Don't you talk so. I have got the very Bible she +used and read every day—a great large one, printed in London. Mother +was English, and herself a convert to the church of Rome, though father +was Dutch."</p> + +<p>"Why, I never knowed that, Knicks. That was a great misfortune. These +priests, by the arts of Antichrist, will come round simple folks so, +that they often succeed in leading them down to destruction."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Knicks, "I can tell you I never met a Christian but my +mother; and I cannot believe or listen to you say she went to +destruction, but to heaven, if there is such a place. And again: if I +were to embrace any religion, it would be the Roman Catholic religion; +for it is the only <i>honest religion</i> there is. Father often brought +Methodist and Presbyterian ministers to make mother give up her'n; but +it was no go. She always treated them civil; but they had the worst of +the argument, I can tell you. They brought their Bibles, and she her'n; +and then they would set to, and be at it, till at last they were obliged +to give up. The only difference between her Bible and theirs is, that +her'n contained some fourteen or fifteen books more than the Protestant +Bible. The end of it was, that father turned with mother, and had the +Irish priest O'Shane to attent him afore he died. Mother got us all +baptized too."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" carelessly ejaculated our official. "I must call and see that +Bible of yours some day."</p> + +<p>This conversation—which happened a few days before the death of our +emigrant widow—between his neighbor "Knicks" and our official shows +what an <i>enlightened gentleman</i> he was. Since his elevation to office, +he also got promotion to another situation, which, though not so +lucrative as that of poormaster, in the course of time, by proper +management, promised to come to something. In a certain school house in +his vicinity, where the faithful were too poor, too irreligious, or too +pernicious to hire a preacher, our official held forth every Sunday, and +several evenings on the week days, at prayer meetings, protracted +meetings, and other roaring exercises. And to do him credit, his nasal +accent and piercing shrill voice made him a capital substitute for the +<i>hired</i> regular Methodist preacher. He could be heard for nearly a mile +distant calling on the <i>brethern</i> and <i>sistern</i> to come to heaven.</p> + +<p>"O, let us come!" he would cry; "we were made and intended for heaven. I +see the shining seats, I see the crystal fountains, I see the Lord +sitting on the throne. Come, sisters, come! I could embrace ye all for +the Lord's sake. I could hide ye in my bosom. O! O!"</p> + +<p>There were some whose faith was not strong enough to place implicit +reliance on the veracity of this very enlightened "minister of the +word;" but the great majority believed, or pretended to believe, and +expressed their faith by crying out, "Glory! glo-ry! glo-r-y!"</p> + +<p>If a more particular or personal description of our official is +required, we can state, from minute observation, that Mr. Van Stingey +was of the middle size, of thin, cadaverous appearance, short neck, +snake head, with lank, sandy hair, nose flat and simex-like, small eyes, +one of which he kept continually shut, as if he supposed himself a match +for the poor whom he had to deal with by keeping one "eye skinned," +reserving the other for some important office in church or state, to +which he unquestionably aspired. Several times during the two months the +destitute widow and her family were reduced to penury and sickness. Our +worthy master was apprised of their condition by the neighbors; but he +always answered that the law did not allow him to spend any more, just +now; that these emigrants ought to remain at home; that they had no +right to this country; that he heard a very godly minister foretell last +year, at camp meeting, that the Romanists would yet have this country; +that too many were coming by millions; that he feared that they could +not be converted as fast as they were arriving; that they ought to be +made pay a heavy sum, or sent back. "In short," said he one day to poor +Mrs. Doherty, "I was not elected by them Irish paupers, and I never +expect to be."</p> + +<p>"If every thing you say was as true as that last word, I think you would +be an honest man for wonst," said Mrs. Doherty; "for there is no fear +that an Irishman's or a Christian's vote will ever elect the like of +you. God forgive you this day!"</p> + +<p>To suppose that any man could display such <i>bona fide</i> ignorance as this +official did in the foregoing, would be to form an incorrect and +inadequate estimate of the human mind. The fact was that Van Stingey was +a false, low, cruel man, whose soul, steeped in the sensuality of his +past life, had lost all that was divine in its nature. His circumstances +were so reduced by his crimes and dissipation, that, being "too lazy to +work, and ashamed to beg," he assumed first the guise of religion to +gain popularity; and when he had "got religion," then the teachers of +the stuff which they call by that noble name, to keep it respectable, +procured him this office as a reward for his hypocrisy.</p> + +<p>This was the official who startled the inmates of our house of mourning +about five o'clock in the morning, when, thrusting his head inside the +door, he cried out, "A corpse there, eh?"</p> + +<p>"The Lord save us! Who are you, or what brings you here this hour o' +night?" said old granny Doherty, suspecting him as "nothing good."</p> + +<p>"Like you Irish, allers asking questions," said he, discharging a mass +of tobacco almost in her face. "I am the poormaster; and, having +received a report that there was a dead pauper here, thought I would +have it put out of the way early, before the folks would get up."</p> + +<p>"You are a very polite gintleman, God bless you. I hope she won't be +buried so soon. This is not the custom in any Christian country. After +to-morrow will be soon enough. You need not be in a hurry. We expect the +priest here to see to the children, as he has already left some help, +God bless him."</p> + +<p>"She must be enterred this morning, having died with the ship fever, I +suppose. The citizens expect me to do my <i>dooty</i>; and that I will do, if +the Lord spares me."</p> + +<p>"The dickens a ship fever nor no other fever she had; but the poor +woman's heart broke, seeing what she had come to in a strange country," +said Mrs. Doherty, pityingly.</p> + +<p>"Wal, wal, if she had trusted in the Lord, and knew the word of God, he +would not have deserted her as he has," hypocritically answered the +official.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, sir, don't judge rashly. She was not deserted by +God, but died content and happy, after all the rites of her holy +religion were administered to her," was the prompt reply.</p> + +<p>"You think so; but I want to know how she could love God without the +Bible; and you Roman Catholics are not allowed its use."</p> + +<p>"God help those that can't read so," said Mrs. Doherty. "There is no +chance for me or my old man, for neither of us can read it; but not so +Mrs. O'Clery, God be good to her. She had her Bible, and many more good +books."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Paul, joining in the dialogue. "We have always had the +true Catholic Bible, and mother always read it on her knees."</p> + +<p>"Wal, my good lad, you are <i>pooty</i> smart; and now get you ready, with +the rest of you little critters, and come on the sleigh I will send for +you. Let's see how many of you there are. One, two, three, four—a great +lot of ye. As I was saying, be ready to come up to the county house till +I can get some folks to take ye in to keep till ye are of age."</p> + +<p>"The priest, sir," said Paul, "promised to call to-day; and as he +already has left us a good sum of money, I know the good man will +provide for us till he writes to my uncle, who would be very sorry to +hear of our going to the poorhouse or the county house, though it may be +a better place."</p> + +<p>"My young lad, you will be provided for by law, and don't fail to be +ready by ten o'clock," said the official, sternly, as he left the room.</p> + +<p>In a few hours after, the body of the widow O'Clery was deposited in a +rough, unplaned pine coffin, and placed on board a two-horse, open +sleigh. The four orphans were stowed around in the same vehicle, and, in +care of a constable, the <i>cortege</i> drove off at full speed to the +cemetery. By half past eleven, the remains of the widow were consigned +to their kindred earth, the few lumps of hard frozen clay on the surface +her only monument—the sobs, sighs, and prayers of her own dear children +the only requiem uttered over her lowly and soon-to-be-forgotten tomb. +"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth now, saith the +Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." (Apoc. xiv. 13.)</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h2>THE POORHOUSE.</h2> + + +<p>When Father O'Shane left for the village of B——, in Vermont, to +administer the rites of Christian unction to a departing soul, the roads +were very hard to travel, and his progress, in company with his faithful +guide, was tedious and slow in the extreme. The call was to a sick woman +named Finmore, who was in the last stage of consumption, and who had +often, during her illness, expressed a desire that she should be +attended by a priest before she would die. Her husband did not oppose +her wish, but was yet either too indifferent on the subject, or too +lazy, to go such a journey as to the city of T—— in search of a +personage of whom he stood in such awe, and knew so little of, as the +Catholic priest. A neighboring Irish farmer, named O'Leary, hearing of +the wish of the dying woman, volunteered to bring the priest, if "there +was one to be found in all America," he said, "provided he got a horse +and wagon from the stable of the rich Yankee." And it was in company +with this simple but brave and faithful man that Father O'Shane set out +on the evening of the widow's death. They had not advanced many miles, +however, when the wind veered round to the north-west, and a most +violent snow storm blew quite in their face. Slow and unpleasant was +their progress over the hard, icy road; but in the course of a few hours +their farther advance became an utter impossibility with a wagon. They +had, therefore, to stop at a tavern; and after a good deal of entreaty, +and after having fed their horse, they succeeded in hiring from the boss +the use of a sleigh to carry them along to Vermont.</p> + +<p>"Ye can't travel nohow to-night," said the boss; "the roads will be +blocked up, chuck full."</p> + +<p>"We'll have to travel, sir," said the Irishman, "or die in the attempt; +so let us have the cutter. Charge what you have a mind to."</p> + +<p>"Why, what in the world can be the matter? Ye ain't subpoenaed, or going +to arrest somebody?" said the jolly boss.</p> + +<p>"Ah, no such thing, man," said the farmer; "but there is a woman +dangerously ill, and yon gentleman in the sitting room is a doctor, +going to visit her. Cost what it may, we must go ahead."</p> + +<p>"O, that alters the case. Why did you not say so at first? and you +should have had it and welcome. It will be ready in no time. Hitch on to +that new, light cutter in the shed, Sam," said he to the hostler.</p> + +<p>"Ya, ya," said Sam; and in five minutes the priest and his guide were +again proceeding on their charitable mission. They reached their +destination about two o'clock in the night, just one hour before the +death of her on whose account they had come such a journey. Father +O'Shane—poor old gentleman!—suffered terribly; had his ears +frostbitten, and two of his fingers frozen. But no matter; a soul was to +be saved, and that consideration alleviated all his sufferings, and +rendered him dead to every thing—cold, pain, watchings, hunger, thirst, +and weariness; nay, even death itself was but a trivial, inadequate +price to be paid by a mortal man to gain an immortal soul to Christ and +eternal happiness.</p> + +<p>"'Tis an awful night, reverend sir," said O'Leary. "I fear we can't go +ahead."</p> + +<p>"What matter, O'Leary," said Father O'Shane, "as we reached in time? +What is this night and all its violence compared with the sufferings of +a poor soul in the next world? All I regret is that you did not send me +in the sick call sooner. All is well, however; she was perfectly +conscious, and, I hope, worthily received all the rites of religion. +Hold up! you will rest well to-night, your conscience at ease, after +having been engaged in such a meritorious act of charity."</p> + +<p>In nothing does the church of God manifest the divinity of her origin +and mission more than in the care which she bestows on her children, the +adopted brethren of Jesus Christ, at the awful hour of death. She +reserves all her good things for this her last service to her children. +She sends her keys there, to the bedside of the dying man, to open to +him the gate to the calm and peaceful walks of justification. She sends +her oils thither, too, to anoint the Christian gladiator for his last +and final struggle with his powerful enemies. She sends her divine +manna, to strengthen him and sustain him for the trying and unknown +journey; and she sends the music of her sweet hymns and litanies to +cheer him on, and the light of indulgences and benedictions to guide his +soul, illumine his understanding, and shed the rays of their heavenly +reflection on the difficult passage that he has to traverse. And this +food, these blessings, gifts, and graces, she has ready for all +repentant sinners without exception, be they the inmates of the true +fold, or straying without the boundaries of the city of God; be they the +timorous souls who are already washed, or the negligent, who have +followed the hard ways of the world. If, in her other functions, the +spouse of Christ is "terrible as an army set in array," "fair as the +moon, and beautiful as the setting sun," in this, her last office at the +death bedside, she is all mercy, tenderness, and goodness. O, how cold, +selfish, and intolerable would life be, if the Catholic church was not +present, on all occasions, with the graces, blessings, and consolations +of Christ!</p> + +<p>"O Lord, if it be thy will, deprive us of every thing—riches, health, +renown, pleasure; but never leave thy creatures, thy inheritance, thy +children, without the consolations of thy church! O Lord, the many sheep +that are here not of thy fold gather and bring in speedily, that there +may be but one fold and one Shepherd, as thou thyself hast foretold." +Thus prayed this pious priest of God, after having added another strayed +sheep to the fold of his divine Master; and his soul was at peace.</p> + +<p>For two days the storm continued unabated, the whole country becoming +like an undulating ocean of snow. Drift snow, mountain high, was +accumulated in the valleys between hills; whole herds of sheep and +cattle were suffocated; and the bodies of several teamsters, whose teams +were overset, were dug out lifeless from under the drifts by the men who +had assembled with their ox teams and shovels to open the interrupted +communication with the city.</p> + +<p>Father O'Shane bemoaned his fate in doleful terms; the more so as Sunday +was approaching, when he feared he should be absent from his +congregation; and he also regretted that he had it not in his power, +according to his promise to the widow O'Clery, to visit her next day, +and provide for her poor orphans among the benevolent of his flock. And, +well aware of the character of the hard-hearted Van Stingey, he +shuddered for the fate of the children.</p> + +<p>The apprehensions of the good priest were not groundless; for no sooner +was the body of Mrs. O'Clery consigned to its narrow, cold habitation, +than the official, assisting the children into the sleigh that had borne +their mother's body to the tomb, drove off in a rapid trot towards the +poorhouse.</p> + +<p>"Have we far to go yet, sir?" said Paul, thinking that the "county +house" was something different from the much dreaded poorhouse. "I am +afraid Bridget will perish with cold, sir."</p> + +<p>"No fears of her; she's hardy, I guess."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, but her dress is so very light."</p> + +<p>"Well, she can pull that ere buffalo around her."</p> + +<p>"Ou, hou, hou!" cried Bridget, breathing on her little bare hands, which +she kept pressed to her lips.</p> + +<p>"I hope, sir, you are not going to take us to the poorhouse," said Paul; +"we don't want to go there. The priest that attended my mother—God rest +her soul!—told us he would provide for us."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! How can he do so?" said Van Stingey.</p> + +<p>"Why, sir, I don't know; but perhaps he will write to my uncle, who is a +vicar general in Ireland, and he will send us money to take us back +home."</p> + +<p>"Is your uncle in the British sarvice, then, and a general in the army?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, but he is a priest next to the bishop in station in the +church."</p> + +<p>"That's it, eh? Wal, I guess you better not talk of going back, any how. +You must live here in this free country, and learn to be a man and a +Christian—a thing you could not be at home, in the old country."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Paul; "the very best Christians are in +Ireland, which was once called the 'Isle of Saints,' when all the people +were Catholics; and where I came from, even now, they are all mostly +Catholics. There are in the whole parish but two <i>peelers</i>, the minister +and his wife, and the tithe proctor, or collector of tithes; in all, +five Protestants."</p> + +<p>"You are a lad, I see," said the official, as he dismounted from the +sleigh and ordered the children to enter their new home.</p> + +<p>"O, woe, woe, woe!" cried they, as they found themselves admitted as +<i>paupers</i>, and enclosed within the precincts of the terrible poorhouse. +"O Lord, what will we do?" cried they. "O sir, don't keep us here, or +send word to the priest first. I will go to his house, myself," said +Paul.</p> + +<p>"Shet up, ye little fools!" said the official; "this is a better place +nor ye think. Ye ain't going to get no potatoes, nohow, but something +better than ye ever were used to. Take these young 'uns to the stove in +the kitchen," said he to an under official. And the sobs and groans of +the destitute orphans were drowned in the uproarious rumbling of the +gong that called the officers of the establishment to dinner, it being +now noon.</p> + +<p>The repugnance of the Irishman to the poorhouse is proverbial. Neither +prison, dungeon, nor death is invested with greater horror, in the minds +of the peasantry of Ireland, than this institution. Solely founded, as +they are told, for their special use and benefit, there are instances, +countless, on record, where the affectionate mother has thanked Heaven, +when by fever, plague, or hunger it deprived her of her darling infant, +rather than that it should become an inmate of the poorhouse!</p> + +<p>"Is not this prejudice unreasonable and strange?" it will be asked. "And +why is it that the Irishman shuns and abhors an institution which his +English neighbor enjoys and petitions to enter?" The reasons are +numerous, and the difference in the feelings of both obvious and +palpable. It must be first remarked, that the Irish are a traditional +people, and remarkably conservative of the customs and usages of their +ancestors. They look back into the history of their country, or consult +their fathers and grandfathers, and in vain look back for the existence +of a poorhouse, or any necessity for its existence, before the advent of +the "godly reformation" and the established church in their midst. They +heard of such establishments as the ancient "<i>beataghs</i>," or houses of +hospitality, which were provided for the stranger and destitute in every +townland, the doors of which were open day and night, and on the boards +of which cooked victuals for scores of men were continually ready. These +were the substitute for the poorhouse in the days when England and all +Europe sent their poor scholars to receive a gratuitous education among +the inhabitants of the Island of Saints. There the poor and the hungry +could come in and eat, and be filled, and go his way, without being +questioned who he was, without being asked for a <i>pauper ticket</i> to +admit him, without being obliged or compelled to lead a life of +celibacy, or running the risk of his soul's salvation, to keep his body +from perishing of hunger.</p> + +<p>In a word, when Brian Boru expelled the Danes from Ireland, when Hugh +O'Niel triumphed over the troops of Elizabeth, as well as when Dathi +held the sceptre, or Nial of the hostages planted his colors on the +Alps, there was enough to feed the poor of Ireland. There was no +necessity for a poorhouse; and there is no need of it now, says the +Irish peasant, if justice was done to Ireland. "Give us back our +monasteries and abbeys, and we will bestow you the poorhouses."</p> + +<p>Besides these considerations, the English poorhouse has this advantage +over the Irish one—that the former is conducted and presided over by +Englishmen, who have a sympathy for, or at least are of, the same blood, +religion, and race with its inmates. But in Ireland the case is +different. The poorhouses, prison-like edifices, in Elizabethan style of +architecture, presided over by Englishmen, generally, and nominees of +the crown, are a monument of conquest and tyranny.</p> + +<p>The inmates being principally "mere Irish," and the cost of their +support derived chiefly from the land, the landlords consider their +health, comfort, or life of only secondary importance. Hence we find the +number of deaths in these charnel houses averaging that of years of +plague; and each pauper is allowed far less weekly for his support than +the lord of the soil allows the meanest dog in his kennel. Add to these +the separation of man and wife, the isolation of members of the same +family, the dangers of perversion and proselytism to the thinning ranks +of the "law church;" and then, if you can, blame the poor Irishman for +his horror of the dreadful poorhouse of England. He saw hundreds of his +neighbors enter the gates of the poorhouse, but he never saw one return +back. Less active imaginations than that of the Irish peasant would be +worked on so as to conclude that some means more <i>active</i> than sickness +or old age were had recourse to, for the purpose of lessening the taxes +on land, by getting rid of the poor.</p> + +<p>In truth, the British poorhouse is a great government establishment, +where the sons of the low squirearchy are provided for—a terrible mill, +where the bodies and souls of Irishmen and women are ground up and +annihilated—a labor-saving machine of political economy, introduced +into the world by the robbers of the reformation, in order to get rid of +surplus population, and in order that the Lazaruses of society might not +disturb the false repose of their hypocrisy, by begging the crums that +fall from their plunder-burdened tables!</p> + +<p>The American poorhouse, however, is of quite a different description, +and the promptitude and unanimity of the public mind regarding the +necessity of a law to provide for the support of the poor are among the +most laudable traits in the American character. In America, the +patrimony of the poor was never wrested from the church, to which God +committed their care; the charities and bequests of ages were not +plundered and squandered by the vilest of the human race, as in Britain; +hospitals, churches, abbeys, monasteries, convents, and other endowed +provisions for the poor, were not robbed and confiscated by the +sectarians of the new world, (probably because they did not exist +there;) and hence the essential difference between the English and +American poorhouse. There is no part of the Scripture the reformation +people so rigidly adhered to, or now pretend to adhere to, as the +advice of Judas, "Let this be sold and given to the poor." They made the +sale, but the poor they left unprovided for, till their numbers +increased so as to threaten the ill-gotten goods of the plunderers, who +at length passed laws compelling the poor to support the poor. And this +was the origin of poorhouses—a true Protestant creation.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h2>THE O'CLERYS.</h2> + + +<p>The O'Clery family was an ancient and honored one in Ireland. Princes, +chieftains, and warriors of the name were renowned before Charlemagne or +Alfred ascended the throne, or before any of the petty princes of the +heptarchy ruled over the barbarous Saxons. Like all the royal and noble +houses of Europe, the O'Clerys, after ages of glory and prosperity, had +their hour of decline and decay also. But it was a question whether the +virtues of this renowned house were more brilliant or conspicuous in the +zenith of its glory, or in its fallen or humbled state. The Irish church +founded by Saint Patrick never wanted an O'Clery to adorn her sanctuary +or to record her victories. The annals of the Four Masters will stand to +the end of the world as a proud monument of the services rendered to the +Irish church and to history by these illustrious annalists; and when the +deeds of the most renowned knights and chieftains of this royal house +shall have been obliterated by the merciless chisel of time, the authors +of the Four Masters' Annals will become only brighter among the shining +stars that adorn the literary firmament of old Ireland.</p> + +<p>The martyrology of the Irish church can attest the virtues of constancy +and patriotism with which the O'Clerys bore their share of the wrongs of +Erin and of her faithful sons. Whether or not the subjects of our +narrative, the poor emigrant orphans, had any of this royal and noble +blood flowing in their veins, is a thing that we cannot genealogically +vouch. But that they were not degenerate sons of Erin, or faithless to +their allegiance to the glorious old church of their fathers, we trust +this history will amply demonstrate. At all events, the uncle of our +hero, Paul O'Clery, held a very high station in the Irish hierarchy. +Having, with eclat, finished his ecclesiastical and literary primary +studies in the colleges of his native land, he subsequently repaired to +Rome, where he won with distinction the title of "doctor in divinity and +canon law," and carried the first premium from many French, German, and +even Italian competitors. Hence, soon after his return from abroad, on +account of his learning, as well as his tried virtues, he was appointed +the vicar general of the diocese of Kil——, a promotion which, far from +exciting the envy, gained the unanimous approval, of the diocesan +clergy. During the horrors of the general landlord persecution of the +Irish Catholics, (for it is nothing else than a persecution of +Catholics,) the O'Clerys found their name on the roll of the proscribed, +and got notice to quit the homestead of their fathers. The principal +cause for this proscription by the landlord was, that Dr. O'Clery, in +the newspapers, exposed the system of cruel and barbarous extermination +which took place on the extensive estates of Lord Mandemon—a gentleman +who said he thought it far more honorable, as well as profitable, to +have his princely estates in Munster tenanted by fat cattle than by +Irish Papists. His lordship had also the mortification to learn that all +the meat, money, and clothing he had employed for the last five years +could not make one single sincere convert to his rich "law +establishment." When the "praties" were dear, and the crops failed, +there were a few, to be sure, who would profess themselves ready to "ate +the mate" on Friday; but as soon as plenty returned, the "new lights" +went out, or returned to ask pardon of God, the priest, and the people; +and Lord Mandemon and his soup were pitched to the "seventy-nine +devils." This failure, this result, so often before seen and felt, and +so certain to follow, was, in his zeal for proselytism, attributed by +his lordship to Dr. O'Clery's zeal and learning. For, whenever or +wherever he went among the peasantry to preach to them in their own +sweet and loved dialect, the "jumpers, the new lights, and the soupers" +disappeared like the locusts from Egypt when exorcised by the magic rod +of Moses. Hence the hatred with which the O'Clerys were persecuted. +Hence, also, the oath of Lord Mandemon, that he would never return to +his home in England till every Papist on his estates was rooted out. +This oath was kept by his lordship, probably the only true one he ever +swore; for in less than a fortnight he fell a victim to the cholera, and +expired on board the Princess Royal steamboat on her return to +Liverpool.</p> + +<p>Arthur O'Clery, father to the subject of our tale, sold out a second +farm he held near Limerick, turned all his effects into money, bade +adieu to his beloved brother, Dr. O'Clery, who was averse to his +emigration, and, in the autumn, set sail from Liverpool for New York, in +the ship Hottinguer. He had all his family with him: they were +comfortably provided with all necessaries, and, besides, had one +thousand pounds, in hard cash, to start with in the new world. They were +not long out at sea, when, owing to the crowd on board, the lack of +proper arrangements, and room, or ventillation, as well as on account of +the cruelly of the inhuman captain, ship fever and cholera broke out on +board.</p> + +<p>The number of bodies consigned to the ocean from that unlucky vessel was +from five to ten daily, and among the victims of the plague was Arthur +O'Clery. He was the only one of the cabin passengers who was attacked by +the epidemic, which, in the ardor of his charity, he contracted while +attending on, and ministering to, the wants of the poor steerage +passengers.</p> + +<p>Sad and impressive was the scene when the Rev. H. O'Q——, a young Irish +priest on board, in the middle hold of the ship, where O'Clery had been +removed by order of the captain, called on the six hundred surviving +passengers to kneel while he was administering the rites of the church +to the benefactor of them all. Never was a call on the piety and faith +of any number of men more cheerfully obeyed. Instantaneously that mixed, +nondescript crowd—Irish, English, Scotch, Welsh, Dutch—Catholic, +Protestant, infidel—fell on their knees, and, if they did not pray, +they paid that <i>outward homage</i> to Religion which sometimes the most +indifferent and irreligious cannot resist paying her. Infidelity is a +great coward, as well as a false guide. In her hour of ease and satiety, +she pretends to scorn the threats and judgments of the Most High, and, +like Satan in his pandemonium, to make war on Heaven; but no sooner does +the roaring of the thunderbolt shake the earth, or the vast abyss open +its devouring throat to swallow her unhappy victims, than she hides her +head in the caves of the earth, or, flying to some secure place, +abandons her votaries to the forlorn hope of trusting to the weakness of +their own minds for resources to extricate themselves from the evils +that threaten them. It was so on board the ill-fated Hottinguer. Those +who, under the influence of the security offered by the prosperous +sailing of the few first days, were bold, independent, and defiant of +danger, no sooner did they see their comrades thrown overboard, after a +few hours' sickness, than their hearts failed within them, their tone of +defiance was turned into despair, their mockery of religion ceased, and +that priest of God, whom they ridiculed, insulted, and despised for the +first few days, was now respected, confided in, and regarded by them +with sentiments bordering on religious homage.</p> + +<p>Fervently did that priest, who thanked God that he was on hand, pray, +not that God would restore him to his wife and children,—for all hope +of recovery was now gone,—but that, in accordance with the anxious +desire of the dying man, he should have the privilege of burial in a +Christian, consecrated tomb.</p> + +<p>"Pray, father," said he, "that, if it be God's holy will, I may be +buried in a consecrated soil. It seems to me a sort of profanation, that +the cruel fishes and those monsters of the deep, which we see leaping +around the vessel, should devour my flesh, united with, and I hope +sanctified now by, the flesh and blood of my Lord."</p> + +<p>The priest did pray, and the people joined in that impulsive prayer of +faith, and that prayer was heard; for, though O'Clery breathed his last +on board, and, by the captain's orders, the sailors—poor fellows!—were +standing around his berth, prepared, as soon as the last breath left +him, to throw him overboard, yet he lingered for three days after; and +they reached quarantine before that pure soul quitted its tenement of +clay and winged its flight to heaven. The wife and her children had the +body conveyed to shore and interred in the Catholic cemetery of New +York, where a neat marble monument could be seen with these words +inscribed:—</p> + +<p><i>"Pray for the soul of Arthur O'Clery, whose body lies underneath. +Requiescat in pace. Amen."</i></p> + +<p>It was thus that the O'Clerys were deprived of their good and virtuous +father, and the widow of her husband; but this, as already has been +partly seen, was but the beginning of their woes; for, after their +arrival in New York, an individual, who, during the voyage, ingratiated +himself with the family by his attention around the sick man's bed, +joined them at their lodgings. But in a few days they found him gone one +morning, after their return from mass at Barclay Street Church, and with +him the canvas bag, containing the thousand pounds in gold and Bank of +England notes left by them in a trunk. Thus were six persons, strangers +and destitute in a great city, reduced from competency to poverty at +"one fell swoop" by the villany of a pretended friend and associate.</p> + +<p>"O Lord, pity me! One misfortune never comes alone," groaned the now +poor and afflicted widow O'Clery, when she was informed by little +Bridget that the "trunk was broke open," and all the things ransacked +"through and fro."</p> + +<p>She soon saw that all she had was gone, and concluded that Cunningham, +as he was absent from breakfast contrary to his wont, must be the thief. +The police got immediate notice; advertisements were issued, and rewards +offered, and in a day or two after Cunningham was arrested; but as none +of the money was found on his person, and as there was no direct +evidence of his guilt, the magistrate discharged him. The articles of +dress in her well-supplied wardrobe were detained, in payment of her +board bill, by the hotel keeper where she lodged in New York; and with +the few shillings that remained in her purse, she, with her children, +took passage on one of the Hudson River boats, hoping to make out +certain acquaintances of her husband, whom she heard were settled in the +vicinity of T——. The rest has been already told—namely, how she took +sick and died after great sufferings; how her children were left +destitute, and next to naked; how they were now reduced to the rank of +paupers, and secured within the precincts of the county house.</p> + +<p>"Of all the things which we brought from home with us, we have nothing +of value now left, Bridget," said Paul, "but this silver crucifix, which +belonged to my grandfather. Glory be to God. Let us be glad that this +has been left," said he, kissing it with religious affection. "This is +all we have now left. Let us defend it."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h2>THE COUNCIL.</h2> + + +<p>Father O'Shane was now several days weather bound and laid up sick in +Vermont, where, with great anxiety, he waited the first opportunity to +return home to his mission; and the orphans were safely lodged in the +poorhouse, where our friend Paul, to calm the anxiety and dispel the +grief of his younger companions, began to contrast, with an air of +satisfaction, the aspect of things here with what he had heard of the +horrors of the Irish poorhouse.</p> + +<p>"What nice men we have in America over the poorhouse," said he; "they +are very kind to us."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but I don't like that man with the great beard," said Bridget; "he +frightens me when I meet him. O, such a <i>feesage</i>; a robin redbreast +could make her nest in it," said she, smiling.</p> + +<p>"He might be a nice man for all that, Bid. Most people here don't shave +at all, you know, as we saw in New York. And did you notice that sailor +that saved the boy who fell overboard, what a long beard he had? And he +must be a brave, good man, to risk his own life to save another's."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Paul; but he was a Catholic, and from Ireland, too; for he made +the sign of the cross on himself in Irish before he leaped out, for I +was near him; and besides, I saw him going to confession to the same +priest we went to the day after we landed."</p> + +<p>"And are not they all Catholics here, Paul?" said Patsy. "I seen crosses +on three churches, the time I went with Mrs. Doherty for the priest for +mother, God be good to her."</p> + +<p>"No, Patsy, they are not; for if they were, there would be more than one +priest for this large town; and you heard Father O'Shane say that there +was only himself for all the city and a great part of the country," said +Paul.</p> + +<p>"I hope somebody will take us to mass on Sunday," said little Patrick; +"and, Paul, will you ask the priest to allow me to answer mass? You know +Father Doyle told us never to forget the lessons we learned of him."</p> + +<p>"I'd know are there any nuns here," said Bridget. "O, how beautiful the +convent chapel in Limerick was! I hope I have not lost my beautiful +little silver medals and crucifix they gave me when I was coming away. +No; here they are, and my Agnus Dei, too," she said, kissing them. "God +rest mother's soul, how glad she was when I got these from the holy +nuns!" And the tears streamed down her fair cheeks in floods.</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue, Bridget, again," said Paul, with emphasis. "Don't you +know that mother told us not to grieve, but pray for her soul? And +besides, in the 'Imitation of Christ,' which I read for you this morning +and last night, it is said that grief kills devotion, and excessive, +sorrow is a sin. You can serve mother, or rejoice her soul, by praying, +but not by crying, Bridget."</p> + +<p>"O, how can I help it? 'Tis against me will, Paul," said she, wiping her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Always look attentively at that crucifix," said Paul, "and you need +never grieve for any thing except sin. This is what Father Doyle used to +say."</p> + +<p>"O Paul, we have no father or mother now."</p> + +<p>"Yes we have, Bridget—our Father in heaven, and the blessed virgin +mother of God, our mother also," said the young preacher.</p> + +<p>"How well the priest did not call as he said he would."</p> + +<p>"May be he could not help it; he had to go far into the country, and the +snow might stop him. You know he will find us out. The priest always +visits the poorhouse in Ireland."</p> + +<p>While this conversation was going on between the members of this poor +orphan family, Paul acting the meritorious part of a comforter, (I say +acting, for his own noble soul was almost crushed with grief, which he +thought it better to disguise than to have his little charge rendered +quite stupid and almost dead from crying and sobbing;) while this was +the way Paul entertained his little charge, in another part of the +poorhouse, in a well-furnished room, were seated around a table +containing the "<i>reliquiæ"</i> or remnants of a good dinner, five persons, +engaged in earnest chat about the late importation of orphans.</p> + +<p>"Really they are likely young 'uns, and no mistake," said Mr. Van +Stingey, wiping his mouth with the corner of the tablecloth.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" said a lady who formed one of the council. "Charles, if you +saw them, they are perfect beauties, you would say. The oldest boy is as +noble-looking a lad as ever you did see—Roman nose, raven hair, +delightfully-carved mouth, and lips, and eyes, and eyelashes quite +indescribable, so beautiful are they. The little girl is a perfect +Venus; while the two younger children, Patrick and Eugene, are as if +they came from the chisel of Powers, or some renowned artist of +antiquity."</p> + +<p>"Why, my love," said Parson Burly, "you are quite classical in your +description; whether or not it is a correct one, is another thing."</p> + +<p>"I assure you, Mr. Burly," said Van Stingey, "that your lady has not +described them beyond what is true. They are almighty fine young 'uns."</p> + +<p>"I want you to adopt that eldest one, Mr. Burly," said the parson's +wife, who was president of the council. "He would make such an elegant +preacher, I am sure. You must also change the name of the second boy +from Patrick, which is so Irish, to Ebenezer, Zerubabbel, or some +Scripture name, or even classical one."</p> + +<p>"Why, madam, I am beginning to get jealous, and to think you don't +sufficiently admire my powers of oratory," said her husband.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear, putting aside jokes," she solemnly remarked, "you know +how much we need Irish ministers to preach to the Irish amongst us, who +are the best church attenders on earth, I believe. And it is notorious, +that those whom we can take out from the ranks of Papacy while young +become the greatest ornaments to our denomination. Witness Kirvoin, +Maclown, Moffat, and several others."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my fair refuter," said the parson, who really feared his +wife would rivet her affections on the young orphan if adopted; "you +know it would never do to keep that little fellow with us. How old did +you say he was—about fifteen? Well, fifteen or sixteen—ya—you +recollect how that old priest acted last July, at the village of Scurvy? +A little girl I sent out to Brother Prim this priest smelt and hunted +out; and actually broke in the room door where she was confined, and +took her off by physical force to a Roman Catholic orphan house. These +priests are terrible fellows; and your young fancy orphan, Paul, would +soon find out the priest, and have his grievance redressed. And what is +worse, this priest got Americans—ay, members of my own church—to +applaud his conduct, and defend him from prosecution! The Irish are +getting so powerful in this country," said the parson, after a pause, +"from their admirable union of purpose and the perfect organization of +their church, that I dread their influence. In fact, 'you catch a +Tartar' when you get one of them into your family. Ten to one, instead +of converting this young Papist, he would convert our whole family to +his own creed."</p> + +<p>"O Burly," said the disappointed wife, "you are always a prophet of +evils. I tell you, I must have that young lad, for I want him."</p> + +<p>"You do? Cynthia, my dear," said the parson, "we cannot have the lad in +our family. We <i>dare not</i>, without the consent of the trustees, who pay +us our salary. Do you understand <i>that</i>, my fair disputant?" said he, +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"Well, Burly, as soon as I recover the means my father willed me, I +shall have that young man—already almost fully educated, as you can +perceive—brought up for the church."</p> + +<p>"O, <i>then</i> you can try it, madam," said the man in white neckcloth, in a +sharp, sarcastic style; "but as for me, and I think my opinion is of +some weight, I tell you much can never be made out of that shrewd boy." +There was a solemn, ominous silence, for a moment, in the company. "Did +you remark the sort of dignified and independent motions of the fellow," +continued he, "when you had him here just now?"</p> + +<p>"Fellow!" said his wife, looking at her husband, in anger. "Is that a +proper term to apply to the child?"</p> + +<p>"It is not an improper or inappropriate one, not more so than calling +him 'child,'" said he. "I was just going to remark the coolness of his +reply when you introduced my name as the parish clergyman. 'A Catholic +clergyman, I hope, sir,' said he; 'as such, I am very glad to see you.' +Did you observe how sad and demure he looked when told he was to be sent +to school, where he could read the Bible, and become acquainted with the +word of God?' O sir,' said he, 'much obliged to you; I have got a Bible +already, and other good books of devotion, which we brought from home. I +should be very glad to learn what is good,' said he; 'but I trust I have +got my catechism well committed to memory; and having made my first +communion and been confirmed, I was discharged from class, and appointed +a Sunday school teacher, by our good priest, Father Doyle.' And on my +telling him that he could be a teacher here of a better religion than +that of his country, he shook his head, declining the honor of the post +offered, and remarking that 'it was impossible to have a better religion +than that which had God for its author—the Catholic religion.' With +this bit he retired (ye all saw him, I need not repeat more) from our +presence, a blush of mental triumph playing on his smooth cheek."</p> + +<p>"Sartain there was such a feelin'," said an old gray-headed Yankee, who +sat at the head of the table, and who was guardian of the establishment. +"You can't do nothin' with these Papists," continued he. "I have seed +the attempts made time and agin, but allers fail. The very children, +only five years of age, of that ere religion, refuse to eat flesh on +Friday, or to disobey such other darned ceremonies of their church as +they are brought up to."</p> + +<p>"Wal, Mr. Burly, madam, and my esteemed brother Valentine, my plan is +this," said Van Stingey: "send them, separate or in couples, here and +there, into the country, and there, with the farmers, they will soon get +used to our church ways, and be gradually broke in."</p> + +<p>"That you can't do safe, neither, Van," said the boss of the house, +"for they would raise such a dust as would bring half the city around +us; and you know the people would never consent to any thing like +cruelty towards one so young and interesting as these here are."</p> + +<p>"You say the truth there, sir," said the parson.</p> + +<p>"It would be cruel to separate the dear ones," said the wife; "wherever +they are sent, let them go together. I could pledge my watch and wedding +diamond ring to help to raise such beauties," said she, passionately. +"Surely they cannot be Irish, or they must belong to some race different +from the Celtic half savages which we have read inhabit Ireland."</p> + +<p>"You mistake, Cynthia, my dear," said the parson; "these are Irish, and +genuine Celts, too, as one can tell from the hair and nose. I think, +however, you exaggerate their beauty. Have you not read the European +letters of Thurlow W—— and Horace G——, which described the middle +and upper classes of the Irish as the most beautiful complexioned and +dignified people in Europe or the world? Now, this is my mind, that you +must get some farmers in a good Protestant neighborhood to adopt these +children, so that they may all live in the same vicinity, if not in the +same family; and by this means all unpleasant consequences will be +obviated."</p> + +<p>"I say ditto to that," said the Nestor of the council, old Valentine; +"but you must lose no time, for the eldest lad told me the priest +promised to call for them; and if that gentleman gets them into his +hands, I'll warrant all your plans will be frustrated."</p> + +<p>"That's just it. You have hit the nail on the head, friend Valentine," +said Van Stingey. "I will take charge on them, and take them to that +gentleman's house, in W—— county, who was here last week looking for a +boy and a girl to raise; and <i>mebbee</i> I will scare up somewhere else for +the other two young critters."</p> + +<p>"Take 'em along, then, and see that you get your pay," said the boss, +rising.</p> + +<p>"O, never mind, leave that to me," said the vile, wily knave, as he went +to see to his arrangements for carrying the orphans to parts unknown.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h2>A RUDE LOVER OF NATURE.</h2> + + +<p>Father O'Shane, who had suffered severely from the effects of exposure +to the late violent storm, no sooner found himself a little recruited, +and the roads passable, than he prepared to return to his residence in +the city. He had, as conductor, a green young Irishman, lately arrived, +who felt almost inspired by the unusual luxury, presented for the first +time to his view, of a North American snowfall, and petitioned earnestly +to accompany his reverence back to the city to enjoy the "glorious +sport," as he called it, of a sleigh ride. The enthusiasm of the young +native of the perennial green fields of Munster did not escape the +notice of Father O'Shane, who himself was once not less enthusiastic, +and now not altogether insensible, to the chaste and almost sublime +beauty of Nature, when arrayed in her bridal robes of white on the +advent of spring.</p> + +<p>"Well, Murty, how do you like this manner of travelling?"</p> + +<p>"Be gonnies, your reverence, there is nothing I like better. What a fine +time it would be for tracking the hare, or hunting the fox!"</p> + +<p>"You are fond of sport, I perceive."</p> + +<p>"Bedad, sir, I would rather be out such a day as this, with dog and +gun, than eating bread and honey. I wonder if they would put you to jail +or transport you here, as they would at home, for fowling a bit in these +woods?"</p> + +<p>"No, Murty, I believe not."</p> + +<p>"No," said Murty, doubtingly. "You don't tell me so, your reverence?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you that there are no game laws, or only very nominal ones; so +that, when you come back, if you and your dog traverse yonder mountain +from top to bottom, you need not be afraid of the rifle of the +gamekeeper, or of a sentence to a free passage to Van Diemen's Land."</p> + +<p>"Murther! Must not they be very fine gentlemen here, to be so liberal? +Signs by I shall, please God, one of these days, visit that old, grand +mountain with the white head; and if there be a hare's form in his rough +sides or his curly beard, I will ferret it out, and soon have pussy by +the hind legs."</p> + +<p>"I can see, Murty, you are growing poetical in your description of old +Mount Antoine," said the priest.</p> + +<p>"Your reverence, did you ever see such a grand sight? I can't help +comparing that grand mountain there to the king of yon wild regions. The +snow on the trees, on the summit, causes them to look like gray locks; +and, looking down on the smaller mountains on every side, they appear +like his subjects or his sons, which, in time, are to grow big like +himself, affording shelter and refuge from the snares of the hunter to +the wild animals of nature. O, how I like America!" said he, his +enthusiasm still rising.</p> + +<p>"That's right, Murty; I am glad you do like it. Wait till summer or +autumn, and then how beautiful these bleak hills will appear during +these delightful seasons!"</p> + +<p>"O sir, it is a great, grand country! No tyrants, no landlords, no +poverty."</p> + +<p>"No poverty, Murty, except what is purely accidental, or brought on by +the improvidence of individuals. In the very best regulated society +there must, of necessity, be poverty less or more," said the priest, by +way of qualification.</p> + +<p>"Every thing is free, and there is liberty for all. The very fences, you +see, sir, unlike our stone walls at home, give liberty to the winds and +storms to blow through them. The mountains are free to the huntsman; the +very snow is free to blow and form itself into those beautiful banks, +and little mountains, and castles, and stacks, and curtains, and drapery +that we see on every side of us as we glide along."</p> + +<p>The priest listened with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Was there ever seen any thing so <i>purty</i>," continued the peasant, "as +those ridges and mounds of snow? I have seen the grandest buildings in +Ireland,—Marlborough Street Church, in Dublin, the stone carving and +ceiling in Cashel of the Kings, the stucco work on the old Parliament +House in College Green,—but I think I see work in these fantastic snow +banks that beats them all hollow. And—glory be to God!—all this +beauty, so dazzling, so chaste, was created by a storm, when all nature +was in a rage, and men shut themselves up in houses from its violence! I +am glad now," said he, "our landlord turned us out. I now forgive him +for being the cause of our coming to this country of the brave and the +free."</p> + +<p>"Was it a landlord who has been the occasion of so much enjoyment to +you, Murty?" said Father O'Shane, drawing him out.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. It vexes me to think of it, much more to speak of it," said +the simple youth, with a tear full created in his eye. "We, and our +forefathers before us, had the farm of Lapardawn for more than three +hundred years. A new landlord coming in possession of the estate, we got +notice to quit, in the middle of winter. My father refused to yield the +hearth of his forefathers without a struggle, and locked himself and +family up. My mother was just after her confinement, and becoming short +of provisions and even of water, she begged of the police who kept guard +to hand her in a drink. They refused. She then begged, for God's sake, +to have a messenger go for the priest. For two days, the police refused +to let any body out of the house, unless we surrendered. My father, who +had cut a hole in the roof of the house to catch at rain water for my +dying mother, made his escape through it. A neighbor, who handed me a +drink of water through a broken pane in a window, had his hand cut off +by a stroke from the police sergeant's sabre. My poor mother died before +the priest arrived. My oldest brother, seeing his mother dead, and that +we had nothing now to guard, surrendered. We were all lodged in jail +that night, and all our means were sold at auction. It was lucky for us +we were put into jail; for, one week from that day, the landlord that +was the cause of all our misery and of my mother's death was shot dead +on the road from our farm to the town of Ennis. If we were out of jail, +we would all have been accused of the cruel landlord's murder, and +hanged; but we were, after one year in prison for the crime of defending +our homestead, liberated, and came out in a body to America. And now I +am glad of it, for two signs of tyranny I find wanting here—landlords +and game laws. The absence of one allows me to trace the steps of the +wild quadruped; and of the other, to trace my title to the soil which I +shall possess, down to the middle of the earth and up to the sky, +unfrowned on, or unawed by the landlord's tyranny or the 'peeler's' +cruelty. This is partly why I like to see these mountains of snow," said +he, "for I think that neither landlords nor 'peelers' could exist here. +They would become buried under these snow banks, for it is by night that +they are generally patrolling the highways, and plotting against the +peace of innocent families; and such a storm as the late one could not +but be fatal to the villains."</p> + +<p>These and the like sentiments are those which generally pervade the +bosom of the Irish emigrant after landing on this enfranchised land. +Wonder not, then, you natives of this God-provided country, that the +foreigner is likely to become more republican than yourselves, and that +his is a keener sense of enjoyment than yours, from the evils of his +antecedent life. Do not, therefore, become jealous of his purer and more +ardent love for this republic, the inheritance of the oppressed; but, +instead of envying his growing influence in this country of his choice +and adoption, receive him with open arms, and make him a participator +with yourselves in the good things which you and your fathers have +enjoyed for ages, and your claims to which are grounded on no better +title than that of the emigrant; and which title is founded on the +adventitious discovery of this continent by a Catholic and a foreigner, +and on oppressions undergone by your fathers in their native lands. +Wonder not, then, that the Irish Catholic is the best lover of this +country, and that he feels himself at home here; for his sufferings in +the cause of liberty and of conscience have been such as to give him the +strongest title deed to the liberties and privileges, if not to the +enjoyments and comforts, of this favored land. Every prejudice is +unreasonable, but none more irrational than that which would throw +obstacles in the way of the gallant emigrant towards procuring a home +and a sanctuary in this land of refuge and freedom.</p> + +<p>The land is wild and uncultivated, with its womb groaning under the +burden of plenty and fertility that have been dormant for ages upon +ages, and that must remain so for ages to come, unless the thrifty hand +of husbandry assist them into birth; and where are we to find, or when +will the "nativists" be able to procure, as busy hands and stalwart +arms, sufficiently numerous to bring into cultivation the millions of +acres within the extent of our country, if the emigrant and foreigner +are to be discouraged, and the mad clamor of the "nativists" is to +prevail? It was not all native blood that was spilled in the +establishment of the republic. It was not native genius alone that +created the constitution, laws, and institutions of our country. It was +not "natives," of course, that first discovered, settled, or established +the several states that form the grand Union. It was by emigrants, by +"furriners," that all these things were done. What, therefore, can be +more ungrateful, if not more unjust, in the "nativists," than to attempt +to rob the poor emigrant of the rewards of his labor and merit, in order +that they may enjoy all the fruit of the latter's toil? This is the +height of ingratitude and injustice; a far more glaring instance of both +than that of the <i>reputed</i> forefathers of these "nativists" when they +robbed the old Britons of their homes and of those liberties which they +were <i>hired</i> to defend. What models of honesty, justice, and truth you +are, most distinguished "nativists"! The foreigner built your house, +after having first procured the site or the lot; they furnish the house +with all useful, and necessary, and ornamental furniture; and these very +emigrants are yet necessary to keep the house in order; and you come and +threaten to turn them out, telling them you can now dispense with their +services, and that they are "furriners"! And, what is more inconsistent +and unjust still, by this policy of yours, if it could prevail, you +would be doing the most effectual thing to annihilate yourselves, both +physically, politically, morally, and socially. For, if you turned off +all the "furriners," not only would you sink in wealth and +resources,—your ships unmanned, your factories unworked, your canals +and railroads undug, and your battles unfought,—but your very blood +would corrupt, and turn into water! Your physical stature would soon be +reduced to the standard of the Aztecs; and, what is worse, following the +natural channel of your Anglo-Saxon instincts, you would become a +godless race of Liliputians! Yes, followers of Mormon Smith, Joe Miller, +Theodore Parker, and spiritual raps. O nativists, to what an abyss your +mental intoxication was hurrying you, in your blind zeal against the +emigrant and the foreigner!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h2>THE ORPHANS IN THEIR NEW HOME.</h2> + + +<p>After the arrival in the city of the wearied missionary, his first visit +was to the scene of his late visit to the dying widow; and learning all +the particulars there that came under the cognizance of Mrs. Doherty, he +next drove rapidly to the poorhouse, where, as we have already stated, +the <i>pious</i> officials had arranged the details so as to disappoint the +Popish priest of his benevolent designs, and to secure, if possible, the +adhesion of the young and interesting orphans to what they called "Bible +religion."</p> + +<p>When Father O'Shane called at the county house, he learned from an under +official that the boss "<i>warn't to home</i>; and," said he, "the children +hadn't been here mor'n a few hours, when a highly-respec'able farmer had +taken them with him to bring up." He couldn't "tell nothin' about who +the farmer was, or where he was from; but the children wor well done +for, that's all." It was in vain the priest represented that the +children were no paupers, but of highly-respectable connections, who +were able and willing to provide for them. He didn't "know nothin' about +that; but he knowed papers were signed, (as he was directed falsely to +assert,) and that sartain the children could not now be claimed by any +persons except their parents. They were now under the care of +guardians." After repeated visits, continued for weeks and months, to +the same establishment, Father O'Shane could gain no more satisfactory +knowledge of the fate of the orphans. He was obliged to relinquish his +search in despair, concluding that the children were kidnapped, and +that, except by God's mercy, their faith and morals were doomed, under +the influence of cold, contradictory infidelity or heresy. He mentioned +the case to his congregation, earnestly soliciting their prayers for +these poor orphans of Christ; and he oftentimes offered the holy +sacrifice, to enlist the influence of heaven in their regard.</p> + +<p>Let it not be said we exaggerate this account of the conduct of the +poorhouse officials; and from the improbability of such an instance of +injustice and cruelty happening in our day, let not our readers conclude +that such a case, and many such cases, happened not in times gone by. +Then the Irish Catholic population of the state was not much more than +what that of one county is now. Then an Irish Catholic could not get the +office of constable or bailiff; now we have Catholic cabinet ministers, +judges, senators, legislators, and aldermen.</p> + +<p>Then the ballot box was surrounded but by a few Irish naturalized +citizens, and these not of such importance as to influence the election +of a constable or poormaster; now the Irish adopted citizen, by the +power he exercises in his vote, is solicited by candidates, from a town +officer to the president; and whoever would attempt to reënact the +kidnapping of Van Stingey, and many other officials of his class, in +their days of petty power, would be sure to be compelled to retire +forever from public life, and pass into the gloom and infamy of his +depraved private circle. There were many exposures and wailings of the +children of Israel on the waters of the river of Egypt, before Moses; +and there was many an instance of the kidnapping of Irish Catholic +children from their parents, or natural guardians, by the jealous +Pharaohs of sectarianism, before the attempt made by Mr. Van Stingey to +kidnap Paul O'Clery and his brethren.</p> + +<p>In their new home, however, up to this time, Paul and his little charge +were well treated, as far as meat and clothing were concerned. Even in +regard to religion, and the devotional exercises prescribed by its +precepts, there was no obstacle thrown in their way; although the +fidelity of Paul and his sister Bridget to their morning and night +prayers was quite astonishing to their patrons. A few indirect, covert +attacks were all that, for many months, it was thought prudent they +should have to encounter from the family, named Prying, with whom they +staid. The truth was, that Paul, the eldest of the children, was such a +smart, watchful, prudent young lad, his younger brothers and sister were +so accustomed to obey him, and he exercised such emphatic authority over +them, that it was the advice of the most prudent of the preachers who +interested themselves in his case, to let him alone for the present. The +change intended to be brought about was to be left to time, +conversation, and the influence of common school education to +accomplish. His education, in Ireland, was principally religious and +classical, rather than commercial; and he was just now acquiring, in his +present trying noviceship, what was precisely wanting to his previous +course. He and his brothers, who lived in the next farmer's house, +together with Bridget, his sister, who was under the same roof with +himself, obstinately refused to attend the Sunday school, the meeting +house, or to join in the prayer with which school was daily opened. +Hence they were more than once publicly prayed for by the fanatical +Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Mr. Gulmore, at whose church the Prying +family attended. There was a sufficiency of prayers now "put up," in Mr. +Gulmore's opinion, to begin the work of more practical conversion. +Accordingly, a "big dinner" was prepared, a turkey cooked, and Friday +fixed upon—the appetite being chosen, after a very ancient pattern in +paradise, as the channel through which to "open the eyes" of these blind +young Papists! Some neighboring ministers were of opinion that it was +too soon to begin; but they were but Methodist, Universalist, and other +preachers, who were jealous of the influence and of the salary of Mr. +Gulmore, and who, besides, did not think it exactly fair that all the +children should be converted to Presbyterianism, while there were a +dozen as good denominations around, "and better too." But the +good-salaried disciple of John Calvin had no respect for such opinion; +so "forthwith the good work must begin," as he authoritatively said. He +should not be trifled with any longer, or have it said that, after all +the prayers "put up," and pains taken, "they should still be left +wallowing in the mire of Popery."</p> + +<p>"It should not be! It could not be! The power of the Lord must be made +manifest. He could not any longer allow the light to remain under a +bushel. It should shine, and he should then and there convert those +obstinate young things to vital religion."</p> + +<p>"Some turkey, Paul, my dear?" said Gulmore, after having first served +the ladies and senior members of the family.</p> + +<p>"Not any, sir, thank you," said Paul.</p> + +<p>"Not any!" repeated the parson, frowning. "Why so? That's not good +manners, my lad."</p> + +<p>"If it be not, I am sorry, sir," said Paul. "I cannot be expected to be +very polite, or to know the usages of this country, as yet. So I beg to +be excused."</p> + +<p>"You should not refuse the gifts of God when offered you," replied <i>his +reverence</i>.</p> + +<p>"But I do not think it would be good for me to use these gifts of God in +the present instance."</p> + +<p>"You must eat meat, Paul, and use the good things of our glorious +country, or you will fail and die."</p> + +<p>"I know I will die," said Paul; "and I guess eating turkey won't make me +immortal."</p> + +<p>A loud laugh followed this remark from all but the parson and a female +member of the family. This "raised his dander a <i>leetle</i>," as old uncle +Jacob afterwards used to say.</p> + +<p>"That is more unmannerly still, Paul," said the parson.</p> + +<p>"You think you are smart; but I tell you, child, you are ignorant, and +impudent to boot."</p> + +<p>"I should be sorry to make a saucy or impudent answer to any body, much +more to a clergyman of any church; but I thought you were aware that it +is counted very insulting to Catholics to offer them meat on Fridays, as +if they were apostates who would sell their souls for a 'mess of +pottage;' and I thought you were aware that we are Catholics, and that +our religion forbids us to eat flesh on Friday."</p> + +<p>"I know, sir, the Romish faith forbids her votaries the use of meat; +but, Paul, I thought you were now thoroughly weaned from such notions, +from what you have seen since you came to this free and Protestant +country."</p> + +<p>"All I have seen since I was unfortunately compelled to come to these +parts, only confirms me in my attachment to the religion of our +ancestors," said Paul.</p> + +<p>"My child, I love you," said the parson, seeing he had been committed by +his temper, and now changing his air of haughtiness into that of +affected kindness; "I love you in my soul, and that is why I want to +teach you to know Jesus, and to cause you to give up the fooleries of +Popery. What can be more foolish than to abstain from what God has given +for man's use?"</p> + +<p>"I hope I appreciate that <i>love</i>, sir," said Paul; "but if you wish not +to insult me, and if you do not want to cause me to doubt the sincerity +of your love, you won't call any prescription of the church of Christ +foolish. The Scriptures tell us that we may lawfully and meritoriously +abstain from many good and useful gifts of God—as Samson abstained +from wine; St. John the Baptist from flesh and the luxury of apparel; +St. Paul fasted and chastised his body; the Jews were commanded to +abstain from the use of pork and other meats. Finally, our Savior +promises to reward those publicly who will fast or abstain from food."</p> + +<p>"Ah, poor, lost, ignorant one," exclaimed the parson, "you are in error; +sunk in superstition!"</p> + +<p>"I hope your assertions do not prove me so."</p> + +<p>"Paul, child, don't you speak so to the minister," interrupted old Mrs. +Prying. "He is for your good, and desires to make you a Christian."</p> + +<p>"Ma'am, I don't wish to insult any body, as I said before; but I can't +hear my religion run down and misrepresented while I know the contrary +to be the fact."</p> + +<p>"Well, madam, let me alone; I will soon catch the lad in his own Jesuit +net. Paul, you <i>know</i> the Bible, you think; where in the Bible do you +find it ordered to fast from flesh on Fridays?"</p> + +<p>"Where in the Bible," said Paul, "do you find it ordered to keep Sunday +holy instead of Saturday, the Sabbath? where are you ordered to build +churches? where do you find authority for establishing feasts and fasts? +where to hold synods or assemblies? where to baptize infants?"</p> + +<p>"O Paul, the Bible does not order these things expressly; but the +Christian church does."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Paul, "it is only our church that forbids her children the +use of flesh on Friday; and 'he that does not hear the church, let him +be to thee as the heathen and publican.'"</p> + +<p>"But you ought not to obey the church in what is evidently wrong; and it +must be wrong to forbid the use of meat made for man's use."</p> + +<p>"If it was wrong, God would not have forbidden the Jews the use of meat +that we now use as a gift of God."</p> + +<p>"That was in the old law. You cannot find any such prohibition in the +gospel."</p> + +<p>"I can. In the Acts of the Apostles, xv. 29, the use of blood and +strangled meat is forbidden. Besides, our Lord fasted forty days from +the use of all the good gifts of God in the shape of food. The +Israelites fasted from flesh in the desert, and were terribly punished +for asking for it; over seventy thousand of them having died as a +punishment for their carnal desires."</p> + +<p>"Paul, I fear the Lord has deserted thee," said this ignorant hypocrite, +when he saw himself refuted by this young boy. "Don't we read from the +mouth of truth itself, that 'what entereth into the mouth defileth +not'?"</p> + +<p>"I think I heard the teetotal lecturer on the road there say that a +glass of brandy defiled a man; and I am sure a quart or two of it would +cause a man to sin, and thus defile him. And as the apple in the garden +defiled Eve, not by its nature, but by reason of the prohibition of God, +so the meat on Friday does not defile of itself, but by reason of the +prohibition of the church."</p> + +<p>"You should not obey the church, Paul, in all these things. It is +slavery the most vile, so it is."</p> + +<p>"Is it slavery in one to obey his parents in what is good and useful?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, the church is my mother; and when she prohibits an +indifferent thing, I, as a good child, am bound to obey her, +particularly when I have the promise of Christ that she can never +err—that 'the gates of hell can never prevail against her.' We have an +instance in this very county," said Paul, now warming into the argument, +"of the effects of a prohibitory law. A few years ago it was no harm to +fish for pickerel in the lakes and brooks of this county; but some of +the people petitioned the legislature, and got a law passed forbidding +the fishing for such fish for twenty years; and now, whoever is detected +in violating the law is fined or imprisoned. So it was no sin to eat +meat on Friday; but the church, for wise reasons, and to encourage +mortification, has forbidden its use; and so now, after the prohibition, +just as after the passage of the law in regard to fishing, whoever +knowingly violates the law disobeys the church; and he who disobeys the +church, or his parents, offends God, and will be punished by +imprisonment, death, or eternal condemnation."</p> + +<p>"That boy will never do any good, and is a dangerous viper in a family," +said the parson, abruptly rising, and taking his hat.</p> + +<p>"Well done, my young paddy," said uncle Jacob, as he saw the dominie +retire; "you have beaten the minister holler. Ha! ha! ha! I am really +glad you silenced his gab, for he is 'tarnally blabbing about his +religion; though I think he hain't much of it himself, except +counterfeit stuff, like a bad bill,—ha! ha!—that he wants to pass."</p> + +<p>"I hope he is not angry," said Paul, timidly.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! And who cares, Paul? Let him cool, if he is mad, the darned +fool," said uncle Jacob. "I am glad to have the house shet of him."</p> + +<p>Paul and uncle Jacob, with whom he was of late becoming a great +favorite, retired for the evening to the latter's bed room, where Paul +was accustomed to read aloud for him out of his Catholic books of +instruction.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h2>THE PRYING FAMILY.</h2> + + +<p>The farms of the brothers Prying were situated in a beautiful valley. On +the one side were the Vermont snow-crowned and cloud-capped mountains, +rising up like eternal ramparts against all eastern hostile incursions +of the elements. On the other, or the western side, were the pleasant +hills of York State, which, in contrast with the mountains of Vermont, +looked like so many tumuli of the deceased Indian giants of ages gone +by. In the centre between, in a southerly course, ran a clear, silver +brook, well stocked with an abundance of trout and other species of the +finny tribe. On both sides of this stream were situated the extensive +farms of the Pryings. They had abundance of woods from the elevated +extremes on either side. The rivulet constituted a cooling retreat for +cattle in summer, and in spring afforded an abundant source of +irrigation to the rich meadows on both sides.</p> + +<p>Ephraim's family, where Paul and Bridget remained, consisted of Mrs. +Prying, Amanda, the senior daughter, Melinda, and Mary, called after her +grandmother, who was Irish. There were besides, Calvin, Wesley, Cassius, +and Cyrus, younger members of the family, together with old uncle +Jacob, an unmarried brother of Ephraim, the head of this family. We may +as well here remark that Mr. Prying was, from the beginning, averse to +receive these orphans into his house, seeing, as he said, "that he +wanted no more such hands as they were;" but Amanda persuaded him, in +order to have the glory of being instrumental in the conversion of the +"interesting orphans," as they were called.</p> + +<p>There were frequent friendly contentions in the family to see who would +have the special care of the new comers. Little Mary insisted on having +Bridget to sleep with herself instead of her sister Melinda, whom she +wanted to dispossess. Wesley, Calvin, and Cassius wanted to monopolize +Paul, especially on Sundays, when each of them were about to separate +for their respective meetings to hear the preacher.</p> + +<p>"Father," said Calvin, "won't Paul come with me? Our minister, Mr. +Gulmore, is such a clever preacher, and our Sunday school the best and +the largest."</p> + +<p>"I say he shan't, now, Calvin," replied Wesley. "Your minister, the old +feller, is nothing, compared with ours, Mr. Barker."</p> + +<p>"Well, brothers," said Cassius, "I don't see the use of your jawing +about it. But I say Paul had better come to our meeting—the very name, +Universalist, signifying the same with Catholic, as I was telling Paul +yesterday, while a-fishing, and as our minister said."</p> + +<p>"Well, boys," said uncle Jacob, laughing, "my advice to you is; to see +first whether Paul is willing to go with any of ye to yer meetings. I +think his mind is made up to stay at home, like myself."</p> + +<p>Amanda now stepped forward to inform this conference that Paul had been +spoiled by their example; that he cried when told he must go to meeting; +and that it was better now not to urge the matter further. In future, +she intended to instruct Paul and Bridget herself; and she was resolved +to cut off all intercourse between them and the younger members of the +family.</p> + +<p>Our readers are aware that Amanda was the Miss Prying, a child of her +father by a former marriage; and besides this, she was an old maid. In +addition to the foregoing circumstances, she became pious, attended camp +meetings, donation parties, and <i>quilting matches</i> at young ministers' +houses, who were just preparing to get a <i>rib</i>. And though she was +praised as the best needle lady in the town, her epistles on love to +young preachers were the most admirable mixture of classical and +biblical composition that could be found. Though she had a good pair of +hands at making pies, puddings, and other culinary preparations, though +she was praised, flattered, and admired, yet nobody ever yet went beyond +this. All was admiration, praise, flattery, no more. Again: Amanda, +though a strict old school Presbyterian, in order to exhibit her +liberality and prove that she had no objection to a partner from any of +the other countless sects of Protestantism, be he Baptist, Methodist, or +Unitarian—in order to prove her liberality, she attended the donations +of the six ministers of her village, and each of the dominies received +from her a neatly-worked handkerchief for pulpit use. Yet, though she +was at once liberal and strict, pious and politic; though she induced +one Sally Dwyer to join her church and declare she "got the change of +heart;" though she was eternally working and planning to bring others to +her way of thinking, and had some success in her proselyting +efforts,—she never could, with all her art, biblical lore, and policy, +succeed in causing any body to say, "I take thee, Amanda, to my wedded +wife." This was the chief point; and here is just where she failed. What +was the cause of it? She was not too old—not near so old as Miss +Longface, whom the youthful parson Barker lately wedded. "And besides," +said she, in a soliloquy, "when I was young, it was just the same bad +luck. Is it that men are less numerous than ladies? There might be +something in that, for she had seen it stated in their newspaper, 'The +Home Journal,' that female births exceeded that of males by forty +thousand annually in certain European kingdoms. The number of Popish +priests also," she said, "who remain unmarried, adds greatly to the +superfluity of the female sex. Hence there is no part of the wicked +Popish system I regard so much contrary to God's holy word as celibacy. +Celibacy!" she cried aloud; "one of the doctrines of devils, as any one +can tell, who has been these twenty years in search of a mate, and could +never yet find one! O horrid thought!" She had consulted the famous +fortune teller at the state fair of Vermont, and, after having paid that +"seer of future events" a fee of ten dollars, she found his prediction +was false. For she was told she would be married within two years, and +to a neighboring minister; but now it was twenty-six months since, and +the only single minister around lately got married to Miss Longface, a +very ignorant and unamiable person. But there was no taste, or judgment, +or discernment nowadays in men, as this fact clearly proved. +"Thunderation on them!" said she, in a rage.</p> + +<p>Such were the ideas that were passing through the brain of Amanda one +Sunday morning, as she lounged on the sofa of her sitting room, when, +upon her looking out towards the lawn in front, she perceived Paul and +Bridget kneeling by a seat, at the foot of a large wild plum tree that +stood at the end of the green plot in front of the house, and that had +its branches bent within a few feet of the ground by the embraces of a +rich grape vine that for years had grown around it and impeded its +development. For a few moments she watched the movements of the orphans +as they smote their breasts at the "Confiteor," or bowed their heads at +the "Sanctus," accompanying the priests who, they knew, in thousands of +churches, were engaged in offering sacrifice to God; and reading the +"Prayers at Mass" out of the Key of Heaven manual of devotion.</p> + +<p>Instead of admiring this sincerity of devotion, or giving thanks to God +for the grace of fidelity and piety that his mercy had vouchsafed to +these children of grace, Amanda, as if she could not endure the sight of +such happiness, or mortified at the miscarriage of her vain attempts to +rob these innocent hearts of the treasure of true faith and piety which +they possessed, still pale with rage in consequence of her ruminations +about her own misfortune, the ill-tempered old maid there and then +resolved to try another and a severer plan to effect her purpose of +proselytism.</p> + +<p>"Confound yer impudence, ye little Popish paupers!" she said to herself. +"I shall soon make ye give up these superstitious practices. Paul, Paul, +dear," she said, tapping at the window, "come in out of that, come in +Bridget, ye little fools; the sun will spoil yer features, cover ye with +tan."</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss, in a few minutes; we are just finishing," said Paul.</p> + +<p>Ever since Paul came to this house, in obedience to the advice of his +mother, as well as in accordance with the prescriptions of the excellent +religious education he received at home in the diocesan seminary, he +always read the "Prayers at Mass," accompanied by his sister Bridget, +first; and after having read them with her at home, he went across the +brook to Reuben Prying's, where his brothers lived, and taking them into +the fields, or to the barn if the weather did not answer, he read for +them the same devotions, causing them to answer "Amen" after the end of +each prayer, and reading to them a chapter of the catechism for +committal to memory. And to do justice to Reuben, whose wife was a +southern lady, there was no obstacle thrown in the way of the children +to prevent them from discharging their duties to their religion. On the +contrary, the fidelity of Paul, and his watchfulness over the faith and +morals of his younger brothers Patrick and Eugene, commanded the +highest approbation of Mrs. Reuben Prying. And such was her horror of +any thing like the domestic tyranny or intolerance of Amanda, that Mrs. +Reuben always allowed the two young lads to say their own prayers in +private, notwithstanding the advice of the ministers to the contrary. +The only times that Pat and Eugene were ever asked into the parlor to +pray was on some rare occasions, when Mrs. Reuben, through a laudable +curiosity, and to serve as an example to her own children, caused the +orphans to say their prayers aloud before retiring to bed. The two +little fellows, one five and the other eight years of age, joining their +hands before their breasts, repeated the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, the +Apostles' Creed, the General Confession, the Acts of Faith, Hope, and +Charity, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, the Prayer of the Angel +Guardian and Patron Saint, and Prayers for the Dead: these they repeated +aloud, and correctly, to the astonishment of the other children and the +edification of the mistress.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Reub, Ben, and Will," she said, "when will you be such good boys as +Patsy and Geny? You can't say the Lord's Prayer yet."</p> + +<p>"I can tell," said Reub, blushing, "more than Pat can. I know how old +Mathusalem was, who was the wife of Abraham, and who was the mother of +Solomon, and the wife of Putiphar."</p> + +<p>"I don't know how to say so many prayers," said Ben, contemptuously; +"but I can tell how many cents in ten dollars, how many states in the +Union, and how large England is."</p> + +<p>"I can sing a hymn," said Will, "which I heard in the choir in the +Methodist meeting house when I went there with cousin."</p> + +<p>"Let us hear you, Will," said his mother.</p> + +<p>"Mother, I have only a little of it," said Will.</p> + +<p>"Say all you remember," said she, "and sing it."</p> + +<p>"The ladies first said, ma," said he, commencing,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'O for a man—O for a man—O for a mansion in the skies.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"The men answered,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Send down sal—send down sal—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Send down salvation to our souls.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At this specimen of ludicrous poetical composition the mother burst out +a-laughing, in which she was joined by the two arch Irish lads; and +Will, discouraged, blushed and stopped.</p> + +<p>"I would rather not have any prayer than have that foolish hymn," said +Ben. "O Will! O, you goose!"</p> + +<p>"Silence, boys!" said Mrs. Prying. "Pat and Eugene, can you not sing? +Come, let us hear how you can sing. Commence. Don't be ashamed."</p> + +<p>"Will we sing, ma'am, what the Christian brothers taught us?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Pat, any thing; don't be shy," said the lady. The lads began thus, +with joined hands and uplifted eyes:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Ave Maria! hear the prayer<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of thy poor helpless child!<br /></span> +<span>Beneath thy sweet maternal care<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Preserve me undefiled.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span>"Ave Maria! do I sigh<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In deep affliction's hour.<br /></span> +<span>Nor to a suppliant heart deny<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thy mediative power.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span>"Ave Maria! for to thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whom God was pleased to choose<br /></span> +<span>The mother of his Son to be,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">No prayer will he refuse.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span>"Ave Maria! then implore<br /></span> +<span class="i2">One only grace for me—<br /></span> +<span>This heart to give forevermore<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To God alone and thee."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"To bed, children, with you all," said the good lady, covering her face +with her handkerchief, for the tears started from their source in her +noble soul on hearing this delightful hymn sung by the poor orphans, +whose countenances looked like those of angels' while chanting it. "God +forgive those," she said to herself, in a half-audible tone, "that would +rob these poor children of that divine religion that teaches her +children such heavenly hymns."</p> + +<p>This incident recalled to her mind vividly the days of her girlhood, +when, in the "sunny south," she heard Catholic hymns sung and Catholic +devotion practised in the convent where she, though a Protestant, +received her education. And probably her conscience, too, reproached her +for the neglect of the good resolutions she formed while there.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h2>A RAY OF HOPE.</h2> + + +<p>Many times during what we shall call his captivity within the gates of +the strangers Paul had contrived to write letters to Father O'Shane in +the city of T——, as well as to his uncle in Ireland; but from some +cause or other, to his innocent mind inexplicable, the letters never +reached their destination, nor were they ever after heard of. The +postmaster of S——, not generally supposed to be a very exact man, +particularly when remitting money in letters for farmers' boys to their +Irish friends in eastern or western parts, was ever ready to oblige, and +with hearty good will entered into the views of, Parson Gulmore, when he +called on him, according to the advice of Amanda, "to have Paul's +letters seen to." And never mind they were "seen to" and secured.</p> + +<p>This disgraceful proceeding, so disreputable to all concerned, and so +characteristic of the fidelity with which the business of "Uncle Sam" is +managed, was not confined to the detention and destruction of the poor +orphan's letters, but to the piracy of their contents too.</p> + +<p>There is no department of the public service in the United States so +badly managed as the post-office department. Not only do robber +postmasters continue in office after their exposure and their plunder of +money letters, but they can be bribed to convey the epistles of +individuals to interested parties, who would come at their secrets; and +thus the most sacred and secret concerns of life are liable to exposure, +and to be sold for gain. We knew a postmaster who for years continued to +rob with impunity the letters that were deposited in his "den of +thieves;" and when he was exposed and disgraced through the +instrumentality of the writer of this tale, whole bushels of letters, +directed to Ireland by poor emigrants to their fathers, wives, and sons, +were found thrown aside in a nook of his office; the sole motive for +this scandalous robbery being the plunder of the twenty-four cents paid +on the letters to free them to Europe.</p> + +<p>Sadly did the mysterious miscarriage of his letters puzzle the ingenuous +heart of poor Paul; though he had reason to suspect, from certain hints +thrown out by Amanda, that she, somehow or other, was in possession of +their contents. On a certain day, however, a circumstance convinced Paul +that he could not now expect an answer from his letters to Father +O'Shane; for Miss Amanda had just pointed out to him a paragraph in the +newspaper stating that the Catholic priest of T—— had died of ship +fever, taken by him in the discharge of his duties among the sick of his +flock.</p> + +<p>"God rest his soul," said Paul, raising his eyes to heaven; "he was a +good friend to us in our hour of need."</p> + +<p>"What's that you say, Paul?" said Amanda, with a frown. "Did I not tell +you repeatedly, Paul, that it was useless to pray for the dead?"</p> + +<p>"I know <i>you told</i> me that often, 'Mandy; but am I bound to believe you, +when I know the church teaches me the contrary? In fact, the Bible says +it is 'a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they +may be loosed from their sins.'" (Mac. xii. 42.)</p> + +<p>"Don't you call me 'Mandy, Paul," said the vain old maid; "my name is +Miss A-man-day."</p> + +<p>"A-man-a-day," said Paul, with a sarcastic smile. "I beg pardon," said +he, "miss; I must guard against that blunder in future, and say +<i>A-man-a-day</i>."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you naughty boy!" she said, catching him by the hand. "Come here to +me till I teach you the knowledge of God's word. Now, Paul, that passage +you quoted I do not find in my Bible."</p> + +<p>"No," said Paul, "for your Bible is no other than an imperfect, +mutilated Bible, corrupted by the men who made your religion. The +Catholic church, from which the Protestants stole their piecemeal Bible, +always regarded the book of Machabeus as the inspired word of God."</p> + +<p>"But, Paul, it is so foolish, this 'half-way house.'"</p> + +<p>"Then, miss, you must blame God, who created it, for the folly of his +not consulting with some Protestant philosopher before he created such a +'half way.' For most certainly there was always, since the dawn of +creation, a third place; as, for example, the place where the souls of +the just were confined before Christ, who was the first to ascend into +heaven, as himself says in his gospel. Now, the Bible does not say that +this half way was 'foolish,' or abolished either. Besides, it is but +reasonable that there should be a place to purify the frail and +imperfect soul before admitting her to God's holy presence."</p> + +<p>"Where the tree falleth, there it lieth," said she.</p> + +<p>"Yes, fallen," said Paul, "it lieth there till it is taken away to +another place. Where the soul falleth,—that is, whether in a state of +grace or in sin,—there it will lie forever; but those who go to +purgatory die in a state of grace, and so their eternal destiny is +heaven—like those just souls who died before Christ; yet they are not +fit for heaven immediately, for 'nothing defiled can enter therein.'"</p> + +<p>"You wrote to the priest, didn't you, to say masses for your mother's +soul in purgatory? How do you know she is there?" said Amanda, +unguardedly.</p> + +<p>"I hope she is in no worse place," said Paul, the fire kindling in his +dark Celtic eye; "and whether in heaven or in hell,—which God +forbid!—the mass can do no harm, but tend to the honor and glory of +God, and I hope procure me and the celebrant merit. But, Amanda, how do +you know that I wrote any such request to the priest? I know you are +above reading my letters, though I should leave them open under your +eye; but I am afraid that hypocritical-looking postmaster may have kept +my letters, and given them to somebody. In Ireland, that crime deserved +hanging as a punishment; and I do not know what I would do to any body I +would detect in opening my letters, and pilfering my secrets," said he, +raising himself up.</p> + +<p>"O, my dear Paul," said the old maid, perceiving her imprudence, "I only +guessed at the contents of your letters. We Yankees are great at +guessing, you know. Be silent; shut up, my good fellow," she added, +going over to the window. "What crowd is that there below on the road?"</p> + +<p>An unusual sight in that part of the country now presented itself to +view. Slowly moving along the road was a crowd of men and women—the +men, as they came up, taking off their hats, and the women courtesying, +in that way that only Catholics can courtesy, to a young gentleman, who, +seated in a one-horse carriage, the top lowered down, seemed to be +engaged, as he was, in earnest conversation about some subject of an +absorbing interest to those around him. In truth, any body, even Amanda, +who never saw one, could have guessed that this personage, surrounded by +so many of the Irish railroad laborers lately settled in the vicinity, +was no other than the Catholic priest. Paul's eye, so lately kindled +into passion from the hints dropped by Amanda about the foul play +regarding his letters, became immediately subdued into composure, and, +taking out a small miniature reliquary and silver crucifix which he ever +wore on his breast, he pressed them to his lips, saying to himself, +"Glory be to God; and Mary, his virgin mother, be ever blessed. I see +the priest, if he is alive." And instantly he was over the fence and on +the road.</p> + +<p>"There is one of 'em," said Mrs. Murphy, "your reverence; and it would +be a charity to do something for the poor children, for they were well +reared."</p> + +<p>Paul could not, owing to the tears that rushed on him in floods, dare +for some time to join the crowd to offer his respects to the +representative of religion; and it was a full quarter of an hour before +he could say, "Welcome to these parts, your reverence."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my child," said the priest, reaching him his hand.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, sir," said the poor youth; "I can't but weep, 'tis so long +since I saw a priest or heard mass."</p> + +<p>There was not a dry eye in the crowd as the young lad clung to the +priest's hand, embracing it, and crying aloud, "O my uncle! my uncle!"</p> + +<p>"Take him into the shanty and calm him a little," said the stalwart +missionary. "Poor little fellow! poor child! poor child!"</p> + +<p>"O, God help the orphan!" said Mrs. Murphy again, fearing she had not +touched his reverence's heart. "It would be the charity of God to do +something for them. The men would be all willing to subscribe."</p> + +<p>"We will do all we can," said his reverence. "God will provide for them, +if they be what you represent. Meet me here to-morrow, at six o'clock. +We will have mass and confessions here in the shanty, as we could +procure no better place. Give word around through the entire +neighborhood. Good by for the present," said he, moving along towards +the village of S——.</p> + +<p>"God speed your reverence," answered a hundred voices, as they returned +the adieu.</p> + +<p>This was the first night since the death of his beloved mother, and that +was over two years, that the slightest ray of hope penetrated the +burdened but confiding soul of Paul. For himself he did not much care. +He could have escaped any day, and repudiated the iniquitous contract by +which the villanous poormaster had sold him and his brethren; but what +was to become of his younger sister and brothers? He knew how to plough, +mow, cradle, and farm it, as well as any body of his age. He knew how to +read, count, write, and even defend his religion, against all opponents, +as he did last winter at the Lyceum; but what was to become of Bridget, +Patrick, and little Eugene, who had yet many years to serve? This was +what puzzled him. But now the priest had come for the first time to this +remote region, and <i>he</i> knew what to do, and would not desert the +orphan, for no priest ever had done so. He felt there was to be now a +change, and he felt assured that it would be for his good. "Thank God," +said he, "I saw the priest at last. I return thee thanks, my God, and +thee, my mother in heaven, now my only mother, and I thank all the +heavenly citizens and all heaven, for this dawn of hope that I feel in +my soul. O Lord, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."</p> + +<p>Fervent and pious were the prayers offered to God on this night by Paul, +as he thanked him for having seen one in whom he could confide as a +friend, as well as because he was preparing to go to his religious +duties on the morrow. Let it not be said that it was superstition in +Paul to thank God so fervently for having permitted him once more to +converse with his priest. What can be imagined a more worthy cause for +thanksgiving than the meeting with a true friend? What better gift can +we receive from God than a friend? And who ever, in need, has failed to +find the good priest a friend in all emergencies?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h2>VAN STINGEY AGAIN.—HOW HE GETS RICH AND ENDS.</h2> + + +<p>After a year or two in office, our friend Van Stingey found Fortune +rather adverse to him, a thing not unusual with the worshippers of that +fickle goddess; for not only was he put out of office by the influence +of the "furren" vote thrown against him, but his farther promotion even +in the church became almost problematical. His was now a rather +unpleasant situation. He was not only defeated at the ballot box by the +"Irish element," according as Mrs. Doherty foretold, but he was in +disgrace with many of his regular church-going brethren. This latter +trial was caused by the well-known fact that a negro girl, who was put +under this <i>religious</i> man's care by the abolitionists, and who was now +two years in his family, had just given birth to a young mulatto child +in his house. Yes, and worse; the miserable yellow thing not only was +born, and in health, under the roof of this <i>religious teacher</i>, but he +was mortified to find that it had his very nose on its face, and could +not by any possibility be fathered on any body else. Thus were the +prospects of this pious gentleman blasted in one day. He got religion, +but now it failed him. He was of the true nativist stamp in politics; +but here again his defeat was signal and complete, and all through the +suffrages of foreigners.</p> + +<p>What was he to do for a living? He must give up religion and politics, +and take to some other pursuit. Loafing or living on his neighbors was +now impossible, as he was in disgrace with many; and besides, he had a +wife and family to support. Peddling was so common, that nothing could +now be made in that line; and besides, it took some capital to start +with—a thing that was out of the question in our ex-official's case.</p> + +<p>The only chance now open for him was the railroad, and to the railroads +he said he would betake himself as soon as he could. On the railroad he +saw men of little talent, of less honesty, and of no capital, amass not +only a competency, but wealth, in a few years; and our official was very +anxious to try his luck in that line of business. Accordingly, when the +Northern Railroad was about to be let, Van Stingey, in company with four +others, put in their estimate, which was the very lowest, and they thus +succeeded in getting ten miles of the road. The partners of Van Stingey +were one Purse, one Mr. Kitchins, one Timens, generally called Blind +Bill, one Whinny, together with Mr. Lofin, an Irishman. They had the job +now, but had neither horses, carts, shovels, nor any of the various +implements necessary to carry on the work. A council was held among +these five worthies to see what was to be done. They had neither money, +nor means, nor credit to begin with, and how were they to fulfil their +contract? Most of them were novices in this sort of business; but there +was Mr. P. Lofin, whose experience was something, and who suggested a +plan which could not but succeed, if his advice was followed. The plan +was, that they should advertise for three thousand men and several +hundred horses, and on the strength of their advertisements, and their +certificate of having obtained such a respectable contract, try to +borrow some provisions on three months' credit.</p> + +<p>In a few days, the public places of the cities of T—— and A—— were +posted up with large placards, and advertisements were inserted in all +the daily papers, which read thus:—</p> + +<p class="center">WANTED.</p> +<p class="blockquot">Three thousand men to work on the Northern Railroad at one dollar +a day of twelve hours. Men who wish to work extra time will +receive extra wages.<br /> +<br /> +Wanted, also, six hundred horses to hire, at three dollars a day for +every team, on the same work.</p> +<p class="right"> +P. LOFIN,<br /> +VAN STINGEY,<br /> +KITCHINS, & CO.</p> + + +<p>In a few days, not only did the three thousand men make their +appearance, but twice that number were now located on the site of the +proposed line. But how were so many men to live? There was some delay in +proceeding with the works, and Van Stingey and Co., having represented +themselves as very independent and wealthy contractors, said that, as +they did not like to be hard on the men, they would give them free sites +for their shanties, which the men could afterwards have without the +necessity of having to pay so much a month for their use, as was the +custom with other but less honorable contractors than Van Stingey, +Purse, Lofin, & Co.</p> + +<p>This bait took "capitally," as Van used to say, and not only were two +hundred shanties built, but the praise of the "ginerous contractors" was +in every mouth; and "Hurrah for Lofin, Van Stingey, & Co.," became a +regular toast among the men, as they went to spend a shilling in the +company's grocery store. The shanties were now up, and the horses, three +hundred in number, all ready for work; but a week, and another, and a +third passed on, and not a sod of ground was broke on the ten miles of +our independent company's contract. Here was now a sad and alarming +spectacle. Thousands of men, women, and children, seduced into a +wilderness by the specious promises of these vile knaves; and now, after +having spent every penny they had earned for years, brought to the very +verge of starvation. Some were obliged to trade off and sell their +clothes for food; others had to open small retail groceries to keep +themselves and their neighbors from starving. The more independent in +circumstances were obliged to mortgage their horses and carts for +provisions and fodder; and all had, as far as their means went, to +patronize the new store opened by the contractors, who retailed +provisions and groceries, to those who had any thing to lose, at a +profit of one hundred and a quarter per cent. on their original cost. +For three months this was the state of things on the contract of our +<i>honorable</i> company. Works not yet commenced, men and horses half +starving, occasional murmurs among the most knowing of the hands—which +murmurs were, however, soon allayed by the representations of the bosses +and their countryman Mr. Lofin, who pledged <i>his honor</i> as a "gintlemon +that the whault lied intirely with the directors, and the <i>faurmuns</i>, +who refused to settle for the right uv way." The mystery was soon +cleared up by the appearance on the ground of Messrs. Van Stingey, +Lofin, & Whinny, with fifteen constables, who laid an injunction on all +the shanties, and quietly, revolver in hand, drove off the three hundred +horses to the county town, to secure those contractors in their pay for +the debt into which they brought all those men whom they got to deal in +their store, or who had any property. This is the way thousands of men +were deceived, betrayed, and robbed of all they possessed in the wide +world. And this is the way in which Messrs. Van Stingey, Timens, +Kitchins, Whinny, & Lofin supplied themselves with horses, carts, +shanties, and all other necessaries for carrying on the work according +to agreement. The plan had so far succeeded; the only question now was, +how to deprive these poor men of all legal redress, and have them +exterminated from the neighborhood. This was not difficult to effect +with poor men who were half starved, and who had to look out for work +somewhere else for the support of their families. Those men who had the +means left had quitted this cursed ground already, and Mr. P. Lofin +struck on an expedient by which others, the more bold, were soon +compelled to follow them. He proceeded some eighty or a hundred miles +into the State of Massachusetts, where he represented to several hundred +men from the part of Ireland to which himself belonged, which was +Connaught, that several of their countrymen were driven off and ill +treated by Munster men and <i>far-downs</i>, and that now they had not only a +chance of defending the <i>honor</i> of the <i>province</i>, but, by driving off +their <i>far-up</i> and <i>far-down</i> enemies, they could have a year's job, and +a dollar a day.</p> + +<p>This was enough; one thousand men immediately started for the scene of +action, breathing vengeance against their fellow-countrymen, and +determined on establishing the "anshint ghilory of Connaught." Every +unfortunate Munster or Ulster man they met on their route was knocked +down, and left senseless on the road; and shouts of victory were heard, +and shots were fired, in anticipation of the triumph that awaited them. +Lofin, the head mover in all these disgraceful scenes, now drove off to +the capital of the state; and—will it be believed?—this vile, low +wretch, who could neither read nor write, succeeded in getting the loan +of <i>one thousand muskets</i> out of the state arsenal to enable him to +carry out his murderous and swindling scheme! A few days previous to +this, Lofin got some few boards on his work set fire to, in order to +have a case made out for the authorities, and by this means, and through +the influence of political wirepullers, he succeeded in getting the arms +of the state placed in the hands of his ignorant dupes, for the murder +of their plundered countrymen. During these troublesome times, the house +of Father Ugo, the priest of these parts, was literally besieged with +weeping women and enraged men, stating their grievances, and asking for +advice and counsel; for they had no other friend.</p> + +<p>"Surely," said his reverence to one Hannohan, whose eight horses were +seized, and who had used some violence in defending his property, +"surely the law will not sanction such barefaced plunder. I am witness +myself of the cruelty to which many of you have been subjected by these +villanous contractors. I know the decision of the law will be in your +favor."</p> + +<p>"Law!" said poor Hannohan. "God help us if we have to look to <i>law</i> for +justice; go to law with Old Nick, and the court held in the low +countries! Besides, we are going to be attacked and butchered in our +beds by night. You know Mr. Lofin's men are all up and armed every +night, firing rounds, and shouting till our wives and children are +almost scared to death."</p> + +<p>"What can I do?" said the priest. "You know I have been censured before +for interfering when some of the men were on a strike for higher wages; +and I can't expect to have any influence with such men as you have to +deal with. They are a lawless and hardened set of knaves."</p> + +<p>"God help us, then, your reverence," said Hannohan; "I and my family may +as well go into the poorhouse or starve, if you can't influence that Mr. +Lofin, who is a Catholic, to let me have my eight horses and carts, for +I owe him not one single cent."</p> + +<p>"He may call himself a Catholic, Mike," said Father Ugo; "but he cannot +be a Catholic, or even a believer in God's justice, if he is guilty of +all those villanies which are laid to his charge. It would be no use +for me to speak to such an abandoned scoundrel and robber as, by all +accounts, he is."</p> + +<p>Poor Hannohan got the benefit of law, which resulted in his losing his +eight horses and carts: a warrant was issued for his capture, for +threatening the robbers of his property with chastisement. He was taken +in a few days, and lodged in prison, where he died in a fortnight of the +injuries inflicted on him by the drunken constables, who succeeded in +arresting him after a two days' chase through the woods. No doubt <i>the +good Catholic</i>, Mr. Lofin, rested quiet when he heard of the death of +this formidable opponent. And I suppose, by way of appeasing the public +indignation,—for I do not think he had any dread of the anger of +Heaven,—his name appeared, a few days after, at the head of a list of +subscriptions for the support of an orphanage in the city. And well he +might spend a little of his profits in <i>charitable</i> objects, for he and +his partners had, by the late manoeuvre got up under Lofin's auspices, +saved not less than five thousand nine hundred dollars' worth of +property in horses, carts, harness, and shanties! We have heard of +robbers in Italy and Spain, who, after they rob and murder the rich, are +very <i>liberal</i> to the poor, although, like your railroad-contract robber +the poor Italian brigand has not the chance of having his name published +in the newspapers, or read out from the pulpit, as a good, charitable, +and humane gentleman. Of the two charities, I think that of the obscure +brigand is the most worthy and laudable.</p> + +<p>One Sunday evening, as Father Ugo was returning from service in the +country, where he officiated every two weeks, he came up with a large +and enraged crowd of people on both sides of the road on which he +travelled. On one side of the way about one hundred carts were placed in +a line, so as to form a rampart and protect some two hundred men, who, +with loaded muskets, crouched behind the carts as if watching for an +object to fire at. An occasional shot was fired from this rampart, and +the volley was returned slowly but deliberately from an old house in +front, on which this large body of men were making an assault. While the +priest stood at a distance, looking on at this horrid contest, he was +perceived by the people in the house, who at once despatched a messenger +to inform his reverence of the danger they were in, assailed by so many +men resolved on their extermination. At no small risk, leaving the +messenger in charge of his horse, he entered between the ranks of the +combatants, and, with crucifix in hand uplifted, he implored the +assailants, in the name of Christ, to desist from their cruel warfare, +and take some other means and time than the Lord's day for getting +possession of that old house about which the contention arose. By a +great deal of difficulty, and after a speech of an hour, he succeeded in +quelling this cruel and disgraceful riot, and before he left the ground +he had all the arms secured in one pile, and conveyed to an adjacent +farmer's house for security.</p> + +<p>After this the work went on peacefully. Van Stingey & Co. made money, +and were now rich; the poor priest had every thing but the thanks of the +contractors for his pains, and he concluded, from his experience of +this and other railroads and public works in America, that, of all the +men living, the railroad and day laborer of this "free country" is the +most ill treated and oppressed. He has to work from dark to dark; he has +to take <i>store pay</i> for his wages; and he has to obey the nod, look, and +arbitrary commands of the lowest, cruellest, and most brutal class of +men on earth. I ask any man, Is not this slavery? Van Stingey was now +rich—had horses, wagons, and a splendid mansion. He took another, and a +third contract, in which he was very successful. One day, however, he +was on his work, and a blast having failed to go off, Van ordered his +men to return to the dump. They refused. He stamped and swore, and then +and there discharged all the "darned paddies," who were not fools enough +to get killed. So himself and his nephew, who bossed for him, returned +to the "cut," where they were no sooner arrived than the blast went off, +and poor Van Stingey was blown into atoms.</p> + +<p>Thus perished, at the height of his success and of his guilt, the +meanest and most worthless of the human race—the mocker and robber of +the poor, the persecutor and kidnapper of Paul O'Clery and his brethren, +the merciless swindler and defrauder of the laborer's wages, and, +finally, the hypocritical sensualist and drunkard. We boast of our +progress, and advertise, as proof of it, the number of railroads in +operation, their extent, and the rapidity of the motion over their iron +surface; but the trials, tears, labors, sufferings, and injustice which +our indifference or avarice has inflicted on those thousands of our +fellow-creatures whose hands have built them never occur to our minds or +cause us a single regret, while glorying in the advancement of our +"great country." "How can we help <i>that</i>?" answers Uncle Sam. "It is the +contractors that are unjust and cruel, and the men themselves that are +not 'wide awake enough' in allowing themselves to be so imposed upon."</p> + +<p>The whole fault is yours, "Uncle," and lies at the doors of the people, +who, having the power to protect the laborer by law, neglect to exercise +that power, and, by this their neglect of duty, create your Van +Stingeys, your Lofins, your Blind Bill Timenses, your Whinnys, and other +villains, who are a disgrace to our country, and whose crimes, +encouraged by our silence and tolerance, will ultimately bring the +vengeance of Heaven on us and our children. <i>Quod avertat Deus</i>.</p> + +<p>It has been remarked by some, that if the tears shed by emigrants on the +bosom and on the banks of the great Father of Waters, the Mississippi, +were preserved in a great reservoir, they would form a lake many fathoms +in depth and many miles in circumference. With less exaggeration can it +be stated, if the number of men killed, murdered, and otherwise cut off, +on the railroads of the Union, by the ill treatment, neglect, cruelty, +avarice, and malice of contractors, storekeepers, overseers, and +bosses,—if all these men's dead bodies were placed within three feet of +one another, or even side by side, they would cover, from end to end, +the ten thousand miles of railroad that are within the United States. +And if the tears shed on the Mississippi would make a lake the size of +the Lakes of Killarney, the tears shed on the railroads would form a +body of salt, burning water, as great in bulk as Lakes Superior and +Ontario together. If there be any irresponsible, cruel, barbarous +despotism on earth, in savage or civilized life, it is emphatically in +the discipline that prevails on the railroad <i>régime</i>. There is no man +daring enough to speak a word in favor of the cruelly-oppressed railroad +man, except an odd priest here and there; and even he has often to do it +at the risk of having a revolver presented at him, or having his +character maligned by the slanders of the moneyed ruffians whose crimes +and excesses he may feel it his duty to reprimand. Father Ugo was not +the man to wink at the cruel treatment to which, in the part of the +railroad that ran through his mission, his poor fellow-men and +fellow-Christians were submitted; and he had, consequently, often to +experience no small share of the malice, and a <i>tolerable</i> share of +outrage, in the shape of threats and insulting language, from our +independent company, Lofin, Van Stingey, Whinny, & Co.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h2>MASS IN A SHANTY.</h2> + + +<p>There was great bustle and preparation in the valley of R—— Creek, on +Ascension Thursday. Hired men were up at <i>three</i> o'clock that morning to +do "chores," and hired girls were busy the night before in arranging the +household, so that the female <i>bosses</i> of the several farm-houses would +be able to find all things in order. Many and violent also were the +arguments that passed between Catholic servants and their heretical +masters and mistresses, on one hand to ignore, and on the other to +assert, the right to worship according to one's conscience. Yes, to +their shame be it told, the Protestant sects in America, as they do in +all countries where they have sway or are tolerated, practically deny +that article of the federal constitution that guarantees the right to +every citizen to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or +individual judgment. With the word <i>liberty</i> ever on their lips, like +the lion's skin on the ass, to deceive, the sects, great and small, from +the Church of England down, down, down to the Mormons or +Transcendentalists, through the grades of Presbyterian, Methodist, +Baptist, all play the tyrant in their own way. All act the despot, and +would exercise spiritual tyranny, if in their power. For proof of this, +the history of the "Blue Laws" in the land of the Pilgrims is only to be +consulted on this side of the Atlantic; and at the other side, modern as +well as by-gone records show, that, wherever Protestantism had the +power, <i>there</i> the few were oppressed by the many. Every sovereign, from +Elizabeth down to Victoria, acted the tyrant over the Catholics; and in +Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and the Protestant Swiss cantons, persecution +is now a part of the laws of these several states. Persecution is not +sanctioned by the laws of the United States, if we except the +prescriptive code of New Hampshire, which comes under that genus; but if +it be not legalized, we are not to thank Protestantism for that. +Wherever it has sway in the family, in the town council, or the +assembly, there the cloven foot of intolerance and persecution is seen +from under the sanctimonious gown it puts on. Indeed, although the +compulsion of the conscience is not enforced by State laws, it is +attempted, as far as practicable, where its effects are more galling, +and its existence more intolerable,—namely, in the family at home, or +in the camp or barrack abroad. Catholic servants are not only denied the +right to attend their duties in many families, but actually forced to +hear the disgusting ranting or ludicrous prayer of any impostor who may +take on himself the office of preacher. And Catholic soldiers are +punished by fine and severe corporal chastisements for refusing to +attend the service of an heretical chaplain. And no senator, zealous +for liberty, raises his voice on behalf of the Catholic soldier, and of +the Catholic servant girl, while they are exposed to a persecution such +as no Catholic government, king, or despot ever attempted to force on +the consciences of their dissenting subjects, not even Queen Mary, of +England, excepted; for the so-called persecution by Catholic princes has +never been to compel men to adopt a new religion. Protestants in Europe +and here attempt to compel the adoption of their false tenets by those +who are neither desirous nor willing to adopt them, and who already +profess a true religion. This is what makes a vast difference between +the persecution your "Madiai" suffer, and this ten times worse +persecution which many an otherwise honest and kind-hearted American +farmer allows to take place in his family. The Day of Judgment alone +will reveal to light what trials, crosses, and real persecution Catholic +servant men and women have to endure in remote and country places from +the bigotry, hypocrisy, and cruelty of ignorant, unfeeling farmers and +their wives, goaded on, no doubt, and urged, by low, base, and brutal +parsons, who have scarcely enough to eat, and who envy the priest the +comparative independence which the liberality and true Catholic charity +of his flock enable him to maintain.</p> + +<p>By these remarks I am not to be understood as saying that good-nature, +justice, and even generosity, do not govern the conduct of the American +people. I am aware of their kindness, hospitality, and philanthropy; but +these fine traits of character are obscured, perverted, and rendered +abortive, whenever the demon of sectarian influence touches them with +her black rod. And, like the Jews, while they are persecuting the Holy +One of God in his humble members, they think they are doing a service to +God. Such is the effect of the poison, in the shape of religious +instruction, infused into the minds of this noble people by the lying +and ignorant teachers that they allow to instruct them. The American +people are generally so busy, so intent in making a fortune or a +livelihood, that they have not time, as they cannot have the +inclination, to pay much attention to religious training. Hence it is in +the science of the soul and salvation, as in that of medical science, +the number of impostors and quacks is infinite.</p> + +<p>The following dialogue between an Irish Catholic servant and her +<i>evangelical</i> mistress will serve faintly to illustrate what is the +weekly, if not daily, recurrence in tens of thousands of families all +over this "free country":</p> + +<p>"You can't go, that's the amount of it, Anne," said Mrs. Warren to an +Irish Catholic servant maid of hers, who heard of the priest's being at +the shanties on this morning.</p> + +<p>"Why so, ma'am?" said Anne. "All the girls of the country around are +allowed to go; but I never get a Sunday or holy day to myself. It is too +bad."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you come with us to our meeting, where all the decent folks +go, and none of your Irish are present?"</p> + +<p>"Many decent folks go to 'Old Harry!'" cried Anne, in anger. "Is that +the reason I must go too?"</p> + +<p>"Anne, your obstinacy in refusing to join our family worship has made me +resolve not to let you go to hear the old priest. And your refusal to +attend to the sermon of our preacher, Mr. Scullion, has also displeased +me much. I mean to punish you according."</p> + +<p>"Why should I go hear the old sinner's stuff," said Anne, "when your own +sons laugh at him and say he is a fool? Besides, I am told he is ever +abusing the Catholics, and I heartily despise his nonsensical, lying +cant."</p> + +<p>"Well, Anne, I am determined to punish you for it," calmly replied the +mistress. "So you can't see the priest to-day. That settles it."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, ma'am; the priest I will see, please God, let what +will happen."</p> + +<p>"You must leave this house, then."</p> + +<p>"Small loss, madam. America is wide, thank God!" answered Anne.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know Mr. Scullion is a brother of mine?"</p> + +<p>"I don't care, ma'am, if he was your father. I know he is ignorant or +malicious, either one or the other, or maybe both, or he would not speak +of the Catholic Church as he does. Oh, dear," she cried, bursting into +tears of anger, "what a 'free country' it is! The Protestants in Ireland +were decent. They came, attended by the peelers, to their tenants, +telling them they must conform to the will of the landlord, or quit +their homes; but here ye say all religions are equal, and yet ye try to +compel us to go to listen to low, ignorant preachers, who know they are +lying about the Church of Christ. Ye want us to change the religion of +St. Patrick and of the martyrs for such ridiculous churches as ye have +here. Oh, dear! oh, dear!" said the poor girl, as she contrasted her +present situation with what it was when she was at home at her father's, +where she heard Mass daily, and knew not what it was to suffer +persecution for conscience' sake.</p> + +<p>While scenes such as we have here described were taking place in the +farmers' houses, and such scenes are not occasional nor unusual, all was +busy preparation at the shanties. The largest shanty in the "patch" was +cleared of all sorts of lumber. Forms, chairs, tables, pots, flour and +beef barrels, molasses casks, and other necessary stores were all put +outside doors. The walls, if so we can call them, of the shanty, were +then hung round with newspapers, white linen tablecloths, and other +choice tapestry, while a good large shawl, spread in front of the altar, +served as a carpet on which his reverence was to kneel and stand while +officiating. Green boughs were cut in a neighboring wood lot and planted +around the entrance by the men, while around the altar and over it were +wreaths of wild flowers and blossoms, gathered by the little girls of +the "patch" in the adjacent meadows, in order to prepare a decent place +for the holy Mass. At an early hour the priest made his appearance, and +was very much pleased to see the transformation which the piety of +these poor, hard-working people wrought in the appearance of the humble +shanty. For fifteen miles along the line the crowds were gathering, and +the works were suspended for the day. The overseers and contractors, to +do them justice, had no objection to this occasional interruption of +their profits. At all events, they knew it was a holy day; and even +they, with all their irresponsible control over their men, had ample +proof that, even in the wild deserts and savage woods of America, the +Irish Catholic "remembers" the Sabbaths and festivals of his God or his +Church.</p> + +<p>Long before the hour of Mass, the shanty was crowded, and many were the +comments and remarks made on the physical powers and other external +accomplishments of the new priest.</p> + +<p>Some remarked that his reverence,—God bless him!—need not be afraid of +travelling alone through these lonesome glens, for it would require "a +good man to handle him; that it would."</p> + +<p>"That's thrue," said another; "he would be able to 'settle bread' on a +half-dozen Yankees any day; that is, provided they did not use any +weapon but the arm that God gave 'em."</p> + +<p>"But you know," said a third, "these Yankees always carry a <i>rewolwer</i> +or two in their pockets, the treacherous rogues. Look how they killed +that Irish peddler, and robbed him, and fired six shots into Michael +Gasty's house the other night, and he in bed quietly sleeping."</p> + +<p>This and other such narratives and comments were the order of the day +outside the door, only where those who were careless or not preparing +for their duties were congregated. Inside, a large crowd of women and +rough-fisted men gathered around the door of the temporary confessional, +and it was near noon before the priest ascended the temporary altar to +offer up the "victim of peace" for the assembled sons of toil. Upon his +reverence asking if there was anybody to answer or serve Mass, several +presented themselves; but he accepted the services of Paul, because he +had been accustomed from his childhood to wait round the altar, and he +was the most intelligent of those who offered to assist the priest while +celebrating.</p> + +<p>The substance of the priest's discourse was, that they should not forget +that it was God's will that the holy sacrifice should be offered in +"every place, from the rising to the setting of the sun," and that +probably they were made the instruments which he made use of for the +<i>literal</i> fulfilment of that famous prophecy; for if they were not here +employed on these public works, probably the holy sacrifice would not +be, for years and years to come, offered up in such places as this. That +they should all regard themselves as missionaries engaged in God's +service to spread the knowledge of the true religion in this virgin soil +among a people who had lost the true mode of God's worship, though a +generous and successful race of men. That they should guard against +drunkenness and faction fights, for these crimes brought their proper +punishment both here and hereafter; and that they should, by pure morals +and fidelity to their religion, rather than by controversy or +disputation, make a favorable impression on, and confute the errors of, +those opponents of their faith among whom their lot was cast. In fine, +that they should lose no opportunity of receiving the sacraments, for, +without their use, salvation was very difficult, if not absolutely +impossible. Let them not regret the loss of this day, or think it too +much to dedicate it to God's service: that was the chief end for which +they were created. When population was small, and a livelihood easily +obtained, and men had to work but little, God had appointed one day in +the week to rest and service. Now, when the cares, distractions, and +labors of life had increased a thousandfold, it seemed not too much if, +instead of one day, two or more days were devoted to rest and worship. +And if the Church had her way unrestricted, she, by her festivals and +holy days, would do a great deal towards alleviating the present +hardships of labor, and men would be taught to be content with a +competency, and employers would treat their men with kindness and +justice combined.</p> + +<p>"You, poor fellows, have to work hard, frequently for years, without +having a chance to frequent the sacraments. Thank God, then, and be +grateful for this opportunity, and spend this day as becometh +Christians. You are exposed to dangers from accidents, and frequently +from the influence of evil-advising men. In Religion and her resources +alone you can find the only safeguard against the effects of the former, +and the best security against the wiles of your enemies: keep the +commandments, and hear the Church."</p> + +<p>On this day no less than ninety-five received, and the effects of this +one visit even were felt by the overseers and employers of these men for +months to come. Even Anne Council, the girl whom we introduced as +disputing with her ignorant mistress about "the freedom of +worship,"—and which dispute was then decided in Anne's favor by the +interference of the boss, who remonstrated with his wife on her +imprudence in resolving to discharge her maid in the midst of their +hurry, while there was no chance of having her place supplied,—even +Anne, brought to a better sense by the advice of the priest administered +in confession, when she came home asked her saucy mistress's pardon for +speaking back to her this morning.</p> + +<p>"I forgive you, Anne," she said; "though I am sure there is not a <i>lady</i> +in the hollow that would put up with your impudence but myself."</p> + +<p>"I know I am hot," answered Anne, smothering her anger at this second +provocation in being called <i>impudent</i>. "The priest told us to be +obedient to those even who are not amiable nor kind; to serve them for +God's sake, as a punishment for our sins."</p> + +<p>"Now," said Mr. Warren to his wife, "you see Anne has rather improved by +her visit to the priest, which you thought to prevent. Were you and I to +be <i>at her</i> for six months, we could not get her to acknowledge as much +as she now has. The fact is, I am certain those much-abused priests are +far ahead of our dominies in knowledge of religion and human nature. It +is impossible otherwise to account for the influence they exercise over +the ungovernable Irish race, and over those millions whom they instruct +and rule."</p> + +<p>"It's all priestcraft," said his wife.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Sarah, what craft it is, but I wish our ministers learned +a little of the same craft; for they are fast losing all influence over +the minds of the people, and especially over that of the youth. That we +can all see."</p> + +<p>"That's because people are daily getting worse," said this female +philosopher.</p> + +<p>"Worse! Then whose fault is it that they are? What have we ministers +for, but to prevent this state of things? There are six of them in the +small village of S——, and it can't be beat in the Union for blacklegs +and rowdies. Would we have so many wild, irreligious young men, and +women, too, if, instead of six preachers, we had six Catholic priests? I +would like to see one of your young ones show such signs of a superior +mind and training, such manliness and fortitude, as that Irish Catholic +lad, Paul, down at Prying's. They have had all the ministers within +fifty miles of you to convert him, but they could no more move him than +they could Mount Antoine. In fact, he beat them all to pieces in +Scripture and argument. Take no more pains about religion, wife," said +the honest Yankee; "let Anne alone. I won't have her disturbed any more +on the subject. If there be any religion on earth, those very people +have it whom you want to bring round to the exact pattern of your +favorite minister's manner of doubting. It's ridiculous, wife," said +he, rising, and calling his men to the fields; "it's ridiculous to try +to convert these Catholics, who appear to have some religion, to the +countless systems of <span class="smcap">no religion</span> that are so numerous on all +sides around us. I say it's ridiculous," said he, departing.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h2>THE TEMPTER AT THE WOMAN.</h2> + + +<p>It was arranged among the Pryings and their advisers, one day in August, +that, as Amanda said Paul was an incorrigible young man, he should be +sent off to the State fair of Vermont, and, in the meantime, a certain +"true blue" Presbyterian minister, named Grinoble, should try his hand +at converting Paul's little sister Bridget. It was, some thought, wrong +to begin with Paul, as all experience, but especially scriptural +testimony, taught that temptation was more likely to succeed when woman +was the subject or the instrument. So thought Parson Grinoble; and, with +true serpent wisdom, he concluded that it was through the woman, the +weaker sex, that, in this instance, Popery was to be conquered. Besides, +this old hand at proselytism read somewhat of the epistles of St. Paul, +and read there of the success of his predecessors in unbelief in +seducing "silly women," and ensnaring their confiding souls within the +meshes of their wily nets. So thought Mr. Grinoble, and he began to act +on it on the day in question, by going into the kitchen and addressing +himself to Bridget, as she was peeling apples for cooking, in the +following manner:</p> + +<p>"Come here, my dear, and shake hands," said his dominieship to the girl.</p> + +<p>She walked over shyly, holding the knife in one hand, and stretching +forward for the other.</p> + +<p>"Sit down here beside me, on the settle, my dear."</p> + +<p>"I must do what 'Mandy ordered me, sir," she said, excusingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you fear Amanda," he said; "I will be your security, my +little woman, that she won't be displeased. Dear me, what nice hair and +purty curls you have! and such beautiful teeth! Don't you think Miss +Amanda is jealous of your charms? eh? Why do you turn away your head, my +pet?"</p> + +<p>"I don't like such talk, sir," she answered. "My Prayer Book, in the +'Table of Sins,' says it is a sin to listen to praise or flattery."</p> + +<p>"Well said, my little lady," said the tempter. "You are right, Bridget; +I was only trying you. I do not wish you to sin. You know I am the +minister. I love you, and wish to see you a good Christian," said he, +caressing her.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, sir," was her answer.</p> + +<p>"Now, my little good one, I want to tell you some news. I have a message +for you,—a letter from a friend."</p> + +<p>"Please show it, sir," she said, impatiently; "perhaps it is from my +uncle, in Ireland, to whom Paul often wrote, but never got an answer +back."</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, it is from your father," said the tempter.</p> + +<p>"My father is dead, sir," she quickly rejoined. "It can't be from him, +anyhow, God rest his soul."</p> + +<p>"It is from your Father in heaven,—behold it!" said he, in a dramatic +accent, and pulling out of his breast-pocket a small octodecimo Bible.</p> + +<p>"Queer letter carrier, and purty heavy letter," grinned a young fellow, +who was sitting by, waiting for the return of the boss to employ him.</p> + +<p>"Christ sent you this by me," said the dominie, presenting the Bible. +"It will teach you the knowledge of the Lord, and the true spirit of his +gospel."</p> + +<p>"Never knew before that the Lord kept a post-office," said the young +Celt; "but I'm sure he never sent the like of you to be +letter-carrier,—too slow, too stupid, entirely, entirely; and not very +honest, maybe."</p> + +<p>"I am not addressing you, sir," said the parson, gruffly. "How do you +like that, Bridget?" said he, plying his arts.</p> + +<p>"It is very nicely bound, sir," said she; "but I dare not take it +without acquainting my brother Paul."</p> + +<p>"Now, my little favorite," said the representative of the serpent, "if +your uncle at home left you all his property, would you not like to be +able to read the <i>will</i>, or would you wait for Paul's leave to read a +document by which you inherited so much wealth?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, sir," she answered, "particularly if he did not forbid me +to do so."</p> + +<p>"Very well, this is the will, the testament of God to all men, to me, +to you. Now, Bridget, learn this will, read it, study its contents, +without consent of priest or brother. Don't you see how proper this +advice is?" said he, thinking he had her little reasoning powers +conquered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, old fellow," said the young man at the table; "but if that will +was disputed, which would you do,—submit it to an able lawyer, or go +into court yourself without advice or counsel? You surely would fee a +lawyer, if money or property was at stake. Well, you '<i>omadawn</i>,'" said +our young stranger, "don't you see that, though that Bible is the will, +the devil, and his small heretical attorneys—Luther, Calvin, +Wesley—dispute the will, and the Church is the able advocate, and +judge, too, that will conquer the devil, and put to shame his agents, +and secure the stake, which is heaven, and the salvation of the soul? +Let the child alone," said he, boldly, "as you see she doesn't want your +biblical pills, or, 'be the tinker that mended <i>Fion-vic Couls' pot</i>,' I +will turn you out of doors, if I were to hang for it after. Let the +child alone this minute," said he, firmly.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, sir?" said the indignant parson, turning to view his +antagonist. "How dare you interrupt me when I am not addressing you?"</p> + +<p>"I am an Irishman and a Catholic," said he; "and furthermore, if you +wish to know my name, it is, sir, Murty O'Dwyer, Tipperary man and all."</p> + +<p>The reader will recollect the rollicking young attendant who drove +Father O'Shane in the snowdrifts from Vermont, a specimen of whose +oratory we have given in a preceding chapter. The antagonist of Parson +Grinoble was no other than the same young man. He had rambled up to this +neighborhood in search of work, and hearing that Mr. Prying was in need +of a hay hand, he waited his return from the Vermont State fair.</p> + +<p>The minister Grinoble returned to the parlor to report progress to +Amanda, and to represent the controversial rencontre which he had with +O'Dwyer, while Murty learned with wonder and indignation from Bridget, +that they were the children which cost Father O'Shane so much vain +search, and that they were kept in continual annoyance by all sorts of +male and female religious quacks and mountebanks, all bent on the work +of perversion. "Oh, thunder and age!" said he; "and ye are widow +O'Clery's children, God rest her soul! What a murthur Father O'Shane +could not find ye out before he died! The Lord have mercy on him."</p> + +<p>"We have heard he died," said Bridget. "Is it long since, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Almost two years. He published ye in the Boston <i>Pilot</i>, and all the +newspapers. He even offered a reward for yer discovery. Oh, <i>mille +murther</i>! what a pity I did not know ye were so near home!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose uncle wrote to him, and sent us money to take us home again?" +added pensive Bridget.</p> + +<p>"Money!" said the disinterested young man; "what money? I would give all +I earned since I came to this queer country myself to have ye found +out. We all thought ye were lost, drowned, or killed on the railroad +cars. I am glad I have found ye out; ye will have to leave right off. I +will take ye away myself to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, sir!" said Bridget; "we can't leave this till our time is +served out or our board paid,—two dollars a week for nearly three +years. The priest, not long since, came here to see if he could get my +brother and me off, but they told him they would not let us go. And +besides that, they insulted his reverence by telling him, if he dared to +come to try to kidnap us, they would tar and feather, or shoot him, the +Lord save us."</p> + +<p>"I wish to God I was present," said Murty; "I would settle bread on some +of them; that I would, and no mistake," said he, bringing his clenched +fist down on the table, "if I heard them insult the minister of Christ +in any shape or form. Oh, America! America!" said he, in an undervoice, +"I am deceived in you. I thought you were a second paradise, where all +was peace, and comfort, and justice, and prosperity, and true liberty. +But alas! I find all my ideas of your character erroneous and false. All +the crimes of the old world are not only here, where we thought the very +soil was virgin pure and unstained, but here in the most odious forms. +The poor at home were naked, and hungry, and ground; but most of them +were <i>innocent</i>, and <i>an innocent man is not entirely miserable</i>. The +poor here, besides their poverty and wretched slavery, working eighteen +out of the twenty-four hours, are almost all wicked in addition. The +crimes in the old country, that aristocratic institutions kept up in +the inaccessible palaces of the rich,—like the panther's den on the +summit of yonder mountain,—here are familiar to the lowest and +vulgarest of the populace. In the old country, the few and the rich were +unjust, cruel, wicked; it was so in Ireland. Here the vices of the few +are ingrafted on the many, and, like the small-pox, they do not become +weaker, but stronger, by universal propagation. I wish I never saw you, +America," said he, musing, his head resting against the wall; "I wish I +was in the grave with my two sisters and mother, rather than here to +witness the slavery, corruption, and vice of America." The remainder of +his musings were lost in the sighs and emotions that proceeded from his +manly bosom.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h2>THE FRUITS OF THE CROSS.</h2> + + +<p>Paul was now a free man, the term of apprenticeship having expired. It +was his right now, according to the terms of the implied contract, not +only to receive support and clothing, but wages; and Mr. Prying was very +willing to keep him in the house and give him a man's wages; but this +conflicted with Amanda's plan and that of her advisers; consequently, +Paul was reluctantly obliged to part with the society of his sister +Bridget, who had yet a part of her term to serve, and to look out among +the neighboring farmers for a situation. This he soon found in a +gentleman's family named Clarke, who was very glad to receive such a +modest and intelligent young man into his family. This Mr. Clarke was +not a farmer by profession, but a lawyer, and editor of a daily journal +in the capital of Vermont, and only spent a few days in the summer and +fall with his family at the farm. Paul's chief occupation was to attend +young Master Clarke in his sports of fishing, fowling, and riding on +horseback. The duties of his present situation afforded Paul not only +time and leisure to keep up his accustomed religious exercises, but, in +addition, he was able to revise what he had previously studied, and to +add considerably to his stock of useful knowledge. The equal terms and +familiarity in which he stood in his relation with his young employer +afforded him an opportunity of revising Virgil, Sallust, Lucian, and +other classical authors, the use of which he was so long obliged to +discontinue.</p> + +<p>Mr. Clarke was delighted when he learned from his son that Paul knew +Greek and Latin much better than his former teacher in the academy. And +this information he knew to be correct, from the fact that he found his +son had learned more during vacation, in company with Paul, than he did +during the whole year before in college. He therefore advanced Paul's +wages by one-third, and prolonged his son's stay in the country beyond +the usual period. This generous and kind-hearted man was also sensibly +affected when Paul, at his request, related how he came to know Latin; +how he was nephew of the grand vicar of Kil——; how he had spent five +years in college; how his father was obliged to emigrate with his +family; how he had died on the voyage; how they were robbed of a +thousand pounds; how his mother sunk under her trials; how he and his +brethren were kidnapped out hither; how the priest of T—— had +advertised for them; and how, "I suppose," said he, "they gave us up in +despair; thinking, probably, that we were lost in some of the late +steamboat disasters; but here we are yet, thank God!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Clarke, with the instinct of a true-hearted Yankee, immediately saw +into the snare laid for the faith of the young orphans; and he thanked +his God mentally that he had come to the knowledge of these facts, for +he was the man to expose and reprobate such foul play. "I now well +remember, Paul," said he, "the advertisements respecting you and your +brothers and sister. I shall see to this business, I promise you. In the +meantime, be you and Joe good friends. Don't spend too much time at +fishing and gunning, but study a good deal. Good-by, Joe, my son. +Good-by, Paul. I shall soon return again to see you."</p> + +<p>Paul took every favorable opportunity to visit his sister and brothers, +to console and strengthen them against the temptations to which he knew +they were exposed.</p> + +<p>"Now, Patsy, my boy," he said to the elder of his younger brothers, +"every time you look at that cross—show it to me—have you lost it?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir-ee; I never put it off my neck since mother put it on," said +Patrick, pulling it out of his bosom.</p> + +<p>"Every time you look at that crucifix," continued Paul, "think how our +Lord God Himself suffered; how, when he was a boy like you, he was good, +obeyed his parents, and was subject to them. Now, you have no parents +here but one, the Catholic Church; and if you obey not her counsels and +precepts, you will not be rewarded by Christ, whose image you wear +around your neck. Say the Six Precepts of the Church for me, Pat."</p> + +<p>"First. I am the Lord thy God—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Pat, you are saying the ten commandments of God. Your little +brother Eugene can say <i>them</i>. I examined you in these before."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot. 1st. To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. +2d. To fast and abstain on the days commanded. 3d. To confess our sins +at least once a year. 4th. To receive communion at Easter. 5th. To +contribute to the support of our pastors. 6th. Not to solemnize marriage +within forbidden degrees, nor clandestinely."</p> + +<p>"The first precept, Patrick, we cannot keep here, as we are not near the +church. But the second, 'to abstain on the days commanded,' we can keep. +Do you ever eat meat on Friday, Pat?"</p> + +<p>"Never but once, through mistake," said Pat. "I thought it was Thursday. +Mr. Prying is always wanting me to eat it every day, and so was a +gentleman whom he called the <i>priest</i>,—sure he is not a right priest, +is he, Paul?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Pat; he is only a Protestant minister."</p> + +<p>"A minister!" said Pat, in astonishment. "Why did they call him a +priest? He wanted me and Eugene to eat meat on Friday; but I said I +could not, it would make me sick. Then Mrs. Prying told him to let me +be; that she could not allow any interference with our religion; and +since that, the minister never returned to our house, or nobody said a +word about it. I think she is very good. She often cries when she hears +me and Eugene speaking of father and mother, God rest their souls! +Paul," said Pat, introducing a new subject, "ain't there a hell to +punish the wicked, as well as a heaven to reward the good?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Pat; does not the Catechism say so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but yesterday, Cassius Prying tried to persuade me that there was +no hell. He said all would go to heaven, in the end. I told him it was +no such thing. He said the minister said so."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Patrick, my boy, beware of Cassius; you must not listen to his +talk, for it is wicked. God tells us there is a hell, and we must +believe all he teaches us by his church and his word, or we will be +condemned to hell forever."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the Lord save us! I won't hear to Cassius no more."</p> + +<p>"That's a good boy, Patsy; mind to watch Eugene, and make him do as you +do. We will all soon be going home to uncle's, please God."</p> + +<p>"How soon, Paul? I am tired of being in 'Merica."</p> + +<p>"Very soon, please God. Good-by, and be good: learn this, the eighth +chapter of the Catechism, next."</p> + +<p>"I will, Paul, with God's help."</p> + +<p>This is the way Paul, our hero, took care of the responsibility God had +thrown on his tender shoulders at the age of fifteen. Never did +missionary or priest labor, by prayer, and prudence, and anxiety, to +save souls to Christ, as Paul did to save his brothers. He was to them +the true Joseph, who not only kept their bodies from starving, but +preserved their souls from a worse than Egyptian captivity. And not only +did his exertions produce the desired effect on the immediate objects of +his solicitude, but God added as the reward of his zeal other souls, +"not of this fold."</p> + +<p>Old uncle Jacob was all but disconsolate at the loss of Paul. He was his +bed-fellow for years, and every night and morning was witness of his +piety and punctuality in prayer. And although poor uncle Jacob himself +had long since learned to doubt of all forms of faith, he could not be +indifferent to the example set him by Paul's steady devotion. The poor +old man, besides, led a very innocent life, and the grace of God had few +obstacles to contend with in its influx into his empty but innocent +soul. He was often heard to say in presence of even Mr. Gulmore, the +minister, and Amanda, who might be called the female parson, that, if +any religion was worth having, it was that one which made Paul so +victorious in his arguments, and so pure and pious in his conduct. "That +was the young one," said uncle, his voice trembling with feeling, for he +loved Paul as a son, "that was the child that deserved to be called one; +that knowed what he owed to God, and man too."</p> + +<p>"He was as cunning as a fox, and as full of the spirit of Popery as an +egg is of meat," said Mr. Grinoble bitterly.</p> + +<p>"I know him to be as innocent as a dove," said uncle Jacob, warmly, "and +believe him to be as full of the Spirit of God as Samuel was in the +temple. There, now."</p> + +<p>"Then, uncle Jacob, I see you are beginning to believe in the Bible," +sarcastically added the parson. "I am glad to find your mind inclined in +that way. I hope you will soon get religion and the change of heart."</p> + +<p>"I hope and pray to the Lord," said the old man, in a voice little +removed from that of one in tears, "to change my heart, and give me +religion, as I now believe there is such a thing on earth. But, Mr. +Grinoble, your hard and cruel religion, I trust, shall never be mine. +God forbid! <i>It</i> will never change my heart."</p> + +<p>"Uncle, don't you talk that way," said Amanda. "This is very unpleasant. +Take no notice of him, sir," said she, addressing the parson, who +appeared to be disconcerted at this pointed attack of uncle Jacob.</p> + +<p>"Amanda, I will talk so, I must talk so," said poor uncle, rising. "How +can ye reconcile it to religion, to justice, or to charity, the snares +and plots laid by you, miss, in company with those <i>men of God</i>, to rob +that poor child Paul, and his little sister and brothers, of their +ancient, noble, and holy religion? Fie, fie, fie! Is it such conduct you +call religion? It is the very reverse. It resembled more the conduct of +the serpent in paradise, than that of the meek disciples of Jesus +Christ. It was more like the religious profession of Herod, to get the +Child at Bethlehem into his clutches, than anything else we read of, +your conduct was. There is more Bible for you, Mr. Grinoble," said he, +slamming the door after him, and retiring to his room.</p> + +<p>"'Tis not much use attempting to convert such an old hardened sinner," +said Grinoble, smothering his mortification at the rebuff of uncle +Jacob.</p> + +<p>"That Paul has ruined him," said Amanda. "I would not be a bit +surprised if he died a Papist yet."</p> + +<p>"Sure you would not let the Popish priest visit him, on any account?" +said the tolerant parson.</p> + +<p>"I fear pa would, for you know uncle Jacob left him this farm, and more +than half what he possesses in money and stock. Come, tea is ready."</p> + +<p>Poor uncle Prying, as we have said already, was the senior brother of +Ephraim and Reuben Prying, and was now about seventy-two years of age. +During the last twenty years of his life he labored under a slight +asthmatic affection, which lately increased in violence, and, joined +with a disease of the liver, which physicians said he suffered from, now +seriously endangered his life. Since he was eighteen years old, Mr. +Jacob Prying never went inside a meeting-house or professed any +religion; a conclusion which he partly was drove to by the hypocrisy of +a certain minister in his neighborhood, who wanted to have Mr. Jacob +married to a daughter of his, who, two days before the marriage, he +found out, accidentally, had been seduced by an ex-senator in Boston. +This piece of deception on the part of the religious teacher, and the +treachery of the <i>maid</i> herself, so disgusted Jacob Prying, that he +registered a vow in heaven that he never again would allow himself to +become the victim of hypocrisy or of female dissimulation. The parsons, +all round, because he was proof against their transparent baits, to fill +their meeting-houses, cried him down as an infidel, whose heart was +hardened, and who despised the Bible. Uncle Jacob never attempted to +dispel the prejudices raised against him by the malice of despised +dominies; but his heart refuted their lies, for it was open to every +noble and humane influence, and, above all, undefiled from the +corruption of the world. Hence, in his hour of sickness, in his hour of +trial and need, the Almighty rewarded him for his natural good parts, +and sent His angel to conduct him, by the simple means herein recorded, +to the bosom of that holy religion, outside which there is nothing but +bitterness and woe, and without which "it is impossible to please God." +Knowing the nature of the enemies he had to contend with, poor Mr. Jacob +Prying was silent on the subject of his religious doubts till the advent +of Paul to the farm. Like the ancient noble Roman, who, under the garb +of folly, concealed his profound heroic wisdom, uncle Jacob was content +to be called an infidel and unbeliever, so that he might preserve his +heart undefiled, and ready for that precious pearl "of great price" +which his heart sighed for, and which he was about now to receive; +becoming, in his latter days, a further illustration of the Divine +narrative that "God adds daily to the Church those who are to be saved."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h2>THE CONVERSION.</h2> + + +<p>"The Lord be praised; I am glad to hear it," said Paul, one day, as he +sat by the bedside of uncle Jacob, who was now in the last stage of his +disease. "Paul," said the dying man, "while I was robust, and +independent in means, I relied too much on these gifts of God, and too +little on the Giver of them. But now, when this frail wall, that shuts +the soul in from her world of kindred spirits, is nearly worn down, and +the glorious light of eternity shines through the chinks of this earthen +rampart, in all directions I see the necessity of having the soul +prepared, thoroughly washed, before she goes into a world of such purity +and justice; and you have convinced me, or, rather, God has taught me, +that it is only in that religion of which God alone is the Author that +the means of purification can be found. So, Paul, in God's name, take a +team, and go for the priest of God immediately; there is no time to be +lost. 'Tis consoling to reflect that there is a priest of God now to be +had on earth, as well as in the days of the ancient patriarchs. How +merciful God was," said he, soliloquizing, "in leaving us on earth a +priest, a representative of his divine Son, to prepare the soul for the +terrible voyage of eternity! All eternity is not too long to thank him +for this blessing."</p> + +<p>Paul communicated the wishes of his dying brother to Mr. Ephraim Prying, +who answered, "Certainly, Paul; why not? Go for the priest; take the +best team—that black mare, there, is the fastest traveller. O my poor +brother, why will you leave us?" said he, as he rushed up to his +brother's bed room.</p> + +<p>It soon went abroad that uncle Jacob was at the point of death; and all +the friends and many neighbors were assembled around the bed, and among +others Mr. Barker, the Methodist preacher, who thought, as the +Presbyterian dominie's nostrums were rejected by Jacob, his own, as +being more novel, might have the desired effect. And though these +several ministers were jealous each of the influence of his neighbor, +yet any thing with them was preferable to the priest. Let uncle Jacob +turn Turk, Jew, or Heathen, any thing but a Papist, and the six +sectarian teachers of the village of S—— were content.</p> + +<p>"Now, brother Jacob," said his roaring reverence, after a long-winded +prayer, in which he professed to command great influence with the powers +above, "how do you feel? Tell us your experience, and what you see."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid, if I tell ye what I think and feel," said the feeble +invalid, "ye may not like to hear it, and I do not wish to give offence. +I have something else now to occupy my time besides talking for your +entertainment."</p> + +<p>"O, by all means, brother," said the reverend roarer, "tell what you +experience; we will not be displeased, but I hope edified. I have +prayed earnestly to the Lord Jesus for thee, and he has answered me—I +have been heard."</p> + +<p>"Well, my experience and conviction are, that there is no real religion, +but superstition or infidelity, in all the sects that I ever yet knew +around here. My experience is, that I led a very worthless and careless +life, for which I expect God's pardon; but I fear ye parsons will have a +hard account to settle for the contradiction and confusion ye have +introduced into the Christian religion. Ye first attempted to make an +infidel of me, by your glaring contradictions and hypocritical +pretensions; and now, on the very brink of eternity, ye would deceive my +soul into the delusion that I am fit for glory direct, in the blossom of +my sins, 'unhouselled, unanointed, and unannealed.' Retire from my +presence, ye deceivers, and make way for the minister of God's church, +who can absolve me from my sins in the person of Christ, give me his +true body to repair the ruins in my own body and soul, and strengthen +me, by the oil of faith, against the terrible struggle that I must +encounter, and the awful journey over which I must pass. O Lord," he +cried, "forgive these persecutors of my soul; and, O virgin mother of +Jesus, obtain for me to confess my sins and repent ere I die."</p> + +<p>All were astonished at the foregoing impassioned speech of uncle Jacob. +The parson retired like an evil spirit exorcised by the powerful words +of holy writ. The room was empty, and the priest was soon after at the +dying man's bedside. After a full, sincere, and humble confession, +conditional baptism was administered; and, confirmed by all the rites of +the church, purified by penance, strengthened by the holy eucharist, and +healed by the holy unction of heaven, that pure soul passed away to God +in two days after, having become speechless in about an hour after the +administration of the sacrament.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the priest, addressing Paul, "did I not tell you God had +some mysterious design in view by the succession of trials which he +enabled you to pass through? But for you, probably, this good soul would +not have heard of the Catholic church; but for your mother's death you +could not be out here, where the malice of those who wanted to rob you +of your faith sent you. It is owing to the robbery of the money you +possessed that your mother died; and, finally, but for the cruelty of +the landlord and his injustice, you might be now at home in Ireland, and +probably studying in Maynooth College. See how God brings good from +evil. See how, as he made the hardness of Pharaoh's heart contribute to +the glory and miraculous power of Moses and Aaron, he continually makes +use of the tyranny of the landlords of Ireland—not inferior to the +cruelty of Pharaoh or Herod—to contribute to the spread of the faith, +without which there is no salvation, among the generous and naturally +good people of this vast country."</p> + +<p>"I understand it all now," said Paul, "and thank God for all that has +happened to us."</p> + +<p>"That's right, my boy; you will be yet a priest, perhaps, yourself. I +must now prepare to return."</p> + +<p>As Father Ugo passed down stairs, he was met by Mrs. and Mr. Prying, +who invited him to the parlor, and by a good deal of persuasion +prevailed on him to remain there over night, rather than go to the hotel +six miles off. Even the bigoted Amanda was very anxious to have an +argument with a real priest—that mysterious sort of being whom she +never saw, but heard so much about.</p> + +<p>Father Ugo was a robust, brave-looking man, of unaffected manners, +bordering on plainness, though highly educated, and accustomed in +Europe, where he was chaplain to Lord C——d, to the most aristocratic +society. Perhaps it was owing to his knowledge of the vanity of +aristocratic airs that he affected such a plainness of manners, being +thoroughly tired of the odd, unmeaning ceremonials of fashion. It must +be confessed, at any rate, that he entertained no small contempt for the +mushroom aristocratic imitations that he witnessed in America; and this +made him a little sarcastic, and therefore rather rude, in his +association with what he called "the monkey aristocracy" of the new +world.</p> + +<p>Such being the sentiments of Father Ugo, the reader ought not to be +surprised that his reluctance to enter into a theological discussion +with Amanda was great, and his answers to that indefatigable <i>she bore</i> +rather curt and ironical. After a good deal of conversation about the +weather, crops, the telegraph, railroads, thunder storms, electricity, +and such other subjects as were suggested by the climate and state of +the weather, Mr. Prying left the room, wondering where this priest got +his knowledge, and how could he be one of that low, canting, +Scripture-phrase class to which all ministers he ever knew belonged, and +in which he thought the priest must have exceeded the ministers in +degree as much as the Green Mountain exceeded the little knoll in front +of his house.</p> + +<p>"That's a well-read, intelligent fellow," said he to his wife.</p> + +<p>"We allers heard they knowed nothing but ignorance and idolatry," she +carelessly remarked.</p> + +<p>"I guess those who represented the Catholic priests as such are the most +ignorant," was the remark of Ephraim.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Amanda, who was now alone with the priest in the +parlor, "there are many admirable things in your religion; there are +indeed."</p> + +<p>"I am glad you think so; but are not all its institutions admirable and +perfect?" said the priest.</p> + +<p>"I can't concede that, by any means," she replied, with a consciousness +of her logical powers. "For instance, there's celibacy; why don't you +priests get married? I think this very wrong; the Bible calls it the +'doctrine of devils' to encourage that institution."</p> + +<p>"I am astonished, if you think so, miss," said the priest, "you have not +got married yourself before this, for you appear to be of age."</p> + +<p>"O, that, perhaps, is my own choice," she said, coughing with +embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"Well, it is my fixed and determined choice," rejoined Father Ugo, "to +lead a single, unmarried life, free from care and anxiety."</p> + +<p>"I think you are mistaken, sir," she said; "the single life is one of +much more care and anxiety than the married. Witness pa and ma; how +happy <i>they</i> have lived for thirty-five years in this our homestead."</p> + +<p>"Although such may have been <i>your</i> experience, miss," said Dr. Ugo, "I +must beg leave to decline accepting it as an authority, particularly +when I have my own experience, though not so venerable as yours, to +balance it. Besides, does not the inspired St. Paul tell us that those +who are married are divided, and have heavier cares; while those who +lead a single, chaste life, as he did, would be better able to serve God +free from anxiety?"</p> + +<p>"O, Paul," she replied, "was very poor authority on the subject, being a +bachelor when he wrote that passage. Probably in after life his opinions +underwent a change on the subject. I am aware of his oddity in that +way."</p> + +<p>"Do you joke, miss?" said the priest, solemnly. "If you do not joke, I +have no hesitation in saying you blaspheme, in thus trifling with the +words of the Holy Ghost."</p> + +<p>"I am serious, sir," she said; "it is your church that is guilty of +misinterpretation of God's word, and, in addition, denies its 'free use' +to the people."</p> + +<p>"I hope my church, miss, will never allow her children to trifle with +God's holy word as you have now been guilty of," said the priest.</p> + +<p>"What's this? At theology again, Amanda? I think you have met your match +at last, daughter," said Mr. Prying. "This young lady has taken to the +study of Scripture and theology," continued he; "she and the several +ministers who visit here are ever at controversy, and she seldom comes +off second best, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Don't you speak so, father," she said; "no, I don't, neither. I have +been arguing with this gentleman about celibacy, and we can't agree +about the interpretation of a text; that's all. But this is the +birthright of every American citizen, the right to differ; the right to +read the word of God, and to interpret it each for himself, without let +or hinderance."</p> + +<p>"I have no great desire, nor does it at all accord with my notions of +propriety, I assure you," said the priest, "to enter into controversial +disputations around the fireside, in a family whose hospitality I am +enjoying, and especially when a lady is my antagonist."</p> + +<p>"O you need not be particular," said this female bore; "we are used to +such discussions. I had a few questions to put to you as a Catholic +priest, of which I had taken notes, and my object is information on +those points, as much as the refutation of your church doctrines."</p> + +<p>"Any information you require I am ready to afford, if in my power; but I +have a horror—I suppose from the invariable habit of my past life—of +introducing either political or religious discussions into the fireside +family circle."</p> + +<p>"We are always disputing here," she said. "I am a Presbyterian, Cassius +a Universalist, Wesley a Methodist, and Cyrus has taken to the spiritual +rapping, and is a 'medium.' So you see controversy is no novelty here."</p> + +<p>"In Europe, miss," said the priest, "we never introduce——"</p> + +<p>"In Europe," she said, interrupting Father Ugo, "there is nothing but +tyranny, despotism, poverty, and superstition. We despise the customs of +Europe, sir. I am told," she added, after a glance at her notes, "that +priests in general, and you in particular, forbid Catholics to attend +the meetings, or join in the prayers or worship, of other denominations. +Is this true, or how can you reconcile it with liberty or religion?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the priest, "it is our duty to guard the Catholics +from such immoral customs. We do not believe any of the sectarian +denominations, into which I regret to learn your family is divided, +derive their existence or institutions from God, or contain the +<i>ordinary means</i> of salvation. And while under this belief, in which we +are joined by millions upon millions of Christians, living and dead, how +can we join your prayer or worship, when we know it to be spurious and +illegitimate?"</p> + +<p>"I shall, before I am done with you, sir," she replied, "prove your +church idolatrous, and all Papists idolaters; and this is one of the +proofs, this horrid opinion of yours, sir."</p> + +<p>"It is not my <i>opinion</i> at all, miss," said he, coolly; "it is my +<i>faith</i>, and that of God's church in all ages. Now, on the very plea +that we all are idolaters, as you call us, for this very reason you +should except your hired help from joining in your 'long prayers.' For +if you have any faith in God, or believe you address him in prayer, why +should you insult and mock him by taking an unenlightened, Papistical +idolater to join your petitions? If you were to go to ask a favor of a +king, or of the president, would you deem it prudent to take one to +accompany you who was guilty of high treason? Would not this lead to +your certain rejection from the presence of majesty or excellency with +disgrace and punishment? Now, Catholics, if they be idolaters, are +guilty of treason against Heaven. Do not, then, insult heaven and its +divine Majesty, by asking them to join in your 'holy prayers.'"</p> + +<p>This "nonplussed" the self-confident and vain Amanda; all she could +answer was, that "that was fine Jesuitism."</p> + +<p>"Meditate well on it," said the priest, "and repent, if you have been +guilty of violating the laws of God, the laws of your country, and the +dictates of reason, by compelling Catholics to join in your, to them, +repulsive and unlawful worship. Forgive me, miss; I must be off. Good +by. God bless you," said he, departing.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h2>THE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS.</h2> + + +<p>"Any news this morning, squire?" said Mr. Wakely, the tavern keeper, to +his <i>honor</i> Squire Wilson, as he entered the bar room with a cigar in +his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Wal, nothin' except this report of the turning of old uncle Jacob +Prying, if we can give credit to such a rumor."</p> + +<p>"I seed the priest riding past here two days since," said the tavern +man, "and his team half dead from driving. There can be little doubt of +Jac's conversion to the Romish faith. I asked that young lad Paul, who +used to stop at Prying's, and he said it was true."</p> + +<p>"'Tis really astonishing," said Benjamin Lifford, the Quaker. "I'd have +let him die without a minister, if he did not content himself with the +inflooence of the speerit. These is how I would sarve thee, Jacob."</p> + +<p>"I consider Mr. Prying rather simple to allow such a man as the priest +to come into his house at all," said his <i>honor</i> Squire Wilson, the +Universalist.</p> + +<p>"Had it been my brother," said old Elder Fussel, "I would pay no +attention to the dying request of old uncle Jacob. That would be the way +to bring him to."</p> + +<p>"That would be cruel," said High Sheriff Walter, "seeing that Jacob +left him all his property, real and personal. Besides, this is a free +country, and I say a man ought to be allowed to embrace any religion he +has a mind to. That's my creed, at all events."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Ebenezer White, the Methodist class leader, "<i>pervided</i> +the creed he wanted to jine was the religion of the Bible; otherwise +not."</p> + +<p>"Do not the Roman Catholics ground their doctrines on the Bible?" said +the sheriff. "That they do, and their Bible contains many books that +yours does not contain."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, sheriff!" said his enlightened <i>honor</i>. "The Papists never +read the Bible. I have a boy, Thomas Noonan,—you know him,—and he +neither will read it himself, nor listen to it read. The priest won't +allow him. No Catholic is allowed to have or read a Bible."</p> + +<p>"You state what is not true," said a loud, emphatic voice from behind +the stove. It was the voice of Murty O'Dwyer.</p> + +<p>"I guess, squire, you are in error there," said the sheriff. "My boy, +you know, Patrick, a very strict Catholic, every month at confession +with the priest, has a Bible with him in my house, which Bible the +priest gave him. I have read the book time and again. Nay, I heard the +priest preach out of our Bible last summer."</p> + +<p>"Is it not astonishing," began Murty again, "that, though ye all differ +in opinion, ye agree in hating and maligning the church of Christ? +Though ye can't 'join in love,' ye know well how to 'join in hate.' Here +are unbaptized Quakers, groaning Methodists, blaspheming Presbyterians, +faithless Universalists and Unitarians, and humbug spiritual rappers; +and yet ye not only coincide in hating the pope, but ye are all +intolerant and cruel save this gentleman here," said he, pointing to Mr. +Walter. "Now, will any body tell me whence is this hatred?" said the +Irishman, pausing. "Is it grounded on knowledge or well-formed opinion? +No; for ye are all grossly ignorant of the principles and facts of +Catholicity, as ye have shown by your statements about the Bible. In +truth, it is impossible to evade the conclusion that ye hate the church +for the same cause that the devil envied and hated our first parents; +namely, because he saw them the heirs of that bliss which he and his +rebellious crew had lost."</p> + +<p>"Take care what you say, my man; the law does not suffer any person to +disparage the Bible so," said the squire, threateningly.</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid, sir, to speak my mind, whatever you, as the +representative of the law, may threaten. 'Tis really amazing that ye +should be so busy and troubled about Catholics, take such pains in +kidnapping Catholic children, and forcing Catholic servants to go to +listen to your disgusting prayers and bellowing preachers, when your own +children are beyond your control; go to bed like cattle, without ever +bending a knee in prayer; and if they go to 'meeting,' as it is properly +called, it is only to mock the 'old fool' who holds forth to them."</p> + +<p>"There is some truth in what he says," added the sheriff, looking at the +squire.</p> + +<p>"Agree among yourselves first," said the Irish peasant, "before you +commence to convert Catholics. Convert the rowdies that crowd your +village and city tavern bar rooms before you extend your zeal to those +who are in no need of it, or on whom it will be all spent in vain. Agree +about the meaning of one single text in your Bible before you hand it to +us for our study."</p> + +<p>"We all agree it's the word of God."</p> + +<p>"Well, the word of God cannot contradict itself, and yet the religious +system of each of you contradicts that of his neighbor. One man says +Christ is God; another denies this; and both quote Scripture in proof. +This man says bishops are necessary and divinely appointed; the next man +denies this totally. The Quaker denies what the disciple of Calvin or +Knox believes, while the Universalist ignores what the latter professes; +and now the Mormons, spiritual rappers, and Transcendentalists explode +the Bible altogether. The Catholic church, with those countless millions +of her children that constitute her body, has been reading the Bible and +studying it these nineteen hundred years, and never yet, with all her +learning, could find two opposite meanings to one single text; never +once contradicted herself."</p> + +<p>"You don't say the Catholics are allowed the use of the Bible, do you? +or that there was any Bible in the world but the one Luther found in the +monastery hid, in the year 1517?" said the elder, who did not well hear, +as he was somewhat deaf.</p> + +<p>"Do you seriously believe that we Catholics have not leave to use the +Bible? I tell you we have, and always had, the unquestioned right to its +proper use. Even before the art of printing was discovered by a +Catholic, and when books were scarce, a Bible, in large, plain writing, +was chained to a stand or desk in each parish church in most countries, +so that all who wished could read. I saw one of these stands, which +turned on a pivot, in an old Catholic church in Yorkshire, England, +where it remains to this day. And as regards the absurdity that Luther +found the only copy of the Bible extant in a monastery or university, +that story is refuted by the fact that there were millions of Bibles, +and countless editions of it, printed before Luther was born. Indeed, I +have just read in this Protestant paper, here, that there is a Bible in +Cincinnati, printed in 1470; that is, nearly fifty years before Luther +began to revolt."</p> + +<p>"Why, Betsey Darcy, that jined our kirk at the late revivals, told us, +public, in the meeting house, that the priests in Ireland would not +allow any Catholic to read the Bible; and she said that was the first +one she ever saw which I handed to her," said the pious elder.</p> + +<p>"Don't you believe her, elder," said Murty, "for I saw that same girl +handle a true Protestant Bible in Ireland, when she attempted to father +her illegitimate child on an honest man, but when she was, instead, +convicted of perjury the most gross. She has had two other fatherless +children since she came to 'free America;' and now, after having been +rejected from the humblest society of Catholics on account of her +immoralities, she, of course, takes refuge among the impeccable saints +of Presbyterianism, where she ranks high in the scale of sanctity."</p> + +<p>"Sartin," said the sheriff; "she is a hard one, I do believe. I saw her +drunk at the donation visit of dominie Grinoble, last winter."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Murty, "when you get such a convert as this unfortunate +reprobate, you boast and write tracts to herald the conquest; but such +conversions as those of Spencer, Brownson, Wilberforce, Newman, Lords +Camden, or Freeling, are as nothing in your eyes. You stuff your ears +when you hear of them, cautiously keep them out of hearing of your sons +and daughters, and these glorious conversions never appear in your +shabby, lying newspapers. I do really pity the blindness of +Protestants," said he, rising and walking out of doors.</p> + +<p>Next day after these events, the funeral of uncle Jacob took place, and +these ministers, whom, while he lived, he could not endure, and who +heartily hated him, came, when he was dead, to offer their services over +his remains. If any thing was required to show the meanness and +inconsistency of Protestantism and its teachers in this country, it is +the readiness with which they will officiate over the body of a man +dead, over whose soul, while living, they could exert not the smallest +influence. We have known several instances where Methodist and +Presbyterian hirelings, in consideration of the fee of three or five +dollars paid them, preached long sermons, and opened the gates of <i>their +Elysium</i> to the souls of men who became converted from the sects to +which these hireling parsons belonged. Nay, in cases where the deceased +committed suicide by hanging or poisoning, we heard parsons officiate, +and promise the friends, for certain, that the soul of the suicide was +in glory, because sometime ago he happened to get religion, or join the +Sons of Temperance, or conform to some other requirement of fanaticism. +Thus, in the present case of uncle Jacob, Mr. Barker, the Methodist, and +Parson Grinoble, the Presbyterian, and Mr. Gulmore, another style of +Presbyterianism, all three vied to see who would <i>be hired</i> to do the +last service to him whom, while alive, they all despised. Mr. Gulmore, +however, had the best luck, and accordingly mounted the pulpit to pass +sentence on the departed soul of uncle Jacob. He descanted for a +considerable time on the virtues of the deceased while young, told all +he knew of his religious experience, not forgetting the virtues of the +entire family, and what they had done for religion by circulation of +tracts, by subscription to Bible societies, by adopting and raising of +destitute orphans, and other good deeds, all tending to the honor of +Calvinism. "The only instance of any thing like want of belief that +happened for a hundred years in the family," said he, "was the seduction +of our brother to the ranks of Popery. His faith was weak, my friends," +he continued; "but if he did not believe strongly, <i>we believed</i>, and +our faith saved him. His soul is in glory, I have no doubt. The faith of +his family and all our faith saved him. Glory be to the Lord. Amen."</p> + +<p>The conclusion of this discourse was applied to the warning of the +faithful against the influence of the Papists; the necessity and +obligation incumbent on all to compel their Catholic servants to join +their prayer and other meetings; and, above all, to take care that all +Popish books and publications, should be excluded from their houses. "We +are fallen on dangerous times, my friends," he said; "and if the friends +of the Bible and free religion do not combine their efforts against the +common enemy, our institutions are doomed, and the glory of our country +is extinguished forever."</p> + +<p>The reader is not to imagine that Mr. Gulmore and men of his class are +so brutally ignorant as some would imagine. When, therefore, we hear +them speak of our <i>institutions</i> being in danger, they mean the +<i>institutions</i> of heresy and sectarianism; namely, parsons, and their +wives and children, and countless sects and contradictions in +creed—institutions that, sure enough, are in imminent danger, and +doomed to fall before the irresistible and unerring progress of +Catholicity. But will this divinely decreed result be injurious to the +progress or prosperity of the republic? On the contrary, there can never +be a real union among the States till the minds of the people, north and +south, are united in faith and sentiment. And by the annihilation of +sectarianism and its castes, the people will be freed from a very +burdensome tax now going to the support of a large and lazy body of men, +women, and children, whose only object in existence seems to be to eat +and consume, and who, besides, by their idleness and habits, keep up a +system of detraction, jealousy, and discord among otherwise +well-disposed citizens, that, like so many cancers, are eating into the +very vitals of the public morals. Let not the American citizen, +therefore, bewail the certain decline and rapid decay of the +<i>institutions</i> of sectarianism, but rather pray for the dawn of that +glorious approaching day when, as we are but a one people and a united +nation, we may have but one religion, and a country that will know no +sectional divisions.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h2>"HE AND HIS WHOLE HOUSE BELIEVED."</h2> + + +<p>Paul, now, though full of anxiety and care on account of his young +charge, was comparatively well off. His good fortune removed him from +the neighborhood of all that was low, fanatical, and cruel in New York, +to the capital of Vermont. And he felt the change for the better, +sensibly, in quitting the birthplace of "Millerism," and going into a +comparatively enlightened region. He thought there were, as he said, +some gentlemen and ladies here in Vermont; but he could never see one of +either species, properly so called, where he lately lived. The truth +was, Mr. Clarke, his present employer, was a well-bred, full-blooded +Yankee; and though his notions of Catholicity were such as he gleaned +from the rabid discourses of half-educated preachers, and a few +anti-Popery tracts which he read, his gentle and noble mind could not +sanction for an instant any thing like persecution on account of +religion. Hence, besides the favorable impression which the talents of +Paul made on him, he considered it time to show him some kindness, to +compensate for the ill treatment he underwent under the machinations of +Parson Gulmore and Amanda Prying, and their clerical associates.</p> + +<p>"Paul," said Mr. Clarke, on Saturday night, at supper, "I am glad you +are beginning to like this part of the country. I will endeavor to +convince you that all America is not like your late home in York: all +parsons are not like Mr. Gulmore, whose conduct in regard to your +letters I cannot sufficiently condemn; nor are all young ladies of the +same temper as Miss Amanda Prying."</p> + +<p>"I do not blame Amanda much, sir," said the youth, fearing that he might +be led to any thing bordering on detraction; "she was very kind to me in +all things, except that she wanted to keep me from mass, and tried to +force my sister and myself to attend Mr. Gulmore's church."</p> + +<p>"That was very wrong of her, Paul. I do not think Miss Martha, here, +will be so cruel as to require you to do any thing against your will; +nor would she interfere with your letters to your friends, as I have no +doubt Amanda has interfered. Well, Martha," said the good-natured +father, looking with pride towards his eldest daughter, a bright girl of +sixteen, "are you going to force Paul with you to church; to compel him, +whether he likes it or not, to eat flesh meat on days forbidden by his +church? And will you forbid him to write to his uncle, who, I doubt not, +is a very respectable gentleman in Ireland?"</p> + +<p>"God forbid, father, that I should be guilty of half that. However, we +shall be very glad if Paul comes to our meeting house, seeing we often +go to hear the priest, Father O'C——, of the Catholic church."</p> + +<p>"I should be very sorry to disoblige any body, but especially one so +amiable as yourself, miss," said Paul; "but I do not think I can +conscientiously go to any church except the Catholic church."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Clarke smiled, and a significant glance passed between them +at the gallantry of this speech.</p> + +<p>"Why, Paul," said he, "I think you are a leetle too particular. It would +do you no harm to hear our preacher, Mr. Holdforth; I do not see what +can be wrong in it, no more than our going to hear the priest."</p> + +<p>"The only difference is," said Paul, quickly, "that our religion and +service being right, and yours being wrong, you can attend our service +without scruple, but I could not attend yours without sin. It would be a +loss of time, a bad way to spend the Sabbath, or Sunday; the sin of +curiosity, or the danger of being an encourager of, or countenancing, a +false worship, unauthorized by God or his church."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Paul," said the editor, "this is taking a high ground, and rather a +new one to me; and besides, this is not very logical, for this is what +we want to see. This is just the question in dispute between the Roman +Catholic church and the Protestant; viz., to which of the two belongs +true and lawful worship."</p> + +<p>"You are a lawyer, sir," said Paul, "and you must know well the evidence +is all in favor of the Catholic church—being that founded by Christ, +and ruled and guided by the apostles. For, go back to the very apostolic +ages, and you will find the rites and the ceremonies of the church, +recorded in the writings of the ancient fathers,—as, for instance, in +the works of Tertullian, Ireneus, Ignatius,—to be the very same as +those now practised in the Catholic church in this country and all over +the world."</p> + +<p>"I confess, Paul," said he, "that the external evidences are rather +favorable to Catholicity; but we principally depend on internal +evidence, or the feelings of our minds."</p> + +<p>"That," said Paul, "is no evidence at all; for you have to do with +external facts. Institutions, history, monuments, testimony of men, +customs, and habits, are the only evidence you can bring to bear on this +controversy. How would you like to try a criminal by internal +evidence—to tell a jury that you had 'internal evidence' of the +innocence or guilt of the man accused? How could you discover whether or +not Cæsar lived by the light of internal evidence? Is it by internal +evidence you learn that such cities as Rome, Paris, or Constantinople +exist? No, sir; it is by <i>external</i> evidence, which is altogether in +favor of our church; and this is more valuable than all the internal +evidence that ever existed in the minds of fanatics, from Simon Magus to +John Wesley, or from the Gnostics to the spiritual rappers."</p> + +<p>"Husband," said Mrs. Clarke, "I am afraid of your reputation in this +argument about religion."</p> + +<p>"Madam, it is not <i>reputation</i> I seek, but truth; and if I can find it +in the Catholic church, I shall embrace it myself, and all my family."</p> + +<p>"You may bid adieu to most of your subscribers, then, after you become a +Roman Catholic," said madam.</p> + +<p>"My dear wife," said he, impressively, "you ought to know me +sufficiently well to be convinced that not only the success of my +journal, but even the entire of my means, with my personal feelings, +would be willingly sacrificed by me, in order to secure for myself, and +for you all, what is infinitely beyond all earthly or temporal +considerations; namely, the salvation of our immortal souls."</p> + +<p>"I did not want to insinuate, my dear, for a moment, that you could be +influenced by such a consideration as the success of your journal in a +matter of such everlasting importance. I only dropped the remark +casually and without reflection," said madam.</p> + +<p>In order to explain more fully the seriousness of Mr. Clarke's desire to +learn more and more regarding the Catholic church, and to account for +his rather too easy concession to the arguments of Paul, we think it +right to state that he had lately become a member of a literary and +religious society established in his native city, under the +presidentship of a minister of an Episcopal church. The object of this +society, partly religious and partly literary, was to infuse a new +spirit into the thinning ranks of Episcopalianism, by searching for, and +bringing to light, in the popular form of lectures and dissertations, +the evidences in favor of Protestantism, which, they supposed, were to +be found in the writings of the primitive or ante-Nicene sages of the +church. We do not think it would be appropriate to class this society +under the appellative "Puseyite," for they had no direct connection or +communication with that now rather celebrated school of schismatics, +but undoubtedly the objects of both were analogous. Mr. Clarke's +occupation was so much confined to the business of his lawyer's office, +and his time so much engrossed by the attention required of him as an +editor, that he had very little leisure to attend the regular meetings +of the society, of which he was elected an honorary member; and hence, +while he was at home and at the table, the whole discourse was on +religion; for these were his only leisure hours. Paul he found not only +well instructed in his religion, but capable of explaining very +satisfactorily to him various points connected with such an important +matter as that on which his mind of late turned its attention, and on +which he desired the fullest information.</p> + +<p>Great was the joy and consolation of Paul, after the dialogue given +above; and long and fervent were his thanksgivings to God, for choosing +him so far to be the instrument in bringing his employer to the +resolution of <i>examining</i> Catholic doctrines. For who ever seriously +examined and did not find the truth? "No," said Paul to himself, "never +did any body examine into or compare the relative claims of the Catholic +church and her countless opponents to be considered divine, that did not +decide in favor of the former." And well knowing that Mr. Clarke was a +man not to be turned aside from his resolution by any human motives or +selfish considerations, Paul wisely concluded that "he and his whole +house" would become reconciled to the church. And so they were. Mr. +Clarke was the first member of the "Literary and Religious Society of +Vermont" who became a convert. The next was the reverend president of +the society; afterward one and another, till the entire society, +consisting of some fifty members, submitted themselves to the sweet yoke +of faith; and now there is a church, a resident priest, in that very +locality, and using the very meeting house where the ex-Episcopalian +minister preached. Under God, all these conversions were owing to the +tact, prudence, and other admirable virtues, as well as the thorough +Catholic education, of Paul. To this very day, Mr. Clarke, the Rev. Mr. +Strongly, and many other members of the society acknowledge that it is +to the circumstance of Paul's living in Mr. Clarke's family that he owed +his conversion, and that the secession of Mr. Clarke from their ranks +was what principally hastened the conversion of the whole society. Thus +God frequently makes use of what appears to us very inadequate means to +the most glorious results. Thus are the weak and humble of his church +made use of, like David, to subdue her enemies, and bring them under the +salutary sway of her dominion. And while this servant boy and that hired +girl are acting the hypocrite in attending this master's meeting, or +joining his long prayers, or eating meat on Friday, in violation of the +precepts of the church, they are becoming stumbling blocks on his way to +salvation—resisting the design of God, who wishes all men to be saved, +as well as ruining their own souls. "He that despiseth small things +shall fall by little and little."</p> + +<p>While these events were the order of the day in Vermont, the +proselytizers in York were not idle. Amanda now, since Paul had not only +left the house, but even went away from the neighborhood, thought she, +and her coadjutors the parsons, would have little difficulty in +converting Bridget. But the latter now, besides having once a month an +opportunity of hearing mass,—the new priest, Father Ugo, having made it +a rule to visit the railroad laborers as often as he could, and being +pretty well grounded in the catechism,—in addition to these very +important aids to combat temptation, Bridget had also Murty O'Dwyer, who +was hired in the house, to take up the cudgels for her against Amanda +and Parson Gulmore.</p> + +<p>"Prepare, Bridget, to come with me this evening to Sabbath school," said +the persevering Amanda. "I want to show them how well you can read, and +also I want them to admire these nice flowers of your hat, and your +pretty new dress, to see how smart you look."</p> + +<p>"Why, miss, if that be all you want, I can't go, for that would be a +sin. Vanity, you know," said the little roguish girl, looking +sarcastically at Amanda.</p> + +<p>"I am the best judge of that, missy," said the old maid. "Go on and +prepare: you must come. You are getting very ugly since you got the +habit of seeing that old priest of late."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, miss. It is not for the priest's advice I refuse +joining your worship, but because God forbids it and the church. Before +the priest ever came here, I refused, during more than two years, to go +to Protestant meetings or Sunday schools, which cost me many a tear and +a scolding; and the priest's advice has not made me more determined than +I was before never to put my foot inside your ugly meeting house or +Sunday schools."</p> + +<p>"If I asked you to go to the priest to pay him a quarter to pardon your +sins, you naughty Irish girl, you," said Amanda, in a passion, "how +readily you would obey me, you naughty thing, you!"</p> + +<p>"You're welcome to your joke, miss," answered Bridget; "but if you are +in earnest, I must say that it is not true that Father Ugo, or any other +priest that ever lived, charged any money for hearing confession. +Confession was ordained by Christ, our Lord; and those who do not go to +confession cannot lead a pure life of virtue, nor preserve the love of +God in their souls."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, miss!" said Amanda, with a sneer. "I see the priest has been +giving you a lesson. As if none but Papists knew what purity or virtue +was—the low set of Irish that they are!"</p> + +<p>"Our books of devotion say as much," said Bridget; "and it stands to +reason, for if Catholics who frequent confession have enough to do to +keep themselves undefiled, how much more difficult is it for those who +do not confess at all? Besides, by confession restitution is enforced, +and whatever your neighbor loses by fraud is restored."</p> + +<p>"Is it not strange, then, that the Irish Papist who robbed your mother +of the money does not think of restoring it? And you say he had the +priest's certificate of confession in his pocket?"</p> + +<p>"That is not the fault of confession, miss. May be he would make +restitution yet, if God give him grace."</p> + +<p>"I have been listening to you, miss, this half hour," interposed Murty, +who now entered from the back kitchen where he was smoking, "and I am +really shocked to find you tamper so with the virtue of this innocent +girl. You first attempt to reach her pure soul through her vanity, by +praising her dress and accomplishments; and she nobly rejects the +temptation. Next you attempt to conquer her fortitude, by maligning and +ridiculing the most sacred institutions of her holy religion; and here +again you fail. It is the strangest thing in the world, in my mind, that +you should continually annoy that poor orphan, and stranger again, that +her noble fortitude, her piety, her faith, fidelity, and other heroic +virtues have not converted you, and those who have been for years +witness of them, to something like admiration of them."</p> + +<p>"But she is so obstinate, Murt," said the old maid.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said he, "and in that she is right. Yourself had an opportunity +of information on all these subjects, and, I understand, discussed them +at length with the priest in person. You ought to know better, then, +than to repeat to this child a pure fable, that you dare not hint in the +presence of the priest; namely, that he levies a tax of two shillings or +half a dollar on every penitent whose confession he hears."</p> + +<p>"That is generally believed," said she, ashamed that her violent attack +on Bridget had been overheard by one whose good opinion, of late, she +was rather anxious to secure, for a delicate reason that shan't be +mentioned here.</p> + +<p>"It is generally <i>talked</i>, but not <i>believed</i>, dear miss, unless by the +idiots and children into whose minds it is continually dinned by +malicious persons, who know that their occupation would be gone if the +truth were known, and who struggle to shut out the light and knowledge +of Catholicity from the souls of their wretched hearers with the same +cruelty that the tyrant shuts out the light of heaven from the dungeon +of his captive. I thought this was a free country," he continued; "but I +find the most odious of tyrannies, domestic tyranny, and the tyranny of +opinion, established here. I, myself, have been its victim in no less +than six instances. Yes, miss, I was turned out of employment, and +cheated out of my wages, as I would not say my prayers with, or square +my creed in accordance with, the notions of my eccentric and fanatical +employers."</p> + +<p>"That was too bad, Murt," said she, laughing. "Ha, ha, ha!"</p> + +<p>"It was almost as bad as your own attempt to rob these orphan children +of the faith of their fathers. For they were young, innocent, and +helpless; but for me, I am able to work, and can defy any tyrant your +country affords," said he, in a passion. "There is not, I believe," he +added, "on earth, a more odious tyranny, except the landlord tyranny in +Ireland, than that of your sectarian Methodist, Presbyterian, +Episcopalian, Nothingarian tyranny in America."</p> + +<p>"You Irish should learn to correspond with the institutions of the +country, and should not attempt to introduce Popery into this Protestant +land."</p> + +<p>"Protestant land!" said Murty. "We never dream of this being a +Protestant land when we land on its shores. We look on it as the land of +liberty, where no form of religion is dominant, and where all are +equally protected. Protestant land! Why, this sounds odd in a world +first discovered and trod on by Catholics. This sounds bad in a republic +established by the aid of Catholic arms, blood, and treasure, despite of +the tyranny of Protestant England. This slang of Protestant land is +intolerable in a people against whose liberties no Catholic sword was +ever unsheathed, though the founder of the sect of which your friend Mr. +Barker is preacher, John Wesley, offered George III. the services of his +forty thousand Methodists to put down the American rebellion. What +American, what republican, then, of spirit or intelligence, can for an +hour profess himself a follower in religion of such a fanatic as Wesley, +with this well-known fact staring him in the face? How noble the conduct +of Catholic France, or Catholic Ireland, when compared with Protestant +England or Protestant Germany, at the time of the revolution! The two +former Catholic nations sent their men, ships, money, clothing, and +provisions, to aid your insurgent ancestors; Germany and England sent +their armed vessels, their cannon, and their hireling soldiery, to burn +the homesteads, desolate the fields, and murder the wives and children +of your forefathers."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid, Murt," she said, "you will convert me to your notions." +This was said with a tenderness that could not be mistaken.</p> + +<p>"I fear not, miss; you are too old for that," said he, meaningly.</p> + +<p>"I am not so very old as you suppose. I am not so old as uncle Jacob, +yet," she said, perceiving that her meaning was understood by Murty; +"and he became a Papist before he died."</p> + +<p>"God gave him the grace, and I pray that you may receive a like grace; +but I suppose you allude to a different sort of conversion?" said he.</p> + +<p>The truth was, Amanda, having failed to secure the permanent regard of +any of her numerous admirers, was foolish enough, as most old maids are, +to suppose that some green, young, inexperienced lover would be most +likely to be caught in her net. Hence she had her mind fixed on Murty, +whom she regarded, as he really was, a young man of talent, and whose +dependent and menial condition she considered as calculated to balance +the disparity in their age, and as likely to insure her success. This +was why she felt so mortified at being detected by him in her late +attempt on the faith and resolution of Bridget, having, since her +designs on Murty, promised to let the orphans have their own way, after +having attempted to convince him that she was quite indifferent on the +subject of religion, and "that she would be very glad to know more from +him about the Catholic church."</p> + +<p>The detection of her insincerity in this instance, and of the falsity +of her professions, put an end to all her further hopes regarding the +gallant young Irishman, who could not tolerate a falsehood in any body, +but especially in a lady, and who ever after avoided her society as much +as possible. His presence, however, in the house was a sure guaranty to +Bridget of full religious toleration, Amanda's fiery zeal for religion +being succeeded by a flame of a somewhat different nature.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h2>"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION."</h2> + + +<p>We devote this chapter of our narrative to the record of a very strange +succession of circumstances, no less so, however, than true. They may +serve as an illustration of the wonderful and mysterious workings of +Religion on the soul, and, at the same time, afford an instance of the +absolute insufficiency of speculative belief or theoretic religion, +without the every-day practice of her sublime and simple lessons.</p> + +<p>One morning, in the town of Sheffield, England, one John Cunningham, +after confession and communion, called on the Catholic pastor of that +town, for the purpose of procuring a line of commendation, or +testimonial of character, that might be of use to him, as he thought, to +get him employment in some part of the new world, to which he was +preparing to emigrate. The poor fellow then little dreamed that a +priest's recommendatory paper, instead of a dollar bill, was the worst +possible substitute in certain parts of America; and, if of any +conceivable effect, was likely to prove an occasion to him of such +annoyances, on account of his faith, as we have described in these +pages. "The character," however, he succeeded in procuring, and written +in no niggard terms. If it offended in any thing, it was in being too +favorable to the bearer. It was by means of this paper, with the +respectable name of Rev. Dr. H—— at its foot, that Cunningham +succeeded in ingratiating himself into the confidence and favor of the +O'Clerys during the voyage, as well as by his attention to Mr. Arthur +O'Clery during his fatal sickness. The reverend gentleman whose +signature stood at the foot of the "character" was well known to the +O'Clery family; and hence, undoubtedly, originated the intimacy, +strengthened by his asserting falsely that he was a relative of the +priest, which subsequently enabled him to rob the poor widow and her +orphans of their entire means. Accomplished villain as he was, Religion +had not yet lost her whole sway over his soul, and by way of punishing +himself, but in reality, making bad worse, the second day after his +liberation from arrest consequent on the theft, he listed in the United +States army, and was hurried off forthwith to the field of battle, in +Florida. The gnawing worm of remorse still followed him on board of +ship, and in barrack, and on the scorching plains of the south. He had +less dread of the sabre, or grape, or rifle of the enemy, than of the +thought that he had robbed the poor widow, and availed himself of the +confidence of confession to elicit from his too confiding director the +paper that principally enabled him to do so. He had plundered an honest +family of their all, and it was of no use to him. The injury done was +severely felt by not only one, but several. The pleasure, comfort, or +happiness to him was nothing at all. Unhappy man, what was he to do? He +could not help it now; the enemy was before him, and he could not turn +his back, and the money was lost forever. He feared death would deprive +him of the means of making restitution, for he had a presentiment he +would fall on this very day. First, that sin he committed in Liverpool, +when, in an evil hour, yielding to the advice and example of wicked +companions, he took to drink in order to smother the thought of it; and +drink caused him to rob the widow, and to shun further the thought of +these crimes he enlisted in the army; but yet, here, in the very ranks, +with drums beating, and music playing, amid the shouts of Indians and +din of battle, the sins were uppermost still in his mind. How horrid +must be the feelings of poor Cunningham, with death staring him in the +face, and yet he expected nothing but judgment after death! In vain did +he look around for the tall and venerable form of Father McEl——, to +cast himself at his knees, and ask for advice, blessing, and +forgiveness. He was nowhere now to be found. O misery unspeakable! And +but yesterday, but this very morning, four hours ago, that father went +through the ranks, encouraging the men, and exciting them to contrition. +Ah, yes! But yesterday Cunningham had got some drink, and, not +perceiving the danger, refused to confess. But now, if he could see the +priest! "O God!" said he, "where is the priest?" Some of his comrades, +who heard this exclamation expressed aloud, laughed; others taunted him +on his evil conscience. However, down on his knees he fell, as if +unconscious of the presence of his comrades, and promised, if God spared +him, on the first opportunity, that he would not only restore the +stolen treasure, but, if necessary, travel the whole Union in search of +those whom he robbed; and ask their forgiveness for the injury done +them. He had scarcely risen into the ranks of his comrades when the +hostile fire opened on the plains of Tampa, and a bullet from the rifle +of the enemy shattered his arm to pieces. A few hours decided that +well-known victory of the Americans, and Cunningham had not long to +remain on the field, exposed to the scorching sun, when he was conveyed +to the hospital. Though the pain he felt in his arm was great, that +which rankled in his bosom was greater; and on his reaching the +hospital, he called out for Father McEl——, before he would allow the +surgeon to inspect his arm.</p> + +<p>After the amputation of the limb he recovered, got his discharge, came +back to New York, and, in company with a respectable Catholic citizen, +went out about seven miles east of Brooklyn, and there, at the foot of a +maple tree, they dug out of the ground, three feet deep, the bag sure +enough, containing every sovereign and note of the money stolen from the +widow O'Clery. They went with it right straight to the priest of St. +Peter's Church, who, upon hearing the recital of the now penitent thief, +promised that he should suffer no legal consequences, and inserted +advertisements in the papers to find out where the O'Clerys might be.</p> + +<p>This information was communicated to Paul by Mr. Clarke, and to Bridget +by Father Ugo, on the same day.</p> + +<p>This news, when made known, created the most intense excitement. Amanda +was now very polite to Bridget, whom she marked out in her own mind as a +suitable wife for her eldest brother Calvin. Paul was declared to be a +young "likely gentleman," of real genius. The two younger brothers, +Patrick and Eugene, were lauded, flattered, and admired. In fine, the +sudden change which took place in the relation in which they stood in +the house of bondage was such as to cause Murty to remark to Paul,—who +lost no time in coming to pay for his brothers' and sister's board, +although the term of servitude of Bridget was now almost +expired,—"Paul, I see that it is not our faith that is so much hated by +these goodly Christians as our poverty."</p> + +<p>"There may be some truth in that," replied Paul.</p> + +<p>"Ever," continued Murty, "since it appeared in our papers here that you +had your thousand pounds restored to you, all mouths are full of your +praise. You were uncommon children, and it was cruel of the minister +Gulmore to conspire against you. It was infamous in him, they now say, +to have your letters 'burked' in the post office, as it appears from +Amanda, who has turned informer on the parson, because he did not marry +her after his first wife's death. Before this ye were paupers, Irish, +and Papists; now, you and your sister and brothers are noble and likely +young people."</p> + +<p>"O Murty," said Paul, "I can see the hand of God in all this. Where I +have lived for the last three years, several families, together with my +friend and former employer, Mr. Clarke, have been converted. The very +minister, Mr. Strongly, has embraced the true faith; and another parson, +Rev. Mr. H——, I am sure, only waits instruction to enter the gate of +life within the true church."</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" said Murty O'Dwyer. "I thought these Yankees never could be +good Catholics, they are so fond of money, trading, cheating, and legal +swindling, such as assigning, and mortgaging, and the like."</p> + +<p>"O, bless you, Murty, all Yankees are not alike. There are no better +Catholics on earth than Americans, when they once get the faith. Mr. +Clarke, and my friends in Vermont, who consider me as instrumental in +bringing them to the true faith, have paid for my education in the +college of G——, after they found that I was resolved to embrace the +clerical state."</p> + +<p>"That was very generous of them, indeed, sir," said Murty, assuming a +little less familiarity; "those here, in this neighborhood, cannot be +much blamed for their bigotry; they know no better, imposed on for ages +by such fellows as Miller, Scullion, Barker, Gulmore, Grinoble, Scaly, +and the like."</p> + +<p>"But it is not so in the cities, Murty," continued Paul; "and it will +not be so here long; for now railroads are building, light, and +liberality, and, I trust, charity, are extending their influence. We +must do our part, by being good, and virtuous, and prudent; try to gain +them by our good example, rather than by argumentative or angry +discussion. 'They know not what they do' when they contemn, or attempt +to stop the progress of, our faith. They are a naturally good and +kind-hearted people; as witness how they assist the sick and give +hospitality. Such virtues must ultimately gain for them the grace of +conversion. The greatest obstacle in their way is the low cunning of the +unprincipled parsons, who, from being peddlers, and poor, shiftless +mechanics, without any proper discipline or preparation, take to the +less laborious trade of preaching. Pray for them, Murty—pray for them."</p> + +<p>"I have a far stronger inclination to curse them," said Murty.</p> + +<p>"Fie, fie, Murty; that is not Christian."</p> + +<p>"That I know," said Murty; "but have you heard that I have been cheated +out of near two hundred dollars by my employer, and all through the +influence of a villanous parson who got divorced from his wife, on +account of a short answer I made him?"</p> + +<p>"What was the answer, Murty? I suppose it must be droll."</p> + +<p>"One day," said Murty, "this Parson Boorman dined where I worked for two +years, and, to convert me from the error of my ways for observing +abstinence on Friday, commenced saying, 'Don't you see, Murty, how +foolish and unreasonable you act? You eat butter and use milk that come +from the cow, and you refuse to eat her flesh. It's all the same, my +Irish friend,' continued the dominie, pitying my ignorance. 'I have no +great desire, Mr. Dominie,' said I, 'now, for controversy, being +fatigued after my hard day's work; though it takes but little learning +to refute your profound logic. If there is no difference between +drinking milk and eating flesh, then you may as well eat your mother's +flesh, parson, as suck her breast; and as you, I expect, have done the +latter, therefore, dominie, you must be a cannibal. How do you like +this?' said I.</p> + +<p>"'O,' said the dominie, 'the butter, you know, that comes from the cow, +what do you say to that?' 'I say, parson, that there is another +substance besides butter that comes from the cow, and you would not like +to dine on it.' At this the whole company laughed outright in his face, +and from that time to this the dominie never ceased to persecute me."</p> + +<p>"That was a very queer way you took to silence the dominie," said Paul; +"but I presume, after that ludicrous answer, you met with very little +religious controversy afterwards."</p> + +<p>"That's true," said Murty; "but I have suffered the loss of my wages +through the unrelenting malice of the Presbyterian dominie."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Murty; do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse +you, pray for those who persecute and calumniate you. For your kindness +to Bridget while I was away, I feel bound to give you some remuneration. +Have courage, have courage, and think better of the Yankees. The more +you know of them, the better you will like them. They have their +faults,—as what nation has not?—but they have their virtues also."</p> + +<p>This conversation took place between Paul and Murty in the farm house of +Mr. Clarke, where he had just arrived, as well to spend the vacation as +to make arrangements regarding the future of his brothers and sister. +Murty, upon hearing of his arrival, lost not a moment's time in going +across lots from the Pryings' farm to that of Mr. Clarke, thinking he +might be the first to communicate to Paul the joyous intelligence +regarding the recovery of the lost money, and the pleasing change in the +opinion of all regarding him and his brethren.</p> + +<p>Paul could not but feel grateful for the kindness of his friend Murty; +but he was too well practised in Christian perfection to indulge in any +thing like excessive joy, and too well accustomed to refer every thing +to God to claim any merit, or take any pleasure, in the flattering +eulogies of all his acquaintances, as repeated by Murty.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h2>WHAT HAPPENED TO LITTLE EUGENE O'CLERY.</h2> + + +<p>Fortune now began to smile on Paul O'Clery, and to make amends for the +long course of ill usage to which she had subjected himself and his +kindred. He had not only enjoyed the sympathy of friends, and his +talents had not only gained him the good will and respect of his +superiors and classfellows, but he now unexpectedly found himself in +possession of a handsome sum of money, the fruit of the honest industry +of his parents. The true Catholic training which Paul received from his +very infancy taught him the impropriety of immoderate joy or gladness, +and the severe trials of the last few years had chastened his naturally +hilarious and pleasant mind to a temper of habitual calm and reserve +bordering on melancholy. It must be confessed, in this instance, +however, that his spirit felt unusually buoyant and glad, as he +returned, under present circumstances, to the scene of his late trials +and humiliation.</p> + +<p>There are few persons born, however propitious the position of their +horoscope, who have not, some time or other, to experience the feeling +attendant on a transition from an inferior condition to one of more +respect and honor. It will not, therefore, be difficult to imagine what +were the sentiments of our young hero on his return from the south, on +this occasion. He was a slave; he is now a freeman. He was a menial; he +is now a gentleman. He was the subject on which the hypocrite and the +impostor sought to try the success of their well-taught deceptions; now, +his virtues, his manners, and his success are in the mouths of all men; +and those who plotted against his soul are ready to do homage to his +accomplishments. When St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, returned to +the house of his former master, who held him in slavery,—the glorious +prelate and saint to the hut of the slave,—what must have been the +feelings of his exalted and inspired soul? Not those of hatred, vanity, +or earthly exultation, but those of charity, thanksgiving, and apostolic +zeal, if not those of gratitude, to his pagan master. Kindred to these +was the mental exultation of Paul O'Clery, on approaching the valley of +R—— Creek, the scene of the most meritorious part of his life, and +still the novitiate of those who were the most dear to him on earth.</p> + +<p>He determined not only to redeem his sister and brothers, by paying the +customary sum for whatever clothing and board they had received, but +resolved, as soon as possible, to have them placed in a suitable +educational establishment. Bridget was already free, and by right +entitled to something handsome in remuneration of the services she had +rendered in the family in which she was so long a menial; but Paul was +determined that she should not only refuse accepting what was to fall to +her share, and what in justice she could claim, but said every thing +should be paid for—board, lodging, and even her "<i>common-school</i>" +education. "This last item," he said, "was not of the most choice +description,—that is, the 'common-school' learning,—but such as it is +I am unwilling to accept it gratuitously." He had come to the same +conclusion regarding Patrick and Eugene. O, it was on account of these +latter children, principally, that Paul rejoiced and thanked God that +restitution had been made of the stolen money; for he had a burden of +care and anxiety on his mind on account of these two children. It was so +difficult a work, especially as himself could not be with them, to save +young boys like them from the contagious vice so prevalent in this +country; and, above all, so hard to preserve young boys in the +atmosphere of your "common schools." Bridget might be said to be safe, +for she could remove to a better and more Christian neighborhood, or +return to her friends in the old country; but Patrick, and, above all, +Eugene, who were in the hands of utter strangers, how were they to be +saved from the universal corruption, when deprived of the continual +guardianship of their faithful brother? These were the considerations, +and not the sole recovery of the money restored to him, that contributed +to the increase of the joy, and gratitude, and thanksgiving in the heart +of Paul that now pervaded it. Alas! that this joy and these pleasant +anticipations of future prospects were of such short duration!</p> + +<p>In order to understand the following statement of facts in relation to +the fate of poor Eugene O'Clery, it is necessary here to observe that, +just after Paul had, by means of the support received from his convert +friends in Vermont, been enabled to enter college, a gentleman, who +stated that he took a great interest in Paul, from what he learned from +the Rev. Mr. Strongly about him, wrote him a long letter.</p> + +<p>The burden of the epistle was, that the writer was a minister, with +views not far removed from those of the Rev. Mr. Strongly, the convert +to the Catholic church; that he had heard a good deal about Paul and his +trials and success; that he lately visited at Mr. Reuben Prying's, where +his two little brothers now remained; that he pitied them, but +especially the younger, for that they lacked the opportunity of a better +and more <i>Catholic</i> education; that, in fine, he, Dr. Dilman, if Paul +consented, would take the younger, Eugene, with him into the city, where +his education could be attended to, and where he, at least, might be +saved from the influence of the barbarous mannerism and irreligious +taint of these country "common schools." His reverence the doctor +furthermore added, that Mr. Prying had no objection to the arrangement +he proposed, and that he had conquered the repugnance that Mrs. Prying +had to the separation of the brothers by the very flattering terms on +which he offered <i>to do</i> for the child.</p> + +<p>In a postscript of this letter, it was stated by this veracious +<i>Christian minister</i>, as he signed himself, that he would send Paul +quarterly or monthly bulletins of Eugene's progress in science and +virtue, and, above all, that his faith should not be tampered with in +the slightest.</p> + +<p>The effect of such an artful piece of diplomacy may be easily +conceived. The bait of the parson took, and Paul was for once +overreached. The unsuspecting youth took this gentleman to be a +clergyman of the same stamp with his friends Rev. Messrs. Strongly and +H——. And the fact that Parson Dilman was acquainted with the former +honorable men, was enough to throw Paul off his guard. The parson's +talk, too, about "<i>Catholic education</i>," and the "barbarous" common +schools, served still to deceive, not only Paul, but even the professors +of the college to whom the epistle of Parson Dilman was submitted for +advice and direction.</p> + +<p>Paul was enthusiastic in the praise of his two reverend convert friends +in Vermont, (who were the only two Protestant parsons he intimately knew +before or after conversion,) and hence, when questioned by the +professors about what he might know of his correspondent, he answered +that he knew nothing; but the fact of his intimacy and acquaintance with +the ex-parsons Strongly and H——, his friends and patrons, was "a good +sign of his honesty and honor." The shrewd Jesuit professors smiling at +the poor child's credulous and confiding disposition, told him that, as +he had such an opinion of the worth and honor of the fraternity of +dominies, he might commit his brother to the charge of one, and +especially as he stood in very great danger to his faith and morals +where he was at present. His situation might be ameliorated, but could +not be much worse; but the good fathers declined taking the +responsibility of giving a decision on the subject.</p> + +<p>"The letter promised what was fair and honorable, but there might be +deception," said they.</p> + +<p>"Deception, reverend fathers!" said Paul. "I can't suspect any such +thing in one so intimate with my dearest and best friends, the converted +clergymen in Vermont."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the sons of Ignatius, whose wise experience had taught them +to have little faith in heretical parsons, "you can use your own +discretion, my child."</p> + +<p>Paul, acting on the impulse of his own feelings, thinking it would be a +rash judgment in him to suspect evil design in one who professed himself +favorable to Catholicity, and, besides, was of the same sentiments in +religion, or nearly the same, with his convert friends in Vermont, +immediately wrote in answer to Dr. Dilman, consenting to have Eugene go +with him. But there was to be no legal binding in the matter, and honor +was to be the only bond under which his younger brother was to be held +bound.</p> + +<p>The day now arrived for Eugene to part—alas! that it should be +forever—from the society of his brother and sister. At first, some +opposition was made by Patrick and Bridget; but when shown the letter of +their brother Paul, they were reconciled to what they thought the +temporary separation. Eugene himself was calmed, and his sorrow turned +into joy, by being told that he was going towards where Paul was, and +that, like enough, he would meet him on his way.</p> + +<p>"Can I see Paul there?" said he, drying the tears that stood in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Sartain you can. Don't you like that, Bob?" said Reuben, who was in +the plot with Dilman.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll go, then," said the child. "Good by, Bid; good by, Pat. You +stay there till Paul and I come to see ye."</p> + +<p>All the household of Reuben embraced Eugene, and made him some little +present, before he set out. An abundance of tears were shed by young and +old, as the melancholy and thoughtful face of Eugene was seen by them +for the last time.</p> + +<p>Truth compels us to say a word or two in reference to the antecedents of +this reverend doctor of Presbyterianism into whose <i>protection</i> this +innocent lamb was taken. Dr. Dilman was about sixty years old at this +time; and after having lived in some manner with his first wife for near +thirty years, had lately taken out a bill of divorce by law against the +"old woman," to make room for a young <i>religious lady</i> in his reverend +bed. During his long life, he had changed his creed no less than nine +times. He was first an Episcopalian; but having been refused ordination +in that sect, on account of some peccadilloes of his youth, he joined +the Methodists, from whom he received conversion and a call. Being a man +of undoubted talent, and thinking the Methodists were too slow in +promoting him, he became a Baptist. His next hop was to the +Universalists, whom, because he found too penurious, he deserted for the +Congregationalists, from whom he got a call to a southern pro-slavery +church, where, after amassing considerable wealth in cash and "human +chattels," he resigned his charge, came to the north again to recruit +his sinking constitution, and, after trying two or three other minor +sects, he settled down an old-school anti-slavery Presbyterian. Poor +man! his star has gone down now, and his memory will soon be forgotten; +but the anecdotes and tales that his extraordinary life illustrated will +not be forgotten for generations to come. The passage in his study, +through which he used to admit his "Cressida" from a secret door +communicating with his "basement church," is now shown as a specimen of +his skill. The transformations and metamorphoses he used to undergo, +like Jupiter of old, in order to pass unobserved to the retreats of his +"Europas," on the sides and on the summits of the classically-sounding +hills of the city of his ministry,—all these things, and more, are +known to the poorest retailers of interesting stories and anecdotes. In +a word, he was as impure as Caligula, as cruel as Nero or Calvin +himself, and as violent as Luther or John Knox.</p> + +<p>Yet it is a melancholy fact in connection with, and illustrative of, the +spirit of the Protestantisms of the United States, that for twenty years +and more, with all this guilt, with all the crimes in the calendar on +his head, with the full knowledge of all his sins of impurity, +hypocrisy, intolerance, and cruelty to his wife, this <i>reverend +gentleman</i> was the most popular, well-supported, and <i>respected</i> +minister in the whole state in which he resided. He was a good preacher, +an eloquent expounder of the word, a smart man; that was enough. +Protestantism could not afford to lose him now, when she was so spare of +the giants to which she owes her existence.</p> + +<p>This was the Rev. Dr. Dilman who took Eugene under his care about whom +Reuben Prying remarked, after he had left the house, that the doctor was +a "real smart man." "Your church, Murty," said he, "can't scare up such +a grand preacher as that. Did you hear that lecture he delivered last +winter against Popery? He is an honor to our church, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"Why so?" said Murty; "what has he done that you esteem him so high?"</p> + +<p>"Nothin', but bein' so eloquent and talented, and able to address such a +feeling prayer <i>to his hearers</i>."</p> + +<p>"Bless you, I know one much more talented than ever he will be," said +Murty.</p> + +<p>"I guess not, Murty," said he, shaking his head; "who is it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the devil," said Murty, "beats him all to pieces. Your parson only +opposes the pope, you say; whereas the devil opposes both the pope and +the Almighty. What is any of your ministers to great 'Ould Harry'? I bet +you are beat now. Ha! ha! ha!" said the Irishman, laughing.</p> + +<p>"You are a curious feller, Murty," said Mr. Prying.</p> + +<p>"Am I not right?" said Murty. "You praise your minister, <i>not</i> because +he is good, charitable, humane, chaste, or pious, (all which he possibly +may be,) but solely because he is talented or endowed with genius. Well, +then, I tell you this gains him no merit, for he received this gift from +God. He may abuse it; and, at any rate, the devil, the very enemy of +God, is endowed with more genius than he and all the Protestant parsons +living put together. I think this is fair <i>arguing</i>, Mr. Prying, don't +you?"</p> + +<p>"Let's drop it, Murty," said Mr. Prying, not liking to hear any more of +such "arguing," particularly as the children were present, and seemed +much to enjoy the home-spun comparison between the Dominie Dilman and +"Old Harry." This was the first time they were observed to laugh since +the departure of poor Eugene.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, poor Eugene arrived in the city of the parsonage of his +reverend protector, where he was received with apparent affection by +that gentleman's wife. During the first three days after his arrival, +several of the "saints," male and female, of the doctor's church, came +to see the new acquisition, as well as to congratulate the parson on the +success of his plan. The little orphan was flattered, caressed, and +encouraged by the promise of nice clothes and other presents. And it +would be unnatural to expect that the innocent heart of a child of his +age, now between eight and nine years, could remain insensible to the +caresses and favors bestowed. The little lad felt quite content; nay, a +gradual sunshine began to spread over the calm melancholy of his angelic +face.</p> + +<p>They first imposed on the child by telling him that his reverend +protector was the priest. He believed it for some time; but when, after +two weeks were elapsed, he was permitted to go to church, he was +perfectly surprised at "the quare way the priest said mass." He saw no +candles lighted on the altar. He heard no little bell rung at various +parts of the service. He saw no persons "bless themselves" there, +either. "I suppose," said he to himself, "they would not tell a lie; but +that was a very strange mass I was at to-day."</p> + +<p>Friday came round soon after, and then little Eugene learned where he +stood. Then he saw what hypocrites the self-styled priest, his wife, and +all in his house were. He had perceived his reverence help himself +plentifully to fat meat; and Eugene was invited to eat it himself, but +declined, saying, "I would be a Protestant if I eat meat on Friday; and +I fear ye are all here Protestants." A suppressed laugh was all that his +remark could elicit from these worthies whose gluttony gave him such +scandal.</p> + +<p>Eugene's eyes were further opened by some boys at school, who laughed +heartily at his expense when he asked about the "strange mass" that he +had heard on Sunday.</p> + +<p>"What mass?" said they; "sure it is only the Popish priests that offer +mass, and it is a wicked thing to go to mass."</p> + +<p>The poor child, on seeing the snare laid for him, burst into tears and +wept aloud, calling for his brother Paul by name, and crying, "O woe! +woe! woe!"</p> + +<p>The school madam was attracted by the lamentable cries of the lad, and, +learning the cause of them, reprimanded the impudent boys, and tried to +console him. Her attempts were, however, in vain. The child seeing +himself sold and betrayed, his candid soul fell back to its former +melancholy, and he drooped under the weight of the injustice of which he +was the victim.</p> + +<p>From that day forward he refused to attend either the night prayers of +the "false priest," or to go to any of his meetings, and to the hour of +his death this resolution could never be shaken by all the wiles of his +persecutors. Several new arts and schemes were tried to vanquish his +resolution, but all to no purpose. He was alternately coaxed and +threatened, but all attempts either to flatter or force him proved +ineffectual. He was several times locked up in a dark room, which was +the terror of a young nephew of the parson, who was in the house, but +which had far less terror for this young confessor than the smiles of +his false friends. He was heard by young Sam, who often went to the door +of the dread prison, chanting his favorite hymn, thus:—</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ave Maria! hear the prayer<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of thy poor, helpless child;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath thy sweet, maternal care,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Preserve me undefiled."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And when spoken to through the keyhole, he answered that he was not a +bit afraid of "Spookes," and that there was plenty of light for him to +say his prayers. Even the parson himself, in company with his wife, went +to listen at the door of where their prisoner was confined, and for a +moment their hard hearts even were softened by the sweet, plaintive +chant of the "Ave Maria."</p> + +<p>"Are you sorry for your disobedience, now, Eugene?" said the parson; +"and will you attend prayers and meeting when you are told?"</p> + +<p>"I can't promise to do what would displease God, and what my brother +Paul and the priest told me not to do, sir," said the child.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know, Eugene, the priest is a wicked man, and the Lord will +punish you in a dark dungeon, darker than that room you are in, if you +do not do what I tell you?" added the persecuting parson.</p> + +<p>All this talk was lost on poor Eugene, who continued chanting his little +hymn, or repeating the "Hail Mary" and "Holy Mary," for his father and +mother's souls. In a word, after a series of whippings, confinements, +and scoldings, after compelling him either to eat flesh on Friday, or +fast all day without any other food, Parson Dilman, out of sheer shame, +gave him up, and confessed himself vanquished by the Catholic child. He +did not give him up for good, however, but, by way of making more sure +of his victim, he sent him out into the country, to undergo the +treatment of a more zealous and perfect disciplinarian than himself. +This pious Christian was no other than Shaw Gulvert, who was known to be +a prodigy of sanctity, and had a world of zeal in reconciling obstinate +heretics, or pagans, (as he called all but his own sect,) to the true +standard of old Presbyterianism. He could boast of having most of the +Old Testament by heart, making a prayer or "asking a blessing" of one +hour's duration in the delivery; and by these virtues, and others he +knew how to practise, every person who lived in his house, or came +within the influence of his zeal, was sure "to get religion in no time." +'Tis true, he met some unlucky converts, and one or two very obstinate +Papists whom he did not convert at all; but he soon despatched and +discharged these latter. And he was especially mortified at the conduct +of one Tipperary man, named Burk, who had the audacity to bring the +priest to say mass in a house which the latter rented from him. The +house has ever since been locked up, the pious Christian, Mr. Shaw +Gulvert, preferring to let it rot and totter in ruin, rather than run +the risk of having a Catholic tenant, who, like Burk, would be wicked +enough to allow the priest inside the threshold.</p> + +<p>This is the gentleman who is intrusted with the conversion of poor +Eugene O'Clery, the Irish emigrant orphan; and he set about the work in +right earnest fashion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h2>THE SAME, CONTINUED.</h2> + + +<p>During the first two months, Eugene had comparatively but little to fear +from the bigotry of his protector at Greenditch; but he was not indebted +for this limited peace to the generosity of Mr. Shaw Gulvert. Indeed, +that ignorant and cruel man dared not to execute his designs regarding +the little confessor of the cross, while his two hired men, named +Devlin, were in his house to enlighten his ignorance and reprimand his +audacity. These two young men, brothers, were hired for a year by +Gulvert, under the impression that they were native born; but after the +contract between them was signed, and especially when Friday came on, +Mr. Gulvert found he was <i>gulled</i>, and ran off to the parson, one +Waistcoat, to see what was to be done. The young men told him not to be +alarmed if he thought their presence would endanger his peace of mind, +or that any dangerous consequences were to be apprehended from two such +formidable soldiers of the Pope as they were; that he could easily get +rid of them by paying them their year's wages, and they would go +elsewhere to work; but that, while in his house, they insisted on +perfect religious and mental independence. "And in future," said they, +"we expect to see cooked and on the table, on Fridays and fast days, +such food as we can partake of without scruple of conscience, or +violating the rules of the Catholic religion, of which we are unworthy +members."</p> + +<p>"This is strange," said Gulvert; "why did you not tell me ye belonged to +Rome, and were Irish?"</p> + +<p>"Why did we not tell you? Because you did not ask us. And besides, boss, +you hired us to work, and not to worship or believe according to your +notion."</p> + +<p>"I have never before kept a Papist to work for me," said he, drawing a +heavy sigh.</p> + +<p>"Well, boss, you can't know much about them, then. Perhaps you will be +agreeably disappointed, and find that, if we do not join your very long +prayers, we will <i>work</i> as well as the most red-hot Presbyterian."</p> + +<p>"I am much in doubt about that," said the boss.</p> + +<p>"Why so, boss? Can we not handle the plough, use the scythe, or the +cradle as well as if we were of your school of heresy?"</p> + +<p>"I allow; but the good book says that 'men don't gather grapes of +thorns, or figs of thistles;' so I am afraid my crops would not prosper, +if religious men were not employed in my fields."</p> + +<p>"O, you need not be alarmed, boss. God makes his sun to shine on the +good and the bad; and though we Papists appear very wicked in your pious +Presbyterian eyes, or in those of your amiable Methodist lady here, we +will guaranty your crops will be as good as those of your neighbors, +otherwise we will ask no pay. Ain't this fair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but the good book, you know. The Bible says so plainly," answered +the wife, "that men gather not grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles."</p> + +<p>"Bless you, madam," said the elder Devlin, "you are mistaken in the +meaning of that text, which has a figurative sense, and has no reference +to corn, pumpkins, rye, or any other crop that your farm produces."</p> + +<p>She shook her head in dissent to this speech, and in a most sanctified +tone said, "Our minister, Dr. Waistcoat, always applied that text to the +Papists when advising us against employing Romanist hired help."</p> + +<p>"That only proved him a booby, madam," said Devlin. "That text partly +alludes to the Presbyterian sect, and partly to the Methodist, to which +you belong."</p> + +<p>"I would like to see how you can show that," said she, affecting great +learning in such interpretations.</p> + +<p>"As clear as mud, madam," resumed Devlin. "The Presbyterian religion is +the 'thorn' tree on which no 'grapes' grow; for that sect reject the +Holy Eucharist, containing the blood of Christ, of which the grape is a +figure. It is full of thorns, for it persecutes and stings the head of +the Savior in his representative the pope; and it produces no 'grape,' +no sacrament, no good works, no refreshing food or drink. Again: the +'thistle,' that produces no figs, is the Methodist religion; because, +though it has plenty of stings and prickles to wound the hand that +touches it, the very ass that goes the road can bite off its head. Or, +in other words, though ye Methodists are malicious enough, all your +malice is harmless to the church, and a very fool can refute or crop +the most formidable of your arguments."</p> + +<p>This queer <i>private interpretation</i> disconcerted the <i>learned</i> boss and +his better half, and during the remainder of the service of the Devlins +they did not hear much more about the religious interpretations of these +professors of two contradictory sectarian creeds. The Devlins showed, +not only to the boss and his wife, that they knew more about the Bible +than themselves, but the minister, Mr. Waistcoat, was soon convinced, by +conversation with them, that they were not to be duped. The consequence +was, that the persecution to which Eugene was subjected was arrested for +a time; and it was not till after the Devlins were paid off that this +innocent child was again subjected to a series of punishments and brutal +treatment without parallel in the records of modern persecution.</p> + +<p>Every Friday that the young confessor refused, after the example of holy +Eleazer, "to eat flesh, or go over to the life of the heathens," (2 Mac. +vi. 24.) he was compelled to go without food till the Sunday following. +He was flogged with a "black snake," till the blood flowed in rills, +every time he refused going to meeting. He was compelled to stand out +under rain and storm, scorching sun and chilling frost, during the time +the family spent in prayer. Yes, tied with a thong to the pump by his +little soft, white hands, the juvenile martyr had to bear the merciless +violence of the elements, or consent to share in the blasphemous prayers +of his persecutors! And, O God! worse than all, they robbed him of his +rosary, and of the little bunch of shamrocks which were the only legacy +of his dying mother to him, and which his sister Bridget and he took so +much pains to keep alive in a small glass vase brought from Ireland. The +"<i>Agnus Dei</i>" and "<i>Gospel</i>" which it is usual with Irish Catholic +children to wear around the neck, were also forcibly stripped off his +person and put into the stove.</p> + +<p>All his much-prized memorials were now gone—his beads, or rosary, with +the crucifix attached, to remind him of his Redeemer; his little vase of +shamrocks, to remind him of Ireland and St. Patrick; and his "Gospel of +St. John," and "Agnus Dei," to recall to his mind his dignity and +obligations as a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and his +confidence in the Lamb of God who took away his sins. These constituted +all the riches and treasure of Eugene, and of these he was plundered and +stripped ere he was confined in the old deserted house that stood a few +rods away from the dwelling house, and where soon all the persecutions +he suffered were terminated.</p> + +<p>One evening in October, the team of Mr. Gulvert broke loose from the +post to which they were tied while he was at meeting, and, taking +fright, rushed along at full speed on a narrow by-road by the river that +ran through the village, till, coming in contact with the root of a tree +that protruded from the road, the horses and wagon were precipitated +over a fall of some twenty feet into the channel of the river beneath. +As the night was dark, and the road the animals took in their furious +course was not known, it was not till next morning that the fate of the +team was discovered, though not only Gulvert himself, but his hired +help, including his servant girl and wife even, were out all night on +the search for them.</p> + +<p>If the most unexpected calamity had visited these <i>enlightened</i> +Christians—if two of their children, instead of two of their horses, +had met with a sudden death,—their grief could not be more heartrending +or despairing than on this occasion. The whole family was in an uproar. +There were wringing of hands, lamentable cries, and bewailings the most +bitter, of the death of the best team in the town of Greenditch. The +very children, down to the youngest of six years old, joined their tears +to those of their parents and the adult members of the family. Not a +wink was slept, not a morsel of victuals cooked, nor even a fire kindled +in Mr. Culvert's house that night, and it was more than a week before +the pious Mrs. Gulvert could be consoled or prevailed on to show herself +down stairs. She was either really sick, or affected sickness, so that +it was doubted whether or not she could survive the loss of her "darling +team." O, what a loss was there! "The team would fetch two hundred +dollars between two brothers, and it was only last month the new wagon +cost seventy or eighty dollars; and all now gone."</p> + +<p>"What a misfortune that I went out to hear that preacher at all on the +Sabbath!" said Gulvert. "Had I remained at home, or walked down to +meeting, I would be three hundred dollars richer to-day than I am now."</p> + +<p>"Pa, where were the two Paddies, Pete and Bill, that they did not mind +the team while you were in meeting?" said young Harry.</p> + +<p>"Hang the cusses, Harry! They wanted to hear the preacher, too," +answered the father.</p> + +<p>"If I were you, pa," said little Libby, "I would keep the price of the +hosses out of Pete and Bill's wages, the ugly fellows, that did not mind +and keep the team from running away."</p> + +<p>"That would be but sarving 'em right, Lib," said her mother, heaving a +sigh.</p> + +<p>"Yes, wife," said Gulvert, "that I would gladly do; but you know they +are in my debt. I will be glad enough if they wait to work out the money +that I have advanced them."</p> + +<p>"You didn't <i>advance</i> them money, did you, Gulvert?" said his wife.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did that," said he, "by the advice of that old fool Parson +Waistcoat, who expected, as he succeeded in converting Pete and Bill +Kurney, that he would also convert the rest of their friends, if they +were out here from Popish Ireland."</p> + +<p>"O Gulvert," said his better half, sobbing again anew, "you will kill +me! I cannot live with you, that is the amount of it! How dare you, sir, +lend money, or dispose, of my means, without first having consulted me! +I lay my death at your door!" she added, in a sharp, angry tone.</p> + +<p>"Dear wife, don't blame me——"</p> + +<p>"Away, old man!" she interrupted, "away, and leave me here to despair! I +fear I will never again leave this bed; and if I find myself able, I +shall never after spend a day in your house, but go back to my native +state, and take out a bill of divorce against a man who knows nothing +but to spend and squander the means of his family."</p> + +<p>"O ma," said Libby, "do go away from father, the ugly fool, and I will +go with you, won't I?"</p> + +<p>"He ain't nothing else, sis," said she, "but a poor ugly fool, a +shiftless, good-for-nothing old man. O, me! O, me! I could easily have +known that this would be the case, from the dreams I had for two +nights."</p> + +<p>"I had a dream too, ma," said sis, who, though only going in her eighth +year, was perfectly well versed in all the arcana of the science of +interpretation. "I dreamed I saw you crying, ma," continued Lib, "and +that there was blood on the stairs, and all way up garret, and that +Shaw, my father, had spilt the blood all round."</p> + +<p>"That's just it, sis," said her mother; "the blood signifies the death +of our 'darling team;' my crying is on account of them; and Shaw, the +fool, your father, was the cause of all this trouble, and that is why he +appeared to you to spill the blood. My dream was not so clear as yours, +but I could have guessed that something was going to be the matter."</p> + +<p>Poor Gulvert was in great pain, in consequence, among other things, of +the oft-repeated threat of his wife to separate from him; and, to give +vent to his sorrowful reflections, he went up garret as quietly as he +could, and folding himself up in several heavy "comforters," or padded +quilts, he forgot his grief by falling into a sound sleep. Meantime Pete +and Bill Kurney, the two Irish converts of Parson Waistcoat, seeing +things in confusion, thought that now was the time for them to free +themselves forever from the hypocrisy, as well as bad board, of Mr. +Culvert; and, to add to the grief of Mrs. Gulvert, next morning they +were not to be had. These knowing fellows, hearing of Gulvert's +character, put themselves in his way, and being questioned as to the +nature of their doctrines, and finding them suitable to his taste, he +hired them, and brought them home to work on his farm. They not only +became "converts" during the first week in his house, but went to +meeting regularly, where they were complimented on their highmindedness +and independence in shaking off Popery, and got frequent chances to tell +their experience. Besides their hypocrisy, these were thorough +scoundrels; for they not only robbed their employer of the two hundred +dollars which he had advanced them to bring out their parents from the +old country, but in addition to this, and to the severity of the +punishments which their apostasy occasioned Eugene, these consummate +miscreants seduced the two sisters of Mr. Gulvert, one of them an old +maid, whom they imposed upon by their lying representations and profane +discourses. Here was a little more of the natural fruit of Mr. Gulvert's +great zeal for his sect. His two hired men were gone, without having +served one eighth of the two years they had agreed to work for the money +advanced to them; both his sisters, <i>pious things</i>, yielding to +temptation, were in a fair road to disgrace; and, to cap the climax of +the unfortunate man's guilt and remorse, Eugene O'Clery, neglected in +his prison in the old house, on the morning of All Saints' day, first of +November, was found dead on its damp floor! Yes, this spotless, +innocent, and almost infant but heroic confessor of Christ, after a +course of worse than pagan persecution continued for more than two +years, in the midst of legions of blessed spirits passed out of this +world, to add to the joy and glory of heaven by his heroic virtues. O ye +mock philanthropists, ye lovers, on the lip, of freedom of conscience, +where was your voice, where your sympathy, where your indignation, where +your meetings, speeches, and resolutions, when this Catholic child, this +destitute orphan, this noble son of Catholic Ireland, this spotless +confessor and glorious martyr of Christ, was being sacrificed, like his +divine Master, to the demon of cruel sectarianism? O, the blood of this +innocent Abel, of this infant martyr, shed by the cruel Herod of +Presbyterianism, will cry to Heaven for vengeance on your heads, and +bring a curse on your hypocrisy and dissimulation.</p> + +<p>The news of Eugene's death, communicated by the servant maid, created a +sudden fear, but very little sympathy, in the brutal family of Mr. +Gulvert. Overwhelmed by the loss of their "darling team," and confounded +by the loss of the money which the mock converts succeeded in cheating +them of, they had neither tears nor sympathy to spare for such a trifle +as the death of a "little Papist child."</p> + +<p>The servant girl, however, who was a Scotch lassie, called Jane McHardy, +cried bitterly over the death of the "poor orphan laddie," and, in +company with two neighboring workmen, or cotters, who <i>passed</i> for +Protestant Irishmen, watched around the corpse all night, and on the +day of its interment in the pagan cemetery, situated in a barren corner +of Gulvert's farm, they lingered for a considerable time around the +spot, to the scandal of the religious people who assembled to take a +look at the "face of the dead," and who began to suspect that those two +pretended Protestants were Catholics in disguise. Their suspicions were +well founded, as their subsequent conduct proved; for the two cotters, +on the Sunday following Eugene's death, went to the meeting house for +the last time, where they, in giving their experience, boldly professed +themselves Catholics, asked pardon of the people for having deceived and +imposed on the public, inveighing, at the same time, against the system +of persecution and underhand proselytism that prevailed, and which +produced the death of Eugene O'Clery.</p> + +<p>"Your ministers think they have great merit," said the Irish cotters, +whose names were Lee and Twohy, "when they succeed in causing a lax +Catholic to trample on every precept of his religion and to perjure +himself; but as God is just, and as those who counsel to evil partake of +its guilt, and will have to suffer its punishment, so will all the sins +that your minister's cruel advice led us to commit be laid to his charge +before the just tribunal of Christ."</p> + +<p>After this speech, the two Irish Catholic cotters retired from the +meeting, and ever since these two men have proved, by their repentance, +zeal, humility, and perseverance, that, though they fell from the +external practice of their faith, they did so influenced by the evil +advice and misrepresentations of persons who took advantage of their +inexperience and poverty to lead them astray. They were gradually, +however, becoming reconciled to the hard life of hypocrisy and sin which +they were induced to enter on, and might have forever continued in the +reprobate path on which, in an evil hour, they walked, had not the cruel +martyrdom of the holy orphan child aroused them from their slumbers. +Thus, as of old, does the "blood of martyrs become the seed of new +Christians;" and thus is Erin, even in America, still true to her +Heaven-appointed destiny—which is, that of being a missionary and a +martyr in the new world as well as in the old.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Considerate, et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i15 smcap">Lam. Jer.</span><br /> +</div></div> + + +<p>There was a complete suspension of the ordinary occupations on the farm +of Gulvert for near ten days, owing to the trials with which his family +was visited. The wife was still confined to her room, and continually +threatening her husband with the divorce, who, on his part, had no heart +to conduct the necessary work of his farm, he felt so dispirited at the +loss of his team and of the money out of which "his converts" had +tricked him. Add to this that there were very ugly rumors going the +round of the neighborhood in reference to the ill usage the little Irish +orphan met with. While he was living and in suffering, there was nobody +to sympathize with him or to say a word in his favor; but now, when that +sympathy could do him no good, according to the custom of modern +philanthropy, there was an abundance on hand, and the conduct of Shaw +Gulvert, as the agent of Parson Waistcoat, was censured by a thousand +tongues. This is characteristic of Protestant charity: when one is dying +of hunger, or forced to beg a crum of bread, she shuts her ears, and +points to the prison or poorhouse, as the only proper retreat for +whoever is compelled to commit the <i>sin</i> of mendicity; but no sooner +does the victim of her own neglect or misdirected benevolence die, no +sooner is he out of the reach of all human relief, than the heralds of +Protestant charity gather round his tomb, to proffer their assistance, +aid, and liberality—like the Jews building the tombs of the prophets +put to death by their own malice.</p> + +<p>This was the case in the instance here related. Some were for having the +body of the martyred Eugene exhumed, to see if there were any marks of +violence visible. Some proposed to raise a collection to have a monument +raised on his grave, and all unanimously condemned Gulvert's cruelty to +the "dear little child." What principally turned the current and force +of public opinion against Gulvert was, that he was impudent enough to go +and demand restitution of Parson Waistcoat, of the money that, on +account of his recommendation, he advanced to the runaway converts. And +the parson, to be revenged on Gulvert, on next meeting day called on the +congregation for their prayers, to save said Gulvert from the relapsing +gulf into which he had fallen. The parson, enraged at being held +accountable for the money lost by Gulvert, through his own "want of +godliness," as he termed it, and incensed on account of Gulvert's +declaration of deserting his church, held him up continually as a stray +sheep, and already, if not lost, far advanced on the broad way to +perdition. In the midst of this excitement, the progress of public +feeling against Gulvert was suddenly checked by the following +afflicting and sudden accidents.</p> + +<p>The wife of Gulvert, being a Boston lady, of course was altogether in +favor of the Sons of Temperance; but, by some means or other, she +happened always to keep a little in the house for medicinal purposes. It +was well known, among the well informed, that this lady, having been +"jilted," or, in other words, deceived, by a merchant in her native +city, who promised to marry her, was subject to frequent melancholy +attacks, and on these occasions especially did she make use of +"medicinal brandy." She suffered from one of these periodical attacks +now, and, consequently, the medicinal glass was always within her reach. +On the small stand by her bed stood two tumblers, one containing the +medicinal "eau de vie," and the other was half full of vinegar.</p> + +<p>She ordered Jane, on this fatal day, to pour a little laudanum into that +tumbler that contained the vinegar, to see if, by applying it to her +temples, it would not allay the terrible headache which she said had +tormented her. Instead of pouring the poison into the vinegar glass, +where would the Scotch Abigail empty the cruet but into the tumbler with +the brandy in it? Her mistress soon after quaffed off the liquor into +which the poisonous drug had been poured, and in an hour after she was a +lifeless corpse. This was not all; for, on the day of the funeral, young +Harry, Mr. Gulvert's son and heir, in order to show his devotion to his +beloved parent's remains, was all the morning busy in collecting flowers +with which to deck the room where she was laid in state, and, +attempting to reach a flower that grew out of the side of a deep, +deserted well, in the lower end of the garden, the little fellow fell in +and was drowned. "When the feet of them who buried" Mrs. Gulvert "were +at the door," they found out the corpse of Harry was at the bottom of +the well. It was a long time before any body could be induced to go into +that well, as well because it was very deep as on account of the +prevalent report in the neighborhood that Gulvert's father had killed a +negro and cast him into the well, with heavy weights attached to him. +After several unsuccessful attempts to raise the body, they at length +succeeded, by the aid and undaunted courage of a young man who was just +after riding up to the crowd, and who, on learning the cause of such a +gathering, generously volunteered to go into the well, notwithstanding +the hints he received from some of the bystanders that the "nigger" was +at the bottom. In a few minutes Paul O'Clery was at the bottom of the +"enchanted well," and, amid shouts of "Bravo!" and "Well done!" almost +instantly returned, with the lifeless body of little Harry in his arms. +But what's this that he finds tangled in the drowned child's hands? It +is surely the beads of his beloved mother, which she bequeathed as her +dying legacy to his youngest brother Eugene. How did it get into the +well? He trembled visibly as it struck his mind that possibly Eugene +might have fallen in too.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure there is nobody else in?" said he to the bystanders.</p> + +<p>"No, there ain't nobody else in," said Gulvert; "all we have left, now, +are around here."</p> + +<p>"And how came this relic to get into the well?" said Paul. "I think I +saw this before."</p> + +<p>"That? O, that's a toy that a young Papist orphan which we had used to +say his prayers on."</p> + +<p>"And where is that orphan now? O, tell me, where is he? For God's sake +tell me, where is my beloved brother?" exclaimed Paul.</p> + +<p>"He is dead."</p> + +<p>"O, don't mock me, but tell me the truth. I assure you I am a brother of +the orphan child, Eugene O'Clery. What has become of him?"</p> + +<p>"We do not joke, my young gentleman," said an aged man in the crowd. +"Your brother, the orphan you allude to, died suddenly on the night of +the first of this month, and was interred in yon mound on the second of +the month."</p> + +<p>"O Lord! O Lord! grant me patience. O my brother! O Eugene! O beloved +child of our hearts! what has become of you? Did you die on your bed, or +meet with an accident? or how did these beads you loved so well come +into this horrid, pestiferous well? O, woe is me! Why did I ever let you +out of my sight? Why did I not remain in servitude and slavery, rather +than let you into the care of the cruel, false-hearted stranger? O +villanous deceiver! O infamous prevaricator! Parson Dilman, why did I +listen to your seductive promises?"</p> + +<p>The reader may imagine, for we cannot adequately describe, the burden +of woe and grief which took possession of the soul of Paul when he found +that his darling brother, on whose account he suffered so much anxiety +and came such a distance, was gone forever from his sight. And when he +learned how he died; how, after countless tortures, by whippings, by +hunger, and by confinement, the delicate martyr of Christ was allowed to +perish on the damp floor of an old, deserted house; how he was deprived +of the memorials of his faith and country; how he was buried with as +little ceremony, and as much indifference, as if he had been an +irrational animal,—when he learned all these circumstances from the two +Irish cotters, Lee and Twohy, it took him to pray continually not to +yield to feelings of hatred and revenge.</p> + +<p>A circumstance related to him, however, by the peasants, whose +hospitality Paul consented to avail himself of for a few days, served to +reconcile him to Eugene's fate, and to inspire him with the most exalted +sentiments of forgiveness and good will towards the murderers of his +brother. Every night since Eugene's burial a bright column of light was +seen rising from his tomb, and terminating in the heavens above, where +the column became gradually wider, till it became like a wide circle of +glory, similar to that which appears around the moon on a winter's +night, when the atmosphere is at the snowing temperature. In the centre +of the circle appeared a beautiful cross of most perfect proportions, +and so bright in the bright circle that it was perfectly dazzling, and +the sight could with difficulty be fixed on it for an instant.</p> + +<p>This phenomenon was seen by the two Irish cotters frequently, and all +the neighbors around had observed the lower part of the column, but +concluded that it was phosphorus, which, they said, from some cause or +other, either the nature of the soil or from the bodies interred there, +ascended to the clouds, attracted by some atmospheric body there. Paul, +too, was blessed with this happy sight, but without indulging in the +gratification of a too curious or protracted observation of this vision; +and being fully convinced that it was no phosphoric combination of +natural phenomena, concluded to take off the body of his beloved +brother, and have it interred, in a Christian manner, in the same +consecrated tomb in which the remains of his father reposed. He was also +fortunate enough, by the payment of a liberal bonus, to succeed in +raising the body of his mother, whose tomb he was able to find out, by a +measurement which, on the day of her interment, he had made, and from +certain stones placed by him at the head of her coffin.</p> + +<p>Thus, by the piety of a son and a brother, were the three bodies of +these members of this pious and renowned family united again after a +temporary separation. "Lovely and comely in their life, even in death +they were not divided." In a Catholic cemetery, in the vicinity of New +York, can now be seen a beautiful monument of Italian marble, with the +names, ages, and places of the nativity of Arthur O'Clery, and his wife +Cecilia, and their son Eugene, inscribed in a neat cruciform slab in one +of the faces of the monument. In another slab are carved, in "bold +relief," the little vase of shamrocks brought by the family from +Ireland, together with the <i>Rosary and Cross</i>, suspended from the hand +of the virgin holding the child. On the third square of the tomb is +conspicuous a figure of Erin, holding in her right hand a crucifix, and +with the left hand pointing it to her children, with the words, "<i>Sola +spes nostra, ubi crux ibi patria</i>"—"This is our only hope; wherever the +cross is honored, call that your country."</p> + +<p>After having seen to the proper execution of all things in reference to +the tomb of his family, Paul O'Clery, with a heavy heart, returned to +acquaint his little brother Patrick and sister Bridget about the fate of +Eugene. He did not forget, however, before quitting the last +resting-place of his parents and brother, to have the grave fenced round +with a neat iron rail; and fixing all inside the fence in the form of +two pretty flower beds, he, with his own hands, carefully planted the +roots of the shamrocks which were brought from Ireland, and which he +luckily found in Mr. Gulvert's kitchen garden, where they had been +thrown, after having been taken from Eugene. And to this very day these +shamrocks flourish—neither frost, nor cold, nor parching heat, nor +inclement seasons being able to retard their growth; as if their verdure +and flourishing vegetation were supplied from the pure and genuine +Irish clay to which the bodies of the three O'Clerys have been long +since reduced.</p> + +<p>Paul now saw his people reduced by more than one half. When they left +Ireland, they were seven in number; now they were only three. He was too +well trained in Christian resignation, however, to repine at what +evidently appeared to him the dispensation of Heaven. After the example +of holy Job, therefore, he praised the Lord, to whom, if he deprived him +of his good parents, he was also indebted for being placed under the +care of such patterns of virtue. These several trials, and the +consequent distractions in which they involved him, made him more +disgusted than ever with the world; and his desire to consecrate himself +to God in the holy priesthood became stronger and stronger every day. +The Almighty seemed to have some special mission in view for this +spotless child of St. Patrick, when his mercy had conducted him, like +the children in the fiery furnace, so early through such meritorious +trials and sufferings, as it requires the most faithful correspondence +with grace to endure, and it falls to the lot of a few to encounter.</p> + +<p>The end of all his difficulties and trials had now arrived. From this +day forward the breeze that bore him along in his ecclesiastical voyage +became fairer and fairer, till, advancing from virtue to virtue, and +honor to honor, he became the glory of the church, and exercised such +influence on the destinies of his countrymen and of those committed to +his charge, that he might adopt the language of Joseph to his brethren: +"God hath sent me before you into Egypt, that you may be preserved on +the earth, and have <i>food to live</i>." (Gen. xlv. 7.) But this is +anticipating what naturally should have its place at the conclusion of +our narrative.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h2>THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS.</h2> + + +<p>"Now," said Murty O'Dwyer, one Sunday evening, as all the members of the +Prying family were seated around the tea table, "will any body doubt the +usefulness of confession? The very robber who, while under the influence +of drink and evil advice, plundered the widow O'Clery and her orphans of +their money, has returned from the scorching plains of the south, in +obedience to the advice of the priest to whom he confessed, to make +restitution; and he has made it."</p> + +<p>"It beats all I ever heard," said Mr. Prying.</p> + +<p>"That is only an ordinary occurrence with Catholics," rejoined Murty. +"Thousands of dollars, and I might say millions of money, are yearly +restored to those to whom it belongs, through the influence of this +divine institution."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what has Paul done with the rest of the money, after paying +for the board of himself and his sister and brothers?" said Calvin.</p> + +<p>"He has given me two hundred of it," said Murty, "to compensate me for +what I lost on account of the malice of Dominie Boorman, the +Presbyterian, because I could not believe according to his cruel code of +irreligion. He paid one hundred dollars for masses for the soul of poor +Cunningham, who died of fever and ague one week after his having made +the restitution. Two thousand, I believe, Paul paid into the convent +where his sister Bridget has gone to become a nun. And the rest, I +believe, he spent in raising an elegant monument over his parents and +beloved Eugene's remains. O, yes, I forgot; he paid five hundred dollars +towards the new Catholic church, S.A., where his convert friends +reside."</p> + +<p>"It is to me the strangest thing on earth," said old Mrs. Prying, "how +liberal these Catholics are in paying to the support of their religion. +Where on earth do they get the means to put up such costly buildings as +they have erected in scores, within my own knowledge, these past five +years?"</p> + +<p>"So far from this being strange," said Murty, "madam, it is the most +natural thing in the world. We know the Catholic religion is true. We +know it has God for its Author, and that through its teachings all men +must be saved that will be saved. Knowing this, we understand the merit +of supporting such an institution. What is the whole world to a man if +he lose his soul? and how can a man save his soul, if true religion be +wanting?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, what a noble critter that Bridget O'Clery was!" said Calvin, +changing the subject to her whose image stood uppermost in his mind, +"What a pity," he continued, "that she should ever become a nun! Do nuns +ever get married, Murty?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you know so much yet, Calvin? Certainly, they never do get +married. They vow to consecrate their hearts forever to God. In fact, +they anticipate, here in this life, what all the blessed do in the next +life—to live in God, and for God. I think the life of a holy nun," said +Murty, kindling into enthusiasm, "is superior to that of an angel, and +the merit far greater."</p> + +<p>Here it is as well to state that Calvin Prying, of late years, lost all +that zeal for stiff Presbyterianism that possessed him in his younger +days,—an ordinary occurrence with American Protestant young men,—and +that, instead of his former zeal, he now had the utmost indifference, if +not contempt, for the teachers of the hard creed of his cruel namesake +of Geneva. He had a heart, too; and though a phlegmatic and a rude one, +it could not remain insensible to the chaste charms and virtuous beauty +of Bridget O'Clery. For years this feeling was growing on him—the +exhortations, and lectures, and advices of little Parson Gulmore to the +contrary notwithstanding. In a word, though she was "Irish" and a +pauper, in the slang of parsons and officials, and though the vulgar +little dominie was continually ridiculing the Irish and the Catholics, +Calvin saw that Bridget was beautiful in countenance, and light as a +humming bird in heart—circumstances which insensibly made an impression +on the rude material of which his own was made, creating there a feeling +of love bordering on admiration and distant esteem. No sooner, however, +did it reach his ears that the money was restored to the orphans, and he +was told that Bridget was likely to have a portion of some thousands of +dollars, than his former esteem and admiration, as if by magic art, was +turned into love. And now, who dare say word against her? and how low, +contemptible, and wicked the counsels of Parson Gulmore, who attempted +to prejudice him against such a treasure, such a model of every virtue, +such an angel, as she "always appeared to him to be"! He would have +cheerfully "accepted the hand" of the poor "Irish" orphan when that hand +had some thousands of gold dollars in its beauteous grasp. The Yankee is +not remarkable for having an eye for the beautiful in nature or art; but +when <i>dimes</i> and <i>dollars</i> are in prospective, none is more penetrating +or sharpsighted than he. Beautiful paintings, cathedrals, the noblest +creations of the chisel, the most enchanting landscapes have just as +much attraction for his genius as they can be made available "for making +money," and no more. It was from the same principle that Calvin Prying's +love for Bridget O'Clery originated. Hence he was highly enraged at the +idea of her going into a convent, and had a strong notion in his head to +call a "public mass meeting," and pass resolutions against the +constitutionality of allowing young ladies of respectable fortunes to +enter convents. Indeed, he so far succeeded in creating an excitement in +his favor about deterring Bridget from entering the convent, as to get, +by the payment of a small sum, one of the daily papers of the city to +write an article in his favor, entitled "<i>Abduction</i>!" During a few +days, the editor of the same filthy sheet repeated his scurrilous +attacks on Catholicity, not forgetting to squirt a good deal of his dirt +on the Rev. Dr. Ugo, whom he blamed for encouraging the girl's +vocation, and thus depriving the <i>hungry</i> Presbyterian Calvin of a fair +wife and a handsome fortune.</p> + +<p>There was no great tumult created, however. Election was approaching, +and that absorbed all the excitable matter of the people, in spite of +the newspapers. The disputes and defences of the faith which Murty +O'Dwyer had to maintain since the departure of the young, "beautiful +Irish girl," as Bridget was called, were many and critical; but an event +now happened, that fanned the latent but active anti-Catholic fire into +a furious flame.</p> + +<p>One evening, at supper, after the news arrived at R—— Valley that Paul +O'Clery was not only a priest, but stationed in the second city then in +the Union, Amanda, casting her malicious eye at her youngest sister +Mary, on whose calm cheek she saw, and seemed to envy, the innocent +blush that started there, on having heard the paragraph alluding to Paul +read and commented on, thus addressed her:—</p> + +<p>"Ah, Mary, what do you say, now, to Paul, who is forever estranged from +you? for he is not only a priest, but a missionary among the 'Irish,' +and, of course, can never care about you again."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear he is a priest," said Mary, in a gentle voice; "for I +believe he will be more happy so than in any other situation in life. I +am sure I wish him happy, for he was ever good and amiable."</p> + +<p>"But yet," rejoined the old maid, "he never made you any return for all +your fondness for him. He never writes you any loving letters, nor +cares whether you are living or dead, or else he would write, or send +you some tokens of friendship."</p> + +<p>"You know a little too much, Amanda," said Mary. "I never asked him to +write; and I know he loves me so far as to pray for me, and that's all +he ever pretended to; and as for presents, I do not covet them, as I +have got this beautiful one, a miniature of the mother of God, set in +gold, which Paul presented to me when here last. See it here," she said, +drawing it from her bosom. "I would not give this for all the presents +in New York."</p> + +<p>"Idolatry! idolatry!" cried out Amanda. "Idolatry!" cried out Calvin and +the rest of the family. "Idolatry! yes, as the Lord liveth," groaned a +hollow, dramatic voice, as he entered by the woodshed way to the dining +room. It was that of Rev. Mr. Gulmore, who after a long absence, hearing +the Romanizing tendencies that threatened to desolate this once stanch +Presbyterian family, came, he said, "with his sickle," to cut down the +cockles, and "weed out this once fertile but now overgrown garden."</p> + +<p>"What is this I have been hearing?" thundered the little thick man, +stamping on the floor. "Is it possible that my senses deceive me? or +have I heard and seen the daughter of my friend, my Orthodox—once +Orthodox—friend, draw forth her idolatrous bawble from her American +bosom, and defend its use and veneration with her tongue? Is this true? +Tell me! Speak!"</p> + +<p>There was a short pause after this short declamation, delivered in the +most passionate form. At length, Mr. Prying, senior, coolly answered, +"Yes, Mr. Gulmore, I 'spect Mary is lost to your church, and inclined to +the Catholic system."</p> + +<p>"O Lord, forbid it!" cried the little thick man in white choker. "It +cannot be; we cannot allow it. I shall storm heaven with prayers. I +shall do violence to the Lord. I shall catch hold of him, and not let +him go till he give back this lamb to my bosom."</p> + +<p>Such were only <i>some</i> of the expressions, blasphemously familiar, which +this clerical mountebank made use of during a full half hour, that he +almost electrified the whole company by his half-mad gesticulations and +discourses. At length, when his legs began to fail, he got on his knees, +or rather on his <i>heels</i>—a posture the Irish call "on his <i>grugg</i>." He +prayed, and roared, and screamed, and he cried, as it were, shedding +tears, to the alarm of the oldest members of the family, who feared he +might burst a blood vessel, as he was a short-necked, plethoric, chunk +of a man; and to the infinite amusement of Murty O'Dwyer and the younger +members of the family, who, from the violence of the laughter that +seized them, were in danger of meeting that fate from which the former +wanted to save the parson.</p> + +<p>This levity on the part of the youngsters did not escape the notice of +his <i>weeping</i> reverence; and he no sooner recovered himself than he +administered a sharp reprimand to all concerned, but especially to +Murty.</p> + +<p>"I pity men of your country," said he, addressing Murty,—who, it must +be recollected, had made very great improvement in his education since +we first introduced him to our readers,—"I pity men of your country, on +account of the ignorance in which they are kept by the soul-destroying +system of Popery that binds them down."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Mr. Gulmore," said Murty, "I am sorry you don't take some other +means, besides those not very enlightened prayers you have volunteered +to favor us with, to dispel and instruct our ignorance."</p> + +<p>"Why, thou Papist boor, durst thou deny the power of prayer?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I have great faith in prayer, especially the prayer of a 'just +man;' but God forbid that I should regard your eccentric, indeed, I +might say blasphemous, effusions as prayer! You talk of the 'ignorance' +of my countrymen! Ah, sir, I have no hesitation in saying the most +ignorant among them would be ashamed of such silly-acting and disgusting +cant as you have just now delivered."</p> + +<p>"I blame you not," deluded Papist; "you have not felt the 'power of +prayer,' brought up in all the ignorance and idolatry of the 'scarlet +lady.' But it is not for you I prayed or wrestled with the Lord, but for +my beloved dove, this innocent victim of your idolatry and the hellish +arts of your church. Do you not feel the change of heart, Mary, my +love?" he said, approaching near to the girl. "Tell me, have I gained +thee? Has the Lord heard my groanings, and sighs, and petitions for thy +restoration to the creed of our Protestant fathers? Do, Mary dear, tell +me the feelings of thy heart! Do, love, comfort me by the assurance +that I have gained thee!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Gulmore," answered the good child, "I thought you had long since +ceased visiting us, and we hoped never again to be annoyed by your +ministrations. Your conduct in combining with my step-sister here, in +conjunction with the late postmaster of S——, to prevent Paul from +holding correspondence, has disgusted, not only me, but even father, +beyond the limits of reconciliation; and whatever I may think of your +religion, be assured I have no two opinions about yourself."</p> + +<p>"O, she is lost, I greatly fear! Fallen is an angel from heaven! Save, +save, O Lord!" cried the parson, as Mary Prying rose up from her seat +and left the room.</p> + +<p>The foregoing rebuke of the spirited girl brought this craven-hearted +dominie at once to his senses, and during the remainder of the evening +he was more rational in conduct and discourse, seeing that Mary was the +darling of her father, who would allow the parson to make no reflections +on the motives that actuated her in the steps she was about to take.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid, parson," said Murty, breaking the embarrassing silence +that continued for a few minutes, "I am afraid the lady has eluded the +forceful grasp of your powerful prayer. I guess she will become a nun, +too, notwithstanding your great efforts to make her sing</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"But I won't be a nun; I can't be a nun;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'm so fond of pleasure that I can't be a nun."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"I greatly fear, yer riverince," said he, affecting the broadest Irish +brogue, "y'ill have to phray a great deal yet afore you convart her from +her resolution."</p> + +<p>"We must submit to the decree of the Lord in all that he has planned +from the beginning of the world, Murty," said the parson, resignedly.</p> + +<p>"Think the Lord has decreed Mary for the nunnery, reverend and learned +sir?" said Murty, affecting great politeness.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly, Murty; but the Lord, by his inscrutable decree before the +creation, has passed sentence on all accountable beings: some he has +delivered over to irremediable wrath, and others he has predestined to +glory and bliss eternal; and no efforts of men can reverse these +irrevocable decrees."</p> + +<p>"O, dreadful!" said Murty. "I always heard that God willed all men to be +saved; that it was in every man's power to avoid evil, and do good; that +the giving of the commandments supposed the perfect liberty of men; and +that, supposing the grace of God, all men had the means of salvation +within their reach. If your system were true, all efforts of man to save +himself would be useless, and all your pulpits and sermons would be +worse than useless; for they would be a gross imposition, and a loss of +time."</p> + +<p>"There is where you are in error, Murty," said the parson. "Churches, +pulpits, Bibles, and ministers are the machinery the Lord makes use of +to secure the perseverance of the elect."</p> + +<p>"That talk appears to me silly," rejoined Murty. "The elect are to be +saved, or they are not; if they are to be saved by the decree of God, +then there is no use of you and your machinery; if they can lose their +'election,' and become reprobate, then your theory is contradictory, +absurd, and grossly perversive of the gospel. Take your choice of the +horns of the dilemma."</p> + +<p>The parson here entered into a very unintelligible explanation of a +subject which constitutes, in defiance of common sense and of the +plainest teaching of the gospel, the leading dogma of Presbyterianism; +namely, foreordination, or the eternal decree of every man's election or +reprobation, irrespective of free will, good works, or even the +all-saving merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>"How contradictory the tenets of sectarianism!" said Murty. "You, that +accuse Catholicity of teaching absurd and incredible doctrines, are +yourselves enslaved by the most incredible and contradictory creeds. It +is the same in every sect. Take the Methodists, and they are the very +contrary of what their name signifies. Instead of following any <i>method</i> +in their mad orgies, they would seem to be, <i>intellectually</i>, the +successors of the ancient bacchanalians. They would carry man back to +his primitive <i>woods</i>, and, by the medium of plenty of 'straw,' would +annihilate the distinctions between the sexes, by introducing a +promiscuous intercourse, and legalizing, by custom, the most indecent +practices."</p> + +<p>"You have been at a camp meeting then, I see," said the parson, glad +that attention was turned from his own sect to one that was a rival of +it.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I have, I regret to be obliged to confess," said Murty; "and +I must say that the Methodists, by their conduct there, showed +themselves more ingenious in inventing the means of election than those +of the church of Calvin."</p> + +<p>"How so, Murty? In what do they exceed the Presbyterians?"</p> + +<p>"Why, in this, that they have beat you hollow in securing salvation. You +make use of churches, pulpits, parsons, Bibles, and anti-Popery lectures +to secure the election for the brethren; but the Methodists secure the +same gift by means of some 'straw.' At the camp meeting held last year +at M——ville, of which the Irish laborer who spent a night there said, +'that there were more <i>souls made there</i> than convarted,'—at that +meeting, where there were twenty thousand persons present, I heard a +preacher cry out, 'More straw! more straw! Fifty souls lost for the want +of straw!' Now," continued Murty, "this is what I call progress, to make +as much out of a good bed of straw as you do out of all your church +machinery for saving souls."</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! ha!" said the parson, turning to Mrs. Prying. "He is right; I +saw and heard them myself at such absurdities."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Murty, "you or any other Americans who are aware of such +gross impositions on the credulity of your people, and of their gross +ignorance, should be the last persons on earth to reproach the Irish or +any other people with ignorance, superstition, credulity, or fanaticism. +Good night, parson, and every time you are tempted to reproach an +Irishman with ignorance, think of 'More straw! more straw! Fifty souls +lost for the want of straw!' and that this sermon was preached in +enlightened America of Bibles!"</p> + +<p>After the departure of Murty from the room, Gulmore, to make amends for +his senseless conduct in his attempts to convert Mary Prying, became +very complaisant, and, for the want of a better subject, resumed the +subject of the extravagances of the Methodists where Murty left off. He +knew, also, that old Mrs. Prying had an antipathy to that sect.</p> + +<p>"The Irishman is an amusing fellow, I perceive," commenced he; "he is +not far wrong in his description of the Methodists, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"I never could bear that denomination," said Mrs. Prying, "especially +since the time that Morefat carried on over in Vermont; and I am still +more displeased since that Minister Barker seduced Amanda to his +meeting, together with others of our regular members."</p> + +<p>"They are a horrid set!" said the dominie. "Did you not hear of the +donation party at brother Funny's, last new year's?"</p> + +<p>"No. Do you mean the talk about Miss Talebearer?"</p> + +<p>"Worse than that, although nothing secret. Nothing that the whole town +has not heard. You know Mr. Funny was rather poor, having been but a few +months on the 'circuit;' and so Mrs. Plumpcheek, wife to Aaron +Plumpcheek, while he was off in Virginia, went to the party, and there +offered to kiss every man that would pay her a dollar for the proceeds +of the donation! The consequence was, that she realized seventy-five +dollars in hard cash, though most of the boys paid her but two +shillings. And thus poor Brother Funny made a handsome sum by the <i>free +charms</i> of Mrs. Plumpcheek! Ever since her husband is made jealous, and +I think he has reason."</p> + +<p>Sectarians, you who are so loud in your pretended zeal for education and +morals, you who talk so much and loudly about the corruption of Popery +at home and abroad, why do you not cast the beam out of your own impure +eyes, and then you may see in your own land of plenty, carried on under +the <i>sanction of what you call religion</i>, scenes such as the annals of +paganism can scarcely parallel.</p> + +<p>We can prove the facts related above by Parson Gulmore to be literally +true, and to have happened annually for years under the sanction of +<i>religious</i> ministers, and exposed to the cognizance of fathers and +mothers accompanied by their <i>daughters</i> and <i>sons</i>.</p> + +<p>We publish these things reluctantly, on account of our readers; but we +must tell the truth, though it be piecemeal and in fractional parts, +rather than in the full view of its naked reality.</p> + +<p>Is it not time to say to these hypocritical sects, "Physicians, heal +yourselves"? Look into the conduct and constitutions of your own bodies +ere you turn censors on others. The corruptions and deformities of your +own bodies will take all your zeal, all your energy, and all your +lives, to correct, purify, and eradicate, leaving the Catholic church to +reform whatever abuses may have crept into the lives or morals of her +children by the ordinary resources, which are ample, and always within +her reach.</p> + +<p>Really, the hypocrisy, audacity, and malice of the Pharisees of old, in +persecuting Jesus Christ in the flesh, were not equalled, in degree or +intensity, to the malice and hypocrisy of sectarians, under every +Protestant title, in their unrelenting hatred of the same divine Person +in his mystical body here on earth!</p> + +<p>'Tis all nonsense to reproach <i>Catholics</i> with conduct similar, or as +gross, as these instances of immorality which we justly charge on the +Protestant sects. Catholics, as individuals, may be, and have been, +guilty of grave crimes and scandalous immoralities; but does the church +countenance or connive at their conduct? No; we say, emphatically, No. +On the contrary, she condemns vice in every shape, and denounces, like +another Baptist in the wilderness, the wrath of Heaven on the workers of +iniquity. Is there one of her precepts, counsels, or rules, that guards +not against sin and its occasions? According to the accusations of her +enemies themselves, who reproach her, with too much severity, of +imposing too many restrictions on the passions, is she not continually +preaching up to her followers the necessity of self-denial, humility, +purity, charity, prayer, fastings, watchings, and, above all, OF +SHUNNING THE OCCASIONS OF SIN? Hence, in the whole volume of her +history for eighteen centuries and better, we read not of one <i>camp +meeting</i> sanctioned by her, nor that she ever authorized her ministers +to <i>feel "for the change of heart</i>" in young ladies, to proclaim the use +of "more straw" for the conversion of both sexes, or to raise funds by +the abominable practices of the "donation parties" for the support of +her institutions. And mind, these scandals the sectarian churches +sanction and carry on under the sun of heaven, by day as well as by +night, exposed to the jeers and ridicule of one another, and to the +condemnation of the Catholic church. When they are such in "the +greenwood, what would they be not in the dry"? If, like the Catholic +church, they had the world to themselves for "a thousand years and +more," what abominations would their spurious churches have not only +tolerated, but have instituted and approved? If they have produced +Mormons, Transcendentalists, Universalists, and spiritual rappers, in +the nineteenth century, what monsters would they not have produced in +the ninth?</p> + +<p>In the "dark ages," the Catholic church saved the world, preserved +literature, civilized real barbarians, and, above all, practised, as +well as preached, a <span class="smcap">pure morality</span>. The Protestant sects in this +enlightened age, by their novelties, by their dissensions, and, above +all, by the low standard of morals which they inculcate, threaten to +throw the world back again to the dark chaos from which Catholicity has +drawn it, and to substitute for the glory of Christianity the miserable +philosophism and superstition of the degenerate days of paganism.</p> + +<p>In proof of these statements, we refer any candid mind to the +"spiritual rappers," "women's rights," "Mormonism," "gold hunting, and +other manias," which, within the last few years, have sprung from the +sectarian systems and their teaching, and from no other source.</p> + +<p>We are horrified at the morals and tenets of the Gnostic sects, the +Manicheans, the Albigenses, and other defunct heresies of old; but we +doubt if any thing more impious, immoral, or absurd happened under the +auspices of these by-gone sects than the blasphemies, delusions, and +corruptions carried on under the cloak of your "camp meetings," +"revivals," "mediums," "spiritual wife system," and other modern +<i>reproductions</i> of the Protestant Christian churches, falsely so called.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h2>IN WHICH THE SCENE OF OUR TALE IS CHANGED.</h2> + + +<p>The events recorded in the foregoing chapters, as you are aware, good +reader, happened principally among the poor and humble of life; and this +was in accordance with the scope of our narrative, having no higher +ambition than to chronicle the lowly annals of that numerous class of +the community. <i>Nunc paulo majora.</i> Now we must introduce you into high +life. We turn our eyes to one of those grand mansions of the rich,—one +of those palaces of the "upper ten,"—where few of the humble are +privileged to enter, much less to be introduced or admitted on terms of +familiarity. It is our privilege to introduce you, friend of the +blistered hand and dusty coat, but of the honest heart, into that palace +of the merchant prince of the second city in the Union, in order that +you may see and judge for yourselves whether or not more happiness +dwells there than in your homely residence. See the imposing structure, +with the neatly-mowed lawn in front. Observe the taste and artistic +skill with which the walks, the little hedges, and the shrubberies are +laid out. You can yet get but an imperfect view of the proud edifice +itself, which seems as if a monarch, that looks down with dignity and +authority on the countless array of ordinary buildings that extend as +far as the eye can reach on every side. The gates, as you enter the +enclosure, are of massive iron, painted green, and, by the help of +machinery, yield to the gentlest pressure of the hand, as if some spirit +of the ancient fabled Olympus kept guard at their hinges. It is a +complete "<i>rus in urbi</i>," inside the outer wall. Here the luxuriant +grape vine creeps along in graceful festoons, groaning under the +pressure of her full paps; there the lofty and beauteous palm spreads +his cooling and protecting branches.</p> + +<p>On one side see the fruitful lemon and orange trees, bending under the +weight of their golden and emerald productions; on the other the +fragrant apple, the sweet pear, and mellow peach borrow support from the +strong granite wall to bring their burdens to maturity. Behold there two +fountains casting their crystal and refreshing contents aloft, as if +making restitution to the thirsting atmosphere for what they stole from +him under ground. The water falls back again, however, and is received +by the marble basin at the base, to form a neat pond, where gold and +silver fish sport and gambol. A little at a distance, to the rear, the +fragrance of honey and the busy hum of the bee are perceived by your +grateful senses. The place looks like an earthly paradise; every thing +there seems to laugh without restraint, from the creeping rose fastened +to the hedge to the tall, princely-looking mountain ash, with its +bunches of red berries.</p> + +<p>The only one living thing that seemed pensive and sad there was a +lovely, delicate fawn, which rested, with her head drooping, at the foot +of a rose bush, on the summit of the little green mound which was the +centre of this delightful spot. Perhaps the lovely creature is after +being weaned from the udder of its affectionate dam; or, perhaps, she +grieves for the absence of some favorite in the palace of whom she is +the pet. But that the creature grieves is evident, for you could see the +two moist tracks furrowed on the smooth face, from the tears that have +flowed there.</p> + +<p>But the inside of the "great house," who can describe it? From the +ground floor to the uppermost attic, the rooms presented that waste of +furniture, in the shape of sofas, ottomans, easy chairs, couches, +carpets, tapestries, curtains, paintings, pier glasses, plate, and a +thousand other articles contributive of ease and luxury, which the most +extravagant expenditure could procure or vanity suggest. In truth, the +interior was the exact counterpart of the exterior, in the artistic +arrangement and splendor of every thing. To the eye of an observer, on +an ordinary occasion, every thing appeared gorgeous in the extreme; but +on the occasion we describe, when preparation was making for a grand +reception, all was joy, mirth, luxury, and happiness. Servants of every +color and hue were seen moving through the labyrinths of the saloons and +chambers of this great palace, uncovering the long-concealed splendors +of valuable articles, and arranging every thing for the most +advantageous show.</p> + +<p>And</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Now through the palace chambers moving lights<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And busy shapes proclaim the toilet's rites;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From room to room the ready handmaids hie,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Some skilled to wreathe the headdress tastefully,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or hang the veil, in negligence of shade,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'er the warm blushes of the youthful maid."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Splendid services of gold and silver plate met the eye in every +direction, on their way to the grand dining room; while, from the +remotest part of the building, the sense of smelling was simultaneously +assailed by several currents of delightful culinary exhalations, which, +like the winds in the cave of Æolus, struggled for egress from their +confined birthplace.</p> + +<p>This is one of those occasions on which the Dives of this sumptuous +palace, Mr. Goldrich, intends to celebrate his birthday; and as he can't +tell where he was born, nor can he show any genuine images of his +ancestry, (except that he came down a scion from the great "Anglo-Saxon +race,") he is determined to make amends for this calamity he could not +help, and the want of taste in his father, whoever he was, by spending +an ordinary fortune in the present celebration, and thus combine the +splendors of all the possible past anniversaries of his birth in one +grand, unrivalled celebration to-day.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And here, at once, the glittering saloon<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bursts on the sight, boundless and bright as noon."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The select music of splendid bands now announced the movements of +guests towards the grand banquet room. In pairs they enter, and +singular; the short procession is now at an end, and the places are +filled up with the scanty number of twoscore guests, male and female.</p> + +<p>You would have supposed, from the preparation, that the inhabitants of +the entire city were invited; but no, the exact number was forty, +besides the members of the rich man's family. And this happened not by +accident, or because of the penury or avarice of Mr. Goldrich, but +because in the whole city there were no more than twenty families who +ranked in the sphere of the "upper ten" in which "mine host" moved. +These shining figures, that you can scarcely look at without risk to +your eyes from their jewelry, are the ladies who leave us in doubt which +they love most to exhibit—their charms, or the richness of their +ornaments. Among that bright array of female beauty there is missed the +fair form of one who was, heretofore, an ordinary occupant of an +honorable place at the family table. It was the chair of the +rosy-cheeked Alia that was unoccupied at this splendid circle. The +presiding queen of the feast, Madam Goldrich, apologized for the absence +of "poor Alia," by representing her indisposed; and at the announcement +of this dispiriting intelligence, disappointment marked the countenances +of the guests, for Alia was the brightest star that shone in that +brilliant galaxy of fashion.</p> + +<p>Being the oldest among the children of Mr. Goldrich, Alia possessed all +that graceful and dignified superiority over those whom she regarded as +her younger sisters, which are the acknowledged privileges of age in +every well-regulated family, and which her superior talent seemed +naturally to enforce.</p> + +<p>Years rolled on, and the dear child lived in blissful ignorance of her +origin and desolate condition, till the jealousy of her younger sisters +excited her suspicions, and she began to mistrust the genuineness, as +she felt the coldness, of that parental affection which the pretended +authors of her existence so long counterfeited. During many months, if +not years, these suspicions preyed on the poor girl's mind; and though +she never dared to mention them to any save old Judy, the negro woman, +she felt satisfied that her sisters and herself could not belong to the +same stock or the same race. The transparent delicacy of her complexion, +the rosy tint on her cheek, unrivalled by the costly paint of her +sisters, the shining blackness of her splendid hair,—all these +circumstances pointed her out and proclaimed her as of a different race +to those whom she hitherto regarded as her kindred. Long had she mused +on the cause of this disparity, and much had she suffered, in the depth +of her soul, from the representations and suggestions of her active +imagination in reference to her origin, and many were the tears shed by +her while oppressed with these doubts. But the events of this day, added +to the late insolent conduct of her sisters, which provoked the +reprimand of her peevish mother guardian, who told her to curb her +"Irish temper,"—these cleared up all her doubts; and, filled with a +melancholy joy at a revelation she owed to the jealousy and vanity of a +proud mother and her daughters, Alia retired to her room to give vent to +her feelings in sobs and tears.</p> + +<p>"Thank God," she cried, "I know what I am, or ought to be. Thank God I +am Irish, too, for I often wished I belonged to that much-abused and +persecuted people. But O, where shall I find my parents? or how came my +lot to be cast in this proud palace, which, alas! I too long regarded as +my home? O, who, who will restore this poor 'exile of Erin,' to the home +of her unknown parents? How gladly would I exchange all the splendor of +this place for the homeliest cot in that land of the shamrock and the +cross; ay, the poorest 'cabin, fast by the wild-wood,' in the land of +St. Patrick, and my unknown ancestors."</p> + +<p>Such were the soliloquies of poor, despised Alia, in her room on the +third floor, where old aunt Judy, the negro, having missed her favorite +from the grand company, after having sought her in vain in the lower +saloons of the house, just entered her room.</p> + +<p>"Dere, now, Miss Ali', am poor aunt Judy half kilt from sarching for you +all over. What make you be here, and all the gran' gem'men asking for +you?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, aunt Judy, why have you all along denied of me all knowledge of my +extraction, parentage, and race? Did you not know that I was Irish? and +yet you always denied that I was, though I have suspected I was, and you +must have known it, having lived so long in the family. This is not what +I expected from you, aunt Judy," she said, casting a look of gentle +reproach at the old negro.</p> + +<p>"O, dear, miss—O, dear," cried the poor affectionate creature, bursting +into tears; "don't blame dis ole nigger, but massa and missus, and Miss +Sillerman, sister to the missus who died last year. They forbid aunt +Jude to tell who rosy-faced Ali' was. I was bound to swear not to tell. +If they knowed I did hab a <i>parle</i> vit you on de subject, they would +turn poor ole Jude out de door to die in the poor <i>maison</i>."</p> + +<p>This poor negro woman was a native of St. Domingo, and, at the time of +the revolution there, came to New Orleans, in care of a child belonging +to one of the white planters who was murdered—which child, by the way, +has since become a pious and eminent clergyman. By some accident or +other she fell in with the Goldriches, in their commercial visits to New +Orleans, and, though brought up a Catholic, the poor thing forgot all +practice of her religion, and this accounts for her evasions and denials +to the repeated questions of Alia regarding her parentage and birth.</p> + +<p>"'Pon my fait, miss," she ever said, "I know nothing about you, 'cept +that you are the rose-cheeked Ali', the <i>fleur de lis</i> of the flock."</p> + +<p>Promises, and flattering presents, and all other persuasive arts of Alia +to get the secret out of Judy proved useless. She had promised to keep +it, and no human authority, she thought, could ever cause her to violate +that promise. Although Judy had, through fear of displeasing her +patrons, given up all public practice of her religion, she nevertheless +never denied that she was a "Catholique," and never omitted to recite +full five decades of the beads after going to bed. She declared she +could not fall asleep till she complied with this rather lazy effort of +prayer. Besides these rather faint evidences of her faith, she often +told her loved Ali' that she intended calling in the priest at the hour +of her death; and she confided to the honor of the young lady this +secret desire of hers, and elicited many promises from her Ali' to send +for his reverence when she would perceive her end approach. "This is +rather a singular notion of yours," Alia used to say. "If you are a +Catholic, and believe your faith the best, or the only true one, why do +you not practise its teachings, and fulfil all the requirements of your +church? I am sure neither father nor mother would blame you."</p> + +<p>"O miss, I feard, I feard," the poor, timid soul would answer. "But tink +of vat I tol' you; when I go to die, send for the <i>bon</i> priest, who know +how to do the '<i>parle Française</i>,' and I pray for you when I go to +heaven."</p> + +<p>"I shall do that for you, poor aunt Judy, or even attend you now, while +you are in health, to the Catholic church, where you can go to the +sacraments, and become a member again of that church which you have so +long neglected, but which yet seems still to retain a strong hold of +your affections and heart. Won't this be the best course, aunt Judy? I +will attend you to the church of that zealous young Irish priest whom I +see so often hurrying along here to his sick calls up town; and as I +suspect I am 'Irish' myself, I hope he will not be displeased at my +call."</p> + +<p>"O, you no Irish, miss, at all, but good Yankee. But tish better not go +for de priest till he come to me when I go to die. Now I have religion +here in <i>mon coeur</i>; ven I die, I profess her open."</p> + +<p>"Well, Judy, act as you wish; but it appears to me your conduct is +singular. I shall do my part, however; and if there is a priest to be +had in the city when you take to your death bed, you must have him to +attend you."</p> + +<p>It was by such communings and conversations as the foregoing, during the +leisure hours of aunt Judy and her loved Ali', that mutual confidence +and disinterested friendship grew into maturity between them—the +childish and helpless simplicity of the one, and kind and good-natured +condescension of the other, producing the like effects in the hearts of +both respectively—that is, disinterested friendship. Yet strong as this +friendship was, and enthusiastic as was the love of Judy for her +"rosy-cheeked" favorite, they were not sufficient to cause her to reveal +the secret of her birth and adoption, even at this hour of Alia's +deepest grief and affliction.</p> + +<p>There were two causes for this her unaccountable silence. Firstly, she +had promised not to mention the slightest circumstance connected with +the adopted child, and she feared punishment from the anger of her proud +massa, whose disgrace might be the consequence. And again, having been +in the habit of hearing all sorts of reflections on the "Irish," whom +some mad abolitionists would gladly enslave in place of the blacks, poor +Judy thought to save Alia from the mortification of finding herself +"Irish," by her equivocation and falsehood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h2>SHOWS HOW THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK WERE PERMANENTLY UNITED AFTER A LONG +SEPARATION.</h2> + + +<p>Paul O'Clery had been appointed pastor of one of the principal churches +in the second city in the Union, as we have before mentioned, and +already the evidences of the "care of souls" with which he was charged +for several years began to manifest themselves on his placid brow. His +was a life of unceasing activity. The visitations of the sick, the calls +of charity, the hearing of confessions, together with the instruction of +youth and the preaching of God's word,—these, the ordinary lot of +pastors, constituted but a share, and not the largest one, of his +onerous duties. Ever mindful of his own destitute condition while an +orphan deprived of both parents, all the orphans of the +thickly-inhabited district that constituted his mission became objects +of his special care. And at a time when such an institution as a +Catholic orphanage was regarded as visionary, or the ephemeral creation +of a too ardent zeal, this good pastor succeeded in founding and +supporting an asylum which has since become of incalculable value, not +only to the Catholics as a body, but to the inhabitants of the whole +city and state. A house of refuge for repentant Magdalens, placed under +the care of the Sisters of Mercy, commanded his next care. In a word, +the founding of schools, hospitals, confraternities, guilds, and other +pious institutions exercised all of his time that was not devoted to +his strictly ecclesiastical duties; so that his sister Bridget, known in +religion as Sister St. John of the Cross, complained a good deal of his +want of charity in not having visited her but once in seven years. "Ad +majorem Dei gloriam,"—"To the greater glory of God,"—was this pious +Levite's motto; and he was dead to all the ties of flesh and blood, and +heedless of all calls save those of charity to his God and his neighbor.</p> + +<p>In the pulpit, the spontaneous eloquence of his heart chained the +attention of his hearers; and his discourses, though rather inclined to +asceticism than controversial, went to the hearts, and convinced the +understandings, of unbelievers of the divinity of the doctrine he +preached. No class of his fellow-creatures was excluded from the +influence of his boundless zeal. Protestants—to whom he was very mild, +on account of his knowledge of the ignorant prejudices in which they are +bound by the malice of their teachers—heard him, and became converts to +the church of God. Even the neglected negro race claimed and received a +full measure of his zeal. He established a school for the children of +these neglected sons of Africa, and never lost an opportunity of +visiting them at the death bed or in the hour of serious sickness.</p> + +<p>It was on occasion of one of these visits that God rewarded his priest, +even in this world, by the joyous disclosure which we here record, and +which, next to his grace of vocation to the priesthood, of all the +manifestations of God's mercy to him, claimed his sincerest gratitude +and thanksgiving. After the end of the grand "birthday banquet," which +lasted for a day and two nights, Alia's position at the palace became +more disagreeable than ever. The young girls frowned on her and shunned +her society, and Madame Goldrich, after she had got over the fatigue of +the party, read her a smart lesson on her "ill manners and Irish +temper," because she dared to absent herself, to the disappointment of +the guests, from a table at which she was denied her proper and usual +place. "Alia, this conduct of yours must be reformed, and that quick, or +your separation from this family, to which you do not belong, must soon +take place. I ain't goin' to let you take precedence of my children no +longer."</p> + +<p>To this vulgar speech of the "princess, our hostess," as she was +flatteringly toasted by a John Bull guest who was there, Alia answered +not a word, but, having retired to her room, fell on her knees and +prayed long and fervently to the God of her fathers to assist her by his +inspirations, and direct her to the best, in her present perplexity. +Having unburdened her bosom of a load of grief by a copious effusion of +tears, and felt in her spirit that calm resignation which a sense of its +own forlorn condition and a total reliance on God are calculated to +inspire even in the unregenerate and imperfect soul, Alia now proceeded +to the chamber of old Judy, whose expected illness had at last arrived, +having been ill now for three days. On perceiving her entrance into the +room, the old negress appealed to her in most supplicating terms to +fulfil her promise to send for "de priest, for now de hour am come. O +Ali', angel, dear," she cried, "do not let me die without the 'bon +Dieu,' or I lost foreber. O, haste! O, haste!"</p> + +<p>Alia lost no time, but, taking pen and paper, wrote as follows to the +bishop of the diocese:—</p> + +<p>"The Right Rev. Catholic bishop is respectfully informed that there is a +negro woman lying dangerously ill at Mr. Goldrich's, who, being a +Catholic, desires the last rites of that church. Being a native of St. +Domingo, the French is her vernacular tongue; for which cause it will be +desirable, if possible, to send, a clergyman who can speak that +language."</p> + +<p>A young negro lad was the bearer of this despatch, and he returned in +less than an hour, attended by Rev. Paul O'Clery, whom the bishop sent +to answer this urgent call, all those of the episcopal residence having +been out since early morning attending on the sick in their respective +localities. In order to avoid any further cause of displeasure to Mrs. +Goldrich, Alia had given the negro lad instructions to bring the priest +in through a private door that communicated with the garden, rather than +attract attention by entering the hall door. She had a full view of the +countenance of the young priest, through the window, while he was +crossing that part of the garden that lay next the houses of the city, +and, strange! her heart throbbed, and an indescribable sensation passed +over her frame.</p> + +<p>"How happy," she thought, "must be the sister of such a gentleman as +that! how different her lot from mine!"</p> + +<p>The priest entered, and was received with a very polite bow by Alia, +which was returned profoundly. Declining to take a seat, on account of +his many other urgent calls, he was escorted to old Judy's chamber by +his fair guide, who, on the way thither, explained to him what sort of a +person she was, and how odd in her notions about religion. Having +conducted him to her bedside, she made a polite bow, and retired, asking +if her services were further needed.</p> + +<p>The priest answered, "No; that he believed all the requirements for this +holy but melancholy service were prepared, and that he supposed he had +to thank her for the nice arrangements he observed."</p> + +<p>"Yes, mon pere," said old Judy, in half French, half English, "there is +the '<i>chandel</i>,' the '<i>eau-benite</i>,' the '<i>la croix</i>,' and the rest, +that I keep many year for my deathday."</p> + +<p>It was only when she retired from the chamber that the priest caught a +full view of the fair Alia; and now</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A strange emotion worked within him, more<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than mere compassion ever worked before."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He saw in this interesting stranger the strongest resemblance to his own +sister Bridget. There were the same raven hair, the same candid and +large eyes, the same broad and well-set teeth so peculiar to the +O'Clerys, and the same form almost to a line. The groans and urgent call +of his penitent Judy, however, soon recalled his mind from its reveries, +and he banished all thoughts of Alia, as temptations, or, at least, +speculations, which it was for the present useless to entertain. He put +on his stole, and after a short aspiration for light and grace to +discharge his duty to the sick woman, was just in the act of repeating +the prayer, "<i>Dominus sit in corde tuo et in labiis</i>,"—"May the Lord be +in your heart and lips,"—when the creature, raising herself up in her +bed, prevented him, saying, "Mon pere, I vant, before I begin the +confession, to tell you a secret that burden my mind long time."</p> + +<p>She then proceeded to tell how that young lady he had just seen had been +adopted, or rather kidnapped, by the family she now lived with; how her +name was changed from Aloysia to Alia; how this scheme was planned and +carried out by Miss Sillerman, Mrs. Goldrich's sister, who died not long +since; how, till of late, she was brought up as one of the family; how +carefully she was instructed in all the ways of the Presbyterians; and, +above all, how they endeavored to conceal her family name, for fear of +being claimed by her friends. "But, mon pere," said she, in +continuation, "though I forget the family name of this young, lubly +lady, I have an article here (loosing an old-fashioned workbag) which +may tell her family name."</p> + +<p>With that she handed Father Paul a neat ruby necklace, with a rather +heavy gold clasp, on which were carved deeply a cross, interwoven with +shamrocks, with these words, in italics, "<i>The O'C—— Arms</i>." This was +enough for Paul O'Clery; he had no doubt of having seen and conversed +with his own dear, long-lost sister, a few moments before. He sunk down +on his knees, buried his face in his hands, and tried as well as he +could to suppress the emotions that pervaded his bosom. After having +prepared old Judy for heaven,—having first prevailed on her to make +these disclosures in presence of witnesses, on condition that the +circumstances of her revelation should not be published till after her +death,—the priest retired from that palace, promising to call again, +accompanied with another gentleman, in the afternoon. Lest his feelings +should betray him, he retired from the house with as little delay as was +consistent with politeness; and he trembled all over as he a second time +returned the greeting of his dear Aloysia, as she conducted him to the +door.</p> + +<p>With as little delay as possible, he sought the office of his legal +adviser, and, accompanied by a judge of the Supreme Court of eminent +character, and the legal adviser, and a third, all Protestant gentlemen, +he sought the sick chamber of the old negress again, and there her +deposition, and a confirmation of her previous account of Alia's +bringing up and captivity, were obtained. They had scarcely concluded +her testimony, when poor Judy bid farewell to the world and its crosses, +and the priest had the satisfaction of bidding God speed to her soul in +its passage to eternity, having read for her the last benediction a +second time.</p> + +<p>The presence of so many strangers in the house naturally created some +surprise among the inmates, and shortly the death chamber of Judy was +filled with the members of the family, of both sexes.</p> + +<p>An explanation of this unusual and unauthorized proceeding was demanded +by Mrs. Goldrich, which the eminent judge consented to give, provided an +<i>adjournment</i> to a more appropriate court was agreed to.</p> + +<p>His honor was in the act of unravelling the mysterious but +well-connected development of old Judy—a work of supererogation on his +part, as far as madam was concerned—when the fair-faced Alia herself +made her appearance; and her reverend brother Paul, no longer able to +check his feelings, sprang forward, and, seizing her white hand, kissed +it, saying, "My dearest sister Aloysia, welcome to the embrace of your +brother! 'You were lost, and I have found you; you were dead, and are +again come to life! Rejoice, and be glad.'"</p> + +<p>This was too much happiness for Alia to bear up against without +momentarily yielding to the shock, and she sank, as if lifeless, on a +couch. She was soon restored, however, and surrounded by the seemingly +affectionate caresses of her envious <i>mother</i> and jealous sisters. She +had to hear all their arguments to persuade her to prefer her present +splendid misery to the equivocal boon of having found out a poor, +destitute brother, though it was not yet clear whether she could call +him by that name. Appearances were deceitful.</p> + +<p>Father Paul listened meekly to the smooth discourses and flattering +promises of the rich lady and her children, not doubting, if she were an +O'Clery, which side she would choose.</p> + +<p>"You are young, my dear Aloysia, but yet at or near the age of mature +understanding; and I know a brother cannot command you as a parent could +in this 'free country.' You have your choice—the traditional glory of +the old family of O'Clery, two brothers, and a sister as fair as +yourself, together with the old faith of St. Patrick,—the glorious +<span class="smcap">Cross</span> and the immortal <span class="smcap">Shamrock</span>,—all these balanced +against this grand palace, probably great earthly comforts, and a +religion that 'is not fit for a gentleman.' Have your choice; choose +boldly, and at once, and free your brother from suspense."</p> + +<p>"Are you my brother?" she said, wildly, "or do I dream? Have I a brother +on earth, and one so worthy as thou? O, I have no second choice," she +cried, falling at his feet, and wetting them with her tears.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Plant this Cross in my bosom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And this Shamrock in my hair;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And these are the only ornaments<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I ever again shall wear."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The spirited girl prepared immediately to quit the splendid palace, and +she came to the resolution of taking nothing with her, either of dress, +or trinkets, or jewelry. "Naked and bare I came into this family, and +with one single dress shall I leave it," said she, "feeling sufficiently +enriched in what I have this day found—a brother, with the Cross and +Shamrock of the O'Clerys. O, what complete changes! Instead of Alia, I +am Aloysia; instead of Goldrich, I am O'Clery."</p> + +<p>Paul did not think it prudent to allow his sister to quit the house of +her rich patrons so quickly, especially as Mr. Goldrich was from home, +and till the public should be satisfied, and all doubts about her +identity resolved. There was some opposition made by the parsons, one of +whom, a Mr. Cashman, was long fishing for the fair hand of Aloysia; but +this little dust raised by the "white necks" was soon hushed, when the +record of the baptism of Miss O'Clery was produced, and when the book of +heraldry was consulted to verify the armorial bearings of the O'Clerys, +which were, as we said, carved on the clasp of her necklace; and, above +all, when, on the left-hand ring finger of the young lady, the same +impression of a ring appeared which several persons testified having +seen on it when an infant.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> + + +<p>During the <i>dénouement</i> of the events recorded in the preceding chapter, +and the discussion of them by the various <i>religious</i> newspapers,—each +of which, like a well-trained spaniel, tried to bark so as to secure the +approbation of those from whom it derived its food,—Father O'Clery +continued in the discharge of his ordinary duties as if nothing strange +had happened. He addressed one letter on the subject to the leading +secular journals of the city, showing, by the most convincing chain of +evidence, the identity of the lady passing so long for a daughter of Mr. +Goldrich with his own younger and long-lost sister, and satisfying all +but fanatics and bigots of his prudence, and the propriety of the steps +taken by him for her recovery.</p> + +<p>Mr. Goldrich, in the mean time, returned home, and though he could not +but feel astonished at the developments which took place in his absence +respecting his adopted daughter, he was too shrewd and too keen a man of +business to make himself a tool in the hands of bigoted parsons, or to +deny the validity of the evidence proving her to be no other than +Aloysia O'Clery. This was enough. What now was become of all the +talking, writing, swearing, and preaching of the dominies? To what +purpose was this big talk, loud exclamations, puzzling interrogatories, +and flaming articles of the Babylonian press? For a whole month nothing +was published by the editors but "leaders," "articles," "paragraphs," +"communications," "reports," "speeches," "lectures," "sermons," "mass +meetings," "resolutions," "protests," and "letters of correspondents," +regarding this "Popish plot," "this Romanist aggression," "this priestly +insolence," and a thousand other names, threats, and unflattering +epithets against persons and institutions, whose only connection with +the case of Miss O'Clery was, that they belonged to the Catholic church, +or dared to speak the truth, or claim their rights. Now the +hundred-headed Cerberus of the press is silenced, and skulks into its +dark lair, beaten and silenced, but not ashamed of the filthy dribblings +of its lying tongue. Now all the talk, articles, and "leaders" go for +nothing, since Mr. Goldrich acknowledges "the priest is right; she is +his sister." But did not that clamorous press, that bellowed and +hallooed on the rabble to rob, murder, and destroy,—did it not recall +its words, apologize for its naughty language, and retract every charge +groundlessly made? Like a convicted felon, did it cry <i>peccavi</i>—I have +sinned, been misled, or misinformed? No; not a sign of repentance has +been manifested, not an apology made, not a word of retraction uttered +by these self-styled philosophers of the press, who think they are +responsible to no law, human or divine, and who say they have a world to +redeem, and nations and peoples to regenerate. We have read countless +folios of calumnies, misrepresentations, and black libels on every thing +sacred and venerable on earth, by the American press, during several +years that we have read newspapers; but we never yet found one editor to +retract, apologize, or mend his manners and language, except when +compelled by the cudgel or by the law. What an anomaly does the +observation of the conduct of the world present to us! They refuse "to +hear the church," or be guided by the teaching of men who have spent +their lives in preparing and qualifying themselves for the office of +public teaching; and they submit themselves blindly and without control +to the guidance of men whom they know not, who have not always the best +moral characters, and whose training, in most instances, does any thing +but qualify them for the dangerous office they fill.</p> + +<p>The instance which is here given of the almost unanimous hostility of +the press to the cause of justice, truth, and honor, illustrates what we +say; and the obvious conclusion is, that the "fourth estate" itself +needs reclaiming—the great modern reformer needs reformation.</p> + +<p>Soon after Mr. Goldrich's return home, he called on Father Paul O'Clery, +and, with a great deal of good nature, congratulated him on his very +providential discovery of his sister, "my dear adopted child. And now, +reverend sir," said he, affectionately, "I beg to tender you the +hospitalities of our house. As your sister has been for so many years +one of the family,—and not the least loved one, I assure you,—I hope I +may, without impropriety, by right of relationship by adoption, claim +you as a member also."</p> + +<p>Father Paul answered by assuring him he appreciated his kindness; that +he acknowledged the honorable connection in full; and that, though this +very affectionate advance had not taken place, Mr. Goldrich would ever +be regarded by him with feelings of veneration and love, on account of +his affectionate kindness to his sister, in giving her such a superior +education, and treating her on terms of equality with his own children. +The highminded and liberal gentleman, after having shed tears at the +idea of losing his dear adopted girl, departed, having previously +extorted a promise from Father Paul to attend a great party in honor of +Aloysia, at the palace, on the evening of the next day.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Aloysia's room was besieged with crowds of anxious +visitors and voluntary condolers on her resolution of renouncing wealth, +pleasure, and Protestantism, for poverty, Popery, and penance. Rich +merchants came, offering to settle annuities on her for life; rich +widows came, with their tracts and Bibles in one hand, and their real +estate deeds and scrip in the other, hoping to conquer her resolution; +and eloquent parsons, with their "sweet speeches and flattering +discourses," were chasing one another, like clouds driven by the winds, +to and from the well-furnished boudoir, all charged with the same +apostolic office of saving a soul, a beautiful, interesting one, from +falling into that world-wide "net" of Popery with which St. Peter and +his successors have never ceased to "catch men," since the days of Jesus +Christ. All the discourses, prayers, entreaties, threats, crocodile +tears, flatteries, misrepresentations, legacies, settlements, and other +seductive allurements have miscarried, this time. A Catholic Aloysia was +baptized, and a Catholic she is resolved to live and die, with God's +grace.</p> + +<p>The "big dinner" was prepared at the rich man's house, where Father Paul +through courtesy attended, and where he was obliged to defend, in a +speech of some length, the violent assault of that Parson Cashman, who +we told was fishing for the hand of Aloysia, but who now, because she +rejected him with scorn, had the bad taste to insult the whole company +by his <i>champagne</i>-inspired attack on Ireland, her creed, and her +children.</p> + +<p>Paul completely refuted his charge of ignorance of the Irish, by +contrasting their religious knowledge with that of the English and +Americans; in the former one of which countries there are seven or eight +millions of pagans, and in the later so many thousands who follow such +impostors as Miller, Smith, spiritual rappers, Transcendentalists, +Fourierites, and other impostors notorious for their crimes.</p> + +<p>"The reverend gentleman forgets," said he, "that Ireland was once, and +for ages, the most enlightened country on earth, and deserved to be +called "the Island of Saints;" and that whatever of ignorance, poverty, +and crime—which, thank God, is little—she is afflicted with, was +inherited by her from the curse introduced into her by the upas tree of +Protestantism. Ah, sir, the eulogy of England comes with a bad grace +from the lips of a son of America, which she oppressed, and which, but +for Catholic arms, might be now, instead of a great republic, a +badly-ruled province of Protestant England. Study history, sir; study +history; and you will soon think better of Ireland and Catholicity, and +less of England and her persecuting Protestantism." And with that he +retired.</p> + +<p>The remaining part of our tale is soon told. Paul O'Clery, from being a +good priest, became, in addition, a great man; his virtues, learning, +and genius soon attracted the notice of the princes of God's church. He +was consecrated bishop, "<i>in partibus infidelium</i>," and he is now a +pillar of God's church, and an ornament in his sanctuary, as archbishop +in one of the great cities of British India, in Asia. Behold, my young +readers, how the church opens the gates of her treasures, and encourages +the promotion of the humblest of her children. Virtue and genius are the +only titles to nobility which she regards. Every office in her gift (and +she has stations too high for angels) is open to the humblest aspirant +to perfection. How many scores of young men might be now shining lamps +in God's sanctuary, instead of being degraded to the level of the +drudges of the earth and the slaves of the world, if they only resisted +the glittering bait of temptation at first, and took as their model Paul +O'Clery, the orphan boy!</p> + +<p>What became of Aloysia, do you wish to know? She joined her sister +Bridget in the nunnery, and after atoning by her tears and repentance +for the <i>material</i> heresy of her youth, she lately fell a victim to +fever, contracted by her in caring for the poor negro slaves of New +Orleans. She preferred to die a saint than live a princess.</p> + +<p>Eugene, as you already know, died a martyr for his faith, having been +persecuted to death by Parson Dilman and Mr. Shaw Gulvert of evil +memory.</p> + +<p>Patrick returned to Ireland, where he has lately purchased an estate +under the encumbered estates law—the very same estate on which his +father lived under Lord Mandemon.</p> + +<p>You recollect Van Stingey, the first persecutor of the orphan family, +was blown up by powder, and perished miserably. Amanda Prying met a fate +little better. Having been in the habit of imbibing strong drafts of +chloroform, for purposes of intoxication, she was found dead in bed one +December morning, after having imbibed too strong a dose.</p> + +<p>The youngest child of Reuben Prying met with his death in this way: +Willy, the youngest but one, hearing that somebody was to be hanged, +asked his pa how the operation was performed. The father, of course, +believing that "knowledge was power," taught the child how to act the +hangman, and the lesson was not taught in vain; for, the next day, +Willy, experimenting on the "knowledge" communicated, hanged his younger +brother, Lory, dead. Thus perished the darling son of him who combined +with the parson to kill Eugene O'Clery.</p> + +<p>I forgot to say that Mary Prying, the innocent, good girl, and the +admirer of Paul, became a convert, and is now a nun, called Sister Mary +Magdalen.</p> + +<p>But what of the Parsons Grinoble, Gulmore, Barker, Scullion, and the +others, who had a hand in robbing the orphans of their faith? They are +all alive yet, and, according to their limited capacities, doing all the +harm it is possible for them to do, in propagating error and +disseminating discord. And your friend Dr. Ugo, who was instrumental in +saving the orphans, is yet living, and battling for the faith, never +omitting to inculcate fidelity to the <span class="smcap">Cross</span> and attachment to +the <span class="smcap">Shamrock</span> on all his beloved parishioners and hearers. Amen!</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Cross and the Shamrock, by Hugh Quigley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK *** + +***** This file should be named 16958-h.htm or 16958-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/9/5/16958/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme Mackreth and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cross and the Shamrock + Or, How To Defend The Faith. An Irish-American Catholic + Tale Of Real Life, Descriptive Of The Temptations, + Sufferings, Trials, And Triumphs Of The Children Of St. + Patrick In The Great Republic Of Washington. A Book For + The Entertainment And Special Instructions Of The Catholic + Male And Female Servants Of The United States. + +Author: Hugh Quigley + +Release Date: October 28, 2005 [EBook #16958] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme Mackreth and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) + + + + + + +THE + +CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK, + +OR, + +HOW TO DEFEND THE FAITH. + +AN + +IRISH-AMERICAN CATHOLIC TALE + +OF REAL LIFE, + +DESCRIPTIVE OF THE + +TEMPTATIONS, SUFFERINGS, TRIALS, AND TRIUMPHS + +OF THE + +CHILDREN OF ST. PATRICK + +IN THE + +GREAT REPUBLIC OF WASHINGTON. + +A BOOK + +FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OF + +THE CATHOLIC MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS OF THE +UNITED STATES. + + +WRITTEN BY + +A MISSIONARY PRIEST. + +[Transcriber's Note: a pseudonym for Hugh Quigley.] + +BOSTON: + +PATRICK DONAHOE, + +3 FRANKLIN STREET. + +1853. + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by + +PATRICK DONAHOE, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + +STEREOTYPED AT THE +BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. + + + + +DEDICATION. + + +To the faithful Irish-American Catholic citizens +of the whole Union, and especially to the working +portion of them, on account of their piety, +their liberality, their patriotism, and their steady +loyalty to the virtues symbolized by the "Cross +and the Shamrock,"--on account of their attachment +to the land of St. Patrick, and to the +religion of her patriot princes and martyrs,--this +work, written for their encouragement and instruction, +is respectfully inscribed by + +Their humble servant, + And devoted friend and fellow-citizen, + THE AUTHOR. + +September, 1853. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +"There are moments when every citizen who feels that he can say +something promotive of the welfare of his countrymen and of advantage to +his country is authorized to give _public_ utterance to his sentiments, +how humble soever he may be."--_Letter of Archbishop Hughes on the +Madiai_, February, 1853. + +"There may be, in public opinion, an Inquisition a thousand times more +galling to the soul than the gloomy prison or the weight of +chains."--_National Democrat_, March, 1853. + +1st. The above extracts, from different but respectable sources, +comprise the author's chief motives in the publication of the following +work. It is a well-known fact, that thousands of our fellow-Christians, +in all parts of this vast _free country_, are continually subjected to a +most trying ordeal of temptation and persecution on account of their +religion, and that the wonderful progress of Catholicity and renewed +power of the church only add to the malice, if not to the influence, of +sectarians, in their efforts to make use of this odious persecution of +servant boys and servant girls, of widows and orphans, to build up their +own tottering conventicles, and to circumscribe the giant strides of +what they call "the man of sin." + +A very intelligent American lawyer lately remarked to the writer of +this, "that, about twenty-five years ago, the parsons fulminated all +their eloquence against Satan; but they seem to have formed a league +with him now, for all their vengeance is directed against the pope, who, +they say, is far more dangerous than Old Harry." + +When we know this to be literally true, and find our poor, neglected, +and uninstructed brethren in danger accordingly, how can any thing that +can be said, written, or done, to alleviate their condition, or to +remove prejudice from the public mind, be counted a work of +supererogation? + +2d. The corruption of the cheap trash literature, that is now ordinarily +supplied for the amusement and instruction of the American people,--and +that threatens to uproot and annihilate all the notions of virtue and +morals that remain, in spite of sectarianism,--calls for some antidote, +some remedy. In every rail car, omnibus, stage coach, steamboat, or +canal packet, publications, containing the most poisonous principles and +destructive errors, are presented to, and are purchased by, passengers +of both sexes, whose minds, like the appetites of hungry animals, will +take to eating the filthiest stuff, rather than want food for +rumination. It is for the philanthropists of the present day, and for +those who are paid for making such inquiries, to trace the connection +between the _roues_ of your cities, your Bloomer women, your spiritual +rappers, and other countless extravagances of a diseased public mind, +and between the abominable publications to which we allude. + +3d. Our people are not generally great readers of the trashy newspapers +of the day; and in this respect they show their good sense, or at least +have happened on good luck: it is therefore our duty to supply them with +cheap and amusing literature, to entertain them during the few hours +they are disengaged from work. And what reading can afford the Irish +Catholic greater pleasure than any work, however imperfect, having for +its end the exaltation and defence of his glorious old faith, and the +vindication of his native land--his beloved "Erin-go-bragh"? Impress on +his susceptible mind the honor and advantage of defence and fidelity to +the CROSS and the SHAMROCK, and you give him two ideas that will come to +his aid in most of his actions through life. We are ashamed here of the +cross of Christ, when we see it continually dishonored and trampled on +by heretics and modern pagans, in their scramble for money and pleasures. +On the other hand, the poverty, humiliation, and rags of old Erin, of +the kings, saints, and martyrs, scandalize us; and from these two false +notions the degradation and apostasy of many Irishmen commence. Hence they +no sooner land on the shores of America than they endeavor to clip the +musical and rich brogue of fatherland, to make room for the bastard +barbarisms and vulgar slang of Yankeedom. The remainder of the course of +the apostate is easily traced, till, ashamed of creed and country, he ends +by being ashamed of his Creator and Redeemer, and barters the inheritance +of heaven for the miserable and short enjoyments of this earth. + +A _fourth_, and a leading motive in the publication of this work, is to +record the manly defences which the people among whom the author lives +have made of the creed of their fathers, and to enable them to refute, +in a simple, practical manner, for the edification of their opponents, +the many objections proposed to them about the faith. By placing a copy +of this work in the hands of every head of a family in the congregation +in which he presides, the author thinks he will have done something +towards the salvation of that parent and his house, by showing him how +he may educate his children, and save them from those subtle snares laid +to rob them and him of happiness here and hereafter; for, without true +religion and virtue, there is neither enjoyment nor happiness even in +this world. + +But are the principles sound, and the estimate he has formed of American +character and the conduct and motives of the sectarian parsons correct? +There may be, and undoubtedly there is, great variety in American +character; and, so far, what may be true of the people of one state or +county, may not at all be applicable to those of the rest; but as far as +regards sectarianism and its slanders of the church, and the low +character, intellectually and morally, of the parsons, ministers, +dominies, and preachers, with few honorable exceptions, it may be said, +in the words of the poet,-- + +"Ex uno disce omnes." + +"They are all chips of the same block;" and the description in the +following pages of their attempts to proselytize, seduce, and corrupt, +is not at all exaggerated, as thousands of candid American Protestants +can testify. Perhaps the sectarian dominies do not see the sad +consequences that are infallibly produced on the minds of their hearers, +after they come to detect the frauds and falsehoods which the parsons +inculcate on them when children; but they are in _the cause_, and +morally responsible for that doubt, irreligion, and downright infidelity +which are the well-known characteristics of the male and female youth +of our great country, and which threaten such disastrous consequences to +society. + +Yes, dominies, you are responsible for all the extravagances of modern +times, for the irreparable loss to virtue and society of the noble youth +of your country. You hate the church of God because she is a witness +against you. The priest, the nun, and the recluse are objects of your +malice; for they are living examples of what you call impossible morals, +and refuters of the code of low virtue you practise and preach. The +faith of the Catholic laity, too, you endeavor to destroy, in order more +securely to deceive your hearers, and to secure your children, your +wives, and yourselves, that bread which you eat by the dissemination of +error, contradiction, and contention, and which you are too lazy to +"earn by the sweat of your brow." + +_Finally._ This work is submitted to the reader by one who will be well +pleased if it affords the former any pleasure or amusement during one or +two of such few hours of leisure as it took the latter to write it. +Regarding style, method, and arrangement of the matter, the author has +no apology to offer, except that the work has been written in great +haste, and by one who, in five years, has not had a single entire day +for recreation or unoccupied by severe missionary duty. Let not the +critics forget this. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE +CHAPTER I. +A DEATH BED SCENE, 13 + +CHAPTER II. +GETTING THE MOTHER'S BLESSING, 23 + +CHAPTER III. +AN OFFICIAL, 32 + +CHAPTER IV. +THE POORHOUSE, 41 + +CHAPTER V. +THE O'CLERYS, 52 + +CHAPTER VI. +THE COUNCIL, 60 + +CHAPTER VII. +A RUDE LOVER OF NATURE, 69 + +CHAPTER VIII. +THE ORPHANS IN THEIR NEW HOME, 77 + +CHAPTER IX. +THE PRYING FAMILY, 87 + +CHAPTER X. +A RAY OF HOPE, 97 + +CHAPTER XI. +VAN STINGEY AGAIN.--HOW HE GETS RICH AND ENDS, 106 + +CHAPTER XII. +MASS IN A SHANTY, 117 + +CHAPTER XIII. +THE TEMPTER AT THE WOMAN, 129 + +CHAPTER XIV. +THE FRUITS OF THE CROSS, 136 + +CHAPTER XV. +THE CONVERSION, 145 + +CHAPTER XVI. +THE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS, 155 + +CHAPTER XVII. +"HE AND HIS WHOLE HOUSE BELIEVED," 164 + +CHAPTER XVIII. +"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION," 178 + +CHAPTER XIX. +WHAT HAPPENED TO LITTLE EUGENE O'CLERY, 187 + +CHAPTER XX. +THE SAME, CONTINUED, 201 + +CHAPTER XXI. +CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS, 213 + +CHAPTER XXII. +THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS, 223 + +CHAPTER XXIII. +IN WHICH THE SCENE OF OUR TALE IS CHANGED, 240 + +CHAPTER XXIV. +SHOWS HOW THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK WERE PERMANENTLY +UNITED AFTER A LONG SEPARATION, 251 + +CHAPTER XXV. +CONCLUSION, 260 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A DEATH-BED SCENE. + + +A cold evening in the month of January, a drizzling rain storm blowing +from the south-west, a cheerless sky, a dull, threatening atmosphere, +together with almost impassable roads,--these are the chilling and +uninviting circumstances with which, if we pay regard to truth, we must +introduce our narrative to our readers. It is usual, with writers of +fiction and romance, to preface their literary exhibitions with +high-wrought and dazzling descriptions of natural and artificial +objects--the sun, moon, and stars; the clouds, meteors, and other +fantastic creations of the atmosphere; the seas, rivers, and lakes; the +mountains, fields, and gardens; the birds, fishes, and the inhabitants +of the savage forests, as well as the forests, groves, and woods +themselves,--in a word, all nature seems as if conscious of the effects +likely to result to the morals, habits, and projects of men, while some +of your modern novelists are arranging their matter, sharpening their +scissors, preparing pen, ink, and paper, and taking indigestible suppers +to make way into the world for the offspring of their creative fancies. +Ours being a tale of truth,--yes, of bare, unvarnished truth, yet of +truth more interesting, if not "stranger, than fiction,"--it is not to +be wondered that, when we acknowledge the homely dame, and her alone, as +our guide, inspirer, and preceptor, we lack the advantage of romancers, +and cannot command "a special sunset," or a storm made to order, or +other enchanting scenery, to introduce us to our patrons. + +We must take things as we find them; and this is why cold, rain, and +frost, the whistling of merciless winds, together with false and +pitiless ice, constitute the principal features of our introductory +chapter. The merry chimes of sleigh bells, as if to add gloom to the +scene, were silent, no snow having fallen this winter, and the ice being +irregular and lumpy. The streets of the city of T---- were almost +entirely deserted of foot passengers, owing to the danger of walking +over the slippery pavement; while cabmen and omnibus conductors had +cautiously driven their teams to the stable or smithy, to have them +"sharpened" for the frozen coat of mail which enveloped the earth. When +about dusk, an aged gentleman, in a cloak, with a sharp-pointed cane in +his hand, might be observed moving along the gutter of a narrow street. +Occasionally he would slip so as to come on one knee, and now he would +steer himself along by taking hold of the sills of windows, and of the +railings which here and there were erected in front of a few houses on +the retired and deserted street on which he crept along. + +At length he approaches an old three-story, red, frame-built house, +which, from its shattered and dilapidated windows, at first seemed to +be deserted, but which, from the description left by a messenger with +his domestic in the forenoon, he could not doubt was the place where he +heard the emigrant widow lay at the point of death. + +"Is this where the sick woman is?" said he to an old woman who opened +the door. + +"Yes, your reverence," answered Mrs. Doherty, at once recognizing the +priest; "and thank God you are come. The Lord never deserts his own, +praise be to his holy name." + +"Is she very ill?" said Father O'Shane; for thus was named the sole +pastor of the city of T---- in those days. + +"That she is, your reverence, and callin' for the priest this three +days; but as we heard your reverence say that you would be in the +country till this day, we thought it no use to give in the sick call +sooner. I myself gave it in this morning afore my poor, sick old man got +up." + +"God help the poor!" muttered the tender-hearted priest, as he ascended +to the third floor, where the dying woman lay. + +"Amen!" answered Mrs. Doherty, aloud. "You would pity her, your +reverence, if you seen the misery they are in this two months; and it is +easily telling they saw better days in the ould country. It is easily +knowing _that_, by the _dacent_, mannerly children she has around her, +God help 'em." + +"Pax huic domui, et omnibus habitantibus in ea"--"Peace to this house, +and all that dwell therein," uttered the priest of God, as he opened +the latchless door of the room on the third story of the old "Oil Mill +House," where the patient was extended on her "pallet of straw." For a +moment he stood on the threshold, for within an unusual and solemn sight +presented itself to his view. A woman of fair and comely features, +between about thirty and forty years of age, lay as described on the +floor, with four children kneeling around her. The eldest, a lad of +about fifteen years, read aloud the litanies and prayers of the church +for the dying, while the three younger children repeated the responses +in fervent but trembling accents. + +"Lord, have mercy on her," cried Paul, the eldest boy. + +"Christ, have mercy on her," answered the younger children. + +"Holy Mary." _R._ "Pray for her." + +"All ye holy angels and archangels." _R._ "Pray for her." + +"All ye choirs of the just." _R._ "Pray for her." + +"All ye saints of God." _R._ "Make intercession for her." + +"From thy anger, from an unhappy death, from the pains of hell." _R._ +"Deliver her, O Lord." + +"By thy cross and passion, by thy death and burial, by thy glorious +resurrection, in the day of judgment." _R._ "Deliver her, O Lord." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant from all danger of hell, and +from all pain and tribulation." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Enoch +and Elias from the common death of the world." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Noah from +the flood." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Abraham +from the midst of the Chaldeans." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Job from +all his afflictions." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Isaac +from being sacrificed by his father." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Lot from +Sodom and the flames of fire." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Moses +from the hands of Pharaoh, King of Egypt." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Daniel +from the lions' den." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst the three +children from the fiery furnace and from the hands of an unmerciful +king." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Susanna +from her false accusers." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst David +from the hands of Goliah and Saul." _R._ "Amen." + +"Deliver, O Lord, the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Peter +and Paul out of prison." _R._ "Amen." + +"And as thou deliveredst that blessed virgin and martyr, St. Thecla, +from most cruel torments, so vouchsafe, O Lord, to deliver the soul of +this thy servant, and bring it to the participation of thy heavenly +joys." _R._ "Amen." + +"Depart, Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of God, the +Father Almighty, who created thee; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of +the living God, who suffered for thee; in the name of the Holy Ghost, +who sanctified thee; in the name of the angels, archangels, thrones and +dominations, cherubims and seraphims; in the name of the patriarchs and +prophets, of the holy martyrs and confessors, of the holy monks and +hermits, of the holy virgins, and of all the saints of God. Let thy +place be this day in peace, and thy abode in _Sion_, through Christ, our +Lord." _R_. "Amen." + +The offering up of this most beautiful prayer by the children for their +dying parent was not unattended with several breaks and pauses, caused +by the overwhelming grief of the poor orphans. They "gave out" the short +prayers of the litany very well, and without much interruption; but when +they came to the more solemn portion of that beautiful service, the +"recommendation of a departing soul," they could no longer restrain +their tears or suppress their lamentations. + +Small blame to the poor children for this manifestation of grief, since +we have known instances of the most hardened hearts being touched, and +the most manly eyes yielding their tribute of tears, at the bare recital +of the most beautiful form of prayer for the "soul departing." We have +ourselves read this service a thousand times, at least, by the death +bedsides of many "departing souls;" and never could we once go through +the form of it entire without yielding to the weakness of nature, and +becoming speechless by the violence of our tears. Let the most obstinate +unbeliever attend but a few times by the bedside of a dying Catholic, +and observe the piety and faith of the priest and people around the bed +of the "soul departing;" and if he be not an atheist or a blasphemer of +God's providence, it is impossible for him not to perceive the +superiority of the Catholic religion to all other forms of worship that +ever existed. But to be present at the death hour of a Christian is a +privilege which Protestants and unbelievers seldom or never enjoy; their +levity and want of devotion, with their impiety and irreverence, being +sufficiently powerful obstacles to their admittance into such sacred +places as the chamber in which the sacred offices of religion are +administered to the "departing soul." It is only the true believers, and +not "those outside," who have the privilege of hearing the "prayer of +faith" that saves the sick man--it is only they who enjoy occasionally +the consolation from the inspiring words of the church to join their +tears, and unite their sighs, sobs, and sorrows with those of their +pastors and fellow-Christians, for the happy passage and merciful +judgment for their departing brother. Such were the tears and sadness +that Paul O'Clery and his little attendants shed around the bed of +their dying mother. + +"Paul, my child, why do you act so?" said she, gently chiding him. + +"O mother! mother! how can I help it? Stop ye your crying there," said +he, taking courage, and turning to his younger associates. "Silence +Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene. Answer me distinctly, and hold your grief. +It will vex mother." And he continued the prayer from where he left off +with as good grace as he could. + +The venerable priest, though inside the door, was unperceived during +this affecting scene; and the heavy tears might be seen stealing down +his furrowed cheeks as he surveyed the group before him. + +"O, faith of my Lord, O, best gift of God, how precious thou art! Thou +canst change men into angels, earth into paradise, and convert the +misery and poverty of the poor emigrant into a picture like this, that +heaven itself must delight to gaze on. That's right, my darling son," +said he, "you have finished well; you have done your duty towards your +mother, for which God will bless you, and I bless you in his name. In +nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." + +"The priest, mother!" whispered Bridget. "I know him by his cloak." + +"Glory, honor, and praise be to the Almighty," said the calm and now +rejoicing widow, as she saw the face of the venerable minister of +religion. "The Lord is too good to me, not to let me die in a strange +land, without the consolations of my holy religion," she continued, +kissing the silver crucifix of her beads. + +The heart of the good man was too full to give utterance to many words; +and seeing that Death was at hand, that already he was master of all but +the heart,--for the extremes were cold and without feeling,--he ordered +the children down to Mrs. Doherty's, while he heard the short and humble +confession of the poor departing soul, administered the most holy +viaticum, with extreme unction, and read the last benediction of the +church--"In articulo mortis." + +He then strengthened her soul with a few words of exhortation, and +having prescribed a few short, ejaculatory prayers, bidding her to have +the name, as well as the image, of Jesus ever in her heart and lips, he +departed, promising to call again as soon as possible, taking the +precaution to leave two dollars in silver and a three dollar bill on the +little stool that stood by her bed. He had now, he said, to go about +forty miles into the country; and he would, after his return, call to +see how she was, and to comply with her request about the children. + +"I commend you now to the care of God and his angel. God bless you," +said he, departing. + +"Into thy hands I commend my spirit. O Lord, receive my soul. Jesus, +Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me. O God of love, goodness, and mercy, +accept my imperfect thanksgiving; save my soul, redeemed by thy precious +blood, and make me worthy to see thy glory. I believe in thee, O Lord, +I hope in thee, and I love thee. O my God and my Lord, who am I that +thou shouldst visit me!" + +With these and other fervent aspirations, this pure and exalted soul +prepared for the manifestation of the glory of her Lord, and sighed to +be dissolved, and to fly to the beatific vision that faith promised her, +and through the merits of Christ she expected to obtain. After this, the +symptoms of her disease became sensibly less dangerous than before the +visit of the priest; but this calm, this seeming relief, was only +temporary. Presently the impress of pale death was unmistakably settled +on her calm brow. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GETTING THE MOTHER'S BLESSING. + + +When the priest departed from the precincts of "Oil Mill House," in +company with the impatient messenger that required his services in the +country, after a few words of encouragement and advice spoken to Paul, +Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene,--for so were widow O'Clery's children +named,--they returned to the bedside of their dying mother. Little +Bridget was the first to observe on the small bench by the bedside the +money left there by Father O'Shane. + +"Paul," she whispered, "look here! This is money left, I suppose, by the +priest." Paul, who was acquainted with American coin, took up the eight +pieces, or quarters, in silver, and the bill, and examining them by the +candle, said, "O Bid, see how good the priest is! He has left us five +dollars, or one pound, without saying a word about it. Mother, how do +you feel? Look! the priest left us a deal of money here quietly." + +"God reward him for it," answered she, with a hoarse and broken voice. +"Paul, darling, go on your knees, you and your sister and brothers, till +I give ye my blessing before I die. Quick, children, quick, while I have +strength." + +"O mother! mother! sure you aren't going to leave us orphans? May be +you will get better now, after extreme unction." + +"Kneel down here by my side, my children," said she, feeling that her +time was now short. "Paul, do you promise me you will be a good boy, +love God, and keep his commandments?" + +"Yes, mother, with God's help. O woe!" + +"Will you watch over your brothers, and sister Bridget, and go with them +to the priest, telling him not to forget that I gave ye all up to his +care, and the care of God and his blessed mother?" + +"O, I will." + +"Bridget, Patrick, and Eugene, will ye obey, and be said by Paul, who is +the oldest?" + +"Yes, mother, please God," they answered, amidst sobbing and tears that +half choked them. + +"God bless ye, and guard ye, and save ye from all dangers of soul and +body. I give ye up to God. I place ye under the holy care of the +blessed mother of God. I pray that ye may preserve pure the faith +of Saint Patrick. I bless ye. O, pray for me. Jesus, into thy +hands--Jesus--Mary--Jesus----." There was a sigh, and by a single effort +the soul extricated itself from its prison of clay to join the ranks of +its kindred spirits. The widow O'Clery is no more, and Paul and his +brethren are orphans indeed. + +For a few minutes there was a deep silence in that chamber of death, and +Paul repeated the "De Profundis," in English, out of his Prayer Book; +but when the cold and ghastly form of death was perceived by this poor +company to be all that was left of their darling and affectionate +mother, loud and mournful were their lamentations. Then, and not till +then, did the forlorn state to which they were reduced reveal itself +even to their juvenile minds. There they were, helpless and destitute, +without father or mother, friend or relation; on every side strangers, +cold, hunger, and want. The mysterious hand of Providence conducted them +from comparative comfort, if not luxury, through several stages of +trial, danger, and trouble, till they were now entirely stripped, like +Job, of all but an existence to which death was preferable. Many are the +phases of misery and crosses with which the life of man is surrounded in +this vale of tears; but we think the condition of the orphan, deprived +of both parents, and thrown for support or existence on a strange and +selfish world, the most desolate of all. A policeman was the first who +was attracted to the house of mourning by the wailing and cries of those +whom this night saw alone and desolate. Mrs. Doherty, attended by an +Irish servant maid from a neighboring house, were the next visitors; +and, after piously kneeling around the corpse to offer their fervent +prayers for the soul, they prepared to "lay out" the body. This +consists, as all are probably aware, of washing the corpse, clothing it +in clean linen, extending it on a table or bed, and putting up such +temporary fixtures as would deprive the room in which it lies of the +gloom and repulsiveness attendant on such an event. After arranging all +things so that she looked "a decent corpse," with the _religious habit_ +around her, Mrs. Doherty hung up the crucifix, pinned to a white linen +sheet at the head of where she lay, placed her "Ursuline Manual" on her +breast, and her beads on her arms, crossed on the body. + +"She was a handsome, fine woman, in her day, God bless her," said Mrs. +Doherty. + +"Yes, any body can tell that," answered Norry. "I wonder how they came +here at all." + +"I know it well," answered old Peggy Doherty. "She telled me all about +it afore she took bad entirely. Her man was well off, and had a brother +next to the bishop in the church, in the county of C----. When landlords +began to root out the people from their homes, the brother of Mr. +O'Clery, her husband, wrote letters in the newspapers about the cruelty +of the landlord, who was called 'Lord Mandemon;' and on that account, +and because the priest took part with the poor,--as they always do, God +bless 'em!--the landlord came down on Mr. O'Clery, sold out his sixty +milch cows, after being twenty-one days in pound; and though the cows +were worth ten pounds each, Lord Mandemon's agent sold them by auction, +and he bought them back himself for two pounds each; and so the poor +family was ruined. After that, O'Clery sold out another farm he had; +and, collecting all that was due to him, he came to America, against the +advice of the priest, his brother. He thought, he said, to live with his +family in 'a free country,' where there were no landlords or tyrants, +and, while he had some means, to buy a farm which he could call his own. +But he took the cholera when within sight of land, and he only lived a +few days. God rest his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed. +And God help those poor orphans," she said, piously, looking to where +the little group, wearied from grief and crying, lay asleep on a straw +bed. + +"I do really pity the poor creatures," said Norry. "I suppose they will +have to go to the poorhouse." + +"I hope not; God forbid, _asthore_, the poorhouse is such a dangerous +place for Catholics. I heard the priest say he would call to-morrow; and +may be he will _do for_ the little dears." + +"'Tis hard for him to provide for all that are in distress," said Norry. + +"I know it; but it would be a murther to let such well-reared and decent +children into the hands of those poormasters, but especially that Van +Stingey, whose great delight is, they say, to convart the children of +Catholics to his own sect. See what he done to the little Cronin +children, whose father and mother died lately." + +"I heard of that; but I am afraid the priest won't be able to call on +to-morrow, as he promised, if it continue to snow so." + +"_O yea_, God forbid; but it is a terrible night. Do ye hear how it +blows? _O Heirna Dioa._" + +"Yes, and the snow is falling in mountains; the roads will be blocked +up, and hills and hollows will be on a level in the morning." + +"God help every poor Christian that is out to-night," said Mrs. Doherty. +"I hope the Lord will save his reverence from all harm." + +"Amen!" answered Norry. "He will have a hard night of it. Had he far to +go?" + +"He had, _agra_, forty miles out in Vermont; but sure he could not +refuse going. The woman is just dying; and besides, she is a Protestant, +who wants to die in the faith." + +"Happy for her," said Norry, "if he overtakes her alive. How good the +priests are to these Yankees, although they are always ridiculing the +clergy; yet, if one of them is going to die, the priest not only +forgives them, but is willing to travel any distance to do them a +service." + +"Sure that's the orders of God and the church," said Mrs. Doherty. "It +is not for them alone they are working, but for God, you know." + +"That's true," said Norry. "But still and all, when one hears how they +are always ridiculing priests and nuns, and sees how they hate our +religion, it is very hard, I think, to forgive them." + +"Yes, _agra_," said Peggy, who was better informed than Norry; "so it is +hard for flesh and blood to forgive the heretics; but, unless we forgive +them, God won't forgive us. The priest knows this well; and so, if there +were two sick calls to come at one time to him, as happened lately, one +a Protestant and the other a Catholic, he would go to the Protestant +first." + +"That beats all," said Norry, "and is more than I would do, if I were +the priest; for I know well all that is said of him behind his back." + +"What harm will all that scandalous talk do the priest?" said Peggy. "It +only does him good; and he has a blessing for being 'spoken evil of' +like our Lord. He forgives all those whom God forgives; and so, if his +enemy, the Protestant, falls sick, and wants his services, he goes to +him _first_, in order that he may be brought into the church, where +alone he can be saved." + +"Thanks be to God," said Norry. "Is not it a wonder the Protestants +don't understand this, and look on the priests and the church as their +best friends, seeing that the priests are as ready, and readier, to +attend to them than to the Catholics themselves?" + +"How can they understand it when they are blinded by love of money, +impurity, and the hatred that the ministers excite against the church in +the minds of their hearers? Wasn't our Lord himself hated by those whom +he most loved, and put to death by them? It is so with every priest who +follows his steps, now as well as then. The world will always hate +good." + +This Christian philosophy was a little too sublime for poor Norry's +mind, who was a long time among the Yankees, sufficiently instructed in +the customs of this "free country" to be ready to observe the law of +"Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and life for life;" and who, besides, had +her naturally warm temper rather spoiled from her continual rencontres +with her mistress on such subjects as confession, priests' celibacy, +purgatory, and other subjects too profound for the understanding of her +mistress to know any thing about them, and too sacred in the eyes of +Norry to allow them to be irreverently handled without saying something +in their defence. It requires not only a perfect acquaintance with the +sublime and heavenly tenets of Catholicity to speak of them with +precision and propriety, but, in addition to a deep study of the truths +of true religion, the _practice of her precepts_, and the frequent +reception of the sacraments, are necessary to imbue the mind with the +true Christian notions regarding her high commands. + +Poor Norry "had not a chance," she said, of going to her duties for +several years; and that is why she considered "Peggy Doherty's" talk +about forgiveness so strange and unaccountable. + +"Yes, a _Greffour_," resumed "old Peggy," "we must forgive all the +world; and myself would forgive any thing sooner than kidnappin' or +stealing away the children of Catholics, which these Yankee parsons are +so fond of doing." + +"O, so they are, the villains," said Norry. "Did they take away or steal +any of this poor woman's children? 'Tis a wonder if they didn't." + +"Well, besides the four children you see here, _asthore_, she had +another neat child, one year old, named Aloysia, whom a lady up town +took with her, two months since, to rear her up along with her own +children; and it was only about ten days since she got news of her +death. When the poor woman heard this, the heart broke entirely within +her, especially as she could not be present at the child's death bed or +at the funeral." + +"Why, that's rather strange," said Norry. "Did they send her word that +she was sick?" + +"Not a word. It was only when I went up to Mrs. Sillerman's, the other +day, to inquire about the child, she comes out and tells me the child +died, and was decently interred. When I told the mother, she cried out, +'O Aloysia, Aloysia, my darling! are you, too, gone?' And she was not +herself since." + +"I do think there must be something wrong in the matter," said Norry. +"Did you tell the priest?" + +"No, I did not, for I had not time," said Mrs. Doherty. "God forgive me. +I have a doubt in my own mind that the lady of the house (I renounce +judging her) was not honest when she told me of the child's death. +'Perhaps,' says I to myself, 'she is kidnapped.' And she was such a +purty angel, with a face you would delight looking on; and on her right +hand,--the Lord save us!--a circle like a ring was on her middle finger. +She was too good to live; and was made for heaven, I suppose. Glory be +to God." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +AN OFFICIAL. + + +Our poormaster, Van Stingey, was a very conscientious officer. He never +squandered what he called the people's property, the commonwealth. He +was none of your vulgar, ordinary poormasters. He did not want the +office; they only forced it on to him. Like some of your great +statesmen, he acted for _man_, as he emphatically said; not for poor +widows and orphans, taken one by one; that was only a secondary +consideration. His whole duty, his very existence, seemed to be needed +for the good of man, or humanity in general. The question with him was, +not how to relieve this or that poor man or woman. _That_ might engage +the attention of a man of no intelligence, no education, or no +philosophy: what he aspired to was, always to act by principle; to act +so that the state, or the people who owned _real estate_, and who +elected him against his will, to see that their interests were attended +to, whatever became of the poor. Accordingly, when he heard of any case +of particular distress, such as that a poor emigrant died of misery in a +cold, deserted house, our poormaster regretted it, as an individual; +but, as an officer, he said, he acted according to principle. He could +not betray his constituents, who elected him against his will, by any +act of extravagance; and the good of the many must be consulted. "Even +the Lord," he used to say,--for he was a religious man,--"when he +created the sun, left spots in it." The best statesman must sometimes do +what may be cruel to the few; but, in the end, it would turn out for the +good of man. This district, since his election, now twice successively, +had made a saving of some two hundred a year since he became its +officer; and that would, in time, open the eyes of the people as to who +were proper candidates for office, tend to diminish taxes, and, in fact, +be a work for man--progress and virtue. Besides this, Mr. Poormaster Van +Stingey had "got religion," by which he was wonderfully enlightened, +having been so lucky as to gain that valuable accomplishment just six +months, and only six months, before his election, at a camp meeting held +near the village of M----ville. + +"I tell you what, the fact of the matter is, Mr. Knicks," said he, +"there is nothin' like religion. Before I got religion, and jined the +church, I didn't have any knowledge of God. I used to pity these +emigrants, seeing them poor and pale looking as death; but now, sir, I +reads my Bible, and finds that the Lord must not regard nor love these +Papists, wher'n he lets them run down so. The word of life is great." + +"Wal, I do not know. I care not a straw about any church; but my old +mother used to teach us, when children, that poverty and crosses were no +sign of the Lord's displeasure; as witness holy Job and Christ himself, +who were poor. In fact, she never stopped telling us, when boys, that +riches were dangerous, the love of money the root of all evil, and that +'whom he chastiseth the Lord loveth.'" + +"O, but your mother was a stiff Papist, you know, and did not understand +the word of God." + +"Yes, sir-ee, she did that; for I well recollect that, in the many +arguments she had with father, she always had the best of it. That she +had." + +"She may argue from Jesuit books and the like; but the Bible she durst +not look at, you know, Knicks." + +"I know better, Van. Don't you talk so. I have got the very Bible she +used and read every day--a great large one, printed in London. Mother +was English, and herself a convert to the church of Rome, though father +was Dutch." + +"Why, I never knowed that, Knicks. That was a great misfortune. These +priests, by the arts of Antichrist, will come round simple folks so, +that they often succeed in leading them down to destruction." + +"Well, sir," said Knicks, "I can tell you I never met a Christian but my +mother; and I cannot believe or listen to you say she went to +destruction, but to heaven, if there is such a place. And again: if I +were to embrace any religion, it would be the Roman Catholic religion; +for it is the only _honest religion_ there is. Father often brought +Methodist and Presbyterian ministers to make mother give up her'n; but +it was no go. She always treated them civil; but they had the worst of +the argument, I can tell you. They brought their Bibles, and she her'n; +and then they would set to, and be at it, till at last they were obliged +to give up. The only difference between her Bible and theirs is, that +her'n contained some fourteen or fifteen books more than the Protestant +Bible. The end of it was, that father turned with mother, and had the +Irish priest O'Shane to attent him afore he died. Mother got us all +baptized too." + +"Indeed!" carelessly ejaculated our official. "I must call and see that +Bible of yours some day." + +This conversation--which happened a few days before the death of our +emigrant widow--between his neighbor "Knicks" and our official shows +what an _enlightened gentleman_ he was. Since his elevation to office, +he also got promotion to another situation, which, though not so +lucrative as that of poormaster, in the course of time, by proper +management, promised to come to something. In a certain school house in +his vicinity, where the faithful were too poor, too irreligious, or too +pernicious to hire a preacher, our official held forth every Sunday, and +several evenings on the week days, at prayer meetings, protracted +meetings, and other roaring exercises. And to do him credit, his nasal +accent and piercing shrill voice made him a capital substitute for the +_hired_ regular Methodist preacher. He could be heard for nearly a mile +distant calling on the _brethern_ and _sistern_ to come to heaven. + +"O, let us come!" he would cry; "we were made and intended for heaven. I +see the shining seats, I see the crystal fountains, I see the Lord +sitting on the throne. Come, sisters, come! I could embrace ye all for +the Lord's sake. I could hide ye in my bosom. O! O!" + +There were some whose faith was not strong enough to place implicit +reliance on the veracity of this very enlightened "minister of the +word;" but the great majority believed, or pretended to believe, and +expressed their faith by crying out, "Glory! glo-ry! glo-r-y!" + +If a more particular or personal description of our official is +required, we can state, from minute observation, that Mr. Van Stingey +was of the middle size, of thin, cadaverous appearance, short neck, +snake head, with lank, sandy hair, nose flat and simex-like, small eyes, +one of which he kept continually shut, as if he supposed himself a match +for the poor whom he had to deal with by keeping one "eye skinned," +reserving the other for some important office in church or state, to +which he unquestionably aspired. Several times during the two months the +destitute widow and her family were reduced to penury and sickness. Our +worthy master was apprised of their condition by the neighbors; but he +always answered that the law did not allow him to spend any more, just +now; that these emigrants ought to remain at home; that they had no +right to this country; that he heard a very godly minister foretell last +year, at camp meeting, that the Romanists would yet have this country; +that too many were coming by millions; that he feared that they could +not be converted as fast as they were arriving; that they ought to be +made pay a heavy sum, or sent back. "In short," said he one day to poor +Mrs. Doherty, "I was not elected by them Irish paupers, and I never +expect to be." + +"If every thing you say was as true as that last word, I think you would +be an honest man for wonst," said Mrs. Doherty; "for there is no fear +that an Irishman's or a Christian's vote will ever elect the like of +you. God forgive you this day!" + +To suppose that any man could display such _bona fide_ ignorance as this +official did in the foregoing, would be to form an incorrect and +inadequate estimate of the human mind. The fact was that Van Stingey was +a false, low, cruel man, whose soul, steeped in the sensuality of his +past life, had lost all that was divine in its nature. His circumstances +were so reduced by his crimes and dissipation, that, being "too lazy to +work, and ashamed to beg," he assumed first the guise of religion to +gain popularity; and when he had "got religion," then the teachers of +the stuff which they call by that noble name, to keep it respectable, +procured him this office as a reward for his hypocrisy. + +This was the official who startled the inmates of our house of mourning +about five o'clock in the morning, when, thrusting his head inside the +door, he cried out, "A corpse there, eh?" + +"The Lord save us! Who are you, or what brings you here this hour o' +night?" said old granny Doherty, suspecting him as "nothing good." + +"Like you Irish, allers asking questions," said he, discharging a mass +of tobacco almost in her face. "I am the poormaster; and, having +received a report that there was a dead pauper here, thought I would +have it put out of the way early, before the folks would get up." + +"You are a very polite gintleman, God bless you. I hope she won't be +buried so soon. This is not the custom in any Christian country. After +to-morrow will be soon enough. You need not be in a hurry. We expect the +priest here to see to the children, as he has already left some help, +God bless him." + +"She must be enterred this morning, having died with the ship fever, I +suppose. The citizens expect me to do my _dooty_; and that I will do, if +the Lord spares me." + +"The dickens a ship fever nor no other fever she had; but the poor +woman's heart broke, seeing what she had come to in a strange country," +said Mrs. Doherty, pityingly. + +"Wal, wal, if she had trusted in the Lord, and knew the word of God, he +would not have deserted her as he has," hypocritically answered the +official. + +"I beg your pardon, sir, don't judge rashly. She was not deserted by +God, but died content and happy, after all the rites of her holy +religion were administered to her," was the prompt reply. + +"You think so; but I want to know how she could love God without the +Bible; and you Roman Catholics are not allowed its use." + +"God help those that can't read so," said Mrs. Doherty. "There is no +chance for me or my old man, for neither of us can read it; but not so +Mrs. O'Clery, God be good to her. She had her Bible, and many more good +books." + +"Yes, sir," said Paul, joining in the dialogue. "We have always had the +true Catholic Bible, and mother always read it on her knees." + +"Wal, my good lad, you are _pooty_ smart; and now get you ready, with +the rest of you little critters, and come on the sleigh I will send for +you. Let's see how many of you there are. One, two, three, four--a great +lot of ye. As I was saying, be ready to come up to the county house till +I can get some folks to take ye in to keep till ye are of age." + +"The priest, sir," said Paul, "promised to call to-day; and as he +already has left us a good sum of money, I know the good man will +provide for us till he writes to my uncle, who would be very sorry to +hear of our going to the poorhouse or the county house, though it may be +a better place." + +"My young lad, you will be provided for by law, and don't fail to be +ready by ten o'clock," said the official, sternly, as he left the room. + +In a few hours after, the body of the widow O'Clery was deposited in a +rough, unplaned pine coffin, and placed on board a two-horse, open +sleigh. The four orphans were stowed around in the same vehicle, and, in +care of a constable, the _cortege_ drove off at full speed to the +cemetery. By half past eleven, the remains of the widow were consigned +to their kindred earth, the few lumps of hard frozen clay on the surface +her only monument--the sobs, sighs, and prayers of her own dear children +the only requiem uttered over her lowly and soon-to-be-forgotten tomb. +"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth now, saith the +Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." (Apoc. xiv. 13.) + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE POORHOUSE. + + +When Father O'Shane left for the village of B----, in Vermont, to +administer the rites of Christian unction to a departing soul, the roads +were very hard to travel, and his progress, in company with his faithful +guide, was tedious and slow in the extreme. The call was to a sick woman +named Finmore, who was in the last stage of consumption, and who had +often, during her illness, expressed a desire that she should be +attended by a priest before she would die. Her husband did not oppose +her wish, but was yet either too indifferent on the subject, or too +lazy, to go such a journey as to the city of T---- in search of a +personage of whom he stood in such awe, and knew so little of, as the +Catholic priest. A neighboring Irish farmer, named O'Leary, hearing of +the wish of the dying woman, volunteered to bring the priest, if "there +was one to be found in all America," he said, "provided he got a horse +and wagon from the stable of the rich Yankee." And it was in company +with this simple but brave and faithful man that Father O'Shane set out +on the evening of the widow's death. They had not advanced many miles, +however, when the wind veered round to the north-west, and a most +violent snow storm blew quite in their face. Slow and unpleasant was +their progress over the hard, icy road; but in the course of a few hours +their farther advance became an utter impossibility with a wagon. They +had, therefore, to stop at a tavern; and after a good deal of entreaty, +and after having fed their horse, they succeeded in hiring from the boss +the use of a sleigh to carry them along to Vermont. + +"Ye can't travel nohow to-night," said the boss; "the roads will be +blocked up, chuck full." + +"We'll have to travel, sir," said the Irishman, "or die in the attempt; +so let us have the cutter. Charge what you have a mind to." + +"Why, what in the world can be the matter? Ye ain't subpoenaed, or going +to arrest somebody?" said the jolly boss. + +"Ah, no such thing, man," said the farmer; "but there is a woman +dangerously ill, and yon gentleman in the sitting room is a doctor, +going to visit her. Cost what it may, we must go ahead." + +"O, that alters the case. Why did you not say so at first? and you +should have had it and welcome. It will be ready in no time. Hitch on to +that new, light cutter in the shed, Sam," said he to the hostler. + +"Ya, ya," said Sam; and in five minutes the priest and his guide were +again proceeding on their charitable mission. They reached their +destination about two o'clock in the night, just one hour before the +death of her on whose account they had come such a journey. Father +O'Shane--poor old gentleman!--suffered terribly; had his ears +frostbitten, and two of his fingers frozen. But no matter; a soul was to +be saved, and that consideration alleviated all his sufferings, and +rendered him dead to every thing--cold, pain, watchings, hunger, thirst, +and weariness; nay, even death itself was but a trivial, inadequate +price to be paid by a mortal man to gain an immortal soul to Christ and +eternal happiness. + +"'Tis an awful night, reverend sir," said O'Leary. "I fear we can't go +ahead." + +"What matter, O'Leary," said Father O'Shane, "as we reached in time? +What is this night and all its violence compared with the sufferings of +a poor soul in the next world? All I regret is that you did not send me +in the sick call sooner. All is well, however; she was perfectly +conscious, and, I hope, worthily received all the rites of religion. +Hold up! you will rest well to-night, your conscience at ease, after +having been engaged in such a meritorious act of charity." + +In nothing does the church of God manifest the divinity of her origin +and mission more than in the care which she bestows on her children, the +adopted brethren of Jesus Christ, at the awful hour of death. She +reserves all her good things for this her last service to her children. +She sends her keys there, to the bedside of the dying man, to open to +him the gate to the calm and peaceful walks of justification. She sends +her oils thither, too, to anoint the Christian gladiator for his last +and final struggle with his powerful enemies. She sends her divine +manna, to strengthen him and sustain him for the trying and unknown +journey; and she sends the music of her sweet hymns and litanies to +cheer him on, and the light of indulgences and benedictions to guide his +soul, illumine his understanding, and shed the rays of their heavenly +reflection on the difficult passage that he has to traverse. And this +food, these blessings, gifts, and graces, she has ready for all +repentant sinners without exception, be they the inmates of the true +fold, or straying without the boundaries of the city of God; be they the +timorous souls who are already washed, or the negligent, who have +followed the hard ways of the world. If, in her other functions, the +spouse of Christ is "terrible as an army set in array," "fair as the +moon, and beautiful as the setting sun," in this, her last office at the +death bedside, she is all mercy, tenderness, and goodness. O, how cold, +selfish, and intolerable would life be, if the Catholic church was not +present, on all occasions, with the graces, blessings, and consolations +of Christ! + +"O Lord, if it be thy will, deprive us of every thing--riches, health, +renown, pleasure; but never leave thy creatures, thy inheritance, thy +children, without the consolations of thy church! O Lord, the many sheep +that are here not of thy fold gather and bring in speedily, that there +may be but one fold and one Shepherd, as thou thyself hast foretold." +Thus prayed this pious priest of God, after having added another strayed +sheep to the fold of his divine Master; and his soul was at peace. + +For two days the storm continued unabated, the whole country becoming +like an undulating ocean of snow. Drift snow, mountain high, was +accumulated in the valleys between hills; whole herds of sheep and +cattle were suffocated; and the bodies of several teamsters, whose teams +were overset, were dug out lifeless from under the drifts by the men who +had assembled with their ox teams and shovels to open the interrupted +communication with the city. + +Father O'Shane bemoaned his fate in doleful terms; the more so as Sunday +was approaching, when he feared he should be absent from his +congregation; and he also regretted that he had it not in his power, +according to his promise to the widow O'Clery, to visit her next day, +and provide for her poor orphans among the benevolent of his flock. And, +well aware of the character of the hard-hearted Van Stingey, he +shuddered for the fate of the children. + +The apprehensions of the good priest were not groundless; for no sooner +was the body of Mrs. O'Clery consigned to its narrow, cold habitation, +than the official, assisting the children into the sleigh that had borne +their mother's body to the tomb, drove off in a rapid trot towards the +poorhouse. + +"Have we far to go yet, sir?" said Paul, thinking that the "county +house" was something different from the much dreaded poorhouse. "I am +afraid Bridget will perish with cold, sir." + +"No fears of her; she's hardy, I guess." + +"Yes, sir, but her dress is so very light." + +"Well, she can pull that ere buffalo around her." + +"Ou, hou, hou!" cried Bridget, breathing on her little bare hands, which +she kept pressed to her lips. + +"I hope, sir, you are not going to take us to the poorhouse," said Paul; +"we don't want to go there. The priest that attended my mother--God rest +her soul!--told us he would provide for us." + +"Indeed! How can he do so?" said Van Stingey. + +"Why, sir, I don't know; but perhaps he will write to my uncle, who is a +vicar general in Ireland, and he will send us money to take us back +home." + +"Is your uncle in the British sarvice, then, and a general in the army?" + +"No, sir, but he is a priest next to the bishop in station in the +church." + +"That's it, eh? Wal, I guess you better not talk of going back, any how. +You must live here in this free country, and learn to be a man and a +Christian--a thing you could not be at home, in the old country." + +"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Paul; "the very best Christians are in +Ireland, which was once called the 'Isle of Saints,' when all the people +were Catholics; and where I came from, even now, they are all mostly +Catholics. There are in the whole parish but two _peelers_, the minister +and his wife, and the tithe proctor, or collector of tithes; in all, +five Protestants." + +"You are a lad, I see," said the official, as he dismounted from the +sleigh and ordered the children to enter their new home. + +"O, woe, woe, woe!" cried they, as they found themselves admitted as +_paupers_, and enclosed within the precincts of the terrible poorhouse. +"O Lord, what will we do?" cried they. "O sir, don't keep us here, or +send word to the priest first. I will go to his house, myself," said +Paul. + +"Shet up, ye little fools!" said the official; "this is a better place +nor ye think. Ye ain't going to get no potatoes, nohow, but something +better than ye ever were used to. Take these young 'uns to the stove in +the kitchen," said he to an under official. And the sobs and groans of +the destitute orphans were drowned in the uproarious rumbling of the +gong that called the officers of the establishment to dinner, it being +now noon. + +The repugnance of the Irishman to the poorhouse is proverbial. Neither +prison, dungeon, nor death is invested with greater horror, in the minds +of the peasantry of Ireland, than this institution. Solely founded, as +they are told, for their special use and benefit, there are instances, +countless, on record, where the affectionate mother has thanked Heaven, +when by fever, plague, or hunger it deprived her of her darling infant, +rather than that it should become an inmate of the poorhouse! + +"Is not this prejudice unreasonable and strange?" it will be asked. "And +why is it that the Irishman shuns and abhors an institution which his +English neighbor enjoys and petitions to enter?" The reasons are +numerous, and the difference in the feelings of both obvious and +palpable. It must be first remarked, that the Irish are a traditional +people, and remarkably conservative of the customs and usages of their +ancestors. They look back into the history of their country, or consult +their fathers and grandfathers, and in vain look back for the existence +of a poorhouse, or any necessity for its existence, before the advent of +the "godly reformation" and the established church in their midst. They +heard of such establishments as the ancient "_beataghs_," or houses of +hospitality, which were provided for the stranger and destitute in every +townland, the doors of which were open day and night, and on the boards +of which cooked victuals for scores of men were continually ready. These +were the substitute for the poorhouse in the days when England and all +Europe sent their poor scholars to receive a gratuitous education among +the inhabitants of the Island of Saints. There the poor and the hungry +could come in and eat, and be filled, and go his way, without being +questioned who he was, without being asked for a _pauper ticket_ to +admit him, without being obliged or compelled to lead a life of +celibacy, or running the risk of his soul's salvation, to keep his body +from perishing of hunger. + +In a word, when Brian Boru expelled the Danes from Ireland, when Hugh +O'Niel triumphed over the troops of Elizabeth, as well as when Dathi +held the sceptre, or Nial of the hostages planted his colors on the +Alps, there was enough to feed the poor of Ireland. There was no +necessity for a poorhouse; and there is no need of it now, says the +Irish peasant, if justice was done to Ireland. "Give us back our +monasteries and abbeys, and we will bestow you the poorhouses." + +Besides these considerations, the English poorhouse has this advantage +over the Irish one--that the former is conducted and presided over by +Englishmen, who have a sympathy for, or at least are of, the same blood, +religion, and race with its inmates. But in Ireland the case is +different. The poorhouses, prison-like edifices, in Elizabethan style of +architecture, presided over by Englishmen, generally, and nominees of +the crown, are a monument of conquest and tyranny. + +The inmates being principally "mere Irish," and the cost of their +support derived chiefly from the land, the landlords consider their +health, comfort, or life of only secondary importance. Hence we find the +number of deaths in these charnel houses averaging that of years of +plague; and each pauper is allowed far less weekly for his support than +the lord of the soil allows the meanest dog in his kennel. Add to these +the separation of man and wife, the isolation of members of the same +family, the dangers of perversion and proselytism to the thinning ranks +of the "law church;" and then, if you can, blame the poor Irishman for +his horror of the dreadful poorhouse of England. He saw hundreds of his +neighbors enter the gates of the poorhouse, but he never saw one return +back. Less active imaginations than that of the Irish peasant would be +worked on so as to conclude that some means more _active_ than sickness +or old age were had recourse to, for the purpose of lessening the taxes +on land, by getting rid of the poor. + +In truth, the British poorhouse is a great government establishment, +where the sons of the low squirearchy are provided for--a terrible mill, +where the bodies and souls of Irishmen and women are ground up and +annihilated--a labor-saving machine of political economy, introduced +into the world by the robbers of the reformation, in order to get rid of +surplus population, and in order that the Lazaruses of society might not +disturb the false repose of their hypocrisy, by begging the crums that +fall from their plunder-burdened tables! + +The American poorhouse, however, is of quite a different description, +and the promptitude and unanimity of the public mind regarding the +necessity of a law to provide for the support of the poor are among the +most laudable traits in the American character. In America, the +patrimony of the poor was never wrested from the church, to which God +committed their care; the charities and bequests of ages were not +plundered and squandered by the vilest of the human race, as in Britain; +hospitals, churches, abbeys, monasteries, convents, and other endowed +provisions for the poor, were not robbed and confiscated by the +sectarians of the new world, (probably because they did not exist +there;) and hence the essential difference between the English and +American poorhouse. There is no part of the Scripture the reformation +people so rigidly adhered to, or now pretend to adhere to, as the +advice of Judas, "Let this be sold and given to the poor." They made the +sale, but the poor they left unprovided for, till their numbers +increased so as to threaten the ill-gotten goods of the plunderers, who +at length passed laws compelling the poor to support the poor. And this +was the origin of poorhouses--a true Protestant creation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE O'CLERYS. + + +The O'Clery family was an ancient and honored one in Ireland. Princes, +chieftains, and warriors of the name were renowned before Charlemagne or +Alfred ascended the throne, or before any of the petty princes of the +heptarchy ruled over the barbarous Saxons. Like all the royal and noble +houses of Europe, the O'Clerys, after ages of glory and prosperity, had +their hour of decline and decay also. But it was a question whether the +virtues of this renowned house were more brilliant or conspicuous in the +zenith of its glory, or in its fallen or humbled state. The Irish church +founded by Saint Patrick never wanted an O'Clery to adorn her sanctuary +or to record her victories. The annals of the Four Masters will stand to +the end of the world as a proud monument of the services rendered to the +Irish church and to history by these illustrious annalists; and when the +deeds of the most renowned knights and chieftains of this royal house +shall have been obliterated by the merciless chisel of time, the authors +of the Four Masters' Annals will become only brighter among the shining +stars that adorn the literary firmament of old Ireland. + +The martyrology of the Irish church can attest the virtues of constancy +and patriotism with which the O'Clerys bore their share of the wrongs of +Erin and of her faithful sons. Whether or not the subjects of our +narrative, the poor emigrant orphans, had any of this royal and noble +blood flowing in their veins, is a thing that we cannot genealogically +vouch. But that they were not degenerate sons of Erin, or faithless to +their allegiance to the glorious old church of their fathers, we trust +this history will amply demonstrate. At all events, the uncle of our +hero, Paul O'Clery, held a very high station in the Irish hierarchy. +Having, with eclat, finished his ecclesiastical and literary primary +studies in the colleges of his native land, he subsequently repaired to +Rome, where he won with distinction the title of "doctor in divinity and +canon law," and carried the first premium from many French, German, and +even Italian competitors. Hence, soon after his return from abroad, on +account of his learning, as well as his tried virtues, he was appointed +the vicar general of the diocese of Kil----, a promotion which, far from +exciting the envy, gained the unanimous approval, of the diocesan +clergy. During the horrors of the general landlord persecution of the +Irish Catholics, (for it is nothing else than a persecution of +Catholics,) the O'Clerys found their name on the roll of the proscribed, +and got notice to quit the homestead of their fathers. The principal +cause for this proscription by the landlord was, that Dr. O'Clery, in +the newspapers, exposed the system of cruel and barbarous extermination +which took place on the extensive estates of Lord Mandemon--a gentleman +who said he thought it far more honorable, as well as profitable, to +have his princely estates in Munster tenanted by fat cattle than by +Irish Papists. His lordship had also the mortification to learn that all +the meat, money, and clothing he had employed for the last five years +could not make one single sincere convert to his rich "law +establishment." When the "praties" were dear, and the crops failed, +there were a few, to be sure, who would profess themselves ready to "ate +the mate" on Friday; but as soon as plenty returned, the "new lights" +went out, or returned to ask pardon of God, the priest, and the people; +and Lord Mandemon and his soup were pitched to the "seventy-nine +devils." This failure, this result, so often before seen and felt, and +so certain to follow, was, in his zeal for proselytism, attributed by +his lordship to Dr. O'Clery's zeal and learning. For, whenever or +wherever he went among the peasantry to preach to them in their own +sweet and loved dialect, the "jumpers, the new lights, and the soupers" +disappeared like the locusts from Egypt when exorcised by the magic rod +of Moses. Hence the hatred with which the O'Clerys were persecuted. +Hence, also, the oath of Lord Mandemon, that he would never return to +his home in England till every Papist on his estates was rooted out. +This oath was kept by his lordship, probably the only true one he ever +swore; for in less than a fortnight he fell a victim to the cholera, and +expired on board the Princess Royal steamboat on her return to +Liverpool. + +Arthur O'Clery, father to the subject of our tale, sold out a second +farm he held near Limerick, turned all his effects into money, bade +adieu to his beloved brother, Dr. O'Clery, who was averse to his +emigration, and, in the autumn, set sail from Liverpool for New York, in +the ship Hottinguer. He had all his family with him: they were +comfortably provided with all necessaries, and, besides, had one +thousand pounds, in hard cash, to start with in the new world. They were +not long out at sea, when, owing to the crowd on board, the lack of +proper arrangements, and room, or ventillation, as well as on account of +the cruelly of the inhuman captain, ship fever and cholera broke out on +board. + +The number of bodies consigned to the ocean from that unlucky vessel was +from five to ten daily, and among the victims of the plague was Arthur +O'Clery. He was the only one of the cabin passengers who was attacked by +the epidemic, which, in the ardor of his charity, he contracted while +attending on, and ministering to, the wants of the poor steerage +passengers. + +Sad and impressive was the scene when the Rev. H. O'Q----, a young Irish +priest on board, in the middle hold of the ship, where O'Clery had been +removed by order of the captain, called on the six hundred surviving +passengers to kneel while he was administering the rites of the church +to the benefactor of them all. Never was a call on the piety and faith +of any number of men more cheerfully obeyed. Instantaneously that mixed, +nondescript crowd--Irish, English, Scotch, Welsh, Dutch--Catholic, +Protestant, infidel--fell on their knees, and, if they did not pray, +they paid that _outward homage_ to Religion which sometimes the most +indifferent and irreligious cannot resist paying her. Infidelity is a +great coward, as well as a false guide. In her hour of ease and satiety, +she pretends to scorn the threats and judgments of the Most High, and, +like Satan in his pandemonium, to make war on Heaven; but no sooner does +the roaring of the thunderbolt shake the earth, or the vast abyss open +its devouring throat to swallow her unhappy victims, than she hides her +head in the caves of the earth, or, flying to some secure place, +abandons her votaries to the forlorn hope of trusting to the weakness of +their own minds for resources to extricate themselves from the evils +that threaten them. It was so on board the ill-fated Hottinguer. Those +who, under the influence of the security offered by the prosperous +sailing of the few first days, were bold, independent, and defiant of +danger, no sooner did they see their comrades thrown overboard, after a +few hours' sickness, than their hearts failed within them, their tone of +defiance was turned into despair, their mockery of religion ceased, and +that priest of God, whom they ridiculed, insulted, and despised for the +first few days, was now respected, confided in, and regarded by them +with sentiments bordering on religious homage. + +Fervently did that priest, who thanked God that he was on hand, pray, +not that God would restore him to his wife and children,--for all hope +of recovery was now gone,--but that, in accordance with the anxious +desire of the dying man, he should have the privilege of burial in a +Christian, consecrated tomb. + +"Pray, father," said he, "that, if it be God's holy will, I may be +buried in a consecrated soil. It seems to me a sort of profanation, that +the cruel fishes and those monsters of the deep, which we see leaping +around the vessel, should devour my flesh, united with, and I hope +sanctified now by, the flesh and blood of my Lord." + +The priest did pray, and the people joined in that impulsive prayer of +faith, and that prayer was heard; for, though O'Clery breathed his last +on board, and, by the captain's orders, the sailors--poor fellows!--were +standing around his berth, prepared, as soon as the last breath left +him, to throw him overboard, yet he lingered for three days after; and +they reached quarantine before that pure soul quitted its tenement of +clay and winged its flight to heaven. The wife and her children had the +body conveyed to shore and interred in the Catholic cemetery of New +York, where a neat marble monument could be seen with these words +inscribed:-- + +_"Pray for the soul of Arthur O'Clery, whose body lies underneath. +Requiescat in pace. Amen."_ + +It was thus that the O'Clerys were deprived of their good and virtuous +father, and the widow of her husband; but this, as already has been +partly seen, was but the beginning of their woes; for, after their +arrival in New York, an individual, who, during the voyage, ingratiated +himself with the family by his attention around the sick man's bed, +joined them at their lodgings. But in a few days they found him gone one +morning, after their return from mass at Barclay Street Church, and with +him the canvas bag, containing the thousand pounds in gold and Bank of +England notes left by them in a trunk. Thus were six persons, strangers +and destitute in a great city, reduced from competency to poverty at +"one fell swoop" by the villany of a pretended friend and associate. + +"O Lord, pity me! One misfortune never comes alone," groaned the now +poor and afflicted widow O'Clery, when she was informed by little +Bridget that the "trunk was broke open," and all the things ransacked +"through and fro." + +She soon saw that all she had was gone, and concluded that Cunningham, +as he was absent from breakfast contrary to his wont, must be the thief. +The police got immediate notice; advertisements were issued, and rewards +offered, and in a day or two after Cunningham was arrested; but as none +of the money was found on his person, and as there was no direct +evidence of his guilt, the magistrate discharged him. The articles of +dress in her well-supplied wardrobe were detained, in payment of her +board bill, by the hotel keeper where she lodged in New York; and with +the few shillings that remained in her purse, she, with her children, +took passage on one of the Hudson River boats, hoping to make out +certain acquaintances of her husband, whom she heard were settled in the +vicinity of T----. The rest has been already told--namely, how she took +sick and died after great sufferings; how her children were left +destitute, and next to naked; how they were now reduced to the rank of +paupers, and secured within the precincts of the county house. + +"Of all the things which we brought from home with us, we have nothing +of value now left, Bridget," said Paul, "but this silver crucifix, which +belonged to my grandfather. Glory be to God. Let us be glad that this +has been left," said he, kissing it with religious affection. "This is +all we have now left. Let us defend it." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE COUNCIL. + + +Father O'Shane was now several days weather bound and laid up sick in +Vermont, where, with great anxiety, he waited the first opportunity to +return home to his mission; and the orphans were safely lodged in the +poorhouse, where our friend Paul, to calm the anxiety and dispel the +grief of his younger companions, began to contrast, with an air of +satisfaction, the aspect of things here with what he had heard of the +horrors of the Irish poorhouse. + +"What nice men we have in America over the poorhouse," said he; "they +are very kind to us." + +"Yes; but I don't like that man with the great beard," said Bridget; "he +frightens me when I meet him. O, such a _feesage_; a robin redbreast +could make her nest in it," said she, smiling. + +"He might be a nice man for all that, Bid. Most people here don't shave +at all, you know, as we saw in New York. And did you notice that sailor +that saved the boy who fell overboard, what a long beard he had? And he +must be a brave, good man, to risk his own life to save another's." + +"Yes, Paul; but he was a Catholic, and from Ireland, too; for he made +the sign of the cross on himself in Irish before he leaped out, for I +was near him; and besides, I saw him going to confession to the same +priest we went to the day after we landed." + +"And are not they all Catholics here, Paul?" said Patsy. "I seen crosses +on three churches, the time I went with Mrs. Doherty for the priest for +mother, God be good to her." + +"No, Patsy, they are not; for if they were, there would be more than one +priest for this large town; and you heard Father O'Shane say that there +was only himself for all the city and a great part of the country," said +Paul. + +"I hope somebody will take us to mass on Sunday," said little Patrick; +"and, Paul, will you ask the priest to allow me to answer mass? You know +Father Doyle told us never to forget the lessons we learned of him." + +"I'd know are there any nuns here," said Bridget. "O, how beautiful the +convent chapel in Limerick was! I hope I have not lost my beautiful +little silver medals and crucifix they gave me when I was coming away. +No; here they are, and my Agnus Dei, too," she said, kissing them. "God +rest mother's soul, how glad she was when I got these from the holy +nuns!" And the tears streamed down her fair cheeks in floods. + +"Hold your tongue, Bridget, again," said Paul, with emphasis. "Don't you +know that mother told us not to grieve, but pray for her soul? And +besides, in the 'Imitation of Christ,' which I read for you this morning +and last night, it is said that grief kills devotion, and excessive, +sorrow is a sin. You can serve mother, or rejoice her soul, by praying, +but not by crying, Bridget." + +"O, how can I help it? 'Tis against me will, Paul," said she, wiping her +eyes. + +"Always look attentively at that crucifix," said Paul, "and you need +never grieve for any thing except sin. This is what Father Doyle used to +say." + +"O Paul, we have no father or mother now." + +"Yes we have, Bridget--our Father in heaven, and the blessed virgin +mother of God, our mother also," said the young preacher. + +"How well the priest did not call as he said he would." + +"May be he could not help it; he had to go far into the country, and the +snow might stop him. You know he will find us out. The priest always +visits the poorhouse in Ireland." + +While this conversation was going on between the members of this poor +orphan family, Paul acting the meritorious part of a comforter, (I say +acting, for his own noble soul was almost crushed with grief, which he +thought it better to disguise than to have his little charge rendered +quite stupid and almost dead from crying and sobbing;) while this was +the way Paul entertained his little charge, in another part of the +poorhouse, in a well-furnished room, were seated around a table +containing the "_reliquiae"_ or remnants of a good dinner, five persons, +engaged in earnest chat about the late importation of orphans. + +"Really they are likely young 'uns, and no mistake," said Mr. Van +Stingey, wiping his mouth with the corner of the tablecloth. + +"Dear me!" said a lady who formed one of the council. "Charles, if you +saw them, they are perfect beauties, you would say. The oldest boy is as +noble-looking a lad as ever you did see--Roman nose, raven hair, +delightfully-carved mouth, and lips, and eyes, and eyelashes quite +indescribable, so beautiful are they. The little girl is a perfect +Venus; while the two younger children, Patrick and Eugene, are as if +they came from the chisel of Powers, or some renowned artist of +antiquity." + +"Why, my love," said Parson Burly, "you are quite classical in your +description; whether or not it is a correct one, is another thing." + +"I assure you, Mr. Burly," said Van Stingey, "that your lady has not +described them beyond what is true. They are almighty fine young 'uns." + +"I want you to adopt that eldest one, Mr. Burly," said the parson's +wife, who was president of the council. "He would make such an elegant +preacher, I am sure. You must also change the name of the second boy +from Patrick, which is so Irish, to Ebenezer, Zerubabbel, or some +Scripture name, or even classical one." + +"Why, madam, I am beginning to get jealous, and to think you don't +sufficiently admire my powers of oratory," said her husband. + +"Well, my dear, putting aside jokes," she solemnly remarked, "you know +how much we need Irish ministers to preach to the Irish amongst us, who +are the best church attenders on earth, I believe. And it is notorious, +that those whom we can take out from the ranks of Papacy while young +become the greatest ornaments to our denomination. Witness Kirvoin, +Maclown, Moffat, and several others." + +"Well, well, my fair refuter," said the parson, who really feared his +wife would rivet her affections on the young orphan if adopted; "you +know it would never do to keep that little fellow with us. How old did +you say he was--about fifteen? Well, fifteen or sixteen--ya--you +recollect how that old priest acted last July, at the village of Scurvy? +A little girl I sent out to Brother Prim this priest smelt and hunted +out; and actually broke in the room door where she was confined, and +took her off by physical force to a Roman Catholic orphan house. These +priests are terrible fellows; and your young fancy orphan, Paul, would +soon find out the priest, and have his grievance redressed. And what is +worse, this priest got Americans--ay, members of my own church--to +applaud his conduct, and defend him from prosecution! The Irish are +getting so powerful in this country," said the parson, after a pause, +"from their admirable union of purpose and the perfect organization of +their church, that I dread their influence. In fact, 'you catch a +Tartar' when you get one of them into your family. Ten to one, instead +of converting this young Papist, he would convert our whole family to +his own creed." + +"O Burly," said the disappointed wife, "you are always a prophet of +evils. I tell you, I must have that young lad, for I want him." + +"You do? Cynthia, my dear," said the parson, "we cannot have the lad in +our family. We _dare not_, without the consent of the trustees, who pay +us our salary. Do you understand _that_, my fair disputant?" said he, +triumphantly. + +"Well, Burly, as soon as I recover the means my father willed me, I +shall have that young man--already almost fully educated, as you can +perceive--brought up for the church." + +"O, _then_ you can try it, madam," said the man in white neckcloth, in a +sharp, sarcastic style; "but as for me, and I think my opinion is of +some weight, I tell you much can never be made out of that shrewd boy." +There was a solemn, ominous silence, for a moment, in the company. "Did +you remark the sort of dignified and independent motions of the fellow," +continued he, "when you had him here just now?" + +"Fellow!" said his wife, looking at her husband, in anger. "Is that a +proper term to apply to the child?" + +"It is not an improper or inappropriate one, not more so than calling +him 'child,'" said he. "I was just going to remark the coolness of his +reply when you introduced my name as the parish clergyman. 'A Catholic +clergyman, I hope, sir,' said he; 'as such, I am very glad to see you.' +Did you observe how sad and demure he looked when told he was to be sent +to school, where he could read the Bible, and become acquainted with the +word of God?' O sir,' said he, 'much obliged to you; I have got a Bible +already, and other good books of devotion, which we brought from home. I +should be very glad to learn what is good,' said he; 'but I trust I have +got my catechism well committed to memory; and having made my first +communion and been confirmed, I was discharged from class, and appointed +a Sunday school teacher, by our good priest, Father Doyle.' And on my +telling him that he could be a teacher here of a better religion than +that of his country, he shook his head, declining the honor of the post +offered, and remarking that 'it was impossible to have a better religion +than that which had God for its author--the Catholic religion.' With +this bit he retired (ye all saw him, I need not repeat more) from our +presence, a blush of mental triumph playing on his smooth cheek." + +"Sartain there was such a feelin'," said an old gray-headed Yankee, who +sat at the head of the table, and who was guardian of the establishment. +"You can't do nothin' with these Papists," continued he. "I have seed +the attempts made time and agin, but allers fail. The very children, +only five years of age, of that ere religion, refuse to eat flesh on +Friday, or to disobey such other darned ceremonies of their church as +they are brought up to." + +"Wal, Mr. Burly, madam, and my esteemed brother Valentine, my plan is +this," said Van Stingey: "send them, separate or in couples, here and +there, into the country, and there, with the farmers, they will soon get +used to our church ways, and be gradually broke in." + +"That you can't do safe, neither, Van," said the boss of the house, +"for they would raise such a dust as would bring half the city around +us; and you know the people would never consent to any thing like +cruelty towards one so young and interesting as these here are." + +"You say the truth there, sir," said the parson. + +"It would be cruel to separate the dear ones," said the wife; "wherever +they are sent, let them go together. I could pledge my watch and wedding +diamond ring to help to raise such beauties," said she, passionately. +"Surely they cannot be Irish, or they must belong to some race different +from the Celtic half savages which we have read inhabit Ireland." + +"You mistake, Cynthia, my dear," said the parson; "these are Irish, and +genuine Celts, too, as one can tell from the hair and nose. I think, +however, you exaggerate their beauty. Have you not read the European +letters of Thurlow W---- and Horace G----, which described the middle +and upper classes of the Irish as the most beautiful complexioned and +dignified people in Europe or the world? Now, this is my mind, that you +must get some farmers in a good Protestant neighborhood to adopt these +children, so that they may all live in the same vicinity, if not in the +same family; and by this means all unpleasant consequences will be +obviated." + +"I say ditto to that," said the Nestor of the council, old Valentine; +"but you must lose no time, for the eldest lad told me the priest +promised to call for them; and if that gentleman gets them into his +hands, I'll warrant all your plans will be frustrated." + +"That's just it. You have hit the nail on the head, friend Valentine," +said Van Stingey. "I will take charge on them, and take them to that +gentleman's house, in W---- county, who was here last week looking for a +boy and a girl to raise; and _mebbee_ I will scare up somewhere else for +the other two young critters." + +"Take 'em along, then, and see that you get your pay," said the boss, +rising. + +"O, never mind, leave that to me," said the vile, wily knave, as he went +to see to his arrangements for carrying the orphans to parts unknown. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A RUDE LOVER OF NATURE. + + +Father O'Shane, who had suffered severely from the effects of exposure +to the late violent storm, no sooner found himself a little recruited, +and the roads passable, than he prepared to return to his residence in +the city. He had, as conductor, a green young Irishman, lately arrived, +who felt almost inspired by the unusual luxury, presented for the first +time to his view, of a North American snowfall, and petitioned earnestly +to accompany his reverence back to the city to enjoy the "glorious +sport," as he called it, of a sleigh ride. The enthusiasm of the young +native of the perennial green fields of Munster did not escape the +notice of Father O'Shane, who himself was once not less enthusiastic, +and now not altogether insensible, to the chaste and almost sublime +beauty of Nature, when arrayed in her bridal robes of white on the +advent of spring. + +"Well, Murty, how do you like this manner of travelling?" + +"Be gonnies, your reverence, there is nothing I like better. What a fine +time it would be for tracking the hare, or hunting the fox!" + +"You are fond of sport, I perceive." + +"Bedad, sir, I would rather be out such a day as this, with dog and +gun, than eating bread and honey. I wonder if they would put you to jail +or transport you here, as they would at home, for fowling a bit in these +woods?" + +"No, Murty, I believe not." + +"No," said Murty, doubtingly. "You don't tell me so, your reverence?" + +"I tell you that there are no game laws, or only very nominal ones; so +that, when you come back, if you and your dog traverse yonder mountain +from top to bottom, you need not be afraid of the rifle of the +gamekeeper, or of a sentence to a free passage to Van Diemen's Land." + +"Murther! Must not they be very fine gentlemen here, to be so liberal? +Signs by I shall, please God, one of these days, visit that old, grand +mountain with the white head; and if there be a hare's form in his rough +sides or his curly beard, I will ferret it out, and soon have pussy by +the hind legs." + +"I can see, Murty, you are growing poetical in your description of old +Mount Antoine," said the priest. + +"Your reverence, did you ever see such a grand sight? I can't help +comparing that grand mountain there to the king of yon wild regions. The +snow on the trees, on the summit, causes them to look like gray locks; +and, looking down on the smaller mountains on every side, they appear +like his subjects or his sons, which, in time, are to grow big like +himself, affording shelter and refuge from the snares of the hunter to +the wild animals of nature. O, how I like America!" said he, his +enthusiasm still rising. + +"That's right, Murty; I am glad you do like it. Wait till summer or +autumn, and then how beautiful these bleak hills will appear during +these delightful seasons!" + +"O sir, it is a great, grand country! No tyrants, no landlords, no +poverty." + +"No poverty, Murty, except what is purely accidental, or brought on by +the improvidence of individuals. In the very best regulated society +there must, of necessity, be poverty less or more," said the priest, by +way of qualification. + +"Every thing is free, and there is liberty for all. The very fences, you +see, sir, unlike our stone walls at home, give liberty to the winds and +storms to blow through them. The mountains are free to the huntsman; the +very snow is free to blow and form itself into those beautiful banks, +and little mountains, and castles, and stacks, and curtains, and drapery +that we see on every side of us as we glide along." + +The priest listened with astonishment. + +"Was there ever seen any thing so _purty_," continued the peasant, "as +those ridges and mounds of snow? I have seen the grandest buildings in +Ireland,--Marlborough Street Church, in Dublin, the stone carving and +ceiling in Cashel of the Kings, the stucco work on the old Parliament +House in College Green,--but I think I see work in these fantastic snow +banks that beats them all hollow. And--glory be to God!--all this +beauty, so dazzling, so chaste, was created by a storm, when all nature +was in a rage, and men shut themselves up in houses from its violence! I +am glad now," said he, "our landlord turned us out. I now forgive him +for being the cause of our coming to this country of the brave and the +free." + +"Was it a landlord who has been the occasion of so much enjoyment to +you, Murty?" said Father O'Shane, drawing him out. + +"Yes, sir. It vexes me to think of it, much more to speak of it," said +the simple youth, with a tear full created in his eye. "We, and our +forefathers before us, had the farm of Lapardawn for more than three +hundred years. A new landlord coming in possession of the estate, we got +notice to quit, in the middle of winter. My father refused to yield the +hearth of his forefathers without a struggle, and locked himself and +family up. My mother was just after her confinement, and becoming short +of provisions and even of water, she begged of the police who kept guard +to hand her in a drink. They refused. She then begged, for God's sake, +to have a messenger go for the priest. For two days, the police refused +to let any body out of the house, unless we surrendered. My father, who +had cut a hole in the roof of the house to catch at rain water for my +dying mother, made his escape through it. A neighbor, who handed me a +drink of water through a broken pane in a window, had his hand cut off +by a stroke from the police sergeant's sabre. My poor mother died before +the priest arrived. My oldest brother, seeing his mother dead, and that +we had nothing now to guard, surrendered. We were all lodged in jail +that night, and all our means were sold at auction. It was lucky for us +we were put into jail; for, one week from that day, the landlord that +was the cause of all our misery and of my mother's death was shot dead +on the road from our farm to the town of Ennis. If we were out of jail, +we would all have been accused of the cruel landlord's murder, and +hanged; but we were, after one year in prison for the crime of defending +our homestead, liberated, and came out in a body to America. And now I +am glad of it, for two signs of tyranny I find wanting here--landlords +and game laws. The absence of one allows me to trace the steps of the +wild quadruped; and of the other, to trace my title to the soil which I +shall possess, down to the middle of the earth and up to the sky, +unfrowned on, or unawed by the landlord's tyranny or the 'peeler's' +cruelty. This is partly why I like to see these mountains of snow," said +he, "for I think that neither landlords nor 'peelers' could exist here. +They would become buried under these snow banks, for it is by night that +they are generally patrolling the highways, and plotting against the +peace of innocent families; and such a storm as the late one could not +but be fatal to the villains." + +These and the like sentiments are those which generally pervade the +bosom of the Irish emigrant after landing on this enfranchised land. +Wonder not, then, you natives of this God-provided country, that the +foreigner is likely to become more republican than yourselves, and that +his is a keener sense of enjoyment than yours, from the evils of his +antecedent life. Do not, therefore, become jealous of his purer and more +ardent love for this republic, the inheritance of the oppressed; but, +instead of envying his growing influence in this country of his choice +and adoption, receive him with open arms, and make him a participator +with yourselves in the good things which you and your fathers have +enjoyed for ages, and your claims to which are grounded on no better +title than that of the emigrant; and which title is founded on the +adventitious discovery of this continent by a Catholic and a foreigner, +and on oppressions undergone by your fathers in their native lands. +Wonder not, then, that the Irish Catholic is the best lover of this +country, and that he feels himself at home here; for his sufferings in +the cause of liberty and of conscience have been such as to give him the +strongest title deed to the liberties and privileges, if not to the +enjoyments and comforts, of this favored land. Every prejudice is +unreasonable, but none more irrational than that which would throw +obstacles in the way of the gallant emigrant towards procuring a home +and a sanctuary in this land of refuge and freedom. + +The land is wild and uncultivated, with its womb groaning under the +burden of plenty and fertility that have been dormant for ages upon +ages, and that must remain so for ages to come, unless the thrifty hand +of husbandry assist them into birth; and where are we to find, or when +will the "nativists" be able to procure, as busy hands and stalwart +arms, sufficiently numerous to bring into cultivation the millions of +acres within the extent of our country, if the emigrant and foreigner +are to be discouraged, and the mad clamor of the "nativists" is to +prevail? It was not all native blood that was spilled in the +establishment of the republic. It was not native genius alone that +created the constitution, laws, and institutions of our country. It was +not "natives," of course, that first discovered, settled, or established +the several states that form the grand Union. It was by emigrants, by +"furriners," that all these things were done. What, therefore, can be +more ungrateful, if not more unjust, in the "nativists," than to attempt +to rob the poor emigrant of the rewards of his labor and merit, in order +that they may enjoy all the fruit of the latter's toil? This is the +height of ingratitude and injustice; a far more glaring instance of both +than that of the _reputed_ forefathers of these "nativists" when they +robbed the old Britons of their homes and of those liberties which they +were _hired_ to defend. What models of honesty, justice, and truth you +are, most distinguished "nativists"! The foreigner built your house, +after having first procured the site or the lot; they furnish the house +with all useful, and necessary, and ornamental furniture; and these very +emigrants are yet necessary to keep the house in order; and you come and +threaten to turn them out, telling them you can now dispense with their +services, and that they are "furriners"! And, what is more inconsistent +and unjust still, by this policy of yours, if it could prevail, you +would be doing the most effectual thing to annihilate yourselves, both +physically, politically, morally, and socially. For, if you turned off +all the "furriners," not only would you sink in wealth and +resources,--your ships unmanned, your factories unworked, your canals +and railroads undug, and your battles unfought,--but your very blood +would corrupt, and turn into water! Your physical stature would soon be +reduced to the standard of the Aztecs; and, what is worse, following the +natural channel of your Anglo-Saxon instincts, you would become a +godless race of Liliputians! Yes, followers of Mormon Smith, Joe Miller, +Theodore Parker, and spiritual raps. O nativists, to what an abyss your +mental intoxication was hurrying you, in your blind zeal against the +emigrant and the foreigner! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE ORPHANS IN THEIR NEW HOME. + + +After the arrival in the city of the wearied missionary, his first visit +was to the scene of his late visit to the dying widow; and learning all +the particulars there that came under the cognizance of Mrs. Doherty, he +next drove rapidly to the poorhouse, where, as we have already stated, +the _pious_ officials had arranged the details so as to disappoint the +Popish priest of his benevolent designs, and to secure, if possible, the +adhesion of the young and interesting orphans to what they called "Bible +religion." + +When Father O'Shane called at the county house, he learned from an under +official that the boss "_warn't to home_; and," said he, "the children +hadn't been here mor'n a few hours, when a highly-respec'able farmer had +taken them with him to bring up." He couldn't "tell nothin' about who +the farmer was, or where he was from; but the children wor well done +for, that's all." It was in vain the priest represented that the +children were no paupers, but of highly-respectable connections, who +were able and willing to provide for them. He didn't "know nothin' about +that; but he knowed papers were signed, (as he was directed falsely to +assert,) and that sartain the children could not now be claimed by any +persons except their parents. They were now under the care of +guardians." After repeated visits, continued for weeks and months, to +the same establishment, Father O'Shane could gain no more satisfactory +knowledge of the fate of the orphans. He was obliged to relinquish his +search in despair, concluding that the children were kidnapped, and +that, except by God's mercy, their faith and morals were doomed, under +the influence of cold, contradictory infidelity or heresy. He mentioned +the case to his congregation, earnestly soliciting their prayers for +these poor orphans of Christ; and he oftentimes offered the holy +sacrifice, to enlist the influence of heaven in their regard. + +Let it not be said we exaggerate this account of the conduct of the +poorhouse officials; and from the improbability of such an instance of +injustice and cruelty happening in our day, let not our readers conclude +that such a case, and many such cases, happened not in times gone by. +Then the Irish Catholic population of the state was not much more than +what that of one county is now. Then an Irish Catholic could not get the +office of constable or bailiff; now we have Catholic cabinet ministers, +judges, senators, legislators, and aldermen. + +Then the ballot box was surrounded but by a few Irish naturalized +citizens, and these not of such importance as to influence the election +of a constable or poormaster; now the Irish adopted citizen, by the +power he exercises in his vote, is solicited by candidates, from a town +officer to the president; and whoever would attempt to reenact the +kidnapping of Van Stingey, and many other officials of his class, in +their days of petty power, would be sure to be compelled to retire +forever from public life, and pass into the gloom and infamy of his +depraved private circle. There were many exposures and wailings of the +children of Israel on the waters of the river of Egypt, before Moses; +and there was many an instance of the kidnapping of Irish Catholic +children from their parents, or natural guardians, by the jealous +Pharaohs of sectarianism, before the attempt made by Mr. Van Stingey to +kidnap Paul O'Clery and his brethren. + +In their new home, however, up to this time, Paul and his little charge +were well treated, as far as meat and clothing were concerned. Even in +regard to religion, and the devotional exercises prescribed by its +precepts, there was no obstacle thrown in their way; although the +fidelity of Paul and his sister Bridget to their morning and night +prayers was quite astonishing to their patrons. A few indirect, covert +attacks were all that, for many months, it was thought prudent they +should have to encounter from the family, named Prying, with whom they +staid. The truth was, that Paul, the eldest of the children, was such a +smart, watchful, prudent young lad, his younger brothers and sister were +so accustomed to obey him, and he exercised such emphatic authority over +them, that it was the advice of the most prudent of the preachers who +interested themselves in his case, to let him alone for the present. The +change intended to be brought about was to be left to time, +conversation, and the influence of common school education to +accomplish. His education, in Ireland, was principally religious and +classical, rather than commercial; and he was just now acquiring, in his +present trying noviceship, what was precisely wanting to his previous +course. He and his brothers, who lived in the next farmer's house, +together with Bridget, his sister, who was under the same roof with +himself, obstinately refused to attend the Sunday school, the meeting +house, or to join in the prayer with which school was daily opened. +Hence they were more than once publicly prayed for by the fanatical +Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Mr. Gulmore, at whose church the Prying +family attended. There was a sufficiency of prayers now "put up," in Mr. +Gulmore's opinion, to begin the work of more practical conversion. +Accordingly, a "big dinner" was prepared, a turkey cooked, and Friday +fixed upon--the appetite being chosen, after a very ancient pattern in +paradise, as the channel through which to "open the eyes" of these blind +young Papists! Some neighboring ministers were of opinion that it was +too soon to begin; but they were but Methodist, Universalist, and other +preachers, who were jealous of the influence and of the salary of Mr. +Gulmore, and who, besides, did not think it exactly fair that all the +children should be converted to Presbyterianism, while there were a +dozen as good denominations around, "and better too." But the +good-salaried disciple of John Calvin had no respect for such opinion; +so "forthwith the good work must begin," as he authoritatively said. He +should not be trifled with any longer, or have it said that, after all +the prayers "put up," and pains taken, "they should still be left +wallowing in the mire of Popery." + +"It should not be! It could not be! The power of the Lord must be made +manifest. He could not any longer allow the light to remain under a +bushel. It should shine, and he should then and there convert those +obstinate young things to vital religion." + +"Some turkey, Paul, my dear?" said Gulmore, after having first served +the ladies and senior members of the family. + +"Not any, sir, thank you," said Paul. + +"Not any!" repeated the parson, frowning. "Why so? That's not good +manners, my lad." + +"If it be not, I am sorry, sir," said Paul. "I cannot be expected to be +very polite, or to know the usages of this country, as yet. So I beg to +be excused." + +"You should not refuse the gifts of God when offered you," replied _his +reverence_. + +"But I do not think it would be good for me to use these gifts of God in +the present instance." + +"You must eat meat, Paul, and use the good things of our glorious +country, or you will fail and die." + +"I know I will die," said Paul; "and I guess eating turkey won't make me +immortal." + +A loud laugh followed this remark from all but the parson and a female +member of the family. This "raised his dander a _leetle_," as old uncle +Jacob afterwards used to say. + +"That is more unmannerly still, Paul," said the parson. + +"You think you are smart; but I tell you, child, you are ignorant, and +impudent to boot." + +"I should be sorry to make a saucy or impudent answer to any body, much +more to a clergyman of any church; but I thought you were aware that it +is counted very insulting to Catholics to offer them meat on Fridays, as +if they were apostates who would sell their souls for a 'mess of +pottage;' and I thought you were aware that we are Catholics, and that +our religion forbids us to eat flesh on Friday." + +"I know, sir, the Romish faith forbids her votaries the use of meat; +but, Paul, I thought you were now thoroughly weaned from such notions, +from what you have seen since you came to this free and Protestant +country." + +"All I have seen since I was unfortunately compelled to come to these +parts, only confirms me in my attachment to the religion of our +ancestors," said Paul. + +"My child, I love you," said the parson, seeing he had been committed by +his temper, and now changing his air of haughtiness into that of +affected kindness; "I love you in my soul, and that is why I want to +teach you to know Jesus, and to cause you to give up the fooleries of +Popery. What can be more foolish than to abstain from what God has given +for man's use?" + +"I hope I appreciate that _love_, sir," said Paul; "but if you wish not +to insult me, and if you do not want to cause me to doubt the sincerity +of your love, you won't call any prescription of the church of Christ +foolish. The Scriptures tell us that we may lawfully and meritoriously +abstain from many good and useful gifts of God--as Samson abstained +from wine; St. John the Baptist from flesh and the luxury of apparel; +St. Paul fasted and chastised his body; the Jews were commanded to +abstain from the use of pork and other meats. Finally, our Savior +promises to reward those publicly who will fast or abstain from food." + +"Ah, poor, lost, ignorant one," exclaimed the parson, "you are in error; +sunk in superstition!" + +"I hope your assertions do not prove me so." + +"Paul, child, don't you speak so to the minister," interrupted old Mrs. +Prying. "He is for your good, and desires to make you a Christian." + +"Ma'am, I don't wish to insult any body, as I said before; but I can't +hear my religion run down and misrepresented while I know the contrary +to be the fact." + +"Well, madam, let me alone; I will soon catch the lad in his own Jesuit +net. Paul, you _know_ the Bible, you think; where in the Bible do you +find it ordered to fast from flesh on Fridays?" + +"Where in the Bible," said Paul, "do you find it ordered to keep Sunday +holy instead of Saturday, the Sabbath? where are you ordered to build +churches? where do you find authority for establishing feasts and fasts? +where to hold synods or assemblies? where to baptize infants?" + +"O Paul, the Bible does not order these things expressly; but the +Christian church does." + +"Well," said Paul, "it is only our church that forbids her children the +use of flesh on Friday; and 'he that does not hear the church, let him +be to thee as the heathen and publican.'" + +"But you ought not to obey the church in what is evidently wrong; and it +must be wrong to forbid the use of meat made for man's use." + +"If it was wrong, God would not have forbidden the Jews the use of meat +that we now use as a gift of God." + +"That was in the old law. You cannot find any such prohibition in the +gospel." + +"I can. In the Acts of the Apostles, xv. 29, the use of blood and +strangled meat is forbidden. Besides, our Lord fasted forty days from +the use of all the good gifts of God in the shape of food. The +Israelites fasted from flesh in the desert, and were terribly punished +for asking for it; over seventy thousand of them having died as a +punishment for their carnal desires." + +"Paul, I fear the Lord has deserted thee," said this ignorant hypocrite, +when he saw himself refuted by this young boy. "Don't we read from the +mouth of truth itself, that 'what entereth into the mouth defileth +not'?" + +"I think I heard the teetotal lecturer on the road there say that a +glass of brandy defiled a man; and I am sure a quart or two of it would +cause a man to sin, and thus defile him. And as the apple in the garden +defiled Eve, not by its nature, but by reason of the prohibition of God, +so the meat on Friday does not defile of itself, but by reason of the +prohibition of the church." + +"You should not obey the church, Paul, in all these things. It is +slavery the most vile, so it is." + +"Is it slavery in one to obey his parents in what is good and useful?" + +"No." + +"Well, then, the church is my mother; and when she prohibits an +indifferent thing, I, as a good child, am bound to obey her, +particularly when I have the promise of Christ that she can never +err--that 'the gates of hell can never prevail against her.' We have an +instance in this very county," said Paul, now warming into the argument, +"of the effects of a prohibitory law. A few years ago it was no harm to +fish for pickerel in the lakes and brooks of this county; but some of +the people petitioned the legislature, and got a law passed forbidding +the fishing for such fish for twenty years; and now, whoever is detected +in violating the law is fined or imprisoned. So it was no sin to eat +meat on Friday; but the church, for wise reasons, and to encourage +mortification, has forbidden its use; and so now, after the prohibition, +just as after the passage of the law in regard to fishing, whoever +knowingly violates the law disobeys the church; and he who disobeys the +church, or his parents, offends God, and will be punished by +imprisonment, death, or eternal condemnation." + +"That boy will never do any good, and is a dangerous viper in a family," +said the parson, abruptly rising, and taking his hat. + +"Well done, my young paddy," said uncle Jacob, as he saw the dominie +retire; "you have beaten the minister holler. Ha! ha! ha! I am really +glad you silenced his gab, for he is 'tarnally blabbing about his +religion; though I think he hain't much of it himself, except +counterfeit stuff, like a bad bill,--ha! ha!--that he wants to pass." + +"I hope he is not angry," said Paul, timidly. + +"Pshaw! And who cares, Paul? Let him cool, if he is mad, the darned +fool," said uncle Jacob. "I am glad to have the house shet of him." + +Paul and uncle Jacob, with whom he was of late becoming a great +favorite, retired for the evening to the latter's bed room, where Paul +was accustomed to read aloud for him out of his Catholic books of +instruction. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRYING FAMILY. + + +The farms of the brothers Prying were situated in a beautiful valley. On +the one side were the Vermont snow-crowned and cloud-capped mountains, +rising up like eternal ramparts against all eastern hostile incursions +of the elements. On the other, or the western side, were the pleasant +hills of York State, which, in contrast with the mountains of Vermont, +looked like so many tumuli of the deceased Indian giants of ages gone +by. In the centre between, in a southerly course, ran a clear, silver +brook, well stocked with an abundance of trout and other species of the +finny tribe. On both sides of this stream were situated the extensive +farms of the Pryings. They had abundance of woods from the elevated +extremes on either side. The rivulet constituted a cooling retreat for +cattle in summer, and in spring afforded an abundant source of +irrigation to the rich meadows on both sides. + +Ephraim's family, where Paul and Bridget remained, consisted of Mrs. +Prying, Amanda, the senior daughter, Melinda, and Mary, called after her +grandmother, who was Irish. There were besides, Calvin, Wesley, Cassius, +and Cyrus, younger members of the family, together with old uncle +Jacob, an unmarried brother of Ephraim, the head of this family. We may +as well here remark that Mr. Prying was, from the beginning, averse to +receive these orphans into his house, seeing, as he said, "that he +wanted no more such hands as they were;" but Amanda persuaded him, in +order to have the glory of being instrumental in the conversion of the +"interesting orphans," as they were called. + +There were frequent friendly contentions in the family to see who would +have the special care of the new comers. Little Mary insisted on having +Bridget to sleep with herself instead of her sister Melinda, whom she +wanted to dispossess. Wesley, Calvin, and Cassius wanted to monopolize +Paul, especially on Sundays, when each of them were about to separate +for their respective meetings to hear the preacher. + +"Father," said Calvin, "won't Paul come with me? Our minister, Mr. +Gulmore, is such a clever preacher, and our Sunday school the best and +the largest." + +"I say he shan't, now, Calvin," replied Wesley. "Your minister, the old +feller, is nothing, compared with ours, Mr. Barker." + +"Well, brothers," said Cassius, "I don't see the use of your jawing +about it. But I say Paul had better come to our meeting--the very name, +Universalist, signifying the same with Catholic, as I was telling Paul +yesterday, while a-fishing, and as our minister said." + +"Well, boys," said uncle Jacob, laughing, "my advice to you is; to see +first whether Paul is willing to go with any of ye to yer meetings. I +think his mind is made up to stay at home, like myself." + +Amanda now stepped forward to inform this conference that Paul had been +spoiled by their example; that he cried when told he must go to meeting; +and that it was better now not to urge the matter further. In future, +she intended to instruct Paul and Bridget herself; and she was resolved +to cut off all intercourse between them and the younger members of the +family. + +Our readers are aware that Amanda was the Miss Prying, a child of her +father by a former marriage; and besides this, she was an old maid. In +addition to the foregoing circumstances, she became pious, attended camp +meetings, donation parties, and _quilting matches_ at young ministers' +houses, who were just preparing to get a _rib_. And though she was +praised as the best needle lady in the town, her epistles on love to +young preachers were the most admirable mixture of classical and +biblical composition that could be found. Though she had a good pair of +hands at making pies, puddings, and other culinary preparations, though +she was praised, flattered, and admired, yet nobody ever yet went beyond +this. All was admiration, praise, flattery, no more. Again: Amanda, +though a strict old school Presbyterian, in order to exhibit her +liberality and prove that she had no objection to a partner from any of +the other countless sects of Protestantism, be he Baptist, Methodist, or +Unitarian--in order to prove her liberality, she attended the donations +of the six ministers of her village, and each of the dominies received +from her a neatly-worked handkerchief for pulpit use. Yet, though she +was at once liberal and strict, pious and politic; though she induced +one Sally Dwyer to join her church and declare she "got the change of +heart;" though she was eternally working and planning to bring others to +her way of thinking, and had some success in her proselyting +efforts,--she never could, with all her art, biblical lore, and policy, +succeed in causing any body to say, "I take thee, Amanda, to my wedded +wife." This was the chief point; and here is just where she failed. What +was the cause of it? She was not too old--not near so old as Miss +Longface, whom the youthful parson Barker lately wedded. "And besides," +said she, in a soliloquy, "when I was young, it was just the same bad +luck. Is it that men are less numerous than ladies? There might be +something in that, for she had seen it stated in their newspaper, 'The +Home Journal,' that female births exceeded that of males by forty +thousand annually in certain European kingdoms. The number of Popish +priests also," she said, "who remain unmarried, adds greatly to the +superfluity of the female sex. Hence there is no part of the wicked +Popish system I regard so much contrary to God's holy word as celibacy. +Celibacy!" she cried aloud; "one of the doctrines of devils, as any one +can tell, who has been these twenty years in search of a mate, and could +never yet find one! O horrid thought!" She had consulted the famous +fortune teller at the state fair of Vermont, and, after having paid that +"seer of future events" a fee of ten dollars, she found his prediction +was false. For she was told she would be married within two years, and +to a neighboring minister; but now it was twenty-six months since, and +the only single minister around lately got married to Miss Longface, a +very ignorant and unamiable person. But there was no taste, or judgment, +or discernment nowadays in men, as this fact clearly proved. +"Thunderation on them!" said she, in a rage. + +Such were the ideas that were passing through the brain of Amanda one +Sunday morning, as she lounged on the sofa of her sitting room, when, +upon her looking out towards the lawn in front, she perceived Paul and +Bridget kneeling by a seat, at the foot of a large wild plum tree that +stood at the end of the green plot in front of the house, and that had +its branches bent within a few feet of the ground by the embraces of a +rich grape vine that for years had grown around it and impeded its +development. For a few moments she watched the movements of the orphans +as they smote their breasts at the "Confiteor," or bowed their heads at +the "Sanctus," accompanying the priests who, they knew, in thousands of +churches, were engaged in offering sacrifice to God; and reading the +"Prayers at Mass" out of the Key of Heaven manual of devotion. + +Instead of admiring this sincerity of devotion, or giving thanks to God +for the grace of fidelity and piety that his mercy had vouchsafed to +these children of grace, Amanda, as if she could not endure the sight of +such happiness, or mortified at the miscarriage of her vain attempts to +rob these innocent hearts of the treasure of true faith and piety which +they possessed, still pale with rage in consequence of her ruminations +about her own misfortune, the ill-tempered old maid there and then +resolved to try another and a severer plan to effect her purpose of +proselytism. + +"Confound yer impudence, ye little Popish paupers!" she said to herself. +"I shall soon make ye give up these superstitious practices. Paul, Paul, +dear," she said, tapping at the window, "come in out of that, come in +Bridget, ye little fools; the sun will spoil yer features, cover ye with +tan." + +"Yes, miss, in a few minutes; we are just finishing," said Paul. + +Ever since Paul came to this house, in obedience to the advice of his +mother, as well as in accordance with the prescriptions of the excellent +religious education he received at home in the diocesan seminary, he +always read the "Prayers at Mass," accompanied by his sister Bridget, +first; and after having read them with her at home, he went across the +brook to Reuben Prying's, where his brothers lived, and taking them into +the fields, or to the barn if the weather did not answer, he read for +them the same devotions, causing them to answer "Amen" after the end of +each prayer, and reading to them a chapter of the catechism for +committal to memory. And to do justice to Reuben, whose wife was a +southern lady, there was no obstacle thrown in the way of the children +to prevent them from discharging their duties to their religion. On the +contrary, the fidelity of Paul, and his watchfulness over the faith and +morals of his younger brothers Patrick and Eugene, commanded the +highest approbation of Mrs. Reuben Prying. And such was her horror of +any thing like the domestic tyranny or intolerance of Amanda, that Mrs. +Reuben always allowed the two young lads to say their own prayers in +private, notwithstanding the advice of the ministers to the contrary. +The only times that Pat and Eugene were ever asked into the parlor to +pray was on some rare occasions, when Mrs. Reuben, through a laudable +curiosity, and to serve as an example to her own children, caused the +orphans to say their prayers aloud before retiring to bed. The two +little fellows, one five and the other eight years of age, joining their +hands before their breasts, repeated the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, the +Apostles' Creed, the General Confession, the Acts of Faith, Hope, and +Charity, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, the Prayer of the Angel +Guardian and Patron Saint, and Prayers for the Dead: these they repeated +aloud, and correctly, to the astonishment of the other children and the +edification of the mistress. + +"Ah, Reub, Ben, and Will," she said, "when will you be such good boys as +Patsy and Geny? You can't say the Lord's Prayer yet." + +"I can tell," said Reub, blushing, "more than Pat can. I know how old +Mathusalem was, who was the wife of Abraham, and who was the mother of +Solomon, and the wife of Putiphar." + +"I don't know how to say so many prayers," said Ben, contemptuously; +"but I can tell how many cents in ten dollars, how many states in the +Union, and how large England is." + +"I can sing a hymn," said Will, "which I heard in the choir in the +Methodist meeting house when I went there with cousin." + +"Let us hear you, Will," said his mother. + +"Mother, I have only a little of it," said Will. + +"Say all you remember," said she, "and sing it." + +"The ladies first said, ma," said he, commencing,-- + + 'O for a man--O for a man--O for a mansion in the skies.' + +"The men answered,-- + + 'Send down sal--send down sal-- + Send down salvation to our souls.'" + +At this specimen of ludicrous poetical composition the mother burst out +a-laughing, in which she was joined by the two arch Irish lads; and +Will, discouraged, blushed and stopped. + +"I would rather not have any prayer than have that foolish hymn," said +Ben. "O Will! O, you goose!" + +"Silence, boys!" said Mrs. Prying. "Pat and Eugene, can you not sing? +Come, let us hear how you can sing. Commence. Don't be ashamed." + +"Will we sing, ma'am, what the Christian brothers taught us?" + +"Yes, Pat, any thing; don't be shy," said the lady. The lads began thus, +with joined hands and uplifted eyes:-- + + "Ave Maria! hear the prayer + Of thy poor helpless child! + Beneath thy sweet maternal care + Preserve me undefiled. + + "Ave Maria! do I sigh + In deep affliction's hour. + Nor to a suppliant heart deny + Thy mediative power. + + "Ave Maria! for to thee, + Whom God was pleased to choose + The mother of his Son to be, + No prayer will he refuse. + + "Ave Maria! then implore + One only grace for me-- + This heart to give forevermore + To God alone and thee." + +"To bed, children, with you all," said the good lady, covering her face +with her handkerchief, for the tears started from their source in her +noble soul on hearing this delightful hymn sung by the poor orphans, +whose countenances looked like those of angels' while chanting it. "God +forgive those," she said to herself, in a half-audible tone, "that would +rob these poor children of that divine religion that teaches her +children such heavenly hymns." + +This incident recalled to her mind vividly the days of her girlhood, +when, in the "sunny south," she heard Catholic hymns sung and Catholic +devotion practised in the convent where she, though a Protestant, +received her education. And probably her conscience, too, reproached her +for the neglect of the good resolutions she formed while there. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A RAY OF HOPE. + + +Many times during what we shall call his captivity within the gates of +the strangers Paul had contrived to write letters to Father O'Shane in +the city of T----, as well as to his uncle in Ireland; but from some +cause or other, to his innocent mind inexplicable, the letters never +reached their destination, nor were they ever after heard of. The +postmaster of S----, not generally supposed to be a very exact man, +particularly when remitting money in letters for farmers' boys to their +Irish friends in eastern or western parts, was ever ready to oblige, and +with hearty good will entered into the views of, Parson Gulmore, when he +called on him, according to the advice of Amanda, "to have Paul's +letters seen to." And never mind they were "seen to" and secured. + +This disgraceful proceeding, so disreputable to all concerned, and so +characteristic of the fidelity with which the business of "Uncle Sam" is +managed, was not confined to the detention and destruction of the poor +orphan's letters, but to the piracy of their contents too. + +There is no department of the public service in the United States so +badly managed as the post-office department. Not only do robber +postmasters continue in office after their exposure and their plunder of +money letters, but they can be bribed to convey the epistles of +individuals to interested parties, who would come at their secrets; and +thus the most sacred and secret concerns of life are liable to exposure, +and to be sold for gain. We knew a postmaster who for years continued to +rob with impunity the letters that were deposited in his "den of +thieves;" and when he was exposed and disgraced through the +instrumentality of the writer of this tale, whole bushels of letters, +directed to Ireland by poor emigrants to their fathers, wives, and sons, +were found thrown aside in a nook of his office; the sole motive for +this scandalous robbery being the plunder of the twenty-four cents paid +on the letters to free them to Europe. + +Sadly did the mysterious miscarriage of his letters puzzle the ingenuous +heart of poor Paul; though he had reason to suspect, from certain hints +thrown out by Amanda, that she, somehow or other, was in possession of +their contents. On a certain day, however, a circumstance convinced Paul +that he could not now expect an answer from his letters to Father +O'Shane; for Miss Amanda had just pointed out to him a paragraph in the +newspaper stating that the Catholic priest of T---- had died of ship +fever, taken by him in the discharge of his duties among the sick of his +flock. + +"God rest his soul," said Paul, raising his eyes to heaven; "he was a +good friend to us in our hour of need." + +"What's that you say, Paul?" said Amanda, with a frown. "Did I not tell +you repeatedly, Paul, that it was useless to pray for the dead?" + +"I know _you told_ me that often, 'Mandy; but am I bound to believe you, +when I know the church teaches me the contrary? In fact, the Bible says +it is 'a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they +may be loosed from their sins.'" (Mac. xii. 42.) + +"Don't you call me 'Mandy, Paul," said the vain old maid; "my name is +Miss A-man-day." + +"A-man-a-day," said Paul, with a sarcastic smile. "I beg pardon," said +he, "miss; I must guard against that blunder in future, and say +_A-man-a-day_." + +"Ah, you naughty boy!" she said, catching him by the hand. "Come here to +me till I teach you the knowledge of God's word. Now, Paul, that passage +you quoted I do not find in my Bible." + +"No," said Paul, "for your Bible is no other than an imperfect, +mutilated Bible, corrupted by the men who made your religion. The +Catholic church, from which the Protestants stole their piecemeal Bible, +always regarded the book of Machabeus as the inspired word of God." + +"But, Paul, it is so foolish, this 'half-way house.'" + +"Then, miss, you must blame God, who created it, for the folly of his +not consulting with some Protestant philosopher before he created such a +'half way.' For most certainly there was always, since the dawn of +creation, a third place; as, for example, the place where the souls of +the just were confined before Christ, who was the first to ascend into +heaven, as himself says in his gospel. Now, the Bible does not say that +this half way was 'foolish,' or abolished either. Besides, it is but +reasonable that there should be a place to purify the frail and +imperfect soul before admitting her to God's holy presence." + +"Where the tree falleth, there it lieth," said she. + +"Yes, fallen," said Paul, "it lieth there till it is taken away to +another place. Where the soul falleth,--that is, whether in a state of +grace or in sin,--there it will lie forever; but those who go to +purgatory die in a state of grace, and so their eternal destiny is +heaven--like those just souls who died before Christ; yet they are not +fit for heaven immediately, for 'nothing defiled can enter therein.'" + +"You wrote to the priest, didn't you, to say masses for your mother's +soul in purgatory? How do you know she is there?" said Amanda, +unguardedly. + +"I hope she is in no worse place," said Paul, the fire kindling in his +dark Celtic eye; "and whether in heaven or in hell,--which God +forbid!--the mass can do no harm, but tend to the honor and glory of +God, and I hope procure me and the celebrant merit. But, Amanda, how do +you know that I wrote any such request to the priest? I know you are +above reading my letters, though I should leave them open under your +eye; but I am afraid that hypocritical-looking postmaster may have kept +my letters, and given them to somebody. In Ireland, that crime deserved +hanging as a punishment; and I do not know what I would do to any body I +would detect in opening my letters, and pilfering my secrets," said he, +raising himself up. + +"O, my dear Paul," said the old maid, perceiving her imprudence, "I only +guessed at the contents of your letters. We Yankees are great at +guessing, you know. Be silent; shut up, my good fellow," she added, +going over to the window. "What crowd is that there below on the road?" + +An unusual sight in that part of the country now presented itself to +view. Slowly moving along the road was a crowd of men and women--the +men, as they came up, taking off their hats, and the women courtesying, +in that way that only Catholics can courtesy, to a young gentleman, who, +seated in a one-horse carriage, the top lowered down, seemed to be +engaged, as he was, in earnest conversation about some subject of an +absorbing interest to those around him. In truth, any body, even Amanda, +who never saw one, could have guessed that this personage, surrounded by +so many of the Irish railroad laborers lately settled in the vicinity, +was no other than the Catholic priest. Paul's eye, so lately kindled +into passion from the hints dropped by Amanda about the foul play +regarding his letters, became immediately subdued into composure, and, +taking out a small miniature reliquary and silver crucifix which he ever +wore on his breast, he pressed them to his lips, saying to himself, +"Glory be to God; and Mary, his virgin mother, be ever blessed. I see +the priest, if he is alive." And instantly he was over the fence and on +the road. + +"There is one of 'em," said Mrs. Murphy, "your reverence; and it would +be a charity to do something for the poor children, for they were well +reared." + +Paul could not, owing to the tears that rushed on him in floods, dare +for some time to join the crowd to offer his respects to the +representative of religion; and it was a full quarter of an hour before +he could say, "Welcome to these parts, your reverence." + +"Thank you, my child," said the priest, reaching him his hand. + +"Forgive me, sir," said the poor youth; "I can't but weep, 'tis so long +since I saw a priest or heard mass." + +There was not a dry eye in the crowd as the young lad clung to the +priest's hand, embracing it, and crying aloud, "O my uncle! my uncle!" + +"Take him into the shanty and calm him a little," said the stalwart +missionary. "Poor little fellow! poor child! poor child!" + +"O, God help the orphan!" said Mrs. Murphy again, fearing she had not +touched his reverence's heart. "It would be the charity of God to do +something for them. The men would be all willing to subscribe." + +"We will do all we can," said his reverence. "God will provide for them, +if they be what you represent. Meet me here to-morrow, at six o'clock. +We will have mass and confessions here in the shanty, as we could +procure no better place. Give word around through the entire +neighborhood. Good by for the present," said he, moving along towards +the village of S----. + +"God speed your reverence," answered a hundred voices, as they returned +the adieu. + +This was the first night since the death of his beloved mother, and that +was over two years, that the slightest ray of hope penetrated the +burdened but confiding soul of Paul. For himself he did not much care. +He could have escaped any day, and repudiated the iniquitous contract by +which the villanous poormaster had sold him and his brethren; but what +was to become of his younger sister and brothers? He knew how to plough, +mow, cradle, and farm it, as well as any body of his age. He knew how to +read, count, write, and even defend his religion, against all opponents, +as he did last winter at the Lyceum; but what was to become of Bridget, +Patrick, and little Eugene, who had yet many years to serve? This was +what puzzled him. But now the priest had come for the first time to this +remote region, and _he_ knew what to do, and would not desert the +orphan, for no priest ever had done so. He felt there was to be now a +change, and he felt assured that it would be for his good. "Thank God," +said he, "I saw the priest at last. I return thee thanks, my God, and +thee, my mother in heaven, now my only mother, and I thank all the +heavenly citizens and all heaven, for this dawn of hope that I feel in +my soul. O Lord, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." + +Fervent and pious were the prayers offered to God on this night by Paul, +as he thanked him for having seen one in whom he could confide as a +friend, as well as because he was preparing to go to his religious +duties on the morrow. Let it not be said that it was superstition in +Paul to thank God so fervently for having permitted him once more to +converse with his priest. What can be imagined a more worthy cause for +thanksgiving than the meeting with a true friend? What better gift can +we receive from God than a friend? And who ever, in need, has failed to +find the good priest a friend in all emergencies? + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +VAN STINGEY AGAIN.--HOW HE GETS RICH AND ENDS. + + +After a year or two in office, our friend Van Stingey found Fortune +rather adverse to him, a thing not unusual with the worshippers of that +fickle goddess; for not only was he put out of office by the influence +of the "furren" vote thrown against him, but his farther promotion even +in the church became almost problematical. His was now a rather +unpleasant situation. He was not only defeated at the ballot box by the +"Irish element," according as Mrs. Doherty foretold, but he was in +disgrace with many of his regular church-going brethren. This latter +trial was caused by the well-known fact that a negro girl, who was put +under this _religious_ man's care by the abolitionists, and who was now +two years in his family, had just given birth to a young mulatto child +in his house. Yes, and worse; the miserable yellow thing not only was +born, and in health, under the roof of this _religious teacher_, but he +was mortified to find that it had his very nose on its face, and could +not by any possibility be fathered on any body else. Thus were the +prospects of this pious gentleman blasted in one day. He got religion, +but now it failed him. He was of the true nativist stamp in politics; +but here again his defeat was signal and complete, and all through the +suffrages of foreigners. + +What was he to do for a living? He must give up religion and politics, +and take to some other pursuit. Loafing or living on his neighbors was +now impossible, as he was in disgrace with many; and besides, he had a +wife and family to support. Peddling was so common, that nothing could +now be made in that line; and besides, it took some capital to start +with--a thing that was out of the question in our ex-official's case. + +The only chance now open for him was the railroad, and to the railroads +he said he would betake himself as soon as he could. On the railroad he +saw men of little talent, of less honesty, and of no capital, amass not +only a competency, but wealth, in a few years; and our official was very +anxious to try his luck in that line of business. Accordingly, when the +Northern Railroad was about to be let, Van Stingey, in company with four +others, put in their estimate, which was the very lowest, and they thus +succeeded in getting ten miles of the road. The partners of Van Stingey +were one Purse, one Mr. Kitchins, one Timens, generally called Blind +Bill, one Whinny, together with Mr. Lofin, an Irishman. They had the job +now, but had neither horses, carts, shovels, nor any of the various +implements necessary to carry on the work. A council was held among +these five worthies to see what was to be done. They had neither money, +nor means, nor credit to begin with, and how were they to fulfil their +contract? Most of them were novices in this sort of business; but there +was Mr. P. Lofin, whose experience was something, and who suggested a +plan which could not but succeed, if his advice was followed. The plan +was, that they should advertise for three thousand men and several +hundred horses, and on the strength of their advertisements, and their +certificate of having obtained such a respectable contract, try to +borrow some provisions on three months' credit. + +In a few days, the public places of the cities of T---- and A---- were +posted up with large placards, and advertisements were inserted in all +the daily papers, which read thus:-- + + WANTED. + + Three thousand men to work on the Northern Railroad at one dollar + a day of twelve hours. Men who wish to work extra time will + receive extra wages. + + Wanted, also, six hundred horses to hire, at three dollars a day + for every team, on the same work. + + P. LOFIN, + VAN STINGEY, + KITCHINS, & CO. + +In a few days, not only did the three thousand men make their +appearance, but twice that number were now located on the site of the +proposed line. But how were so many men to live? There was some delay in +proceeding with the works, and Van Stingey and Co., having represented +themselves as very independent and wealthy contractors, said that, as +they did not like to be hard on the men, they would give them free sites +for their shanties, which the men could afterwards have without the +necessity of having to pay so much a month for their use, as was the +custom with other but less honorable contractors than Van Stingey, +Purse, Lofin, & Co. + +This bait took "capitally," as Van used to say, and not only were two +hundred shanties built, but the praise of the "ginerous contractors" was +in every mouth; and "Hurrah for Lofin, Van Stingey, & Co.," became a +regular toast among the men, as they went to spend a shilling in the +company's grocery store. The shanties were now up, and the horses, three +hundred in number, all ready for work; but a week, and another, and a +third passed on, and not a sod of ground was broke on the ten miles of +our independent company's contract. Here was now a sad and alarming +spectacle. Thousands of men, women, and children, seduced into a +wilderness by the specious promises of these vile knaves; and now, after +having spent every penny they had earned for years, brought to the very +verge of starvation. Some were obliged to trade off and sell their +clothes for food; others had to open small retail groceries to keep +themselves and their neighbors from starving. The more independent in +circumstances were obliged to mortgage their horses and carts for +provisions and fodder; and all had, as far as their means went, to +patronize the new store opened by the contractors, who retailed +provisions and groceries, to those who had any thing to lose, at a +profit of one hundred and a quarter per cent. on their original cost. +For three months this was the state of things on the contract of our +_honorable_ company. Works not yet commenced, men and horses half +starving, occasional murmurs among the most knowing of the hands--which +murmurs were, however, soon allayed by the representations of the bosses +and their countryman Mr. Lofin, who pledged _his honor_ as a "gintlemon +that the whault lied intirely with the directors, and the _faurmuns_, +who refused to settle for the right uv way." The mystery was soon +cleared up by the appearance on the ground of Messrs. Van Stingey, +Lofin, & Whinny, with fifteen constables, who laid an injunction on all +the shanties, and quietly, revolver in hand, drove off the three hundred +horses to the county town, to secure those contractors in their pay for +the debt into which they brought all those men whom they got to deal in +their store, or who had any property. This is the way thousands of men +were deceived, betrayed, and robbed of all they possessed in the wide +world. And this is the way in which Messrs. Van Stingey, Timens, +Kitchins, Whinny, & Lofin supplied themselves with horses, carts, +shanties, and all other necessaries for carrying on the work according +to agreement. The plan had so far succeeded; the only question now was, +how to deprive these poor men of all legal redress, and have them +exterminated from the neighborhood. This was not difficult to effect +with poor men who were half starved, and who had to look out for work +somewhere else for the support of their families. Those men who had the +means left had quitted this cursed ground already, and Mr. P. Lofin +struck on an expedient by which others, the more bold, were soon +compelled to follow them. He proceeded some eighty or a hundred miles +into the State of Massachusetts, where he represented to several hundred +men from the part of Ireland to which himself belonged, which was +Connaught, that several of their countrymen were driven off and ill +treated by Munster men and _far-downs_, and that now they had not only a +chance of defending the _honor_ of the _province_, but, by driving off +their _far-up_ and _far-down_ enemies, they could have a year's job, and +a dollar a day. + +This was enough; one thousand men immediately started for the scene of +action, breathing vengeance against their fellow-countrymen, and +determined on establishing the "anshint ghilory of Connaught." Every +unfortunate Munster or Ulster man they met on their route was knocked +down, and left senseless on the road; and shouts of victory were heard, +and shots were fired, in anticipation of the triumph that awaited them. +Lofin, the head mover in all these disgraceful scenes, now drove off to +the capital of the state; and--will it be believed?--this vile, low +wretch, who could neither read nor write, succeeded in getting the loan +of _one thousand muskets_ out of the state arsenal to enable him to +carry out his murderous and swindling scheme! A few days previous to +this, Lofin got some few boards on his work set fire to, in order to +have a case made out for the authorities, and by this means, and through +the influence of political wirepullers, he succeeded in getting the arms +of the state placed in the hands of his ignorant dupes, for the murder +of their plundered countrymen. During these troublesome times, the house +of Father Ugo, the priest of these parts, was literally besieged with +weeping women and enraged men, stating their grievances, and asking for +advice and counsel; for they had no other friend. + +"Surely," said his reverence to one Hannohan, whose eight horses were +seized, and who had used some violence in defending his property, +"surely the law will not sanction such barefaced plunder. I am witness +myself of the cruelty to which many of you have been subjected by these +villanous contractors. I know the decision of the law will be in your +favor." + +"Law!" said poor Hannohan. "God help us if we have to look to _law_ for +justice; go to law with Old Nick, and the court held in the low +countries! Besides, we are going to be attacked and butchered in our +beds by night. You know Mr. Lofin's men are all up and armed every +night, firing rounds, and shouting till our wives and children are +almost scared to death." + +"What can I do?" said the priest. "You know I have been censured before +for interfering when some of the men were on a strike for higher wages; +and I can't expect to have any influence with such men as you have to +deal with. They are a lawless and hardened set of knaves." + +"God help us, then, your reverence," said Hannohan; "I and my family may +as well go into the poorhouse or starve, if you can't influence that Mr. +Lofin, who is a Catholic, to let me have my eight horses and carts, for +I owe him not one single cent." + +"He may call himself a Catholic, Mike," said Father Ugo; "but he cannot +be a Catholic, or even a believer in God's justice, if he is guilty of +all those villanies which are laid to his charge. It would be no use +for me to speak to such an abandoned scoundrel and robber as, by all +accounts, he is." + +Poor Hannohan got the benefit of law, which resulted in his losing his +eight horses and carts: a warrant was issued for his capture, for +threatening the robbers of his property with chastisement. He was taken +in a few days, and lodged in prison, where he died in a fortnight of the +injuries inflicted on him by the drunken constables, who succeeded in +arresting him after a two days' chase through the woods. No doubt _the +good Catholic_, Mr. Lofin, rested quiet when he heard of the death of +this formidable opponent. And I suppose, by way of appeasing the public +indignation,--for I do not think he had any dread of the anger of +Heaven,--his name appeared, a few days after, at the head of a list of +subscriptions for the support of an orphanage in the city. And well he +might spend a little of his profits in _charitable_ objects, for he and +his partners had, by the late manoeuvre got up under Lofin's auspices, +saved not less than five thousand nine hundred dollars' worth of +property in horses, carts, harness, and shanties! We have heard of +robbers in Italy and Spain, who, after they rob and murder the rich, are +very _liberal_ to the poor, although, like your railroad-contract robber +the poor Italian brigand has not the chance of having his name published +in the newspapers, or read out from the pulpit, as a good, charitable, +and humane gentleman. Of the two charities, I think that of the obscure +brigand is the most worthy and laudable. + +One Sunday evening, as Father Ugo was returning from service in the +country, where he officiated every two weeks, he came up with a large +and enraged crowd of people on both sides of the road on which he +travelled. On one side of the way about one hundred carts were placed in +a line, so as to form a rampart and protect some two hundred men, who, +with loaded muskets, crouched behind the carts as if watching for an +object to fire at. An occasional shot was fired from this rampart, and +the volley was returned slowly but deliberately from an old house in +front, on which this large body of men were making an assault. While the +priest stood at a distance, looking on at this horrid contest, he was +perceived by the people in the house, who at once despatched a messenger +to inform his reverence of the danger they were in, assailed by so many +men resolved on their extermination. At no small risk, leaving the +messenger in charge of his horse, he entered between the ranks of the +combatants, and, with crucifix in hand uplifted, he implored the +assailants, in the name of Christ, to desist from their cruel warfare, +and take some other means and time than the Lord's day for getting +possession of that old house about which the contention arose. By a +great deal of difficulty, and after a speech of an hour, he succeeded in +quelling this cruel and disgraceful riot, and before he left the ground +he had all the arms secured in one pile, and conveyed to an adjacent +farmer's house for security. + +After this the work went on peacefully. Van Stingey & Co. made money, +and were now rich; the poor priest had every thing but the thanks of the +contractors for his pains, and he concluded, from his experience of +this and other railroads and public works in America, that, of all the +men living, the railroad and day laborer of this "free country" is the +most ill treated and oppressed. He has to work from dark to dark; he has +to take _store pay_ for his wages; and he has to obey the nod, look, and +arbitrary commands of the lowest, cruellest, and most brutal class of +men on earth. I ask any man, Is not this slavery? Van Stingey was now +rich--had horses, wagons, and a splendid mansion. He took another, and a +third contract, in which he was very successful. One day, however, he +was on his work, and a blast having failed to go off, Van ordered his +men to return to the dump. They refused. He stamped and swore, and then +and there discharged all the "darned paddies," who were not fools enough +to get killed. So himself and his nephew, who bossed for him, returned +to the "cut," where they were no sooner arrived than the blast went off, +and poor Van Stingey was blown into atoms. + +Thus perished, at the height of his success and of his guilt, the +meanest and most worthless of the human race--the mocker and robber of +the poor, the persecutor and kidnapper of Paul O'Clery and his brethren, +the merciless swindler and defrauder of the laborer's wages, and, +finally, the hypocritical sensualist and drunkard. We boast of our +progress, and advertise, as proof of it, the number of railroads in +operation, their extent, and the rapidity of the motion over their iron +surface; but the trials, tears, labors, sufferings, and injustice which +our indifference or avarice has inflicted on those thousands of our +fellow-creatures whose hands have built them never occur to our minds or +cause us a single regret, while glorying in the advancement of our +"great country." "How can we help _that_?" answers Uncle Sam. "It is the +contractors that are unjust and cruel, and the men themselves that are +not 'wide awake enough' in allowing themselves to be so imposed upon." + +The whole fault is yours, "Uncle," and lies at the doors of the people, +who, having the power to protect the laborer by law, neglect to exercise +that power, and, by this their neglect of duty, create your Van +Stingeys, your Lofins, your Blind Bill Timenses, your Whinnys, and other +villains, who are a disgrace to our country, and whose crimes, +encouraged by our silence and tolerance, will ultimately bring the +vengeance of Heaven on us and our children. _Quod avertat Deus_. + +It has been remarked by some, that if the tears shed by emigrants on the +bosom and on the banks of the great Father of Waters, the Mississippi, +were preserved in a great reservoir, they would form a lake many fathoms +in depth and many miles in circumference. With less exaggeration can it +be stated, if the number of men killed, murdered, and otherwise cut off, +on the railroads of the Union, by the ill treatment, neglect, cruelty, +avarice, and malice of contractors, storekeepers, overseers, and +bosses,--if all these men's dead bodies were placed within three feet of +one another, or even side by side, they would cover, from end to end, +the ten thousand miles of railroad that are within the United States. +And if the tears shed on the Mississippi would make a lake the size of +the Lakes of Killarney, the tears shed on the railroads would form a +body of salt, burning water, as great in bulk as Lakes Superior and +Ontario together. If there be any irresponsible, cruel, barbarous +despotism on earth, in savage or civilized life, it is emphatically in +the discipline that prevails on the railroad _regime_. There is no man +daring enough to speak a word in favor of the cruelly-oppressed railroad +man, except an odd priest here and there; and even he has often to do it +at the risk of having a revolver presented at him, or having his +character maligned by the slanders of the moneyed ruffians whose crimes +and excesses he may feel it his duty to reprimand. Father Ugo was not +the man to wink at the cruel treatment to which, in the part of the +railroad that ran through his mission, his poor fellow-men and +fellow-Christians were submitted; and he had, consequently, often to +experience no small share of the malice, and a _tolerable_ share of +outrage, in the shape of threats and insulting language, from our +independent company, Lofin, Van Stingey, Whinny, & Co. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MASS IN A SHANTY. + + +There was great bustle and preparation in the valley of R---- Creek, on +Ascension Thursday. Hired men were up at _three_ o'clock that morning to +do "chores," and hired girls were busy the night before in arranging the +household, so that the female _bosses_ of the several farm-houses would +be able to find all things in order. Many and violent also were the +arguments that passed between Catholic servants and their heretical +masters and mistresses, on one hand to ignore, and on the other to +assert, the right to worship according to one's conscience. Yes, to +their shame be it told, the Protestant sects in America, as they do in +all countries where they have sway or are tolerated, practically deny +that article of the federal constitution that guarantees the right to +every citizen to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or +individual judgment. With the word _liberty_ ever on their lips, like +the lion's skin on the ass, to deceive, the sects, great and small, from +the Church of England down, down, down to the Mormons or +Transcendentalists, through the grades of Presbyterian, Methodist, +Baptist, all play the tyrant in their own way. All act the despot, and +would exercise spiritual tyranny, if in their power. For proof of this, +the history of the "Blue Laws" in the land of the Pilgrims is only to be +consulted on this side of the Atlantic; and at the other side, modern as +well as by-gone records show, that, wherever Protestantism had the +power, _there_ the few were oppressed by the many. Every sovereign, from +Elizabeth down to Victoria, acted the tyrant over the Catholics; and in +Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and the Protestant Swiss cantons, persecution +is now a part of the laws of these several states. Persecution is not +sanctioned by the laws of the United States, if we except the +prescriptive code of New Hampshire, which comes under that genus; but if +it be not legalized, we are not to thank Protestantism for that. +Wherever it has sway in the family, in the town council, or the +assembly, there the cloven foot of intolerance and persecution is seen +from under the sanctimonious gown it puts on. Indeed, although the +compulsion of the conscience is not enforced by State laws, it is +attempted, as far as practicable, where its effects are more galling, +and its existence more intolerable,--namely, in the family at home, or +in the camp or barrack abroad. Catholic servants are not only denied the +right to attend their duties in many families, but actually forced to +hear the disgusting ranting or ludicrous prayer of any impostor who may +take on himself the office of preacher. And Catholic soldiers are +punished by fine and severe corporal chastisements for refusing to +attend the service of an heretical chaplain. And no senator, zealous +for liberty, raises his voice on behalf of the Catholic soldier, and of +the Catholic servant girl, while they are exposed to a persecution such +as no Catholic government, king, or despot ever attempted to force on +the consciences of their dissenting subjects, not even Queen Mary, of +England, excepted; for the so-called persecution by Catholic princes has +never been to compel men to adopt a new religion. Protestants in Europe +and here attempt to compel the adoption of their false tenets by those +who are neither desirous nor willing to adopt them, and who already +profess a true religion. This is what makes a vast difference between +the persecution your "Madiai" suffer, and this ten times worse +persecution which many an otherwise honest and kind-hearted American +farmer allows to take place in his family. The Day of Judgment alone +will reveal to light what trials, crosses, and real persecution Catholic +servant men and women have to endure in remote and country places from +the bigotry, hypocrisy, and cruelty of ignorant, unfeeling farmers and +their wives, goaded on, no doubt, and urged, by low, base, and brutal +parsons, who have scarcely enough to eat, and who envy the priest the +comparative independence which the liberality and true Catholic charity +of his flock enable him to maintain. + +By these remarks I am not to be understood as saying that good-nature, +justice, and even generosity, do not govern the conduct of the American +people. I am aware of their kindness, hospitality, and philanthropy; but +these fine traits of character are obscured, perverted, and rendered +abortive, whenever the demon of sectarian influence touches them with +her black rod. And, like the Jews, while they are persecuting the Holy +One of God in his humble members, they think they are doing a service to +God. Such is the effect of the poison, in the shape of religious +instruction, infused into the minds of this noble people by the lying +and ignorant teachers that they allow to instruct them. The American +people are generally so busy, so intent in making a fortune or a +livelihood, that they have not time, as they cannot have the +inclination, to pay much attention to religious training. Hence it is in +the science of the soul and salvation, as in that of medical science, +the number of impostors and quacks is infinite. + +The following dialogue between an Irish Catholic servant and her +_evangelical_ mistress will serve faintly to illustrate what is the +weekly, if not daily, recurrence in tens of thousands of families all +over this "free country": + +"You can't go, that's the amount of it, Anne," said Mrs. Warren to an +Irish Catholic servant maid of hers, who heard of the priest's being at +the shanties on this morning. + +"Why so, ma'am?" said Anne. "All the girls of the country around are +allowed to go; but I never get a Sunday or holy day to myself. It is too +bad." + +"Why don't you come with us to our meeting, where all the decent folks +go, and none of your Irish are present?" + +"Many decent folks go to 'Old Harry!'" cried Anne, in anger. "Is that +the reason I must go too?" + +"Anne, your obstinacy in refusing to join our family worship has made me +resolve not to let you go to hear the old priest. And your refusal to +attend to the sermon of our preacher, Mr. Scullion, has also displeased +me much. I mean to punish you according." + +"Why should I go hear the old sinner's stuff," said Anne, "when your own +sons laugh at him and say he is a fool? Besides, I am told he is ever +abusing the Catholics, and I heartily despise his nonsensical, lying +cant." + +"Well, Anne, I am determined to punish you for it," calmly replied the +mistress. "So you can't see the priest to-day. That settles it." + +"I beg your pardon, ma'am; the priest I will see, please God, let what +will happen." + +"You must leave this house, then." + +"Small loss, madam. America is wide, thank God!" answered Anne. + +"Don't you know Mr. Scullion is a brother of mine?" + +"I don't care, ma'am, if he was your father. I know he is ignorant or +malicious, either one or the other, or maybe both, or he would not speak +of the Catholic Church as he does. Oh, dear," she cried, bursting into +tears of anger, "what a 'free country' it is! The Protestants in Ireland +were decent. They came, attended by the peelers, to their tenants, +telling them they must conform to the will of the landlord, or quit +their homes; but here ye say all religions are equal, and yet ye try to +compel us to go to listen to low, ignorant preachers, who know they are +lying about the Church of Christ. Ye want us to change the religion of +St. Patrick and of the martyrs for such ridiculous churches as ye have +here. Oh, dear! oh, dear!" said the poor girl, as she contrasted her +present situation with what it was when she was at home at her father's, +where she heard Mass daily, and knew not what it was to suffer +persecution for conscience' sake. + +While scenes such as we have here described were taking place in the +farmers' houses, and such scenes are not occasional nor unusual, all was +busy preparation at the shanties. The largest shanty in the "patch" was +cleared of all sorts of lumber. Forms, chairs, tables, pots, flour and +beef barrels, molasses casks, and other necessary stores were all put +outside doors. The walls, if so we can call them, of the shanty, were +then hung round with newspapers, white linen tablecloths, and other +choice tapestry, while a good large shawl, spread in front of the altar, +served as a carpet on which his reverence was to kneel and stand while +officiating. Green boughs were cut in a neighboring wood lot and planted +around the entrance by the men, while around the altar and over it were +wreaths of wild flowers and blossoms, gathered by the little girls of +the "patch" in the adjacent meadows, in order to prepare a decent place +for the holy Mass. At an early hour the priest made his appearance, and +was very much pleased to see the transformation which the piety of +these poor, hard-working people wrought in the appearance of the humble +shanty. For fifteen miles along the line the crowds were gathering, and +the works were suspended for the day. The overseers and contractors, to +do them justice, had no objection to this occasional interruption of +their profits. At all events, they knew it was a holy day; and even +they, with all their irresponsible control over their men, had ample +proof that, even in the wild deserts and savage woods of America, the +Irish Catholic "remembers" the Sabbaths and festivals of his God or his +Church. + +Long before the hour of Mass, the shanty was crowded, and many were the +comments and remarks made on the physical powers and other external +accomplishments of the new priest. + +Some remarked that his reverence,--God bless him!--need not be afraid of +travelling alone through these lonesome glens, for it would require "a +good man to handle him; that it would." + +"That's thrue," said another; "he would be able to 'settle bread' on a +half-dozen Yankees any day; that is, provided they did not use any +weapon but the arm that God gave 'em." + +"But you know," said a third, "these Yankees always carry a _rewolwer_ +or two in their pockets, the treacherous rogues. Look how they killed +that Irish peddler, and robbed him, and fired six shots into Michael +Gasty's house the other night, and he in bed quietly sleeping." + +This and other such narratives and comments were the order of the day +outside the door, only where those who were careless or not preparing +for their duties were congregated. Inside, a large crowd of women and +rough-fisted men gathered around the door of the temporary confessional, +and it was near noon before the priest ascended the temporary altar to +offer up the "victim of peace" for the assembled sons of toil. Upon his +reverence asking if there was anybody to answer or serve Mass, several +presented themselves; but he accepted the services of Paul, because he +had been accustomed from his childhood to wait round the altar, and he +was the most intelligent of those who offered to assist the priest while +celebrating. + +The substance of the priest's discourse was, that they should not forget +that it was God's will that the holy sacrifice should be offered in +"every place, from the rising to the setting of the sun," and that +probably they were made the instruments which he made use of for the +_literal_ fulfilment of that famous prophecy; for if they were not here +employed on these public works, probably the holy sacrifice would not +be, for years and years to come, offered up in such places as this. That +they should all regard themselves as missionaries engaged in God's +service to spread the knowledge of the true religion in this virgin soil +among a people who had lost the true mode of God's worship, though a +generous and successful race of men. That they should guard against +drunkenness and faction fights, for these crimes brought their proper +punishment both here and hereafter; and that they should, by pure morals +and fidelity to their religion, rather than by controversy or +disputation, make a favorable impression on, and confute the errors of, +those opponents of their faith among whom their lot was cast. In fine, +that they should lose no opportunity of receiving the sacraments, for, +without their use, salvation was very difficult, if not absolutely +impossible. Let them not regret the loss of this day, or think it too +much to dedicate it to God's service: that was the chief end for which +they were created. When population was small, and a livelihood easily +obtained, and men had to work but little, God had appointed one day in +the week to rest and service. Now, when the cares, distractions, and +labors of life had increased a thousandfold, it seemed not too much if, +instead of one day, two or more days were devoted to rest and worship. +And if the Church had her way unrestricted, she, by her festivals and +holy days, would do a great deal towards alleviating the present +hardships of labor, and men would be taught to be content with a +competency, and employers would treat their men with kindness and +justice combined. + +"You, poor fellows, have to work hard, frequently for years, without +having a chance to frequent the sacraments. Thank God, then, and be +grateful for this opportunity, and spend this day as becometh +Christians. You are exposed to dangers from accidents, and frequently +from the influence of evil-advising men. In Religion and her resources +alone you can find the only safeguard against the effects of the former, +and the best security against the wiles of your enemies: keep the +commandments, and hear the Church." + +On this day no less than ninety-five received, and the effects of this +one visit even were felt by the overseers and employers of these men for +months to come. Even Anne Council, the girl whom we introduced as +disputing with her ignorant mistress about "the freedom of +worship,"--and which dispute was then decided in Anne's favor by the +interference of the boss, who remonstrated with his wife on her +imprudence in resolving to discharge her maid in the midst of their +hurry, while there was no chance of having her place supplied,--even +Anne, brought to a better sense by the advice of the priest administered +in confession, when she came home asked her saucy mistress's pardon for +speaking back to her this morning. + +"I forgive you, Anne," she said; "though I am sure there is not a _lady_ +in the hollow that would put up with your impudence but myself." + +"I know I am hot," answered Anne, smothering her anger at this second +provocation in being called _impudent_. "The priest told us to be +obedient to those even who are not amiable nor kind; to serve them for +God's sake, as a punishment for our sins." + +"Now," said Mr. Warren to his wife, "you see Anne has rather improved by +her visit to the priest, which you thought to prevent. Were you and I to +be _at her_ for six months, we could not get her to acknowledge as much +as she now has. The fact is, I am certain those much-abused priests are +far ahead of our dominies in knowledge of religion and human nature. It +is impossible otherwise to account for the influence they exercise over +the ungovernable Irish race, and over those millions whom they instruct +and rule." + +"It's all priestcraft," said his wife. + +"I don't know, Sarah, what craft it is, but I wish our ministers learned +a little of the same craft; for they are fast losing all influence over +the minds of the people, and especially over that of the youth. That we +can all see." + +"That's because people are daily getting worse," said this female +philosopher. + +"Worse! Then whose fault is it that they are? What have we ministers +for, but to prevent this state of things? There are six of them in the +small village of S----, and it can't be beat in the Union for blacklegs +and rowdies. Would we have so many wild, irreligious young men, and +women, too, if, instead of six preachers, we had six Catholic priests? I +would like to see one of your young ones show such signs of a superior +mind and training, such manliness and fortitude, as that Irish Catholic +lad, Paul, down at Prying's. They have had all the ministers within +fifty miles of you to convert him, but they could no more move him than +they could Mount Antoine. In fact, he beat them all to pieces in +Scripture and argument. Take no more pains about religion, wife," said +the honest Yankee; "let Anne alone. I won't have her disturbed any more +on the subject. If there be any religion on earth, those very people +have it whom you want to bring round to the exact pattern of your +favorite minister's manner of doubting. It's ridiculous, wife," said +he, rising, and calling his men to the fields; "it's ridiculous to try +to convert these Catholics, who appear to have some religion, to the +countless systems of NO RELIGION that are so numerous on all +sides around us. I say it's ridiculous," said he, departing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE TEMPTER AT THE WOMAN. + + +It was arranged among the Pryings and their advisers, one day in August, +that, as Amanda said Paul was an incorrigible young man, he should be +sent off to the State fair of Vermont, and, in the meantime, a certain +"true blue" Presbyterian minister, named Grinoble, should try his hand +at converting Paul's little sister Bridget. It was, some thought, wrong +to begin with Paul, as all experience, but especially scriptural +testimony, taught that temptation was more likely to succeed when woman +was the subject or the instrument. So thought Parson Grinoble; and, with +true serpent wisdom, he concluded that it was through the woman, the +weaker sex, that, in this instance, Popery was to be conquered. Besides, +this old hand at proselytism read somewhat of the epistles of St. Paul, +and read there of the success of his predecessors in unbelief in +seducing "silly women," and ensnaring their confiding souls within the +meshes of their wily nets. So thought Mr. Grinoble, and he began to act +on it on the day in question, by going into the kitchen and addressing +himself to Bridget, as she was peeling apples for cooking, in the +following manner: + +"Come here, my dear, and shake hands," said his dominieship to the girl. + +She walked over shyly, holding the knife in one hand, and stretching +forward for the other. + +"Sit down here beside me, on the settle, my dear." + +"I must do what 'Mandy ordered me, sir," she said, excusingly. + +"Oh, don't you fear Amanda," he said; "I will be your security, my +little woman, that she won't be displeased. Dear me, what nice hair and +purty curls you have! and such beautiful teeth! Don't you think Miss +Amanda is jealous of your charms? eh? Why do you turn away your head, my +pet?" + +"I don't like such talk, sir," she answered. "My Prayer Book, in the +'Table of Sins,' says it is a sin to listen to praise or flattery." + +"Well said, my little lady," said the tempter. "You are right, Bridget; +I was only trying you. I do not wish you to sin. You know I am the +minister. I love you, and wish to see you a good Christian," said he, +caressing her. + +"I thank you, sir," was her answer. + +"Now, my little good one, I want to tell you some news. I have a message +for you,--a letter from a friend." + +"Please show it, sir," she said, impatiently; "perhaps it is from my +uncle, in Ireland, to whom Paul often wrote, but never got an answer +back." + +"No, my dear, it is from your father," said the tempter. + +"My father is dead, sir," she quickly rejoined. "It can't be from him, +anyhow, God rest his soul." + +"It is from your Father in heaven,--behold it!" said he, in a dramatic +accent, and pulling out of his breast-pocket a small octodecimo Bible. + +"Queer letter carrier, and purty heavy letter," grinned a young fellow, +who was sitting by, waiting for the return of the boss to employ him. + +"Christ sent you this by me," said the dominie, presenting the Bible. +"It will teach you the knowledge of the Lord, and the true spirit of his +gospel." + +"Never knew before that the Lord kept a post-office," said the young +Celt; "but I'm sure he never sent the like of you to be +letter-carrier,--too slow, too stupid, entirely, entirely; and not very +honest, maybe." + +"I am not addressing you, sir," said the parson, gruffly. "How do you +like that, Bridget?" said he, plying his arts. + +"It is very nicely bound, sir," said she; "but I dare not take it +without acquainting my brother Paul." + +"Now, my little favorite," said the representative of the serpent, "if +your uncle at home left you all his property, would you not like to be +able to read the _will_, or would you wait for Paul's leave to read a +document by which you inherited so much wealth?" + +"Perhaps not, sir," she answered, "particularly if he did not forbid me +to do so." + +"Very well, this is the will, the testament of God to all men, to me, +to you. Now, Bridget, learn this will, read it, study its contents, +without consent of priest or brother. Don't you see how proper this +advice is?" said he, thinking he had her little reasoning powers +conquered. + +"Yes, old fellow," said the young man at the table; "but if that will +was disputed, which would you do,--submit it to an able lawyer, or go +into court yourself without advice or counsel? You surely would fee a +lawyer, if money or property was at stake. Well, you '_omadawn_,'" said +our young stranger, "don't you see that, though that Bible is the will, +the devil, and his small heretical attorneys--Luther, Calvin, +Wesley--dispute the will, and the Church is the able advocate, and +judge, too, that will conquer the devil, and put to shame his agents, +and secure the stake, which is heaven, and the salvation of the soul? +Let the child alone," said he, boldly, "as you see she doesn't want your +biblical pills, or, 'be the tinker that mended _Fion-vic Couls' pot_,' I +will turn you out of doors, if I were to hang for it after. Let the +child alone this minute," said he, firmly. + +"Who are you, sir?" said the indignant parson, turning to view his +antagonist. "How dare you interrupt me when I am not addressing you?" + +"I am an Irishman and a Catholic," said he; "and furthermore, if you +wish to know my name, it is, sir, Murty O'Dwyer, Tipperary man and all." + +The reader will recollect the rollicking young attendant who drove +Father O'Shane in the snowdrifts from Vermont, a specimen of whose +oratory we have given in a preceding chapter. The antagonist of Parson +Grinoble was no other than the same young man. He had rambled up to this +neighborhood in search of work, and hearing that Mr. Prying was in need +of a hay hand, he waited his return from the Vermont State fair. + +The minister Grinoble returned to the parlor to report progress to +Amanda, and to represent the controversial rencontre which he had with +O'Dwyer, while Murty learned with wonder and indignation from Bridget, +that they were the children which cost Father O'Shane so much vain +search, and that they were kept in continual annoyance by all sorts of +male and female religious quacks and mountebanks, all bent on the work +of perversion. "Oh, thunder and age!" said he; "and ye are widow +O'Clery's children, God rest her soul! What a murthur Father O'Shane +could not find ye out before he died! The Lord have mercy on him." + +"We have heard he died," said Bridget. "Is it long since, sir?" + +"Almost two years. He published ye in the Boston _Pilot_, and all the +newspapers. He even offered a reward for yer discovery. Oh, _mille +murther_! what a pity I did not know ye were so near home!" + +"I suppose uncle wrote to him, and sent us money to take us home again?" +added pensive Bridget. + +"Money!" said the disinterested young man; "what money? I would give all +I earned since I came to this queer country myself to have ye found +out. We all thought ye were lost, drowned, or killed on the railroad +cars. I am glad I have found ye out; ye will have to leave right off. I +will take ye away myself to-morrow." + +"Oh, no, sir!" said Bridget; "we can't leave this till our time is +served out or our board paid,--two dollars a week for nearly three +years. The priest, not long since, came here to see if he could get my +brother and me off, but they told him they would not let us go. And +besides that, they insulted his reverence by telling him, if he dared to +come to try to kidnap us, they would tar and feather, or shoot him, the +Lord save us." + +"I wish to God I was present," said Murty; "I would settle bread on some +of them; that I would, and no mistake," said he, bringing his clenched +fist down on the table, "if I heard them insult the minister of Christ +in any shape or form. Oh, America! America!" said he, in an undervoice, +"I am deceived in you. I thought you were a second paradise, where all +was peace, and comfort, and justice, and prosperity, and true liberty. +But alas! I find all my ideas of your character erroneous and false. All +the crimes of the old world are not only here, where we thought the very +soil was virgin pure and unstained, but here in the most odious forms. +The poor at home were naked, and hungry, and ground; but most of them +were _innocent_, and _an innocent man is not entirely miserable_. The +poor here, besides their poverty and wretched slavery, working eighteen +out of the twenty-four hours, are almost all wicked in addition. The +crimes in the old country, that aristocratic institutions kept up in +the inaccessible palaces of the rich,--like the panther's den on the +summit of yonder mountain,--here are familiar to the lowest and +vulgarest of the populace. In the old country, the few and the rich were +unjust, cruel, wicked; it was so in Ireland. Here the vices of the few +are ingrafted on the many, and, like the small-pox, they do not become +weaker, but stronger, by universal propagation. I wish I never saw you, +America," said he, musing, his head resting against the wall; "I wish I +was in the grave with my two sisters and mother, rather than here to +witness the slavery, corruption, and vice of America." The remainder of +his musings were lost in the sighs and emotions that proceeded from his +manly bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE FRUITS OF THE CROSS. + + +Paul was now a free man, the term of apprenticeship having expired. It +was his right now, according to the terms of the implied contract, not +only to receive support and clothing, but wages; and Mr. Prying was very +willing to keep him in the house and give him a man's wages; but this +conflicted with Amanda's plan and that of her advisers; consequently, +Paul was reluctantly obliged to part with the society of his sister +Bridget, who had yet a part of her term to serve, and to look out among +the neighboring farmers for a situation. This he soon found in a +gentleman's family named Clarke, who was very glad to receive such a +modest and intelligent young man into his family. This Mr. Clarke was +not a farmer by profession, but a lawyer, and editor of a daily journal +in the capital of Vermont, and only spent a few days in the summer and +fall with his family at the farm. Paul's chief occupation was to attend +young Master Clarke in his sports of fishing, fowling, and riding on +horseback. The duties of his present situation afforded Paul not only +time and leisure to keep up his accustomed religious exercises, but, in +addition, he was able to revise what he had previously studied, and to +add considerably to his stock of useful knowledge. The equal terms and +familiarity in which he stood in his relation with his young employer +afforded him an opportunity of revising Virgil, Sallust, Lucian, and +other classical authors, the use of which he was so long obliged to +discontinue. + +Mr. Clarke was delighted when he learned from his son that Paul knew +Greek and Latin much better than his former teacher in the academy. And +this information he knew to be correct, from the fact that he found his +son had learned more during vacation, in company with Paul, than he did +during the whole year before in college. He therefore advanced Paul's +wages by one-third, and prolonged his son's stay in the country beyond +the usual period. This generous and kind-hearted man was also sensibly +affected when Paul, at his request, related how he came to know Latin; +how he was nephew of the grand vicar of Kil----; how he had spent five +years in college; how his father was obliged to emigrate with his +family; how he had died on the voyage; how they were robbed of a +thousand pounds; how his mother sunk under her trials; how he and his +brethren were kidnapped out hither; how the priest of T---- had +advertised for them; and how, "I suppose," said he, "they gave us up in +despair; thinking, probably, that we were lost in some of the late +steamboat disasters; but here we are yet, thank God!" + +Mr. Clarke, with the instinct of a true-hearted Yankee, immediately saw +into the snare laid for the faith of the young orphans; and he thanked +his God mentally that he had come to the knowledge of these facts, for +he was the man to expose and reprobate such foul play. "I now well +remember, Paul," said he, "the advertisements respecting you and your +brothers and sister. I shall see to this business, I promise you. In the +meantime, be you and Joe good friends. Don't spend too much time at +fishing and gunning, but study a good deal. Good-by, Joe, my son. +Good-by, Paul. I shall soon return again to see you." + +Paul took every favorable opportunity to visit his sister and brothers, +to console and strengthen them against the temptations to which he knew +they were exposed. + +"Now, Patsy, my boy," he said to the elder of his younger brothers, +"every time you look at that cross--show it to me--have you lost it?" + +"No, sir-ee; I never put it off my neck since mother put it on," said +Patrick, pulling it out of his bosom. + +"Every time you look at that crucifix," continued Paul, "think how our +Lord God Himself suffered; how, when he was a boy like you, he was good, +obeyed his parents, and was subject to them. Now, you have no parents +here but one, the Catholic Church; and if you obey not her counsels and +precepts, you will not be rewarded by Christ, whose image you wear +around your neck. Say the Six Precepts of the Church for me, Pat." + +"First. I am the Lord thy God--" + +"Oh, Pat, you are saying the ten commandments of God. Your little +brother Eugene can say _them_. I examined you in these before." + +"Oh, I forgot. 1st. To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. +2d. To fast and abstain on the days commanded. 3d. To confess our sins +at least once a year. 4th. To receive communion at Easter. 5th. To +contribute to the support of our pastors. 6th. Not to solemnize marriage +within forbidden degrees, nor clandestinely." + +"The first precept, Patrick, we cannot keep here, as we are not near the +church. But the second, 'to abstain on the days commanded,' we can keep. +Do you ever eat meat on Friday, Pat?" + +"Never but once, through mistake," said Pat. "I thought it was Thursday. +Mr. Prying is always wanting me to eat it every day, and so was a +gentleman whom he called the _priest_,--sure he is not a right priest, +is he, Paul?" + +"Not at all, Pat; he is only a Protestant minister." + +"A minister!" said Pat, in astonishment. "Why did they call him a +priest? He wanted me and Eugene to eat meat on Friday; but I said I +could not, it would make me sick. Then Mrs. Prying told him to let me +be; that she could not allow any interference with our religion; and +since that, the minister never returned to our house, or nobody said a +word about it. I think she is very good. She often cries when she hears +me and Eugene speaking of father and mother, God rest their souls! +Paul," said Pat, introducing a new subject, "ain't there a hell to +punish the wicked, as well as a heaven to reward the good?" + +"Certainly, Pat; does not the Catechism say so?" + +"Yes, but yesterday, Cassius Prying tried to persuade me that there was +no hell. He said all would go to heaven, in the end. I told him it was +no such thing. He said the minister said so." + +"Oh, Patrick, my boy, beware of Cassius; you must not listen to his +talk, for it is wicked. God tells us there is a hell, and we must +believe all he teaches us by his church and his word, or we will be +condemned to hell forever." + +"Oh, the Lord save us! I won't hear to Cassius no more." + +"That's a good boy, Patsy; mind to watch Eugene, and make him do as you +do. We will all soon be going home to uncle's, please God." + +"How soon, Paul? I am tired of being in 'Merica." + +"Very soon, please God. Good-by, and be good: learn this, the eighth +chapter of the Catechism, next." + +"I will, Paul, with God's help." + +This is the way Paul, our hero, took care of the responsibility God had +thrown on his tender shoulders at the age of fifteen. Never did +missionary or priest labor, by prayer, and prudence, and anxiety, to +save souls to Christ, as Paul did to save his brothers. He was to them +the true Joseph, who not only kept their bodies from starving, but +preserved their souls from a worse than Egyptian captivity. And not only +did his exertions produce the desired effect on the immediate objects of +his solicitude, but God added as the reward of his zeal other souls, +"not of this fold." + +Old uncle Jacob was all but disconsolate at the loss of Paul. He was his +bed-fellow for years, and every night and morning was witness of his +piety and punctuality in prayer. And although poor uncle Jacob himself +had long since learned to doubt of all forms of faith, he could not be +indifferent to the example set him by Paul's steady devotion. The poor +old man, besides, led a very innocent life, and the grace of God had few +obstacles to contend with in its influx into his empty but innocent +soul. He was often heard to say in presence of even Mr. Gulmore, the +minister, and Amanda, who might be called the female parson, that, if +any religion was worth having, it was that one which made Paul so +victorious in his arguments, and so pure and pious in his conduct. "That +was the young one," said uncle, his voice trembling with feeling, for he +loved Paul as a son, "that was the child that deserved to be called one; +that knowed what he owed to God, and man too." + +"He was as cunning as a fox, and as full of the spirit of Popery as an +egg is of meat," said Mr. Grinoble bitterly. + +"I know him to be as innocent as a dove," said uncle Jacob, warmly, "and +believe him to be as full of the Spirit of God as Samuel was in the +temple. There, now." + +"Then, uncle Jacob, I see you are beginning to believe in the Bible," +sarcastically added the parson. "I am glad to find your mind inclined in +that way. I hope you will soon get religion and the change of heart." + +"I hope and pray to the Lord," said the old man, in a voice little +removed from that of one in tears, "to change my heart, and give me +religion, as I now believe there is such a thing on earth. But, Mr. +Grinoble, your hard and cruel religion, I trust, shall never be mine. +God forbid! _It_ will never change my heart." + +"Uncle, don't you talk that way," said Amanda. "This is very unpleasant. +Take no notice of him, sir," said she, addressing the parson, who +appeared to be disconcerted at this pointed attack of uncle Jacob. + +"Amanda, I will talk so, I must talk so," said poor uncle, rising. "How +can ye reconcile it to religion, to justice, or to charity, the snares +and plots laid by you, miss, in company with those _men of God_, to rob +that poor child Paul, and his little sister and brothers, of their +ancient, noble, and holy religion? Fie, fie, fie! Is it such conduct you +call religion? It is the very reverse. It resembled more the conduct of +the serpent in paradise, than that of the meek disciples of Jesus +Christ. It was more like the religious profession of Herod, to get the +Child at Bethlehem into his clutches, than anything else we read of, +your conduct was. There is more Bible for you, Mr. Grinoble," said he, +slamming the door after him, and retiring to his room. + +"'Tis not much use attempting to convert such an old hardened sinner," +said Grinoble, smothering his mortification at the rebuff of uncle +Jacob. + +"That Paul has ruined him," said Amanda. "I would not be a bit +surprised if he died a Papist yet." + +"Sure you would not let the Popish priest visit him, on any account?" +said the tolerant parson. + +"I fear pa would, for you know uncle Jacob left him this farm, and more +than half what he possesses in money and stock. Come, tea is ready." + +Poor uncle Prying, as we have said already, was the senior brother of +Ephraim and Reuben Prying, and was now about seventy-two years of age. +During the last twenty years of his life he labored under a slight +asthmatic affection, which lately increased in violence, and, joined +with a disease of the liver, which physicians said he suffered from, now +seriously endangered his life. Since he was eighteen years old, Mr. +Jacob Prying never went inside a meeting-house or professed any +religion; a conclusion which he partly was drove to by the hypocrisy of +a certain minister in his neighborhood, who wanted to have Mr. Jacob +married to a daughter of his, who, two days before the marriage, he +found out, accidentally, had been seduced by an ex-senator in Boston. +This piece of deception on the part of the religious teacher, and the +treachery of the _maid_ herself, so disgusted Jacob Prying, that he +registered a vow in heaven that he never again would allow himself to +become the victim of hypocrisy or of female dissimulation. The parsons, +all round, because he was proof against their transparent baits, to fill +their meeting-houses, cried him down as an infidel, whose heart was +hardened, and who despised the Bible. Uncle Jacob never attempted to +dispel the prejudices raised against him by the malice of despised +dominies; but his heart refuted their lies, for it was open to every +noble and humane influence, and, above all, undefiled from the +corruption of the world. Hence, in his hour of sickness, in his hour of +trial and need, the Almighty rewarded him for his natural good parts, +and sent His angel to conduct him, by the simple means herein recorded, +to the bosom of that holy religion, outside which there is nothing but +bitterness and woe, and without which "it is impossible to please God." +Knowing the nature of the enemies he had to contend with, poor Mr. Jacob +Prying was silent on the subject of his religious doubts till the advent +of Paul to the farm. Like the ancient noble Roman, who, under the garb +of folly, concealed his profound heroic wisdom, uncle Jacob was content +to be called an infidel and unbeliever, so that he might preserve his +heart undefiled, and ready for that precious pearl "of great price" +which his heart sighed for, and which he was about now to receive; +becoming, in his latter days, a further illustration of the Divine +narrative that "God adds daily to the Church those who are to be saved." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE CONVERSION. + + +"The Lord be praised; I am glad to hear it," said Paul, one day, as he +sat by the bedside of uncle Jacob, who was now in the last stage of his +disease. "Paul," said the dying man, "while I was robust, and +independent in means, I relied too much on these gifts of God, and too +little on the Giver of them. But now, when this frail wall, that shuts +the soul in from her world of kindred spirits, is nearly worn down, and +the glorious light of eternity shines through the chinks of this earthen +rampart, in all directions I see the necessity of having the soul +prepared, thoroughly washed, before she goes into a world of such purity +and justice; and you have convinced me, or, rather, God has taught me, +that it is only in that religion of which God alone is the Author that +the means of purification can be found. So, Paul, in God's name, take a +team, and go for the priest of God immediately; there is no time to be +lost. 'Tis consoling to reflect that there is a priest of God now to be +had on earth, as well as in the days of the ancient patriarchs. How +merciful God was," said he, soliloquizing, "in leaving us on earth a +priest, a representative of his divine Son, to prepare the soul for the +terrible voyage of eternity! All eternity is not too long to thank him +for this blessing." + +Paul communicated the wishes of his dying brother to Mr. Ephraim Prying, +who answered, "Certainly, Paul; why not? Go for the priest; take the +best team--that black mare, there, is the fastest traveller. O my poor +brother, why will you leave us?" said he, as he rushed up to his +brother's bed room. + +It soon went abroad that uncle Jacob was at the point of death; and all +the friends and many neighbors were assembled around the bed, and among +others Mr. Barker, the Methodist preacher, who thought, as the +Presbyterian dominie's nostrums were rejected by Jacob, his own, as +being more novel, might have the desired effect. And though these +several ministers were jealous each of the influence of his neighbor, +yet any thing with them was preferable to the priest. Let uncle Jacob +turn Turk, Jew, or Heathen, any thing but a Papist, and the six +sectarian teachers of the village of S---- were content. + +"Now, brother Jacob," said his roaring reverence, after a long-winded +prayer, in which he professed to command great influence with the powers +above, "how do you feel? Tell us your experience, and what you see." + +"I am afraid, if I tell ye what I think and feel," said the feeble +invalid, "ye may not like to hear it, and I do not wish to give offence. +I have something else now to occupy my time besides talking for your +entertainment." + +"O, by all means, brother," said the reverend roarer, "tell what you +experience; we will not be displeased, but I hope edified. I have +prayed earnestly to the Lord Jesus for thee, and he has answered me--I +have been heard." + +"Well, my experience and conviction are, that there is no real religion, +but superstition or infidelity, in all the sects that I ever yet knew +around here. My experience is, that I led a very worthless and careless +life, for which I expect God's pardon; but I fear ye parsons will have a +hard account to settle for the contradiction and confusion ye have +introduced into the Christian religion. Ye first attempted to make an +infidel of me, by your glaring contradictions and hypocritical +pretensions; and now, on the very brink of eternity, ye would deceive my +soul into the delusion that I am fit for glory direct, in the blossom of +my sins, 'unhouselled, unanointed, and unannealed.' Retire from my +presence, ye deceivers, and make way for the minister of God's church, +who can absolve me from my sins in the person of Christ, give me his +true body to repair the ruins in my own body and soul, and strengthen +me, by the oil of faith, against the terrible struggle that I must +encounter, and the awful journey over which I must pass. O Lord," he +cried, "forgive these persecutors of my soul; and, O virgin mother of +Jesus, obtain for me to confess my sins and repent ere I die." + +All were astonished at the foregoing impassioned speech of uncle Jacob. +The parson retired like an evil spirit exorcised by the powerful words +of holy writ. The room was empty, and the priest was soon after at the +dying man's bedside. After a full, sincere, and humble confession, +conditional baptism was administered; and, confirmed by all the rites of +the church, purified by penance, strengthened by the holy eucharist, and +healed by the holy unction of heaven, that pure soul passed away to God +in two days after, having become speechless in about an hour after the +administration of the sacrament. + +"Now," said the priest, addressing Paul, "did I not tell you God had +some mysterious design in view by the succession of trials which he +enabled you to pass through? But for you, probably, this good soul would +not have heard of the Catholic church; but for your mother's death you +could not be out here, where the malice of those who wanted to rob you +of your faith sent you. It is owing to the robbery of the money you +possessed that your mother died; and, finally, but for the cruelty of +the landlord and his injustice, you might be now at home in Ireland, and +probably studying in Maynooth College. See how God brings good from +evil. See how, as he made the hardness of Pharaoh's heart contribute to +the glory and miraculous power of Moses and Aaron, he continually makes +use of the tyranny of the landlords of Ireland--not inferior to the +cruelty of Pharaoh or Herod--to contribute to the spread of the faith, +without which there is no salvation, among the generous and naturally +good people of this vast country." + +"I understand it all now," said Paul, "and thank God for all that has +happened to us." + +"That's right, my boy; you will be yet a priest, perhaps, yourself. I +must now prepare to return." + +As Father Ugo passed down stairs, he was met by Mrs. and Mr. Prying, +who invited him to the parlor, and by a good deal of persuasion +prevailed on him to remain there over night, rather than go to the hotel +six miles off. Even the bigoted Amanda was very anxious to have an +argument with a real priest--that mysterious sort of being whom she +never saw, but heard so much about. + +Father Ugo was a robust, brave-looking man, of unaffected manners, +bordering on plainness, though highly educated, and accustomed in +Europe, where he was chaplain to Lord C----d, to the most aristocratic +society. Perhaps it was owing to his knowledge of the vanity of +aristocratic airs that he affected such a plainness of manners, being +thoroughly tired of the odd, unmeaning ceremonials of fashion. It must +be confessed, at any rate, that he entertained no small contempt for the +mushroom aristocratic imitations that he witnessed in America; and this +made him a little sarcastic, and therefore rather rude, in his +association with what he called "the monkey aristocracy" of the new +world. + +Such being the sentiments of Father Ugo, the reader ought not to be +surprised that his reluctance to enter into a theological discussion +with Amanda was great, and his answers to that indefatigable _she bore_ +rather curt and ironical. After a good deal of conversation about the +weather, crops, the telegraph, railroads, thunder storms, electricity, +and such other subjects as were suggested by the climate and state of +the weather, Mr. Prying left the room, wondering where this priest got +his knowledge, and how could he be one of that low, canting, +Scripture-phrase class to which all ministers he ever knew belonged, and +in which he thought the priest must have exceeded the ministers in +degree as much as the Green Mountain exceeded the little knoll in front +of his house. + +"That's a well-read, intelligent fellow," said he to his wife. + +"We allers heard they knowed nothing but ignorance and idolatry," she +carelessly remarked. + +"I guess those who represented the Catholic priests as such are the most +ignorant," was the remark of Ephraim. + +"Well, sir," said Amanda, who was now alone with the priest in the +parlor, "there are many admirable things in your religion; there are +indeed." + +"I am glad you think so; but are not all its institutions admirable and +perfect?" said the priest. + +"I can't concede that, by any means," she replied, with a consciousness +of her logical powers. "For instance, there's celibacy; why don't you +priests get married? I think this very wrong; the Bible calls it the +'doctrine of devils' to encourage that institution." + +"I am astonished, if you think so, miss," said the priest, "you have not +got married yourself before this, for you appear to be of age." + +"O, that, perhaps, is my own choice," she said, coughing with +embarrassment. + +"Well, it is my fixed and determined choice," rejoined Father Ugo, "to +lead a single, unmarried life, free from care and anxiety." + +"I think you are mistaken, sir," she said; "the single life is one of +much more care and anxiety than the married. Witness pa and ma; how +happy _they_ have lived for thirty-five years in this our homestead." + +"Although such may have been _your_ experience, miss," said Dr. Ugo, "I +must beg leave to decline accepting it as an authority, particularly +when I have my own experience, though not so venerable as yours, to +balance it. Besides, does not the inspired St. Paul tell us that those +who are married are divided, and have heavier cares; while those who +lead a single, chaste life, as he did, would be better able to serve God +free from anxiety?" + +"O, Paul," she replied, "was very poor authority on the subject, being a +bachelor when he wrote that passage. Probably in after life his opinions +underwent a change on the subject. I am aware of his oddity in that +way." + +"Do you joke, miss?" said the priest, solemnly. "If you do not joke, I +have no hesitation in saying you blaspheme, in thus trifling with the +words of the Holy Ghost." + +"I am serious, sir," she said; "it is your church that is guilty of +misinterpretation of God's word, and, in addition, denies its 'free use' +to the people." + +"I hope my church, miss, will never allow her children to trifle with +God's holy word as you have now been guilty of," said the priest. + +"What's this? At theology again, Amanda? I think you have met your match +at last, daughter," said Mr. Prying. "This young lady has taken to the +study of Scripture and theology," continued he; "she and the several +ministers who visit here are ever at controversy, and she seldom comes +off second best, I tell you." + +"Don't you speak so, father," she said; "no, I don't, neither. I have +been arguing with this gentleman about celibacy, and we can't agree +about the interpretation of a text; that's all. But this is the +birthright of every American citizen, the right to differ; the right to +read the word of God, and to interpret it each for himself, without let +or hinderance." + +"I have no great desire, nor does it at all accord with my notions of +propriety, I assure you," said the priest, "to enter into controversial +disputations around the fireside, in a family whose hospitality I am +enjoying, and especially when a lady is my antagonist." + +"O you need not be particular," said this female bore; "we are used to +such discussions. I had a few questions to put to you as a Catholic +priest, of which I had taken notes, and my object is information on +those points, as much as the refutation of your church doctrines." + +"Any information you require I am ready to afford, if in my power; but I +have a horror--I suppose from the invariable habit of my past life--of +introducing either political or religious discussions into the fireside +family circle." + +"We are always disputing here," she said. "I am a Presbyterian, Cassius +a Universalist, Wesley a Methodist, and Cyrus has taken to the spiritual +rapping, and is a 'medium.' So you see controversy is no novelty here." + +"In Europe, miss," said the priest, "we never introduce----" + +"In Europe," she said, interrupting Father Ugo, "there is nothing but +tyranny, despotism, poverty, and superstition. We despise the customs of +Europe, sir. I am told," she added, after a glance at her notes, "that +priests in general, and you in particular, forbid Catholics to attend +the meetings, or join in the prayers or worship, of other denominations. +Is this true, or how can you reconcile it with liberty or religion?" + +"Certainly," said the priest, "it is our duty to guard the Catholics +from such immoral customs. We do not believe any of the sectarian +denominations, into which I regret to learn your family is divided, +derive their existence or institutions from God, or contain the +_ordinary means_ of salvation. And while under this belief, in which we +are joined by millions upon millions of Christians, living and dead, how +can we join your prayer or worship, when we know it to be spurious and +illegitimate?" + +"I shall, before I am done with you, sir," she replied, "prove your +church idolatrous, and all Papists idolaters; and this is one of the +proofs, this horrid opinion of yours, sir." + +"It is not my _opinion_ at all, miss," said he, coolly; "it is my +_faith_, and that of God's church in all ages. Now, on the very plea +that we all are idolaters, as you call us, for this very reason you +should except your hired help from joining in your 'long prayers.' For +if you have any faith in God, or believe you address him in prayer, why +should you insult and mock him by taking an unenlightened, Papistical +idolater to join your petitions? If you were to go to ask a favor of a +king, or of the president, would you deem it prudent to take one to +accompany you who was guilty of high treason? Would not this lead to +your certain rejection from the presence of majesty or excellency with +disgrace and punishment? Now, Catholics, if they be idolaters, are +guilty of treason against Heaven. Do not, then, insult heaven and its +divine Majesty, by asking them to join in your 'holy prayers.'" + +This "nonplussed" the self-confident and vain Amanda; all she could +answer was, that "that was fine Jesuitism." + +"Meditate well on it," said the priest, "and repent, if you have been +guilty of violating the laws of God, the laws of your country, and the +dictates of reason, by compelling Catholics to join in your, to them, +repulsive and unlawful worship. Forgive me, miss; I must be off. Good +by. God bless you," said he, departing. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS. + + +"Any news this morning, squire?" said Mr. Wakely, the tavern keeper, to +his _honor_ Squire Wilson, as he entered the bar room with a cigar in +his mouth. + +"Wal, nothin' except this report of the turning of old uncle Jacob +Prying, if we can give credit to such a rumor." + +"I seed the priest riding past here two days since," said the tavern +man, "and his team half dead from driving. There can be little doubt of +Jac's conversion to the Romish faith. I asked that young lad Paul, who +used to stop at Prying's, and he said it was true." + +"'Tis really astonishing," said Benjamin Lifford, the Quaker. "I'd have +let him die without a minister, if he did not content himself with the +inflooence of the speerit. These is how I would sarve thee, Jacob." + +"I consider Mr. Prying rather simple to allow such a man as the priest +to come into his house at all," said his _honor_ Squire Wilson, the +Universalist. + +"Had it been my brother," said old Elder Fussel, "I would pay no +attention to the dying request of old uncle Jacob. That would be the way +to bring him to." + +"That would be cruel," said High Sheriff Walter, "seeing that Jacob +left him all his property, real and personal. Besides, this is a free +country, and I say a man ought to be allowed to embrace any religion he +has a mind to. That's my creed, at all events." + +"Yes," said Mr. Ebenezer White, the Methodist class leader, "_pervided_ +the creed he wanted to jine was the religion of the Bible; otherwise +not." + +"Do not the Roman Catholics ground their doctrines on the Bible?" said +the sheriff. "That they do, and their Bible contains many books that +yours does not contain." + +"Nonsense, sheriff!" said his enlightened _honor_. "The Papists never +read the Bible. I have a boy, Thomas Noonan,--you know him,--and he +neither will read it himself, nor listen to it read. The priest won't +allow him. No Catholic is allowed to have or read a Bible." + +"You state what is not true," said a loud, emphatic voice from behind +the stove. It was the voice of Murty O'Dwyer. + +"I guess, squire, you are in error there," said the sheriff. "My boy, +you know, Patrick, a very strict Catholic, every month at confession +with the priest, has a Bible with him in my house, which Bible the +priest gave him. I have read the book time and again. Nay, I heard the +priest preach out of our Bible last summer." + +"Is it not astonishing," began Murty again, "that, though ye all differ +in opinion, ye agree in hating and maligning the church of Christ? +Though ye can't 'join in love,' ye know well how to 'join in hate.' Here +are unbaptized Quakers, groaning Methodists, blaspheming Presbyterians, +faithless Universalists and Unitarians, and humbug spiritual rappers; +and yet ye not only coincide in hating the pope, but ye are all +intolerant and cruel save this gentleman here," said he, pointing to Mr. +Walter. "Now, will any body tell me whence is this hatred?" said the +Irishman, pausing. "Is it grounded on knowledge or well-formed opinion? +No; for ye are all grossly ignorant of the principles and facts of +Catholicity, as ye have shown by your statements about the Bible. In +truth, it is impossible to evade the conclusion that ye hate the church +for the same cause that the devil envied and hated our first parents; +namely, because he saw them the heirs of that bliss which he and his +rebellious crew had lost." + +"Take care what you say, my man; the law does not suffer any person to +disparage the Bible so," said the squire, threateningly. + +"I am not afraid, sir, to speak my mind, whatever you, as the +representative of the law, may threaten. 'Tis really amazing that ye +should be so busy and troubled about Catholics, take such pains in +kidnapping Catholic children, and forcing Catholic servants to go to +listen to your disgusting prayers and bellowing preachers, when your own +children are beyond your control; go to bed like cattle, without ever +bending a knee in prayer; and if they go to 'meeting,' as it is properly +called, it is only to mock the 'old fool' who holds forth to them." + +"There is some truth in what he says," added the sheriff, looking at the +squire. + +"Agree among yourselves first," said the Irish peasant, "before you +commence to convert Catholics. Convert the rowdies that crowd your +village and city tavern bar rooms before you extend your zeal to those +who are in no need of it, or on whom it will be all spent in vain. Agree +about the meaning of one single text in your Bible before you hand it to +us for our study." + +"We all agree it's the word of God." + +"Well, the word of God cannot contradict itself, and yet the religious +system of each of you contradicts that of his neighbor. One man says +Christ is God; another denies this; and both quote Scripture in proof. +This man says bishops are necessary and divinely appointed; the next man +denies this totally. The Quaker denies what the disciple of Calvin or +Knox believes, while the Universalist ignores what the latter professes; +and now the Mormons, spiritual rappers, and Transcendentalists explode +the Bible altogether. The Catholic church, with those countless millions +of her children that constitute her body, has been reading the Bible and +studying it these nineteen hundred years, and never yet, with all her +learning, could find two opposite meanings to one single text; never +once contradicted herself." + +"You don't say the Catholics are allowed the use of the Bible, do you? +or that there was any Bible in the world but the one Luther found in the +monastery hid, in the year 1517?" said the elder, who did not well hear, +as he was somewhat deaf. + +"Do you seriously believe that we Catholics have not leave to use the +Bible? I tell you we have, and always had, the unquestioned right to its +proper use. Even before the art of printing was discovered by a +Catholic, and when books were scarce, a Bible, in large, plain writing, +was chained to a stand or desk in each parish church in most countries, +so that all who wished could read. I saw one of these stands, which +turned on a pivot, in an old Catholic church in Yorkshire, England, +where it remains to this day. And as regards the absurdity that Luther +found the only copy of the Bible extant in a monastery or university, +that story is refuted by the fact that there were millions of Bibles, +and countless editions of it, printed before Luther was born. Indeed, I +have just read in this Protestant paper, here, that there is a Bible in +Cincinnati, printed in 1470; that is, nearly fifty years before Luther +began to revolt." + +"Why, Betsey Darcy, that jined our kirk at the late revivals, told us, +public, in the meeting house, that the priests in Ireland would not +allow any Catholic to read the Bible; and she said that was the first +one she ever saw which I handed to her," said the pious elder. + +"Don't you believe her, elder," said Murty, "for I saw that same girl +handle a true Protestant Bible in Ireland, when she attempted to father +her illegitimate child on an honest man, but when she was, instead, +convicted of perjury the most gross. She has had two other fatherless +children since she came to 'free America;' and now, after having been +rejected from the humblest society of Catholics on account of her +immoralities, she, of course, takes refuge among the impeccable saints +of Presbyterianism, where she ranks high in the scale of sanctity." + +"Sartin," said the sheriff; "she is a hard one, I do believe. I saw her +drunk at the donation visit of dominie Grinoble, last winter." + +"Yes," said Murty, "when you get such a convert as this unfortunate +reprobate, you boast and write tracts to herald the conquest; but such +conversions as those of Spencer, Brownson, Wilberforce, Newman, Lords +Camden, or Freeling, are as nothing in your eyes. You stuff your ears +when you hear of them, cautiously keep them out of hearing of your sons +and daughters, and these glorious conversions never appear in your +shabby, lying newspapers. I do really pity the blindness of +Protestants," said he, rising and walking out of doors. + +Next day after these events, the funeral of uncle Jacob took place, and +these ministers, whom, while he lived, he could not endure, and who +heartily hated him, came, when he was dead, to offer their services over +his remains. If any thing was required to show the meanness and +inconsistency of Protestantism and its teachers in this country, it is +the readiness with which they will officiate over the body of a man +dead, over whose soul, while living, they could exert not the smallest +influence. We have known several instances where Methodist and +Presbyterian hirelings, in consideration of the fee of three or five +dollars paid them, preached long sermons, and opened the gates of _their +Elysium_ to the souls of men who became converted from the sects to +which these hireling parsons belonged. Nay, in cases where the deceased +committed suicide by hanging or poisoning, we heard parsons officiate, +and promise the friends, for certain, that the soul of the suicide was +in glory, because sometime ago he happened to get religion, or join the +Sons of Temperance, or conform to some other requirement of fanaticism. +Thus, in the present case of uncle Jacob, Mr. Barker, the Methodist, and +Parson Grinoble, the Presbyterian, and Mr. Gulmore, another style of +Presbyterianism, all three vied to see who would _be hired_ to do the +last service to him whom, while alive, they all despised. Mr. Gulmore, +however, had the best luck, and accordingly mounted the pulpit to pass +sentence on the departed soul of uncle Jacob. He descanted for a +considerable time on the virtues of the deceased while young, told all +he knew of his religious experience, not forgetting the virtues of the +entire family, and what they had done for religion by circulation of +tracts, by subscription to Bible societies, by adopting and raising of +destitute orphans, and other good deeds, all tending to the honor of +Calvinism. "The only instance of any thing like want of belief that +happened for a hundred years in the family," said he, "was the seduction +of our brother to the ranks of Popery. His faith was weak, my friends," +he continued; "but if he did not believe strongly, _we believed_, and +our faith saved him. His soul is in glory, I have no doubt. The faith of +his family and all our faith saved him. Glory be to the Lord. Amen." + +The conclusion of this discourse was applied to the warning of the +faithful against the influence of the Papists; the necessity and +obligation incumbent on all to compel their Catholic servants to join +their prayer and other meetings; and, above all, to take care that all +Popish books and publications, should be excluded from their houses. "We +are fallen on dangerous times, my friends," he said; "and if the friends +of the Bible and free religion do not combine their efforts against the +common enemy, our institutions are doomed, and the glory of our country +is extinguished forever." + +The reader is not to imagine that Mr. Gulmore and men of his class are +so brutally ignorant as some would imagine. When, therefore, we hear +them speak of our _institutions_ being in danger, they mean the +_institutions_ of heresy and sectarianism; namely, parsons, and their +wives and children, and countless sects and contradictions in +creed--institutions that, sure enough, are in imminent danger, and +doomed to fall before the irresistible and unerring progress of +Catholicity. But will this divinely decreed result be injurious to the +progress or prosperity of the republic? On the contrary, there can never +be a real union among the States till the minds of the people, north and +south, are united in faith and sentiment. And by the annihilation of +sectarianism and its castes, the people will be freed from a very +burdensome tax now going to the support of a large and lazy body of men, +women, and children, whose only object in existence seems to be to eat +and consume, and who, besides, by their idleness and habits, keep up a +system of detraction, jealousy, and discord among otherwise +well-disposed citizens, that, like so many cancers, are eating into the +very vitals of the public morals. Let not the American citizen, +therefore, bewail the certain decline and rapid decay of the +_institutions_ of sectarianism, but rather pray for the dawn of that +glorious approaching day when, as we are but a one people and a united +nation, we may have but one religion, and a country that will know no +sectional divisions. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +"HE AND HIS WHOLE HOUSE BELIEVED." + + +Paul, now, though full of anxiety and care on account of his young +charge, was comparatively well off. His good fortune removed him from +the neighborhood of all that was low, fanatical, and cruel in New York, +to the capital of Vermont. And he felt the change for the better, +sensibly, in quitting the birthplace of "Millerism," and going into a +comparatively enlightened region. He thought there were, as he said, +some gentlemen and ladies here in Vermont; but he could never see one of +either species, properly so called, where he lately lived. The truth +was, Mr. Clarke, his present employer, was a well-bred, full-blooded +Yankee; and though his notions of Catholicity were such as he gleaned +from the rabid discourses of half-educated preachers, and a few +anti-Popery tracts which he read, his gentle and noble mind could not +sanction for an instant any thing like persecution on account of +religion. Hence, besides the favorable impression which the talents of +Paul made on him, he considered it time to show him some kindness, to +compensate for the ill treatment he underwent under the machinations of +Parson Gulmore and Amanda Prying, and their clerical associates. + +"Paul," said Mr. Clarke, on Saturday night, at supper, "I am glad you +are beginning to like this part of the country. I will endeavor to +convince you that all America is not like your late home in York: all +parsons are not like Mr. Gulmore, whose conduct in regard to your +letters I cannot sufficiently condemn; nor are all young ladies of the +same temper as Miss Amanda Prying." + +"I do not blame Amanda much, sir," said the youth, fearing that he might +be led to any thing bordering on detraction; "she was very kind to me in +all things, except that she wanted to keep me from mass, and tried to +force my sister and myself to attend Mr. Gulmore's church." + +"That was very wrong of her, Paul. I do not think Miss Martha, here, +will be so cruel as to require you to do any thing against your will; +nor would she interfere with your letters to your friends, as I have no +doubt Amanda has interfered. Well, Martha," said the good-natured +father, looking with pride towards his eldest daughter, a bright girl of +sixteen, "are you going to force Paul with you to church; to compel him, +whether he likes it or not, to eat flesh meat on days forbidden by his +church? And will you forbid him to write to his uncle, who, I doubt not, +is a very respectable gentleman in Ireland?" + +"God forbid, father, that I should be guilty of half that. However, we +shall be very glad if Paul comes to our meeting house, seeing we often +go to hear the priest, Father O'C----, of the Catholic church." + +"I should be very sorry to disoblige any body, but especially one so +amiable as yourself, miss," said Paul; "but I do not think I can +conscientiously go to any church except the Catholic church." + +Mr. and Mrs. Clarke smiled, and a significant glance passed between them +at the gallantry of this speech. + +"Why, Paul," said he, "I think you are a leetle too particular. It would +do you no harm to hear our preacher, Mr. Holdforth; I do not see what +can be wrong in it, no more than our going to hear the priest." + +"The only difference is," said Paul, quickly, "that our religion and +service being right, and yours being wrong, you can attend our service +without scruple, but I could not attend yours without sin. It would be a +loss of time, a bad way to spend the Sabbath, or Sunday; the sin of +curiosity, or the danger of being an encourager of, or countenancing, a +false worship, unauthorized by God or his church." + +"Ah, Paul," said the editor, "this is taking a high ground, and rather a +new one to me; and besides, this is not very logical, for this is what +we want to see. This is just the question in dispute between the Roman +Catholic church and the Protestant; viz., to which of the two belongs +true and lawful worship." + +"You are a lawyer, sir," said Paul, "and you must know well the evidence +is all in favor of the Catholic church--being that founded by Christ, +and ruled and guided by the apostles. For, go back to the very apostolic +ages, and you will find the rites and the ceremonies of the church, +recorded in the writings of the ancient fathers,--as, for instance, in +the works of Tertullian, Ireneus, Ignatius,--to be the very same as +those now practised in the Catholic church in this country and all over +the world." + +"I confess, Paul," said he, "that the external evidences are rather +favorable to Catholicity; but we principally depend on internal +evidence, or the feelings of our minds." + +"That," said Paul, "is no evidence at all; for you have to do with +external facts. Institutions, history, monuments, testimony of men, +customs, and habits, are the only evidence you can bring to bear on this +controversy. How would you like to try a criminal by internal +evidence--to tell a jury that you had 'internal evidence' of the +innocence or guilt of the man accused? How could you discover whether or +not Caesar lived by the light of internal evidence? Is it by internal +evidence you learn that such cities as Rome, Paris, or Constantinople +exist? No, sir; it is by _external_ evidence, which is altogether in +favor of our church; and this is more valuable than all the internal +evidence that ever existed in the minds of fanatics, from Simon Magus to +John Wesley, or from the Gnostics to the spiritual rappers." + +"Husband," said Mrs. Clarke, "I am afraid of your reputation in this +argument about religion." + +"Madam, it is not _reputation_ I seek, but truth; and if I can find it +in the Catholic church, I shall embrace it myself, and all my family." + +"You may bid adieu to most of your subscribers, then, after you become a +Roman Catholic," said madam. + +"My dear wife," said he, impressively, "you ought to know me +sufficiently well to be convinced that not only the success of my +journal, but even the entire of my means, with my personal feelings, +would be willingly sacrificed by me, in order to secure for myself, and +for you all, what is infinitely beyond all earthly or temporal +considerations; namely, the salvation of our immortal souls." + +"I did not want to insinuate, my dear, for a moment, that you could be +influenced by such a consideration as the success of your journal in a +matter of such everlasting importance. I only dropped the remark +casually and without reflection," said madam. + +In order to explain more fully the seriousness of Mr. Clarke's desire to +learn more and more regarding the Catholic church, and to account for +his rather too easy concession to the arguments of Paul, we think it +right to state that he had lately become a member of a literary and +religious society established in his native city, under the +presidentship of a minister of an Episcopal church. The object of this +society, partly religious and partly literary, was to infuse a new +spirit into the thinning ranks of Episcopalianism, by searching for, and +bringing to light, in the popular form of lectures and dissertations, +the evidences in favor of Protestantism, which, they supposed, were to +be found in the writings of the primitive or ante-Nicene sages of the +church. We do not think it would be appropriate to class this society +under the appellative "Puseyite," for they had no direct connection or +communication with that now rather celebrated school of schismatics, +but undoubtedly the objects of both were analogous. Mr. Clarke's +occupation was so much confined to the business of his lawyer's office, +and his time so much engrossed by the attention required of him as an +editor, that he had very little leisure to attend the regular meetings +of the society, of which he was elected an honorary member; and hence, +while he was at home and at the table, the whole discourse was on +religion; for these were his only leisure hours. Paul he found not only +well instructed in his religion, but capable of explaining very +satisfactorily to him various points connected with such an important +matter as that on which his mind of late turned its attention, and on +which he desired the fullest information. + +Great was the joy and consolation of Paul, after the dialogue given +above; and long and fervent were his thanksgivings to God, for choosing +him so far to be the instrument in bringing his employer to the +resolution of _examining_ Catholic doctrines. For who ever seriously +examined and did not find the truth? "No," said Paul to himself, "never +did any body examine into or compare the relative claims of the Catholic +church and her countless opponents to be considered divine, that did not +decide in favor of the former." And well knowing that Mr. Clarke was a +man not to be turned aside from his resolution by any human motives or +selfish considerations, Paul wisely concluded that "he and his whole +house" would become reconciled to the church. And so they were. Mr. +Clarke was the first member of the "Literary and Religious Society of +Vermont" who became a convert. The next was the reverend president of +the society; afterward one and another, till the entire society, +consisting of some fifty members, submitted themselves to the sweet yoke +of faith; and now there is a church, a resident priest, in that very +locality, and using the very meeting house where the ex-Episcopalian +minister preached. Under God, all these conversions were owing to the +tact, prudence, and other admirable virtues, as well as the thorough +Catholic education, of Paul. To this very day, Mr. Clarke, the Rev. Mr. +Strongly, and many other members of the society acknowledge that it is +to the circumstance of Paul's living in Mr. Clarke's family that he owed +his conversion, and that the secession of Mr. Clarke from their ranks +was what principally hastened the conversion of the whole society. Thus +God frequently makes use of what appears to us very inadequate means to +the most glorious results. Thus are the weak and humble of his church +made use of, like David, to subdue her enemies, and bring them under the +salutary sway of her dominion. And while this servant boy and that hired +girl are acting the hypocrite in attending this master's meeting, or +joining his long prayers, or eating meat on Friday, in violation of the +precepts of the church, they are becoming stumbling blocks on his way to +salvation--resisting the design of God, who wishes all men to be saved, +as well as ruining their own souls. "He that despiseth small things +shall fall by little and little." + +While these events were the order of the day in Vermont, the +proselytizers in York were not idle. Amanda now, since Paul had not only +left the house, but even went away from the neighborhood, thought she, +and her coadjutors the parsons, would have little difficulty in +converting Bridget. But the latter now, besides having once a month an +opportunity of hearing mass,--the new priest, Father Ugo, having made it +a rule to visit the railroad laborers as often as he could, and being +pretty well grounded in the catechism,--in addition to these very +important aids to combat temptation, Bridget had also Murty O'Dwyer, who +was hired in the house, to take up the cudgels for her against Amanda +and Parson Gulmore. + +"Prepare, Bridget, to come with me this evening to Sabbath school," said +the persevering Amanda. "I want to show them how well you can read, and +also I want them to admire these nice flowers of your hat, and your +pretty new dress, to see how smart you look." + +"Why, miss, if that be all you want, I can't go, for that would be a +sin. Vanity, you know," said the little roguish girl, looking +sarcastically at Amanda. + +"I am the best judge of that, missy," said the old maid. "Go on and +prepare: you must come. You are getting very ugly since you got the +habit of seeing that old priest of late." + +"I beg your pardon, miss. It is not for the priest's advice I refuse +joining your worship, but because God forbids it and the church. Before +the priest ever came here, I refused, during more than two years, to go +to Protestant meetings or Sunday schools, which cost me many a tear and +a scolding; and the priest's advice has not made me more determined than +I was before never to put my foot inside your ugly meeting house or +Sunday schools." + +"If I asked you to go to the priest to pay him a quarter to pardon your +sins, you naughty Irish girl, you," said Amanda, in a passion, "how +readily you would obey me, you naughty thing, you!" + +"You're welcome to your joke, miss," answered Bridget; "but if you are +in earnest, I must say that it is not true that Father Ugo, or any other +priest that ever lived, charged any money for hearing confession. +Confession was ordained by Christ, our Lord; and those who do not go to +confession cannot lead a pure life of virtue, nor preserve the love of +God in their souls." + +"Indeed, miss!" said Amanda, with a sneer. "I see the priest has been +giving you a lesson. As if none but Papists knew what purity or virtue +was--the low set of Irish that they are!" + +"Our books of devotion say as much," said Bridget; "and it stands to +reason, for if Catholics who frequent confession have enough to do to +keep themselves undefiled, how much more difficult is it for those who +do not confess at all? Besides, by confession restitution is enforced, +and whatever your neighbor loses by fraud is restored." + +"Is it not strange, then, that the Irish Papist who robbed your mother +of the money does not think of restoring it? And you say he had the +priest's certificate of confession in his pocket?" + +"That is not the fault of confession, miss. May be he would make +restitution yet, if God give him grace." + +"I have been listening to you, miss, this half hour," interposed Murty, +who now entered from the back kitchen where he was smoking, "and I am +really shocked to find you tamper so with the virtue of this innocent +girl. You first attempt to reach her pure soul through her vanity, by +praising her dress and accomplishments; and she nobly rejects the +temptation. Next you attempt to conquer her fortitude, by maligning and +ridiculing the most sacred institutions of her holy religion; and here +again you fail. It is the strangest thing in the world, in my mind, that +you should continually annoy that poor orphan, and stranger again, that +her noble fortitude, her piety, her faith, fidelity, and other heroic +virtues have not converted you, and those who have been for years +witness of them, to something like admiration of them." + +"But she is so obstinate, Murt," said the old maid. + +"Yes," said he, "and in that she is right. Yourself had an opportunity +of information on all these subjects, and, I understand, discussed them +at length with the priest in person. You ought to know better, then, +than to repeat to this child a pure fable, that you dare not hint in the +presence of the priest; namely, that he levies a tax of two shillings or +half a dollar on every penitent whose confession he hears." + +"That is generally believed," said she, ashamed that her violent attack +on Bridget had been overheard by one whose good opinion, of late, she +was rather anxious to secure, for a delicate reason that shan't be +mentioned here. + +"It is generally _talked_, but not _believed_, dear miss, unless by the +idiots and children into whose minds it is continually dinned by +malicious persons, who know that their occupation would be gone if the +truth were known, and who struggle to shut out the light and knowledge +of Catholicity from the souls of their wretched hearers with the same +cruelty that the tyrant shuts out the light of heaven from the dungeon +of his captive. I thought this was a free country," he continued; "but I +find the most odious of tyrannies, domestic tyranny, and the tyranny of +opinion, established here. I, myself, have been its victim in no less +than six instances. Yes, miss, I was turned out of employment, and +cheated out of my wages, as I would not say my prayers with, or square +my creed in accordance with, the notions of my eccentric and fanatical +employers." + +"That was too bad, Murt," said she, laughing. "Ha, ha, ha!" + +"It was almost as bad as your own attempt to rob these orphan children +of the faith of their fathers. For they were young, innocent, and +helpless; but for me, I am able to work, and can defy any tyrant your +country affords," said he, in a passion. "There is not, I believe," he +added, "on earth, a more odious tyranny, except the landlord tyranny in +Ireland, than that of your sectarian Methodist, Presbyterian, +Episcopalian, Nothingarian tyranny in America." + +"You Irish should learn to correspond with the institutions of the +country, and should not attempt to introduce Popery into this Protestant +land." + +"Protestant land!" said Murty. "We never dream of this being a +Protestant land when we land on its shores. We look on it as the land of +liberty, where no form of religion is dominant, and where all are +equally protected. Protestant land! Why, this sounds odd in a world +first discovered and trod on by Catholics. This sounds bad in a republic +established by the aid of Catholic arms, blood, and treasure, despite of +the tyranny of Protestant England. This slang of Protestant land is +intolerable in a people against whose liberties no Catholic sword was +ever unsheathed, though the founder of the sect of which your friend Mr. +Barker is preacher, John Wesley, offered George III. the services of his +forty thousand Methodists to put down the American rebellion. What +American, what republican, then, of spirit or intelligence, can for an +hour profess himself a follower in religion of such a fanatic as Wesley, +with this well-known fact staring him in the face? How noble the conduct +of Catholic France, or Catholic Ireland, when compared with Protestant +England or Protestant Germany, at the time of the revolution! The two +former Catholic nations sent their men, ships, money, clothing, and +provisions, to aid your insurgent ancestors; Germany and England sent +their armed vessels, their cannon, and their hireling soldiery, to burn +the homesteads, desolate the fields, and murder the wives and children +of your forefathers." + +"I am afraid, Murt," she said, "you will convert me to your notions." +This was said with a tenderness that could not be mistaken. + +"I fear not, miss; you are too old for that," said he, meaningly. + +"I am not so very old as you suppose. I am not so old as uncle Jacob, +yet," she said, perceiving that her meaning was understood by Murty; +"and he became a Papist before he died." + +"God gave him the grace, and I pray that you may receive a like grace; +but I suppose you allude to a different sort of conversion?" said he. + +The truth was, Amanda, having failed to secure the permanent regard of +any of her numerous admirers, was foolish enough, as most old maids are, +to suppose that some green, young, inexperienced lover would be most +likely to be caught in her net. Hence she had her mind fixed on Murty, +whom she regarded, as he really was, a young man of talent, and whose +dependent and menial condition she considered as calculated to balance +the disparity in their age, and as likely to insure her success. This +was why she felt so mortified at being detected by him in her late +attempt on the faith and resolution of Bridget, having, since her +designs on Murty, promised to let the orphans have their own way, after +having attempted to convince him that she was quite indifferent on the +subject of religion, and "that she would be very glad to know more from +him about the Catholic church." + +The detection of her insincerity in this instance, and of the falsity +of her professions, put an end to all her further hopes regarding the +gallant young Irishman, who could not tolerate a falsehood in any body, +but especially in a lady, and who ever after avoided her society as much +as possible. His presence, however, in the house was a sure guaranty to +Bridget of full religious toleration, Amanda's fiery zeal for religion +being succeeded by a flame of a somewhat different nature. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION." + + +We devote this chapter of our narrative to the record of a very strange +succession of circumstances, no less so, however, than true. They may +serve as an illustration of the wonderful and mysterious workings of +Religion on the soul, and, at the same time, afford an instance of the +absolute insufficiency of speculative belief or theoretic religion, +without the every-day practice of her sublime and simple lessons. + +One morning, in the town of Sheffield, England, one John Cunningham, +after confession and communion, called on the Catholic pastor of that +town, for the purpose of procuring a line of commendation, or +testimonial of character, that might be of use to him, as he thought, to +get him employment in some part of the new world, to which he was +preparing to emigrate. The poor fellow then little dreamed that a +priest's recommendatory paper, instead of a dollar bill, was the worst +possible substitute in certain parts of America; and, if of any +conceivable effect, was likely to prove an occasion to him of such +annoyances, on account of his faith, as we have described in these +pages. "The character," however, he succeeded in procuring, and written +in no niggard terms. If it offended in any thing, it was in being too +favorable to the bearer. It was by means of this paper, with the +respectable name of Rev. Dr. H---- at its foot, that Cunningham +succeeded in ingratiating himself into the confidence and favor of the +O'Clerys during the voyage, as well as by his attention to Mr. Arthur +O'Clery during his fatal sickness. The reverend gentleman whose +signature stood at the foot of the "character" was well known to the +O'Clery family; and hence, undoubtedly, originated the intimacy, +strengthened by his asserting falsely that he was a relative of the +priest, which subsequently enabled him to rob the poor widow and her +orphans of their entire means. Accomplished villain as he was, Religion +had not yet lost her whole sway over his soul, and by way of punishing +himself, but in reality, making bad worse, the second day after his +liberation from arrest consequent on the theft, he listed in the United +States army, and was hurried off forthwith to the field of battle, in +Florida. The gnawing worm of remorse still followed him on board of +ship, and in barrack, and on the scorching plains of the south. He had +less dread of the sabre, or grape, or rifle of the enemy, than of the +thought that he had robbed the poor widow, and availed himself of the +confidence of confession to elicit from his too confiding director the +paper that principally enabled him to do so. He had plundered an honest +family of their all, and it was of no use to him. The injury done was +severely felt by not only one, but several. The pleasure, comfort, or +happiness to him was nothing at all. Unhappy man, what was he to do? He +could not help it now; the enemy was before him, and he could not turn +his back, and the money was lost forever. He feared death would deprive +him of the means of making restitution, for he had a presentiment he +would fall on this very day. First, that sin he committed in Liverpool, +when, in an evil hour, yielding to the advice and example of wicked +companions, he took to drink in order to smother the thought of it; and +drink caused him to rob the widow, and to shun further the thought of +these crimes he enlisted in the army; but yet, here, in the very ranks, +with drums beating, and music playing, amid the shouts of Indians and +din of battle, the sins were uppermost still in his mind. How horrid +must be the feelings of poor Cunningham, with death staring him in the +face, and yet he expected nothing but judgment after death! In vain did +he look around for the tall and venerable form of Father McEl----, to +cast himself at his knees, and ask for advice, blessing, and +forgiveness. He was nowhere now to be found. O misery unspeakable! And +but yesterday, but this very morning, four hours ago, that father went +through the ranks, encouraging the men, and exciting them to contrition. +Ah, yes! But yesterday Cunningham had got some drink, and, not +perceiving the danger, refused to confess. But now, if he could see the +priest! "O God!" said he, "where is the priest?" Some of his comrades, +who heard this exclamation expressed aloud, laughed; others taunted him +on his evil conscience. However, down on his knees he fell, as if +unconscious of the presence of his comrades, and promised, if God spared +him, on the first opportunity, that he would not only restore the +stolen treasure, but, if necessary, travel the whole Union in search of +those whom he robbed; and ask their forgiveness for the injury done +them. He had scarcely risen into the ranks of his comrades when the +hostile fire opened on the plains of Tampa, and a bullet from the rifle +of the enemy shattered his arm to pieces. A few hours decided that +well-known victory of the Americans, and Cunningham had not long to +remain on the field, exposed to the scorching sun, when he was conveyed +to the hospital. Though the pain he felt in his arm was great, that +which rankled in his bosom was greater; and on his reaching the +hospital, he called out for Father McEl----, before he would allow the +surgeon to inspect his arm. + +After the amputation of the limb he recovered, got his discharge, came +back to New York, and, in company with a respectable Catholic citizen, +went out about seven miles east of Brooklyn, and there, at the foot of a +maple tree, they dug out of the ground, three feet deep, the bag sure +enough, containing every sovereign and note of the money stolen from the +widow O'Clery. They went with it right straight to the priest of St. +Peter's Church, who, upon hearing the recital of the now penitent thief, +promised that he should suffer no legal consequences, and inserted +advertisements in the papers to find out where the O'Clerys might be. + +This information was communicated to Paul by Mr. Clarke, and to Bridget +by Father Ugo, on the same day. + +This news, when made known, created the most intense excitement. Amanda +was now very polite to Bridget, whom she marked out in her own mind as a +suitable wife for her eldest brother Calvin. Paul was declared to be a +young "likely gentleman," of real genius. The two younger brothers, +Patrick and Eugene, were lauded, flattered, and admired. In fine, the +sudden change which took place in the relation in which they stood in +the house of bondage was such as to cause Murty to remark to Paul,--who +lost no time in coming to pay for his brothers' and sister's board, +although the term of servitude of Bridget was now almost +expired,--"Paul, I see that it is not our faith that is so much hated by +these goodly Christians as our poverty." + +"There may be some truth in that," replied Paul. + +"Ever," continued Murty, "since it appeared in our papers here that you +had your thousand pounds restored to you, all mouths are full of your +praise. You were uncommon children, and it was cruel of the minister +Gulmore to conspire against you. It was infamous in him, they now say, +to have your letters 'burked' in the post office, as it appears from +Amanda, who has turned informer on the parson, because he did not marry +her after his first wife's death. Before this ye were paupers, Irish, +and Papists; now, you and your sister and brothers are noble and likely +young people." + +"O Murty," said Paul, "I can see the hand of God in all this. Where I +have lived for the last three years, several families, together with my +friend and former employer, Mr. Clarke, have been converted. The very +minister, Mr. Strongly, has embraced the true faith; and another parson, +Rev. Mr. H----, I am sure, only waits instruction to enter the gate of +life within the true church." + +"Thank God!" said Murty O'Dwyer. "I thought these Yankees never could be +good Catholics, they are so fond of money, trading, cheating, and legal +swindling, such as assigning, and mortgaging, and the like." + +"O, bless you, Murty, all Yankees are not alike. There are no better +Catholics on earth than Americans, when they once get the faith. Mr. +Clarke, and my friends in Vermont, who consider me as instrumental in +bringing them to the true faith, have paid for my education in the +college of G----, after they found that I was resolved to embrace the +clerical state." + +"That was very generous of them, indeed, sir," said Murty, assuming a +little less familiarity; "those here, in this neighborhood, cannot be +much blamed for their bigotry; they know no better, imposed on for ages +by such fellows as Miller, Scullion, Barker, Gulmore, Grinoble, Scaly, +and the like." + +"But it is not so in the cities, Murty," continued Paul; "and it will +not be so here long; for now railroads are building, light, and +liberality, and, I trust, charity, are extending their influence. We +must do our part, by being good, and virtuous, and prudent; try to gain +them by our good example, rather than by argumentative or angry +discussion. 'They know not what they do' when they contemn, or attempt +to stop the progress of, our faith. They are a naturally good and +kind-hearted people; as witness how they assist the sick and give +hospitality. Such virtues must ultimately gain for them the grace of +conversion. The greatest obstacle in their way is the low cunning of the +unprincipled parsons, who, from being peddlers, and poor, shiftless +mechanics, without any proper discipline or preparation, take to the +less laborious trade of preaching. Pray for them, Murty--pray for them." + +"I have a far stronger inclination to curse them," said Murty. + +"Fie, fie, Murty; that is not Christian." + +"That I know," said Murty; "but have you heard that I have been cheated +out of near two hundred dollars by my employer, and all through the +influence of a villanous parson who got divorced from his wife, on +account of a short answer I made him?" + +"What was the answer, Murty? I suppose it must be droll." + +"One day," said Murty, "this Parson Boorman dined where I worked for two +years, and, to convert me from the error of my ways for observing +abstinence on Friday, commenced saying, 'Don't you see, Murty, how +foolish and unreasonable you act? You eat butter and use milk that come +from the cow, and you refuse to eat her flesh. It's all the same, my +Irish friend,' continued the dominie, pitying my ignorance. 'I have no +great desire, Mr. Dominie,' said I, 'now, for controversy, being +fatigued after my hard day's work; though it takes but little learning +to refute your profound logic. If there is no difference between +drinking milk and eating flesh, then you may as well eat your mother's +flesh, parson, as suck her breast; and as you, I expect, have done the +latter, therefore, dominie, you must be a cannibal. How do you like +this?' said I. + +"'O,' said the dominie, 'the butter, you know, that comes from the cow, +what do you say to that?' 'I say, parson, that there is another +substance besides butter that comes from the cow, and you would not like +to dine on it.' At this the whole company laughed outright in his face, +and from that time to this the dominie never ceased to persecute me." + +"That was a very queer way you took to silence the dominie," said Paul; +"but I presume, after that ludicrous answer, you met with very little +religious controversy afterwards." + +"That's true," said Murty; "but I have suffered the loss of my wages +through the unrelenting malice of the Presbyterian dominie." + +"Never mind, Murty; do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse +you, pray for those who persecute and calumniate you. For your kindness +to Bridget while I was away, I feel bound to give you some remuneration. +Have courage, have courage, and think better of the Yankees. The more +you know of them, the better you will like them. They have their +faults,--as what nation has not?--but they have their virtues also." + +This conversation took place between Paul and Murty in the farm house of +Mr. Clarke, where he had just arrived, as well to spend the vacation as +to make arrangements regarding the future of his brothers and sister. +Murty, upon hearing of his arrival, lost not a moment's time in going +across lots from the Pryings' farm to that of Mr. Clarke, thinking he +might be the first to communicate to Paul the joyous intelligence +regarding the recovery of the lost money, and the pleasing change in the +opinion of all regarding him and his brethren. + +Paul could not but feel grateful for the kindness of his friend Murty; +but he was too well practised in Christian perfection to indulge in any +thing like excessive joy, and too well accustomed to refer every thing +to God to claim any merit, or take any pleasure, in the flattering +eulogies of all his acquaintances, as repeated by Murty. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +WHAT HAPPENED TO LITTLE EUGENE O'CLERY. + + +Fortune now began to smile on Paul O'Clery, and to make amends for the +long course of ill usage to which she had subjected himself and his +kindred. He had not only enjoyed the sympathy of friends, and his +talents had not only gained him the good will and respect of his +superiors and classfellows, but he now unexpectedly found himself in +possession of a handsome sum of money, the fruit of the honest industry +of his parents. The true Catholic training which Paul received from his +very infancy taught him the impropriety of immoderate joy or gladness, +and the severe trials of the last few years had chastened his naturally +hilarious and pleasant mind to a temper of habitual calm and reserve +bordering on melancholy. It must be confessed, in this instance, +however, that his spirit felt unusually buoyant and glad, as he +returned, under present circumstances, to the scene of his late trials +and humiliation. + +There are few persons born, however propitious the position of their +horoscope, who have not, some time or other, to experience the feeling +attendant on a transition from an inferior condition to one of more +respect and honor. It will not, therefore, be difficult to imagine what +were the sentiments of our young hero on his return from the south, on +this occasion. He was a slave; he is now a freeman. He was a menial; he +is now a gentleman. He was the subject on which the hypocrite and the +impostor sought to try the success of their well-taught deceptions; now, +his virtues, his manners, and his success are in the mouths of all men; +and those who plotted against his soul are ready to do homage to his +accomplishments. When St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, returned to +the house of his former master, who held him in slavery,--the glorious +prelate and saint to the hut of the slave,--what must have been the +feelings of his exalted and inspired soul? Not those of hatred, vanity, +or earthly exultation, but those of charity, thanksgiving, and apostolic +zeal, if not those of gratitude, to his pagan master. Kindred to these +was the mental exultation of Paul O'Clery, on approaching the valley of +R---- Creek, the scene of the most meritorious part of his life, and +still the novitiate of those who were the most dear to him on earth. + +He determined not only to redeem his sister and brothers, by paying the +customary sum for whatever clothing and board they had received, but +resolved, as soon as possible, to have them placed in a suitable +educational establishment. Bridget was already free, and by right +entitled to something handsome in remuneration of the services she had +rendered in the family in which she was so long a menial; but Paul was +determined that she should not only refuse accepting what was to fall to +her share, and what in justice she could claim, but said every thing +should be paid for--board, lodging, and even her "_common-school_" +education. "This last item," he said, "was not of the most choice +description,--that is, the 'common-school' learning,--but such as it is +I am unwilling to accept it gratuitously." He had come to the same +conclusion regarding Patrick and Eugene. O, it was on account of these +latter children, principally, that Paul rejoiced and thanked God that +restitution had been made of the stolen money; for he had a burden of +care and anxiety on his mind on account of these two children. It was so +difficult a work, especially as himself could not be with them, to save +young boys like them from the contagious vice so prevalent in this +country; and, above all, so hard to preserve young boys in the +atmosphere of your "common schools." Bridget might be said to be safe, +for she could remove to a better and more Christian neighborhood, or +return to her friends in the old country; but Patrick, and, above all, +Eugene, who were in the hands of utter strangers, how were they to be +saved from the universal corruption, when deprived of the continual +guardianship of their faithful brother? These were the considerations, +and not the sole recovery of the money restored to him, that contributed +to the increase of the joy, and gratitude, and thanksgiving in the heart +of Paul that now pervaded it. Alas! that this joy and these pleasant +anticipations of future prospects were of such short duration! + +In order to understand the following statement of facts in relation to +the fate of poor Eugene O'Clery, it is necessary here to observe that, +just after Paul had, by means of the support received from his convert +friends in Vermont, been enabled to enter college, a gentleman, who +stated that he took a great interest in Paul, from what he learned from +the Rev. Mr. Strongly about him, wrote him a long letter. + +The burden of the epistle was, that the writer was a minister, with +views not far removed from those of the Rev. Mr. Strongly, the convert +to the Catholic church; that he had heard a good deal about Paul and his +trials and success; that he lately visited at Mr. Reuben Prying's, where +his two little brothers now remained; that he pitied them, but +especially the younger, for that they lacked the opportunity of a better +and more _Catholic_ education; that, in fine, he, Dr. Dilman, if Paul +consented, would take the younger, Eugene, with him into the city, where +his education could be attended to, and where he, at least, might be +saved from the influence of the barbarous mannerism and irreligious +taint of these country "common schools." His reverence the doctor +furthermore added, that Mr. Prying had no objection to the arrangement +he proposed, and that he had conquered the repugnance that Mrs. Prying +had to the separation of the brothers by the very flattering terms on +which he offered _to do_ for the child. + +In a postscript of this letter, it was stated by this veracious +_Christian minister_, as he signed himself, that he would send Paul +quarterly or monthly bulletins of Eugene's progress in science and +virtue, and, above all, that his faith should not be tampered with in +the slightest. + +The effect of such an artful piece of diplomacy may be easily +conceived. The bait of the parson took, and Paul was for once +overreached. The unsuspecting youth took this gentleman to be a +clergyman of the same stamp with his friends Rev. Messrs. Strongly and +H----. And the fact that Parson Dilman was acquainted with the former +honorable men, was enough to throw Paul off his guard. The parson's +talk, too, about "_Catholic education_," and the "barbarous" common +schools, served still to deceive, not only Paul, but even the professors +of the college to whom the epistle of Parson Dilman was submitted for +advice and direction. + +Paul was enthusiastic in the praise of his two reverend convert friends +in Vermont, (who were the only two Protestant parsons he intimately knew +before or after conversion,) and hence, when questioned by the +professors about what he might know of his correspondent, he answered +that he knew nothing; but the fact of his intimacy and acquaintance with +the ex-parsons Strongly and H----, his friends and patrons, was "a good +sign of his honesty and honor." The shrewd Jesuit professors smiling at +the poor child's credulous and confiding disposition, told him that, as +he had such an opinion of the worth and honor of the fraternity of +dominies, he might commit his brother to the charge of one, and +especially as he stood in very great danger to his faith and morals +where he was at present. His situation might be ameliorated, but could +not be much worse; but the good fathers declined taking the +responsibility of giving a decision on the subject. + +"The letter promised what was fair and honorable, but there might be +deception," said they. + +"Deception, reverend fathers!" said Paul. "I can't suspect any such +thing in one so intimate with my dearest and best friends, the converted +clergymen in Vermont." + +"Well," said the sons of Ignatius, whose wise experience had taught them +to have little faith in heretical parsons, "you can use your own +discretion, my child." + +Paul, acting on the impulse of his own feelings, thinking it would be a +rash judgment in him to suspect evil design in one who professed himself +favorable to Catholicity, and, besides, was of the same sentiments in +religion, or nearly the same, with his convert friends in Vermont, +immediately wrote in answer to Dr. Dilman, consenting to have Eugene go +with him. But there was to be no legal binding in the matter, and honor +was to be the only bond under which his younger brother was to be held +bound. + +The day now arrived for Eugene to part--alas! that it should be +forever--from the society of his brother and sister. At first, some +opposition was made by Patrick and Bridget; but when shown the letter of +their brother Paul, they were reconciled to what they thought the +temporary separation. Eugene himself was calmed, and his sorrow turned +into joy, by being told that he was going towards where Paul was, and +that, like enough, he would meet him on his way. + +"Can I see Paul there?" said he, drying the tears that stood in his +eyes. + +"Sartain you can. Don't you like that, Bob?" said Reuben, who was in +the plot with Dilman. + +"Well, I'll go, then," said the child. "Good by, Bid; good by, Pat. You +stay there till Paul and I come to see ye." + +All the household of Reuben embraced Eugene, and made him some little +present, before he set out. An abundance of tears were shed by young and +old, as the melancholy and thoughtful face of Eugene was seen by them +for the last time. + +Truth compels us to say a word or two in reference to the antecedents of +this reverend doctor of Presbyterianism into whose _protection_ this +innocent lamb was taken. Dr. Dilman was about sixty years old at this +time; and after having lived in some manner with his first wife for near +thirty years, had lately taken out a bill of divorce by law against the +"old woman," to make room for a young _religious lady_ in his reverend +bed. During his long life, he had changed his creed no less than nine +times. He was first an Episcopalian; but having been refused ordination +in that sect, on account of some peccadilloes of his youth, he joined +the Methodists, from whom he received conversion and a call. Being a man +of undoubted talent, and thinking the Methodists were too slow in +promoting him, he became a Baptist. His next hop was to the +Universalists, whom, because he found too penurious, he deserted for the +Congregationalists, from whom he got a call to a southern pro-slavery +church, where, after amassing considerable wealth in cash and "human +chattels," he resigned his charge, came to the north again to recruit +his sinking constitution, and, after trying two or three other minor +sects, he settled down an old-school anti-slavery Presbyterian. Poor +man! his star has gone down now, and his memory will soon be forgotten; +but the anecdotes and tales that his extraordinary life illustrated will +not be forgotten for generations to come. The passage in his study, +through which he used to admit his "Cressida" from a secret door +communicating with his "basement church," is now shown as a specimen of +his skill. The transformations and metamorphoses he used to undergo, +like Jupiter of old, in order to pass unobserved to the retreats of his +"Europas," on the sides and on the summits of the classically-sounding +hills of the city of his ministry,--all these things, and more, are +known to the poorest retailers of interesting stories and anecdotes. In +a word, he was as impure as Caligula, as cruel as Nero or Calvin +himself, and as violent as Luther or John Knox. + +Yet it is a melancholy fact in connection with, and illustrative of, the +spirit of the Protestantisms of the United States, that for twenty years +and more, with all this guilt, with all the crimes in the calendar on +his head, with the full knowledge of all his sins of impurity, +hypocrisy, intolerance, and cruelty to his wife, this _reverend +gentleman_ was the most popular, well-supported, and _respected_ +minister in the whole state in which he resided. He was a good preacher, +an eloquent expounder of the word, a smart man; that was enough. +Protestantism could not afford to lose him now, when she was so spare of +the giants to which she owes her existence. + +This was the Rev. Dr. Dilman who took Eugene under his care about whom +Reuben Prying remarked, after he had left the house, that the doctor was +a "real smart man." "Your church, Murty," said he, "can't scare up such +a grand preacher as that. Did you hear that lecture he delivered last +winter against Popery? He is an honor to our church, I can tell you." + +"Why so?" said Murty; "what has he done that you esteem him so high?" + +"Nothin', but bein' so eloquent and talented, and able to address such a +feeling prayer _to his hearers_." + +"Bless you, I know one much more talented than ever he will be," said +Murty. + +"I guess not, Murty," said he, shaking his head; "who is it?" + +"Why, the devil," said Murty, "beats him all to pieces. Your parson only +opposes the pope, you say; whereas the devil opposes both the pope and +the Almighty. What is any of your ministers to great 'Ould Harry'? I bet +you are beat now. Ha! ha! ha!" said the Irishman, laughing. + +"You are a curious feller, Murty," said Mr. Prying. + +"Am I not right?" said Murty. "You praise your minister, _not_ because +he is good, charitable, humane, chaste, or pious, (all which he possibly +may be,) but solely because he is talented or endowed with genius. Well, +then, I tell you this gains him no merit, for he received this gift from +God. He may abuse it; and, at any rate, the devil, the very enemy of +God, is endowed with more genius than he and all the Protestant parsons +living put together. I think this is fair _arguing_, Mr. Prying, don't +you?" + +"Let's drop it, Murty," said Mr. Prying, not liking to hear any more of +such "arguing," particularly as the children were present, and seemed +much to enjoy the home-spun comparison between the Dominie Dilman and +"Old Harry." This was the first time they were observed to laugh since +the departure of poor Eugene. + +Meanwhile, poor Eugene arrived in the city of the parsonage of his +reverend protector, where he was received with apparent affection by +that gentleman's wife. During the first three days after his arrival, +several of the "saints," male and female, of the doctor's church, came +to see the new acquisition, as well as to congratulate the parson on the +success of his plan. The little orphan was flattered, caressed, and +encouraged by the promise of nice clothes and other presents. And it +would be unnatural to expect that the innocent heart of a child of his +age, now between eight and nine years, could remain insensible to the +caresses and favors bestowed. The little lad felt quite content; nay, a +gradual sunshine began to spread over the calm melancholy of his angelic +face. + +They first imposed on the child by telling him that his reverend +protector was the priest. He believed it for some time; but when, after +two weeks were elapsed, he was permitted to go to church, he was +perfectly surprised at "the quare way the priest said mass." He saw no +candles lighted on the altar. He heard no little bell rung at various +parts of the service. He saw no persons "bless themselves" there, +either. "I suppose," said he to himself, "they would not tell a lie; but +that was a very strange mass I was at to-day." + +Friday came round soon after, and then little Eugene learned where he +stood. Then he saw what hypocrites the self-styled priest, his wife, and +all in his house were. He had perceived his reverence help himself +plentifully to fat meat; and Eugene was invited to eat it himself, but +declined, saying, "I would be a Protestant if I eat meat on Friday; and +I fear ye are all here Protestants." A suppressed laugh was all that his +remark could elicit from these worthies whose gluttony gave him such +scandal. + +Eugene's eyes were further opened by some boys at school, who laughed +heartily at his expense when he asked about the "strange mass" that he +had heard on Sunday. + +"What mass?" said they; "sure it is only the Popish priests that offer +mass, and it is a wicked thing to go to mass." + +The poor child, on seeing the snare laid for him, burst into tears and +wept aloud, calling for his brother Paul by name, and crying, "O woe! +woe! woe!" + +The school madam was attracted by the lamentable cries of the lad, and, +learning the cause of them, reprimanded the impudent boys, and tried to +console him. Her attempts were, however, in vain. The child seeing +himself sold and betrayed, his candid soul fell back to its former +melancholy, and he drooped under the weight of the injustice of which he +was the victim. + +From that day forward he refused to attend either the night prayers of +the "false priest," or to go to any of his meetings, and to the hour of +his death this resolution could never be shaken by all the wiles of his +persecutors. Several new arts and schemes were tried to vanquish his +resolution, but all to no purpose. He was alternately coaxed and +threatened, but all attempts either to flatter or force him proved +ineffectual. He was several times locked up in a dark room, which was +the terror of a young nephew of the parson, who was in the house, but +which had far less terror for this young confessor than the smiles of +his false friends. He was heard by young Sam, who often went to the door +of the dread prison, chanting his favorite hymn, thus:-- + + "Ave Maria! hear the prayer + Of thy poor, helpless child; + Beneath thy sweet, maternal care, + Preserve me undefiled." + +And when spoken to through the keyhole, he answered that he was not a +bit afraid of "Spookes," and that there was plenty of light for him to +say his prayers. Even the parson himself, in company with his wife, went +to listen at the door of where their prisoner was confined, and for a +moment their hard hearts even were softened by the sweet, plaintive +chant of the "Ave Maria." + +"Are you sorry for your disobedience, now, Eugene?" said the parson; +"and will you attend prayers and meeting when you are told?" + +"I can't promise to do what would displease God, and what my brother +Paul and the priest told me not to do, sir," said the child. + +"Don't you know, Eugene, the priest is a wicked man, and the Lord will +punish you in a dark dungeon, darker than that room you are in, if you +do not do what I tell you?" added the persecuting parson. + +All this talk was lost on poor Eugene, who continued chanting his little +hymn, or repeating the "Hail Mary" and "Holy Mary," for his father and +mother's souls. In a word, after a series of whippings, confinements, +and scoldings, after compelling him either to eat flesh on Friday, or +fast all day without any other food, Parson Dilman, out of sheer shame, +gave him up, and confessed himself vanquished by the Catholic child. He +did not give him up for good, however, but, by way of making more sure +of his victim, he sent him out into the country, to undergo the +treatment of a more zealous and perfect disciplinarian than himself. +This pious Christian was no other than Shaw Gulvert, who was known to be +a prodigy of sanctity, and had a world of zeal in reconciling obstinate +heretics, or pagans, (as he called all but his own sect,) to the true +standard of old Presbyterianism. He could boast of having most of the +Old Testament by heart, making a prayer or "asking a blessing" of one +hour's duration in the delivery; and by these virtues, and others he +knew how to practise, every person who lived in his house, or came +within the influence of his zeal, was sure "to get religion in no time." +'Tis true, he met some unlucky converts, and one or two very obstinate +Papists whom he did not convert at all; but he soon despatched and +discharged these latter. And he was especially mortified at the conduct +of one Tipperary man, named Burk, who had the audacity to bring the +priest to say mass in a house which the latter rented from him. The +house has ever since been locked up, the pious Christian, Mr. Shaw +Gulvert, preferring to let it rot and totter in ruin, rather than run +the risk of having a Catholic tenant, who, like Burk, would be wicked +enough to allow the priest inside the threshold. + +This is the gentleman who is intrusted with the conversion of poor +Eugene O'Clery, the Irish emigrant orphan; and he set about the work in +right earnest fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE SAME, CONTINUED. + + +During the first two months, Eugene had comparatively but little to fear +from the bigotry of his protector at Greenditch; but he was not indebted +for this limited peace to the generosity of Mr. Shaw Gulvert. Indeed, +that ignorant and cruel man dared not to execute his designs regarding +the little confessor of the cross, while his two hired men, named +Devlin, were in his house to enlighten his ignorance and reprimand his +audacity. These two young men, brothers, were hired for a year by +Gulvert, under the impression that they were native born; but after the +contract between them was signed, and especially when Friday came on, +Mr. Gulvert found he was _gulled_, and ran off to the parson, one +Waistcoat, to see what was to be done. The young men told him not to be +alarmed if he thought their presence would endanger his peace of mind, +or that any dangerous consequences were to be apprehended from two such +formidable soldiers of the Pope as they were; that he could easily get +rid of them by paying them their year's wages, and they would go +elsewhere to work; but that, while in his house, they insisted on +perfect religious and mental independence. "And in future," said they, +"we expect to see cooked and on the table, on Fridays and fast days, +such food as we can partake of without scruple of conscience, or +violating the rules of the Catholic religion, of which we are unworthy +members." + +"This is strange," said Gulvert; "why did you not tell me ye belonged to +Rome, and were Irish?" + +"Why did we not tell you? Because you did not ask us. And besides, boss, +you hired us to work, and not to worship or believe according to your +notion." + +"I have never before kept a Papist to work for me," said he, drawing a +heavy sigh. + +"Well, boss, you can't know much about them, then. Perhaps you will be +agreeably disappointed, and find that, if we do not join your very long +prayers, we will _work_ as well as the most red-hot Presbyterian." + +"I am much in doubt about that," said the boss. + +"Why so, boss? Can we not handle the plough, use the scythe, or the +cradle as well as if we were of your school of heresy?" + +"I allow; but the good book says that 'men don't gather grapes of +thorns, or figs of thistles;' so I am afraid my crops would not prosper, +if religious men were not employed in my fields." + +"O, you need not be alarmed, boss. God makes his sun to shine on the +good and the bad; and though we Papists appear very wicked in your pious +Presbyterian eyes, or in those of your amiable Methodist lady here, we +will guaranty your crops will be as good as those of your neighbors, +otherwise we will ask no pay. Ain't this fair?" + +"Yes; but the good book, you know. The Bible says so plainly," answered +the wife, "that men gather not grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." + +"Bless you, madam," said the elder Devlin, "you are mistaken in the +meaning of that text, which has a figurative sense, and has no reference +to corn, pumpkins, rye, or any other crop that your farm produces." + +She shook her head in dissent to this speech, and in a most sanctified +tone said, "Our minister, Dr. Waistcoat, always applied that text to the +Papists when advising us against employing Romanist hired help." + +"That only proved him a booby, madam," said Devlin. "That text partly +alludes to the Presbyterian sect, and partly to the Methodist, to which +you belong." + +"I would like to see how you can show that," said she, affecting great +learning in such interpretations. + +"As clear as mud, madam," resumed Devlin. "The Presbyterian religion is +the 'thorn' tree on which no 'grapes' grow; for that sect reject the +Holy Eucharist, containing the blood of Christ, of which the grape is a +figure. It is full of thorns, for it persecutes and stings the head of +the Savior in his representative the pope; and it produces no 'grape,' +no sacrament, no good works, no refreshing food or drink. Again: the +'thistle,' that produces no figs, is the Methodist religion; because, +though it has plenty of stings and prickles to wound the hand that +touches it, the very ass that goes the road can bite off its head. Or, +in other words, though ye Methodists are malicious enough, all your +malice is harmless to the church, and a very fool can refute or crop +the most formidable of your arguments." + +This queer _private interpretation_ disconcerted the _learned_ boss and +his better half, and during the remainder of the service of the Devlins +they did not hear much more about the religious interpretations of these +professors of two contradictory sectarian creeds. The Devlins showed, +not only to the boss and his wife, that they knew more about the Bible +than themselves, but the minister, Mr. Waistcoat, was soon convinced, by +conversation with them, that they were not to be duped. The consequence +was, that the persecution to which Eugene was subjected was arrested for +a time; and it was not till after the Devlins were paid off that this +innocent child was again subjected to a series of punishments and brutal +treatment without parallel in the records of modern persecution. + +Every Friday that the young confessor refused, after the example of holy +Eleazer, "to eat flesh, or go over to the life of the heathens," (2 Mac. +vi. 24.) he was compelled to go without food till the Sunday following. +He was flogged with a "black snake," till the blood flowed in rills, +every time he refused going to meeting. He was compelled to stand out +under rain and storm, scorching sun and chilling frost, during the time +the family spent in prayer. Yes, tied with a thong to the pump by his +little soft, white hands, the juvenile martyr had to bear the merciless +violence of the elements, or consent to share in the blasphemous prayers +of his persecutors! And, O God! worse than all, they robbed him of his +rosary, and of the little bunch of shamrocks which were the only legacy +of his dying mother to him, and which his sister Bridget and he took so +much pains to keep alive in a small glass vase brought from Ireland. The +"_Agnus Dei_" and "_Gospel_" which it is usual with Irish Catholic +children to wear around the neck, were also forcibly stripped off his +person and put into the stove. + +All his much-prized memorials were now gone--his beads, or rosary, with +the crucifix attached, to remind him of his Redeemer; his little vase of +shamrocks, to remind him of Ireland and St. Patrick; and his "Gospel of +St. John," and "Agnus Dei," to recall to his mind his dignity and +obligations as a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and his +confidence in the Lamb of God who took away his sins. These constituted +all the riches and treasure of Eugene, and of these he was plundered and +stripped ere he was confined in the old deserted house that stood a few +rods away from the dwelling house, and where soon all the persecutions +he suffered were terminated. + +One evening in October, the team of Mr. Gulvert broke loose from the +post to which they were tied while he was at meeting, and, taking +fright, rushed along at full speed on a narrow by-road by the river that +ran through the village, till, coming in contact with the root of a tree +that protruded from the road, the horses and wagon were precipitated +over a fall of some twenty feet into the channel of the river beneath. +As the night was dark, and the road the animals took in their furious +course was not known, it was not till next morning that the fate of the +team was discovered, though not only Gulvert himself, but his hired +help, including his servant girl and wife even, were out all night on +the search for them. + +If the most unexpected calamity had visited these _enlightened_ +Christians--if two of their children, instead of two of their horses, +had met with a sudden death,--their grief could not be more heartrending +or despairing than on this occasion. The whole family was in an uproar. +There were wringing of hands, lamentable cries, and bewailings the most +bitter, of the death of the best team in the town of Greenditch. The +very children, down to the youngest of six years old, joined their tears +to those of their parents and the adult members of the family. Not a +wink was slept, not a morsel of victuals cooked, nor even a fire kindled +in Mr. Culvert's house that night, and it was more than a week before +the pious Mrs. Gulvert could be consoled or prevailed on to show herself +down stairs. She was either really sick, or affected sickness, so that +it was doubted whether or not she could survive the loss of her "darling +team." O, what a loss was there! "The team would fetch two hundred +dollars between two brothers, and it was only last month the new wagon +cost seventy or eighty dollars; and all now gone." + +"What a misfortune that I went out to hear that preacher at all on the +Sabbath!" said Gulvert. "Had I remained at home, or walked down to +meeting, I would be three hundred dollars richer to-day than I am now." + +"Pa, where were the two Paddies, Pete and Bill, that they did not mind +the team while you were in meeting?" said young Harry. + +"Hang the cusses, Harry! They wanted to hear the preacher, too," +answered the father. + +"If I were you, pa," said little Libby, "I would keep the price of the +hosses out of Pete and Bill's wages, the ugly fellows, that did not mind +and keep the team from running away." + +"That would be but sarving 'em right, Lib," said her mother, heaving a +sigh. + +"Yes, wife," said Gulvert, "that I would gladly do; but you know they +are in my debt. I will be glad enough if they wait to work out the money +that I have advanced them." + +"You didn't _advance_ them money, did you, Gulvert?" said his wife. + +"Yes, I did that," said he, "by the advice of that old fool Parson +Waistcoat, who expected, as he succeeded in converting Pete and Bill +Kurney, that he would also convert the rest of their friends, if they +were out here from Popish Ireland." + +"O Gulvert," said his better half, sobbing again anew, "you will kill +me! I cannot live with you, that is the amount of it! How dare you, sir, +lend money, or dispose, of my means, without first having consulted me! +I lay my death at your door!" she added, in a sharp, angry tone. + +"Dear wife, don't blame me----" + +"Away, old man!" she interrupted, "away, and leave me here to despair! I +fear I will never again leave this bed; and if I find myself able, I +shall never after spend a day in your house, but go back to my native +state, and take out a bill of divorce against a man who knows nothing +but to spend and squander the means of his family." + +"O ma," said Libby, "do go away from father, the ugly fool, and I will +go with you, won't I?" + +"He ain't nothing else, sis," said she, "but a poor ugly fool, a +shiftless, good-for-nothing old man. O, me! O, me! I could easily have +known that this would be the case, from the dreams I had for two +nights." + +"I had a dream too, ma," said sis, who, though only going in her eighth +year, was perfectly well versed in all the arcana of the science of +interpretation. "I dreamed I saw you crying, ma," continued Lib, "and +that there was blood on the stairs, and all way up garret, and that +Shaw, my father, had spilt the blood all round." + +"That's just it, sis," said her mother; "the blood signifies the death +of our 'darling team;' my crying is on account of them; and Shaw, the +fool, your father, was the cause of all this trouble, and that is why he +appeared to you to spill the blood. My dream was not so clear as yours, +but I could have guessed that something was going to be the matter." + +Poor Gulvert was in great pain, in consequence, among other things, of +the oft-repeated threat of his wife to separate from him; and, to give +vent to his sorrowful reflections, he went up garret as quietly as he +could, and folding himself up in several heavy "comforters," or padded +quilts, he forgot his grief by falling into a sound sleep. Meantime Pete +and Bill Kurney, the two Irish converts of Parson Waistcoat, seeing +things in confusion, thought that now was the time for them to free +themselves forever from the hypocrisy, as well as bad board, of Mr. +Culvert; and, to add to the grief of Mrs. Gulvert, next morning they +were not to be had. These knowing fellows, hearing of Gulvert's +character, put themselves in his way, and being questioned as to the +nature of their doctrines, and finding them suitable to his taste, he +hired them, and brought them home to work on his farm. They not only +became "converts" during the first week in his house, but went to +meeting regularly, where they were complimented on their highmindedness +and independence in shaking off Popery, and got frequent chances to tell +their experience. Besides their hypocrisy, these were thorough +scoundrels; for they not only robbed their employer of the two hundred +dollars which he had advanced them to bring out their parents from the +old country, but in addition to this, and to the severity of the +punishments which their apostasy occasioned Eugene, these consummate +miscreants seduced the two sisters of Mr. Gulvert, one of them an old +maid, whom they imposed upon by their lying representations and profane +discourses. Here was a little more of the natural fruit of Mr. Gulvert's +great zeal for his sect. His two hired men were gone, without having +served one eighth of the two years they had agreed to work for the money +advanced to them; both his sisters, _pious things_, yielding to +temptation, were in a fair road to disgrace; and, to cap the climax of +the unfortunate man's guilt and remorse, Eugene O'Clery, neglected in +his prison in the old house, on the morning of All Saints' day, first of +November, was found dead on its damp floor! Yes, this spotless, +innocent, and almost infant but heroic confessor of Christ, after a +course of worse than pagan persecution continued for more than two +years, in the midst of legions of blessed spirits passed out of this +world, to add to the joy and glory of heaven by his heroic virtues. O ye +mock philanthropists, ye lovers, on the lip, of freedom of conscience, +where was your voice, where your sympathy, where your indignation, where +your meetings, speeches, and resolutions, when this Catholic child, this +destitute orphan, this noble son of Catholic Ireland, this spotless +confessor and glorious martyr of Christ, was being sacrificed, like his +divine Master, to the demon of cruel sectarianism? O, the blood of this +innocent Abel, of this infant martyr, shed by the cruel Herod of +Presbyterianism, will cry to Heaven for vengeance on your heads, and +bring a curse on your hypocrisy and dissimulation. + +The news of Eugene's death, communicated by the servant maid, created a +sudden fear, but very little sympathy, in the brutal family of Mr. +Gulvert. Overwhelmed by the loss of their "darling team," and confounded +by the loss of the money which the mock converts succeeded in cheating +them of, they had neither tears nor sympathy to spare for such a trifle +as the death of a "little Papist child." + +The servant girl, however, who was a Scotch lassie, called Jane McHardy, +cried bitterly over the death of the "poor orphan laddie," and, in +company with two neighboring workmen, or cotters, who _passed_ for +Protestant Irishmen, watched around the corpse all night, and on the +day of its interment in the pagan cemetery, situated in a barren corner +of Gulvert's farm, they lingered for a considerable time around the +spot, to the scandal of the religious people who assembled to take a +look at the "face of the dead," and who began to suspect that those two +pretended Protestants were Catholics in disguise. Their suspicions were +well founded, as their subsequent conduct proved; for the two cotters, +on the Sunday following Eugene's death, went to the meeting house for +the last time, where they, in giving their experience, boldly professed +themselves Catholics, asked pardon of the people for having deceived and +imposed on the public, inveighing, at the same time, against the system +of persecution and underhand proselytism that prevailed, and which +produced the death of Eugene O'Clery. + +"Your ministers think they have great merit," said the Irish cotters, +whose names were Lee and Twohy, "when they succeed in causing a lax +Catholic to trample on every precept of his religion and to perjure +himself; but as God is just, and as those who counsel to evil partake of +its guilt, and will have to suffer its punishment, so will all the sins +that your minister's cruel advice led us to commit be laid to his charge +before the just tribunal of Christ." + +After this speech, the two Irish Catholic cotters retired from the +meeting, and ever since these two men have proved, by their repentance, +zeal, humility, and perseverance, that, though they fell from the +external practice of their faith, they did so influenced by the evil +advice and misrepresentations of persons who took advantage of their +inexperience and poverty to lead them astray. They were gradually, +however, becoming reconciled to the hard life of hypocrisy and sin which +they were induced to enter on, and might have forever continued in the +reprobate path on which, in an evil hour, they walked, had not the cruel +martyrdom of the holy orphan child aroused them from their slumbers. +Thus, as of old, does the "blood of martyrs become the seed of new +Christians;" and thus is Erin, even in America, still true to her +Heaven-appointed destiny--which is, that of being a missionary and a +martyr in the new world as well as in the old. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + "Considerate, et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus." + "Attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." + + LAM. JER. + + +There was a complete suspension of the ordinary occupations on the farm +of Gulvert for near ten days, owing to the trials with which his family +was visited. The wife was still confined to her room, and continually +threatening her husband with the divorce, who, on his part, had no heart +to conduct the necessary work of his farm, he felt so dispirited at the +loss of his team and of the money out of which "his converts" had +tricked him. Add to this that there were very ugly rumors going the +round of the neighborhood in reference to the ill usage the little Irish +orphan met with. While he was living and in suffering, there was nobody +to sympathize with him or to say a word in his favor; but now, when that +sympathy could do him no good, according to the custom of modern +philanthropy, there was an abundance on hand, and the conduct of Shaw +Gulvert, as the agent of Parson Waistcoat, was censured by a thousand +tongues. This is characteristic of Protestant charity: when one is dying +of hunger, or forced to beg a crum of bread, she shuts her ears, and +points to the prison or poorhouse, as the only proper retreat for +whoever is compelled to commit the _sin_ of mendicity; but no sooner +does the victim of her own neglect or misdirected benevolence die, no +sooner is he out of the reach of all human relief, than the heralds of +Protestant charity gather round his tomb, to proffer their assistance, +aid, and liberality--like the Jews building the tombs of the prophets +put to death by their own malice. + +This was the case in the instance here related. Some were for having the +body of the martyred Eugene exhumed, to see if there were any marks of +violence visible. Some proposed to raise a collection to have a monument +raised on his grave, and all unanimously condemned Gulvert's cruelty to +the "dear little child." What principally turned the current and force +of public opinion against Gulvert was, that he was impudent enough to go +and demand restitution of Parson Waistcoat, of the money that, on +account of his recommendation, he advanced to the runaway converts. And +the parson, to be revenged on Gulvert, on next meeting day called on the +congregation for their prayers, to save said Gulvert from the relapsing +gulf into which he had fallen. The parson, enraged at being held +accountable for the money lost by Gulvert, through his own "want of +godliness," as he termed it, and incensed on account of Gulvert's +declaration of deserting his church, held him up continually as a stray +sheep, and already, if not lost, far advanced on the broad way to +perdition. In the midst of this excitement, the progress of public +feeling against Gulvert was suddenly checked by the following +afflicting and sudden accidents. + +The wife of Gulvert, being a Boston lady, of course was altogether in +favor of the Sons of Temperance; but, by some means or other, she +happened always to keep a little in the house for medicinal purposes. It +was well known, among the well informed, that this lady, having been +"jilted," or, in other words, deceived, by a merchant in her native +city, who promised to marry her, was subject to frequent melancholy +attacks, and on these occasions especially did she make use of +"medicinal brandy." She suffered from one of these periodical attacks +now, and, consequently, the medicinal glass was always within her reach. +On the small stand by her bed stood two tumblers, one containing the +medicinal "eau de vie," and the other was half full of vinegar. + +She ordered Jane, on this fatal day, to pour a little laudanum into that +tumbler that contained the vinegar, to see if, by applying it to her +temples, it would not allay the terrible headache which she said had +tormented her. Instead of pouring the poison into the vinegar glass, +where would the Scotch Abigail empty the cruet but into the tumbler with +the brandy in it? Her mistress soon after quaffed off the liquor into +which the poisonous drug had been poured, and in an hour after she was a +lifeless corpse. This was not all; for, on the day of the funeral, young +Harry, Mr. Gulvert's son and heir, in order to show his devotion to his +beloved parent's remains, was all the morning busy in collecting flowers +with which to deck the room where she was laid in state, and, +attempting to reach a flower that grew out of the side of a deep, +deserted well, in the lower end of the garden, the little fellow fell in +and was drowned. "When the feet of them who buried" Mrs. Gulvert "were +at the door," they found out the corpse of Harry was at the bottom of +the well. It was a long time before any body could be induced to go into +that well, as well because it was very deep as on account of the +prevalent report in the neighborhood that Gulvert's father had killed a +negro and cast him into the well, with heavy weights attached to him. +After several unsuccessful attempts to raise the body, they at length +succeeded, by the aid and undaunted courage of a young man who was just +after riding up to the crowd, and who, on learning the cause of such a +gathering, generously volunteered to go into the well, notwithstanding +the hints he received from some of the bystanders that the "nigger" was +at the bottom. In a few minutes Paul O'Clery was at the bottom of the +"enchanted well," and, amid shouts of "Bravo!" and "Well done!" almost +instantly returned, with the lifeless body of little Harry in his arms. +But what's this that he finds tangled in the drowned child's hands? It +is surely the beads of his beloved mother, which she bequeathed as her +dying legacy to his youngest brother Eugene. How did it get into the +well? He trembled visibly as it struck his mind that possibly Eugene +might have fallen in too. + +"Are you sure there is nobody else in?" said he to the bystanders. + +"No, there ain't nobody else in," said Gulvert; "all we have left, now, +are around here." + +"And how came this relic to get into the well?" said Paul. "I think I +saw this before." + +"That? O, that's a toy that a young Papist orphan which we had used to +say his prayers on." + +"And where is that orphan now? O, tell me, where is he? For God's sake +tell me, where is my beloved brother?" exclaimed Paul. + +"He is dead." + +"O, don't mock me, but tell me the truth. I assure you I am a brother of +the orphan child, Eugene O'Clery. What has become of him?" + +"We do not joke, my young gentleman," said an aged man in the crowd. +"Your brother, the orphan you allude to, died suddenly on the night of +the first of this month, and was interred in yon mound on the second of +the month." + +"O Lord! O Lord! grant me patience. O my brother! O Eugene! O beloved +child of our hearts! what has become of you? Did you die on your bed, or +meet with an accident? or how did these beads you loved so well come +into this horrid, pestiferous well? O, woe is me! Why did I ever let you +out of my sight? Why did I not remain in servitude and slavery, rather +than let you into the care of the cruel, false-hearted stranger? O +villanous deceiver! O infamous prevaricator! Parson Dilman, why did I +listen to your seductive promises?" + +The reader may imagine, for we cannot adequately describe, the burden +of woe and grief which took possession of the soul of Paul when he found +that his darling brother, on whose account he suffered so much anxiety +and came such a distance, was gone forever from his sight. And when he +learned how he died; how, after countless tortures, by whippings, by +hunger, and by confinement, the delicate martyr of Christ was allowed to +perish on the damp floor of an old, deserted house; how he was deprived +of the memorials of his faith and country; how he was buried with as +little ceremony, and as much indifference, as if he had been an +irrational animal,--when he learned all these circumstances from the two +Irish cotters, Lee and Twohy, it took him to pray continually not to +yield to feelings of hatred and revenge. + +A circumstance related to him, however, by the peasants, whose +hospitality Paul consented to avail himself of for a few days, served to +reconcile him to Eugene's fate, and to inspire him with the most exalted +sentiments of forgiveness and good will towards the murderers of his +brother. Every night since Eugene's burial a bright column of light was +seen rising from his tomb, and terminating in the heavens above, where +the column became gradually wider, till it became like a wide circle of +glory, similar to that which appears around the moon on a winter's +night, when the atmosphere is at the snowing temperature. In the centre +of the circle appeared a beautiful cross of most perfect proportions, +and so bright in the bright circle that it was perfectly dazzling, and +the sight could with difficulty be fixed on it for an instant. + +This phenomenon was seen by the two Irish cotters frequently, and all +the neighbors around had observed the lower part of the column, but +concluded that it was phosphorus, which, they said, from some cause or +other, either the nature of the soil or from the bodies interred there, +ascended to the clouds, attracted by some atmospheric body there. Paul, +too, was blessed with this happy sight, but without indulging in the +gratification of a too curious or protracted observation of this vision; +and being fully convinced that it was no phosphoric combination of +natural phenomena, concluded to take off the body of his beloved +brother, and have it interred, in a Christian manner, in the same +consecrated tomb in which the remains of his father reposed. He was also +fortunate enough, by the payment of a liberal bonus, to succeed in +raising the body of his mother, whose tomb he was able to find out, by a +measurement which, on the day of her interment, he had made, and from +certain stones placed by him at the head of her coffin. + +Thus, by the piety of a son and a brother, were the three bodies of +these members of this pious and renowned family united again after a +temporary separation. "Lovely and comely in their life, even in death +they were not divided." In a Catholic cemetery, in the vicinity of New +York, can now be seen a beautiful monument of Italian marble, with the +names, ages, and places of the nativity of Arthur O'Clery, and his wife +Cecilia, and their son Eugene, inscribed in a neat cruciform slab in one +of the faces of the monument. In another slab are carved, in "bold +relief," the little vase of shamrocks brought by the family from +Ireland, together with the _Rosary and Cross_, suspended from the hand +of the virgin holding the child. On the third square of the tomb is +conspicuous a figure of Erin, holding in her right hand a crucifix, and +with the left hand pointing it to her children, with the words, "_Sola +spes nostra, ubi crux ibi patria_"--"This is our only hope; wherever the +cross is honored, call that your country." + +After having seen to the proper execution of all things in reference to +the tomb of his family, Paul O'Clery, with a heavy heart, returned to +acquaint his little brother Patrick and sister Bridget about the fate of +Eugene. He did not forget, however, before quitting the last +resting-place of his parents and brother, to have the grave fenced round +with a neat iron rail; and fixing all inside the fence in the form of +two pretty flower beds, he, with his own hands, carefully planted the +roots of the shamrocks which were brought from Ireland, and which he +luckily found in Mr. Gulvert's kitchen garden, where they had been +thrown, after having been taken from Eugene. And to this very day these +shamrocks flourish--neither frost, nor cold, nor parching heat, nor +inclement seasons being able to retard their growth; as if their verdure +and flourishing vegetation were supplied from the pure and genuine +Irish clay to which the bodies of the three O'Clerys have been long +since reduced. + +Paul now saw his people reduced by more than one half. When they left +Ireland, they were seven in number; now they were only three. He was too +well trained in Christian resignation, however, to repine at what +evidently appeared to him the dispensation of Heaven. After the example +of holy Job, therefore, he praised the Lord, to whom, if he deprived him +of his good parents, he was also indebted for being placed under the +care of such patterns of virtue. These several trials, and the +consequent distractions in which they involved him, made him more +disgusted than ever with the world; and his desire to consecrate himself +to God in the holy priesthood became stronger and stronger every day. +The Almighty seemed to have some special mission in view for this +spotless child of St. Patrick, when his mercy had conducted him, like +the children in the fiery furnace, so early through such meritorious +trials and sufferings, as it requires the most faithful correspondence +with grace to endure, and it falls to the lot of a few to encounter. + +The end of all his difficulties and trials had now arrived. From this +day forward the breeze that bore him along in his ecclesiastical voyage +became fairer and fairer, till, advancing from virtue to virtue, and +honor to honor, he became the glory of the church, and exercised such +influence on the destinies of his countrymen and of those committed to +his charge, that he might adopt the language of Joseph to his brethren: +"God hath sent me before you into Egypt, that you may be preserved on +the earth, and have _food to live_." (Gen. xlv. 7.) But this is +anticipating what naturally should have its place at the conclusion of +our narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS. + + +"Now," said Murty O'Dwyer, one Sunday evening, as all the members of the +Prying family were seated around the tea table, "will any body doubt the +usefulness of confession? The very robber who, while under the influence +of drink and evil advice, plundered the widow O'Clery and her orphans of +their money, has returned from the scorching plains of the south, in +obedience to the advice of the priest to whom he confessed, to make +restitution; and he has made it." + +"It beats all I ever heard," said Mr. Prying. + +"That is only an ordinary occurrence with Catholics," rejoined Murty. +"Thousands of dollars, and I might say millions of money, are yearly +restored to those to whom it belongs, through the influence of this +divine institution." + +"I wonder what has Paul done with the rest of the money, after paying +for the board of himself and his sister and brothers?" said Calvin. + +"He has given me two hundred of it," said Murty, "to compensate me for +what I lost on account of the malice of Dominie Boorman, the +Presbyterian, because I could not believe according to his cruel code of +irreligion. He paid one hundred dollars for masses for the soul of poor +Cunningham, who died of fever and ague one week after his having made +the restitution. Two thousand, I believe, Paul paid into the convent +where his sister Bridget has gone to become a nun. And the rest, I +believe, he spent in raising an elegant monument over his parents and +beloved Eugene's remains. O, yes, I forgot; he paid five hundred dollars +towards the new Catholic church, S.A., where his convert friends +reside." + +"It is to me the strangest thing on earth," said old Mrs. Prying, "how +liberal these Catholics are in paying to the support of their religion. +Where on earth do they get the means to put up such costly buildings as +they have erected in scores, within my own knowledge, these past five +years?" + +"So far from this being strange," said Murty, "madam, it is the most +natural thing in the world. We know the Catholic religion is true. We +know it has God for its Author, and that through its teachings all men +must be saved that will be saved. Knowing this, we understand the merit +of supporting such an institution. What is the whole world to a man if +he lose his soul? and how can a man save his soul, if true religion be +wanting?" + +"Ah, what a noble critter that Bridget O'Clery was!" said Calvin, +changing the subject to her whose image stood uppermost in his mind, +"What a pity," he continued, "that she should ever become a nun! Do nuns +ever get married, Murty?" + +"Don't you know so much yet, Calvin? Certainly, they never do get +married. They vow to consecrate their hearts forever to God. In fact, +they anticipate, here in this life, what all the blessed do in the next +life--to live in God, and for God. I think the life of a holy nun," said +Murty, kindling into enthusiasm, "is superior to that of an angel, and +the merit far greater." + +Here it is as well to state that Calvin Prying, of late years, lost all +that zeal for stiff Presbyterianism that possessed him in his younger +days,--an ordinary occurrence with American Protestant young men,--and +that, instead of his former zeal, he now had the utmost indifference, if +not contempt, for the teachers of the hard creed of his cruel namesake +of Geneva. He had a heart, too; and though a phlegmatic and a rude one, +it could not remain insensible to the chaste charms and virtuous beauty +of Bridget O'Clery. For years this feeling was growing on him--the +exhortations, and lectures, and advices of little Parson Gulmore to the +contrary notwithstanding. In a word, though she was "Irish" and a +pauper, in the slang of parsons and officials, and though the vulgar +little dominie was continually ridiculing the Irish and the Catholics, +Calvin saw that Bridget was beautiful in countenance, and light as a +humming bird in heart--circumstances which insensibly made an impression +on the rude material of which his own was made, creating there a feeling +of love bordering on admiration and distant esteem. No sooner, however, +did it reach his ears that the money was restored to the orphans, and he +was told that Bridget was likely to have a portion of some thousands of +dollars, than his former esteem and admiration, as if by magic art, was +turned into love. And now, who dare say word against her? and how low, +contemptible, and wicked the counsels of Parson Gulmore, who attempted +to prejudice him against such a treasure, such a model of every virtue, +such an angel, as she "always appeared to him to be"! He would have +cheerfully "accepted the hand" of the poor "Irish" orphan when that hand +had some thousands of gold dollars in its beauteous grasp. The Yankee is +not remarkable for having an eye for the beautiful in nature or art; but +when _dimes_ and _dollars_ are in prospective, none is more penetrating +or sharpsighted than he. Beautiful paintings, cathedrals, the noblest +creations of the chisel, the most enchanting landscapes have just as +much attraction for his genius as they can be made available "for making +money," and no more. It was from the same principle that Calvin Prying's +love for Bridget O'Clery originated. Hence he was highly enraged at the +idea of her going into a convent, and had a strong notion in his head to +call a "public mass meeting," and pass resolutions against the +constitutionality of allowing young ladies of respectable fortunes to +enter convents. Indeed, he so far succeeded in creating an excitement in +his favor about deterring Bridget from entering the convent, as to get, +by the payment of a small sum, one of the daily papers of the city to +write an article in his favor, entitled "_Abduction_!" During a few +days, the editor of the same filthy sheet repeated his scurrilous +attacks on Catholicity, not forgetting to squirt a good deal of his dirt +on the Rev. Dr. Ugo, whom he blamed for encouraging the girl's +vocation, and thus depriving the _hungry_ Presbyterian Calvin of a fair +wife and a handsome fortune. + +There was no great tumult created, however. Election was approaching, +and that absorbed all the excitable matter of the people, in spite of +the newspapers. The disputes and defences of the faith which Murty +O'Dwyer had to maintain since the departure of the young, "beautiful +Irish girl," as Bridget was called, were many and critical; but an event +now happened, that fanned the latent but active anti-Catholic fire into +a furious flame. + +One evening, at supper, after the news arrived at R---- Valley that Paul +O'Clery was not only a priest, but stationed in the second city then in +the Union, Amanda, casting her malicious eye at her youngest sister +Mary, on whose calm cheek she saw, and seemed to envy, the innocent +blush that started there, on having heard the paragraph alluding to Paul +read and commented on, thus addressed her:-- + +"Ah, Mary, what do you say, now, to Paul, who is forever estranged from +you? for he is not only a priest, but a missionary among the 'Irish,' +and, of course, can never care about you again." + +"I am glad to hear he is a priest," said Mary, in a gentle voice; "for I +believe he will be more happy so than in any other situation in life. I +am sure I wish him happy, for he was ever good and amiable." + +"But yet," rejoined the old maid, "he never made you any return for all +your fondness for him. He never writes you any loving letters, nor +cares whether you are living or dead, or else he would write, or send +you some tokens of friendship." + +"You know a little too much, Amanda," said Mary. "I never asked him to +write; and I know he loves me so far as to pray for me, and that's all +he ever pretended to; and as for presents, I do not covet them, as I +have got this beautiful one, a miniature of the mother of God, set in +gold, which Paul presented to me when here last. See it here," she said, +drawing it from her bosom. "I would not give this for all the presents +in New York." + +"Idolatry! idolatry!" cried out Amanda. "Idolatry!" cried out Calvin and +the rest of the family. "Idolatry! yes, as the Lord liveth," groaned a +hollow, dramatic voice, as he entered by the woodshed way to the dining +room. It was that of Rev. Mr. Gulmore, who after a long absence, hearing +the Romanizing tendencies that threatened to desolate this once stanch +Presbyterian family, came, he said, "with his sickle," to cut down the +cockles, and "weed out this once fertile but now overgrown garden." + +"What is this I have been hearing?" thundered the little thick man, +stamping on the floor. "Is it possible that my senses deceive me? or +have I heard and seen the daughter of my friend, my Orthodox--once +Orthodox--friend, draw forth her idolatrous bawble from her American +bosom, and defend its use and veneration with her tongue? Is this true? +Tell me! Speak!" + +There was a short pause after this short declamation, delivered in the +most passionate form. At length, Mr. Prying, senior, coolly answered, +"Yes, Mr. Gulmore, I 'spect Mary is lost to your church, and inclined to +the Catholic system." + +"O Lord, forbid it!" cried the little thick man in white choker. "It +cannot be; we cannot allow it. I shall storm heaven with prayers. I +shall do violence to the Lord. I shall catch hold of him, and not let +him go till he give back this lamb to my bosom." + +Such were only _some_ of the expressions, blasphemously familiar, which +this clerical mountebank made use of during a full half hour, that he +almost electrified the whole company by his half-mad gesticulations and +discourses. At length, when his legs began to fail, he got on his knees, +or rather on his _heels_--a posture the Irish call "on his _grugg_." He +prayed, and roared, and screamed, and he cried, as it were, shedding +tears, to the alarm of the oldest members of the family, who feared he +might burst a blood vessel, as he was a short-necked, plethoric, chunk +of a man; and to the infinite amusement of Murty O'Dwyer and the younger +members of the family, who, from the violence of the laughter that +seized them, were in danger of meeting that fate from which the former +wanted to save the parson. + +This levity on the part of the youngsters did not escape the notice of +his _weeping_ reverence; and he no sooner recovered himself than he +administered a sharp reprimand to all concerned, but especially to +Murty. + +"I pity men of your country," said he, addressing Murty,--who, it must +be recollected, had made very great improvement in his education since +we first introduced him to our readers,--"I pity men of your country, on +account of the ignorance in which they are kept by the soul-destroying +system of Popery that binds them down." + +"Indeed, Mr. Gulmore," said Murty, "I am sorry you don't take some other +means, besides those not very enlightened prayers you have volunteered +to favor us with, to dispel and instruct our ignorance." + +"Why, thou Papist boor, durst thou deny the power of prayer?" + +"No, sir. I have great faith in prayer, especially the prayer of a 'just +man;' but God forbid that I should regard your eccentric, indeed, I +might say blasphemous, effusions as prayer! You talk of the 'ignorance' +of my countrymen! Ah, sir, I have no hesitation in saying the most +ignorant among them would be ashamed of such silly-acting and disgusting +cant as you have just now delivered." + +"I blame you not," deluded Papist; "you have not felt the 'power of +prayer,' brought up in all the ignorance and idolatry of the 'scarlet +lady.' But it is not for you I prayed or wrestled with the Lord, but for +my beloved dove, this innocent victim of your idolatry and the hellish +arts of your church. Do you not feel the change of heart, Mary, my +love?" he said, approaching near to the girl. "Tell me, have I gained +thee? Has the Lord heard my groanings, and sighs, and petitions for thy +restoration to the creed of our Protestant fathers? Do, Mary dear, tell +me the feelings of thy heart! Do, love, comfort me by the assurance +that I have gained thee!" + +"Mr. Gulmore," answered the good child, "I thought you had long since +ceased visiting us, and we hoped never again to be annoyed by your +ministrations. Your conduct in combining with my step-sister here, in +conjunction with the late postmaster of S----, to prevent Paul from +holding correspondence, has disgusted, not only me, but even father, +beyond the limits of reconciliation; and whatever I may think of your +religion, be assured I have no two opinions about yourself." + +"O, she is lost, I greatly fear! Fallen is an angel from heaven! Save, +save, O Lord!" cried the parson, as Mary Prying rose up from her seat +and left the room. + +The foregoing rebuke of the spirited girl brought this craven-hearted +dominie at once to his senses, and during the remainder of the evening +he was more rational in conduct and discourse, seeing that Mary was the +darling of her father, who would allow the parson to make no reflections +on the motives that actuated her in the steps she was about to take. + +"I am afraid, parson," said Murty, breaking the embarrassing silence +that continued for a few minutes, "I am afraid the lady has eluded the +forceful grasp of your powerful prayer. I guess she will become a nun, +too, notwithstanding your great efforts to make her sing + + "But I won't be a nun; I can't be a nun; + I'm so fond of pleasure that I can't be a nun." + +"I greatly fear, yer riverince," said he, affecting the broadest Irish +brogue, "y'ill have to phray a great deal yet afore you convart her from +her resolution." + +"We must submit to the decree of the Lord in all that he has planned +from the beginning of the world, Murty," said the parson, resignedly. + +"Think the Lord has decreed Mary for the nunnery, reverend and learned +sir?" said Murty, affecting great politeness. + +"Not exactly, Murty; but the Lord, by his inscrutable decree before the +creation, has passed sentence on all accountable beings: some he has +delivered over to irremediable wrath, and others he has predestined to +glory and bliss eternal; and no efforts of men can reverse these +irrevocable decrees." + +"O, dreadful!" said Murty. "I always heard that God willed all men to be +saved; that it was in every man's power to avoid evil, and do good; that +the giving of the commandments supposed the perfect liberty of men; and +that, supposing the grace of God, all men had the means of salvation +within their reach. If your system were true, all efforts of man to save +himself would be useless, and all your pulpits and sermons would be +worse than useless; for they would be a gross imposition, and a loss of +time." + +"There is where you are in error, Murty," said the parson. "Churches, +pulpits, Bibles, and ministers are the machinery the Lord makes use of +to secure the perseverance of the elect." + +"That talk appears to me silly," rejoined Murty. "The elect are to be +saved, or they are not; if they are to be saved by the decree of God, +then there is no use of you and your machinery; if they can lose their +'election,' and become reprobate, then your theory is contradictory, +absurd, and grossly perversive of the gospel. Take your choice of the +horns of the dilemma." + +The parson here entered into a very unintelligible explanation of a +subject which constitutes, in defiance of common sense and of the +plainest teaching of the gospel, the leading dogma of Presbyterianism; +namely, foreordination, or the eternal decree of every man's election or +reprobation, irrespective of free will, good works, or even the +all-saving merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. + +"How contradictory the tenets of sectarianism!" said Murty. "You, that +accuse Catholicity of teaching absurd and incredible doctrines, are +yourselves enslaved by the most incredible and contradictory creeds. It +is the same in every sect. Take the Methodists, and they are the very +contrary of what their name signifies. Instead of following any _method_ +in their mad orgies, they would seem to be, _intellectually_, the +successors of the ancient bacchanalians. They would carry man back to +his primitive _woods_, and, by the medium of plenty of 'straw,' would +annihilate the distinctions between the sexes, by introducing a +promiscuous intercourse, and legalizing, by custom, the most indecent +practices." + +"You have been at a camp meeting then, I see," said the parson, glad +that attention was turned from his own sect to one that was a rival of +it. + +"Yes, sir, I have, I regret to be obliged to confess," said Murty; "and +I must say that the Methodists, by their conduct there, showed +themselves more ingenious in inventing the means of election than those +of the church of Calvin." + +"How so, Murty? In what do they exceed the Presbyterians?" + +"Why, in this, that they have beat you hollow in securing salvation. You +make use of churches, pulpits, parsons, Bibles, and anti-Popery lectures +to secure the election for the brethren; but the Methodists secure the +same gift by means of some 'straw.' At the camp meeting held last year +at M----ville, of which the Irish laborer who spent a night there said, +'that there were more _souls made there_ than convarted,'--at that +meeting, where there were twenty thousand persons present, I heard a +preacher cry out, 'More straw! more straw! Fifty souls lost for the want +of straw!' Now," continued Murty, "this is what I call progress, to make +as much out of a good bed of straw as you do out of all your church +machinery for saving souls." + +"Ha! ha! ha!" said the parson, turning to Mrs. Prying. "He is right; I +saw and heard them myself at such absurdities." + +"Then," said Murty, "you or any other Americans who are aware of such +gross impositions on the credulity of your people, and of their gross +ignorance, should be the last persons on earth to reproach the Irish or +any other people with ignorance, superstition, credulity, or fanaticism. +Good night, parson, and every time you are tempted to reproach an +Irishman with ignorance, think of 'More straw! more straw! Fifty souls +lost for the want of straw!' and that this sermon was preached in +enlightened America of Bibles!" + +After the departure of Murty from the room, Gulmore, to make amends for +his senseless conduct in his attempts to convert Mary Prying, became +very complaisant, and, for the want of a better subject, resumed the +subject of the extravagances of the Methodists where Murty left off. He +knew, also, that old Mrs. Prying had an antipathy to that sect. + +"The Irishman is an amusing fellow, I perceive," commenced he; "he is +not far wrong in his description of the Methodists, I can tell you." + +"I never could bear that denomination," said Mrs. Prying, "especially +since the time that Morefat carried on over in Vermont; and I am still +more displeased since that Minister Barker seduced Amanda to his +meeting, together with others of our regular members." + +"They are a horrid set!" said the dominie. "Did you not hear of the +donation party at brother Funny's, last new year's?" + +"No. Do you mean the talk about Miss Talebearer?" + +"Worse than that, although nothing secret. Nothing that the whole town +has not heard. You know Mr. Funny was rather poor, having been but a few +months on the 'circuit;' and so Mrs. Plumpcheek, wife to Aaron +Plumpcheek, while he was off in Virginia, went to the party, and there +offered to kiss every man that would pay her a dollar for the proceeds +of the donation! The consequence was, that she realized seventy-five +dollars in hard cash, though most of the boys paid her but two +shillings. And thus poor Brother Funny made a handsome sum by the _free +charms_ of Mrs. Plumpcheek! Ever since her husband is made jealous, and +I think he has reason." + +Sectarians, you who are so loud in your pretended zeal for education and +morals, you who talk so much and loudly about the corruption of Popery +at home and abroad, why do you not cast the beam out of your own impure +eyes, and then you may see in your own land of plenty, carried on under +the _sanction of what you call religion_, scenes such as the annals of +paganism can scarcely parallel. + +We can prove the facts related above by Parson Gulmore to be literally +true, and to have happened annually for years under the sanction of +_religious_ ministers, and exposed to the cognizance of fathers and +mothers accompanied by their _daughters_ and _sons_. + +We publish these things reluctantly, on account of our readers; but we +must tell the truth, though it be piecemeal and in fractional parts, +rather than in the full view of its naked reality. + +Is it not time to say to these hypocritical sects, "Physicians, heal +yourselves"? Look into the conduct and constitutions of your own bodies +ere you turn censors on others. The corruptions and deformities of your +own bodies will take all your zeal, all your energy, and all your +lives, to correct, purify, and eradicate, leaving the Catholic church to +reform whatever abuses may have crept into the lives or morals of her +children by the ordinary resources, which are ample, and always within +her reach. + +Really, the hypocrisy, audacity, and malice of the Pharisees of old, in +persecuting Jesus Christ in the flesh, were not equalled, in degree or +intensity, to the malice and hypocrisy of sectarians, under every +Protestant title, in their unrelenting hatred of the same divine Person +in his mystical body here on earth! + +'Tis all nonsense to reproach _Catholics_ with conduct similar, or as +gross, as these instances of immorality which we justly charge on the +Protestant sects. Catholics, as individuals, may be, and have been, +guilty of grave crimes and scandalous immoralities; but does the church +countenance or connive at their conduct? No; we say, emphatically, No. +On the contrary, she condemns vice in every shape, and denounces, like +another Baptist in the wilderness, the wrath of Heaven on the workers of +iniquity. Is there one of her precepts, counsels, or rules, that guards +not against sin and its occasions? According to the accusations of her +enemies themselves, who reproach her, with too much severity, of +imposing too many restrictions on the passions, is she not continually +preaching up to her followers the necessity of self-denial, humility, +purity, charity, prayer, fastings, watchings, and, above all, OF +SHUNNING THE OCCASIONS OF SIN? Hence, in the whole volume of her +history for eighteen centuries and better, we read not of one _camp +meeting_ sanctioned by her, nor that she ever authorized her ministers +to _feel "for the change of heart_" in young ladies, to proclaim the use +of "more straw" for the conversion of both sexes, or to raise funds by +the abominable practices of the "donation parties" for the support of +her institutions. And mind, these scandals the sectarian churches +sanction and carry on under the sun of heaven, by day as well as by +night, exposed to the jeers and ridicule of one another, and to the +condemnation of the Catholic church. When they are such in "the +greenwood, what would they be not in the dry"? If, like the Catholic +church, they had the world to themselves for "a thousand years and +more," what abominations would their spurious churches have not only +tolerated, but have instituted and approved? If they have produced +Mormons, Transcendentalists, Universalists, and spiritual rappers, in +the nineteenth century, what monsters would they not have produced in +the ninth? + +In the "dark ages," the Catholic church saved the world, preserved +literature, civilized real barbarians, and, above all, practised, as +well as preached, a PURE MORALITY. The Protestant sects in this +enlightened age, by their novelties, by their dissensions, and, above +all, by the low standard of morals which they inculcate, threaten to +throw the world back again to the dark chaos from which Catholicity has +drawn it, and to substitute for the glory of Christianity the miserable +philosophism and superstition of the degenerate days of paganism. + +In proof of these statements, we refer any candid mind to the +"spiritual rappers," "women's rights," "Mormonism," "gold hunting, and +other manias," which, within the last few years, have sprung from the +sectarian systems and their teaching, and from no other source. + +We are horrified at the morals and tenets of the Gnostic sects, the +Manicheans, the Albigenses, and other defunct heresies of old; but we +doubt if any thing more impious, immoral, or absurd happened under the +auspices of these by-gone sects than the blasphemies, delusions, and +corruptions carried on under the cloak of your "camp meetings," +"revivals," "mediums," "spiritual wife system," and other modern +_reproductions_ of the Protestant Christian churches, falsely so called. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +IN WHICH THE SCENE OF OUR TALE IS CHANGED. + + +The events recorded in the foregoing chapters, as you are aware, good +reader, happened principally among the poor and humble of life; and this +was in accordance with the scope of our narrative, having no higher +ambition than to chronicle the lowly annals of that numerous class of +the community. _Nunc paulo majora._ Now we must introduce you into high +life. We turn our eyes to one of those grand mansions of the rich,--one +of those palaces of the "upper ten,"--where few of the humble are +privileged to enter, much less to be introduced or admitted on terms of +familiarity. It is our privilege to introduce you, friend of the +blistered hand and dusty coat, but of the honest heart, into that palace +of the merchant prince of the second city in the Union, in order that +you may see and judge for yourselves whether or not more happiness +dwells there than in your homely residence. See the imposing structure, +with the neatly-mowed lawn in front. Observe the taste and artistic +skill with which the walks, the little hedges, and the shrubberies are +laid out. You can yet get but an imperfect view of the proud edifice +itself, which seems as if a monarch, that looks down with dignity and +authority on the countless array of ordinary buildings that extend as +far as the eye can reach on every side. The gates, as you enter the +enclosure, are of massive iron, painted green, and, by the help of +machinery, yield to the gentlest pressure of the hand, as if some spirit +of the ancient fabled Olympus kept guard at their hinges. It is a +complete "_rus in urbi_," inside the outer wall. Here the luxuriant +grape vine creeps along in graceful festoons, groaning under the +pressure of her full paps; there the lofty and beauteous palm spreads +his cooling and protecting branches. + +On one side see the fruitful lemon and orange trees, bending under the +weight of their golden and emerald productions; on the other the +fragrant apple, the sweet pear, and mellow peach borrow support from the +strong granite wall to bring their burdens to maturity. Behold there two +fountains casting their crystal and refreshing contents aloft, as if +making restitution to the thirsting atmosphere for what they stole from +him under ground. The water falls back again, however, and is received +by the marble basin at the base, to form a neat pond, where gold and +silver fish sport and gambol. A little at a distance, to the rear, the +fragrance of honey and the busy hum of the bee are perceived by your +grateful senses. The place looks like an earthly paradise; every thing +there seems to laugh without restraint, from the creeping rose fastened +to the hedge to the tall, princely-looking mountain ash, with its +bunches of red berries. + +The only one living thing that seemed pensive and sad there was a +lovely, delicate fawn, which rested, with her head drooping, at the foot +of a rose bush, on the summit of the little green mound which was the +centre of this delightful spot. Perhaps the lovely creature is after +being weaned from the udder of its affectionate dam; or, perhaps, she +grieves for the absence of some favorite in the palace of whom she is +the pet. But that the creature grieves is evident, for you could see the +two moist tracks furrowed on the smooth face, from the tears that have +flowed there. + +But the inside of the "great house," who can describe it? From the +ground floor to the uppermost attic, the rooms presented that waste of +furniture, in the shape of sofas, ottomans, easy chairs, couches, +carpets, tapestries, curtains, paintings, pier glasses, plate, and a +thousand other articles contributive of ease and luxury, which the most +extravagant expenditure could procure or vanity suggest. In truth, the +interior was the exact counterpart of the exterior, in the artistic +arrangement and splendor of every thing. To the eye of an observer, on +an ordinary occasion, every thing appeared gorgeous in the extreme; but +on the occasion we describe, when preparation was making for a grand +reception, all was joy, mirth, luxury, and happiness. Servants of every +color and hue were seen moving through the labyrinths of the saloons and +chambers of this great palace, uncovering the long-concealed splendors +of valuable articles, and arranging every thing for the most +advantageous show. + +And + + "Now through the palace chambers moving lights + And busy shapes proclaim the toilet's rites; + From room to room the ready handmaids hie, + Some skilled to wreathe the headdress tastefully, + Or hang the veil, in negligence of shade, + O'er the warm blushes of the youthful maid." + +Splendid services of gold and silver plate met the eye in every +direction, on their way to the grand dining room; while, from the +remotest part of the building, the sense of smelling was simultaneously +assailed by several currents of delightful culinary exhalations, which, +like the winds in the cave of AEolus, struggled for egress from their +confined birthplace. + +This is one of those occasions on which the Dives of this sumptuous +palace, Mr. Goldrich, intends to celebrate his birthday; and as he can't +tell where he was born, nor can he show any genuine images of his +ancestry, (except that he came down a scion from the great "Anglo-Saxon +race,") he is determined to make amends for this calamity he could not +help, and the want of taste in his father, whoever he was, by spending +an ordinary fortune in the present celebration, and thus combine the +splendors of all the possible past anniversaries of his birth in one +grand, unrivalled celebration to-day. + + "And here, at once, the glittering saloon + Bursts on the sight, boundless and bright as noon." + +The select music of splendid bands now announced the movements of +guests towards the grand banquet room. In pairs they enter, and +singular; the short procession is now at an end, and the places are +filled up with the scanty number of twoscore guests, male and female. + +You would have supposed, from the preparation, that the inhabitants of +the entire city were invited; but no, the exact number was forty, +besides the members of the rich man's family. And this happened not by +accident, or because of the penury or avarice of Mr. Goldrich, but +because in the whole city there were no more than twenty families who +ranked in the sphere of the "upper ten" in which "mine host" moved. +These shining figures, that you can scarcely look at without risk to +your eyes from their jewelry, are the ladies who leave us in doubt which +they love most to exhibit--their charms, or the richness of their +ornaments. Among that bright array of female beauty there is missed the +fair form of one who was, heretofore, an ordinary occupant of an +honorable place at the family table. It was the chair of the +rosy-cheeked Alia that was unoccupied at this splendid circle. The +presiding queen of the feast, Madam Goldrich, apologized for the absence +of "poor Alia," by representing her indisposed; and at the announcement +of this dispiriting intelligence, disappointment marked the countenances +of the guests, for Alia was the brightest star that shone in that +brilliant galaxy of fashion. + +Being the oldest among the children of Mr. Goldrich, Alia possessed all +that graceful and dignified superiority over those whom she regarded as +her younger sisters, which are the acknowledged privileges of age in +every well-regulated family, and which her superior talent seemed +naturally to enforce. + +Years rolled on, and the dear child lived in blissful ignorance of her +origin and desolate condition, till the jealousy of her younger sisters +excited her suspicions, and she began to mistrust the genuineness, as +she felt the coldness, of that parental affection which the pretended +authors of her existence so long counterfeited. During many months, if +not years, these suspicions preyed on the poor girl's mind; and though +she never dared to mention them to any save old Judy, the negro woman, +she felt satisfied that her sisters and herself could not belong to the +same stock or the same race. The transparent delicacy of her complexion, +the rosy tint on her cheek, unrivalled by the costly paint of her +sisters, the shining blackness of her splendid hair,--all these +circumstances pointed her out and proclaimed her as of a different race +to those whom she hitherto regarded as her kindred. Long had she mused +on the cause of this disparity, and much had she suffered, in the depth +of her soul, from the representations and suggestions of her active +imagination in reference to her origin, and many were the tears shed by +her while oppressed with these doubts. But the events of this day, added +to the late insolent conduct of her sisters, which provoked the +reprimand of her peevish mother guardian, who told her to curb her +"Irish temper,"--these cleared up all her doubts; and, filled with a +melancholy joy at a revelation she owed to the jealousy and vanity of a +proud mother and her daughters, Alia retired to her room to give vent to +her feelings in sobs and tears. + +"Thank God," she cried, "I know what I am, or ought to be. Thank God I +am Irish, too, for I often wished I belonged to that much-abused and +persecuted people. But O, where shall I find my parents? or how came my +lot to be cast in this proud palace, which, alas! I too long regarded as +my home? O, who, who will restore this poor 'exile of Erin,' to the home +of her unknown parents? How gladly would I exchange all the splendor of +this place for the homeliest cot in that land of the shamrock and the +cross; ay, the poorest 'cabin, fast by the wild-wood,' in the land of +St. Patrick, and my unknown ancestors." + +Such were the soliloquies of poor, despised Alia, in her room on the +third floor, where old aunt Judy, the negro, having missed her favorite +from the grand company, after having sought her in vain in the lower +saloons of the house, just entered her room. + +"Dere, now, Miss Ali', am poor aunt Judy half kilt from sarching for you +all over. What make you be here, and all the gran' gem'men asking for +you?" + +"Ah, aunt Judy, why have you all along denied of me all knowledge of my +extraction, parentage, and race? Did you not know that I was Irish? and +yet you always denied that I was, though I have suspected I was, and you +must have known it, having lived so long in the family. This is not what +I expected from you, aunt Judy," she said, casting a look of gentle +reproach at the old negro. + +"O, dear, miss--O, dear," cried the poor affectionate creature, bursting +into tears; "don't blame dis ole nigger, but massa and missus, and Miss +Sillerman, sister to the missus who died last year. They forbid aunt +Jude to tell who rosy-faced Ali' was. I was bound to swear not to tell. +If they knowed I did hab a _parle_ vit you on de subject, they would +turn poor ole Jude out de door to die in the poor _maison_." + +This poor negro woman was a native of St. Domingo, and, at the time of +the revolution there, came to New Orleans, in care of a child belonging +to one of the white planters who was murdered--which child, by the way, +has since become a pious and eminent clergyman. By some accident or +other she fell in with the Goldriches, in their commercial visits to New +Orleans, and, though brought up a Catholic, the poor thing forgot all +practice of her religion, and this accounts for her evasions and denials +to the repeated questions of Alia regarding her parentage and birth. + +"'Pon my fait, miss," she ever said, "I know nothing about you, 'cept +that you are the rose-cheeked Ali', the _fleur de lis_ of the flock." + +Promises, and flattering presents, and all other persuasive arts of Alia +to get the secret out of Judy proved useless. She had promised to keep +it, and no human authority, she thought, could ever cause her to violate +that promise. Although Judy had, through fear of displeasing her +patrons, given up all public practice of her religion, she nevertheless +never denied that she was a "Catholique," and never omitted to recite +full five decades of the beads after going to bed. She declared she +could not fall asleep till she complied with this rather lazy effort of +prayer. Besides these rather faint evidences of her faith, she often +told her loved Ali' that she intended calling in the priest at the hour +of her death; and she confided to the honor of the young lady this +secret desire of hers, and elicited many promises from her Ali' to send +for his reverence when she would perceive her end approach. "This is +rather a singular notion of yours," Alia used to say. "If you are a +Catholic, and believe your faith the best, or the only true one, why do +you not practise its teachings, and fulfil all the requirements of your +church? I am sure neither father nor mother would blame you." + +"O miss, I feard, I feard," the poor, timid soul would answer. "But tink +of vat I tol' you; when I go to die, send for the _bon_ priest, who know +how to do the '_parle Francaise_,' and I pray for you when I go to +heaven." + +"I shall do that for you, poor aunt Judy, or even attend you now, while +you are in health, to the Catholic church, where you can go to the +sacraments, and become a member again of that church which you have so +long neglected, but which yet seems still to retain a strong hold of +your affections and heart. Won't this be the best course, aunt Judy? I +will attend you to the church of that zealous young Irish priest whom I +see so often hurrying along here to his sick calls up town; and as I +suspect I am 'Irish' myself, I hope he will not be displeased at my +call." + +"O, you no Irish, miss, at all, but good Yankee. But tish better not go +for de priest till he come to me when I go to die. Now I have religion +here in _mon coeur_; ven I die, I profess her open." + +"Well, Judy, act as you wish; but it appears to me your conduct is +singular. I shall do my part, however; and if there is a priest to be +had in the city when you take to your death bed, you must have him to +attend you." + +It was by such communings and conversations as the foregoing, during the +leisure hours of aunt Judy and her loved Ali', that mutual confidence +and disinterested friendship grew into maturity between them--the +childish and helpless simplicity of the one, and kind and good-natured +condescension of the other, producing the like effects in the hearts of +both respectively--that is, disinterested friendship. Yet strong as this +friendship was, and enthusiastic as was the love of Judy for her +"rosy-cheeked" favorite, they were not sufficient to cause her to reveal +the secret of her birth and adoption, even at this hour of Alia's +deepest grief and affliction. + +There were two causes for this her unaccountable silence. Firstly, she +had promised not to mention the slightest circumstance connected with +the adopted child, and she feared punishment from the anger of her proud +massa, whose disgrace might be the consequence. And again, having been +in the habit of hearing all sorts of reflections on the "Irish," whom +some mad abolitionists would gladly enslave in place of the blacks, poor +Judy thought to save Alia from the mortification of finding herself +"Irish," by her equivocation and falsehood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +SHOWS HOW THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK WERE PERMANENTLY UNITED AFTER A LONG +SEPARATION. + + +Paul O'Clery had been appointed pastor of one of the principal churches +in the second city in the Union, as we have before mentioned, and +already the evidences of the "care of souls" with which he was charged +for several years began to manifest themselves on his placid brow. His +was a life of unceasing activity. The visitations of the sick, the calls +of charity, the hearing of confessions, together with the instruction of +youth and the preaching of God's word,--these, the ordinary lot of +pastors, constituted but a share, and not the largest one, of his +onerous duties. Ever mindful of his own destitute condition while an +orphan deprived of both parents, all the orphans of the +thickly-inhabited district that constituted his mission became objects +of his special care. And at a time when such an institution as a +Catholic orphanage was regarded as visionary, or the ephemeral creation +of a too ardent zeal, this good pastor succeeded in founding and +supporting an asylum which has since become of incalculable value, not +only to the Catholics as a body, but to the inhabitants of the whole +city and state. A house of refuge for repentant Magdalens, placed under +the care of the Sisters of Mercy, commanded his next care. In a word, +the founding of schools, hospitals, confraternities, guilds, and other +pious institutions exercised all of his time that was not devoted to +his strictly ecclesiastical duties; so that his sister Bridget, known in +religion as Sister St. John of the Cross, complained a good deal of his +want of charity in not having visited her but once in seven years. "Ad +majorem Dei gloriam,"--"To the greater glory of God,"--was this pious +Levite's motto; and he was dead to all the ties of flesh and blood, and +heedless of all calls save those of charity to his God and his neighbor. + +In the pulpit, the spontaneous eloquence of his heart chained the +attention of his hearers; and his discourses, though rather inclined to +asceticism than controversial, went to the hearts, and convinced the +understandings, of unbelievers of the divinity of the doctrine he +preached. No class of his fellow-creatures was excluded from the +influence of his boundless zeal. Protestants--to whom he was very mild, +on account of his knowledge of the ignorant prejudices in which they are +bound by the malice of their teachers--heard him, and became converts to +the church of God. Even the neglected negro race claimed and received a +full measure of his zeal. He established a school for the children of +these neglected sons of Africa, and never lost an opportunity of +visiting them at the death bed or in the hour of serious sickness. + +It was on occasion of one of these visits that God rewarded his priest, +even in this world, by the joyous disclosure which we here record, and +which, next to his grace of vocation to the priesthood, of all the +manifestations of God's mercy to him, claimed his sincerest gratitude +and thanksgiving. After the end of the grand "birthday banquet," which +lasted for a day and two nights, Alia's position at the palace became +more disagreeable than ever. The young girls frowned on her and shunned +her society, and Madame Goldrich, after she had got over the fatigue of +the party, read her a smart lesson on her "ill manners and Irish +temper," because she dared to absent herself, to the disappointment of +the guests, from a table at which she was denied her proper and usual +place. "Alia, this conduct of yours must be reformed, and that quick, or +your separation from this family, to which you do not belong, must soon +take place. I ain't goin' to let you take precedence of my children no +longer." + +To this vulgar speech of the "princess, our hostess," as she was +flatteringly toasted by a John Bull guest who was there, Alia answered +not a word, but, having retired to her room, fell on her knees and +prayed long and fervently to the God of her fathers to assist her by his +inspirations, and direct her to the best, in her present perplexity. +Having unburdened her bosom of a load of grief by a copious effusion of +tears, and felt in her spirit that calm resignation which a sense of its +own forlorn condition and a total reliance on God are calculated to +inspire even in the unregenerate and imperfect soul, Alia now proceeded +to the chamber of old Judy, whose expected illness had at last arrived, +having been ill now for three days. On perceiving her entrance into the +room, the old negress appealed to her in most supplicating terms to +fulfil her promise to send for "de priest, for now de hour am come. O +Ali', angel, dear," she cried, "do not let me die without the 'bon +Dieu,' or I lost foreber. O, haste! O, haste!" + +Alia lost no time, but, taking pen and paper, wrote as follows to the +bishop of the diocese:-- + +"The Right Rev. Catholic bishop is respectfully informed that there is a +negro woman lying dangerously ill at Mr. Goldrich's, who, being a +Catholic, desires the last rites of that church. Being a native of St. +Domingo, the French is her vernacular tongue; for which cause it will be +desirable, if possible, to send, a clergyman who can speak that +language." + +A young negro lad was the bearer of this despatch, and he returned in +less than an hour, attended by Rev. Paul O'Clery, whom the bishop sent +to answer this urgent call, all those of the episcopal residence having +been out since early morning attending on the sick in their respective +localities. In order to avoid any further cause of displeasure to Mrs. +Goldrich, Alia had given the negro lad instructions to bring the priest +in through a private door that communicated with the garden, rather than +attract attention by entering the hall door. She had a full view of the +countenance of the young priest, through the window, while he was +crossing that part of the garden that lay next the houses of the city, +and, strange! her heart throbbed, and an indescribable sensation passed +over her frame. + +"How happy," she thought, "must be the sister of such a gentleman as +that! how different her lot from mine!" + +The priest entered, and was received with a very polite bow by Alia, +which was returned profoundly. Declining to take a seat, on account of +his many other urgent calls, he was escorted to old Judy's chamber by +his fair guide, who, on the way thither, explained to him what sort of a +person she was, and how odd in her notions about religion. Having +conducted him to her bedside, she made a polite bow, and retired, asking +if her services were further needed. + +The priest answered, "No; that he believed all the requirements for this +holy but melancholy service were prepared, and that he supposed he had +to thank her for the nice arrangements he observed." + +"Yes, mon pere," said old Judy, in half French, half English, "there is +the '_chandel_,' the '_eau-benite_,' the '_la croix_,' and the rest, +that I keep many year for my deathday." + +It was only when she retired from the chamber that the priest caught a +full view of the fair Alia; and now + + "A strange emotion worked within him, more + Than mere compassion ever worked before." + +He saw in this interesting stranger the strongest resemblance to his own +sister Bridget. There were the same raven hair, the same candid and +large eyes, the same broad and well-set teeth so peculiar to the +O'Clerys, and the same form almost to a line. The groans and urgent call +of his penitent Judy, however, soon recalled his mind from its reveries, +and he banished all thoughts of Alia, as temptations, or, at least, +speculations, which it was for the present useless to entertain. He put +on his stole, and after a short aspiration for light and grace to +discharge his duty to the sick woman, was just in the act of repeating +the prayer, "_Dominus sit in corde tuo et in labiis_,"--"May the Lord be +in your heart and lips,"--when the creature, raising herself up in her +bed, prevented him, saying, "Mon pere, I vant, before I begin the +confession, to tell you a secret that burden my mind long time." + +She then proceeded to tell how that young lady he had just seen had been +adopted, or rather kidnapped, by the family she now lived with; how her +name was changed from Aloysia to Alia; how this scheme was planned and +carried out by Miss Sillerman, Mrs. Goldrich's sister, who died not long +since; how, till of late, she was brought up as one of the family; how +carefully she was instructed in all the ways of the Presbyterians; and, +above all, how they endeavored to conceal her family name, for fear of +being claimed by her friends. "But, mon pere," said she, in +continuation, "though I forget the family name of this young, lubly +lady, I have an article here (loosing an old-fashioned workbag) which +may tell her family name." + +With that she handed Father Paul a neat ruby necklace, with a rather +heavy gold clasp, on which were carved deeply a cross, interwoven with +shamrocks, with these words, in italics, "_The O'C---- Arms_." This was +enough for Paul O'Clery; he had no doubt of having seen and conversed +with his own dear, long-lost sister, a few moments before. He sunk down +on his knees, buried his face in his hands, and tried as well as he +could to suppress the emotions that pervaded his bosom. After having +prepared old Judy for heaven,--having first prevailed on her to make +these disclosures in presence of witnesses, on condition that the +circumstances of her revelation should not be published till after her +death,--the priest retired from that palace, promising to call again, +accompanied with another gentleman, in the afternoon. Lest his feelings +should betray him, he retired from the house with as little delay as was +consistent with politeness; and he trembled all over as he a second time +returned the greeting of his dear Aloysia, as she conducted him to the +door. + +With as little delay as possible, he sought the office of his legal +adviser, and, accompanied by a judge of the Supreme Court of eminent +character, and the legal adviser, and a third, all Protestant gentlemen, +he sought the sick chamber of the old negress again, and there her +deposition, and a confirmation of her previous account of Alia's +bringing up and captivity, were obtained. They had scarcely concluded +her testimony, when poor Judy bid farewell to the world and its crosses, +and the priest had the satisfaction of bidding God speed to her soul in +its passage to eternity, having read for her the last benediction a +second time. + +The presence of so many strangers in the house naturally created some +surprise among the inmates, and shortly the death chamber of Judy was +filled with the members of the family, of both sexes. + +An explanation of this unusual and unauthorized proceeding was demanded +by Mrs. Goldrich, which the eminent judge consented to give, provided an +_adjournment_ to a more appropriate court was agreed to. + +His honor was in the act of unravelling the mysterious but +well-connected development of old Judy--a work of supererogation on his +part, as far as madam was concerned--when the fair-faced Alia herself +made her appearance; and her reverend brother Paul, no longer able to +check his feelings, sprang forward, and, seizing her white hand, kissed +it, saying, "My dearest sister Aloysia, welcome to the embrace of your +brother! 'You were lost, and I have found you; you were dead, and are +again come to life! Rejoice, and be glad.'" + +This was too much happiness for Alia to bear up against without +momentarily yielding to the shock, and she sank, as if lifeless, on a +couch. She was soon restored, however, and surrounded by the seemingly +affectionate caresses of her envious _mother_ and jealous sisters. She +had to hear all their arguments to persuade her to prefer her present +splendid misery to the equivocal boon of having found out a poor, +destitute brother, though it was not yet clear whether she could call +him by that name. Appearances were deceitful. + +Father Paul listened meekly to the smooth discourses and flattering +promises of the rich lady and her children, not doubting, if she were an +O'Clery, which side she would choose. + +"You are young, my dear Aloysia, but yet at or near the age of mature +understanding; and I know a brother cannot command you as a parent could +in this 'free country.' You have your choice--the traditional glory of +the old family of O'Clery, two brothers, and a sister as fair as +yourself, together with the old faith of St. Patrick,--the glorious +CROSS and the immortal SHAMROCK,--all these balanced against this grand +palace, probably great earthly comforts, and a religion that 'is not fit +for a gentleman.' Have your choice; choose boldly, and at once, and free +your brother from suspense." + +"Are you my brother?" she said, wildly, "or do I dream? Have I a brother +on earth, and one so worthy as thou? O, I have no second choice," she +cried, falling at his feet, and wetting them with her tears. + + "Plant this Cross in my bosom, + And this Shamrock in my hair; + And these are the only ornaments + I ever again shall wear." + +The spirited girl prepared immediately to quit the splendid palace, and +she came to the resolution of taking nothing with her, either of dress, +or trinkets, or jewelry. "Naked and bare I came into this family, and +with one single dress shall I leave it," said she, "feeling sufficiently +enriched in what I have this day found--a brother, with the Cross and +Shamrock of the O'Clerys. O, what complete changes! Instead of Alia, I +am Aloysia; instead of Goldrich, I am O'Clery." + +Paul did not think it prudent to allow his sister to quit the house of +her rich patrons so quickly, especially as Mr. Goldrich was from home, +and till the public should be satisfied, and all doubts about her +identity resolved. There was some opposition made by the parsons, one of +whom, a Mr. Cashman, was long fishing for the fair hand of Aloysia; but +this little dust raised by the "white necks" was soon hushed, when the +record of the baptism of Miss O'Clery was produced, and when the book of +heraldry was consulted to verify the armorial bearings of the O'Clerys, +which were, as we said, carved on the clasp of her necklace; and, above +all, when, on the left-hand ring finger of the young lady, the same +impression of a ring appeared which several persons testified having +seen on it when an infant. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +CONCLUSION. + + +During the _denouement_ of the events recorded in the preceding chapter, +and the discussion of them by the various _religious_ newspapers,--each +of which, like a well-trained spaniel, tried to bark so as to secure the +approbation of those from whom it derived its food,--Father O'Clery +continued in the discharge of his ordinary duties as if nothing strange +had happened. He addressed one letter on the subject to the leading +secular journals of the city, showing, by the most convincing chain of +evidence, the identity of the lady passing so long for a daughter of Mr. +Goldrich with his own younger and long-lost sister, and satisfying all +but fanatics and bigots of his prudence, and the propriety of the steps +taken by him for her recovery. + +Mr. Goldrich, in the mean time, returned home, and though he could not +but feel astonished at the developments which took place in his absence +respecting his adopted daughter, he was too shrewd and too keen a man of +business to make himself a tool in the hands of bigoted parsons, or to +deny the validity of the evidence proving her to be no other than +Aloysia O'Clery. This was enough. What now was become of all the +talking, writing, swearing, and preaching of the dominies? To what +purpose was this big talk, loud exclamations, puzzling interrogatories, +and flaming articles of the Babylonian press? For a whole month nothing +was published by the editors but "leaders," "articles," "paragraphs," +"communications," "reports," "speeches," "lectures," "sermons," "mass +meetings," "resolutions," "protests," and "letters of correspondents," +regarding this "Popish plot," "this Romanist aggression," "this priestly +insolence," and a thousand other names, threats, and unflattering +epithets against persons and institutions, whose only connection with +the case of Miss O'Clery was, that they belonged to the Catholic church, +or dared to speak the truth, or claim their rights. Now the +hundred-headed Cerberus of the press is silenced, and skulks into its +dark lair, beaten and silenced, but not ashamed of the filthy dribblings +of its lying tongue. Now all the talk, articles, and "leaders" go for +nothing, since Mr. Goldrich acknowledges "the priest is right; she is +his sister." But did not that clamorous press, that bellowed and +hallooed on the rabble to rob, murder, and destroy,--did it not recall +its words, apologize for its naughty language, and retract every charge +groundlessly made? Like a convicted felon, did it cry _peccavi_--I have +sinned, been misled, or misinformed? No; not a sign of repentance has +been manifested, not an apology made, not a word of retraction uttered +by these self-styled philosophers of the press, who think they are +responsible to no law, human or divine, and who say they have a world to +redeem, and nations and peoples to regenerate. We have read countless +folios of calumnies, misrepresentations, and black libels on every thing +sacred and venerable on earth, by the American press, during several +years that we have read newspapers; but we never yet found one editor to +retract, apologize, or mend his manners and language, except when +compelled by the cudgel or by the law. What an anomaly does the +observation of the conduct of the world present to us! They refuse "to +hear the church," or be guided by the teaching of men who have spent +their lives in preparing and qualifying themselves for the office of +public teaching; and they submit themselves blindly and without control +to the guidance of men whom they know not, who have not always the best +moral characters, and whose training, in most instances, does any thing +but qualify them for the dangerous office they fill. + +The instance which is here given of the almost unanimous hostility of +the press to the cause of justice, truth, and honor, illustrates what we +say; and the obvious conclusion is, that the "fourth estate" itself +needs reclaiming--the great modern reformer needs reformation. + +Soon after Mr. Goldrich's return home, he called on Father Paul O'Clery, +and, with a great deal of good nature, congratulated him on his very +providential discovery of his sister, "my dear adopted child. And now, +reverend sir," said he, affectionately, "I beg to tender you the +hospitalities of our house. As your sister has been for so many years +one of the family,--and not the least loved one, I assure you,--I hope I +may, without impropriety, by right of relationship by adoption, claim +you as a member also." + +Father Paul answered by assuring him he appreciated his kindness; that +he acknowledged the honorable connection in full; and that, though this +very affectionate advance had not taken place, Mr. Goldrich would ever +be regarded by him with feelings of veneration and love, on account of +his affectionate kindness to his sister, in giving her such a superior +education, and treating her on terms of equality with his own children. +The highminded and liberal gentleman, after having shed tears at the +idea of losing his dear adopted girl, departed, having previously +extorted a promise from Father Paul to attend a great party in honor of +Aloysia, at the palace, on the evening of the next day. + +In the mean time, Aloysia's room was besieged with crowds of anxious +visitors and voluntary condolers on her resolution of renouncing wealth, +pleasure, and Protestantism, for poverty, Popery, and penance. Rich +merchants came, offering to settle annuities on her for life; rich +widows came, with their tracts and Bibles in one hand, and their real +estate deeds and scrip in the other, hoping to conquer her resolution; +and eloquent parsons, with their "sweet speeches and flattering +discourses," were chasing one another, like clouds driven by the winds, +to and from the well-furnished boudoir, all charged with the same +apostolic office of saving a soul, a beautiful, interesting one, from +falling into that world-wide "net" of Popery with which St. Peter and +his successors have never ceased to "catch men," since the days of Jesus +Christ. All the discourses, prayers, entreaties, threats, crocodile +tears, flatteries, misrepresentations, legacies, settlements, and other +seductive allurements have miscarried, this time. A Catholic Aloysia was +baptized, and a Catholic she is resolved to live and die, with God's +grace. + +The "big dinner" was prepared at the rich man's house, where Father Paul +through courtesy attended, and where he was obliged to defend, in a +speech of some length, the violent assault of that Parson Cashman, who +we told was fishing for the hand of Aloysia, but who now, because she +rejected him with scorn, had the bad taste to insult the whole company +by his _champagne_-inspired attack on Ireland, her creed, and her +children. + +Paul completely refuted his charge of ignorance of the Irish, by +contrasting their religious knowledge with that of the English and +Americans; in the former one of which countries there are seven or eight +millions of pagans, and in the later so many thousands who follow such +impostors as Miller, Smith, spiritual rappers, Transcendentalists, +Fourierites, and other impostors notorious for their crimes. + +"The reverend gentleman forgets," said he, "that Ireland was once, and +for ages, the most enlightened country on earth, and deserved to be +called "the Island of Saints;" and that whatever of ignorance, poverty, +and crime--which, thank God, is little--she is afflicted with, was +inherited by her from the curse introduced into her by the upas tree of +Protestantism. Ah, sir, the eulogy of England comes with a bad grace +from the lips of a son of America, which she oppressed, and which, but +for Catholic arms, might be now, instead of a great republic, a +badly-ruled province of Protestant England. Study history, sir; study +history; and you will soon think better of Ireland and Catholicity, and +less of England and her persecuting Protestantism." And with that he +retired. + +The remaining part of our tale is soon told. Paul O'Clery, from being a +good priest, became, in addition, a great man; his virtues, learning, +and genius soon attracted the notice of the princes of God's church. He +was consecrated bishop, "_in partibus infidelium_," and he is now a +pillar of God's church, and an ornament in his sanctuary, as archbishop +in one of the great cities of British India, in Asia. Behold, my young +readers, how the church opens the gates of her treasures, and encourages +the promotion of the humblest of her children. Virtue and genius are the +only titles to nobility which she regards. Every office in her gift (and +she has stations too high for angels) is open to the humblest aspirant +to perfection. How many scores of young men might be now shining lamps +in God's sanctuary, instead of being degraded to the level of the +drudges of the earth and the slaves of the world, if they only resisted +the glittering bait of temptation at first, and took as their model Paul +O'Clery, the orphan boy! + +What became of Aloysia, do you wish to know? She joined her sister +Bridget in the nunnery, and after atoning by her tears and repentance +for the _material_ heresy of her youth, she lately fell a victim to +fever, contracted by her in caring for the poor negro slaves of New +Orleans. She preferred to die a saint than live a princess. + +Eugene, as you already know, died a martyr for his faith, having been +persecuted to death by Parson Dilman and Mr. Shaw Gulvert of evil +memory. + +Patrick returned to Ireland, where he has lately purchased an estate +under the encumbered estates law--the very same estate on which his +father lived under Lord Mandemon. + +You recollect Van Stingey, the first persecutor of the orphan family, +was blown up by powder, and perished miserably. Amanda Prying met a fate +little better. Having been in the habit of imbibing strong drafts of +chloroform, for purposes of intoxication, she was found dead in bed one +December morning, after having imbibed too strong a dose. + +The youngest child of Reuben Prying met with his death in this way: +Willy, the youngest but one, hearing that somebody was to be hanged, +asked his pa how the operation was performed. The father, of course, +believing that "knowledge was power," taught the child how to act the +hangman, and the lesson was not taught in vain; for, the next day, +Willy, experimenting on the "knowledge" communicated, hanged his younger +brother, Lory, dead. Thus perished the darling son of him who combined +with the parson to kill Eugene O'Clery. + +I forgot to say that Mary Prying, the innocent, good girl, and the +admirer of Paul, became a convert, and is now a nun, called Sister Mary +Magdalen. + +But what of the Parsons Grinoble, Gulmore, Barker, Scullion, and the +others, who had a hand in robbing the orphans of their faith? They are +all alive yet, and, according to their limited capacities, doing all the +harm it is possible for them to do, in propagating error and +disseminating discord. And your friend Dr. Ugo, who was instrumental in +saving the orphans, is yet living, and battling for the faith, never +omitting to inculcate fidelity to the CROSS and attachment to +the SHAMROCK on all his beloved parishioners and hearers. Amen! + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Cross and the Shamrock, by Hugh Quigley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK *** + +***** This file should be named 16958.txt or 16958.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/9/5/16958/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme Mackreth and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +produced by the Wright American Fiction Project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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