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 TALK OF THE ROAD,
 
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 TALK OF THE KOAD: 
 
 UOW IK18U PEOPI.K TALK ABOUT IIUSU UOIKUS, NMIBN 
 
 THEY OKI A QUIET PLACE AT THE' BACK U*' 
 
 A unCH, OR UNDEIt A UK1»GK. 
 
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 I 
 i
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Ir the reader should recognise something of 
 the dry humour and originality of the Irish pea- 
 santry in what follows, the writer feels that it is 
 not attributable to any powers of invention, 
 imagination, or wit which he himself can lay 
 claim to, but simply to the circumstance of his 
 having spent his life among the Irish people, and 
 been an attentive observer of their habits and 
 modes of thought. Those who have, like the 
 writer, lived in Ireland, will recognise the pecu- 
 liarities of the Irish mind ; for it is, in truth, 
 many a poor Irishman, whom the writer has 
 personally known or heard of, that is speaking 
 in these pages. There is scarcely an incident 
 related which has not actually occurred, many of 
 them within his personal knowledge, and most of 
 the others under the immediate observation of 
 his friends. A few, which have been objected to 
 as the most improbable, are, in fact, those which 
 he has the greatest assurance are actual facts. 
 
 For the ori;,nnality which may sometimes ap- 
 pear in the luoiie of expression, the writer can 
 claim but little credit, tor he has but recorded
 
 VI 
 
 faithfully the expressions which plain men have 
 actually used in their own plain way; and he begs 
 the reader to remember that the influence of a 
 peculiar language on modes of thought sometimes 
 survives the general use of the language itself- 
 and when Irishmen come to speak English, they 
 almost of necessity use it in an Irish iasliion. 
 
 Whatever may be the issue of the struggle 
 going on between the rival Churches, all well- 
 disposed persons feel that it should be conducted 
 with moderation, and without physical violence 
 or abuse. That there are many individuals among 
 the Roman Catholic priesthood who would not 
 condescend to the vulgar expedients occasionally 
 alluded to in what follows, must be admitted 
 even by their opponents ; but that, on the other 
 hand, there are not a few Father Johns in Ire- 
 laud, who prefer abuse and violence to calm 
 reasoning, no person acquaiuted with country 
 life in Ireland will deny. That the exertions 
 i;f all good men who wish well to their country, 
 to soften the tone and moderate the acerbity of 
 jiarty feeling, and encourage the progress oi 
 truth by calm reasoning, may be successful, is the 
 ijiost arleut wish of the writer. 
 
 K. A. S.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 I. WHAT SETS HEOPLK ASTKAT .. ..1 
 
 II. THE TWO BIBLES .. .. ..12 
 
 ni. THE GLORIES OV MARY . . 27 
 
 IV. THE STONE AND THK PRATT ..39 
 
 V. GOING TO HIMSELF .. .. -.47 
 
 VI. THE SAINTS AND THE ANOELS . . .')7 
 
 VII. THE REAPERS AND LABOURERS . . 7-i 
 VIII. THE READEliS IN KILCOMMON .. .. S^ 
 
 I X. THE CONTROVERSIAL CLASS - - . . 93 
 
 X. PETTY SESSIONS .. .. .. 102 
 
 XI. THE PRIE.ST AND THE BIBLE .. 110 
 
 XII. THE WAKE .. .- .. 119 
 
 XIII. THE SCAPULAR .. -. ..127 
 
 XIV. PATINO THE DEBT .- .. .. 139 
 
 XV. THE SERMON .. . .. .. 149 
 
 XVI. THK STATION .. .. .. 155
 
 V11I 
 
 ohap, 
 
 XVll. THE I'OTATO KOT .. 
 
 XVin. HAUO PLACES IN 8CKIPTURK . . 
 
 XIX. THE LONG CAB . . - - 
 
 XX. THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOB 
 
 XXI. THE DUMMY 
 
 XXI 1. THE IRISH IN AMERICA 
 
 XXIII. THE GLORIES OK JOSEPH 
 
 XXIV. THE priests' MISSION 
 XXV. THE FIRE OF PLlitiATOBY 
 
 XXVI. PASTORS AND FLOCKS 
 
 XXVII. THE OLD COAT .. 
 
 XX VI J 1. CONFESSION 
 
 XXIX. THE HOLY WELL AN!) THE KA08 
 
 XXX. THE SPECIAL PATRONESS OF MKATH 
 
 XXXI. ARE THE PRIESTS TO GOVERN THE COCNTKV 
 
 XXXII. SPEAKING OUT 
 
 XXXIII. THE BIRDS 
 
 XXXIV. OUT OF WORK 
 
 XXXV. HOW THE PRIKHT.S GOVKKNTHK OoUNTKV . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 165 
 
 . 177 
 
 . 189 
 
 . 201 
 
 . 212 
 
 . 219 
 •22^* 
 
 . 238 
 
 . -250 
 
 . '259 
 
 . 266 
 
 . 276 
 
 . 286 
 
 . 295 
 
 ? 304 
 
 - 311 
 
 - 327 
 . 334 
 . 342
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WHAT SETS PEOPLE ASTRAY. 
 
 One Sunday, after cliapel, Pat Dolan and Jemmy 
 Brannan were going home from Mass ; and as 
 Pat, who was before, stopped to speak to a 
 neighbour, Jem overtook him, and they walked 
 on together. 
 
 " Good morrow, Jem," says Pat. 
 
 " Good morrow kindly, Pat." 
 
 And so they fell to talking of the sermon, foi 
 Father John had preached that day. 
 
 "Didn't Father John give it to the Bible 
 readers like himself to-day 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " 'Deed and he did, and it's he that can," said 
 Jem. 
 
 "I wonder how Tim Finnegan and Peter Daly, 
 tliat I know is reading the Bible, liked to hear 
 him ; maybe that will stop them, or maybe they 
 will go on till Father John puts up their names 
 before the people," said Pat. 
 
 " I don't know," said Jem, "but T see that 
 
 B
 
 2 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 them ttat takes to reading is not easily put from 
 it. But Father John said one thing to-day that 
 bothers me entirely ; I can't see the reason of it 
 at aU." 
 
 " Now, what was that 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " Why, he told us,"' said Jem, " that any man 
 that takes to x'eading the Bible will be sure to 
 turn Protestant : and I can't come up to the 
 raison of that at all." 
 
 '' Why, man alive," said Pat, " don't you see 
 it yourself? Isn't there Tim Daly and Mat 
 Fogarty, and plenty more, and Johnny Connor 
 himself, that was sexton of the chapel, that 
 Father John trusted more than any man in the 
 parish ; and didn't they all turn Protestants 
 when they took to reading the Bible 1 and what 
 for should you be saying that you can't under- 
 stand Father John saying that, when you see it 
 yourself as plain as the blessed sun in the sky 
 at this moment ? " 
 
 " True for you, Pat," said Jemmy ; *' I see all 
 that as plain as you do, and maybe a little more ; 
 for I see foreby that it is mostly the best Ca- 
 tholic, and the most devotest man, and the man 
 that minds his duty best, and the greatest ai-guer 
 against the Protestants, that evermore turns
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Protestant, all out and out — the surest of all, 
 once he takes to reading the Bible in earnest ; 
 none of your keeping it quiet in the bottom of 
 the chest with the likes of them ; but they'll 
 turn Readers too, and go through fire and water 
 to get others to read and turn Protestant, like 
 themselves. I see that ; and I don't wonder 
 that Father John says it ; for sure he would be 
 blind all out not to see what every man in the 
 parish seen. So it isn't Father John saying it 
 that bothers me ; but what I can't make out at 
 all is, why the Bible should put everyone astray, 
 and make every one that reads it turn 
 Protestant." 
 
 '*]Man alive," said Pat, "sure isn't that as plain 
 as your hand ] Why, wasn't Luther the first Pro- 
 testant that ever lived, and didn't he write all the 
 Bible himself, and why wouldn't it turn every 
 one Protestant that reads it ? " 
 
 "Sure enough, Pat," said Jem, "if that was 
 true it would make all plain ; but there isn't a 
 word of truth in it, that's all. Sure, doesn't Father 
 John tell us that the Catholic religion is 1850 
 years old, and doesn't he tell us that Luther lived 
 only 300 yoai-s ago {and I believe that's all true) ] 
 and will any man in his senses tell me that the 
 
 B 2'
 
 4 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Catholic Cliurcli had never a Bible for 1,55C 
 years 1 Sure tliat doesn't stand to reason. Anc 
 isn't tlicre the Douay Bible, that the priest al 
 lows is the true one ? And where did that come 
 from ] Sure Luther didn't write that too. And 
 so, if Father John was to tell us that Luther 
 wrote all the Bible out of his own head (and, sure 
 enough, I heard Father John once say very near 
 that same) I wouldn't believe him ; for how could 
 Luther put it on the priests, too 1 ' 
 
 " Don't you see, Jem," said Pat, " that you 
 have it now ? 'Twas the Protestant Bible, of 
 course, that Luther wrote ; and it's as different 
 from the Catholic Bible as turnips is from the 
 good ould Cups (my blessing be with them and 
 the ould times), and sure that's the reason that 
 reading the Protestant Bible turns every one into 
 a Protestant." 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " if that was it I'd be 
 quite happy and settled in my mind at once ; but 
 I doubt it isn't, after all. Didn't I hear old 
 John Dowd, the schoolmaster that lives over at 
 Kilmore, the cutest and learnedst mt.n that ever 
 was in this countiy, say that he got a Protestant 
 Bible and a Catholic Bible, and that he read 
 them both together (and he was the boy that was
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 fit to read two books at wonst), and didn't I hear 
 ]iim lay it down that there wasn't a word of diffei 
 between them that signified one haporth ? And 
 that's what makes me ever more uneasy in my 
 mind, till I get the reason why reading the Bible 
 should make people turn Protestant. Sure now 
 it's not easy to believe that the Word of God 
 would put every one astray entirely. And, by the 
 same token, you told me yourself that Luther 
 was the first Protestant that, ever lived, only 300 
 years ago, and that there never w^s a Protestant 
 for 1,500 years before that. Now, if they had 
 the Bible all those 1,500 years, isn't it mighty 
 odd if no one ever looked into it ? and if they 
 did, why did it never turn them Protestants 
 before as well as after ? " 
 
 " Maj^be it was all in Latin, Jem," said Pat, 
 " and that nobody at all could read it." 
 
 ""Well," said Jem, "the schoolmaster said that 
 wasn't it, though I don't i-emember how he made 
 it out. But 111 tell you what it is, Pat : my 
 mind's all astray about thinking why the Bible 
 should make every one a Protestant, and set 
 every one astray that reads it. Sui-e that isn't 
 like the Word of God at all : and I can't 
 attend to my duties the way I used to do,
 
 6 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 nor keep myself from thinking, and I be to 
 look for something to quiet me, and it's to 
 Father John I'll go, and ask him the reason 
 why reading the Word of God is setting all the 
 people astray." 
 
 " And isn't it voiirself that 'ill have to flatter 
 him neatly, and get him in the best of good 
 humour, when you go to poke hini with questions 
 like that, Jem 1 " said Pat. " And isn't it his 
 reverence that'll handle you, and maybe put up 
 your name before the people 1 " 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "I want to be satisfied in 
 my mind, and sure I'm willing to be satisfied ; and 
 who would I go to to settle me if I wouldn't go to 
 my own clergy 1 Sure, if all the boys that go astray 
 from reading would only go to their clergy tf> 
 .satisfy them, and set them right, maybe it wouldn t 
 be so bad. Any way I'm resolved to try ; and 
 maybe I'll have the telling you what he says." 
 
 And by that time Jem was got to his own 
 door ; so he said, " Good evening, Pat." 
 
 *' Good evening, neighbour," said Pat, " and 
 I wdsh you safe fi'ora Father John." 
 
 Well, it so happened, about three weeks after, 
 that Pat and Jemmy fell in together again, 
 coming home from chapel, and of course they 
 began to talk.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 7 
 
 " And did jou ever speak to Father JoLn ? '' 
 said Pat. 
 
 "Indeed I did," said Jem; "last Tliursdrj 
 was a fortnight he overtook me on the road, him 
 riding and I walking ; so I took off my hat to 
 his reverence, and, as he spoke to me pretty civil, 
 I made bold to talk to him then ; and says I, 
 ' Your reverence, I hope since you came to this 
 parish you never found me anything but a boy 
 that always attended to his duties and was 
 respectful to his clergy.' « True for you,' says he, 
 ' that's what you are.' « Well, then,' says I, ' I 
 want a bit of advice, and maybe a little instruc- 
 tion from your reverence ; for who would I go to 
 for it only to my own clergy 1 ' ' Quite right, ' 
 says he ; 'if everybody did that,' says he, ' the 
 way they used to do, the people wouldn't be going 
 astray.' • Well, then, your reverence,' says I, 
 'I'm unasy in my mind about one thing that's, 
 disturbing me ; and I'm sure your reverence 
 could settle it in one word, and maybe you'll 
 have the kindness to do so.' ' What is it T says 
 he, quite pleasant-like. * I wanted to know, your 
 reverence,' says I, ' what is the reason that the 
 Word of God should set everybody astray that 
 reads it 1 ' With that he turned round upon mo
 
 8 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 as sudden as a clap of thundei', and says he, ' It'a 
 reading the Bible you are, and going to turn 
 Protestant on me.' ' No, please your reverence,' 
 says I, ' it's nothing of the kind.' ' You're a liar,' 
 says he, ' and it's reaoiing the Bible 3'^ou are.' ' ISTo, 
 please your reverence,' says I, ' I never had a 
 Bible in my hand in all my life, and I never 
 heard one word read out of it good or bad ' (and 
 with that he began to look more easy in his mind 
 and more agreeable-like), ' bai'ring,' says I, ' the 
 bits of scraps that your reverence reads in the 
 chapel sometimes, and sure,' says I, looking up at 
 him out of the corner of my eye, ' that wasn't too 
 much, any way.' ' And what more do you want V 
 says he. ' Only just to know,' says I, ' why it is 
 that the reading of God's Word puts evfry one 
 astray that reads it.' ' And what's that to you,' 
 says he, ' if you don't read it V ' Only this, your 
 reverence,' says I, ' that I see eveiybody that's 
 reading the Bible going astray and turning Pro- 
 testant.' ' Sure enough,' says he. ' And it seems 
 so unnatural like,' says I, ' that God's own Word 
 should set the people astray, and ruin them en- 
 tirely, that I can't get my mind off thinking of it, 
 and I can't attend to my duties for thinking ; and 
 sure if your reverence could settle my mind for
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. i) 
 
 me is one word, Avoukln't it be the good thing 
 for me V ' To be sure,' says he, 'and isn't that, 
 what I am going to do in a moment V and with 
 that I pulls off my hat, and says he, ' Isn't it the 
 Protestant Bible they're reading,' says he, ' that's 
 all full of lies from beginning to end ] and isn't 
 that the reason they're going astray and turning 
 heretics, and doesn't it stand to reason ?' says he. 
 ' Oh, then, your reverence,' says I, ' it's all because 
 they're reading a false Bible that they ;^re going 
 astray and turning heretics.' ' To be sui-e it is,' 
 says he ; ' what else ]' ' And if the Cathc-lic Bible 
 wouldn't set them astray,' says I, ' I'm all right 
 in my mind, and satisfied entirely now and ever- 
 more.' ' To be sure it wouldn't,' says he, ' when 
 it's the right one.' ' Well, your reverence,' says 
 J, 'just one word more. When so niany of the 
 people is turning, and,' says I, ' there's Johnny 
 Connor and Tim Daly, and there's— — .' 'Don't 
 talk to me about them,' says he j 'I don't want to 
 liear of the likes of them.' 'Well, it isn't about 
 them, yoiir reverence,' says I, ' but about the rest 
 of the boys that isn't gone yet. If it's a bad Bible 
 that's leading them astray, wouldn't it be the 
 good thing jiLst to give them the right one, and 
 let them see the differ ?' 'What's that to you V
 
 10 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 • 
 
 says he ; 'just mind your own duties, and hold 
 your tongue.' ' But, your reverence,' says I, ' it's 
 fretting me to see the boys going, and it's un- 
 settling my mind ; and if it's the lying Pro- 
 testant book that's doing it all, sure there would 
 be nothing like the right Bible.' 'Mind your 
 own duty,' says he, quite sudden, ' and don't be 
 teaching your clergy ; it's always the way,' says 
 he ; * the minute you think of the Bible, you 
 begin to teach youi- clergy.' * Sure,' says I, 'it's 
 not for the likes of me to teach anybody, let 
 alone my clergy ; but sure/ says I, *I only want 
 my clergy to teach me one thing.' ' What is it ?' 
 says he. ' Only this,' says I j ' is the Protestant 
 Bible like the Catholic Bible, at all ]' ' Not a 
 bit of it,' says he ; ' how could heresy be like the 
 Catholic faith V says he. ' Well, your reverence,' 
 says I, ' there's many of the boys as uneasy as my- 
 self, when they see how things is going on, and the 
 people turning Protestant ; and if your reverence 
 would only show us the two books, and let us see 
 the differ, we would see then the reason of it 
 all.' ' Is that what you are after V says he ; 'I'll 
 put you from the likes of that, ' says he ; ' see 
 how it will be with you,' says he, ' if I call your 
 name from the altar!' 'And is that all the
 
 TALK Of THE ROAD. 11 
 
 atcisfactiou yonr reverence will give me ? ' says 
 I. ' Mind your duties,' says he, ' or I'll have 
 satisfaction of you,' says he ; and with that he 
 rode off, looking as in ad as you please." 
 
 " ' Deed and," saidPcit, " if his reverence would 
 only give us a little more satisfaction it might 
 keep some of the boys from turning, for sure he 
 oughtrto be able. But sure I told you how it 
 would be ; and what will you do now, Jem 1" 
 
 " Why, I can't rest in my mind, Pat, now 
 more nor eA^er, till I find out why it is that 
 reading God's Word should put every one astray, 
 for it seems more unnatural-like than ever ; and 
 by this blessed light, since Father John won't 
 ^ive me any satisfaction about it, I'll try if lean t 
 get some time of speaking to the Rev. Mr. 
 Owens, the parson, and I'll ask him if he can tell 
 me any satisfaction about it. Sure I know he 
 will speak civil to me any way ; and if he can't 
 give me satisfaction, I'll not mind anything else 
 he says, and there's no harm done." 
 
 And so they parted for that day ; and if we 
 hear anything more of what happened we ■will 
 tell it truly
 
 12 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE TWO BIBLES. 
 
 Well, a few days after Jemmy Brannan made 
 up his mind to speak to the Rev. Mr. Owens, it 
 happened that Jemmy and Pat Dolan were work- 
 ing together for a farmer ; and they were filling 
 a cart out of some manure-heaps that lay on the 
 roadside. And, as they were working, who should 
 come up the road but Mr. Owens himself. Now, 
 Mr. Owens seldom passed people by without 
 saying a word ; for he was a pleasant-spoken 
 man, and Irishmen like a gentleman that speaks 
 free and pleasant. So Mr. Owens said, " It's a 
 tine day for the work, boys ; thanks be to God 
 for it." 
 
 " A fine day, your reverence, God be praised," 
 said Jem, very well pleased to have Mr, Owens 
 to speak to that day. 
 
 " It would be bad farming without the dung, 
 boys," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Sure enough, your reverence, that would be 
 bad work," said Pat ; " but there's a deal of poor 
 creatures has little dimg to put on it since the 
 praties went."
 
 TAXK OF THE ROAD. 13 
 
 "And without the .spade or the ploixgh the 
 dung is not mucli good," said the parson. 
 
 " I'm thinking both spade and plough will 
 have to go deeper these times," said Jem, 
 
 " Did you ever hear of Jesus (y'hi-ist digging 
 and dunging ]" said ]\lr. Owens. 
 
 " No, your reverence," said both the men, di'op- 
 ping their spades in great amazement. 
 
 "Why, did you never read of that in the 
 Bible 1" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 ** xTo, your reverence," said Jem, " I never 
 did." 
 
 " What Bible is it in, your reverence V said 
 Pat; "is it in the Protestant Bible or the Catho- 
 lic Bible ?" 
 
 "And which of these do you read ?" said Mr-. 
 Owens. Pat did not like to say he never read 
 a word of either in his life, so he sdd nothing, 
 and Mr. Owens went on — " I believe it is just 
 the same in both, as I could show you if I. had 
 the books." 
 
 "Well, your reverence,'" said Jem, "that is 
 just what I would like to see." 
 
 " What ]" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " The differ between the two books," said J em. 
 
 " Well, if that is all you want to see," said Mr.
 
 14 TAXK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 Owens, "it is not much ; ibr the 'differ' is so 
 small you will hardly see it at all : but what 
 makes you wish for it ?" 
 
 So Jem was fairly in for the very thing he 
 wauLed ; and so he said, " Your reverence, I can't 
 make out wliy reading the Bible should put 
 people astray, and make them leave the Catholic 
 Church." 
 
 "Nor I neither," said Mr. Owens. "How 
 30uld it do that 1 It comes to us from God hiui- 
 self, that made the Church, and knows what is 
 best for it." 
 
 "Butsui-e, your reverence," said Pat, "don't 
 we know that they that gives us the 
 Bible always wants us to leave the Catholic 
 Church ?" 
 
 " Were the blessed Apostles good Catholics — 
 St. Peter, and St. Paul, and St. Matthew, and all 
 the rest of them ?" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "Surely they were, your reverence, "said Jem. 
 
 " And how would their writings, that they 
 wrote to all the people that they made Catholics, 
 how would those writings turn any man away 
 from the Catholic Church?" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " That's just what I want to know, your reve- 
 rence "«3aid Jem ; "and I heard tell that it was
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 15 
 
 the Protestant Bible that did it, and that the 
 Catholic Bible would not do it at all ; and that's 
 the reason why I wanted to see the differ." 
 
 " I can't show you the ' differ ' without the 
 boohs," said Mr. Owens : " but if you and vour 
 neighbour here will come down to my house 
 some evening, I'll put one book in your hand and 
 the other in his, and you can read turn about, and 
 compare them, and see the ' differ.' " 
 
 " And when will we come down, your reve- 
 rence ?" said Jem. 
 
 " This .evening, if you like, when you leave 
 off work," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "With God's blessing, then, I'll go," ?aid 
 Jem. 
 
 So Mr. Owens had to leave them, for he had 
 to see a sick man ; and when he was gone, Jem 
 asked Pat to go with him that evening ; and Pat 
 was not willing at fiist ; so Jem said to him, 
 " Sure you shall hold the Catholic Bible yourself, 
 and you may as well come and see the end of it." 
 
 So that evening they both went up to Mr. 
 Owens's; and he brought them both into his study, 
 and got down the two books ; and first ho opened 
 the Douay Bible, and showed them what was 
 printed in the first page —
 
 16 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " APPROBATION. 
 
 " This new edition of the English version of 
 the Bible, printed, with our permission, by 
 Richard Coyne, 4, Cai^el-street, carefvilly collated, 
 by our direction, with the Clementine Vulgate ; 
 likewise, with the Douay version of the Old 
 Testament of 1509,* and with the Rhemish 
 version of the New Testament of 1582, and with 
 other approved English versions — We, by our 
 authority, approve. And we declare that the 
 same may be used, with great spiritual profit, by 
 the faithful ; provided it be read with due re- 
 verence, and the proper dispositions. — Given at 
 Dublin, 2nd September, 1829." 
 
 And txien Mr. Owens showed them that this 
 approbation was signed by " Daniel Murray, 
 D.D.," the late Roman Catholic Archbishop of 
 Dublin ; and he showed them this added to it — 
 " We concur with the above approbation," signed 
 by twenty-four of the Irish Roman Catholic 
 bishops. So Jem and Pat were both satisfied that 
 this was the right book, and Pat was more easy 
 in his mind ; for after reading this he thought it 
 eould be no harm for him to look into it ; and so 
 
 * This date, 1509, must be a misprint, for tlie Douay version 
 of tlie Old Testament was publislied for tlie Jint time in the 
 year 1609.
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 17 
 
 he kept tliis book in liis hand, and Mr. Owens 
 handed the other to Jem. 
 
 " Now, where would you like to read 1" said 
 Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Oh, your reverence can choose better than 
 we can," said Jem. 
 
 So Mr. Owens opened the Church of Enghmd 
 Bible at the First Epistle of Timothy, chap, ii., 
 verse 5, and Jem read as follows — " For there is 
 one God, and one jNIediator between God and 
 men, the man Christ Jesus." 
 
 " Holy Kitty !" exclaimed Jem. 
 
 "Stop a minute, my friend," said the parson, 
 laying his hand on Jem's arm ; " who was 
 Kitty V 
 
 " Why, then, indeed, your reverence," said 
 Jem, "I don't know, barrin' she might be one of 
 the saints." 
 
 " And you will swear by you don't know who 1 
 Do you know what our Saviour says about swear- 
 ing ?" said the parson. 
 
 " I suppose ' Thou shalt not take the name of 
 God in vain,' " said Jem ; " but what harm is it 
 to swear by Holy Kitty V 
 
 " Is it not harm to do what Christ commands 
 us not to do ]" said IMr. Owens. 
 
 r
 
 18 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Surely," said Jem, " there's no denying that." 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " listen to the woi'ds 
 of Christ himself, in his own Sermon on the 
 Mount (Matthew v. 34), ' I say to you not to swear 
 at all,' and in v. 37, 'Let your speech be yea, yea ; 
 no, no : and that which is over and above these is 
 of evil.' And the Apostle St. James, in his 
 epistle, says (chapter v. 12), 'But, above all 
 things, my brethren, swear not ; neither by 
 heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath ; 
 but let your speech be yea, yea ; no, no ; that 
 you fall not under judgment.' Now, T ask you, 
 my friends," said the pareon, " can it be safe for 
 us to swear by any oath, when we have such 
 directions from God about our talk 1" 
 
 " Surely not, your reverence," said Jem. 
 
 " And if God has given vis such directions, 
 ought we not to keep them ] and can we keep 
 them without knowing them ] Now, did you 
 ever know this before, that Christ had given us 
 orders not to swear by any oath ?" 
 
 " I never heard it before," said Jem. 
 
 "You see, then," said Mr. Owens, "what neea 
 we have to study God's Word, in order that we 
 may know what God commands us to do or not 
 to do. Tf w(; do not know his Word, we may be
 
 TALK OF THE KUAD. 19 
 
 continually doing the very things that make him 
 augiy. But come back to the verse you read, 
 Jem ; it seemed to strike you forcibly." 
 
 " Holy Virgin 1" exclaimed Jem. 
 
 " Stop again, my friend," said the parson ; " are 
 you not doing again the very thing that your 
 Saviour bid you not do 1" 
 
 " I am, your reverence," said Jem ; '' but it's 
 f>o hard for a man to quit, in a moment, what he 
 was used to all his life." 
 
 " You see, then," said the parson, "what need 
 we have to study Christ's woi'ds, and to learn 
 them carefully, that we may keep them. That 
 is the reason that we teach the Bible to our chil- 
 dren, that they may learn to avoid habits that 
 are so displeasing to God, and so hard to get rid 
 of. The Jews were told to teach them to their 
 children ; and why not to Christian children 1 
 And St. Paul praised Timothy for knowing them 
 from a child. And you see now what need there 
 is that the Church should teach Christ's words 
 carefully to people ; for it is not once hearing 
 them that will do ; we must read and study 
 tlieiu again and again, toleai'n to keep them. And 
 this is why we teach the Bil*le so much " 
 
 " But, your reverence," said Pat, " I hear Pro- 
 
 c 2
 
 iU TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 testants swear betimes ; and how comes that, if 
 they get such instruction ]" 
 
 "And many," said Mr. Owens, " that heard 
 our Suviour teach, and his Apostles too, were 
 never the better, but the worse of what they 
 heard. Very likely that some that heard that 
 Sermon on the Mount went on swearing ; but 
 that was no fault of the teaching. The Church 
 ought to teach Christ's words, whether men will 
 hear them and do them oi not. But come back to 
 our verse ; what were you going to say of it, Jem 1" 
 
 " I was going to say, your reverence," said 
 Jem (and he didn't swear this time), "if them 
 isn't the very words that made Johnny Connor, 
 the sexton to the chapel, tiuni Protestant. Sure 
 I heard him myself, when Father John taxed 
 him in the chapel, forenent the people, with read- 
 ing, and wanted to take his Bible, and Johnny 
 wouldn't give it. ' And what do yo\i find in it,' 
 says Father John, ' that you won't give it up V 
 ' I find in it,' says Johnny, ' that there is one 
 Mediator between God and men.' I mind the 
 words well. Now, Pat," said Jem, turning sharp 
 round on Pat as he spoke, " look at your book, 
 man, and see if the words is there ; and then we 
 ■will see which book set Johnny Connor astray."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 21 
 
 ** Read it again in your own book first," said 
 the parson, " and then we will see the ' diifer * 
 exactly." 
 
 So Jem read again, " For there is one God, and 
 one Mediator between God and men, the manChrist 
 Jesus." 
 
 " Now, my friend, will yon i-ead ? " said the 
 parson to Pat. So Pat read, " For there is one 
 God and one Mediator of God and men, tJia 
 man Christ Jesus." 
 
 " Now ," said the parson, " which Bible set 
 Johnny Connor astray ?" 
 
 " Well, that's ])lain, anyway," said Jem ; 
 *' there's but one Mediator ; and tlie one book 
 is as good as the other for that." 
 
 "Wliat would you like to have next?" said 
 Mr. Owens. So both told him to choose, for 
 they were at a loss. 
 
 " Can you say the commandments V said Mr. 
 Owens. 
 
 "Yes, your reverence," said both of them. 
 
 So Mr. Owens turned to Jem, " Say the first 
 commandment ;" so Jem said, " Thou shalt have 
 no other gods but me." Then Mr. Owens turned 
 to Pat, and said, " Say tlie .second commandment "
 
 22 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 So Pat repeated, " Thou shalt not take the name 
 of God in vain." 
 
 " Is there nothing else between the two?" said 
 Mr. Owens. 
 
 " No, your reverence," said both Pat and Jem 
 together. 
 
 " Were you never taught that something wa. 
 left out 1" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "No, your reverence," said they both. So IMr. 
 Owens opened the two Bibles, and made them 
 read what was left out in their catechisms ; and 
 weiu read first out of the Protestant book — " Thou 
 shalt not make unto thee any graven image, 
 or any likeness of anything that is in heaven 
 above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is 
 in the %ater under the earth : Thou shalt not 
 bow down thyself to them, nor serve them ; for 
 I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting 
 tlie iniquity of the fathers upon the childi'en 
 unto the third and fourth generation of them 
 that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands 
 of them that love me, and keep my commatid- 
 ments." And then Pat read out of the Roman 
 Catholic Bible — " Thou shalt not make to thy- 
 self a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 33 
 
 that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, 
 nor of those things that are in the waters under 
 the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve 
 them : I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, 
 visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the 
 children, unto the third and fourth generation 
 of them that hate me ; and showing mercy unto 
 thoiisands to them that love me, and keep my 
 commandments." — Exodus xx. 4, 5, 6 (Douay 
 Bible). 
 
 " I don't see ' images ' in the Catholic Bible, 
 yoxiT reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " And what can a graven thing mean but a 
 graven image 1" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Never mind that, your reverence," said Jeiu. 
 " I see the word ' likeness ' in both books ; and if 
 we must not make a ' likencfs ' of anything in 
 heaven, how can we make an image of it 1" 
 
 " Now, then," said ]\rr. Owens, " you see what 
 God said in his commandments, and you never 
 knew that before." 
 
 " Well, that beats all, your reverence," said 
 Jem ; " the two Bililes is like enough ; and the 
 Catholic Bible tliat we don't see, and the Catholic 
 catechism that we do see and learn, is not like 
 at all"
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 And that, too," said Mr. Oweus, " in the 
 matter of God's own commandments, that he 
 spoke liimself. And how shall we know how to 
 serve God if we do not know his own command- 
 ments 1" And hei-e Mr. Owens showed them, 
 in the Douay Bible, the words just before the 
 ten commandments of God — " ' And the Lord 
 Bpoke ALL THESE WORDS.' Now, if God spoke 
 all these words in giving his commandments, 
 should not we learn them all, when we learn 
 the commandments 1 And here, you see, we 
 should not put our trust in any chiu-ch or man 
 to teach us God's commandments, but we should 
 look in the Bible, to see what God commanded. 
 But it's getting late," said Mr. Owens ] " maybe 
 you would, come in some other night ?" 
 
 " Indeed, an' we will," said Jem ; " but I'd like 
 to have the book at home." 
 
 "Which book?" said Mr. Owens. So then 
 Pat and Jem began debating ; for Pat wanted 
 the Catholic book, for he was still afraid the 
 Protestant book might set him astray ; so at last 
 they agreed that Jem should take the Protestant 
 Bible, and Pat the Douay Bible, and read them 
 together, verse about, in the evenings, till they 
 found all the " differ ;" and so Jem asked the
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 25 
 
 price of his book. " A shilling," said the par- 
 son ; so Jem paid it, well pleased. And then 
 Pat pulled out his shilling. 
 
 " Oh," said Mr. Owens, " this book is four 
 and sixpence." 
 
 '"Four and sixpence, your reverence!" said 
 , Pat ; " and sui'e Jem's is the purtiest book ; for 
 it has a real leather cover on it, and this is only 
 paper ; and Jem's is only a shilling." 
 
 "I can't help that," said Mr. Owens; "we 
 can't get this book for less."* 
 
 " I see now, your reverence," said Jem, " it's 
 tJie Protestants that want the poor to have the 
 Bible any way, when they make it cheap." And 
 so the parson agreed to give Pat his book for 
 two and sixpence, and to take it at sixpence a 
 week ; and when they were going out, Mr. 
 Owens said — " 1 hope, boys, you don't think that 
 T set you astray." 
 
 " And does your reverence not want us to 
 leave the Catholic Church 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " If St. Peter or St. Paul was to preach to 
 morrow," said Mr. Owens, " would you listen to 
 
 • Wg are glad to hear that the Douay Bible may now be pro- 
 cured at 2s. 6d., published by Simms and M'lntyre, lielfast. 
 —Ed.
 
 26 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 tliem ? or if tliey wrote you a letter would you 
 read iti" 
 
 " Surely, your reverence," said Pat, "I would/ 
 
 " And would that make you leave tlie Catho- 
 lic Church ] " said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " It coiildn't, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " I give you the 
 letters they wrote to you, and to all. If I saw 
 St. Peter or St. Paul I would not ask them to 
 leave the Catholic Church ; and no more would 
 I ask you : I want you to be such Catholics as 
 St. Peter and St. Paul were — no more, and no 
 less ; and for that I give you their writings to 
 read. Judge for yourselves, my friends, for you 
 have common sense, like most Irishmen, whether 
 they who give you St. Peter and St. Paul's 
 writings, or they who keep them from you, are 
 most in earnest in wanting you to be such 
 Catholics as St. Paul and St. Peter were." 
 
 So they left Mr. Owens for that night ; and ii 
 we hear of anything more, it won't be lost.
 
 TA.I.K OF THE ROAD. 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GLORIES OF MARY, 
 
 We have not lost sight of Pat and Jem yet, 
 and perhaps our readers may like to know what 
 we have heard. Well, a few days ago, they were 
 setting potatoes for a farmer, working one at each 
 side of the same ridge ; and their dinner was 
 brought to them in a tin can and a wooden plate 
 tied up in a <^'oth, and they sat down under a 
 thorn bush to eat it ; and, when they had done, 
 Pat pulled a book out of his pocket, and Jera 
 leaned over his shoulder, reading with him, till 
 the bell would ring for work. And while they 
 ■vere reading. Father John rode down the lane ; 
 j^d though they did not see him, for their backs 
 were towards him, he saw they were over a 
 book. 
 
 Now, Father John was getting mighty uneasy 
 in his mind when he saw people i-eading ; so he 
 gave his horse to a boy in the lane, and he walked 
 up quiet, till he got just at their backs, and, 
 "What book is that you're reading, boys?" 
 says he. 
 
 *' Please your reverence," said Pat, holding up
 
 28 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 the book, "it's 'The Glories of Mary,'" and very 
 glad Pat was that time that it wasn't his Douay 
 Bible he had in his hand. 
 
 " Oh, that's all right," said Father John ; 
 " that's a g^ood book ; whei-e did you get it ? " 
 
 *' Please ye ar reverence," said Pat, " I bought 
 "t from Judy Brannigan, down at John Dolau's 
 >vake." 
 
 " Ah, Judy is a useful woman among the 
 people," said Father John : " she is always sell 
 ing good books among them." 
 
 " And, indeed, your reverence," said Jem, 
 '' she made great brags of all she sold of this 
 book ; she says there is more of it in the parish 
 now than all other books put together." 
 
 "So much the better," said his reverence; 
 " there can't be too much of that book ; that's a 
 real Catholic book, and I am glad to see you 
 reading it, boys." 
 
 And with that Father John was going away, 
 well satisfied in his mind ; when Jem stopped 
 Lim by saying, 
 
 " And is it true, your reverence, that the man 
 who wrote it was made a saint by the Pope, just 
 thirteen years ago, in the year 1S39 1 " 
 
 " Quite true," s»vs Father John,
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 29 
 
 " And was that the year he died, your reve- 
 rence 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " Oh, no," said Father John, " he died more 
 than 150 years before that." 
 
 " And why didn't they make him a saint 
 before H " said Pat. 
 
 " Oh, it takes a long time," said Father John, 
 " the Church is so particular." 
 
 " And didn't the cardinals at Rome read thi.<» 
 book, and certify that there was nothing in it 
 against faith or morals 1 "* said Jem. 
 
 " To be sure they did," said Father John ; 
 "he couldn't be made a saint without that." 
 
 " Well, it ought to be the good book," said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Of course it must, when it was written by a 
 saint of the Holy Catholic Church," said Father 
 John ; " and I am glad to see that it's such books 
 you are reading, boys." 
 
 And with that Father John was going away ; 
 but Jem stopped him with a question 
 
 " Maybe your reverence would explain one 
 thing in the book to me," said Jem. 
 
 ♦ It would seem that .Jem must have got a coi y of an eilition 
 published sonib jean ago, in the preface of which all this was 
 lelatfcU. Kverytliiiii; about Alphoiiso Ligucri beiu? made » 
 saint is left out of the later editions; we wonder why.— Ed.
 
 50 TALK OF THE KOAD 
 
 Now, Father John was so well pleased to see 
 Jem at this book, instead of the Bible, that he 
 stopped to auswei" him. " And what is it t " 
 said he 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Jem, " is Mary 
 the mediator between God and man?" 
 
 " No," said Father John, " Jesus Christ is the 
 mediator between God and man ; but then Mary 
 is our mediator with Jesus Christ." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Jem, " I find 
 that in this book, sure enough ; " and Father John 
 seemed pleased at that ; " but I find more in the 
 book foreby," said Jem ; and he looked to the 
 page that he and Pat were at, and he read (page 
 257) — " I am, says Mary, the defence of all who 
 have recourse to me, and my mercy is to them a 
 tower of refuge, and therefore have I been 
 appointed by my Lord the mediatrix of peace 
 BETWEEN SINNERS AND GoD." And then Jem 
 turned back to page 252, and read, " O Mary, 
 thy oflfice is to mediate between God and 
 MEN." " Is that right, your reverence 1" said Jem. 
 
 " And why wouldn't it be right," said Father 
 John, " when it's in a Catholic book, that tlie 
 Holy Church approves 1" 
 
 " Because, your reverence," said Jem, " it's in
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 31 
 
 the Bible that there is one mediator hetvjeen 
 God and men, the rnati Christ Jesus ; and I 
 don't see how both can be true." 
 
 " Didn't I say it was reading the Bible you 
 were ?" said Father John. 
 
 " And if it wasn't true when your reverence 
 said it, it's true now anyway," said Jem. 
 
 " And if you will be reading heretical books," 
 said Father John, " how can I help your going 
 astray V 
 
 " But, your reverence," said Pat, " is not that 
 in the Catholic Bible too ?" 
 
 " What do you know about that ?" said Father 
 John. 
 
 " Please your reverence," said Pat, " sure it'a 
 the Catholic Bible that I have ; and sui-e, your 
 reverence, that isn't a bad book." 
 
 And at that Father John looked less pleased 
 than ever, but he was not just ready with an 
 answer, and Pat did not want to talk much about 
 that ; so Pat went on — " But did the Blessed 
 Virgin say that she was appointed the mediatrix be- 
 tween sinners and God % or where did she say it %" 
 
 " How do I know ?" said Father John, getting 
 out of all patience at being so bothered. 
 
 " Sure, your reverence, didn't I read it out of
 
 32 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 this book ]" said Jem, liolding up the " Glories ol 
 Mary." 
 
 " I'll tell you what," said Father John, turning 
 round upon Jem, " if it's reading the Bible you 
 are, you'll soon be out of the Catholic Church, 
 and oat of that there is no salvation. Didn't I 
 often tWl you that the Bible would sot yoi- astray?" 
 
 *' Well, your reverenoe, that's not it," said 
 Jem ; '' for while I was only reading che Bible 
 I was getting quite contented in my mind, and I 
 was hoping I would go on reading it, and never 
 leave the Catholic Church at all, until I came 
 across this book, and now it's it that is setting 
 my mind astray- ; for sure when the Bible tell^* 
 me that there is only one mediator between God 
 and men, and this book, that your reverence says 
 is a Catholic book, says it is Mary's office to 
 mediate between God and men ; sure if I can't 
 get some wav of settling between them, it will 
 put me astray entirely.'' 
 
 "I'll tell you the way," said Father John, for he 
 was getting afraid of losing Jem entirely ; doesn't 
 this book itself tell you that Jesus Christ is the 
 ojily mediator of justice ? but that does not hinder 
 Mary to be the mediator of grace and of peace." 
 'And, please your reverence," said Jem, "does
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 31 
 
 not this book say (page 262), that Mary was 
 ' chosen from eternity to be the Mother of God, 
 ihut lier mercy might procure salvation for those 
 %chom the justice of her son could not save,' and 
 doesa't that make her a better mediator of sal- 
 vation than if she was the mediator of justice 
 itself 1 and isn't that worse and worse V 
 
 " I knew how it would be," said Father John, 
 " when you took to reading the Bible ; you're 
 going straight out of the Catholic Church, and 
 out of that there's no redemption, and you'll 
 never have a Mass said for your soul when you're 
 dead ; and what for will you go out of the 
 Outholic Church % '■' 
 
 " If ever I be driven out of it, your reve- 
 rence," said Jem, " it will be for one thing 
 only." 
 
 " And what's that ? " said Father John. 
 
 " To have the Lord Jesus Christ for my 
 Saviour, and Him only," said Jem. 
 
 " And who told you thei-e was any other 
 Savio'ar in the Catholic Church 1 " said Fatlier 
 John. 
 
 " This book, your reverence," said Jem, " the 
 ■* Glories of Mary,' that your reverence says waa 
 written by a saint, and approved of by the Pope
 
 oi TALK OF THE UOAD 
 
 and. the cardinals; this book that your reverence 
 saj's can never set me astray. Sure I turned 
 down the page when I came to it, and here it is 
 — ' When vje ask of God Ms graces, he sends us 
 to Mary, saying, GO to Mary ' (page 220), and 
 where did God say that at all, or who did he 
 say it to ? " said Jem ; " and here it goes on — 
 ' Our sahation. is in the hand of Mary ; ' and, 
 * He who is protected by Mary is saved ; he avIki 
 li not protected by her is lost' (page 221) ; and 
 sure here is a prayer to her — ' pure and imma- 
 cvdate Queen, save me, deliver me from eteniai. 
 damnation ' (page 220) j and here again — ' Her 
 mercy procures salvation for those the justice of 
 her Son could not save' (page 262) ; and is not 
 all that making her the Saviour 1, " 
 
 " Let alone this book," said Father John ; 
 " I'm sorry you ever came acros? it." 
 
 " And sure, your reverence," said Jem, " you 
 know well there is more of this book In IL^ 
 parish than tlievf ^ of the Bible ; and many's 
 the time I Leart". your i-everence preach againpt 
 reading the Bible, and did you ever say a word 
 Hgaiust this book 1 And didn't you tell me just 
 jjow that this book would never set me astray, 
 or put me from the Catliolic Church, and that
 
 TALK OF THE EOAD. 35 
 
 the Bible would put me astray from the Catholic 
 Church 1 And isn't that the poor case 1 to say 
 that the writings of man will keep us in the 
 church, and that the writings of God will put 
 us out of it 1 Isn't that enoucrh to drive a man 
 to think that it is not the Church of God at all ? 
 Isn't it " 
 
 " Stop there, will you ? " said Father John ; 
 " it's not for me to be standing here, arguing 
 with the like of you." 
 
 " And it's not for the like of me to be talking 
 this way with your reverence," said Jem, " only 
 for my soul, that you say will be damned if I 
 read the Word of God ; and who will I talk to 
 if I don't to my clergy 1 And sure if your reve- 
 rence would only read the Catholic Bible to us, 
 and explain it to us, that v/e mightn't go astray 
 in it — if your reverence would only do that for 
 us " 
 
 "I'll tell you what I'll do for you," said 
 Father John, for he was getting really angry 
 now : " it's on the altar I'll curse you next 
 Sunday ; I'll cui'se you with bell, book, and 
 candle. No man in the parish shall give you 
 employment, no one shall buy or sell with you, 
 DO man shall work with you ; and if this man 
 
 i> 2
 
 36 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 digs at the other side of the ridge with you, I 
 will cui'se him too ; and see what your Bible 
 will do for you then." 
 
 " Then, your reverence," said Jem, " I'll see if 
 I can't get a blessing from God under all." 
 
 And so Father John went off to his horse (and, 
 indeed, he was mighty cross to the boy that held 
 it for him), and the bell rung for work ; so Pat 
 and Jem could not talk any more ; but if they 
 did talk afterwards, we hope to find out all 
 about it. 
 
 The writer thinks it well to say a few words 
 of the book that Pat and Jem got hold of. 
 
 He believes it was first pi-inted in English in 
 this country soon after the writer, St. Alphoiiso 
 Liguori, with two or three others, were canonized 
 (or made saints) by the Pope of E,ome, in the 
 year 1839, and the writer believes the first edition 
 then published in Ireland contained an account 
 of St. Alphonso having been made a Baint by the 
 Church of Rome, and also a cojiy of the certifi- 
 cate which the cardinals were required to give on 
 that occasion, that they had read all St. Al- 
 yhonso's works, and that there was nothing 
 found in them contrary to faith or morals.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 37 
 
 This certificate was then taken hold of by the 
 Protestants, to fix the doctrines contained in this 
 book upon the Church of Rome ; and this, per- 
 haps, is the reason why all mention of St. Al- 
 phonso's canonization, and of the certificate of 
 the cardinals, is left out of the editions since 
 published. But the circulation of the book was 
 not stopped ; several editions have since been 
 published in Ireland, in a very cheap form, and 
 tens of thousands of copies have been circulated ; 
 and the writer cannot find that any priest in 
 Ireland has ever tried to stop it, or has publicly 
 expressed disapprobation of the doctrines con- 
 tained in it. 
 
 The edition which the writer possesses is that 
 of 1845. The title is as follows :— 
 
 "The Glories of Maiy. First Part. A 
 Paraphrase on the Salve Regina, &c., &c. 
 Translated from the Italian of St. Alphonsu<:; 
 Liguori, hy a Catholic clergyman. Dublir : 
 Published by James Dufiy, 23, Angle-sea-strcet, 
 1845." 
 
 It is from this edition, as being that in most 
 common use, that the writer has marked the 
 pages referred to by Jem. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the book, from
 
 38 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 the titles which St. Alphonso has prefixed to his 
 chapters. The following are a few specimens 
 (ch. ii., sec. 1) : — "Mary is our life, because 
 she obtains for us the pardon of our sins." 
 Where note that the Douay Bible says — " Jesua 
 said to her (Martha), I am the resurrection and 
 THE LIFE," — John xi. 25. And again — " Your 
 LIFE is hid with Christ in God." — Ep. to 
 Colos. iii. 3 And — "When Christ shall appear, 
 WHO IS YOUR LIFE." — V. 4. But not one word 
 in the Douay Bible about Miry being our life. 
 
 Again, St. Ali3honso gives this heading to 
 chapter 3— (1), "Mary is the hope of all. (2), 
 Mary is the hope of sinners." Whereas the 
 Douay Bible says — " Christ in you the hope of 
 glory." — Ep. to Coloss. i. 27. And again — • 
 " Christ Jesus, our hope." — 1st Ep. to Timothy 
 i. 1. But uot (me word in the Douay Bible of 
 Mary being our hope. 
 
 Again, St. Alphonso puts this title to chapter 
 6, section 3 — "Mary is the peacemaker of 
 sinners with God." Whereas the Douay Bible 
 gays — "We have peace with God, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ."— Rom. v. 1, And— " Hk 
 is our peace." — Eph. ii. 14. But not one word 
 in the Douay Bible about Mary being the peace-
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 39 
 
 maker of sinners with God. This will give & 
 fair idea of this book — " The Glories of Mary " 
 — which all true Catholics, who read the Douay 
 BiVjIe, will acknowledge to be a fearful book for 
 the Church of Rome to make herself answerable 
 for, and allow to be circulated unrestrained 
 among her people. 
 
 CFI AFTER IV. 
 
 THE STONE AND THE PRATT. 
 
 "Well, Father John did not curse Jem after 
 all ; at least, not this time. Maybe Father John 
 thought it hard to take the bit out of the mouths 
 of Jem's cliildren ; or maybe there were too 
 many to be cursed ; or maybe Father John had 
 read the report of what took place at the A ntrim 
 Assizes in March, 184G, and seen Avhat came of 
 the priest cursing the millei*. 
 
 But Pat and Jem did not know yet tliat the 
 curse was not going to be now ; and so it hap- 
 pened, the next day, when they sat down to 
 dinner under the thorn bush, they began to talk 
 of it. 
 
 " A nd what made him so angry entirely ?"
 
 40 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 said Pat. " Sui'e we only wanted him to set 
 us riglit ; and if he w-ould only take the troubla 
 to teach us what is riglit, sure we would be will- 
 ing to be taught by him, and give him every 
 respect. And sure if we just went on as we 
 used to do, and never offered to learn anything 
 at all about God, or the Bible, or the Saviour of 
 sinners, we would never get a cross word from 
 him no more than some of the boys that thinks 
 no more about religion than the horses and cows 
 does ; and vet Father John has nothing but a 
 pleasant word for them ; and I never see him 
 get cross entirely till it's the Bible that's in it j 
 and what's the reason he was so angry ?" 
 
 "Indeed," said Jem, "that's what I'm think- 
 ing of all day ; and there's something in it that's 
 not right ; for ask him what I will out of the 
 Bible, to get him to explain it to me, or set me 
 right, it's not about that thing he'll speak in his 
 answer at all : just as if he didn't care how far 
 I went astray in it : but it's always the one 
 answer he has, * It's reading the Bible you are,' 
 Bays he — that's his cry ; as if the very name 
 of it angered him, so that he could not teach us 
 anything out of it at all." 
 
 " And mavbe that's iust near the truth," said
 
 TALK O^ THE ROAD. 4J 
 
 Pat. " Maybe it's little he knows it himself, 
 and he's afraid to take on him to teach it." 
 
 "Well, I'd think that too," said Jem, ''only 
 that he gets so anrjry about it. For when 1 see 
 that look in his face, when he hears of the Bible, 
 it isn't like as if he didn't know it at all himself ; 
 it's a deal liker as if he knew it too well, and 
 that it wouldn't be on his side; and sure it's that 
 that tvould make him angiy in earnest, and 
 nothing else that I can see." 
 
 By this time Jem was near the end of his din- 
 ner, for it was little that day, poor fellow, for he 
 had the wife and eight children at home; and he 
 was just going to peel his last potato, and little 
 enough it was to give him till night at his work, 
 when his little son, Billy (just four years old), 
 comes running up the path, with his bright hair 
 blowing in the wind, as pretty as yoi: could see. 
 
 " Oh, what will I do with the childer, at all, 
 when Father John curses me 1" said Jem. And 
 with that Billy runs up to him, crying, " Oh, 
 daddy, daddy, gimme a praty." 
 
 " Be off out of that, you youyg thief," said 
 Pat, " and don't be taking the di'jner out of your 
 daddy's moutli." 
 
 "Easy, Pat," said Jem; "sure if it was the
 
 42 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 last praty I bad in the world, or if I'd never f^at 
 a praty again, the darling would get it. Sure 
 it's not one of them stones off the field I would 
 be ijivinfr him." 
 
 And so Jem took Billy on his knee, and gave 
 him the potato. 
 
 " Well, if that doesn't beat all," says Pat ; " if 
 them isn't a'most the very words of Jesus Christ 
 himself." 
 
 " What words at all f said Jem, quite sur- 
 prised at what Pat said. 
 
 " What you said about the stone," said Pat. 
 " Sure I read it in the Douay Bible on Sunday, 
 the purtiest words tjjat ever I saw in the book." 
 
 "And what were they at all 1" said Jem. 
 
 "Why, I haven't just got the words," said 
 Pat ; " but I couldn't get the story out of my 
 head, if I tried. Why, Jesus Christ himself was 
 talking to all the people* about him, and teaching 
 them the quietest and plainest Avay ever you 
 heard. You would think it was the sweetest 
 and quietest voice that ever spoke, to read them 
 words. * And,' says he, to all the people that 
 was there, 'is there any one of you at all,' says 
 
 » Sermon on the Mount. Gospel of St. Matthew vii. 9 ; and 
 Gospel iif St. Lukexi. 11.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 43 
 
 he, 'standing there, and if one of his little 
 children would come and ask him for a bit of 
 bread, is it a stone that you'd give him 1 And 
 if the likes of you,' says he, ' bad as you are, has 
 that heart to your children, what must your 
 Heavenly Father be to them that comes to ask 
 of him ] Will he be any worse than youf Well, 
 when I saw you give the last praty, Jem, to the 
 poor child that I was hunting off you, it just 
 came into my heart — AVell, no^v, is that the way 
 our Heavenly Father will do to one of us when 
 we go to ask of him V 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " if them words doesn't 
 teach me more about God than ever I knew be- 
 fore, or ever I learned from Father John ; and 
 sure that viiist be true ; surely God couldn't be 
 crosser or worse in himself to me, than the like 
 of me is to the child, but a thousand times better. 
 Sure, if that is not a thought to make us pray to 
 liim, and put our trust in him. I would rather 
 hear them words, after giving Billy the praty, 
 than all the words that ever I heard. Surely it 
 vxis the Saviour that knew how to speak to 
 poor people, and to teach their very hearts." 
 
 " That's just it, Jem," said Pat ; " and it's that 
 that is making me take to the Bible, Sure, I
 
 44 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 expected, the first day I read it, to find it all 
 about transub.stantiation, and decalogues, and 
 elephants,* and all kind of hard things that I 
 don't understand ; and that every word of it 
 would be disputing and argufying about every- 
 thing, the way the Protestants and Catholics is 
 always going on with each other ; and that there 
 wouldn't be anything in it at all for poor people 
 like me ; and, sure enough, I find a great deal 
 that it isn't easy for me to understand ; but 
 here and there I find some of the words of Jesus 
 Christ himself, that's so plain and so loving, and 
 that goes into my heart so easy and so sweet, 
 that 1 can't help looking out for them words 
 whenever I am reading ; and I wouldn't believe 
 Father John, nor the bishop, nor the Pope hio?- 
 self, that them words could do me any harm, or 
 be anything but good for me ; for, surely, Jesur- 
 Christ was fitter than the most learned of them 
 all to give the right sort of teaching for poor 
 and ignorant people ; and if Father John would 
 only take and copy some of that teaching out of 
 the Bibb, it would be a different way -with us." 
 " Well, now, I'll trust in God anyway for the 
 praties," said Jem, "and I am not afraid now of 
 
 • Maybe Pat meant elements.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 45 
 
 Father John or his curse, not even when I look 
 at Billy. Sure Father John told me to see what 
 the Bible could do for me; and sure I see it now ! 
 To think now that I may go to my Heavenly 
 Father, just the way that Billv came to me; sui-e 
 that's more comfort than evei I had before this 
 dav." 
 
 " And it's I that am glad that the words did 
 you good, Jem," says Pat ; "and that same will 
 make me look for more words like them in the 
 same book ; and, indeed, I'm thinking it's little 
 we know about the book, till we come to see Low 
 it tits us in things like that. Them that is only 
 disputing about it, I'm thinking, knows nothing 
 of the good of it at all. I'm thinkinir now 
 there's hardly a thing that we poor people do, 
 that we won't find that Jesus Christ had souie 
 words to say about that very thing ; • and sure 
 that's plain teaching, for poor people anyway. 
 Why, as I was sitting at the door last Thursday 
 evening, reading my book, and the children play 
 iijg about, and they were on for hunting the 
 young chickens in spite of the wife, and there 
 was the old hen majoring about, and looking as 
 big and as grand as if she was fit to pick the 
 iieuds off them, and the children darn't go near
 
 4 6 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 tlie chickens at all with her ; well, if I didn't 
 coine in the veiy nick of time to a place in the 
 book (and sure enough I have that marked) 
 where Jesus Christ says he only wants to gather 
 us toirether iust the same as a hen gathers her 
 chickens under her wings, to take care of us the 
 way she does.* Sure that's making the very birds 
 teach us, and isn't that plain enough for any- 
 body 1" 
 
 "Well, Pat," says Jem, "you're teaching me 
 the way to read ; and thank you kindly for it ; 
 and that's the way I'll read, for I was thinking 
 there was a deal I wasn't fit for, and no wonder, 
 considering how little the clergy ever instructed 
 us about it ; and now I'll look for what fits me, 
 and let Father John stop me if he can." 
 
 " Well, it's that I take to it for," said Pat ; "and 
 I suppose there's something in the book for the 
 learned, and something for us, and that every- 
 body may get their share ; and though I read a 
 good bit betimes, without coming to what is just 
 for the likes of me. yet when I get in, it's worth 
 the looking ; and maybe God meant just that 
 same, that we shouldn't get it without looking 
 tor, uO more than anybody will dig these praties 
 
 * Gespei of St. Matthew xx'.ii. 37.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 4? 
 
 without working for tliem first. And if it's his 
 will that we should get our bit by working for it, 
 and vvaiting for it, maybe it's just the same too 
 wiLli our souls. Anyway I've got enough to 
 make me go on ; and, with God's blessing, I'll 
 keep to the reading." And ^ the bell I'uug, 
 and Billy ran home, and we taust wait till next 
 time. ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GOING TO HIJISELF. 
 
 We hope our readers will be glad to hear \vhat 
 Pat and Jem were talking about since. Well, 
 as they were walking home from their work, not 
 long since, Pat asked Jem, " What do ^'•ou find in 
 the reading now, Jem 1" 
 
 "Why," says Jem, "my mind was running 
 on that story about the stone and the praty. 
 Yuu mind what you told me about what our 
 Blessed Saviour- said about it, and it made me 
 tliink so different of the gi'eat God from anything 
 I ever could think before, and it made me feel 
 s(.' different like to him, that I took to reading 
 t'lat place over and over. And sure if I had any 
 doubt about reading the Bible, the reading o<
 
 48 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 that story over and over makes me feel in my 
 heart that reading God's book is a blessed thing 
 to us, poor creatures. And then, when I was 
 reading, the next verse stuck in my mind, and 
 this is it — ' sk, Aand it shall be given to you ; 
 seek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be 
 opened to you. Eor every one that asketh re- 
 Cj^iveth ; ard he that seeketh findeth ; and to 
 him that knocketh it shall be opened.' And 
 them words is in my mind, night and day ; and 
 ■fere's something I understand, and something I 
 Sn't." 
 
 " Well, tell us about that," says Pat. 
 
 "Well," says Jem, "I see plain enough about 
 asking, for sure that is praying to our Father in 
 heaven ; and doesn't that say, that if we pray to 
 him he will answer our prayers ? And sure is 
 not that the great thing for the like of us 1 
 Well, I see, too, about seeking. If we look to 
 know God, we will come to know him ; and 
 where would we seek for him if we didn't in his 
 own book ? Sure I have found more about him 
 there than ever I learned before ; but there's one 
 thing I can't make out at all, and that's about 
 knocking — sure that. would be at some gate or 
 door hke, that seemed closed agen us ; but if we
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 49 
 
 don't know whcd the door is, how can we get to 
 knock at it ] and if we don't knock at it, how 
 will we get it open ? And I can't make it out 
 at all, and I'm seeking for it, day and iiiglit, and 
 thinking maylte Avill I find it if I seek." 
 
 " 'Deed and I can help you then," says Pat, 
 ** and it's easy to hnd ; for sui-e I came on it lasb 
 Sunday, when I was reading the 10th chapter of 
 St. John's Gospel ; and though I didn't take 
 heed, as you did, to what our Saviour said about 
 knockicg, still I came on the answer." 
 
 " And what is it at all 1" said Jem. 
 
 So Pat repeated the verse (John, ch, x,, v, 
 9, Douay Bible) where Christ says, "I am the 
 DOOR ; by me if auy man enter in he shall be 
 saved." 
 
 " Well, if that isn't the very thing," said Jem ; 
 *'sure I'll never go to work at the squire's again 
 without thiukiiicr of that.' 
 
 " And why so ]" said Pat. 
 
 "Don't you know," said Jem, " that big wall 
 round the place, and how would I ever get in 
 without the door in if! and sure isn't that it 
 entirely, when Christ says he's the door 1 lb 
 mea!is ihe way in, and that there's no stop when 
 the door is open. See the good uow of out
 
 6(> TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 talking together on the road about the reading. 
 One thing sticks to one person, and another to 
 another ; and when we jiut them together, just 
 see liow they fit !" 
 
 " Well that's true, anyA\'ay," said Pat ; " but I 
 doubt there's many a one striving to enter in 
 by the Blessed Yirgin and the Saints, and how 
 will that be 1 Isn't that like making her the 
 door? And, 'deed, I tried that long enough 
 myself ; for sure I never was told it was wrong, 
 or got any teaching to learn me better, till I took 
 to reading. But how will it be at all ?" 
 
 *■ Is there anything about that in the Bible 1" 
 said Jem. " Is there anything in it at all for 
 _p raying to the Blessed Virgin 1" 
 
 " Well, I don't know," said Pat ; "if it's in it 
 I haven't come to it yet." 
 
 '• Nor I, neither," said Jem ; " nor nothing 
 like it. But sure it's hard for me to say that it's 
 not in the Bible ; for there's a deal in it that 
 I haven't read yet, and a deal more than what 
 I have read ; and how can I go to say that it 
 isn't in that V 
 
 " That's true enough," said Pat ; " it's easy 
 enough sometimes to know that a thing is in the 
 Bible, but it's mighty hard for ignorant creatures
 
 T^LK OF THE liOAD. 51 
 
 like us to know that a thing is not in the Bible. 
 If the priests would only teach us the Bible, and 
 show us what is in it aad what isn't." 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, "if the things was in 
 it, I suppose they would, and glad enough too ; 
 but if the things they teach us isn't in it, how 
 would it be expected they would tell us thai, or 
 help us to know it ] And that makes me think 
 there is thing.s they teach us that isn't in the 
 Bible at all." 
 
 " Well, I mind now," said Pat, " that I heard 
 Father John preach a sermon against the Pro- 
 testants, and he said they were ' heretics because 
 they did not pray to the Blessed Virgin and to 
 the saints and the angels. And I mind he didn't 
 say it was in the Bible ; but still he showed us 
 the reason of it ; ' For,' says he, ' if you wanted 
 anything of the Queen, sure,' says he,' 'it isn't to 
 the Queen you would be going yourself,' says he, 
 ' but you would try and get some one she cared 
 more about than she did about you ; and 
 wouldn't your own sen.se tell you,' says he, 'that 
 it would be better for you to get some great lord 
 or lady to speak for you, than to be putting 
 yourself on her V Well, now," says Pat, " doesn't 
 all that stand to reason 1" 
 
 E 2
 
 52 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "Well, 1 mind tliat sei-mon, too," said Jem, 
 "and I thought a deal of it then, but I don't no^ j 
 for I was thinking it over since, and it doesn't 
 stand to reason at all, wlien you come to look into 
 it ; for sui'e the Queen, God bless her, is only a 
 woman like another, after all ; and how could 
 she have every one going to herself 1 Sure she 
 would be fairly worried out of her life, if that 
 was the way. Why, in the time of the famine, 
 Bure, that was so sore on us, was there man, 
 woman, or child in this parish that wouldn't 
 liave gone straight to the Queen, God bless her, 
 if they could only get at her 1 but how would it 
 be with her, if all Ii-eland was going to her at 
 wonst, to sav nothinij of Eno^land ? Sure she 
 could only talk to one at a time, just like any 
 other ; and that's the reason she must have other 
 people for us to speak to, and to speak for us to 
 her. But, sure, that isn't the way with God : 
 sure, it couldn't put him out if all the jDeople in 
 the world were praying to him at wonst. So you 
 see it doesn't agree at all, when you only come tc 
 look into it. And if I could go to the Queen at 
 once, what would stoj) me '? Sure if she was 
 only to see little Billy, and him hungry, and ask- 
 ing m for a jH'aty, when I had none to give him.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 53 
 
 BTU'e if she could only see that herself^ ft'oiilclu't it 
 be better for me than if all the lords and ladies 
 in Ireland were talking to her about me % Sure, 
 don't we know that it's seeing: that is believinsr? 
 Don't the quality hear enough, about us, and the 
 distress that the poor is in % Sure, they see 
 enough of it in the newspapers to know all about 
 it, but that does no good ; biit if one of them 
 comes into our houses, and sees the want there, 
 then, sure enough, they give us help. So you see, 
 Pat, it's better for us always just to get to the 
 sight of them if we can, instead of leaving it to 
 others to tell them about us. Now, if God sees 
 what we want himself, and if he's able and 
 willing to hear us all, if we were all praying 
 together, without any trouble to himself, why 
 wouldn't we go to himself 1 Sure it doesn't 
 stand to reason at all, that because the Queen 
 can't see everything and speak to e^brybody her- 
 self, that God can't. And if matters is so dif- 
 ferent with God and the Queen, it's not common 
 flense for Father John to be telling us that our 
 own sense ought to make us to do to God what 
 has to be done to the Queen, only just because 
 she is like another body, and no greater in her- 
 self than one of ourselves. I would go straight
 
 64 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 to her, if I could ; and why wou]du't I go 
 straight to God if I can V 
 
 " Well, Jem,' said Pat, " there's reason in that, 
 sure enough, only I didn't see it before ; and 
 sure enougli I would spake to the Queen afore 
 the relieving officer or the inspector, if I could, 
 and have more ho|)e in it. But how will we get 
 to know at wonst if the Bible says anything about 
 praying to the Virgin Mary, or getting her to 
 offer our prayers to God, and to intercede with 
 him for us ? For I want to know that, and it 
 would be long to wait till we get all the Bible 
 read through." 
 
 " Well, that's wliat I want to know," said Jem, 
 " and I can't be easy till I get the knowledge of 
 it. For sure the more I read in the Bible about 
 God's goodness to them that ask him, the hax'der 
 it seems not to know riglitly the right way to ask 
 him. Sure I feel ever}' day more and more, that 
 it can't be riglit with me till I know how to pray 
 to him in the way that it will please him to hear ; 
 and the more I read about him, the more call I 
 feel for praying to him in a way that I never did 
 yet, and it's a hard case not to be sure of the 
 right way." 
 
 Why wouldn't we ask Mr. Owens f said
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 65 
 
 Pat ; " sure he told us to go back to him any time 
 we pleased, and Ave didn't go to him yet ; and 
 why won't we ask him about this '.'" 
 
 "Sm-e that's it," said Jem, "and it's early yet, 
 and what's to lunder our just going down to him 
 now ? maybe he will just show us what we want 
 in the Bible, and settle us at ouce : sure enough 
 let us try."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SAJKTS AND THE ANGELS. 
 
 So Pat and Jem went straight to Mr. Oweas's 
 house, and he brought them into his study. 
 
 "Well, boys," said Mr. Owens, " did you read 
 anything of the books, and how do you like 
 them ]" 
 
 " We like them well, your reverence," said 
 Jem, "for they teach us more about God than 
 ever we knew before, and they teach things that 
 ought to make us love him, if we have any heart 
 to him at all." 
 
 " And do you find much difference in the 
 books 1" said Mr. Owens, turning to Pat. 
 
 " Nothing to speak of, for so far, your reve- 
 rence," said Pat ; " there's words here and there 
 not just the same ; but for the meaning, there's 
 no differ to signify, that I see yet." 
 
 '• There are some differences, though," said Mr. 
 Owens, " that will suq:)rise you very much when 
 you come to them, for some of them are just the 
 very contrary of the difference you might expect 
 to find in the two books. But I will tell you 
 about that some other time, for I would rather
 
 58 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 hear yoii speak now, if you have anything to ask 
 me about what you find in the books." 
 
 " That's just it, your reverence," said Jem ; 
 "we want to ask you about the right M^ay of 
 praying to God ; for sure, when we see what he 
 Bays to them that pray to him, it's a poor thing 
 not to know the right way." 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " it's a good thing 
 when reading the Bible makes us ask questions 
 like that ; but if you could explain your difficulty 
 a little more, I might know better how to help 
 you." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Pat, " we want 
 to know if the likes of us poor creatures may 
 just go straight to God and pray to him our- 
 selves without anybody to speak to him for us ; 
 or if we must get somebody to speak for us and 
 offer our prayers to him — somebody that he will 
 be more willing to listen to than to ourselves." 
 
 " That's a very important question," said Mr. 
 Owens, " and the answer is very plain ; we are 
 sinful and fallen creatures, not fit in ourselves to 
 speak to a God who is of purer eyes than to be- 
 hold iniquity ; and therefore we have no reason 
 to hope that our prayers will come up to him at 
 all, unless somebody that a holy God can listen
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 59 
 
 to sliould offer up our prayers to him, and inter- 
 cede with him to accfti)t our prayers." 
 
 " Why, your reverence," said Jem, " sure the 
 Protestants don't believe that !" 
 
 " A man who does not believe that," said Mr. 
 Owens, " caimot be a Christian, and so we need 
 not talk about his being a Protestant ; but we do 
 believe it, and it lies at the root of our religion ; 
 and all our prayers to God are founded on it." 
 
 " And so," said Pat, " your reverence thinks it 
 good to get the Blessed Virgin, and the angels, 
 and the saints to speak for us to God, and get 
 him to hear our prayers 1" 
 
 " No," said Mr. Owens, " I did not say that 
 we were to get them to speak for us ; we should 
 be sure to get some one that we know can hear 
 us, and that Ave know God will hear." 
 
 "And who will we get, your reverence," said 
 Pat, " if we don't get them to speak for us 1" 
 
 " Maybe your reverence means," said Jem, 
 *' the verse that we read here in the two books 
 the last night we w^ere here." 
 
 " That's just what I mean," said Mr. Owens ; 
 "and now do you remember what it was ?" 
 
 " I do, your reverence," said Jem ; " it was 
 just this — 'There is one Gotl, and one mediator 
 of God and men — the man Christ Jesus.' "
 
 60 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " we tliiiik that if we 
 go to God without that mediator, that we have 
 no right to believe that God will accept our 
 prayers : but if we have that mediator to inter- 
 cede for us, and oifer up our prayers to God, and 
 ask him to receive them, then our prayers will 
 be accepted by God ; and before we go any far- 
 ther," said Mr. Owens, " let me show you out of 
 the Douay Bible why we think so." So Mr. 
 Owens turned to the following passages and read 
 them — " ' I am the way, and the truth, and the 
 life ; no man cometh to the Father but by me.' — 
 John xiv. 6. ' Amen, Amen, I say to you, if you 
 ask the Father anything in my name he will 
 give it you.' — John xvi. 23. ' Jesus is entered 
 into heaven itself, that he may appear noio in 
 the presence of God/br us.' — Hebrews ix. 24 ' He 
 is able also to save for ever them that come to 
 God by him ; always living to make intercession 
 for us.' — Heb. vii. 25. 'I have prayed for thee 
 that thy faith fail not.' — Luke xxii. 32. 'And 
 cot for tliem (the Apostles) only do I pi"ay, but 
 for them also who through their word shall be- 
 lieve in me.' — John xvii. 20. So here you 
 see," said Mr. Owens, " if we want to come to 
 God in prayer we must come through Christ, 
 who is the Way ; and we must pray in the name
 
 TALK OF THE EUAU. 61 
 
 of Christ if we want our prayers to be granted ; 
 and then Christ makes intercession for us that 
 our prayers may be heard ; and he prays yb?* all 
 who believe in his Word. So you see," said Mr. 
 Owens, "we do not want for somebody to pruy 
 for us and to intercede with God to hear our 
 prayers ; we have one who is able and willing to 
 do it ; and if we want our prayers to be heard we 
 must offer them up tlirough his intercession — 
 that is, we must ask him to speak for us and to 
 offer our jirayers to God." 
 
 " And may we ask the saints and angels to do 
 it at all, your reverence 1" said Pat. 
 
 " That's a thing that God must know better 
 than we can," said Mr. Owens. " I have showed 
 you, out of the Douay Bible, that we have great 
 promises to those who pray through Jesus Christ 
 and ask hiiu to intercede for them. But did you 
 find in the Douay Bible any promise to those 
 that pray through the Virgin Maiy or the saints 1" 
 
 " Your reverence," said Jem, " that's the very 
 thing we want to ask you; neither of us has 
 found the like of that in the Bible ; but we 
 haven't read all the Bible, and it will take us long 
 to do it, and maybe it is in that jjart that we 
 haven't read ; and we just want to know if there
 
 62 TALK OF TilK KOAD. 
 
 is anything in it at all about asking the Blessed 
 Virgin and the saints to pi^ay for us." 
 
 •• Well," said Mr. Owens, " I think it would 
 be better you would ask some one else that ques- 
 tion ; for if / say there is no such thing in the 
 Bible, you will think, maybe, that it is because I 
 am a Protestant that I say so, or because I do not 
 understand the right sense of it ; and so, perhaps, 
 you would not believe me," 
 
 " And who will we ask, your reverence V said 
 Pat. 
 
 " Of course, you will ask Father John," said 
 Mr. Owens ; "if he can show it to you in the 
 Bible, of course he will ; and if he cannot show 
 it to you in the Bible, then you will be sure that 
 it is rwt there, and maybe you would not be sure 
 merely for my telling you." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Jem, " that would 
 be the right way ; only I doubt it would not do 
 at all." 
 
 " And why not V said Mr. Owens. " Sure your 
 clergy ought to be ready to tell you whether the 
 things they teach you are in the Bible or not." 
 
 " They ought, your reverence," said Jem ; 
 *• sure enongh, that is true ; but, then, that is 
 just the thiLg we durstn't ask them at all."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 63 
 
 ** And why not V said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Why, your i-everence," said Jem, " if it toas 
 in the Bible, that would be all right ; and I'm 
 thinking Father John would be ready enough to 
 tell us if it was in it : but if it's not in it, vour 
 reverence, wouldn't I be in the queer way to be 
 asking Father John to tell me out of the Bible 
 what's not in the Bible at all 1 Isn't that what 
 would anger him '? And how do I know but 
 what he might curse me from the altar, and 
 leave me without a bit to put in the childers' 
 mouths 1 So I would rather take your reverence's 
 word for it. Is there anything iu the Bible for 
 asking the saints and angels to bring our prayera 
 to God for us V 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " in that case I must 
 answer you. There is not one word in the Bible, 
 from beginning to end, to tell us to ask either 
 saints, or angels, or the Blessed Virgin, to pray 
 for us ; but a great deal to tell us that we want 
 nobody but Jesus Christ to offer our prayei-s to 
 God. Just listen to this," said Mr. Owens — 
 " ' Having therefore a great High Priest, who 
 hath passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of 
 CJod.' . . . 'Let us go, therefore, with con- 
 fidence to the throne of grace ; that we may
 
 6t TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid.' 
 — Hebrews ch. 4, v. 14 and 16. Here you see," 
 said Mr. Owens, "our having such a High Priest 
 is sufficient to warrant us io pray with confidence 
 ibr the mercy and grace we want ; and if that 
 •s enough to make us pray with confidence, what 
 room is there for anything more % And more 
 tlian that," said Mr. Owens, "I can tell you, 
 that the Roman Catholic books that argue for 
 asking the saints to pray for us do never give any 
 proof for it out of the Bible ; and, of course, if 
 they could give proof out of the Bible they would." 
 
 "And what proof do they give for it, your 
 reverence V said Jem. 
 
 " The proof they give is this," said Mr. Owens : 
 " they say that the Bible tells us to pray for each 
 other, and to ask each other to pray for us. And 
 so far they are right, for the Bible does teach us 
 to do that ; and then they say, would it not be 
 better still to ask the angels and saints in heaven 
 to pray for us ? But that is an invention of their 
 own ; for the Bible does not say that." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Pat, '* £ would 
 like to hear more about that. Sure there's my 
 brother, that went to Australia, if he were here 
 uow I wo-uld rather ask him to pray for me than
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 65 
 
 anybody at all ; lie was the good brother, aud he 
 used to read the Bible betimes, afore any of the 
 other boys thought of reading it j and though he 
 was not so attentive to his duties as some of them . 
 he was the best Christian at all ; and sure I would 
 be glad I could only ask him to pray for me ; and 
 if he was in heaven, wouldn't he care for me 
 still 1 and wouldn't his prayers be better still 1" 
 
 ""Well," said Mr. Owens, " I hope our friends 
 in heaven do remember us, as we ought to remem- 
 ber them ; and it may be that they still pray to 
 God for us ; but we can say nothing at all about 
 that, because God has not told us anything about 
 it J and no one else could tell us anything about 
 it. But I do not see how you, as a Christian, 
 could ask your brother, in heaven, to pray for 
 you, the same as you would if he was standing 
 beside you." 
 
 " Well, if your reverence could show me the 
 differ," said Pat. 
 
 " Where is he now 1" said I^Ir. Owens. 
 
 "In Australia, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " That is just at the other side of the world," 
 said Mr. Owens ; " if you could make a hole 
 straight down into the ground, aud dig it about 
 eight thousand miles deep, it might come out at 
 
 F
 
 66 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 the other side, near about where he is ; it is a 
 long way," said !Mr. Owens. 
 
 " It is, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " And you would like to ask him to pray for 
 you ?" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " I would, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, then," said Mr. Owens, "just go down 
 on your knees here, this moment, and call on him 
 to pray for you." 
 
 " Oh, your reverence," said Pat, " sure I 
 couldn't do that." 
 
 " And why can you not do that V* said Mr. 
 Owens. 
 
 " Because, your reverence, he can't hear me,** 
 said Pat. 
 
 " "Would it not be a great sin to do it ?" said 
 Mr. Owens. 
 
 "It would, yovir reverence, not a doubt of it," 
 said Pat ; " and I dursn't do it at aU." 
 
 "But you would ask your brother to pray for 
 you, if he were standing here beside you ?" said 
 Mr. Owens. 
 
 " I would surely, your reverence," said Pat 
 
 "But it is quite a different thing to call on 
 him to pray for you while he is in Australia ?" 
 said Mr. Owens.
 
 TALK OF THK ROAD. 67 
 
 "It isn't like it at aU, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " And if you got a letter to-morrow," said IVIr. 
 Owens, " to say your brother was dead, would 
 that be the same as if he was standinoc here 
 beside you V 
 
 " JSTo, indeed, your reverence," said Pat ; 
 " nothing like it." 
 
 "And if you then went down on your knees," 
 said Mr. Owens, " and called on him to pray for 
 you, which would that be most like — asking hLs 
 prayers while he was standing beside you, or call- 
 ing on him while he was in Australia V 
 
 " It would be a deal more like speaking to him 
 ■while he was in Australia," said Pat. 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Owens, "the only reason 
 the Eoman Catholics can give for praying to the 
 waints in heaven to pray for us is this, that it is 
 just the same as asking our friends beside us to 
 pray for us. Now, you see it is not the same, 
 but quite different : it is just like praying to our 
 friends on earth in a way that no Christian durst 
 do, for fe4ir of makuig God angry with us. Tell 
 me now," said Mr, Owens, " would you go down 
 on your knees and call on the present Pope, Pius 
 the Ninth, who is at Eome, 1,000 miles off, to 
 pray for you V 
 
 V
 
 68 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "No, your reverence," said Pat; "no Catho- 
 lic would do that." 
 
 " Would it not be very wicked and sinful if 
 they did V said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " It would, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " Would it not be putting the Pope in the 
 place of God, to suppose he could hear what you 
 said ?" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Well, I think it would be very like it," said 
 Pat. 
 
 " If you spoke ever so loud the Pope could 
 not hear you," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " He could not, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " And if he knew of your prayer at all," said 
 Mr. Owens, " it could only be because he knew 
 the thoughts of your heart." 
 
 " Nothing else, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 *' Can you speak loud enough to be heard in 
 heaven ?" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " I cannot, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 "Well, then," said Mr. Owens, "if the saints 
 hear your prayers, it can only be because they 
 know the thoughts of your heart; and is not 
 that putting them in the place of God, for Solo- 
 mon says to God — ' Thou only knowest the heart 
 of all the children of men ' ?" And hero Mr.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 69 
 
 Owens showed them the words in the Donay 
 Bible — 3 Kings, chap, viii., verse 39. 
 
 "And is there nothing in the Bible, your re- 
 verence," said Pat, " for praying to the saints or 
 angels ?" 
 
 " Nothing at all," said Mr. Owens ; " and if 
 there was, you may be sure Father John would 
 show you that much of it ; but he would not like 
 you to come upon these words of Jesus Christ — 
 * The Lord thy God shall thou adore, and him only 
 shall thou serve J " — Matthew iv. 10. 
 
 "Well, your reverence," said Jem, "it now 
 comes to my mind that I learned a catechism at 
 the big school I learned to read in, that was kept 
 by the monks, or the Christian Brethren, as they 
 call them ; and in that catechism it was took out 
 of the Bible that St. John, the Blessed Apostle, 
 did worship an angel ; and sure St. John would 
 not do it if it was wrong ; but I disremember 
 what part of the Bible they took it out of." 
 
 " I will show you the catechism and the place 
 in the Bible too," said Mr. Owens. So he took 
 down oflf the shelf a little book, called " As 
 Abridgement of the Christian Doctrine, 
 with proofs of Scripture, on points controverted, 
 by way of question and answer. Composed in
 
 70 TALK OF THE EOAD. 
 
 1649, by H. T., of the English College atDouay. 
 Now revised by the Right Rev. James Doyle, 
 D.D., and prescribed by him to be used in the 
 united Diocesses of Kildare and Leighlin. Dub- 
 lin : Printed by Richard Coyne, 4, Capel -street, 
 printer, bookseller, and publisher to the Royal 
 CoUege of St. Patrick, Maynooth, 1846." So 
 Mr. Owens read out of the title page. " Is this 
 the book V said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "It is, your reverence," said Jem; "and is 
 that the Doctor Doyle that was Roman Catholic 
 Bishop of Kildare ?" 
 
 " The very man," said Mr. Owens, " and he 
 was the most learned and clever man that has 
 been a Roman Catholic bishop in Ireland for 
 many years ; and you see he revised this book 
 himself, and ordered it to be used in his diocess ; 
 and that is the way you came to learn it. And 
 now let us look for the Scripture proof for pray- 
 ing to angels, and you may be sure this book will 
 give the best proof that can be got in the Bible." 
 So Mr. Owens turned to page 52, where it speaks 
 of the lawfulness of worshipping saints and 
 angels. " Question — How prove you that ?" 
 " Answer — First, out of Joshua, chap, v., verses 
 14 and 15, where Joshua did it — ' I am Prince
 
 TALK OF THE ROAJ). 71 
 
 of the Host of the Lord, said the angel to 
 Joshua, and Joshua fell flat on the ground, and 
 adoring said, What saith my Lord to his servant V " 
 And here I^Ir. Owens bid them observe the 
 "words — " Said the angel to Joshua ;" and then 
 he turned to the place in the Douay Bible, and 
 showed them that this person who spoke to 
 Joshua is not called an angel at all, but, in the 
 second verse of the next chapter, he is called the 
 Lord ; so it was the Lord, and not an angel, that 
 Joshua worshipped And then Mr. Owens read 
 the rest of the same answer in Dr. Doyle's Cate- 
 chism. "Secondly, Apocalypse, chap, xxii., 
 verse 8, where St. John did it (though the angel 
 had once before wiJled him not i o do it, in regard 
 of his apostolical dignity, chap, xix., verse 10), 
 * And I fell down,' saith he, ' ta adore before the 
 feet of the angel, who showed me these things.' " 
 And then Mr. Owens stopped ; and Jem waited 
 for a minute, and then he said — " And did the 
 Blessed Apostle fall down to worship the angel ?" 
 
 " He surely did," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 ** And what does your reverence say to that?" 
 said Pat ; " does not that make it out to be right 
 to worship the angel 1" 
 
 So Mr. Owens said nothing at all; but he tool
 
 72 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 the 'Douay Bible, and opened it at the place that 
 the catechism refers to (Apocalypse, or Revela- 
 tion, xxii, 8), and bid Pat read it ; and so Pat 
 lead — " And I, John, who have heard and seen 
 these things. And after I had heard and seen, 
 I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel, 
 who showed me these things." 
 
 " \^'ell, your reverence," said Pat, " is not that 
 the very thing that is in the catechism ?" and 
 Pat looked as if he thought now that Mr. Owens 
 was only imposing on them, when he told them 
 there was nothing in the Bible for worshipping 
 angels, and that maybe the priests had the Bible 
 on their side after all. 
 
 " And what do you say 1" said Mr. Owens, 
 turning to Jem. 
 
 " What can I say," said Jem, " when St. John 
 worshipped the angel V 
 
 "Bead the next verse," said Mr. Owens to 
 Pat. 
 
 So Pat read — "And he said unto me, see 
 
 THOU DO IT NOT, for I am thy fellow -servant, 
 
 ' and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them 
 
 that keep the words of the prophecy of this book. 
 
 Adore God." 
 
 " S'ou see now/' said Mr. Owens, " when St.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 73 
 
 Jolin went to woi-ship the angel, the angel -nramed 
 him not to do such a thing, and told him to wor- 
 ship God." 
 
 "Well," said Jem, "if that does not beat all ! 
 Now I know what I wanted." 
 
 " What is that 1" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " That there is nothing in the Bible for wor- 
 shipping angels," said Jem ; " for sure, if there 
 was any proof at all of it there, they would not 
 have to go in such a barefaced like way to take 
 a proof out of the very place that bids us not do 
 it." 
 
 " That is enough for me, too," said Pat ; " it'a 
 surely not in the Bible." 
 
 " One word more," said Mr. Owens. " You 
 see in the note in the Douay Bible, on chap, xix., 
 verse 10, it says, that maybe the angel only said 
 it out of modesty, on account of the dignity of 
 St. John as Apostle. That may lead you to think 
 that though the angel was ashamed to let aja 
 apostle worship him, yet he would have let you 
 or me adore him easy enough. So now, Pab, 
 look back to the last verse you read, and see why 
 the angel would not let St. John worship him." 
 
 " Because he was his fellow-servant, your 
 reverence," said Pat.
 
 74 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " And is the angel fellow-servant to any one 
 else ?" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " To aU them that keep the words of the pro- 
 phecy of tills book," said Pat. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " you see that, if we 
 keep the words of this prophecy, we, too, are for- 
 bidden to worship the angel, by the very same 
 reason. And mark this, too," said Mr. Owens ; 
 " the question in Dr. Doyle's Catechism is about 
 worshipping saints as well as angels; but the 
 answer offers no proof for praying to saints, not 
 even so bad a one as it gives for angels : so you 
 may well think there is nothing in the Bible for 
 worshipping saints." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Pat, " wt have 
 got what we wanted this night anyway." 
 
 And so they were going away, but Jem 
 stopped ; " Your reverence," said he, " if the 
 Blessed Apostle was going to do what was wrong, 
 why was that put in the Bible ?" 
 
 " To show us," said Mr. Owens, " how great 
 the temptation is to worship other beings besides 
 God; and to show us what need all men have to 
 watch against a sin that even an apostle might 
 fall- into, if he was not warned ; and to show us, 
 too, that we might not follow even an apostle
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. / 5 
 
 against the words of Christ — ' The Lord thy God 
 shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.'" 
 
 " I see no"w, your reverence," said Jem ; '' and 
 I see it's no icse to pray to angels, when the angel 
 knows his duty better than to lake our prayers. 
 Sure enough we must worsliip God only," 
 
 " And remember, too," said Mr. Owens, " that, 
 if we want to be heard, we are to pi*ay in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, and trusting to him as our 
 mediator, and then we have his promise to hear 
 us." 
 
 CHAPTER YIL 
 
 THE REAPERS AND LABOURERS. 
 
 Pat and Jem have been so busy reaping they 
 had little time to talk, but we have heard some- 
 thing of them, Biit before we tell it, we would 
 like to say how they came to be hired, for we 
 think it would be good for every farmer and 
 labourer in Ireland to know. 
 
 They went, like the rest of the boys, before 
 five o'clock in the morning, to the big tree, in the 
 town near them ; and a couple of farmei"3 were 
 going to the big tree, too, to look for men. One
 
 76 TALK OP THE KOAD. 
 
 was Mr. Nulty — a fine, free-spoken man, with a 
 pleasant face, and a thriving man he is too. The 
 other was old Mr. Barnes, who ought to be more 
 of a gentleman than Nulty, for he was come of a 
 good family in the country, and he had a property 
 of his own that he farmed ; but he was a hard 
 man, and what the Irish call " an ould nigger." 
 And the two fell in on the road ; and Mr. Barnes 
 began to grumble, "and it's enough to fret a 
 man," said he, " so it is, to be giving them fellowa 
 twenty pence a day." 
 
 " Why," said Mr. Nulty, " I paid my men 
 twenty-two pence yesterday, and I paid it willing." 
 And so old Mr. Barnes stopped £^d faced round 
 at Nulty. 
 
 " You have paid it willing ? " says he. 
 
 "Yes, I did," said Mr. Nulty, "and I always 
 do ; for I find that willing wages make willing 
 men." 
 
 " Ay," said Mr. Barnes, " that's the way you're 
 always raising the wages on us." 
 
 " I find it cheaper, as well as pleasanter," said 
 Mr. Nulty, " and I'll bet you sixpence I had my 
 reaping cheaper yesterday than you had." 
 
 So when they came to calculate, they found 
 Mr. Ntilty had got his reaping done one-and-six«
 
 Talk of the eoad. 77 
 
 l>ence an acre cheaper, at twenty-two pence, than 
 Mr. Barnes had at twenty pence. 
 
 " I learned that from a farmer in England," 
 said Mr. Nvilty ; " he paid his men twelve shil- 
 lings a week ; and when I came to count what 
 his men did, I found he had his work done cheaper 
 than I had here at tenpence a day : and since 
 that, I find that better wages buys labour cheaper. 
 And it stands to reason ; for if men find a fair 
 advantage in being good labourer-:!, they will strive 
 to become better still. So I give a penny or two 
 pence more than another, and get the best men ; 
 and that makes them better still, and willing 
 men into the bargain." 
 
 But Mr. Barnes only griimbled the more, and 
 would not give in ; and when they were near the 
 tree, Mr. Nulty stopped to speak to a neighboui', 
 and Mr. Barnes went on to the tree, where Pat 
 and Jem were standing among the boys So 
 ]Mr. Barnes said — " Boys, I'll give eighteen pence 
 to-day, though it's a deal too much," 
 
 " Oh, sir," said Pat, " sure you would not be 
 that hard on poor fellows that's often without 
 work, and has nothing but the big tree to depend 
 to." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Barnes, "try if you can
 
 78 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 make any more out of the tree." And he went 
 on, as if he would not hire them. 
 
 "Oh, the hungry beggar," said Tim Reilly, 
 •who was standing by. 
 
 So Mr. Nulty came on, and " Boys," says he, 
 *' I want thirty men, and I'll do what is fair ; 
 will you come 1" 
 
 " That we will, sir," said Pat, " and leave the 
 ■wages to yourself, and do our best." 
 
 And they all said the same, for every man 
 knew Mr. Kulty's way ; and so Mr. Nulty chose 
 his thirty men, and Pat and Jem among them. 
 And when he got on his horse, he said — 
 
 " I^ow, boys, handle yourselves, and let me see 
 what you'll do, for men are geting mighty scax'ce 
 in this couutry ; and they will be scarcer yet than 
 ever they were ; and we will have to take to the 
 English fashion before long, and every man will 
 have to learn to do double work for double 
 wages, all the year round ; and the sooner the 
 better ; for that will be better in the eud for both 
 master and man." 
 
 So he rode off, nnd his men after him, as fast 
 as they could ; and more farmers came in, and 
 wages rose to two shillings ; and old Mr. Barnea 
 waited to the last, and had t-o give two shillings,
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 79 
 
 (nd got tlie worst men in the place, and men that 
 would not even be as willing to work for him as 
 for another. 
 
 So Pat and Jem started together, for they had 
 a mile to walk. 
 
 " And sure enough," said Jem, " the boys are 
 getting mighty scarce, where there once was 
 plenty ; I wonder did the like ever happen in the 
 world before." 
 
 "Well, now," said Pat, "I mind our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ speaking of the labourers being mighty 
 scarce in harvest when he was upon earth," 
 
 " "VYell, I mind that too," said Jem, " for I read 
 about it ; and now I wonder," said he, " what 
 that meant ; he said, sure enough, there was a 
 great harvest, and not half people to reap it. 
 And was it the oats he was meaning 1 For ever 
 since that day we were talking about the stone, 
 and the praty, and the hen, I'm still thinking, 
 when our Saviour talked of the like of them 
 things, he was meaning something else that we 
 ought to learn, and just taking a plain way to 
 teach us. " 
 
 " Well, I believe that's true, surely," said Pat; 
 " but what could he mean about the harvest, and 
 nolx)dy to cut it V
 
 80 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " I mind, now," said Jem, "that I read that the 
 harvest is the end of the world, and the angels 
 are the reapers. But how could that be, that 
 there were no labourers ? Sure it can t mean that 
 God has not angels enough to do what he wanted." 
 
 "It couldn't be that," said Pat; "but what 
 can it be V 
 
 So they turned it every way, and could make 
 nothing of the harvest that wanted hands to cut 
 it. And by this time they were at Mr. JSTulty's 
 field, for they walked fast. 
 
 " So," said Pat, "I wish I had my Bible witli 
 me, and we would try and make it out at dinner 
 time.' 
 
 " AVell I have mine," said Jem, " for it is 
 small and handy, and fits in my pocket, so we 
 will try it at dinner time." 
 
 And so they turned to, and did their best for 
 Mr. Nulty. And as soon as they got through 
 their dinner, Jem took out his Bible, and they 
 began to look for it. 
 
 "I have it here," said Jem, "it's the last two 
 vers&s of the 9th chapter of St. Matthew's Gos- 
 pel ;" and so he read — " Then saith he unto his 
 disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the 
 labourei-s are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. SI 
 
 the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into 
 his harvest."* 
 
 " Now try/' said Pat, " and find out where he 
 was, and what he was doing, and then maybe we 
 will see the meaning." 
 
 So Jem looked back a bit in the chapter. *' I 
 have that too," said Jem ; " he was preaching the 
 Gospel (v. 35), and when he saw the great crowd 
 of people he had compassion on them, because he 
 saw they were like sheep that had no one to look 
 after them ; and then he said it was a fine 
 "harvest, only the labourers was very few." 
 
 " Surely, then," said Pat, " the people was the 
 harvest. But who were tlie labourers V 
 
 ''Stay now," said Jem, "I see a mark in the 
 side of the page to look to St. Luke (chap, x., 
 verses 1, 2). And there they found that our Lord 
 sent seventy of his disciples to go before him into 
 every city, and tell the people about the kingdom 
 of God (v. 9) ; and then he said to them (v. 2), 
 'The harvest truly is gi-eat, but the labourers 
 are few.' " 
 
 • As Pat had not his Douay Bible at hand, we have com- 
 pared all the verses in the two Bibles, and find the geuse and 
 meaning the same, only there is a little difference in some oV 
 the words.
 
 82 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 "I see it now," said Pat. " Tlie labourers were 
 them that were to tell the people about Christ 
 and the kingdom of God. Sure isn't it all plain 
 now ] Isn't there plenty of people in this field 
 that knows as little about Christ as we did before 
 we took to the reading 1 and maybe if any one 
 would take the trouble to teach them, they would 
 be as glad as ourselves to learn, for sure there is 
 a deal of the boys that's not satisfied with Father 
 John's ways, and that would be willing to learn 
 better : and wouldn't that be the fine harvest 1 
 And isn't it the harvest that's losing for want of 
 men to save it ?" 
 
 " Well, if that isn't true," said Jem ; " but 
 where's the labourei-s 1 I wonder how it would 
 be if the readers, that I hear is about Ballycamey, 
 was to come down this way and try the people 
 here. But sure enough that sort of labourers is 
 few." 
 
 " 'Deed and I think there is many would listen 
 to them ready enough," said Pat, " if they came 
 into their houses, in a quiet way. of an evening." 
 
 " And couldn't we get some of the neighbours 
 to read with ourselves of an evening 1" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, then, I think we might, easy enough,"
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 83 
 
 said Pat, " and a good thing it would be ; but, 
 then, wouldn't Father John soon come to hear of 
 that, and wouldn't he destroy us entirely ? Why, 
 even Mr. Nulty would hardly dare to employ us, 
 if Father John was to give orders against it on 
 the altar." 
 
 " Why, then," said Jem, " if the biggest thistle 
 in Ireland was standing fornint me to-day, I 
 wouldn't stop reaping for fear of pricking my 
 fingers ; and if ever we put our hand to Christ's 
 harvest, we will have to face the thistles too ; and 
 if we go on reading ourselves, it will come to that 
 sooner or later ; and maybe, as Mr. Nulty says 
 of double work, the sooner the better." 
 
 " Ay," said Pat, " there's a verse that troubles 
 me often of late, where our Saviour says, that if 
 we are ashamed of him before men, he will be 
 ashamed of us before the angels of God ; and, 
 sure, that should make us face 'thistles and all. 
 But do you think," said Pat, " that we will ever 
 see such a harvest of people in Ii-eland ]" 
 
 '• It's my opinion," said Jem, " it's coming fast ; 
 and if the readers come down this way you'll see." 
 
 So the beU rung, and they were off to their 
 work ; and when evening came, Mr. Nulty paid 
 
 G li
 
 84 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 them two shillings and twopence a man, for he- 
 always gave the height of the wages, and a little 
 more ; and very thankful his men were, and so 
 •was Mr. Nulty, for not a man in the parish had- 
 his reaping as cheap by the acre that day.
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 85 
 
 CHAPTER YIIL 
 
 THE READERS IN KILCOMMON. 
 
 '^' Oh, Jem, where have you been all this time ?" 
 
 " Why, Pat, I got a job down to Roscommon, 
 to drive up some cattle, and I only got back last 
 night," said Jem. 
 
 '' Well, it's I that's wishing to have a talk with 
 you, Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " And what is it about ?" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, sure the readers is come !" said Pat. 
 
 *' And where are they come ?" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, into the very town of Kilcommon 
 itself," said Pat. 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " if that doesn't beat all ! 
 Didn't I think, if ever they came down this way, 
 it would be in some quiet, out of the way place 
 like this they would come, wher-e, maybe, some of 
 us would let them in of an evening unknownst ; 
 but what will tliey do in Kilcommon at all ?" 
 
 " Well, then, it's there they've come," said Pat, 
 " right into Father John's mouth, and facing all 
 the blackguards in Kilcommon ; and of all the 
 work ever you see it's in Kilcommon it is." 
 
 " Tell us all about it : will you 1" said Jem.
 
 86 Talk of the road. 
 
 "Well," said Pat, "I looked for a job in Kil- 
 common last week, for there was nothing to be 
 got here, and sure enough I saw the readers the 
 first day they came into the town ; and they 
 didn't go about like any readers ever we saw 
 going through the country before ; but just like 
 men going about their business in a fair, or in a 
 market ; going straight fornensfc them, into every 
 house, one after the other, and passing none, and 
 talking to the people as open as day, and telling 
 them they had souls to be saved, and that the 
 Word of God, and nothing else, was able to save 
 their souls." 
 " We] 1, how did the people take it at all V said Jem. 
 " Why, then, they took it quite pleasant," said 
 Pat : " they seemed all to be took of a sudden ; 
 and it looked so 0})en they could see no harm in 
 it, and the people Avere all mighty civil to them ; 
 and when I followed them awhile after dinner, 
 I saw that there was a deal of the people that 
 was well pleased to talk to them." 
 
 " Well, and what was Father John doing at 
 all V said Jem. 
 
 " Why, the next day," said Pat, " Father John 
 comes down just the same way and goes into 
 every house the readers wej-e in the day before,
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 87 
 
 and ' Where's the books and papers the Ranters 
 left with you ]' says he. Weil, and sure enougk 
 many of the people that was glad enough to 
 speak to the readers the day before, was just 
 cowed when they saw Father John foruenst them, 
 and handed up their books looking for all the 
 world as if they were going to do penance ; and 
 some of them that I knowed took the books said 
 they never got any ; and there was some said 
 out that they liked the books, and found no harm 
 in them, and they weren't going for to give them ; 
 and old Jemmy Neal says, says he, ' Sure it's only 
 about Irishmen's rights,' says he ; ' and aren't we 
 gouig to have any rights at alii' says he." 
 
 " And what were the readers doing that dav 1" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Why," said Pat, " they began before Father 
 John was out, in another part of the town ; and 
 all the time Father John was going over one street 
 they were going about in another, as pleasant as 
 ever." 
 
 "And didn't Father John go after them to 
 where they were ]" said Jem. 
 
 " Indeed, didn't he," said Pat ; " and I was 
 wondering why, for I saw the town sergeant come 
 and tell him where they were, and he didn't go
 
 b8 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 after them a bit ; and so I went to see what they 
 were doing, and sure enough they were walking 
 about as bold as you please, and a real clergy- 
 man with them, and he with his Douay Bible in 
 his hand, saying, he only wanted to tell the 
 people what was in that, and that if he met 
 Father John he would hold his own tongue, and 
 only hand the book to Father John, and ask him 
 to read some of that and explain it to the people. 
 And sure enough I didn't wonder that Father 
 John kept out of the street he was in, for that 
 would be new work for Father John." 
 
 " Well, and how did it end at all 1" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, it just went on the same way till 
 Saturday," said Pat ; " the readers getting into all 
 the houses quite pleasant, for no one liked to 
 put them out, and Father John running about at 
 the far end of the town, for fear he would meet 
 them ; and so it went on till Saturday night. 
 Well, on Sunday morning, says I to myself, I'll 
 just go into the chapel at Kilcoinuion (where I 
 wasn't, sure enough, for long enough), and I'll 
 hear what Father John has to say about it. Well, 
 of all the scolding aud cursing that ever you 
 heard a priest give at the altar it was the ter- 
 riblest. First he fell on the Ranters, and the
 
 TALK OP THE KOAD. 89 
 
 ??T»'addlers, and the Soupers, and the Jumpers, 
 and the unbaptized heathens, and the cockatrices, 
 and the goose-stealers, and a deal more names he 
 had for them ; and, sure enough, I wondered why 
 he called them goose-stealers (for them's as de- 
 cent men as you would see, more like gentlemen 
 than Father John, with all his bad language), 
 till I saw him turn round to some old women 
 that were in the chapel, and says he, ' Now you 
 old women there, mind you look after your geese,' 
 «ays he, 'for these Soupers are so fond of soup,' 
 says he, * that when the bacon's out, it's stealing 
 your geese they'll be,' says he, 'to make soup of.' 
 Well, thinks I to myself, says I, if that's all you 
 have to say against reading the Bible, the readers 
 will have the town yet, thinks I ; and with that 
 he went on to Mr. Owens for fetching the readers, 
 and of all the bad names that ever was called he 
 had the baddest for him. ' And,' says he, ' when 
 the cholera was in Ireland, their clergj^,' says he, 
 ' that's married and has wives,' says he, ' all pre- 
 sented a petition to the Protestant bishop,' says 
 he, * that they mightn't go to the cholera hospital,' 
 says he ; ' but let the Protestants die like dogs,' 
 says he. And thinks I to myself that's enough, 
 any way ; for when 1 was lying ten days in the
 
 ^0 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 cholera hospital, didu't I see Mr. Owens, that 
 has a wife, there three times a day, and never 
 set eyes on Father John, if it would keep me 
 out of hell, let alone purgatory ? and I saw plain 
 enough there was plenty forby me that considered 
 that. Well, then he came to Mrs. Owens ; and if 
 he hadn't the horridest names for her that ever 
 you heard, it's a wonder ; and when he got just 
 black in the face with abusing her, he just stopped 
 short, and, says he, ' It's a fiend out of hell I was 
 going to call her,' says he ; and, sure enough, I saw 
 many a poor creature that seemed ashamed to hear 
 Mrs. Owens called that way, for it's she that's good 
 to the poor. Well, then he went on to tell them 
 what to do to the Ranters ; and if they would 
 not throw dirty water on them, and gather on 
 them in the street and hoot them, and sweep up 
 the puddles in their floors in their faces with the 
 besoms, he'd call them on the altar next Sunday, 
 and put the curse of God and his curse on them, 
 and never give them the rights of the church as 
 long as they lived ; and so that was Father 
 John's sermon at the blessed altar." 
 
 " Well, and what came of it a Monday ?" said 
 Jem. 
 
 *' Why, then, sure enough, I went to see," said
 
 •rALK OF THE ROAB. 91 
 
 Pat; "and wliat should I see, when the readers 
 come up the street, but up comes Brady the 
 jammer, with the big hand-bell that Connor, the 
 bell-man, rings in the street when there is an 
 auction ; and Brady the jammer comes up the 
 street, ringing his bell, and gathering all the 
 blackguards in the street, and sure they are the 
 bad set in Kilcommon, and iip he goes to the 
 readers as they were going into a house ; and of 
 all the screeching, and cursing, and bad lan- 
 guage, and ringing that ever you heard, it beat 
 all." 
 
 "And how did the readers take it all V said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Just as pleasant as you please," said Pat ; 
 " they had a word to answer for everything, and 
 were never put out, no more than if they were 
 ringing bells themselves all their lives." 
 
 " Well, and did the people let them in ?" said Jem . 
 
 " How durst they," said Pat, "when such a 
 mob was riz on them ? But I saw that a deal of 
 them did not like it at all, and went out and 
 listened to the readers and the clergyman quite 
 fiuiet. But, oh, the jammer ! when the clergyman 
 would offer to speak a word to the people, he'd 
 go and riug his bell up at one ear with one hand,
 
 92 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 9,nd when that was tii-ed with the other hand, at 
 ihe other ear, screeching himself black in the 
 face ; and then the clergyman would say, holding 
 up the Douay Bible in his hand — ' Is it your own 
 Bible that jou hate, that you treat it that way 1 
 Why don't your priest come himself, and show if 
 the book is a bad one V And, indeed, when the 
 people saw how pleasant and quiet the readers 
 behaved, they thought it bad work, and out 
 comes old Sally Smith, and says she to the jam- 
 mer, ' Is that what you're at, and isn't it yourself 
 that would sell the priest next for a glass of 
 whisky?' And, indeed, I heard, after that, that 
 the jammer was hired by Father John, and that 
 he had a pound to put the readei-s out of Kilcom- 
 mon, and no cure no pay. But that's the way it 
 is ; and what will come of it I don't know at 
 all." 
 
 " AVell, Pat," said Jem, " I'm thinking that if 
 the priest has nothing to say agen the Bible but 
 dirty water, and mud, and shouting, and the ring- 
 ing of a bell, he'll never put it out of Kilcommon 
 that way. Sure all the boys must see, when 
 they come to think of it, that their religion is in 
 a bad way when the pi'iest has nothing else to 
 sjxy for it."
 
 TALK OF THE llOAD. 93 
 
 " Well, indeed, I'm thinking that's true," said 
 Pat ; " but we'll see, and who knows but the 
 readers and the Bible will have Kil common yet?" 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE CONTROVERSIAL CLASS. 
 
 ** Well, Pat, I thought long to see you, to get the 
 news of Kilcommon ; how is it at all ? 
 
 "Well, it's bad enough, Jem, and it's good 
 enough, too," said Pat. 
 
 " And how's that, Pat 1" said Jem j "tell us 
 all about it." 
 
 " Well, it's bad enough with Father John, 
 stirring up all the blackguards ; you never saw 
 the like ; any dacent man would be a.shamed of 
 it; but Father John is ashamed of nothing. The 
 readers was covered with mud, and half kilt with 
 stones a dozen times j but some of the boys got 
 put up for that, so mattere is easier that way 
 now, at least in the town ; but if the readers go 
 out into the country parts, there'ej enough to set 
 on them as if they were mad dogs; but that id 
 not the worst ; it's the bad words of a deal of 
 these people that makes me think worse of the 
 teaching the people has been getting than any-
 
 94 TALK OF THE EOAD. 
 
 tiling. Oh, the shockinist words that you hear 
 them crying out after the readers, and IVIr. Owens, 
 and the new clergyman that's come on the 
 mission, through the streets. Now, you would 
 be ashamed to think that the worst of the bad 
 women on the street could say such words ; and 
 all dacent people, women and children, has to 
 listen to them." 
 
 "And doesn't Father John stop that any- 
 way f said Jem. 
 
 " Never a word he said against it yet," said 
 Pat, " nor won't, I know. But I'm not come to 
 the worst vet : it's the songs — oh ! them songs — 
 it would make a bad woman ashamed to hear 
 some of them sung in the streets ; and there isn't 
 man, woman, or child in Kilcommon that doesn't 
 know that it's Father John gets them songs out. 
 And then to hear them songs about Mrs. Owens; 
 it's the biggest shame that ever came upon Kil- 
 common ; and when I met Mr. Owens the other 
 day I was ashamed to look at him . ' And what's 
 the matter with you to-day, Pat V says he ; and 
 when he worked it out of me I had to say, 
 ' 'Deed I'm ashamed to look at your reverence 
 about Mrs. Owens,' says I. ' Oh, is that it V says 
 he ; ' well,' sayshe,'don't mindaboutMrs. Owens,*
 
 TALK OF THE ROAJ). 95 
 
 says he, * or me/ says he; * for it doesn't hurt us,' 
 says he ; * and we expected that,' says he ; ' be- 
 cause in every place where a clergyman goes to 
 show the Douay Bible to Roman Catholics,' says 
 he, ' the priests always get the blackguards to in- 
 sult his wife and daughters that way,' says he ; 'be- 
 cause they think we can't stand that,' says he ; 
 * but they're wrong,' says he ; ' for we know that 
 there's a blessing to them that suffer shame for the 
 name of CSurist ; and He will help us to bear that, 
 and more, for the sake of souls. We know it's the 
 priests' way of managing religious controversy,' 
 says he, * and the only way they have any chance 
 at,' says he ; ' and so we made up our minds to all 
 that before we begun,' says he ; * so don't mind 
 about us. But it makes me ashamed for my 
 country,' says he, * and it makes me blush for the 
 name of Irishman, to think they can be taught to 
 insult a modest woman with filthy songs.' So I 
 thought, when he had done, that it was better for 
 him that bore it than for them that taught it."* 
 
 " Well, now, tell us how it's good enough," 
 said Jem. 
 
 • We know the names of the parties, and the facts ; and we, 
 too, blush to Bay, that every fact that Pat here states about this 
 sjstem of insult to females is strictly true, and has actually 
 happened. — Ed. C. L.
 
 96 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "Well, I will," said Pat ; " sure Mr. Owens 
 and the missioner — that's the Kev. Mr. Burke 
 that's come — has opened what they call a con- 
 troversial class : it's a meeting where everybody 
 may come, and talk, and argue, and question, as 
 much as they like, and Mr. Owens and Mr. 
 Burke to answer them alL" 
 
 " Well, and does any Catholics go V said Jem. 
 
 " A deal of them," said Pat. 
 
 " And how do they behave there 1" said Jem 
 
 "Oh, quite dacent and proper," said Pat ; "for 
 no one goes there that Father John can stop ; 
 and though there's some that's mighty earnest for 
 their own way, and thinks they can puzzle any 
 clergyman at all, yet they're not under Father 
 John's thumb, or they wouldn't be there > 
 so they argue quite fair and clever ; and Mr. 
 Burke and Mr. Owens answers them so fair and 
 so kind, that they're well pleased, even when 
 they're beat; and it's the pleasantest and the 
 hamperedest plan at all." 
 
 " And what do they talk about 1" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, the last night," said Pat, " they were 
 talking about mortal and venial sin. And first, 
 Mr. Owens says, says be, ' Is there anything in 
 the Douay Bible,' says he, ' to show that there ia
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 87 
 
 any suck difference as mortal and venial in the 
 nature of sinful actions ]' ' Sure there is,' says 
 Phil Dooley, who is a mighty good sclnolar, and 
 has bought a Douay Bible to bring with him. 
 * And where is it V says Mr. Owens. So Phil 
 Dooley opened his Bible and read — 'Pie that 
 knoweth his brother to sin a sin which is not to 
 death, let him ask, and life shall be given to him 
 who sinneth not to death. There is a sin unto 
 death.' — 1 John v. IG. So Phil looked quite 
 SJitistied, and was going to shut the book." 
 
 " Stop a minute," said Mr. Burke ; "just read 
 the note on that in the Douay Bible." 
 
 So Phil read — " It is hard to determine what 
 St. John here calls a sin which is not to death, 
 and a sin which is unto death. The difference 
 CANNOT be the same as betwixt sins that are 
 called venial and mortal." 
 
 " That will do," said Mr. Burke. " I thought 
 the Church of Rome had the true interpretation 
 of Scripture, but it seems they find it hard to in- 
 terpret this ; but they are agreed with us that 
 this verse does not mean the difference between 
 mortal and venial sin, and that is enough for 
 what we are at to-night. But can any one show 
 anything else about it in the Douay Bibh' ? '' says he- 
 
 II
 
 98 TALK OF THE EOAD. 
 
 And no one had anything to say. 
 " No wonder," said 'hlx. Owens, " for there is 
 nothing in the Douay Bible about it ; but can any 
 one tell me how they learned anything about it, 
 when it's not in the Bible V 
 
 " Sure I learned it in the catechism," said Peter 
 Foley. 
 
 "And what catechism did you learn 1" said 
 ]!klr. Owens. 
 
 " Plunket's Catechism," said Peter Foley. 
 " How many chief kinds are there of mortal 
 sin V said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Seven, called ca]jital sins," said Peter Foley. 
 "AVhich are the seven called capital sins?" 
 said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "Pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, 
 sloth," said Peter Foley.* 
 
 " Turn to Apocalypse, ch. xxi., last half of the 
 8th verse," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 So Foley read — "All liars, they shall have 
 their portion in the pool burning with fire and 
 brimstone." 
 
 " Is lying a mortal sin V said Mr. Owens. 
 " Y/ell, it must be," said Foley, " if liars will 
 go tC) lu.'U." 
 
 * riiuilt3t'B Catechbia, pp. 22 ami -23.
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 9^ 
 
 " Which of the seven mortal sins is it ?" said 
 Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Well, it's not among them in the catechism," 
 said Foley. 
 
 '■' Is idolatry a mortal sin V said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Surely it is," said Foley. 
 
 "Which of the seven is it 1" said ]\Ir. Owen-s. 
 
 "Well, it's not among them either," said 
 Foley. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, "it seems dangerous 
 to trust in that catechism, for fear we might come 
 under the judgment of God for mortal sins that 
 arenot among the seven. Now," says Mr. Owens, 
 " can you tell me, out of the eatechism, what is 
 venial sin ?" 
 
 " A less offence to God, which does not deprive 
 us of sanctifying grace nor deserve hell,"* said 
 Foley. 
 
 " And can you tell me, out of the catechism, 
 what soi-t of things are venial sins V said JVIr. 
 Owens. 
 
 "Xo," says Foley, "that's not in it," .says 
 he. 
 
 "Well, I think it might," said Mr. Owens, "if 
 it's of such consequence to know the differ." 
 
 • Plunket's Catechism, p. 2£. 
 
 u 2
 
 iOO TALK OF THE EOAD, 
 
 " I can tell it, your reverence, for it's in mine," 
 said Peter Dooley. 
 
 " Oh, you learned Dr. Doyle's Catechism, or 
 the Christian Doctrine," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "I did, your reverence," says Peter, "and 
 here it is — ' A venial sin, for example, a vain 
 word, an officious jesting lie, the theft of a pin or 
 an apple.' " 
 
 " Does the Douay Bible tell us that vain words 
 are venial sinsl" says Mr. Owens. 
 
 " It does not, your reverence," says I, '•' for the 
 Douay Bible tells us, in Matthew xii. 36, that 
 Christ himself said — ' I say unto you, that every 
 idle word that men shall speak they shall render 
 an account for it in the day of judgment.'" 
 
 " Very good," says Mr. Owens. " Now take 
 the next. Does the Douay Bible say that any 
 lies are venial sins ?" 
 
 " Well, we had that already," said Peter Foley 
 — " 'All liars shall have their portion in the 
 pool burning with lire and brimstone ;' that, 
 surely, is hell : so there is no use in saying that 
 any liars are only guilty of venial sin." 
 
 " Now take the third," says Mr. Owens. "Does 
 the Douay Bible say that stealing apples is a 
 venial sin V
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 101 
 
 "Well," says Daly, the schoolmaster, "if it 
 wasn't Eve taking an apple, or the likes, that 
 brought sin and death into the world." 
 
 "Quite right," says Mr. Owens; '• and now," 
 says he, " look to your catechisms, and look to 
 your own souls, if you trust to catechisms, that 
 tell you these three things are venial sins that 
 cannot bi-eak charity between God and man, 
 Avhen the Douay Bible tells you that these three 
 things bring men under death, judgment, and 
 hell" 
 
 And with that Mr. Burke says — " One word, 
 boys, before we stop. What is sin ?" Well, 
 now, doesn't it seem a mighty easy question ? 
 and yet, no one had an answer ! So Mr. Burke 
 opened the Douay Bible, at 1 John, chap, iii., 
 vei-se 4, and read — " Whosoever committeth sin 
 committeth also iniquity; and sin is iniquity.'^ 
 "Now," says he, "can a man commit sin at all 
 without committing iniquity V So he put it all 
 round to the boys, and all allowed that was plain, 
 for "Whosoever committeth sin committeth also 
 iniquity." " Well," says Mr. Burke, " if a man 
 commits a venial sin does he commit sin or not"?" 
 So all the boys allowed that he does. " And 
 does he commit iniquity ?" says Mr. Burke. So
 
 102 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 tliey allowed that, too. " And -will any man tell 
 me that iniquity does not break charity between 
 Ood and man ?" says Mr. Burke ; so some one 
 answered him that, for Habaccuc the prophet 
 says to God — " Thy eyes are too pure to behold 
 evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity." — 
 Chap i. 13. "So," says Mr. Burke, "if venial 
 sin is not iniquity it is not sin at all ; and if it is 
 sin, it is iniquity, and God is too pure to look on 
 it, and it puts us out of the favour of God ; and 
 so your catechism is wrong. All sin is iniquity, 
 and is hateful to God, and there is no remedy for 
 any sin but the one : ' The blood of Jesus Chris* 
 cleanse th from all sin.' " 
 
 " So the boys went away for that night," said 
 Pat. 
 
 "And it's I that will be there some night, I 
 hope," said Jem. 
 
 So if we hear of Pat and Jem being there 
 again, we wlU tell all we hear. 
 
 CHAPTER X, 
 
 PETTY SESSIONS. 
 
 Well, the work began to get a little slack in
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 1Q3 
 
 Kilcommon, so Pat went home for a few days ; 
 and, of course, he went over the first evening to 
 Jemmy Brannan, to have a talk with him about 
 <vhat was doing. 
 
 " So tell us, Pat," said Jem, " how things is 
 going on," 
 
 " Wliy, then, there's law going on," said 
 Pat. 
 
 " And what's that about ]" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, it's about stoning the readers," said 
 Pat. " I was out one day with the cart, and I 
 saw the greatest work at all ; there was the 
 reiiders first, walking as hard as they could, and 
 you wouldn't see a bit of the colour of their 
 clothes as big as my hand, the way they were 
 covered over with mud and slush from head to 
 foot ; and Paddy Brady, and Micky Dooly, and the 
 Finnegans, and a set of the biggest vagabonds in 
 Kilcommon, the fellows that used to be stealing 
 the sheep, and that's up to all kinds of mischief, 
 after them, pelting all the dirt they could get on 
 them ; and when the readers crossed over a piece 
 of road that the stones was spread on the day 
 before, and the boys came on it after them, if 
 there wasn't a shower of stones after them fit 
 to wipe the mud ofi" of them ! And their hats
 
 104 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 was knocked off, and tkeir lieads cut, and jumps 
 on tliem as big as eggs. And tken tlie polls 
 comes down, and tcikes Paddy Brady, and Mick 
 Dooly, and another that was foremost, and 
 marches them off. ' And sure,' says 
 
 the boys, ' it's only defendin' our religion we 
 are.'" 
 
 " And am't they the pretty fellows to be de- 
 fendin' their religion V said Jem. 
 
 " Sure enough," said Pat, "I believe it's little- 
 they trouble the priest about religion, I hear 
 tell there's not one of them has been at confession 
 these five years ; but JTather John thinks them 
 the right sort now, as you'll find." 
 
 " Well, on the Friday after, the boys were to 
 be tried afore the bench, and it happened to be a. 
 holiday, so there was no work doing ; and I 
 seen such a crowd going to the chapel that I went 
 there, too, to hear what Father John would say ; 
 and, sure enough, after Mass, the sermon was all 
 about the firebrands, and the soupers, and the 
 ranters, and the poor, innocent boys that was 
 going to be tried, and persecuted, and extermi- 
 nated, only just for trying to keep their religiou 
 from being insulted by the firebrands. So when 
 he was tired^ says he, * Now go down every on&
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 105 
 
 of you,' says he, 'man, woman, and child,' says 
 he, * and stand by the poor fellows that's going 
 to be persecuted and swore against by the fire- 
 brands,' says he. So sure enough, when I got to 
 the courthouse, there was a thousand people 
 there anyway. And there was Mr. Foley, the 
 lawyer, from Dublin, come down to defend the 
 boys." 
 
 " And who paid for his coming V said 
 
 Jem. 
 
 " "Why," said Pat, " Father John sent round 
 his servant, and two or three of his head men, to 
 all the Catholic shopkeepers and tradesmen in 
 Kilcommon, and made them all subscribe their 
 pounds, and ten shillings, and five shillings ; and 
 I heard tell they liked it little enough, but they 
 were mostly all dfraid to bring Father John's 
 tongue on them in the chapel ; only Mr. Nultyaud 
 one or two more that never cares what Father 
 John can say. "Well, the readers told their story 
 mighty fair and clever, and then ]\Ir. Foley got 
 up and examined them, to make them confess 
 they were insulting the people, and he fetched 
 out a tract, and asked them did they give any of 
 that ; and they said they did a few ; and then h© 
 read out a place where it said the priests wa?
 
 106 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 harassing the people for their dues. And then 
 he made a great speech entirely to the magis- 
 trates, and said, what wonder what would happen 
 to them, when they were insulting the people and 
 their religion like that 1" 
 
 " And did he make out they were insulting 
 their religion any other way ?" said Jem. 
 
 "No, then, he didn't," said Pat, "but he 
 thought that the greatest insult at all." 
 
 "Well, then, I'm thinking," said Jem, "he got 
 his story from Father John, for it's he that would 
 think that the gi-eatest insult entirely. But sm-e 
 the people of Kilcommon is greatly changed this 
 ten years back, if they think the like of that is 
 an insult to them. Don't I remember, just ten 
 years ago, when the people was fairly riz for the 
 Priests' Tariff, as they called it, up the country ? 
 And wasn't the boys of Kilcommon just going to 
 rise for it, too, and had it all settled among them, 
 and the day fixed, and all the boys bound to pay 
 only the dues allowed in the Tariff for christen- 
 ing, and marriages, and everything else 1 And 
 didn't Father John and the rest get up a great 
 meeting for Piepale, to put the boys off it, and 
 promised to get them the country for themselves, 
 and all kinds of things 1 and hadn't they fifty
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 107 
 
 pnests at it ? and wasn't that the way the 
 monster meetings for the E-epale come about, 
 where all the boys was expecting to get the word 
 at last to take Ireland for themselves T And a 
 mighty cute and clever job it was of Father 
 John and the rest, for it put the people off the 
 Tariff entirely.* But sure the people of Kilcom- 
 mon is greatly changed if they are so easy hurt 
 at a word agen the dues. But if Father John 
 taught the lawyer his story, sure it's all plain 
 euouijh" 
 
 " "Well, that was all the insult they had any 
 way," said Pat, " and then Mr. Owens got up, 
 and said there was only a dozen of that tract 
 given out, and that he stopped it when he heard 
 Father John took offence, and never gave any 
 more ; and if anything else was insulting, he'd 
 stop that too. And when the lawyer was done, 
 the gentlemen said there was no law for stoning 
 people for the like of that, and they would have 
 to find the boys guilty, just as if they stoned any- 
 body else. So then the lawyer asked the gentle- 
 men only to put a fine on the boys, and whatever 
 
 * Jem is quite rijrht about this fact. We know It our«elves on 
 good authority. Tlie Priests' Tariff had at that time been pro- 
 claimed in many couuties in Ireland, when the monster meetingr 
 turned the minds of the peoido in another direction.
 
 108 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 it was it would be paid. And while I was won- 
 dering where the like of them would get the 
 money, I turned round, and saw Father John 
 with liis roll of bank notes out in his hand." 
 
 " Ay," said Jem, " I seen that myself, after the 
 work at the election last summer, when Father 
 John paid down the money in open court for 
 every one of the boys that was fined for the work 
 — and a bad work it was.* But did the mascis- 
 trates let them off with a fine ?" 
 
 '"Deed didn't they," said Pat, "this time. 
 Old Mr. Everards says, just as quiet and easy as 
 you please — 'It's a month's imprisonment and 
 labour we're going to give them,' says he. And 
 I never seen Father John look so mad, for he 
 wasn't going to stand tltat for the boys. Still it's 
 a pretty good thing they made of it ; for all their 
 Avives and children got new clothes, and meal, 
 and money, and what not." 
 
 " And isn't that the dacent way for Father 
 John to be defending his religion ?" said Jem ; 
 " didn't the Rev. Mr. Owens write him a letter, 
 asking him to settle who was right, by fair dis- 
 cussion, before the people 1 But Father John 
 would rather get his religion defended with 
 
 • Jem 'j, quite correct al3<3Ut this fact, too.
 
 TALK OP THE HO AD. 109 
 
 stones and mud, by tlie blackguards that never 
 comes to confession at all : and doesn't all thac 
 show who knows that he has fair reason on his 
 side V 
 
 " "Well, Jem," said Pat, " I am coming to think 
 more and more that the priests hasn't reason on 
 their side, and that they know that, once it comes 
 to fair argument, the people will find out that. 
 But as I was going home I fell in with Mr. 
 Owens, and had a talk with him. ' And,' says he, 
 ' why wouldn't we be stoned,' says he, ' when the 
 blessed Apostles was stoned in almost every place 
 they went to preach in ]' says he, and with thai 
 he pulled out his Bible, and showed me two places 
 where the Apostles was stoned for speaking to 
 the people ■/'• and another place where the Jews 
 gathered up all 'the wicked men of the vulgar 
 sort, and made a tumult, and set the city on an 
 uproar,'t just for all the world the way Father 
 John does now, 'and so it's no new thing,' says 
 he, 'but we must follow the way the blessed 
 Apostles went.' " 
 
 " But, your reverence," says I, " what can 
 poor men like the likes of us do when the priest 
 ■can get up the like of that agin any of us, and 
 
 * Acta xiv 5 aud 19. i Acts ivii. 5.
 
 110 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 maybe put us out of our work, too 1 How caa 
 we stand up for tlie Bible at all? And with 
 that he took out his Bible again (and it was a 
 Douay Bible too), and he read these words, that 
 came harder on me than any words that ever I 
 read in the Bible ;" and Pat took out his Douay 
 Bible and read the place (Mark viii. 38) — " ' For 
 he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words,, 
 in this adulterous and sinfid generation, the Son 
 of Man also will be ashamed of him when he 
 shall come in the glory of his Father, with the 
 Holy Angels.' 'And now,' says he, 'are you 
 ashamed to stand up for the word of the Son of 
 God, and will you make him be ashamed to stand 
 up for you V So I couldn't tell what to say at 
 all, and I can't get them words out of my mind ; 
 and what will I do at all 1" 
 
 So if ever we hear of ^ hat they did, we will. 
 tell it to our readers. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE PRIEST AND THE BIBLE. 
 
 Well, on Monday evening, the ith of April. 
 Pat was walking out to Jem's house, and be feli
 
 TAIiK OF THE BOAD. ill 
 
 in with Jem leading home a pair of Mr. Nulty's 
 horses from the harrow. 
 
 " Wliy, is it working you were to-day, Jem 1" 
 said Pat. 
 
 " 'Deed is it," said Jem ; " sure there's plenty 
 to do, and the work so backward." 
 
 " Well," said Pat, " there was not a turn doinsr 
 in Kilcomraon to-day ; so I thought I would 
 walk out and have a bit of talk with you." 
 
 " And what are they idling for in KUcom- 
 mon," said Jem, " more nor here f 
 
 " Sure it's keeping Lady-day we were," said 
 Pat ; • ' and Father John wouldn't allow plough or 
 harrow to work itself." 
 
 "Well now," said Jem, "I heard the queer 
 talk to-day between Mr. Nulty, that lives in this 
 parish, and Mr. Smith, that holds the big farm in 
 Kilcommon parish. Mr. Smith \vas coming up 
 the road, and he stopped to speak to Mr. Nulty ; 
 * And is it working you are to-day, Nulty V says 
 he. 'Yes,' says Mr. Nulty, ' sure Father Sheridan 
 gave it out in our chapel yesterday that we 
 might all work to-day, for he said the crop Wiis 
 too late.' ' Well, I'll bet you sixpence,' says Wv. 
 Smith, * that Father Sheridan has farming of his 
 own to do.' ' Indeed he has,' says Mr. ISTulty, < as
 
 112 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 mucli as any of us.' * Ay, tliat's the reason of 
 it,' says Mr. Smith, * and that's always the way ; 
 whatever's their convenience is our duty ; and if 
 I'd only known that this morning,' says he, ' I'd 
 have had every plough in Kilcommon at wox'k,'* 
 * And why shouldn't we work to-day, and the 
 work so backward r said Mr. Nulty ; 'ne'er a 
 priest in Ireland should stop me to please himself.' " 
 
 So then Pat and Jem had some talk about why 
 Lady-day could not be kept on the 25th of Marc?, 
 ■because it was Good Frida}?- ; but we need not tell 
 what they said about that, because we see one 
 Branni"an has written a letter about it. 
 
 " And then," says Jem, "I wonder did God 
 Almighty mean that the priests should be laying 
 down laws for us to work, or not to work, just as 
 suits their own convenience and their own crop." 
 
 " \Vell," says Pat, "it he did. wouldn't he put 
 it in the Bible, or wouldn't the blessed Apostles 
 say something about it ? And there isn't a word 
 about it in the Bible that I can find ; and sure, 
 if it was in the Bible, wouldn't the priests tell 
 'is that much out of the Bible anyway ? But I 
 know what is in the Bible — that we are not to 
 
 • Such a conversation did take place between two farmers on 
 ■that day, who lived in different parishes.
 
 TALK OF THE LOAD. 113 
 
 work on the Sabbath-day, and we are given leave 
 to work on the other six." 
 
 "Ay," said Jem, "it's not much the priests seem 
 to think about that ; sure there isn't a shop in 
 Ballyboy that isn't open on Sunday (" and it's 
 worse in Kilcommon," siiid Pat) and every one 
 doing his business : and the publicans busier nor 
 any other day selling their whisky ; and how 
 can it be right for the publican to be selling his 
 whisky and doing his business, any more than 
 for the farmer to be sowing his gi-ound, and doing 
 his 1 And who ever heard tell of a priest say- 
 ing it was against the law of God for a shop- 
 keeper to be doing his business on Sunday % But 
 if any one of us goes to earn a shilling on a 
 holyday, to keep the children from dying of hun. 
 ger, they are ready enough «to tell us that it'a 
 against the law of the Church, and to put 
 their curse upon us, and to take the bread out 
 of the children's mouths for it ; for who will 
 give txs a day's work when they do that on 
 us ? 
 
 " Well," said Pat, " and isn't it what they 
 would do 1 Sure it's to think of the Church, 
 and not of the Scriptures, that they want us ; 
 and why wouldn't they be harder on us about the 
 
 r
 
 114 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 laws of tlie Cliurcli, that they make themselves, 
 than about the laws of God, that he wrote in the 
 Bible ? But I wonder which will be most thought 
 of in the day of judgment, whether we kept the 
 laws of God himself or the laws of the priest." 
 
 " Well, then," said Jem, " if God's to be the 
 judge, maybe he will think most about his own 
 laws. And if that's to be the way, isn't it better 
 for us to read the Bible now, and find out his 
 laws for ourselves, if the priest is too busy about 
 his own, to teU us what God's laws are ? 
 
 «' Well, Jem," said Pat, " I'm thinking we'll 
 have to keep to the Bible to know them ; and sure 
 enough, that's just what I came to talk to you 
 about. Do you mind what 1 said to you the last 
 talk we had, how the Bev. Mr. Owens asked me 
 would I be ashamed of Christ and of his Word ;. 
 and would I make Christ be ashamed of me ? and 
 what he showed me in the Bible about it? Well, 
 I couldn't get it out of my head at all ; and it was 
 turning up in my mind every minute, that if I 
 met Father John I'd be ashamed of Chiist's Word, 
 and that Christ would be ashamed of me, and I 
 couldn't tell what I would do at all. Well, I 
 was walking along the road on Saturday, think- 
 ing what would I do at all if Father John taxed
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 116 
 
 me with reading the Bible; and while I was 
 studying it, who should come up but Father Jolin 
 ridiug along, and when he saw it was me, he just 
 pult up along side of me, quite sudden. ' Is that 
 you V says he. ' It is, your reverence,' says I ; 
 and, indeed, it's I that would be glad to say that 
 same time that it wasn't. 'And what are you 
 doing now V says he. ' I'm working with Mr. 
 Connor, of Kilcommon,' says I. 'That's not 
 what I mean,' says he; 'you know what I mean,' 
 says he ; ' what are you doing now ]' says he. 
 Well, I didn't know what to say, and I hadn't a 
 word in me at all, good nor bad ; and says he, 
 shouting at me, that it would make you afeard to 
 hear him, ' Is it reading the Bible you aref says 
 he. Well, it just came in my mind that minute 
 — would I be a.shamed of Christ's owti Word, and 
 would I make him ashamed of me ? and my mind 
 was just riz in me that minute, and so I up and 
 I told him, ' It is, your reA^erence,' says I, ' read- 
 ing the Bible,' says I. Well, with that he got so 
 angry you never saw Father John so like himself 
 in all your life ; now, you never seen a man so 
 boisterous. And when his reverence got some- 
 thing easy within him.self, with letting it out, he 
 says to me, says he, 'And it's tlie heretic Bible
 
 116 TALK OF THE ROAD 
 
 you're reading, going to turn heretic,' says he. 
 ' No, indeed, your reverence,' says I ; ' it isn't 
 the heretic Bible, it's only the Douay Bible,' says 
 I. ' And where did the likes of you get a Douay 
 Bible ?' says he, *I got it from the Rev. Mr. 
 Owens,' says I. 'And what business has the 
 likes of him giving you the Dovxay Bible V saya 
 he ; ' why didn't he give the heretic Bible ? like 
 a heretic, as he is,' says he. * It's ranter your 
 turning,' says he. 'No, please your reverence,' 
 says I, ' I don't rant none ; and sure, your re- 
 verence,' says I, 'the Douay Bible would not 
 make ranters of us,' says I. 'It's a swaddler 
 you are,' says he, 'and a jumper, and it's to the 
 soup-kitchen you're going,' says he, 'and to hell ; 
 and its spiritual prostitution,' says he, 'and it's 
 taking bribes you are, and selhng your faith, 
 and your soul, and your God,' says he, ' for base 
 lucre. But I'll be up to you now,' says he ; " I'll 
 just give you your choice,' says lie ; ' there's the 
 Bible and there's me,' says he, ' and wliich of us 
 can do you most harm V says he ; 'so now make 
 your choice — will you have me or the Bible,' 
 says he, ' or will you give up the Bible, or will 
 you give up me V says he. Well, now, I felt in 
 myself that I was getting bolder and bolder all
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 117 
 
 the time lie was talking, and so, when he left a 
 
 bit of room for me to put in a word, I just says 
 
 to him, says I, ' Since your reverence is so good 
 
 as to give me my choice,' says I, * I think I'D 
 
 just stick to the Bible,' says I. "Well, with that 
 
 he took on so that you wouldn't believe ; and 
 
 just then there was a parcel of the Kilcommon 
 
 boys coming up the road, and he just tui'ns to 
 
 them, and says he, * This is a souper,' says he,. 
 
 ' and a ranter, and a swaddler,' says he, ' and a 
 
 jumper,' says he, 'and Judas that sold his soul 
 
 for soup,' says he, ' and denied his God here to 
 
 my face,' says he. ' No, indeed, your reverence,' 
 
 says I, ' I got no soup at all, nor nothing else, 
 
 nor I don't mean to look for any, nor take it if 
 
 it was offered to me, and indeed it was not,' says 
 
 I. 'Well, it's going to be a turncoat you are,' 
 
 says he, 'that none of your people was before.' 
 
 ' Indeed, I'm not, your reverence,' says I, ' if you 
 
 don't put me out, and turn me yourself; but 
 
 sure,' says I, ' your reverence won't put me out 
 
 and turn me only for reading the Catholic Bible,' 
 
 says I ; ' sure don't the Catholic bishops say, in 
 
 the first page of it, that it's good for Catholio* 
 
 to read, and sure, your reverence, it can't make 
 
 anything bad of me; and so, your roverence,'
 
 118 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Bays I, * may as well just let me alone for reading 
 it, and it's not going to turn at all I am,' says I. 
 Bathe didn't listen to me at all, but just went on 
 to the boys ; and with that they set up a shout 
 after me, that you would hear from that to this, 
 and called me all that Father John called me, and 
 more foreby ; and it's I that was glad, when I 
 came to a bit of loneing, to try to get out of their 
 way as far as I could ; and ever so far I'd hear 
 them shouting ranter, and souper, and jumper, 
 and Judas, after me, that you never heard the 
 like." 
 
 " "Well, Pat," said Jem, " you're in for it now 
 anyway ; but it's my opinion, if you can only 
 hold out for a while, you'll have a deal of the 
 boya, and myself too, to keep you company." 
 
 So if we hear more of what goes on in Kilcom- 
 mon, maybe our readers will like to know it.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 119 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE WAKE. 
 
 ** "Well, Pat, did you get leave to stay La Kil- 
 common 1" said Jem, when tb.ey met on tlie 
 road. 
 
 " 'Deed I did, then," said Pat, " and it's peace 
 we are getting in Kilcommon now." 
 
 "And how is that come about V said Jem. 
 
 "Why, I hear tell," said Pat, "that Father 
 John got a letter from the Bishop, telling him he 
 was bringing scandal on the Church, and that 
 everything is to be kept quiet till it's forgot." 
 
 "And you're not going to turn, P;it]" said 
 Jem. 
 
 " 'Deed no, Jem," said Pat ; " sure I was never 
 thinking of turning ; what do I know about it ? 
 Sure I only want to read the Catholic Bible, and 
 try lo learn something out of it. But where 
 were you, Jem, since I saw you V 
 
 "Why, then, I was at the wake," said Jem. 
 
 " And whose wake was it V said Pat. 
 
 " Well, then, it was old Molly Kearney's," said 
 Jem. 
 
 "Is it her, the creature 1" said Pat; "and
 
 120 TALK OF THE EOAD. 
 
 ■where ■would tlie likes of lier get a ■wake 1 Sure, 
 don't I kno-w that she had nothing to live on 
 these ten years only the fifteen pence a week thai 
 Mr. Owens allowed her out of the Church money,. 
 and she give three pence a week of that for hei 
 lodging, and who would be bothered waking herl 
 'Deed, Mrs. Owens was mighty good to her, and^ 
 gave her her bit often ; but sure Mr. Owens 
 wouldn't be going to pay for the pipes and 
 whisky V 
 
 " Well, you may say that," said Jem ; " but 
 I'll tell you how it was. I was going past old. 
 Ned Flanagan's, where she lodged, one evenings. 
 and he called me in, and told me she was dead,, 
 the creature ; and he said he wasn't going to have 
 any nonsense of waking, only just what was 
 wanting ; and so he asked me to go down to the 
 shop, at the cross roads, for two halfpenny can- 
 dles, and a pen'oi'th of snuff, and he said that 
 would do. So I went, and got the candles and 
 the snuff; and when the candles was lighted, 
 who shoiild come in but old Judy Brannigan, 
 that has the Scapular, and sells the books ; well, 
 down she goes on her knees, you know, and 
 begins with the Latin, and 'deed she seemed ta 
 handle it mighty clever ; and when she was done.
 
 TALK OF itiK ROAD. 12l 
 
 Judy, dear,' says I, ' wliat is it at all V ' Well, 
 I b'Heve it's a Psalm,' says she ; ' but I'm sure 
 it's the right thing,' says she. 'And, Judy, 
 dear,' says I, ' do you know what it means at 
 aU ?' says I. ' How w^ould I,' says she, ' when it's 
 in the Latin it is ?' ' And what is it good for V 
 says I. ' Why, it's good for old Molly Kearney's 
 soul,' says she. ' And wouldn't it be good for our 
 souls, too ?' says I. * Well, in course it would,' 
 says thfc 'And would the meaning of it do any 
 harm to them that understood it V says I. ' No, 
 sure it wouldn't,' says she. ' Well,' says I, " and 
 wouldn't it be better for us to have it in English, 
 tlie way we could understand it ?' ' And is it 
 jumper you're going to turn V says she, ' to be 
 talking that wayof the blessed Latin ; sure where 
 would be the use of larnin' at all, if English 
 was as good for the soul as Latin V ' Well, I'm 
 thinking, Judy,' says I, ' our souls wouldn't be 
 tlie worse for understanding good words.' So. 
 with that, old Ned Elanagan comes over, and he 
 says, ''Deed, I'm thinking this long time there's 
 sense in that,' says he ; ' and I can't help think- 
 ing, betimes, where's the great use in my going 
 to Mass, when I can't understand one word, good 
 nor bad, till the scoulding begins ?' "
 
 122 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Ay," says Pat, " that's the sarmon he meant, 
 sure enough ; and I wonder -what's the reason 
 they don't scould in Latin, too. Sure, if we 
 listen to the prayers in Latin, why wouldn't it do 
 to listen to tlie scoulding in Latin too 1 It's a 
 poor way with us to understand nothing but the 
 scoulding ; it ought to make us read the Bible 
 anyway, to try and know something — but go on 
 with the story, Jem." 
 
 " "Well," said Jem, " when old Judy saw that 
 we were both again her, she began taking a pinch 
 of the snuff ; and I says, ' Isn't it you that has 
 the blessed Scapular, Judy V says I * 'Deed, it's 
 myself,' says she, 'that has.' 'And what is it 
 good for V says I. * Wliy, it's good to die in, to be 
 sure,* says she, 'and it's I that hopes to get it on 
 in time,' says she, ' if my senses is spared to me,' 
 says she. ' And what's the good of dying in it V 
 says I. * Why, to be sure,' says she, * don't you 
 know 1 Didn't the Blessed Virgin say herself, 
 when she gave it, that them that dies in it shall 
 never go to hell, and if they go to purgatory at 
 all, that she'll go down there herself the very- 
 next Saturday after they die, and let them out 
 herself ?' ' And where did you hear that at all V 
 says I ; ' is it in the Bible it is V ' Sure, how
 
 TALK OF THE EOAD. 123 
 
 would I know if it's there]' says she ; 'but isn't 
 it in the treatise on the Scapular that I have at 
 home ] ' says she. ' And you won't put it on till 
 you are dying V says I. ' No,' says she, * sure I 
 won't.' ' And how will it be,' says I, ' if you 
 wouldn't have the sense to put it on then V says 
 I ; ' sure here's old Molly Kearney lying here,' 
 says I, ' and she wasn't as old as you, and she was 
 took quite sudden, and if she had a dozen Scapulars 
 in her box, would it be any good to her soul, 
 when she wouldn't have time or senses to put one 
 of them on her V Well, now, the creature, I was 
 a most sorry for saying it, when I saw how 
 troubl'd she got in her mind at thinkino: of that. 
 ' Oh, wirra,' says she, ' won't therebe any good 
 Christian near me at all to put it on me 1 Ochone,' 
 says she, ' will I die with the Scapular in the 
 ".best, at the foot of the bed there V Well, when 
 i saw the old ci-eature take on so, I just says to 
 her, ' Did you never hear, Judy dear,' says I, 
 ' that it's in the Bible, that the blood of Jesus 
 Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 and sure,' says 
 I, ' if he will put that on you his ownself, there 
 will be no mistake about that ; and won't that 
 do ]' says I. ' Och,' says she, ' what do I know 
 about that, but dou't I know about the blessed
 
 124 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Scapular 1 but, ochone,' says slie, ' who v/ill put 
 it on me at all 1 ?'\re, I'm a poor lone creature, 
 that lives by myseit, without kith or kin, and who 
 will put it on me at all ?' Well, I couldn't help 
 thinking that time, that it was the poor case for 
 an old creature to be taking such trouble about 
 her soul, and knowing nothing of the blood of 
 Jesus Christ to put away her sins ; and isn't it 
 the poor thing for the priests to be leaving an old 
 creature that way, that will be dying like old 
 Molly some of these days 1 And don't they all 
 hold up poor Judy for the most religious woman 
 in the country, and the surest of heaven 1 "Well, 
 it makes me think more nor ever that reading the 
 Bible is what the people want. 
 
 " Well, but while I was talking to old Judy, 
 there came a noise at the door, and when i^ 
 opens, there was all the wildest boys in the coun- 
 try coming in ; and old K'ed Flanagan goes for'ed 
 to meet them, and — 'What do you want here?' 
 says he. ' We're come to the wake,' says they. 
 ' Well, you'll get no waking here,' says he ; 'so 
 you may be off with yourselves.' Well, they 
 swure they'd have some of the fun over old Molly ; 
 * And what did you or the likes of you care for 
 old Molly when she was living V says he ; ' and
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 125 
 
 ■vrhat right have you to fun over her now V saya 
 he ; 'so be off with yourselves out of that,' says 
 he. Well, with that they gave him. a deal of bad 
 language, and they pushed by him, and drove 
 into the house, and began screeching for the 
 pipes and the whisky, for they said they had a 
 right to have some divarsion when there was a 
 corp in the house. Well, with that old Ned 
 went up into the inner room, and he fetched out 
 his scythe with him (for he's a mower by trade), 
 and he swure — ' By this and by that,' says he, 
 
 * if they didn't be off with themselves out of that,' 
 says he, 'he'd shear the heads off of them, like 
 mice,' says he. Well, 'deed if I hadn't caught 
 hold of his arm, I think he'd htive had the arm 
 off one of them anyway ; and when the boys saw 
 that, they weren't long in being off with them- 
 selves. 
 
 " Well, when they were gone, says I to Ned, 
 
 * Would you let me read a bit quiet to you ]' 
 8ays I. So he said he'd like that well ; so I just 
 took out my Bible, for I had it in my pocket, 
 and I just read to them about Jesus Christ 
 coming to Mary and Martha when their brother 
 was dead, and how kind he was to them, and how 
 he even cried like themselves at the grave ; hovi
 
 126 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 he told them he was the Kesurrection and che 
 Life, and that if they would believe in Him, he 
 would raise them up to life again when they were 
 dead ; and how he called Lazai'us out of the 
 grave before their eyes, to show that he could do 
 it, and that he would do it if they believed in 
 Him ; and old Judy, the creature, she come and 
 listened to it all, and said, ' Of all the reading 
 ever she heard it was the purtiest ;' and, indeed, 
 Ned was mighty well pleased too, and his wife, 
 and they said, ' They'd often be glad to hear the 
 like, and that it was a deal decenter than pipes 
 and whisky when there was a corj) in the house ;' 
 and, indeed, I could not help thinking then that 
 if the priests would try and stop the waking, and 
 advise the people to have a little reading like 
 Christians, it would be doing more good to the 
 people than setting them to stone the Scripture 
 readers." 
 
 "Well," said Pat, "it surely would ; but I'm 
 afraid they won't try that. But how would they 
 know anything more about that Scapular, or how 
 did it come out at all, when there's nothing about 
 it in the Bible f ' 
 
 "Well," said Jem, "I think I know a man 
 that has the treatise on the Scapular that old
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 127 
 
 Judy spoke about, and I'll try and borrow 
 it." 
 
 "Well," said Pat, "it would be a good thing 
 to get it and read it, and see if it's like the Bible 
 at aU." 
 
 So if they find out anything more about the 
 Scapular, we will try and have it for our i-eadera. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE SCAPULAR. 
 
 '' Well, Jem, did you get the book about the 
 Scapular V 
 
 " 'Deed, then, I did, Pat, and here it is," said 
 Jem, taking the book out of his pocket, as they 
 met on the road. 
 
 " Well, and is it like the Bible at all ?" said 
 Pat. 
 
 "Why, then," said Jem, "if there's two books 
 in the world that isn't like each other one bit, it's 
 this book and the Bible ; and more, foreby : if 
 this book is true I don't see what call there is 
 for the Bible at all ; for, sure enough, it's a deal 
 easier to be saved by this book and the Blessed 
 Virgin, than it is to be saved by Jesus Christ
 
 128 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 ^iid tlie Bible — tliat is, barring it isn't all a lio 
 about the Scapular. But, I'm thinking, if the 
 Bible is true, it will go hard with poor Judy and 
 them that trusts in this book." 
 
 " Well, what is it all about ?" said Pat. 
 
 " Why, first and foremost," said Jem, " it tells 
 ns how the order of Carmelites was founded by 
 Elijah the prophet, on Mount Carmel (p. 12) ; 
 and it tells us how he was vxpon the mountain 
 nine hundred years and more before our Saviour 
 Wcis bom, and he seen a little cloud, as big as his 
 hand, coming up out of the sea, and that was 
 the Blessed Virgin herself, no less ! and so then 
 he set up the Carmelites in honour of her, and 
 it tells the place in the Bible where to find it 
 {3rd Book of Kings, oh. xviii., v. 44, &c., Douay 
 Bible ; 1st Book, authorized version) ; and sure 
 enough, when I went to look for it, Elijah was 
 there, and f?aw the little cloud, but not one word, 
 good or bad, about the Blessed Virgin, nor the 
 order of Carmelites neither." 
 
 " Well, wall," said Pat, " was there Carmelites 
 nine hundred years before our Saviour was bom, 
 And were they Christians then ?" 
 
 " Why, the book makes it out they're that 
 old," said Jem, "and that they took up with
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 129 
 
 the' Blessed Virgin as soon as she was born, and 
 that she was mighty fond of them, and gave them 
 the Scapular herself. But, 'deed she was in no 
 hu.ny to give it to them, for she didn't give it 
 them for more nor twelve hundred years after that 
 again !" 
 
 " And how could that be, at all, at all 1" said 
 Pat ; " sure she must have been dead before that 
 anyway." 
 
 " "Why, here's the story," said Jem (page 31). 
 " There was one Simon Stock, that lived in Eng- 
 land — and a quare way he got his name, for he 
 ran away into the woods when he was twelve 
 years old — and he lived in a hollow tree for 
 twenty years, and he lived on the roots he scraped 
 up, only when a dog brought him bread in hia 
 mouth on the festival days; and the Blessed 
 Virgin would be coming to him often : and it so 
 fell out that was the time that the Carmelites 
 was turned out of Moimt Carmel. So the 
 Blessed Virgin told him one day that they were 
 coming that way, and that he'd be a Carmelite ; 
 and so, when they come, he joined them, and 
 was the greatest man that ever they had." 
 
 "Well, and did she give him the Scapular 
 then ?" said Pat
 
 130 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 " Not that time," said Jem ; " but when lie 
 was near dying, and thinking what would -the 
 Carmelites do without him, he went to the 
 Blessed Vii-gin, and told her all about it, and 
 how all the Popes had confirmed the order, and 
 all that they had done for it (p. 33). And so 
 one day she come to him, just dressed the way 
 she would be in heaven, and thousands of angels 
 with her, and the Scapular ready in her hand ; 
 and she says to him — see, here's the very words 
 in the book (p. 34) — ' Receive, most beloved son 
 (says she), the Scapular of thy order, a sign of my 
 confraternity, a privilege both to thee and to all 
 Carraelites, in which he that dieth shall not su^er 
 eternal five ; behold the sign of salvation, a safe- 
 guard in clanger, the covenant of peace and ever- 
 lasting alliance.' And then she just gives it into 
 his hand, and was gone in a minute ; and see, 
 here's the very day, and it marked, the 16th of 
 July, 1251." 
 
 " Well, I wonder did all that happen," says 
 Pat. 
 
 "Well, I'm thinking," said Jem, "if the 
 Blessed Virgin was so fond of the Carmelites for 
 1250 years before, and if the Scapular was so 
 good for them, would she never give it to them
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 131 
 
 before ? Why wouldn't she give it to them 
 when she was visitincj them so often on Mount 
 Carrael, at the time when our Blessed Saviour 
 was bom 1 Why would she leave them without 
 it so long, and they so fond of her, and she so 
 fond of them]" 
 
 " There's reason in that, any way," said Pat ; 
 "and howsomever it isn't the ovild religion. 
 "Why, sure, the Scapular isn't more nor six 
 hundred years old yet, even by the book's story ; 
 and don't the Catholics cry out on the Pro- 
 testants, because everything in their religion isn't 
 as old as the apostles 1" 
 
 "Well," said Jem, "I think there's a better 
 way still to see if the story is true." 
 
 "And how's that?" said Pat. 
 
 " Why," said Jem, "just to see how we are to 
 be saved by the Scapular, and how that fits with 
 our being saved by Jesus Christ, the way the 
 Bible tells us ; for if the two doesn't fit, it's reason 
 that only one of them can be true." 
 
 " Well, I'll stand to that," said Pat ; " and how 
 does the book say the Scapular saves us V 
 
 " Why, fii'st of all," said Jem, " the book say* 
 it is a grand thing for people to be joined in 
 societies, because then every one in the society 
 
 K 2
 
 132 TALK or THE BOAD. 
 
 gets a share in all the prayers, and sacrifices, 
 fastings, alms, aud mortifications, and of all the 
 good works of all the rest." — Preface, p. 1. 
 
 And then Pat scratched his head for a miniite, 
 and, said he, "And who's the gainer by that, I 
 wonder, or who's the loser 1 Why, there won't 
 be more good works among them after all ; and 
 how will they divide 1 If every man gets his 
 own (and that's the fairest) I don't see the gain 
 at all. And if they get share and share ahke, 
 why them that does the most is the losers ; and 
 them that does nothing is the gainers. Sure 
 enough there was short commons here in the 
 famine; but if every one, big and little, in the 
 pai'ish, had brought all they had together to eat 
 it at wonst, sure it wouldn't go farther ? And 
 if all the boys in the parish was working at task- 
 work, and all in under one, to di\'ide all the 
 earnings among them, I'm thinking maybe its 
 less work would be done, for all the lazy fellows 
 would be saving themselves, to get their share of 
 the wages, and they doing nothing. So I don't 
 see the good of clubbing all together, no ways." 
 
 " Well, that's like enough, Pat," said Jem ; "I 
 don't see no great good in it so far ; but, then, 
 there's more in it still : sure the book says that
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 133 
 
 Pope Clement VII. has given the Scapularians a 
 share of all the pious actions which are done 
 throughout the whole church of God (page 46), 
 and wouldn't that be making more for the Sca- 
 pularians anyway ?" 
 
 "And, mercy on us," said Pat, "what right 
 has the Pope to take their good works off them 
 that does them, to give them all to the Scapula- 
 rians ? Why, if I'd stint the children, to give 
 the bit to a poor creature on the road, for the love 
 of God, what right has the Pope to take that off 
 me, to give it to them that never done it ? Sure 
 I'm not the fool to think the Pope can do that, 
 or that God Almighty will let him handle us 
 that sort." 
 
 "Nor I neither, Pat," said Jem, "for doesn't 
 the Bible say that eveiy man ' must appear be- 
 fore the judgment scat of Christ; that every 
 man may receive the things done in his body, ac- 
 cording to that HE hath done, whether it be good 
 or bad' (2 Cor. v. 10) ? and, sure, how can the 
 Pope go again that 1" 
 
 ""Well, now," said Pat, " I mind a story I was 
 reading in St. Matthew's Gospel, a Sunday, and 
 there was ten virgins that was going out to meet 
 the Bridegroom (and that was the Lord himself),
 
 134 TALK OF THE ROAD, 
 
 and they had to fetch lamps with them, for belike 
 it -was night, and there was five of them had no 
 oil for their lamps, and, the creatures, they just 
 •vranted to have all in common ; but the wise ones 
 wouldn't agree to that at all, for they said they 
 hadn't enough to be doing that with ; so them 
 that had no oil didn't get in at all, and Jesus 
 Christ said that's just the way it would be when 
 he'd be coming in glory j so it's plain that what's 
 borrowed won't stand then ; and isn't that enough 
 for that V 
 
 " Well, I think it is, Pat," said Jem, " and so 
 we'U go on a bit, for there's more in it yet. Sure 
 here's a chapter to say that them that dies in the 
 Scapular will never suffer hell fire ; and the quare 
 proof the book gives of it too ; for see what it says 
 here (p. 48) — ' In the city of Quarena, during the 
 procession of the Holy Scapular, which is made 
 on the third Sunday of every month, the devils 
 were heard to execrate the Holy Scapular with 
 many bowlings and outcries, lamenting them- 
 selves that, by means of this sacred habit of the 
 Blessed Virgin, the gates of hell were shut* to 
 many persons.' " 
 
 " And does it mean that them that dies with 
 the Scaptdar on will never go to hell if they were 
 aver so bad ?" said Pat.
 
 TAI^K OP THE ROAD. 135 
 
 ' Well, them's the word3 that the book iiays 
 the Blessed Virgin spoke to Simon Stock, 'iu 
 which he that dieth shall not suffer eternal fire ' " 
 (p. 34), said Jem ; "but still the book won't skand 
 to it all out : for it says, it only means that if any 
 one that dies with the Scapular on does go to heU 
 it will be his own fault, because God did enough 
 for him " (pp. 48 and 49). 
 
 "Well, and wasn't that true for 1250 years 
 before there was a Scapular at all 1" said Pat, 
 " and isn't it true now to them that never saw a 
 Scapular 1 But I doubt poor Judy doesn't take 
 it that way." 
 
 "Well," said Jem, "here's a whole chapter 
 about what Judy said, * that the Blessed Virgin 
 would go down to Purgatory, to take out the 
 Scapularians the very next Saturday after thej 
 die.' And, weU, it turns out that that isn't in 
 what the Blessed Virgin said to Simon Stock at 
 aU ; but it was the Popes done that ; and here 
 the book gives us a list of five Popes, no less, 
 that all laid it on the Blessed Virgin to do that 
 same (p. 50) ; and what do you think of that, 
 Pat ]" 
 
 "Why, then, Jem," said Pat, "I'd think it a 
 great pity that ever they'd die at all, barring of 
 a Friday night."
 
 136 TALK OF THE ROAD 
 
 "AVell, Pat," said Jem, " here's more ; here's a 
 whole chapter of all the indulgences that ever tho 
 Popes gave to the Carmelites, for the foolishest 
 things that ever you read. Sure here's an in- 
 dulgence of three years to all Christians, let alone 
 Carmelites, for every time they call the Carmelites 
 ' the order of the Blessed Virgin Mary ' (p. 55). 
 Now, isn't that easy got 1" 
 
 " Well, salvation's cheap by the Scapular, any- 
 way," said Pat. 
 
 "I'm thinking it's not, Pat," said Jem ; "for if 
 the Bible's true, the Scapular will, maybe, cost 
 their souls to them that trusts in it." 
 
 " And is there any more in it ?" said Pat. 
 
 ''Deed is there," said Jem; "sure here's a 
 whole chapter, to show that the Scapular is good 
 against * devila, and fire, and water, and wild 
 beasts, and sickness, and witchcrafts, and danger 
 in child-bed, and pistol-shots, and many other ill 
 accidents' (p. 71) ; and here's stories for them all: 
 first and foremost, here's a story of a man that 
 was shot with a pistol and two bullets in it, and 
 the minute he was shot he just felt the two 
 bullets fall down into his breeches ; and when he 
 got home, he found they just hit on the Scapular " 
 (p. 69).
 
 TALK OP THE KOAD. 137 
 
 " Stop a bit, Jem," said Pat, " wouldn't that 
 be the fine thing for Hsir. Collins, the agent, that's 
 shot at so of.jn ] I'm thinking, if that was true, 
 he'd be a Scapularian himself." 
 
 " That would be the thing for the agents, Pat," 
 said Jem ; ",but here's more stories for you : here's 
 a poor fellow that was kept alive by the Scapular 
 for four hours after the whole heart was shot out 
 of him by a cannon ball ; and sure it was the pity 
 that he died at all — and here's a man got out of 
 the sea by it, and here's a great fire put out 
 by it" 
 
 " Well, that won't do anyway,'' said Pat : 
 " didn't I know Peter Brady, that took his family 
 off to America, and weren't they all Scapularians, 
 and didn't the ship take fire before they got out 
 of Liverpool, and wasn't there both fire and water 
 there to try the Scapular on, and weren't they all 
 drowned V 
 
 "I mind that well, too, Pat," said Jem, "and 
 sure enough it did them little good, the crea 
 tures." 
 
 ** But what have the Scapularians to do for all 
 this 1" said Pa^.. 
 
 " Why, just not one haporth, but only to wear 
 the Scapular on their backs, for it won't do no
 
 138 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 good at all if it's worn on the breast (p. 59) ; sure 
 here it is, ' It sufficeth that the Scapular be re- 
 ceived lawfully, and worn devoutly, without any 
 other obligation ' (p. 60) ; only, if they want to 
 get out of Purgatory on the first Saturday, they 
 must fast on Wednesdays, or else say the Office 
 of the Blessed Virgin, which they please ; but they 
 must do neither the one nor the other to be kept 
 out of hell." 
 
 " Well, isn't it the poor thing that creatures 
 like Judy should be striving to get salvation by 
 the Scapular, and not knowing or thinking about 
 the blood of Jesus Christ 1" said Pat ; " and isn't 
 it the poor thing that the clergy has never one 
 word to say agin books like that, but if a Bible 
 hirns up afore them, they're ready to hunt it like 
 a mad dog 1 Sui'ely there's something wanting 
 to set it right." 
 
 " And with all, Pat," said Jem, " there's some- 
 thing in the Scapular itself that won't fit Father 
 John." 
 
 " And what's that, Jem 1" said Pat. 
 
 "Here it is, Pat," said Jem: '"Those that 
 visit our churches (that's the Carmelite churches), 
 and pray for the ordinary necessities, may free a 
 soul out of Purgatory every Wednesday through-
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 139 
 
 out the -whole yeai'' (p. 57) ; and where's the use 
 in buying Masses if that's true?" 
 
 " Well," said Pat, " if the people once come to 
 take that plan, isn't it Father John that will 
 htmt the Scapular out of the parish 1" 
 
 " It might be better nor hunting the readers," 
 said Jem. 
 
 So Pat and Jem parted for that night. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ^PAYING THE DEBT. 
 
 " Well, Pat, how is it with you now ?" said Jem, 
 when they next met on the road. 
 
 " I doa't know, Jom," said Pat ; " I'm down 
 entirely." 
 
 " And what are you down fcr at all ]" said 
 Jem : "has Father John been at you agen?" 
 
 "No, Jem, it's not that," said Pat; "it's 
 worse entirely." 
 
 " And what's the matter at all ?" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, it's afeard I am that the Bible's setting 
 me astray after all," said Pat. 
 
 " And what's the matter at all with the Bible 1" 
 stiid Jem. 
 
 "Why, it's troubling my mind in me," said
 
 140 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 Pat. " Sure, before I read the Bible, my mind 
 was uneasy enough, not knowing nothing at all ; 
 and didn't I think, when I'd know the Bible, I'd 
 have no trouble at all 1 and now my mind is more 
 troubled in me nor ever, and I can't get it quiet 
 ftt aU.» 
 
 " And what is it that's troubling it at all 1" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Wliy, then, it's showing me how wicked I 
 am," said Pat ; " and it's showing me how good 
 I ought to be, and how I ought to love God 
 entirely, and do everything in life for the love of 
 God; and, then, it's so hard to ]ove God entirely, 
 and it seems as if my heart couldn't love Him at 
 all ; and it's telling me to love my enemies, and 
 Father John itself, and it's so hard to do that 
 anyway. But it's the badness of my heart 
 entirely that the Bible's showing me ; and what 
 will become of me at all if it's so bad 1 And, 
 then, evermore it's coming into my mind that 
 the Bible is setting me astray." 
 
 " Well, Pat," says Jem, " sure you're not that 
 bad; sure you're not worse nor another; sure 
 all the neighbours calls you a decent, quiet, civil 
 boy, and sure you're taken to reading the Bible." 
 
 ** Well, but it isn't what the neighbours says
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 141 
 
 of me," said Pat; "what does that signify? 
 Isn't it what God says of me, when He looks 
 just straight into my heart 1 It's that that signi- 
 fios ; and don't I feel entirely that I'm a sinner, 
 and nothing but a sinner 1 And doesn't the 
 Bible itself say — 'The soul that sinneth, the 
 same shall die ' 1 — Ezekiel xviii. 4. And isn't 
 that me 1 And doesn't it say — * The wicked 
 shall be turned into hell ' 1 and don't the Bible 
 show me that I'm wicked ; and what will I do 
 at all, at all ? " 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " if the Bible isn't 
 agreeing with you, maybe, if you just put it 
 away for a while, you could come back on it 
 again, when it wouldn't trouble you so much." 
 
 " 1^0, Jem," said Pat, " I can't do that at all. 
 It's taken hold of me, and I can't get shut of it 
 at all ; and I- wouldn't neither, Jem, for all it's 
 done to me : what would I take to at all ? Is 
 it the Scapular, or the like of that, I'd take to 1 
 Or would I take to Father John and his cursins 1 
 And sure I can't do without something now. 
 And what can I take to only the Bible 1 And 
 I'll stick to that, if it kills me ; sure / know 
 nothing else can do me any good." 
 
 " W«ll, Pat," said Jem, " I'm sure the Bible's
 
 li'^ TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 good, too ; but why would it trouble you that 
 way, when it doesn't set me astray ] " 
 
 " And isn't it as bad for you as for me, Jem 1 " 
 said Pat : " doesn't it make us all out to be aa 
 bad as other 1 Doesn't it say, that * They are 
 all under sin,' and that every mouth is stopped 
 (Eom. ui. 9, 19) ? and what will we do if not 
 one of us at all can have one word to say at the 
 great judgment of God ? " 
 
 « Well, Pat," said Jem, " I didn't think of it 
 rightly before, and I don't know what we'll say 
 at all ; only this, if we're all that bad, and all 
 sinners entirely, doesn't God mean to save some 
 of us any way, by Jesus Christ ? Sure you're 
 not going to say, that there won't be none at all 
 saved by Jesus Christ ? and if we're all sinners, 
 sure some of us sinners will be saved by Christ." 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " that's the only thing 
 that stands to me at all ; but, somehow, I don't 
 see how that can be, and that's just what I want 
 to Gome at." 
 
 " I'll tell you how we'll get it," said Jem *, 
 "won't we just go down to Mr. OAvens, and ask 
 him 1 " 
 
 " Well, I'll try that any way," said Pat ; « for 
 if any one can show it to us, he will."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 143 
 
 So off they went to Mr. Owens. And when 
 they got into his study, he asked them was there 
 anything they wanted to talk about. So Pat let 
 it all out then, and, said he, " Your x'everence, 
 the Bible's setting me astray entirely." 
 
 " And how is that ? " said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Why, your reverence," said Pat, " it's telling 
 me that I'm a sinner entirely, and that all sinners 
 will be turned into hell, and what will I do at 
 aU?" 
 
 "Well, that's aU right, so far," said Mr. 
 Owens : " if the Bible didn't tell you that, it 
 would do you no good at all." 
 
 " And how's that, your reverence ? " said Pat, 
 for he thought it mighty odd. 
 
 " Did you know Jemmy Gougerty ] " said Mr 
 Owens. 
 
 " Aye did I," said Pat ; " didn't he die in the 
 fever that came after the praties failed ? " 
 
 " And what about him ] " said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Why, he just went raging mad with the 
 fever," said Pat, " and he said he was qmte well, 
 better nor ever he was in his life, and that he 
 didn't want a doctor at all." 
 
 " And didn't they send for the doctor ?" said 
 Mr. Owens.
 
 144 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " No, indeed," said Pat ; " for his wife was 
 dead, the creature, and thei'e was none but the 
 childer with him ; and when he said he was quite 
 well, they never thought the doctor was wanting 
 at all." 
 
 " And the doctor told me, two days after," 
 said ISIr. Owens, " that that was just the case he 
 could have cured, only he never was sent for at 
 all." 
 
 "And what has that to do with me and the 
 Bible, your reverence 1" said Pat. 
 
 " Why, just this," said Mr. Owens, " that a man 
 ought to know when he is sick and wants the 
 doctor. Are there not many people that are 
 mad about their souls, and don't know that they 
 want Jesus Christ, the great physician of souls, 
 at all V 
 
 " Well, that's me, sure enough, your rever- 
 ence," said Pat. "I was mad that way long, 
 long enough ; and the more I wanted Jesus 
 Christ, the more I didn't know that I wanted 
 him." 
 
 "Well, that's just what 1 mean," said Mr 
 Owens. " If the Bible didn't make you feel that 
 you are a sinner, and that you want a Saviour, 
 it would just be doing you no good at all."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. l45 
 
 "Well, it's done that for me any way," said 
 Pat. " But how will I be saved if I'm a sinner ? 
 That's just what I want to know."' 
 
 " Do you know Mr. Nulty V said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "Well, I do," said Pat, "and many's the day 
 I worked for him, and a good man he is." 
 
 "Is he good to the beggars ]" said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " Well, he's mighty hard to them that chooses 
 to live by begging, and won't work at all," said 
 Pat; " but he's the best man at all to them that 
 works hard, and can't do it. Don't I know Pat 
 Flaherty, that works hai'der than any man in the 
 parish, and didn't his cow die on him, and he 
 hadn't the rent, and wasn't he processed and de- 
 creed for it, and hadn't the gripper a hold of him, 
 to take him off to jail ; and didn't Mr. Nulty 
 come for'ad in the court, and just lay down the 
 money for him V 
 
 " And did the gi-ipper take him to jail then 1" 
 said ]Mr. Owens. 
 
 " How could he," said Pat, " when the debt 
 was paid for him ?" 
 
 " Wei], and if Jesus Christ should pay for your 
 sins," said Mr. Owens, "what have you to fear 
 from the gripper of souls V 
 
 " Aye, and is that the way, your reverence ?"
 
 146 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 said Pat, ''Well, I'm seeing it now, sure 
 enough." 
 
 " Don't read half the Bible, Pat," said Mr. 
 Owens j "that's a bad way — read it all ; and if it 
 makes you see that you are a sinner, and that you 
 want a Saviour, it mil make you see, too, that 
 you have a Saviour, that is able and willing to 
 save you. Just listen to this," said Mr. Oweua 
 (and he turned to 1 Tim. i. 15, Douay Bible, and 
 read) — "A faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." 
 
 " And who was that, that was chief of sinners?" 
 said Pat. 
 
 " It was the great Apostle St. Paul himself, 
 that said that of himself," said Mr. Owens. 
 
 " And was he a great sinner ?" said Pat 
 
 " He calls himself ' chief of sinners,' " said 
 Mr. Owens ; "and look what he says hf-re," said 
 Mr. Owens, and he turned to Acts xx-sd. 10, 11 
 — " Many of the saints did I shut up in prison 
 . . . . and I punished them often in every 
 synagogue, a,nd compelled them to hlasjjhem^." 
 
 " And why did Jesus Christ take hir i for an 
 apostle if he was that wicked ]" said Jem. 
 
 " Refid the next verse to what we read in the
 
 TALK OF THE KOAi». 147 
 
 Epistle to Timotliy," said IMr. Owens ; and lie 
 handed tlie book to Jem (and a Douay Bible it 
 was). So Jem read — " Eut for this cause have 
 I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus 
 might show forth all patience, for the informa- 
 tion of them that shall believe in him unto life 
 everlasting." 
 
 " Well," said Pat, " that's good, for there's a 
 pattern that he will save sinnei-jj." 
 
 " Listen to this," said ]\Ir. Owens, and he read, 
 from the Gospel of St, John iii. 16, the words 
 of Christ himself — " God so loved the world 
 as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him may not perish, but may have 
 life evei'lasting." And then Mr. Owens went 
 on — " Does not this show you that whatever is 
 wanting to bring you to life everlasting, Jesus 
 Christ is willing to do for you V 
 
 " It does, your reverence, and I'd like to know 
 what he will do," said Pat. 
 
 " If you believe and trust in him," said Mr. 
 Owens, " he will stand up for you at the great day, 
 and say — 'I have taken this man's sins upon 
 myself, I have paid for all his sins, and his soul 
 is mine, that I may save it for ever ;' and won't 
 that do 1" said Islr. Owens. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 TALK OF THE ROAO. 
 
 " That's just what I want, your reverence, to 
 make me happy," said Pat. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Owens, " you have read your 
 Bible to some purpose, to see that you want a 
 Saviour ; now read your Bible again, to see what 
 that Saviour did for you, and you will find com- 
 fort for your soul." 
 
 So Pat went home with a hopeful mind that 
 night, and we hope to hear more of hia reading
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SERMOIJ. 
 
 " Well, Pat, what were you doing since I saw 
 fou 1" said Jem, when they met next. 
 
 " Well, then, I was hearing a sermon in Kil- 
 sommon," said Pat. 
 
 " And was it Father John that was in it ]' 
 said Jem. 
 
 " No, then," said Pat, " it was Doctor Martin, 
 from England, that was a Protestant clergyman, 
 and that turned ; and I saw it up in letters as 
 big as my hand, so I thought I'd go and see if he 
 came up to Father John." 
 
 " Well, and how did he do it V said Jem. 
 
 " Well, he's a great preacher entirely," said 
 Pat, " and no mistake, for you would hear him a 
 mile off. But for what he said, it beat all thai 
 ever I heard from ourselves itself ^^'hy, sure 
 lie spoke it out plain, that the Blessed Virgin 
 was the Avife of the Holy Ghost !* Now, is that 
 in the Bible, I want to know 1" 
 
 • T'atis. probably, correct in this, shocking as it may appear, 
 for we fiii'l a similar etatemcnt in a report of a .'ermon, preach^ d 
 at Xavaii, by I)r. Mursliall, iu 1&52 ; published by T. lieo- 
 (lerson, Kells.
 
 150 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Why, Pat," said Jem, " sure that beats cur- 
 Bel ves all out; sure that's worse nor ever we 
 were. Doesn't the Blessed Yirgin call herself 
 the handmaid of the Lord ] And to go to make 
 a woman the wife of God ! sure that beats all. 
 And didn't God say that man and wife are one 
 flesh ? and how can she be one flesh with Him ' 
 Sure it's too bad entirely." 
 
 "And how comes it at all," said Pat, "that 
 the great English clergy, that has learning and 
 knowledge, should be turning to worse than the 
 likes of us can stand ]" 
 
 " Well, I heard Mr. Owens preach a sermon 
 on that," said Jem, "and he made it plain 
 enough, for he said our hearts was all turned 
 away from the truth by nature, and that the wise 
 and learned was as bad this way as the poorest 
 creatures ; and he showed that it wasn't the wise 
 and learned that was mostly called,* but that the 
 Gospel was preached to the poor,t and that God 
 had chosen the foolish to confound the wise ;| 
 and if that was the way in St. Paul's own time, 
 why wouldn't it be that way now 1 And he said, 
 foreby, that the most learned of those clergy that 
 
 * 1 Cor. L 26. i- :^^att. xi. 5 ; Luke iv. 18. 
 
 J 1 Cor. L 27.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 151 
 
 turned in England didn't give any learned rea- 
 son for it at all ; but just no better nor ourselves 
 would give, "wben the priest told us that his way 
 was right ;* and sure that's the poor proof, when 
 it isn't in the Bibl». And isn't it enough to 
 make out Mr, Owens right, when Dr. Martin 
 says the like of that 1 But what more did he 
 say ]" 
 
 " Well, of all that ever you heard he said of 
 the Protestant clergy. He said he knew them 
 well, for he was one himself; and that they 
 didn't believe in God, or in Jesus Christ, or in 
 the Holy Ghost itself; but that they was all 
 infidels and heathens." 
 
 "Well, it'll CO hard with me before I take 
 his word that Mr. Owens does not believe in 
 God or in Jesus Christ," said Jem ; " but what 
 more, Pat V 
 
 "Well, he said that they didn't care about the 
 souls of the people at all, and that, with all the 
 talk they made, they didn't want the people to 
 turn Protestants at all, but only to pretend to do 
 it ; and that they gave the people five pounds 
 apiece only just to pretend it ; and him getting 
 
 • See the CATHOLIC Lawman for March, 1852, vol. 1., page 23.
 
 152 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 five pounds for preaching that same sermon, as I 
 heard tell." 
 
 " Well, stop there a bit, Pat," said Jem ; " if 
 the priest thought that the five pounds apiece 
 was really going, would he give it out in the 
 chapel that way ? Doesn't he know there would 
 be plenty to look for it, if it was to be got 1 And, 
 if it was true, wouldn't he be more Likely to tell 
 the people they wouldn't get the money at all, 
 and they needn't go to look for it V 
 
 " Well, signs by," said Pat, " I was up with 
 Mr. Owens next day, and who should I see at 
 the door but Molly Brady ; and Mr. Owens 
 comes out and asks 'her what she wants : ' Your 
 reverence,' says she, ' I'm a girl that wants to 
 turn ;' and so Mr. Owens began to talk to her 
 about the i-easous for turning : and Molly kept 
 looking at liim mighty hard ; and at last says 
 she, ' But what are yees goin' to give me V says 
 she. ' So,' says Mr. Owens, ' we're going to give 
 you the Word of God,' says he, ' that's able to 
 save your soul.' ' And won't yees give me the 
 five pounds V says she. So when he told her that 
 was all a lie, she went off in a huff ; so I over- 
 took her goin' back, " and who told you that, 
 Molly V says I. ' Father John did,' says she.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 153 
 
 * And will you believe Father John again V says 
 I. ' "Why would I,' says she, * when he made 
 that fool of me ? and wasn't I the fool to believe 
 him at all V says she ; ' sure I might have 
 knowd,' says she, ' that he never told one word 
 of truth in his life, barrin' he mistook it for a 
 lie,' says she." 
 
 " Ay," said Jem, " and didn't I hear of ould 
 Judy Callaghan, a while back, when Father John 
 gave it out in the chapel that Mr. Owens would 
 sive a lea of mutton and a blanket to every 
 woman in ihe parish that would turn. And up 
 goes Judy to Mr. Owens next day ; and, 'Your 
 reverence,' says she, ' I'm come to give myself 
 up to you, for the leg of mutton and the blanket.' 
 ' And, my poor woman,' says he, ' is it possible 
 you would sell your soul and your religion for 
 a leg of mutton V ' Oh ! no, your reverence,' 
 says she, 'oh ! no, dear, not without the blan- 
 ket.'" 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " I'm of your notion, 
 that if the priests believed it themselves they'd 
 deny it in the chapel, in place of giving it out ; 
 but where's the use of talking 1 don't we know 
 it's not true at all ; and don't we know that what 
 Mr. Owens wants is to get us to read the Bible, 
 ai,d to I'^e by it 1"
 
 164 TALK OP THE ROAD, 
 
 " WeH, we know that, any way," said Jem , 
 " but if it's all true what the Bible says of telliti' 
 lies, what will be done with all the lies that's 
 told in the chapel ?" 
 
 " Well, it's hard to expect truth from them 
 that tells lies," said Pat ; "and I mind I read a 
 speech in the newspaper, a while back, that said, 
 the worst thing at all in the Irish was, that they 
 mostly tell lies entirely, and won't tell a word of 
 truth, if they can help it; and sure that's not far 
 oflf the real thing." 
 
 " Ay," said Jem, " I thought that the other 
 day, when I was at the fair of Ballybrack ; and 
 there was young Mr. "Williams selling a horse, 
 and he had old Peter M'Kenna with him, that 
 sells for all the gentlemen ; and there comes up 
 a man and asks about the horse ; and Mr. Wil- 
 liams just answers him fairly ; and if you had 
 seen how old Peter scoitlded him afterwards. 
 ' What made you go tell him the tnith at all V 
 says he. ' Why, sure what I said did the horse 
 no harm,' says Mr. Williams. ' And what do I 
 care for harm or no harm V says Peter ; * while 
 you're a living man,' says he, ' never go for to tell 
 one word of truth upon a street.' And, thinks 
 I to myself, it's the rule of the street, sure enough, 
 and it's liars we are entirely."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 155 
 
 "And what else woiUd we be," said Pat, " when 
 ■we know nothing at all of what God says of the 
 judgment on liars ; and when we see the priest 
 tell lies himself at the altar of God 1 Sure is 
 there a man in the chapel that knows what God 
 says, that aU liars shall have their part in the 
 lake that bums with fire and brimstone ? And 
 is not that enough to show that the people ought 
 to have the Bible, to know what God says, and 
 what God will do ? " 
 
 Who knows but that Pat and Jem, and many 
 a poor man like them, may help to bring the 
 Irish people to a knowledge of these things I 
 
 CHAPTER XYL 
 
 THE STATION. 
 
 "Well, Pat, what have you got to talk of this 
 time ]" said Jem. 
 
 " The STATION, Jem," said Pat 
 
 "And is it at a station you were, Pat V said 
 Jem. 
 
 " 'Deed is it, Jem," said Pat " without mean- 
 ing a bit of it."
 
 156 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " And how did you get there at all without 
 meaning it, Pat V said Jem. 
 
 " Why, I was going by Pat Devine's public- 
 house," said Pat, " and there was a deal of people 
 about it, but I didn't know what was going on, 
 and I just went in for a pen'orth of baccy, and 
 there I was in it, afore I knew where it was; 
 and then, sure enough, I seen it was Father 
 John holding a station in the inner room ; and 
 when I got the baccy, I was making my lucky, 
 when I heard Molly Devine, and Maiy Gormly, 
 and Sal Gougerty, and some more of the devotest 
 women, that's always at tlieir duties, bragging 
 Again each other what was the best thing in the 
 Church of Pome to trust in for our salvation, 
 and then I just stopped a bit, to hear what they 
 would say." 
 
 " Well, I suppose they were all of the one 
 mind, anyway," said Jem. 
 
 " Not a bit of it, Jem," said Pat ; " there was 
 no two of them of the one way of thinking ; just 
 one thing better than another, taking their pick 
 and choice like ; and, 'deed, there seemed to be 
 a something for every one, no matter how many." 
 
 "Well, the more hope some one hit right," 
 said Jem.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 157 
 
 "I'm afeard not, Jem," said Pat. "for there 
 was one thing nobody took hold to." 
 
 "And what did they take hold on, Pat V said 
 Jem. 
 
 "Why, Molly Devine allowed it was the 
 Mass, * for sure,' says she, ' that's best of all j 
 isn't it offering the body and blood, and soul and 
 divinity, for the living and the dead ?* says she. 
 And then Mary Gormly allowed it was the holy 
 water ; .' for sure when I have plenty of that by 
 me,' says she, *I don't care for charms, nor 
 fairies, nor the devil himself,' says she ; ' and 
 what need I want anything else,' says she, ' when 
 I don't care for the devil itself, with the holy 
 water on me ?' And then Sal Gouge rty allowed 
 it was the Scapular, ' for sure that'll get me to 
 heaven the next Saturday after I die,' says she, 
 ' and what need I want of anything else V says 
 she. And old Peggy Donohue says, ' Sure it's 
 confession,' says she, ' for Avhen the priest says 
 the Latin over me, won't I be as clean of sin as 
 the child vmborn,' says she, 'and what more do 
 I want than that,' says she, ' and what are yees 
 all here for with your shillings, if that's not the 
 thing ?' says she. And then old Nancy Smith 
 just riz on them all. ' And sure,' says she, ' it's
 
 158 TALK OF THE ROAD 
 
 astray yees are entirely ; sure isn't one drop of 
 the holy oil wortli tliem all ?' says she : * if I get 
 one drop of that on me before the breath is out 
 of me, what need I care for anything else V says 
 she. And now do you see, Jem, what none ot 
 them thought of to trust in 1" 
 
 " Ay do I," said Jem. " Sure none of them 
 knows that it's in their own Bible that the blood 
 of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin. 
 And isn't it the poor thing that none of them 
 thinks of trusting in that, the creatures ? and 
 isn't it the quare thing, if they are all Catholics, 
 that they don't all trust in the same thing, but 
 one taking one thing, and another another thing? 
 but sure that's the way with them. But, Pat, 
 now did you tell them of the blood of Christ, and 
 you at a station 1" 
 
 "Well, 'deed then I did, Jem," said Pat 
 " Says I, girls, isn't the blood of Christ the 
 best thing at all, for sure that cleanses from all 
 3in V 
 
 " And how did they take that at all, Pat 1" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " "Well, Jem," said Pat, " they just darned 
 their eyes in me, as if they never heard the like 
 of that before; but I hadn't time to hear more of
 
 TALK OF THE IlOAD. 159 
 
 it, for Pat Daly was just coming out of tlie room 
 where Father John was hearing confessions, and 
 he just got hearing what I said, so he turned 
 round on me, and, ' Is it a Souper you are, to 
 bring the like of that to a station with you ]' 
 says he. ' Not a bit of it,' says I ; * I takes no 
 soup, thank God,' says L And that's true, any- 
 way, for not a drop of soup crossed my carcase 
 since the Relief Committee gave it out in the 
 famine. And I just turned round again on him, 
 and, says I — ' Are you going to tell us that the 
 Soupers will have the blood of Christ all to 
 themselves, and the Catholics get none of it?' says 
 I ; and with that he just quit it. "Well, who 
 do you think I .seen go in next, Jem 1" 
 
 " I don't know, Pat," said Jem. 
 
 " Well, if it wasn't Tim Tevlin," said Pat. 
 
 "Is it him," said Jem, "the poacher and 
 sheep stealer, that never did an honest day's 
 work in his life, and a Kibbonman into tlie bar- 
 gain 1 What does the likes of him want of 
 absolution 1" 
 
 " Well, now," said Pat, " if Father John can 
 wipe out a man's sins with a turn of his hand, 
 isn't that just the man for him to try on ?"
 
 160 TALK OF THE KOAD. 
 
 " Well, sure enough," said Jem; " but did he 
 get absolution'?" 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you about that," said Pat, "for 
 the door stood open a minute, and I just seen it. 
 There was the wee table, you know, with the 
 plate on to drop the shilling in, just forenint the 
 door, and Tim was giving it the go by. ' Where's 
 the shilling ? ' says Father John. * Haven't got it, 
 your reverence,' says Tim. ' Go oflf with you 
 and get it,' says Father John. ' And where will 
 I get it, your reverence V says Tim. ' What's 
 that to me V says Father John : * off with you 
 and get it.' And so Tim stood there quite easy. 
 
 • What are you waiting for there V says Father 
 John. ' Won't your reverence give me absolu- 
 tion V says Tim. ' You'll get none without the 
 shilling ; be off out of that for it,' says Father 
 John. So Tim stood there as easy as you please. 
 
 * What are you standing there for ?' says Father 
 John. 'Will I steal it, your reverence?' says 
 Tim. * Be off for the shilling, and don't bother 
 me,' says Father John, with a screech. Well, 
 Tim seen Father John was minding nothing, he 
 was that mad, and Tim had got just foreninstthe 
 table, and, as he was turning round, he iust drops 
 
 This custom of collecting dues at stations is not now so general as 
 when this book was written, l)ut is still coutiuueil in some districts. 
 
 r. a. J.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 161 
 
 his hand in the plate, and lifts the sliilling, and 
 ■walks out, and away out of the house. And, a 
 "while after, in conies Tim ; and when the next 
 man comes out, in goes Tim. * And have you 
 the sliilling now 1 ' says Father John. ' Yes, youi 
 reverence,' says Tim, dropping the shilling in the 
 plate ; * but sure I had to steal it, your reverence,' 
 says he. "Well, you never seen a man so deaf as 
 Father John. He never heard a word, but just 
 says — ' Down on your knees,' says he. And then 
 the door shut to, and I seen no more till Tim 
 comes out, looking as pleased as if he had stole 
 the best sheep in a flock." 
 
 " Well, now, I wonder," said Jem, " would the 
 absolution do for stealing the shillrig f 
 
 " And why wouldn't it," said Pao : " didn't he 
 confess it, and get absolution 1" 
 
 " Well, maybe it was as good for that as foi 
 all the rest," said Jem; "but did you go in 
 yourself, Pat ]" 
 
 " No, indeed, then, I didn't," said Pat, " but 1 
 was mighty 'feard Father John would have 
 caught me, and lugged me in, maybe ; for, a 
 while after, out conies Father John in a hurry, 
 and, 'Boys,' says he, 'is that Pat Doyle going 
 down the street ]' 'It is, your reverence,' say? 
 
 u
 
 162 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 severals. ' Out with you, boys, and fetcli him in 
 to me,' says Fatlier John. So off the boys went 
 Well, you know, Jem, Pat Doyle is taken uj. 
 with the Readers, and has quit the Mass altoge- 
 ther, and goes to Church ; so in he comes with 
 the boys ; and 'deed it's the dark comer I go*- 
 into then ; and then Father John says to Pal 
 Doyle, 'Are you come to confession ]' says he, 
 * No,' your reverence,' says Pat Doyle ; * I con- 
 fessed my sins to God this morning.' * Much 
 good that'll do you,' says Father John; 'what 
 were you promised for turning ]' says he. So 
 Pat Doyle didn't say a word. ' "VVas it money V 
 says Father John ; ' was it five pounds V ' No, 
 your reverence,' says Pat Doyle. ' ^^'as it meal,' 
 says Fatlier John . ' No, your reverence,' sn ys 
 Pat Doyle. ' Was it soup V says Father John. 
 'No, your revei'ence,' says Pat Doyle. 'And 
 what was it you were promised V says Father 
 John ; ' tell it out, man, before the people,' says 
 he. ' Salvation, your reverence,' says Pat Doyle. 
 Well, Father John looked done for a minute 
 anyway ; and then, says he, ' Are you coming 
 back to Mass V says he. ' No. your reverence,' 
 says Pat Doyle. * And what will you mid your 
 children live on if you don't, when you were iro-
 
 TALK OF THE I;OAD. 163 
 
 mised nothing f says Father John. 'Please, 
 your reverence,' says Pat Doyle, ' we'll live on 
 the blossoms of the bushes afore we go back.' 
 "V\ ell, if I wasn't thinking what would come ou 
 Pat Doyle, or myself too, if I was caught, when 
 sv'ho should come in but the Rev. Mr. Owens 
 himself ; for he was coming up the street, and he 
 seen Pat Doyle fetched into the station, and just 
 followed him in, and he just comes right up to 
 Pather John, and says to him, * Sir, it was I 
 that took this man, Pat Doyle, away from your 
 Mass, for I showed him that the sacrifice of 
 Christ was finished on the cross, never more to 
 be repeated ; and that no Christian man should 
 bow down in worship to a wafer. And I am 
 ready now, sir, to show you, before the people, 
 why no Christian man should do so, if you will 
 imdei-take to show them why they should.' 
 ' Pat Devine ! where's Pat Devine V says Father 
 John. ' Here, sir,' says Pat, ' Is it getting uiy 
 horse you are 1 Will he nevei* be ready ?' says 
 Fatlier John. ' Yes, sir : coming, sir,' says Pat 
 Devine, and out he comes with the horse in a 
 hurry. ' Oh, your reverence,' says Peggy 
 Douoghue, 'sure you won't go without heariug
 
 164 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 my confession V * Oh ! your reverence,' says 
 Sal Gougerty, and all of them, ' won't you stop 
 a bit for us V ' Out of the way, women,' saya 
 Father John ; ' is it all day I'll be kept here ]' 
 And up he gets on his horse, with Pat Devine 
 holding the bridle and the stirrup, and flattering 
 him all he could, and I peeping out of the open 
 window : and I seen, as he rode off, that Pat 
 Devine just turned the wrong side of his hand 
 after him ; and says he, ' The back of my hand 
 to you, that wouldn't stand up for your Church 
 and your religion.' " 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "sure Paddy Doyle 
 puts us all to shame, that wasn't afeard to stand 
 up like a man." 
 
 "Well, maybe so," said Pat ; "but sure why 
 <;an't a man keep it all to himself, when it sets 
 the country against him ? Sure I trust in nothing 
 but Christ and His blood, that cleanseth from all 
 sin : but why would I go to say that out, and 
 bring trouble on myself ]" 
 
 AVho knows but the time is coming when Pat 
 himself will say it before men 1 Pat does not 
 know it, nor mean it now. But the time comes 
 to every one that truly trusts in Christ, when
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 165 
 
 Bomethiii": in their breasts within will make them 
 confess Christ before men ; for otherwise Christ 
 would have to deny them before His Father Ld 
 heaven,* 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 THE POTATO-ROT. 
 
 Welt^ Pat and Jem were digging Mr. Nulty'a 
 potatoes, and it was a sorx'owful sight to see, for 
 half the potatoes, and more, were bad ; and every 
 one looked sad and sorry, and the poor fellows 
 had hardly the heart to dig. And Pat and Jem 
 had two ridges next each other ; and they talked 
 a little betimes. 
 
 " Well, Jem," .said Pat, " it's not like praty^ 
 digging in old times, when praty-digging was 
 I)leasant ; when every man seen his woik just 
 done for that year, and enough before him for 
 the wintei ." 
 
 "Aye, Pat," said Jem, "and a bit of a fire at 
 the rig's end, with the childer roasting the 
 praties in the ashes ; but T doubt we will never 
 see that again.' 
 
 • See St. Matthew's Gospel, x. as : and St. Mark, viii. 38.
 
 166 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 " I wonder how it came at all, or what came 
 on the praties at all, at all," said Pat. " Sure 
 there was praties long enough, and never no 
 disease in them ; I wonder how it come at all." 
 
 " One thing's plain enough, Pat," said Jem, 
 " it was God done it Himself, or let it be done, 
 surely ; but still I'm wondering why He let it 
 come upon poor creatures ? " 
 
 " I wonder would the Bible tell us anything 
 about it," said Pat ; " I mind now reading about 
 famines, and the Bible allowed it was God sent 
 them, and I'm thinking it allowed, too, it was 
 for the wickedness of the country He sent them." 
 
 " Well, sure, that's like enough," said Jem, 
 " and we'll have a look for that same when the 
 work's done." 
 
 Well, they could not talk a great deal, because 
 they were so busy ; but they had a word now 
 and again. And, when they were going home, 
 
 " I wonder," said Pat, *' what Father John 
 makes it out to be for ? " 
 
 ''Well, I'll tell you that," said Jem, "for a 
 man that was in chapel on Sunday told me ; he 
 said Father John allowed it was the readers done 
 it ; for that the readers was come out of the 
 towns of Sodom and Gomorra, in England, that
 
 TALK OF THE ROAB. 167 
 
 is the wickedet-t places at aU ; and that people 
 coming out of them towns here is enoiigli to bring 
 down the vengeance of God upon Ireland 
 
 -"o 
 
 entirely ; and it was that done it aU on the 
 praties, by Father John's account ; and^ 'deed, as 
 T heai'd, he said enough to make the i)eople put 
 the readers out of Ireland entirely, and out of 
 the world, too, if they only believed the half 
 what Father Jolin told them." 
 
 "And I wonder," said Fat, "does Father 
 John think that Sodom and Gomorra is in 
 England 1 Don't I know them places is in the 
 iJible, and not in England 1 But it's little 
 Father John minds what he says, when he thinks 
 the people knows nothing about it. But how 
 did the praty disease come seven or eight years 
 ago, when there was no readers here at all, and 
 no one thinking about the Bible 1 Sure, didn't 
 all the stir about the Bible begin after the 2)raties 
 got bad 1 and how would the readers bring it 
 afore they came themselves 1 " 
 
 "Well, I'm thinking," said Jem, "Father 
 John's reason is as bad as his cure ; sure, didn't 
 Mr. Smith get a mass said for his praties one 
 iime, and it's little the better they were of it ; 
 and didn't I go to Father John the first year
 
 168 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 myself, like the fool I was then, and didn't he 
 give me holy water to put round the heaps for a 
 cure, and didn't every pi"aty in it turn bad on me 1 
 and why would his reason be better tliau liia 
 curel" -, 
 
 " Aye, and don't I mind the second year," 
 said Pat, " when all the country was going to 
 the Blessed Priest"^ up in Tullybricken, that wiia 
 put out of his parish by the bishop for bad living, 
 for blessed salt to jDut on their praties at setting 
 time (and the nice little living he made for 
 aimself out uf the poor creatures with his blessed 
 salt), and didn't they all turn out one worse noi 
 Another 1 and after that it's little I mind what 
 the priests say about the praty rot. Sure, it's 
 plain enough that the Lord doesn't let on to 
 them what He is going to do, and why would we 
 look to them for the reason of it 1 " 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " I'm thinking if any 
 reason is to be got for it all, it's in the Bible we 
 will get it. And, sure, don"t we know that 
 
 * Our reaaers may have observed that, In Ireland, a Blessed 
 Priest — that is, a priest who iretends to the power of working 
 mirai'les — is almost always one who has been put out of his 
 parish f r immoral conduct ; perhaps because he has no other 
 ■w.iy of living, and such a one has no scruple at livini.' by lies. 
 But these Blessed Priests are much fewer in the country thaa 
 they used to be ; perhaps because the people are getting mora 
 Sense.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 16^ 
 
 nothing but God's own Word can tell beforeliand 
 what He is going to do, or the reason of any- 
 thing that it pleases Him to do 1 and them that 
 doesn't stick to his \Yord, nor doesn't waut 
 the people to see it, sure, it's not them we ouglit 
 to look to to know what He does, or what He 
 
 means." 
 
 Well, as they were walking along, they fell in 
 with the E.ev. Mr. Owens ; and when they had 
 bid the time of day, Mr. Owens asked what they 
 were doing ; and they said, digging Mr. Nulty's 
 potatoes 3 so Mr. Owens asked how the potatoes 
 turned out ; and then, says Pat, 
 
 "Why, your reverence, the praties are bad 
 entirely under every clod you turn up." 
 
 " Aye," said Mr. Owens ; " did you never read 
 anything like that in the Bible V 
 
 " No, your reverence," said Jem _; " but we 
 were just wondering would it be there." 
 
 So Mr. Owens took out his Bible, and read, 
 *' Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, 
 joy and gladness from the house of our God : 
 the seed is rotten under their clods." — Joel i. 
 16, 17. 
 
 " AimI, your reverence," said Jem, " will you
 
 170 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 tell US why God does the like at all ; for sure it 
 be to be Him that does it." 
 
 " That's tnie, certainly," said Mr. Owens ; 
 " for the Scripture says, * The Lord hath caUed 
 for a famine, and it shall come on the land seven 
 years.'" — 2 Kings viii. 1, (4 Kings, Douay). 
 
 " And does the Bible tell us anything about 
 the reason of it, your reverence 1" said Jem. 
 
 " Surely it does," says Mr. Owens ; " listen to 
 this ;" so Mr. Owens read, " Shall there be evil 
 in a city and the Loi-d hath not done it ?* Surely 
 the Lord will do nothing but He revealeth His 
 secret unto His servants the prophets." — Amos 
 iii. 6, 7. 
 
 "Well, your reverence," said Pat, "that's just 
 it j we want to know the secret of it. Is it for 
 the wickedness of the people that God does it 
 
 all r 
 
 " That is the reason that God's Word gives," 
 said Mr, Owens. " Listen to this — ' Alas ! for 
 all the evil abominations of the house of Israel ! 
 for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, 
 
 • "Which the Lord hath done?" fDouay Bible). The meaning 
 is that all judgment is from God. The note on this verse in the 
 Douay Bible is a good one ; "He speaits of the evil of punishments 
 of war, famine, pestilence, desolation, &c., but not of ^e evil of 
 siB, of which God is not the arthor."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 171 
 
 and by the pestilence; . . . then shall ye 
 know that I am the Lord.' " — Ezekiel vi. 11, 13 
 
 "And what sort of sins is it for, your 
 reverence 1" said Pat. 
 
 " For all sins, and for all turning away from 
 God," said Mr. Owens ; " but there are some sins 
 that are specially marked. In the next chapter 
 we read — ' INTake a chain, for the land is full 
 of bloody crimes ' (ch. vii. 23) ; and in ch. xxxiii, 
 25 — ' Ye shed blood, and shall ye possess the 
 land V " 
 
 " Well," said Pat, "if it wasn't on the road, 
 foment that very field, that Mr. Browne, the 
 agent, was shot about land, and the people all 
 working in that very field, and looking on, and 
 not one of them would tell which way the men 
 went that did it !" 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Owens, "the people were 
 banded together then to shed innocent blood for 
 the pobsossion of the land, and God has scattered 
 them ofi" the land since. That is a sin that cries 
 to God against a land ; and so docs forgetting 
 God, and turning away from the knowledge of 
 his holy word and will." 
 
 " And does your revei'ence think it was all for 
 the sins of the Catholics V said Jem.
 
 173 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 " Indeed, I do not, Jem," said Mr. Owens ; 
 " we have all had our sins and our forgetfulness 
 of God and of his word, and his dealings are 
 meant fur us all." 
 
 " But, your reverence," said Pat, " there's one 
 thing that puzzles me stiU. When God sent the 
 curse on the praties didn't he hurt them that 
 loved and served him, as well as them that turned 
 away from him 1 and wouldn't that be enough 
 to make tliem turn away from him too 1 Sure 
 your reverence's praties were as bad as Father 
 John's, every bit," said Pat, scratching his head. 
 
 " We never understand any of God's dealings 
 rightly," sard Mr. Owens, " until we learn to 
 understand, his love and goodness first. *He 
 doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children 
 of men' — (Lamentations iii. 33). The prophet 
 Joel, who spoke of the seed being rotten under 
 the clods, has showed us that, even to the 
 wicked, God's vengeance is sent in mercy. Just 
 listen to this — * Therefore, also, now saith the 
 Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and 
 with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourn- 
 ing; and rend your hearts and not your gar- 
 Tnents and turn unto the Lord your God ; for He 
 is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 173 
 
 great kindness, and repentetli Him of the evil." 
 — (Joel ii. 12, 13.) Did you ever read our 
 Saviour's parable of the Pi-odigal Son, in St. 
 Luke's Gospel ?" said Mr. Owens, turning to Pat. 
 
 " I did, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 " And what brought him back to his father ?" 
 said Mr. Owens. 
 
 "It was the famine, your reverence; I mind 
 that well," said Pat. (See St. Luke's Gospel, 
 XV. 14, (fee.) 
 
 '* And there has been a worse famine in Ire- 
 land than any we have been talking about," said 
 Mr. Owens ; " a famine that makes souls perish ; 
 ' jSTot a famine of bread, uor a thirst for water, 
 but of hearing the words of the Lord.' — (Amos, 
 viii. 11.) And don't you see, Pat, that since 
 God sent the disease on the potatoes, He is bring- 
 ing the people to seek for the Word of God ; 
 isn't that usiag the potato famine to drive out a 
 worse famine ?" 
 
 " That's truth, your reverence," said Jem. 
 
 '* And don't you be afraid," said ^Ir. Owens, 
 turning to Pat again, "that those that knew and 
 served God will turn away because He sends 
 them trials : if God means judgment in mercy to 
 them that forget Him, much more to tliem that
 
 174 TALK OF THE ROAJ? 
 
 kno\y Him : * whom the Lord loveth lie chas- 
 teneth," and He tells them that to comfort them 
 — (Hebrews xii. 6). And then they can say 
 with St. Paul * who shall separate ns from the 
 love of Christ 1 Shall tribulation, or distress, or 
 persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or 
 sword ] ... In all these things, vve are 
 more than conquerors through Him that loved 
 us.' "—Rom. viii. 35, 37. 
 
 So then they were come to where Mr. Owens 
 must leave them to go his way, and he was bid- 
 ding them good night kindly ; and Pat stopped 
 him for a minute, saying — 
 
 " One thing more, your reverence ; is Sodom 
 and Gomorra in England ; for Father John 
 allows it is V 
 
 So Mr. Owens said, " St. Peter tells us that 
 the Sodom and Gomorra that God destroyed by 
 fire from heaven were meant ' for an example to 
 those that after should live ungodly' ; and so, 
 wherever there are ungodly men, there is the 
 spiritual Sodom. But if Pather John meant 
 that wherever the Bible is read there is Sodom 
 and Gomorra, you may judge for yourselves of 
 that. But if Father John was wise, he would 
 not talk 90 much of Sodom and Gomoi'ra being
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 175 
 
 in England ; for fear we should show hiin, out of 
 the Douay Bible, that Babylon is in Eome."* 
 
 So Mr. Owens bid them good night again, and 
 the boys went home for that night, talking by 
 the road of Mr. Owens and Father John. 
 
 ♦ If the reader will look at the preface to St. Peter's 1st Epistle 
 In the Douay Bible, he will read this: "He wrote it at Rome 
 which figuratively he calls Babylon ; " alluding to ch. v„ 13 '
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 177 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 HARD PLACES IN SCRIPTURE. 
 
 " Well, Jem, I have come at the jjlace that 
 says the Bible is hard to be understood," said Pat, 
 one day as they met. 
 
 " Well, I was looking out for that," said Jem, 
 •'but I didn't know where to find it, though I 
 neard tell it was in it." 
 
 "Well, here it is," said Pat ; and he opened 
 his Douay Bible at 2 Peter, eh. iii., v. 16. 
 
 " Tell us, then, does it bid us not read it V* 
 said Jem, in a great hurry, for he was beginning 
 to be afraid, after all. 
 
 " Well," said Pat, " wouldn't it be the quare 
 thing to write a letter to a man, and to -put at 
 the end of the letter for to not read what was in 
 [tV 
 
 " Well, that would be out of the way, surely," 
 said Jem ; " but does it tell the man it was writ 
 to, to not show it to any one else V 
 
 " Not a word at all again' reading," said Pat, 
 " that I can find ; it says, sure enough, that 
 there's some things hard to be understood ; but , 
 it aurely does not say that it's best not to read." 
 
 N
 
 178 TALK OF THE EOAD. 
 
 "Who was it written to at all 1" said Jem j 
 and he laid hold of the book to see, but he 
 couldn't make it out, for the begiDning of that 
 Epistle only says — " To them that have obtained 
 equal faith with ns " (Douay Bible). 
 
 "Them must be great Christians, surely," said 
 Jem ; " would it be for the likes of us at all 1" 
 
 "Try yo^cr book, Jem," said Pat ; for they 
 had got a way of putting the two books together. 
 So Jem tried his book and found it this way — 
 " To them that have obtained like precious* faith 
 with us." 
 
 " Well, that would fit us better, surely," said 
 Jem ; "but how will we know about it V 
 
 " Well, I made out who it was written to," 
 said Pat ; " for see here, at the first verse of the 
 third chapter, he says, 'this second Epistle I 
 write to you.' Now, doesn't that lay down that 
 .i' he wrote one before to the same people, and 
 wouldn't that be the first Epistle 1 and look 
 here," said Pat, turning over to the beginning of 
 the first Epistle, " see here : this one is written 
 *to the strangers dispersed through Pontus, 
 Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.' And 
 
 * Tliis is the exact meaning of the Gre«k word which the 
 Apostle wrote — Kronij-ov.
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 179 
 
 sure I met Mr. Oweiis's school mastor-, and I 
 \skeJ him what places them were, and he told 
 rae they were all great countries, e-\-eiy one as 
 big as Ireland ; so you see, Jem, this Epistle was 
 written to plenty of people, and would he go for 
 to tell them not to read what he wrote to them ? 
 And if he wrote it to such lots of people, would 
 he tell them not to show it to any one else ? 
 And more nor that, he wrote it to the very ser- 
 vants themselves in all them countries ; for look 
 here (and Pat read the eighteenth verse of the 
 second chapter, Ep. 1,) — ' Servants, be subject 
 to your masters, with all fear ; ' so you see your- 
 self the letter was to the servants, too, as well as 
 to their betters ; and isn't that coming near to 
 the likes of us 1 " 
 
 " Well, let lis mind the place well, and see 
 what we can make of it," said Jem ; for he was 
 taking heart again about the reading, at what 
 Pat said. So they read, "And account the long- 
 suffering of our Lord Salvation ; as also our most 
 dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given 
 him, hath Avritten to you ; as also in all his 
 Epistles, speaking in thorn of these things ; in 
 which are certain things hard to be understood, 
 which the unlearned andun.stable wrest — as they 
 
 N 2
 
 180 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 do also tlie other Scriptures — to their own de- 
 struction ; yon, therefore, brethren, knowing 
 •these things before, take heed lest being led 
 jside by the error of the unwise, you fall from 
 your own steadfastness." (Ep. 2, ch. 3, verses 
 \5, 16, 17.) 
 
 "Now," said Pat ; "if we weren't to read the 
 Bible, wouldn't that be the place to say it in V 
 
 " Well, that's the place it would fit, if it was 
 to be said at all," said Jem. 
 
 "Well, and it isn't said, but only to take 
 heed," said Pat. 
 
 "Well, that's true any way," said Jem, "and 
 thanks be to God for that much itself. But still, 
 Pat, sure it's said that the unlearned wrests the 
 hard places to their own destruction ; aud sure 
 it's little learning the like of us has." 
 
 "Well, I'm turning that over in my mind 
 everyway," said Pat, "and I'm thinking that's 
 said just the same of the easy places." 
 
 " Show me that again, Pat," said Jem ; and 
 he read that part over again, "which the un- 
 learned and unstable wrest, as they do also the 
 OTHER Scriptures, to theirown destruction." 
 " Well that's it anyway," said Jem ; "if there's 
 any good in it at all, it's just as bad against the 
 easy places as the hard places."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAB. 181 
 
 "Well now, Jem," said Pat, "vv^hat makea 
 the priest read out the Gospel at mass in plain 
 English 1 Didn't I hear it said, afore now, that 
 the Church allows the easy places, that ignorant 
 people can't wrest to their own destniction, to be 
 read out to them in chapel, and only keeps away 
 the hard places that they might wrest to their 
 destruction for want of learning 1 Now, if the 
 unlearned wrests the easy places to their destruc- 
 tion, just the same way as they do the hard places, 
 why would the one be read to them, no more 
 nor the other ? Answer me that now." 
 
 "Well, sure enough, Pat, you're right," said 
 Jem, " and if that reason needn't stop the one, 
 why should it stop the other 1 But let us see 
 what caution St. Peter puts on it." So they read 
 the next verse — " You, therefore, brethren, know- 
 ing these things before, take heed lest being led 
 aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from 
 your own steadfastness." 
 
 " Now, it's my opinion," said Pat, " if Father 
 John had been at the writing of that verse, he 
 would just Have put down in place of it, * Since 
 you see the danger, don't read the Bible ;' but you 
 see, yourself, that St. Peter, that they allow wa.s 
 the first Pope, didn't say that anyway." 
 
 " True for you there. Pat," said Jem ; " but let
 
 182 TALK OF THE ROAD, 
 
 as try and make out what caution St. Peter did 
 give us." 
 
 So they set to work at that ; and says Pat, "1 
 wonder what he means by the ' error of the un- 
 wise.' Wouldn't he tell us somewhere Avhat that 
 was ■?" 
 
 So they set to work to read over that chapter 
 well, and at last Pat put his finger on verse 5, 
 and, said he, " why, here's people that's ' loilj'ully 
 ignorant,'' and would it be them ] " 
 - " Well, them's the scoffers in verse 3," said 
 Jem ; " and see here's what they say in verse i 
 — ' where is his promise or his coming ? for since 
 the time that the Fathers slept, all things con- 
 tinue as they were from the beginning of the 
 creation.' " 
 
 So they set to study that, and then Jem said, 
 " Why them is people that would get uj) in the 
 last days, and scoff at the promise of Christ's 
 coming to judgment ; and here's the reason they 
 have — everything is going on for long enough, 
 just the way it does now, and why won't it go 
 on for ever just ihe same ? Now, would that be 
 < the error of the imwise,' I wonder ?" 
 
 " Aye, and them people is loilfully ignorant," 
 said Pat, " and would them be ' the unlearned V ''
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 183 
 
 "And here's what they were wilfully ignorant 
 about," said Jem, "about the flood that c^me in 
 Noah's time, and drowned all the wicked."— 
 (Yerses 5 and 6.) 
 
 " And how would they be ignorant of that, 
 only that they wouldn't read the Bible V said 
 Pat ; "and sure if that's the ignorance, to not 
 read would be the bad cure." 
 
 " Well, Pat, I'm seeing it now," said Jem ; 
 " them people would not learn what God did to 
 the wicked long ago ; and they wouldn't believe 
 what God will do when He comes to judge the 
 world ; them's the unlearned, and, be-like, un- 
 learned means them that woiddn't learn ;* and, 
 in coui'se, them people, when the Scrij)ture would 
 come up against that, would have to twist that 
 till it didn't mean that : and isn't that the way 
 that they would lorest the Scripture, hard places 
 and easy places, to their own destruction ; and 
 doesn't that word wrest show that they are doing 
 it on purpose 1 " 
 
 "And now look here, where he tells us not to 
 
 * Jem \i right about this : the Greek word ojiafleis means those 
 who wovJd not be taugut, and the word "'unwise" in v. 17 
 {wicked In the rrotestunt liible) means those who reject and 
 despise laws, a.9e(Tixuiv So the ivilfulty Ignorant in verse 5, those 
 Kh'i will not be tauyht. In verse Its, and ihuse u'/zo di'.<-i>i.':)' laws, va 
 Ters« 17. *re thi'te different descriptions of the sajut persons.
 
 184 TALK Of' THE KOAD. 
 
 be ignorant" said Pat, pointing to tlie 8tli verse, 
 " and see how he makes it out that God isn't 
 breaking his word about coming, but only wait- 
 ing to save sinners ; and see what things he tells 
 them will be when Christ comes, when the fire 
 will burn up the world itself and everything in it ; 
 and see here, won't there be new heavens and a 
 new eartli according to his promises, in which 
 justice dwelletli ; and look, if it isn't here, that 
 it's looking for the new heavens and the new 
 earth, that will make us diligent, that we may 
 be found unde tiled and unspotted to him in 
 peace." 
 
 " Is there any one at all looking for a neiZ- 
 earth, Pat ?" said Jem. 
 
 " I never heard tell of it before," said Pat, 
 " and how would I look for it V 
 
 "Nor I neither," said Jem. 
 
 " Nor none of the people in this country,' 
 said Pat. 
 
 " And doesn't St. Peter say we shouldn't be 
 ignorant of it f said Jem. 
 
 " And why should we be ignorant of it if it's 
 that that's to make us diligent V said Pat. 
 
 " And yet it's one of the hard things surely,' 
 said Jem.
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 185 
 
 "And yet St. Peter writes about it to all them 
 people in all them countries ; and to the servants 
 too," said Pat. 
 
 " And where he was talking about hard things, 
 he's just telling them hard things himself," said 
 Jem. 
 
 " And maybe if things is hard, there's more 
 call for the Apostles themselves to teach us about 
 them," said Pat. 
 
 "And maybe the hardness is in the things,* 
 more nor in writing about them," said Jem. 
 
 "And maybe no one else could speak half as 
 plain or as sure about them," said Pat. 
 
 " Anyvv^ay, he wasn't wanting to keep the hard 
 things off of them," said Jem. 
 
 " And it wasn't by talking to them, but just 
 by writing to them about the hard things, for 
 them to read it, that he wanted to keep them 
 right," said Pat. 
 
 " Why, if he talked it to them, that might be 
 easy forgot ; and they mightn't know easy, ten 
 years after, just what it was he said," said Jem. 
 
 • Jem is quite right about this. The Greek makes It quite 
 plain tliat the Apostle meant, in which things (not in which 
 epistles] there are some things liard to be understood— that is, in 
 tlie coming of Christ, aud tlie burning of the world, and the new 
 heavens and the new earth, there are things hard to be under- 
 stood.
 
 186 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 "And if lie only talked ib to tliem, how would 
 we get knowing Avhat lie said exactly 1 but when 
 he wrote it, that does for always," said Pat. 
 
 " Maybe if he only spoke it to them, it would 
 get about wrong ; and maybe some people would 
 allow that he said the Bible was hard, and bid 
 us not read it," said Jem. 
 
 " Maybe if he only spoke it, and didn't write 
 it, that would be the tradition in the Church of 
 Eome now," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, that it would, with Father John any- 
 way," said Jem ; " but St. Peter spoiled that 
 entirely by writing it." 
 
 " "Well, and now for the caution he put on it 
 all,"' said Pat. 
 
 " Aye," said Jem, " he bid them take 
 heed—." 
 
 " Stop a bit, Jem," said Pat ; " I mind now 
 them words is in it before, if we can only come 
 on them and put them together, and see how 
 they fit." 
 
 But Pat could not find the words, though he 
 was sure he saw them somewhere ; so Jem tried 
 his book, and he found them in chap. i. verse 19. 
 So they put the two books together again, and 
 Jem said, " Well, it's take heed in my book, and
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 187 
 
 it's attend in yours, and sure that's all one ; and 
 what did he bid them attend to ?" 
 
 " Well, it's the Jirm x>rophetical loord in one 
 book, and it's the sure word of prophecy in the 
 other ; and what's that ]" said Jem. 
 
 " Sui-e that would be what the prophets wrote 
 in the Old Testament," said Pat. 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " I didn't read much of 
 that, for I found it a deal harder than the New 
 Testament, so I let it alone ; but see here if 
 St. Peter doesn't say of that, * whereunto you do 
 welt to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark 
 place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise 
 in your hearts V and didn't he write the letter to 
 servants and all ?" 
 
 " Then, maybe, if we attend to the hard 
 places, there will light come out of them yet," 
 said Pat. 
 
 "Anyway, he bid them attend well to the 
 Bible, in the very same letter in which he bid 
 them take heed, lest they should be led away by 
 the error of the unwise," said Jem ; " and sure 
 that wasn't bidding them not read the Bible %" 
 
 " It seems it's them that won't think or learn 
 about Christ's coming to judgment that's in 
 danger to wrest the Scriptures wrong," said Pat ;
 
 188 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "but tliem that's still thinking of that day more 
 nor of this day is to attend to the Scriptures, or 
 how would they know about that day 1" 
 
 " "Well, St. Peter said the great thing about 
 knowledge here," said Jem, and he read the 
 second verse in the first chapter (Ep. 2.) — 
 " Grace to you and peace be accomplished in 
 the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our 
 Lord." 
 
 " And where will we get that knowledge if we 
 don't in the Bible V said Pat ', "wasn't I going 
 to mass for forty years, and knowing nothing 1 
 and will I let anyone tell me that I didn't learn 
 more about God and Christ since I took to the 
 reading the Bible than ever I did in them forty 
 years ? Don't I know about the praty and the 
 stone 1 don't I know about the hen 1 don't I 
 know about the door ; don't I know about the 
 Mediator 1 don't I know about the blood of 
 Christ 1 don't I know that them that asks will 
 get, and them that seeks will find 1 but what 
 signifies talking 1 won't I keep to the reading 1" 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " we have got nothing 
 again the reading yet." 
 
 And if ever they do we will tell it fairly.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 189 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE LONG CAR. 
 
 " "Well, Pat, my man, any news of Kilcommon 
 those times ?" said Jem. 
 
 " There is, Jem," said Pat, " for I was in on 
 Monday." 
 
 •' And how is matters getting on there 1 said 
 Jem. 
 
 '• Why, then, it's all getting mighty quiet," 
 said Pat, " and the readers just able to go about 
 like anyone else ; and I wouldn't see any stir at 
 all there, maybe, only for the long car." 
 
 "And what of the long car, Pat," said Jem; 
 " what call had that to the readers, anyway 1 " 
 
 "Why, there was a gentleman out of England 
 stopping at Mr. Owens', and the word was gone 
 about that it was him sent the readers to Kil- 
 common, and to all Ii-eland, and that he was 
 come to look after them ; and, sure enough, 
 when the long car came in, he was waiting .or 
 a seat on it ; and word went about that it was 
 himself that was in it. Well, it was market 
 day — and the big market it was, coming on 
 Christmas ; and I seen the town sergeant, iu his
 
 190 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 blue coat and red collar, giving the people the 
 wink, and them gathering round^ the car, arid 
 the gentleman on it ; and they had the children 
 in the front, and the girls and boys behind theiu, 
 and the women behind them, and the men at the 
 back of all (for that's the plan), and they all 
 screeching 'souper,' and 'jumper,' and * devil,' 
 and all the names they have, at the gentleman 
 on the car ; and all the noises of the market 
 going on too ; for there was Ned Kelly, the 
 ragman, singing the ould song * Tear away, tear 
 away ! haul away, tear away ! ' and Mi-. Plunket, 
 the auctioneer, standing on the cart selling the 
 shawls and gowns, and the people screeching 
 and making all the horrid noises ever you heard. 
 And there was an old mare in the long car, 
 that was a wee thought ' maggotty,' and she 
 wouldn't go a step Avith the people screeching 
 fornenst her ; and when Billy Donaghy, that 
 was driving, fell to laying it into her, she turned 
 to, lashing at him ; and it beat all, entirely. 
 "Well, then, Mr. Plunket, that's always setting 
 the people on against the readers, took to canting 
 the souper, when he seen there was no one 
 bidding for the shawls ; so, says he, ' Going, 
 going, going,' says he, ' a fine fat souper going —
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 191 
 
 for one qnax't of soup !' So the people fell to 
 shouting more nor ever ; and old Billy Donaghy 
 took to flattering them — ' Oh, boys,' says he, 
 
 * sure you won't see me kilt entirely 1 Won't 
 yees be easy one minute, till I get her away 1 
 
 * Sure it's the devil's in the marej'saj^s he. 'You're 
 a Har,' says the boys, 'it's the devil's on the car,' 
 says they, 'and it's a rale Catholic mare she 
 is ; better nor you,' says they, ' to be driving 
 what's on the car." "Well, with that, as if there 
 wasn't noise enough, up comes Nick Flaherty 
 that sells the ballads, with a new song all in 
 strips over his arm, and him calling it through 
 the market, ' Only wan hapeny, for St. Patrick's 
 hymn, only wan hapeny,' and then he fell to 
 singing it, and of all the songs ever you heard 
 for St. Patrick, it was the quai'e one ; but only 
 one vei-se stuck to me, and it was what St. Patrick 
 was preaching to the heathens in Ireland : — 
 
 Have doue with your fighting. 
 
 And think of your sins, 
 Or I'll break every bone 
 
 In your impudent skins.* 
 
 * St. Patrick's hymn, only wan hapeny ' ; well, 
 just then, the police came up, and they cleared 
 
 • If any of our readers In the nftighbonrhood of Navaii could 
 get a copy of this song for us, we should be obliged.
 
 192 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 the way for the old mare, and the gentleman 
 stood np on the car, and he takes off his hat, 
 and gives it a whirl round his head, and says he, 
 * Now, boys, one cheer more before we go ; ' so, 
 with that, they all fell to laughing and cheering 
 him, for a pleasant gentleman he was; so the 
 long car drove off in the height of good humour. 
 And I'm thinking, maybe, that's the last of the 
 bad noises in Kilcommon ; for it's all getting 
 quiet now, in spite of Father John and Mr. 
 l*lunket, and the town sergeant, too." 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " it's time for it to 
 stop, for it was disgracing us all ; and sure the 
 peoi^le wouldn't keep it up for ever, though 
 they'd be put up to it for a wliile. But sure 
 that was the quare song for St. Patrick. I 
 wonder what Father John would say to that." 
 
 "And what would he say to it]" said Pat, 
 " sure isn't it the veiy moral for himself. Sure 
 don't I remember, afore the famine, when the 
 people used to be kneeling in the chapel-yard, at 
 mass ; and don't I mind it as regular as the day 
 came, how Father John, or one of the curates, 
 would go the rounds of the chapel-yard, with the 
 horsewhip, to keep the boys and girls to theii 
 duties, and all the people in the street and the
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD, 193 
 
 houses forenint the chapel looking on ? And 
 wouldn't it be just the moral for Father John, 
 if that was the way St. Patrick did speak to the 
 heathens 1 But, I doubt if St. Patrick was a 
 Protestant, as Mr. Owen says he was, he didn't 
 do the likes of that at all ; for sure, the Pro- 
 testants doesn't do them things." 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "them times is past 
 anyway ; the people is got past that, and they 
 wouldn't stand it now ; and I don't see the 
 horsewhip with the priests at all now, barring of 
 an odd time at an election, or a fight, or the like 
 of that." 
 
 " Well, it's small call they have for it in the 
 chapel-yard anyway," said Pat ; " for you might 
 play ball in the chapel itself, and the people in 
 it." 
 
 "And is the readers doing anytliing in Kil- 
 comiuon V said Jem. 
 
 " W^ell, I hear there's a deal of people talking 
 to them now, Jem," said Pat, " and there's a 
 deal of people goes to the controversial class now ; 
 and I went there myself that night." 
 
 "And what were they talking about?" said 
 Jem. 
 
 "W^ell, it was about the Mass," said Pat; 
 
 o
 
 194 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "but you would never think, Jem, what came 
 uppermost." 
 
 " And what was it at all 1" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, it was about the candles on the altar, 
 Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, was not there more in it to talk about 
 than that, Pat ?" said Jem. 
 
 '* Well, there's more depending to the candles 
 nor you think, may be," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, tell lih all about that, Pat," said Jem. 
 
 " Why, the Rev. Mr. Burke (that's the mis- 
 sioner) he [Jut it to them, was the w^afer turned into 
 the body and blood of Christ, and his soul and 
 divinity too, when the priest said the words over 
 it ; and then up gets Mickey Peilly, the school- 
 master, that's a very learned man, and says — 
 ' Sure it is,' says he, ' for they're the words of 
 Christ, and won't His word always do what He 
 means V says he. ' And does it always happen 
 when the priest speaks the word over the bread ]' 
 says- Mr. Burke. ' Surely it does,' says Mickey. 
 ' Wheu the word of Christ is spoken over the 
 bread how can it fail V says he. ' And did you 
 never hear of defects in the Mass V says Mr. 
 Burke. * How could there be defects in tho 
 Mass,' says Mickey, ' when it depends on tho
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 195 
 
 word of Christ, that can't fail V says he. 
 'There's no defects in the Mass nor couldn't be,* 
 says he; 'but tliafs the way the Protestants are 
 always speaking, for they can't make an act of 
 faith, and they can't believe that Christ's word 
 will always do its work ; but the Catholics that 
 can make an act of faith knows that there cant 
 be no defects in the Mass,' says he. So the Rev. 
 Mr. Burke takes out a book with a fine red cover, 
 and plenty of gold on it, and ' What book is 
 that ] ' says he, ' It's the Mass Book, ' says Mickey 
 Reilly, when he looked at it. ' Is it the real Mass 
 Book V says Mr. Burke. ' It is,' says he, ' and 
 no mistake.' ' Do you know the Latin V says 
 Mr. Burke. 'I do,' says he. So Mr. Burke 
 opened a place, and says he, 'Will you read that 
 to the meeting in English ]' So Mickey read 
 out mighty clever, ' It's about the defects in the 
 celebration of the Mass,' says he. Well, with 
 that all the Catholics that was there be^au to 
 
 O 
 
 look mighty quare ; and Mickey read on, that 
 ' a defect might occur in the thing that was to be 
 consecrated, or the form that was used, or in the 
 minister himself ; and if there is any defect in 
 them, there's no sacrament made,' says he, ' and 
 sure enough your reverence is right, and knows 
 
 o 2
 
 196 - TALK OP THK ROAD. 
 
 more about the Mass Book than I do,' savs he. 
 And so Mr. Burke just takes the book and turns 
 to another page, and bids him read that ; so says 
 INIickey, ' It's about defects occurring in the 
 ministering itself,' says he : and then Mr. Burke 
 puts his finger on a phice, and Mickey reads — • 
 ' If there be not v^ax candles present,' says he ; 
 'sure enough,' says he, ' it won't do without the 
 wax by this,' says he; ' and if the candles isn't 
 wax it's a defect, and the sacrament isn't made 
 at all,' says he ; so with that up jumps Barney 
 Daly, and, says he : ' ISTow I know all about it, 
 your reverence,' says he. ' About what V says 
 Mr. Burke. ' About what Father John said to 
 the Boord of Guardians,' says he. ' And what 
 was that V said Mr. Burke. ' Why, I was in 
 the poorhouse,' says he, ' the times was so hard, 
 and the Master put me over one of the wards ; 
 and he wanted me afore the Boord one day, 
 about some business ; and while I was waiting 
 in the boord-room, in comes Father John, and 
 whispers the Clerk, and says the Clerk to the 
 Chairman, his reverence wants to address the 
 Boord, so the Chairman says they was ready to 
 hear him. So Father John says he wanted wax 
 candles for tlie Mass, for he couldn't do it with
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. . 197 
 
 tallow any longer.* So there was some talk 
 about it, but in course they gave Father John 
 what he wanted, for the Boord always does that ; 
 and the wax candles were given from that day 
 out ; for the Master still sent me for them. But 
 now, your Beverence, what came of all tliem 
 people that was going to the Mass for all tlicm 
 years in the poorhouse, and him doing it v.^ith 
 the dips V So Mr. Burke turned round on 
 Mickey Beilly, 'and what do you say to that V 
 says he ; ' does it depend on the word of Christ 
 9nly, or does it depend ou the wax too V ' Well, 
 your reverence,' said Mickey, ' that's the sorest 
 thing I heard again the Mass yet.' 'And isn't 
 it the poor thing, your Beverence,' says Barney 
 Daly, ' to have to worship the Host, and we 
 having no way to know for sure and certain 
 what it is, at all 1 How did I know what I was 
 worshipping in the poorhouse ] How did I 
 know was it the body and blood and soul and 
 divinity of Christ, or was it only just a wafer I 
 was worshipping 1 and it all depending on the 
 wax or the tallow, and I knowing nothing about 
 
 • It is a fact that about the time mentioned the priests 'lid 
 make this demand in many Workhouses. It was just after tha 
 missionaries to Roman Catholics had called tlieir attention to 
 Uiis defect in the Muss.
 
 198 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 that, or Father John neither, till it was put in 
 his head by the Pi'otestants, maybe 1 And isn't 
 it the poor thing to be worshipjiing we don't 
 know what V says he. ' So then,' says Mr. 
 Burke, ' what does Christ say about that V says 
 he. So then I spoke up, and says I, 'Didn't 
 Christ say to the woman, " you adore that which 
 you know not ; we adore that which we know " 
 (John, chap, iv., verse 22);' and,' says I, 
 ' mustn't we learn from Christ what -we ought to 
 adore, and did he ever tell us to adore the bread 
 and wine that he blessed ?' and Mr. Burke 
 allowed that was right. And then says some 
 one, * What candles had Christ at all when he 
 instituted the sacrament V ' 'No candles at all, 
 says Mr, Burke, ' only lamps ; for/ says lie, 
 there was no candles made in the world at that 
 ■rime.' And you'll think it quare, Jem, to hear 
 low he proved that ; ' for,' says he, * there was 
 a city just covered over with ashes and cinders 
 out of a burning mountain, just soon after the 
 time of our Saviour, and it was dug out not long 
 ago, and all the houses found, and the people's 
 bones, and their duds, just all as they left them, 
 and not a sign of so much as a tin candlestick, 
 let alone a brass one, found in one of them.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 199 
 
 only lamps that wouldn't burn wax at all ; 
 and if tliey tad candles, w^ouldn't they have 
 some kind of candlesticks to hold them in ?' "* 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "maybe that's true, 
 but what signifies it 1 sure if the Word of God 
 was to do it all, wouldn't it do by tallow-light as 
 well as by wax -light ? Sure that shows it isn't 
 all right any\s'ay." 
 
 " Well, there was more nor that, too," said 
 Pat. " Sure Mr. Burke showed us out of the 
 same mass-book that there was twenty other 
 thiiigs by their own showing that would stop 
 the sacrament being made, and things that we 
 couldn't know nothing about ; for sure one oi 
 them is, if the wine is sour ; and how would we 
 know that, when we don't taste it ? and then 
 there's no sacrament made at all ; or if tlie priest 
 isn't minding what he's at, or if he looks oif the 
 book when he says the words ; and how can we 
 tell about them things at all? and nowj Pat, 
 
 ♦ Tfiis applies to two cities buried under the enijUons ol 
 Jliiimt Vesuvius, soon after the time of Christ, iind dug one ii 
 the last century; Herculaneum and Pompeii. Tlie wo d 
 translates " candle" in the liil)le does not necessarily nicau sucl) 
 capdles as we have. The Greek word is kvxvov, a.\u\ ihe Latij 
 lucema. The most exact translation is " a light." Th ; Itavncd 
 Eoman Catholic, C'almet, says the "candlestick " in tli'; Temple 
 was, in fact, a lamp— See h:.s Dictionary ol the Bible, at the word 
 "Lamp." Mosps says it was oil that was used in this "candle 
 stick "—see Levit. xxiv. 2—4.
 
 200 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 how do we know at all what we were worshijjping 
 at the mass 1 " 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "I'm sure Christ 
 would not leave us that way, not to know what 
 we were worshipping. But, sure, don't we know 
 he never told the Apostles to worship the bread 
 and wine at all, but only to eat and drink it ? 
 and if we keep to what he said, why need we 
 trouble ourselves about what anyone said after- 
 wards 1 " 
 
 " That's it, Pat," said Jem ; " if we stick to 
 that we can't be astray." 
 
 So we hope to tell yet what that brought them 
 to in the end.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOR. 
 
 " SoBE weather, Pat, for the creatures that 
 hasn't the turf," said Jem, when they met in the 
 snow. 
 
 " And mighty hard on some poor old-fashioned 
 creatures that hasn't any little praties they had 
 out of the ground yet," said Pat, 
 
 '' Well, there's not many that lazy now, Pat," 
 said Jem. 
 
 '"Deed," said Pat, "the old song is nearly 
 out now, and time for it ; you mind that, Jem : 
 
 First there was three weeks of frost, 
 And then there was three weeks of snow ; 
 
 And the praties was like to be lost 
 For want of a moderate thow. 
 
 " Ay, Pat," said Jem, " I mind having to sing 
 that myself in old times. But the people ia 
 getting to look after things better, since trouble 
 came on them. And not one thing alone ; for 
 aren't we learning to look after the Bread of life 
 too ] " 
 
 " But what will we do at all, Jem, about thai 
 man behind the doore ? " said Pat. 
 
 "Why, then, I'm thinking, Pat," said Jem,
 
 202 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " why wouldn't we just go to the Rev. Mr. 
 Burke, and tell him out what the man behuid 
 the doore said 1 " 
 
 So off they went to the Rev. Mr. Burke (for 
 the snow had stopped the work), and when they 
 asked to see him, they got into his room ; and he 
 asked tiieui what they wanted. So Pat spoke — 
 
 " Your reverence, we were in a house, and we 
 were talking over what your reverence said 
 about the candles, and there being no sacrament 
 made at all when the candles wasn't made of 
 wax ; and that it was only bread and wine the 
 people was worshipping when the candles Avasn't 
 wax. And there was a man behind the doore,, 
 listening to us ; and he just come out on us, and 
 said your reverence was wrong entirely ; and 
 that it would only be a sin and a shame for the 
 priest not to look better to the candles, and it 
 wouldn't spoil the Mass at all ; and so you: 
 reverence was out entirely ; and then we just 
 allowed we would come and ask your reverence 
 about it." 
 
 "Well, of course, I might be wrong," said 
 Mr. Burke; "I don't set up to be infallible; 
 what I say is for people to examine and inquire 
 about ; not for them to swallow, right or wrong ;
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 203 
 
 and we ask Roman Catholics to come and 
 examine it, and set us right whenever they can ; 
 but I will look again," said Mr. Burke. 
 
 So he took down the mass-book, and read it 
 veiy carefully, and he allowed the man behind 
 the door was right, and that if ever the bread 
 and wine were turned into the Body and Blood 
 uf Christ at all, it will do with tallow candles a*" 
 well as with wax, and that it is only a sham^ 
 and a sin to the priest if he does not take cai'e 
 about the candles. 
 
 "So, then," said Pat, "your reverence allows 
 now, that if we could only be sure that if the 
 bread and wine could be turned into the Body 
 and Blood of Christ at all, then we might be 
 sure that it would be done at every mass, no 
 matter what was wrong." 
 
 " No," said Mr. Burke, " I did not say that. 
 I only admitted that a mistake about the candles 
 would not stop it ; but there are other mistakes 
 that would stop it ; and that would prevent any 
 man ever being able to know whether the change 
 was really made at any i\iass, even suppoaing the 
 change could be made at all." 
 
 " As what, your reverence 1 " said Pat. 
 
 "If the grapes that the wine was made of
 
 204 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 were not ripe," said Mr. Burke, " then, the mass- 
 book itself allows there would be no sacrament 
 made at all, and the people would be worshipping 
 Diily plain bread and wine." 
 
 " And how would we know if the grapes were 
 ripe 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " Well, now that's worse again," said Jem ; 
 " why, if it was only the candles, sure we could 
 see that for ourselves, if they were made of the 
 right thing. But how will we ever know at all 
 whether the wine was made of ripe grapes? 
 Sure we can't taste it, and if we did • itself, it's 
 hard for the like of us to be judges of that." 
 
 " And maybe the priest might be a bad judge 
 of wine himself, too," said Mr. Burke, " and then 
 only think what might happen, even if the mass- 
 book is right." 
 
 " But how will we know if your reverence is 
 right this time," said Pat, scratching his head ; 
 " sure you were wrong about the mass-book last 
 time, and how will we know if you be right 
 now ?" 
 
 " Oh, Pat," said Jem, " haven't we the right 
 way to know about it now ? Sure won't we 
 just take it to the man behind the doore, and see 
 what he can say again it % "
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 205 
 
 "Quite riglit," said the Rev. Mr. Burke 
 " that's just what we want ; that everything we 
 say should be examined : and have we not asked 
 the priests to come and hear what we say, and 
 to correct as much as they can of it. And you 
 may be sure they would do it if they could. I 
 would rather you went to the priest and asked 
 him about what I say of the wine ; but if you 
 cannot do that, just ask the man behind the 
 door." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Jem, "it's better 
 and better ; for sure we durstn't go to ask the 
 priest ; but, sure enough, the man behind the 
 door can ask the priest ; and won't the priest 
 ]iut /mji up to all he can 1 So now we are just 
 in the right way to get satisfaction about every- 
 thing." 
 
 So they were going away to look for the man 
 behind the door ; but Mr. Burke stopped them 
 for a little more talk about candles. 
 
 " And," said Mr. Burke, " what about kissing 
 the candles, boys 1 " 
 
 " Anan, your revfrence;" said Pat. 
 
 " What about kissing the candles 1" said ISiIr. 
 Burke.
 
 206 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " And what about that, your reverence ? " said 
 Pat. 
 
 "Did you never kiss a candle?" said Mr, 
 Burke. 
 
 " No, your reverence," said Pat. 
 
 *' Did you never get a candle, on Candlemass- 
 day 'I " said Mr. Bui-ke. 
 
 " Well, there mightn't be too many candles, 
 aud it didn't come to my turn," said Pat. 
 
 " And did you never see anyone kiss them 1" 
 said Mr. Burke. 
 
 " Well, I did see the old creatures kissing 
 their candles," said Pat ; " but sure the mass- 
 book would not tell them to do that?" 
 
 So Mr. Burke took down the mass-book, and 
 opened it at the mass for Candlemass-day, and. 
 he read out the directions how the candles were 
 to be sprinkled with holy water three times, and 
 incensed three times, and how the celebrant was 
 to distribute them, " to the clergy, one by one, 
 and then to the laity, all bending their knees, 
 and kissing the candle, and the hand of the 
 priest."* 
 
 «... Et aliis cleiicis singula'im per ordinem, ultimo laicsl 
 omnibus ginuflectentibus, candeluin et manum celebrantig 
 Ofculantibus. . . . Missal, p. 406, Ed. Coyne, Dublin, 1845. 
 Oct. cum. approbatione ordinarii.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 207 
 
 " And it seems to be of more importance than 
 you tliink," said Mr. Burke ; " for here is a book 
 to teach us how to kiss the candles right, and it 
 is approved by Cardinal Wiseman, in England ; 
 so it ougl-t to be right." 
 
 So he took down a book off the shelf, called 
 " Ceremonial according to the Roman Rite,* 
 and he showed them this in the first page : — 
 
 " Approbation. 
 " We hereby approve of this translation of 
 Baldeschi's woik on the ecclesiastical ceremonies. 
 
 " N. Card. Wiseman. 
 
 " Westminster, Aug. 2. 1863." 
 
 So then Mr. Burke read to them, out of page 
 159 — "Before the celebrant turns towards the 
 people, the second master of ceremonies should 
 give notice to the highest dignitary of the choir, 
 in order that, vested in the usual habit of the 
 choir, witliOut stole, according to a decree of the 
 Sacred Congregation of Rites, of February 14, 
 1705, he may stand in readiness, on the highest 
 step, to give the candle to the celebrant. This 
 candle is given to him by the deacon, who kisses 
 
 • Translated by Ililarius Dale, from the -work of Baldeschl, 
 "Master of Ceremoi.ies of the Basilica of St. Peter at Rome." 
 Published by Dolman, London, 1-63.
 
 208 TALK OF THE ROAD, 
 
 it, but not the ha.nd of the priest. The celebranl 
 also kisses it on receiving it, and afterwards 
 presents it to the sub-deacon, who receives it 
 with the ordinaiy kisses, and deposits it on the 
 altar. The ceicbrant, having afterwards taken 
 another candle," &c. ; and so the kissing goes on. 
 
 " And, your reverence, was that always done 
 in the Church V said Pat. 
 
 "Well, I suppose," said Mr. Burke, "it could 
 not be old(;r tli;in the blessing of candles on 
 Candlemass-day." 
 
 "And how old is that V said Pat. 
 
 " Here is a book, written by a very learned 
 Roman Catholic, who searched for that," said 
 Mi\ Burke ; " and he says he could find nothing 
 about it in any of the service-books of any 
 Church for 900 years after Christ. But stay," 
 said Mr. Burke, "the man behind the door might 
 say I was wrong, so I will write it out for you 
 to give hira ;" so he wrote them a paper -wliicli 
 ve will print at the end of this chapter. 
 
 " And will your reverence tell us what are 
 blessed candles good for 1" said Jem. 
 
 " I cannot tell you much ab»ut that," said Mr. 
 Burke. "This book '^ says, indeed (p. 2ou), that 
 * "The Ceremonial," meutioned above.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 20'J 
 
 in lesser chuvclies tlie priest ' sits upon a seal 
 prepared upon the gospel side (of the altai'), 
 covei's, and gives an instruction to the people 
 upon the institution of this solemnity, upon the 
 mystic significations and the advantages of blessed 
 candles;' but the book does not give the dis- 
 course, so I cannot tell what is in it. All I 
 know about it is from a form of blessing 
 candles printed at the end of the mass-book 
 (Jp. xcvii.), where the priest prays over them 
 thus : — * . . . Let them (the candles) re- 
 ceive such a benediction by the sign of the holy 
 cross, that in whatever places they are lighted 
 or placed, the princes of darkness may depart, 
 and tremble, and fly in consternation, with all 
 their ministers, from those habitations ; nor 
 presume any more to disquiet or molest those 
 who serve thee, the Omnipotent God.' " 
 
 " And what does your reverence think of that 
 prayer 1" said Jem. 
 
 " I think," said :\Ir. Burke, "that God hoars 
 the prayer of faith ; and the prayer of faith must 
 be founded on the word or promise of God. 
 St. James says (ch. iv. 7, Douay Bible), ' Resist 
 the devil, and he will fly from you ;' and St. 
 Peter himself says of the devil, ' whom resist ye,
 
 210 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 strong iu faith ' (1 Peter, v. 9). These are God's 
 promises of driving away the devil ; but no 
 Apostle says, 'light candles to drive away the 
 devil.' If we resist him and pray to God to ac- 
 complish his own promise, that is the prayer oi 
 faith that God will hear ; but if we light candles, 
 and pray that candles may drive away the devil, 
 that prayer rests on human inventions ; it has 
 no promise fi-om God ; it cannot be the prayer oi 
 faith." 
 
 " Well, your reverence," said Jem, " I think 
 that's right ; and if blessed candles was the thing 
 to keep away the enemy of souls, would Christ 
 and his Apostles have left his Church without 
 them for nine hundred years V 
 
 So Pat and Jem were going away, when Mr. 
 Burke called out to them — "Will you go and 
 buy blessed candles now V And Pat answered 
 him — " Your reverence, I would rather put the 
 money in a Douay Bible : doesn't Christ himsell 
 say, ' I am the light of the world j he that ful- 
 loweth me walketh not in darkness, but shall 
 have the light of life ' ? and wasn't that (raid 
 before there was any blessed candles at all ? And 
 isn't that better nor candles V — John viii. 12. 
 
 So as they were going out of *Jie door, JNlr.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 211 
 
 Burke said, '' Now, be sure you show the paper 
 to the man behind the door, and tell him every 
 word I said." 
 
 " Never fear, your reverence," said Pat ; " we 
 will surely." 
 
 The paper given by Mr. Burke to Pat, to show to 
 " the man hehbid the door." 
 
 "De benedicUone cerenrnm nulla fit mentio 
 ipud Amalarium, Valfriduui, et vulgatuui 
 Alcuinum, qui cereos tantum a Pontifice dari 
 isserit. Sed nerjue in Gelasiano, Gregoriano, 
 Gelloneusi, aliisqe supra nongentas annosscriptis 
 liiicramentariis aliquid ea de re extat. In antiquo 
 Qiissali ecclesise Turoneusis ante annos 800 scripto 
 a\\\ca.ad luminaria benedicenda reperitur" 
 — (Tractatus de antiqua ecclesiai Disciplina, &c.," 
 by Edmund Martene, a Benedictine monk. 
 Edit. Lugdun, 1706 ; p. 117). 
 
 Which we thus translate, for the convenience 
 of our readers : 
 
 " Concerning the hlesaing of wax candles, no 
 mention t.s made in Auialarius, Walfrid, or the 
 Vulgate copy of Alcuin, who only states that 
 wax caudles were given by the Pope ; neither 
 
 p 2
 
 212 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 in the Gelasian, or Gregorian Sacramentaries, or 
 in that at Gello, or in otliers, written above 900 
 yeai's ago, is there any mention made about that 
 matter. In an ancient missal of the Church of 
 Tours, written 800 years ago (i.e., about 90G), 
 one only mention is found about blessing 
 candles."* 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE DUMMY. 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "I had a talk with a 
 neighbour, and I want to tell it to you." 
 
 " Well, Pat, let us hear it," said Jem. 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " it was with Neddy 
 Boylan, about the Readers and the Bible ; and 
 Neddy allowed it was just folly for the people to 
 be listening to them at all ; ' for sure,' says he, 
 aren't we better as we are V Well, with that 
 I asked him was the Bible the Word of God at 
 all 1 And he allowed there was no saying again 
 
 * " The man behind the door " had written a let'er to the 
 Editor of tlie Catholic Layman (in which the Talk of the Koad 
 first appeared), pointing out the distinction between those defects 
 of the Mass which nullify it and those that do not (see Catholic 
 Layman, vol. 3, p 10) ; but he never leferred again to the 
 subject of wax cuiidles or sour grapes after the pulilication of 
 the above chapter.
 
 TALK OP THE ROAU. 213 
 
 that. And then I asked him wouldn't the 
 religion that agreed \^•ith the Word of God be 
 better than the religion that was against it. 
 Well, he allowed mat, too ; ' and now,' says I, 
 ' what way have you for knowing that the 
 priest's religion is better-, by the Word of God, 
 than the parson's 1 Sure the priest won't let you 
 look into the Bible to see if his religion is in it ; 
 and doesn't the parson otfer to show you his in 
 the Bible ; and doesn't that itself look as if the 
 parson had the best of it by the Bible ?' ' Well,^ 
 says he, ' maybe it does, for that matter ; but I 
 don't want to know nothing at all about it ; sure 
 ain't I better as I am V says he. ' Arrah, man,' 
 says I, ' do you mean to tell me that it is better 
 not to know which religion is true than to know 
 it ]' * Well,' says he, * if I don't know it, isn't it 
 the priest's look out,' says he; 'and if I did 
 know it, wouldn't it be my own look out,' says 
 he ; ' and so aiu't I better as I am,' says he, 
 'knowing nothing about it at all?' 'And do 
 you mean to tell me,' says I, 'that if your 
 religion is not the right way of salvatioii, tliat it's 
 the priest will be damned instead of you, and you 
 get salvation without being in the riglit way for 
 it 1' ' And do you mean to tell me,' says he,
 
 -^i TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 ' that God will lay all the blame on me, that 
 knows nothing at all about it myself, and only 
 just does what the priest bids me, that ought to 
 know better nor ever I can know ] And,' says 
 he, 'don't you mind Pat Brady, that h-^'ithe son 
 that's a dummy, and innocent, and didn't Pat 
 teach the creature to steal praties 1: and when 
 them both was up afore the Bench for it, didn't 
 the magistrates say they wouldn't punish the 
 dummy creature at all, 'cause he didn't know 
 nothing at all ; and they laid all the punishment 
 on the man that taught him, and he knowing 
 nothing himself, the creature ; and do you mean 
 to tell me,' says he, ' that the merciful God will 
 be harder on the i)oor creatures that knows 
 nothing, and only does as they are bid, than the 
 magistrates was? Sure I won't believe that at 
 all,' sa}'s he. ' Well,' says I, 'Neddy (when I 
 considered a bit), it doesn't seem to me to be like 
 that at all. Sure the dummy couldn't know the 
 differ of what was right or wrong ; and sure it's 
 you that wortt know it, Neddy,' says J, ' and 
 sure that's not the same at all ; and sure, Neddy,' 
 says I, ' if you was to go and be a dummy on 
 purpose, and to try to make your own self a fool, 
 tlie way you could steal praties, sure the magis-
 
 TALK OF THE PwOAD, 215 
 
 t rates wouldn't let you off for that, Neddy. I'm 
 thinking it's the worse they'd give it to you, if 
 they knew that you wouldn't know the differ of 
 right and wrong, Neddy,' says I. 'And how 
 vjould I know the differ if there's no one to teach 
 me,' says he ; ' and sure isn't it a Souper I'd be 
 called if I would ask the priest to teach me out 
 of the Bible ?' says he. ' Well, sure enough, it 
 was that way long enough,' says I ; ' but it isn't 
 that way now ; fer sure there's JMr. Owens, and 
 there's the readers that's come, all willing and 
 ready to show us that their religion is in the 
 Bible ; and now, if the priest will just do the 
 same, sure then we can see for ourselves what 
 relision is in the Word of God.' 'Well, that's 
 just it,' says he, • and that's just the reason why I 
 wish the readers was hunted out of the country,' 
 says he. 'And how would you know then,' .says I, 
 'which religion is true?' 'And i.su't that just 
 what I don't want to know V says he. ' Sure,' 
 says he, ' before the readers came, weren't we 
 just as safe as the dummy, not knowing nothing, 
 and not having no way of knowing nothing, and 
 weren't we quite quiet am' nisy ; and now,' says 
 he, ' every time the readers pass my door, don't I 
 feel that they are just putting it on myself to
 
 216 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 know what religion is right, and just leaving me 
 A'ith no excuse for putting it all on the priest ; 
 and now, says he, ' weren't we better as we 
 were ] and why would the readers be coming 
 here to put it all on ourselves, vvhen it wasn't on 
 ourselves before ]' ' Well, Neddy,' says I, ' by 
 that way of reckoning, wouldn't it be the fine 
 thing if Jesus Christ had never come into the 
 world at all to show us the way of salvation V 
 ' And how's that V says he ; ' sure I didn't go for 
 to say the like of that at all V ' Well,' says I, 
 ' sure we could all say then that we knew nothing 
 at all about what religion was true, and that v.e 
 hadn't no way to know , and sure we could put 
 it all on Adam, that sinned ^ and on God, too, 
 that let us be born in sin, and gave us no 
 knowledge ; aud sure if it's a fine thing to know 
 nothing,' says I, ' wouldn't that be the way we 
 would know nothing at all ; and wouldn't it 
 be the finest of all V ' Well, I didn't mean 
 that,' says he ; ' but sure the readers is put- 
 ting it on me to know for myself, and sui'e it 
 wasn't put on me before ]' ' And didn't Jesus 
 Christ, when He came into the world, put it on 
 people to know Him, and to judge for themselves 
 that it was Him % aud didn't He put it on them
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 217 
 
 to know if liis religion was ti'ue 1 and didn't He 
 pub it on them to search the Scriptures to finJ 
 out if it was Him that was in it ? and didn't He 
 put it on them to repent, and to turn to Him, 
 and to believfe in Him '? and why wouldn't the 
 Word of God do just the .same now,' says I, 
 ' wheu it corner! to our own doors V So I seen he 
 was studying, and he couldn't get over that ; 
 so, says I to him, ' Neddy, says I, 'just tell me, 
 teas it ivorse for the people then, for Jesus Christ, 
 the Saviour of th§ world, to come to them ]' 
 ' Well,' says he, ' I don't know what to say to it, 
 and I would like for somebody to tell me.' 
 'Well,' stiys I, 'I think it was better for them 
 that would hear and learn from Him, for sure 
 they found salvation,' says I ; 'and I'm thinking,' 
 says I, ' it was worse for them that wouJdnt 
 learn, for sure then they had no excuse,' says I ; 
 and with that I just got out my Bible before he 
 cuuld stop me, audi showed him what Jesus Christ 
 said Himself — ' This is the judgment, because 
 the Light is come into the world, and men loved 
 darkness leather than the light' (John, iii. 19, 
 Douay Bible). ' And is it that way with the 
 readers ] ' says he. * Well, it was that way with 
 the Apostles,' says I ; * for here is what St. Paul
 
 218 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 says of himself and the rest of them — " We are 
 the good odour of Christ unto God, in them that 
 are saved, and in them that perish ; to the one, 
 indeed, we are the odour of death unto death, 
 but to the others the odour of life unto life." ' (2 
 Cor. ii. 15 and 16.) * And is it that way with 
 the readers 1 ' says he. * It's that way,' says I, 
 'with the word that Jesus Christ spoke, and 
 that's in the Bible ; so I'm thinking,' says I, ' it's 
 always that way with them that offers to show 
 ns the Word of God.' ' WqII, that's just what 
 was angering me against the readers,' says he, 
 * Take care that same wouldn't anger you against 
 the Word of God,' says I. * I doubt it would,' 
 says he, 'if I gave in to it any more.' 'Well, 
 don't,' says I ; ' sure it's come to your door now, 
 and you can't put it away if you would : just 
 turn to it,' says I, ' and see if it isn't for life and 
 salvation to them that receives it.' ' That's what 
 I'll Iiave to do,' says he, 'and I knew myself it 
 would come to that,' says he, ''cause I was angry 
 at it ; ' so there's my story, Jem." 
 
 " And a good story, too, Pat," said Jem ; 
 " you handled it well ; and I believe there's a 
 deal of people in tLe country that has got that 
 notion; they J'':el the readers is putting it ou
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 219 
 
 themselves to know wliat religion is true, and 
 they don't feel yet that it is the knowledge of the 
 way of salvation that the readers is putting on 
 them. But I suppose, Pat, it be to be that way 
 at first ; and sure it's something when the people 
 begins to feel that itself; for, sure, when that 
 begins to work in them a bit, they won't be able 
 to turn it off. But did you ask the man behind 
 the door, Pat, about what the Rev. Mr. Burke 
 said of the wine that wasn't made of ripe grapes 1 
 and what did you get out of him ? " 
 
 " Oh, just not one word, said Pat. " I knew 
 he was there, and I shouted it to him, and he 
 heard it all, and wouldn't say one word, good 
 nor bad." 
 
 " Well, that's enough, Pat," said Jem ; " Mr. 
 Burke is right this time, anyway." 
 
 So they went home for that night, and, no 
 doubt, will be talking again. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE IRISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 " Well, Jem, what's the talk about now 1" said 
 Pat. 
 
 "America letters, Pat," said Jem
 
 220 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Signs by, you got one, Jem," said Pat. 
 
 "'Deed, then, I did, from my daughter, 
 Biddy, that went out a year ago ; and the good 
 daughter she is, sending me two pounds to put 
 wee duds on the childer ; and she'll send more 
 when she gets it," said Jem. 
 
 " Well, America is the fine place," said Pat. 
 " Sure, it's long till she would make that here." 
 
 " There's a deal that does well there, Pat," 
 said Jem ; " but, I doubt, there's a deal too that 
 goes there, aud wishes themselves home again." 
 
 " Well, I never heard tell of that, Jem," said 
 Pat ; " there's hardly an America letter I hear 
 of but has money in it." 
 
 "Aye, Pat," said Jem, "sure enough, the 
 creatures write when there's money to send ; 
 but then there's a deal that never writes at all, 
 and that's more like as if they had nothing 
 than as if they forgot them they left in Ireland." 
 
 "Well, that's true, Pm sure," said Pat, "for 
 sure it's good for the heart to think how them 
 that goes remembers them that is left ; and I 
 marked that often, that them that doesn't write 
 or send money is seldom heard of in the neigh- 
 bours' letters. But how comes it Jem, that 
 they wouldn't write ? "
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 221 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "I beard sometliiug 
 of that, and I mind it well. A while back I 
 was waiting for the railway at Glasson, and 
 there was a nice old gentleman standing on the 
 platform, talking to a man ; and he was a, gentle- 
 man to look at, for his face looked as if it had 
 seen all weathers, and his long white hair, and 
 his clear gi'ay eyes, that looked as if they had 
 seen all the world ; and the life there was in 
 that old man, you would wonder to see it in one 
 so old. And it was about thai he was talking, 
 how it came that so many that went there out 
 of Ireland didn't write home ; it was about the 
 years of the famine and the fever he was talking, 
 how the ci'eatures took out the fever with them 
 in the ships ; and there was an island in 
 America that was turned into an hospital, and 
 all the ships had to put the people there ; and 
 he was there in the island, and I'm thinking 
 maybe he was taking care of them, and I hope 
 he was, for he was a kindly-feeling gentleman ; 
 and I heard him tell how he seen ninety-six of 
 them buried in one grave. And to hear liim 
 speaking, and him striking his stick on the 
 gi-ound, you would think the dead was rising up 
 ngain afore his face, and him speaking. And it
 
 222 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 just come into my miud theu, it was no wondei 
 there was so many that was never Leard tell on 
 more ; for sure the old mothers and the sweet- 
 hearts in Ireland might think long afore they 
 would get word nor tidings of the poor boys and 
 girls that was buried in that grave." 
 
 " Well, that's the sad story, Jem," said Pat, 
 *' but sure, I mind myself, when Johnny Davis, 
 the whitesmith, went out with his wife and the 
 five children — and they all took the fever, and 
 went to hospital — and maybe it was in that 
 island ; and when he got well, and found tli>'m 
 all dead, he just took his passage by the next sliip, 
 and came home to the old forge, a lone and 
 sorrowful man ; and I mind well the words I 
 heard him say — * I went out full, and the Lord 
 hath brought me home again empty ;' but I don't 
 know were them words his own, or where did he 
 get them." 
 
 " Well, I can tell you that, Pat," said Jem ; 
 " he got them words in the Book of Ruth, in the 
 Bible, the beautifuUest and feelingest story that 
 ever was told ; nothing could beat it ; and I'm 
 often thinking there's nothing can come across 
 us but we'll find the right words for that in the 
 Bible, if we only knew where to look for it ; and
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 223 
 
 that siovy of E.utli is worth your reaJiug ; it 
 goes to the heart clean." 
 
 "Well, I'll look for that next, Jem," said 
 Pat ; " but sure when we do hear of them that 
 goes to America, isn't it the blessed thing to hear 
 how they think of them they left in Ireland, and 
 how good they are to them, and how they think 
 long of the old country and the old places. 
 I mind now, when I went up to Meath, with 
 some cattle, last spring, and I just called in to 
 see Biddy Farrelly, that's my mother's brother's 
 daughter, and she showed me a letter she got 
 from Mary Brady, that's a cousin of hers ; and 
 Mary was gone out two years, and was doing 
 well, and she said she wanted to get married ; 
 but there wasn't a Meath boy in all that country 
 she was in, and she said she would never marry 
 none but a Meath boy ; so she just writes 
 home to Biddy FaiTcUy (for she knew that 
 Biddy had the good heart), and she tells her to 
 look out for a Meath boy that's a good son, 
 and didn't drink, and she sends home seven 
 pound ten to get him a new suit, and send him 
 out to marry her. So Biddy had got a clean, 
 decent boy, in Meath, and was just sending him 
 out, in a new suit, to be married upon Mary
 
 224 
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Brady And, now, doesn't it show Iioav they 
 think of the old place and them so far off?" 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "it does one good, 
 surely, to know how they think of the old place ; 
 but there's one thing they learn to think of new. 
 I hear there's a great deal of them that goes out 
 that takes to reading the Bible. Now, I mind 
 the letters that old Ned Flanagan showed uie 
 that he got from liis daughter. Well, in the 
 first letter he got, she told him she was in a good 
 place and doing well ; but one thing was breaking 
 her heart, for there was no chapel, nor priest, nor 
 IMass within thirty miles of her. So, says she. 
 '.Father, dear, won't you try and get a Mass or 
 two said for me in Ireland, and I will send the 
 money to pay for them when I get it.' Well, 
 it's little money old ISTed had, and maybe he 
 would have thought better to spend it on duds 
 for the children that was a'most naked; but any- 
 way he hadn't it, and so he be to wait for the 
 masses till he got the money; for you know, 
 Fat, ' no money no Mass.' So the next letter 
 comes a month after, with two pounds in it to 
 keep him and the children warm, and at the end 
 of it, says she, ' Father, dear, there's no hurry 
 about the Masses, and vou needn't ffet them
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 225 
 
 said till I write again.' "Well, a montli after 
 there comes anotlier letter, with more money, and 
 says she, ' Father, dear, you needn't mind the 
 Masses now, for I'm took to reading the Bible, 
 and I find that better nor Masses.' So, you see 
 ihe Masses were done without, Pat, after all." 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " sure we needn't go 
 past Father John's own sermon for that, when 
 he read us Father Mullen's letter,* out of 
 America, and preached against any of the people 
 going to America any more ; and told them 
 they might as well turn Protestants at once, and 
 sell their souls to the devil, and turn Bible- 
 readers ; and sure he made it out that there 
 wasn't one in ten that kept to the Church of 
 Rome there : but, sure enough, Jem, that didn't 
 stop people going, for all that ; and I'm thinking 
 there's many a one goes just for that same 
 reason, because Father John told them there was 
 plenty there to make it easy to do as they liked ; 
 and now 1 mind what a man told me that went 
 to Liverpool to see his daughter off to America. 
 There's a Protestant clergyman in Liverpool, 
 
 * This letter of the Eev. Mr. Mullen, R. C. Curate of Clon- 
 tnellon, wa^ published in the Freeman's Journal. He calculate! 
 the nimiber lost to the (R.) Catholic Church in America at 
 l,&90,000, 01', in round numbers. Two Millions.
 
 226 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 and it's just his business to attend all tlie America 
 Bhips that's going off; and there's a steamer that 
 takes all the America ships down the river, pull- 
 ing them with a rope ; and the clergyman goes 
 off Avith every ship, and comes back by the 
 steamer; and he's reading the Bible, and talking, 
 and praying with them as far as the steamer 
 goes ; and this man went down with his daugh- 
 ter', to come back with the steamer, and there 
 was a priest, too, on board, but whether he was 
 going to America in that ship, I did not hear ; 
 but the clergyman had them all reading the 
 Bible, and talking to them ; and the priest was 
 looking mighty cross, at the end of the ship ; and 
 at last the priest comes for'ad, and, says he to all 
 the people, ' Is there any Catholics there 1 ' says 
 he. ' Yes, there is, severals, your reverence,' 
 says the people to him. 'Well,' says he, 'I 
 command all Catholics to go away out of this, 
 and not to listen to this stuff any more.' Well, 
 with that the clergyman spoke up, and says he^ 
 " It's the word of God Himself that I am reading 
 to you, my friends, and you are going to begin 
 life again in the new world, and I want you to 
 begin it new, with the word and the blessing of 
 God ;' and, with that, he asked them aU to
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 227 
 
 kneel down, and pray with him for that blessing ; 
 and man, woman, and child knelt down with 
 him, and not one went away, barring the priest 
 himself.* Now, doesn't that show that once they 
 are out of Ireland, the people is free and willing, 
 too, to listen to the word of God 1" 
 
 " But, Pat," said Jem, "if it's that way out of 
 Ireland (and sure Father John himself let on 
 that it is), why couldn't it be that way in Ire- 
 land, too V 
 
 "That's what I'm studying, Jem," said Pat, 
 " and I don't see it plain yet ; but sure that's 
 woi'th the studying." 
 
 And if they see their way to that, it may help 
 other men to see it too. 
 
 *It may interest our readers to know, that we oxirselves 
 saw the letters that Pat and Jem were speakin;,' of; arid we were 
 present, too, when the old gentleman struck his stick on the 
 ground, and told of the grave of the poor Irish emigrants. We 
 hope that many of those who died may have commenced their 
 Toyage with the prayers of that Liverpool clergyman.— Editor.
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 225 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE GLOMES OF JOSEPH. 
 
 "Jem," said Pat, "do you mind the talk we 
 had about the ' Glories of Mary "I "* 
 
 "I do, well, Pat," said Jem; "that won't be 
 forgotten easy." 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "I have got a match 
 for it anyway." 
 
 " And what is it, Pat V* said Jem. 
 
 " Why, then, it's the ' Glories of Joseph,' the 
 husband of Mary," said Pat. 
 
 "Ay," said Jem, "and had he glories too 1" 
 
 " Why, you know, in course, Jem," said Pat, 
 " sure a man wouldn't be behind his wife, you 
 know." 
 
 "WeU but, Pat," said Jem, "it isn't the 
 same ; for sure the Blessed Virgin was the real 
 mother of Jesus Christ, but Joseph wasn't his 
 father." 
 
 "Well, Jem, here's the book," said Pat, pulling 
 a little book out of his pocket, with " The Glories 
 of St. Joseph "t printed in big letters on it. 
 
 • Chap. IIL 
 
 + "Glories of St. Joseph, from the French of Father Paul 
 Barrie. Printed by Richard Grace, Catholic BookaeUef, 
 Dublin, 1843"
 
 230 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 " Sure enough, there it is," said Jem ; " what's 
 coming now at all V 
 
 Perhaps our readers are saying just the same j 
 and if they read on they will know. 
 
 " Why, just listen to the sense of this, Jem," 
 said Pat, " doesn't the book make Joseph aa 
 great as the Blessed Yirgin herself? Just read 
 this, man;" and so Jem read, "If, therefore, 
 she be a princess, he is a prince ; and he is also 
 king wherever she is queen" — p. 15. "And 
 now, Jem," said Pat, "isn't she the queen of 
 heaven ; and isn't it plain by the book that 
 Joseph is the king of heaven 1" 
 
 "Well, Pat, there is a big if in that," said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Sure there is, Jem," said Pat, " and don't I 
 just want you to take the big if along with you 
 all through 1 If she is the Queen of heaven, 
 sure her husband be to be the King." 
 
 "Well, Pat, I see it now," said Jem, "and, 
 sure enough, there's more reason in you nor in 
 the book; it's a great if entirely." 
 
 "And in course, Jem," said Pat, "there's 
 more follows on that ; read this here ;" so Jem 
 read — " O rich Joseph, to whom God himself 
 becomes a beggar !" — p. ] 6.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 231 
 
 "Well, Pat," saidJem, "that does beat all; 
 I ■wonder how any living man duvst write it !" 
 
 "Well, Jem,'' said Pat, "sure it follows quite 
 natural, out of the big if : will you read this 
 now." So Jem read — " God helps us in all 
 necessities by St. Joseph, as by his ])lenipoten- 
 tiary, to let us understand, that as he was subject 
 to him in all things upon earth as to a father, 
 so he was the same in heaven, granting whatever 
 he asked"— p. 47. "Now," said Pat, "isn't 
 Joseph king in heaven, if God himself is subject 
 to Joseph there V 
 
 " Oh, Pat," said Jem, " it's too bad entirely 
 for any Christian to listen to : I wonder the 
 Ii'ish people does not rise up at once again such 
 things." 
 
 " Maybe the people is waiting for the priests 
 and bishops to rise up again such things," said 
 Pat ; " sure, it is the bishops and jiriests thaft 
 ought to put down books that teaches such 
 shocking things again the Christian faith." 
 
 " Well, Pat, that's past waiting for. Sure, 
 don't I see here in the first page, that it is printed 
 by Grace, the great Catholic bookseller, and 
 mre, the Bishops would have only to saj the 
 word to stop it at once.'"
 
 232 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " But wlio ever heard the bishop or the priests 
 say one word against such books as that, Jem V 
 said Pat. " Sure, they keep all that for the 
 Bible. And, sure, look here at the end ; here s 
 all the irdulgences that the popes give to every 
 one that stands up for Joseph. Why, here's one 
 that giv s an indulgence of 300 days in purga- 
 tory tf' every one for every time that he prays to 
 Jesus Mary, and Joseph, all together. Why, how 
 coulr the priests or the bishops go again that 1" 
 
 " That's plain, Pat," said Jem ; " we must 
 quiii all they say and do, to keep to Christ alone." 
 
 " Well, there's more things in it, Jem," said 
 Pat ; " Sure Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is the 
 Trinity on earth ! (pages 17 and 26) ; and Joseph 
 was the handsomest man at all ; why wouldn't 
 he 1 Sure the book says Jesus Christ wouldn't 
 take an ugly man to be his father, but one as 
 handsome as himself." — page 20 
 
 " Stop there, Pat," said Jem, "till I find what 
 the Bible says about Jesus Christ." So Jem 
 found it in Isaiah liii. 2, — "There is no beauty 
 in him, nor comeliness, and thei-e was no sight- 
 liness that Ave should be desirous of him." " So 
 you see, Pat," said Jem, " the book is only in- 
 venting lies."
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 233 
 
 " "Well, Jem," said Pat, " here's a place to tell 
 how easy devotion to St. Joseph is ; it's just the 
 easiest thing at all ; only a picture, or a bit of a 
 prayer or two. 'Deed he doesn't ask much for 
 all he does." 
 
 " And what does he do at all V said Jem. 
 
 " A deal of things," said Pat. " If there's any- 
 thing lost, it's only to go to St. Joseph (p. 84), 
 and he'll look till he finds it ; and, sure, that 
 would keep him busy in Ireland itself, let alone 
 the rest of the w orld. Or if there's a match to 
 be made between a boy and a girl, only get St. 
 Joseph at it, and it's done (p. 127); and he can 
 put his hand to anything ; for if a girl is in love, 
 it's only to go to St. Joseph, and he'll put that 
 out of her head in nine days (p. 108) ; and if a 
 couple want children, Joseph's the man, though 
 he had none of his own (p. 128) ; and he's 
 the best man midwife at all (p. 127) ; and for 
 saving the agent from the ribbonmen he beats 
 the scapular all out ;* for, see, here's a story of a 
 man that was shot with a blunderbuss, with 
 thirty slugs in it, and every slug went into his 
 body, and three of them staid in his belly, and 
 one of them was beat flat on his nose, and he 
 
 •See Catholic Layman, voL ii., 18o3, p. 66.
 
 234 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 wasn't a hair the worse ; and sure the man that 
 wrote the book says, that the man that was shot 
 told him tlie story himself" — p. 132. 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "I'm thinking one 
 or other of them was a mighty great liar, and 
 no mistake." 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "there was a convent, 
 and no nuns going into it, and St. Joseph got 
 them a young lady, with a good fortune, and the 
 book says ' which favour will never be forgotten 
 by that community.' Sure enough, it's girk 
 with fortunes they take in, and not poor un- 
 fortunate creatures that it would be the place 
 for." 
 
 " Bub, Jem, here's something that is good ; it's 
 about the interior or spiritual life in the soul ; 
 and it makes out this spiritual life is faith, hope, 
 charity, religious adoration, thanksgiving, hu- 
 miliation " — p. 95. 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, " I think that's as true 
 as if it was in the Bible." 
 
 "So it is, Jem," said Pat. "But see here, 
 Jem, what the book says next." So Jem read 
 (p. 99), "in a community of three score religious* 
 
 • The word " religious " here means nuns. The passage shows 
 how improper it is to use the wnrrt of all who are members of an 
 order.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 235 
 
 you will scarce find six true interior persons ; 
 and amongt a hundred religious men, or five 
 hundred seculars* it would be hard to find ten 
 such as we speak of, who are eminent in their 
 interior life, and make their desire of perfection 
 their chief endeavour." 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "that's the sorest 
 thing I heard yet again the convents and the 
 priests ; I wonder how did it get into the book 
 at all." 
 
 '■ Well, maybe it isn't easy to write a book, 
 and let no word of truth get into it at all," said 
 Pat ; " but there it's down in the book, however 
 it got in." 
 
 So Pat went on — " Well, Jem, here's quare 
 things ; there's a great day for St. Joseph every 
 year in Canada, and just read the story." So 
 Jem read (p. 73) — "Also, many dozens of great 
 rockets, twelve at a time, resting somewhile 
 between each dozen. At the close of the 
 evening, the governor of Quebec (accompanied 
 vith all his ofticers, in sight of a great number 
 of savages, who live round the country, come to 
 see the solemnity) puts fire to these machines ; 
 the wonderful sight whereof gives great occasioD 
 
 • " Seculars " here means priests.
 
 236 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 to the savages to honour and esteem St. Joseph, 
 for whom they perceive the Christians have so 
 great a veneration." 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " that beats all ways ever 
 I heard of making Christians of savages ; but I 
 never heard tell of it in any of the letters the 
 people wrote home." 
 
 " Well, I suppose it's an old story now," said 
 Pat ; " and sure if all the savages is converted, 
 there would be no more call for rockets. But 
 here's a story as quare, about a lady called 
 Margaret de Chateau, who had a great regard 
 for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph ; and now read 
 that, Jem," said Pat. So Jem read — "After she 
 was dead, she was opened, and in her heart they 
 found three precious stones, on which were en- 
 graved the three objects of her love" — p. 53. 
 "Now, Jem," said Pat, "do you believe there 
 ever was a woman that had her heart full of 
 little stones, just like the gizzard of an old 
 fowl ]" 
 
 " Well, 'deed, Pat," said Jem, "I don't believe 
 God Almighty ever made a woman with a 
 gizzard instead of a heai-t. But what will the 
 Catholic books come to at all ?" 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " hear the advice that
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 237 
 
 the Blessed Virgin gives, however the book got 
 at it." So Jem read (p. 219)—" Wlierefore, if 
 we desire her to advise us what is best to secure 
 OUR SALVATION, we cannot doubt but she will 
 say, ' be devout to St. Joseph ; love my dear 
 spouse, St. Joseph.' " 
 
 " Oh, stop, stop, Pat," said Jem, " I can't 
 stand it any more ; to think us poor Irish is let 
 to read such books, to set us so far astray about 
 our salvation, and the word of the living God 
 kept off us. Oh, doesn't it cry out against them 
 that allows it ? Will there never be no light 
 nor knowledge from God, to them that's kept in 
 darkness and the shadow of death 1 " 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " it's enough to give 
 one a heartscald again the Chiirch of E.ome, 
 sure enough ; but I'll ouly look out one thing 
 more : here's a whole chapter to explain why the 
 worship of St. Joseph was so late getting into 
 the Church. Why, the book says that, ' in the 
 primitive ages no mention is made of any parti- 
 cular devotion to this saint ' (p. 29) ; and it says, 
 ' / cannot, therefore, hut own that this iiiarked 
 devotion towards St. Joseph is only of late stand- 
 ing ' (p. 29) j and the book makes out that no 
 one did worship Joseph for 1,400 years after
 
 2o8 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Christ (p. 30), and that was all '■for St. JosepKa 
 greater honour ' (p. 35) ; and it allows that St. 
 Teresa ' was the first who set up the standard of 
 devotion to St. Joseph' (p. 48); and, 'deed, Jera," 
 said Pat, " when I came to that, I thought to 
 myself, it's little call we have to trust to the 
 saints, if they set us that far astray." 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "if any prays to St. 
 Joseph after that, it's their own faults ; but how 
 will it be with the priests that never says a word 
 against such books, and with the bishops that 
 doesn't stop the Catholic booksellers from print- 
 ing the like •? " 
 
 Plenty of such books there are, printed and 
 circulated for the Irish people to read instead of 
 the Bible. And if Pat and Jem should talk of 
 any more of them, our readers may like to hear 
 of that too. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE priests' mission. 
 
 " Well, Pat, isn't it the quare time since J saw 
 vou to have a talk, while I was above at the 
 railway, with hard work and fair pay ? and is 
 ihere anything new at K ilcommon to talk of ? "
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 239 
 
 "'Deed, then, Jem," said Pat, "there's the 
 new mission to talk of." 
 
 " Well, that's not new anyway," said Jem ; 
 " sure I saw that myself afore I went to the 
 railroad." 
 
 " Well, it is new, Jem," said Pat. " Sure it's 
 a Catholic mission that's in it." 
 
 " Is it the priests at a mission, Pat 1 " said 
 Jem ; " why, sure a station would be more in 
 their way." 
 
 " Aye is it," said Pat ; " five or six priests 
 there holding a mission of their own." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Burke and Mr. Owens is making 
 a stir among the priests anyway," said Jem ; 
 " sure that's a new thing entirely ; but what 
 Tvas it like at all 1 " 
 
 " Why, the greatest confessing and preaching 
 that ever you seen ; and the chapel-yard like a 
 fair with the booths and shops." 
 
 "And what shops at all in the chapel-yard 1 " 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Why, booths and stands, all covered with 
 jimcracks and toys, fit to bring all the children 
 at a fair to them," said Pat. 
 
 " And do you say it's selling toys for the little 
 children the missionaiies were 1 " said Jem.
 
 240 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Well, it wasn"t just that," said Pat ; " for it 
 ■was toys for the big children they were selling." 
 
 " What sort at all 1 " said Jem. 
 
 " Why, there was stands there, all glittering 
 in the sun, covered all over with little bits of 
 tin, at halfpence a piece, with gilding on them 
 as bright as gingerbread," said Pat. 
 
 " And what were they at all 1 " said Jem. 
 
 " Miraculous medals, Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " And did they work miracles 1 " said Jem. 
 
 *' Sorrow one that I could hear of," said Pat. 
 
 " And did the people believe there was mira- 
 cles on that stand, at a halfpenii}^ a piece 1 " said 
 Jem. 
 
 •' Well, you see, them that bought them had 
 to get thein blessed by the missionaries, before 
 there would be any good in them," said I'at. 
 
 " And did the missionaries say they vrere 
 miraculous medals, when they were blessed 1 " 
 said Jem. 
 
 So then Pat pulled a printed paper out of hia 
 2")ocket, and showed it to Jem, with a cross at 
 the top, and " Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," 
 printed under the cross, and under that again, 
 in big letters, ' Resolution at the close op 
 THE M1S.SI0N," and then Jem read oul; of it,
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 241 
 
 ** Prayer of the Miraculous Medal — Maiy, 
 conceived without sin, pray for us who have re- 
 course to thee;" and then Pat took out of hia 
 pocket a little bit of gilt tin, as big as a sixpence, 
 with the prayer and the picture of the Yirgin 
 stamped upon it; "And," said Pat, "here's the 
 miraculous medal, Jem." 
 
 So Jem turned it about in his fingers, " And," 
 said he, " do they think the people has got no 
 sense at all] Sure, it's the height of impudence, 
 it is, to call that miraculous." 
 
 "Well, I don't knoiv, Jem," said Pat ; "sure, 
 when grown childer can be got in plenty to buy 
 the like of that for a miraculous medal, it's a'most 
 a miracle itself." 
 
 " Well, if bits of tin can beat the Bible in the 
 long run, I'll call that a miracle, when I see it," 
 said Jem. " But did the people take to the 
 medals, Pat ?" 
 
 " Well, there was lots and lashings of them 
 sold," said Pat ; " but I don't think them that 
 got them cared a deal for them ; sui'e I was in 
 Mr. Thomas's bread .sho[), when a boy come in, 
 and said he had no money, and asked to buy a 
 bit of bread svitli a miaaculous medal, blest and 
 all ; and, indeed, Mx. Thomas gave him the 
 
 B
 
 21:2 TALK OF THE EOAD. 
 
 bread, and took the medai, so one medal was 
 "vrortli souietbing anyway."* 
 
 "And what was the preaching like, Pat?" 
 said Jem. 
 
 "Well, it wasn't like Father John's preaching 
 at all," said Pat ; " for they didn't abuse nor 
 blackguard nobody, not even the Scripture- 
 readers ; but kept speaking to the people about 
 their sins, and about death and judgment, and 
 heaven and hell, quite solemn and serious, till 
 you'd think that the people was just frightened 
 out of their lives, and ready to look for salvation 
 entii'ely ; and you would see the people's hearts 
 was stirred up in them entirely, for they never 
 heard the like of that preaching in the chapel 
 before ; and I'm thinking, if Father John doesn't 
 mend his hand and try something more Christian- 
 like, he won't go down with the people at all, 
 after that." 
 
 "And, Pat, when the people was stirred up 
 to look for salvation," said Jem, " did the 
 missionaries show them the way of salvation, or 
 did they tell them of the blood of Christ at 
 all V 
 
 " Not one word about it at all, Jem," said Pat, 
 
 » This did actually happen in the shop of a Protestant.
 
 TALK OF TU£ HOAK. 243 
 
 " They just stirred .i]3 the people till you Avould 
 think their minds couldn't be quiet at all about 
 their sins, and then they just left them in the 
 lurch, and didn't give them nothing to make 
 their peace with God." 
 
 " And was thea-e nothing about Jesus Christ, 
 the Saviour of sinners, then ?" said Jem. 
 
 "Nothing at all," said Pat. "There was 
 plenty said then for the jiriests, but nothing at 
 all for Christ, the Saviour of sinners ! Sure, 
 look at this paper I showed you," said Pat : 
 "here's about death and judgment, and heaven 
 and hell ; and here's the Blessed Virgin six times 
 over, and the prayer of the miraculous medal, and 
 plenty of real good advice, and not one word 
 about Jesus Christ, the Saviour, good or bad, 
 first or last ; and that's the priests' mission, Jem.'' 
 
 So Jem read the paper over, and he could not 
 find one word about Christ, the Saviour of shi- 
 ners, in it ; and we print that paper (for a copy 
 was sent to us) that our readers may try if tliey 
 can find anything about Christ in it. 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " I think I see now what 
 can come of it." 
 
 "And what's that, Jem V said Pat. 
 
 ** Well, it's my opinion," said Jem, " that them 
 B 2
 
 244 TALK OF THE t\OAD. 
 
 that's stirred up to thiuk of their sins, and of 
 heaven and hell, will have to look for a saviour 
 and a way of salvation before they can get their 
 minds quiet again — and it's clear they won't get 
 that from priests — and who knows but they may 
 be driv to the Bible for that." 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " I think you are right ; 
 sure enough, it's new work the priests ai-e at in 
 pi'eaching that way, and more may come of it than 
 they know of. If they stir the people to think in 
 earnest about sin and their own souls, they 11 
 maybe find they have riz what they cannot quell, 
 for they haven't got what will satisfy them that 
 are once in earnest about their own*' souls; and 
 the Rev. Mr. Burke seemed to think that, too, 
 for he kept writing mighty good letters to the 
 people, showing them where they would find 
 salvation and the way of peace with God, if they 
 want to look for it now." 
 
 " But look here, Pat," said Jem ; " see, here's a 
 verse out of the Bible, stuck on to the end of 
 the priest's paper ; sure that's new anyway." 
 So Jem read the verse — " Whosoever shall fol- 
 low this rule, peace on them and mercy " — Gala- 
 tiaus, ch. vi., ver. IG 
 
 "And what rule was that about/' said Pa/
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 245 
 
 "could it be about praying to the Blessed Yirgin 
 and looking to her for salvation, the way it is in 
 this paper V 
 
 So Pat got his Doiiay Bible, and he read — 
 " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom the world 
 is crucified to me and I to the world. For in 
 Jesus Chri.st neither circumcision avaUeth any- 
 thing, nor uncircumci,sion, but a new creature. 
 And whosoever shall follow this rule, peace on 
 them and mercy." — Galatians ch. vi., v. 14, 15, 
 16. 
 
 "Now, Pat," said Jem, "see what the rule in 
 the Douay Bible is, to glory in the cross of Jesus 
 Christ, and nothing else, and the promise of 
 peace and mercy is to them that follow that rule. 
 And now see if this paper isn't telling every 
 one to pray to the Blessed Virgin and to look 
 to her for salvation, without one word about 
 Christ, the Saviour of sinners ; and then they 
 clap on to this rule of their own making the veiy 
 promise that the Bible makes to them that look 
 to Christ only. Now isn't that nothing else but 
 turning the word and promise of God himself 
 into a lie ?" 
 
 " Jem," said Pat, " there's nothing else to be
 
 246 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 got of our priests. They haven't the Gospel, and 
 so they won't let us have the Bible ; and if we 
 Mant the Gospel of Jesus Christ we must have 
 the Bible for ourselves to teach us." 
 
 We print here the paper which the missionary 
 priests printed and circulated about their mis- 
 sion, that our readers may see for themselves 
 whether what Pat and Jem said about it was 
 fair and true. 
 
 JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
 MISSION". 
 
 1st. Every day, either at morning or night prayers, I 
 shall repeat and consider these great truths : God sees 
 ME, and beholds even the secrets of my heart. I must die, 
 and it may he this very day. After death I must he judged, 
 and woe to me if I he found guilty of mortal sin, not re- 
 pented of. Then begins Mernity, tvhich I must spend amidst 
 the Joys of Heaven or torments of Hell. 
 
 2ndly. Every day I shall be exact in saying my morn- 
 ing and night prayers ; I shall examine my conscience 
 I shall repeat the Angelus, say grace before and aftei 
 meals, read a portion of a pious book (were it only for 
 five or ten minutes), or recite a part of the Rosary of the 
 Blessed Virgin. 
 
 3rdly. Every Sunday I shall assist devoutly at Mass, 
 and, if possible, at a Sermon, and I shall read a consider- 
 able poi-' ion of a piouo book; I shall also consider the 
 faidts of the jjast week, and resolve to avoid them this 
 week. ]Moreover, I shall examine how I have kept these 
 resolutions, and I sb^-U repe.at them anew.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 2i7 
 
 4tlily. Every month, at least, I shall approach the Holy 
 Sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist. But {£ 
 I should have the misfortime of falling into mortal sin, 
 I shall overcome every inconvenience in order to go to 
 confession as soon as possible, knowing that a person in 
 mortal sin is liable at any moment to everlasting damnation. 
 
 5thiy. I shall avoid most carefully every person, every 
 place, and every thing that would bring me into sin, but, 
 above aU, such persons, such places, and such things as 
 have already led me into e>in. 
 
 6thly. I shall make every effort, with the grace of God, 
 to overcome that temptation which I know by experience 
 to be most dangerous to.me. 
 
 Tthly. Every night I shall repeat the following prayer, 
 to obtain, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, 
 the grace of persevering in these resolutions until 
 death : — 
 
 PRATER OF ST. BERNARD. 
 
 Eemember, most pious Virgin, that it was never 
 heard of in any age that those who implored and had 
 recourse to thy powerful protection were ever abandoned 
 by thee. I, therefore, O sacred Virgin, animated with 
 the most lively confidence, east myseH at thy sacred feet, 
 Qiost earnestly and fervently beseeching thee to adopt me, 
 though a wretched sinner, foi- thy perpetual child, to take 
 care of my eternal salvation, and to watch over me at the 
 hour of my death. do not, mother of the Word In- 
 carnate, despise my prayers, but graciously hear and ob- 
 tain the grant of my petitions. Amen. 
 
 PRAYER OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL. 
 
 O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have 
 recourse to thee. 
 
 SPECIAL BECOMMENnATiriNS. 
 
 To THE Parishioners at la1(:e.— Exact attendance 
 at the public service of religii>i) in the Church, zeal for 
 the becoming style and decoiaiioii ••! the Church, as also
 
 248 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 for the vestments and other requisites of the altar, 
 respect for the Clergymen, and submission to their 
 advice. 
 
 To THE Heads of Families. — Instruction, vigilance, 
 correctiun, and, above all, good example — prayer in com- 
 mon, proper choice of servants, attention to their religious 
 duties. 
 
 To Husbands and Wives.— Affection, mutual for- 
 bearance, union, and peace — send your children to good 
 schools. 
 
 To Children.— Love, respect, and obedience to parents 
 — peace and concord amongst themselves. 
 
 To Men. — A horror of blaspheming, cursing, swearing, 
 gambling, impure conversation, bad company, drunken- 
 ness, and public-houses, a love of honesty, the pardon of 
 injuries. 
 
 _ To Women.— Meekness, patience, charity, and atten- 
 tion to the duties of the house. 
 
 To_ Young People in general.— To avoid dangerous 
 occasions, wakes, dances, company-keeping, and bad books. 
 
 To jZ'oung Boys. — To avoid dangerous amusements, 
 dread of e\ erything Qontrary to modesty, to practise pious 
 reading. 
 
 To Young Females.— Modesty, becomingness in dress, 
 humility, particular devotion to the Blessed Vii-gin, the 
 study and imitation of her virtues. 
 
 To All.- A spirit of piety, watchfulness, great dis- 
 trust in ourseires, ani unbounded confidence in God. 
 
 " Whosoever shall follow this rule, peace ou them and 
 mercy." — Gal. vi. 16. 
 
 Whether the prayer in the above paper was 
 really written by St. Bernard, who lived in the 
 12th century, we do not know; nor perhaps 
 does it much signify. But w^e do tliink it 
 very strange that any prayer of St. Bernard
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 249 
 
 should be put along witli tlie prayer of the mira- 
 culous medal. " O Mary, conceived without 
 SIN, pray for us, who have recourse to thee ; " for 
 this reason, that St. Bernard condemned the 
 notion of Mary being coJiceived without sin, as a 
 FALSE DOCTRINE. If our readers will look to an 
 article in the Catholic Layman, vol. iii., p. 97, 
 bhey will find that St. Bernard affirms that this 
 doctrine is " neither supported by reason nor 
 backed by any tradition ;" he says it was founded 
 on " an alleged revelation which is destitute of 
 adequate authority." He asks, " How can it be 
 maintained that a conception which did not pro- 
 ceed from the Holy Ghost — not to say that it 
 proceeded from sin — can be holy 1 or how could 
 they conjure up a holy day on account of a thing 
 that is not holy in itself ;" and he says that the 
 Feast of the Immaculate Conception (which i.« 
 now celebrated in the Church of Rome) " either 
 honours sin or autltorizes a false holiness." 
 
 All this St. Bernard wrote ; yet the Roman 
 Catholic priests do not scruple to put St. Ber- 
 nard'.s name side by side with a prayer, " O, Mary, 
 conceived without siu !" 
 
 Tlius the pripsts deal with the Fathers ; thus 
 thej' reverence the opinions and authority of the
 
 250 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Fathers ; but how could we expect them to deal 
 more truly with the Fathers than they do with 
 Scripture itself 1 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE FIRE OF PURGATORY. 
 
 " Pat, I have got something new to talk about," 
 said Jem, pulling a roll of paper out of his 
 pocket. 
 
 " Let us see it, Jem," said Pat, So Jem un 
 rolled the paper, and sliowed a beautiful picture, 
 with fine, bright colours in it. 
 
 So said Pat, " What is it at all, Jem 1" 
 
 " Don't you see for youi'self, Pat ?" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, then, if it isn't the souls in Pur- 
 gatory !" said Pat. 
 
 "'Deed and it isn't then ; you're out for this 
 time," said Jem ; " so look again, Pat." 
 
 So Pat looked again ; " And what else can you 
 make of it at all 1" said Pat. 
 
 " The bodies in purgatory," said Jem. 
 
 "Well, sure enough it is," said Pat; "sure 
 enough them's bodies ; them can't be souls, any- 
 way. But isn't it mostly souls that goes to 
 Purgatory?' said Pat, a little puzzled.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 251 
 
 ""Well, I never heard tell of any but souls 
 going there, if so be they go there at all," said 
 Jem ; '' but you see yourself it's bodies that is 
 in it." 
 
 "Sure enough it is, Jem," said Pat; "and 
 my ! but they're the purty creatures, them 
 women, just like real ladies ! I wonder what 
 they done at all to bring them there ] Would 
 they be bad women, now V said Pat. 
 
 "Well, you know, Pat," said Jem, "that 
 couldn't be ; for doesn't the catechism say that 
 them that dies in mortal sin goes to hell for all 
 eternity, and not to Purgatory V 
 
 " Aye," said Pat ; " but doesn't the catechism 
 say, too, that them that gets their mortal sin, and 
 the guilt of it, forgiven in this world, has still to 
 go to Purgatory, for a time, to get the stains 
 washed out of them before they can go to Heaven, 
 where nothing defiled can enter 'J and mightn't 
 it be that way they got there ?" 
 
 " Well, maybe so," said Jem, " if so be that 
 them that's forgiven goes there at all. But, 
 when Jesus Christ said to the woman that was 
 a sinner, th^ sins are forgiven ; thee and when 
 He allowed her to wash his feet with her tears, 
 and wipe them with the hair of her head, and,
 
 252 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 more than all, when He finished with her "by 
 saying, thy faith hath saved thee, GO IN peace, did 
 He just mean to bid her go to Purgatory 1 or 
 was that the meaning she took out of it 1" 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " I'm thinking if Jesus 
 Christ had just took and shown her that picture, 
 she wouldn't haivegone in peace anyway." 
 
 "I'm thinking so, too," said Jem; "and that 
 when the Blessed Lord said them blessed words 
 to the woman that was a sinner, He didn't mean 
 the picture at all; and it's hard to think that 
 them that's forgiven by Him will ever come to 
 the like of what's in that picture." 
 
 " Well, if they was ever so bad," said Pat, 
 " sure it would he only commonly decent, with 
 their purty white skins, and the beautiful hair 
 flowing down on their backs, to piit a bit of a 
 shift on them itself when their pictures was going 
 to be took in Purgatory." 
 
 "Man alive," said Jem, "what good would 
 that be 1 Sure, look at the long flames just curling 
 up all round them, and wouldn't the shift be 
 burned otf them afore you could look round ?" 
 
 "Well, I don't know for that," said Pat: 
 "sure there isn't so much as the sign of a scorch 
 
 * 5t. Luke, vii. 37, to the ena.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAI>. 253 
 
 on their beautiful skins ; and why couldn't the 
 shift stand it as well 1 Don't you mind in the 
 Book of Daniel, when the wicked king put the 
 three men in the fire, because they would not 
 worship the golden image, the fire couldn't hurt 
 their clothes no more than themselves."* 
 
 " Well, sure enough," said Jem, " the picture 
 looks a deal more like people that the fire couldn't 
 hui't at all than like people it could hurt ; and 
 that being the way, they might as well have 
 their clothes on, and I'm tlnnking it might be 
 better too, in the picture ; for you know your- 
 self, Pat, there's many a young boy that cares 
 little for Purgatory that vvould" buy that pictui'e 
 just for the bad thoughts that could be took out 
 of it." 
 
 " Well, there's some in the picture dressed 
 fine enough, anyway," said Pat ; " who would 
 they be now ]" 
 
 " Sure, them's the angels taking the souls out 
 of Purgatory," said Jem ; " don't you see the 
 wings on them V 
 
 " Well, that's the elegant dress on that angel," 
 
 ♦ fliis liisioiy is ill the four ih chiipter uf ilie Bi nk nf Iianiel. 
 Ji h — ob-civi', fioni V. rse 2^ to vtTbt; 90 of this iliMptei in the 
 iJouay hible, is not in Hebrew rili'p — Ijaniel wroie m LlBbrew : 
 neiiier is it in tlir; Pmit siai.t Jt'ole ; but the acooiint of the men 
 being shvkU in the die is in both Itibies.
 
 254 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 said Pat ; " that's the beautiful green bedgo-wn, 
 and the purtiest red petticoat ever I seen. Sure 
 the finest lass at a fail' would be proud to be an 
 angel, to wear such a bedgown and petticoat !" 
 
 "'Deed and she might," said Jem ; " but sure 
 a girl that wore the like of that would, at least, 
 have the shoes on her arm going to a fair or a 
 market." 
 
 " But what's this, at all, at the top," said Pat, 
 " with all the bright Kght about it 1 Well, it's 
 the cross and a lamb on it. Won't that be Jesus 
 now 1" 
 
 " That's what it's meant for," said Jem ; " the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
 world ;* and don't you see the blood running 
 from its throat, and the angels catching the blood 
 in golden cups, and pouring it out on the peo])le 
 in Purgatory V 
 
 " And is it the blood of Christ and not the fii-e, 
 after all, that cleanses them that's in Purjiatorv ?" 
 said Pat ; " and is it only waiting in the fire 
 they are till they get the blood of Christ ? didn't 
 I think that sins were forgiven in this life by the 
 blood of (.'lirist, and that them that was forgiven 
 had to go to Purgatory to get their stains 
 
 * Gospel of St. John i. 29.
 
 TATJv OF THE KOAD. 2o5 
 
 bleached out of their souls by the fire itself? but 
 if it's the blood of Christ that cleauses too, what 
 is the fire for at all V 
 
 " Well, it's just for to punish them," said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Don't tell me of punuhment for them that's 
 forgiven" said Pat ; " that's not reason, and it's 
 not gospel. Either the fire is to cleanse out tlie 
 stains of the soul, after the sins is forgiven, or 
 it's for nothing at all ; and which does the 
 cleansing, is it the blood of Christ, or is it the 
 fire V 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem ; " the Bible tells us 
 of forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ ; 
 and it tells us just the same of the cleansing too. 
 Sure, doesn't it say — ' How much more shall the 
 blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost oflTered 
 Himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our con- 
 science from dead works, to serve the livins 
 God.'* And if the blood of Christ does all, what 
 is the fire for V 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, « here's the difier of 
 the Bible and the picture. Both allows that the 
 blood of Christ does it ; but, by the Bible the 
 blood of Christ does it now ; and by the picture, 
 
 • Hebrews, Ix. 14 (Douay Bil)Ie .
 
 256 TALK OF 1 afi KOAD. 
 
 the blood of Christ won't cleanse us till we get 
 to Purgatory." 
 
 " Well, I think that's it," said Jem. " Sure 
 we have the Bible and the picture to choose be- 
 tween." 
 
 " Well, thank God for having the choice any- 
 way," said Pat. "Which, I wonder, would the 
 priests like us to follow V 
 
 " Well, Pat,"' said Jem, "I got this picture in 
 a shop that had plenty more, just nigh hand to 
 the great Carmelite Church in York-row, in 
 Dublin. Sure the priests like to see it set up in 
 the windows ; if they don't like it, why don't 
 they stop it ? Sure it isn't Protestants sells 
 that ! And why don't they say a word against 
 it ] Why don't they warn the people against it, 
 the way they do against reading the Bible 1 
 Sure the priests like the picture well, and why 
 wouldn't they give it to us for our religion. I'm 
 thinking there is a deal of things in our religion 
 would be better took off it, if any priest Avould 
 only set about it." 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " I thought that last 
 week, when I seen Peter M'Kenna buying a 
 horse in Kilcommon fair ; and the horse had a 
 big bush of a till on him, and Peter got him
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 257 
 
 cheap, for he ran him down for falling away 
 entirely in the hind quarters ; and when Peter 
 got him into a yard, he just backed him up to 
 the wrong end of a cart, and whipped the big 
 tail off liim, and then he stood a one-side, and 
 says Peter — * Now, isn't that a great addition to 
 him entirely V And thinks I to myself, wouldn't 
 it be a great addition to our religion if it was 
 well docked too." 
 
 " Well, never mind the horse, Pat," said Jem. 
 *' But sure enough there's a deal to come off our 
 religion, and the more the Bible gets out, the 
 sooner it will be done." 
 
 And the more we hear of the talk of plain 
 people, like Pat and Jem, the more hope we have 
 that the Bible will get out indeed.
 
 TALK OP THE ROAJD. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 PASTORS AND FLOCKS. 
 
 **■ Them's hard times, Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " That's true anyway, Pat," said Jem ; " it's 
 not easy keeping the meal to the children these 
 times. But sure we have a right to be thankful 
 it's no worse." 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, " I heard Mr. Nulty 
 talking of that, and he allowed that if the crops 
 was short this year, it's the famine we would 
 have back again ; so we have a right to be thank- 
 ful sure enough." 
 
 " And it's the poor thing, too, that the Roo- 
 shiaus, -with their fighting, should stint the chil- 
 (lor of the meal," said Jem. "I wonder will it 
 be soon over." 
 
 " Well, I heard Mr. Nulty allow it wouldn't," 
 said Pat ; "and he allowed there would be mighty 
 heavy taxes on the farmers and the gentlemen to 
 pay for it ; so you see all gets their pinch by it 
 as well as we." 
 
 " Well, it's not bad times yet with the far- 
 mers," said Jem ; " they're pretty snug for a 
 while anyway. But I suppose tliey will get 
 their turn of the pinch too." 
 
 s2
 
 260 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Well, most all comes in for it by turns," 
 said Pat ; " but there's some getting the pinch 
 sore enough these years back that there isn't 
 much said of." 
 
 " And who would that be 1" said Jem. 
 
 "Why it's the priests, Jem," said Pat; " sure 
 it's they got the pinch in earnest in the famine 
 times, and hasn't come round yet like the farmers," 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " I don't think times is 
 hard on Father John, and sure there's Father 
 Peter, the curate, and Father Brady, of the next 
 parish, and enough more of them, that keeps their 
 hunters as fine as ever." 
 
 "Well, there's some of them not much the 
 worse," said Pat ; " but even Father John hasn't 
 near what he had ; and there's a deal of the 
 priests that got it sore in the famine times, and 
 that isn't much better yet ; you see, Jem, where 
 the farms is good, and the farmers strong, the 
 priest gets his share now as well as ever ; but 
 where the priests were depending to the little 
 man, it went to the bad with them entirely. 
 Sux'e the poor people can't ])ay them now the way 
 they used ; and there isn't the marrying and the 
 christening tlieie used to be ; and there's a deal 
 of places wlierc the poor people itself isn't in it;
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 261 
 
 and what caai the priest do there ? and where 
 there's large Protestant grazing farms, and the 
 poor people's houses down, sure the priests may 
 go starve." 
 
 " Well, it's the poor thing, sure enough," said 
 Jem, "for them that was bred to be clargv, and 
 had such a rule in the country, to come to that. 
 Sure they can't do without it no more nor our- 
 selves, and they're not used to it ; and it doesn't 
 come natural to clargy, the way it does to the 
 like of us. Sure I would be sorry for Father 
 John himself, if he was at a dis-short ; but it 
 makes again them greatly when some of them 
 keeps their hunters, and goes a skevying across 
 the coiintry, after the hounds ; 'deed, I thought 
 many a time it would be no worse for them if 
 they would take after the Protestant clergy in 
 that. But whai becomes of them at all where 
 they gets nothing V 
 
 " Well, I heard a deal about that, when T was 
 down at the fairs in Connaught," said Pat. " I 
 WHS talking to the Jiien that driv up the cattle 
 from the out-of-the-way places, and they allowed 
 there wasn't half the priests in it there used to 
 be ; and them that was there had little enough to 
 live on, and maybe it's getting less was the little.*
 
 ZQ2 TALK OF rH£ ROAD. 
 
 " And where are the priests that's not in it ?" 
 said Jem. 
 
 "Why, there's some in America, and some in 
 Australia," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, sure if they follow the jjeople, won't 
 they do as well as ever V said Jem. 
 
 " They won't, Jem," said Pat ; "by all account 
 the people isn't the same in America as they is 
 here. Don't you mind Father Mullen's letter thai 
 we read in the newspaper,* that made it out that 
 two millions of the Irish had turned in America. 
 Sure it isn't them the priests can live by. Yov 
 see, Jem, America is a kind of a place where 
 every man does what he likes." 
 
 " Well, I wonder why people doesn't do what 
 they like in Ireland, as well as in America," said 
 Jem ; "but, sure enough, they don't ; what's the 
 reason at all 1" 
 
 " Well, I had a talk about that with a man 
 that drove up the sheep that Mr. Nulty bought 
 at Ballinasloe," said Pat ; " he was a mighty cute 
 sensible man ; and we fell into talk, and I asked 
 him that very same ; and says he, ' do you mind 
 them sheep,' says he ; ' now, while you keep them 
 
 • Sco extracts from this letter in the Catholic Layman for Sep- 
 tember, 1852, vol. L, p. 108.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 263 
 
 together on the road, where the one goes they'll 
 all go,' says he, 'and you'll just have no trouble 
 at all ; but, if you wonst let them get one in one 
 field, and another in another field why, then, 
 every sheep goes after its own nose, and no two 
 goes the same way ; and it's the more they'll 
 scatter,' says he, ' and the harder on you to 
 gather them ; and that's the way with men too,' 
 says he ; ' keep them together, and they'll go 
 the one way ; but, once they scatter, then 
 every man goes the way he likes, and no man 
 thinks no more about what every body does ; so 
 vou mind the sheep and keep them all together,' 
 eays he." 
 
 " And will the Irish people go the one way 
 for ever in Ireland, without minding the way 
 they would like to go 1" said Jem. 
 
 " Why, man alive," said Pat " don't you see 
 yourself, if a bully of a sheep just makes a bolt 
 at the hedge, all the rest goes bolt after him too; 
 and sure it's in the field they will be in spite of 
 you. Sure it's in the field they would all like t-o 
 be ; and, when the bully goes, won't they be after 
 him V 
 
 " Aye," said Jem, "I see that surely ; but 
 where will we get the right sort of bully in 1 re
 
 264 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 land 1 Sure it's sheep we are, but there isn't the 
 bulJu's in it." 
 
 So Pat looked Jem right hard in the face, as if 
 he was going to be the bully to make the bolt 
 himself — only he wasn't. " So," said Pat, looking 
 as hard as he could, " Jem, it's a right bully of a 
 priest I would like to see, of the right sort ; and 
 wouldn't he have the following ?" 
 
 "And what woiild you have him to do, at 
 all 1" said Jem. 
 
 So Pat looked harder at Jem than ever ; and 
 he said, with a fire that seemed to be dancing in 
 his eye, "Jem, as I'm a living man, there's a 
 something afoi*e us in Ireland ; and a priest, 
 with THE Bible in his hand, is what Ireland 
 wants." 
 
 " And would you have him to turn, and have 
 the bishop on his back ?" said Jem. 
 
 " I don't want him to turn neither backward 
 nor forward," said Pat, "but to hold up the 
 Douay Bible in his hand, and to call on the 
 Irish people ; that's the man that Ireland's 
 waiting for, and that's the man for the follow- 
 ing ; and it isn't the bishop on his back he need 
 think about, for it's Ireland he will have at his 
 back."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 265 
 
 "And would he be a Protestant all out, Pat 1" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Well, that isn't so easy seen, Jem," said Pat. 
 "You see if a man quits the Mass and goes to 
 Church, he changes his name plain enough ; but, 
 if a priest only stands up in the chapel, and holds 
 up a Douay Bible in his hand and says, ' Boys, 
 it's the Word of God that is able to save our 
 souls,* it isn't so easy seen if that makes them all 
 Protestants. Anyway, it's not as plain as a man 
 walking, by himself alone, out of the chapel into 
 the church,'' 
 
 " Aye, but where would that stop, Pat 1" said 
 Jem, 
 
 " It wouldn't stop short of the Word of God, 
 Jem," said Pat ; " and why should it ; and who 
 could say again it 1 Who could stop it, at all t 
 Neither crook nor crozier, if that bolt was made 
 by the right bully. Wouldn't all Ireland turn 
 round to the priest with the Bible in his hand 1" 
 
 " And will the like of that ever be, Pat V' said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Jem," said Pat, " there has been trouble 
 from God in Ireland. His hand done it. There 
 was trr^uble on the people, and trouble on the 
 priest. And it's not for nothing. The heaiia
 
 266 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 jf the people is stirred, like what they never 
 was before ; and there seems to be something 
 that the hearts of the people wants ; and it can't 
 be nothing but the Word that comes from God. 
 There's a something afore us ; and it's the man 
 we're waiting on." 
 
 Time will tell if Pat has rightly comprehended 
 the feeling of poor men like himself. And, 
 perhaps, "the man," when he comes, may look 
 back to the words of Pat. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIL 
 
 THE OLD COAT. 
 
 Pat and .Jem did not get together for a good 
 while to have a talk ; but at lawt they fell in on 
 the road, and were walking together ; but Pat 
 did little at the talking, but kept looking mighty 
 hard at his old coat, first at one sleeve and then 
 at the otiier, and then on the big patches on the 
 breast of it. 
 
 And, indeed, poor Pat's coat was very bad. 
 it was once made all of blue frieze, and then it 
 must have looked very smart ; but, when times 
 got hard, Pat had to get a piece on the coat be-
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD, 267 
 
 times, because lie never liad the price of a new 
 one ; so there were brown patches, and grey 
 patches, and patches the colour of mud ; and 
 there were the legs of two old stockings, sewed 
 over the arms, from the wrists to the elbows, to 
 keep the patches together ; and all the patchr^ 
 looked as if the best wife in the country couJd 
 not keep them together much longer. 
 
 So Pat kept looking mighty hard at his coat, 
 and talking little. 
 
 "What's the matter with the coat at all ?" said 
 Jem . 
 
 "Well, I'm studying the old coat," said Pat. 
 
 " Is it how to get a new one you mean ?'' said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Time enough to study that when the mea) 
 gets cheaper," said Pat ; " it's this o^c? coat I'm 
 Jtudying." 
 
 " Well, and what do you make out of the old 
 one ]" said Jem. 
 
 "Well, I had a discussion on it last night," 
 said Pat, "and I didn't thiuk there was as much 
 to be got out of an old coat." 
 
 " And what's to be gut out of it V said Jem ; 
 « tell us that, Pat." 
 
 "Well," said Pat. " T was in last night at ol'l
 
 268 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Ned Flanagan's, and there was a deal of people 
 in it, and there was Tim Reilly, the priest's 
 schoolmaster ; and they were all talking about 
 the old religion and the new religion ; and Tim 
 Reilly was holding out that the Church of Rome 
 had the old religion ; and others was asking 
 wasn't there things changed in it, and then how 
 could it be the old religion 1 and at first Tim 
 Reilly wouldn't give in that there was anything 
 changed ; but there was old Ned Flanagan, that 
 gets a newspaper, called the Catholic Layman, 
 and he had a deal of learning out of it ; and, 
 indeed, he promised me the reading when he had 
 done with it. So, says he to Tim, ' Is the Immacu- 
 late Conception an article of the Catholic faith V 
 says he. ' It is,' said Tim ; * didn't you heai" the 
 priest read the Pope's decree in the chapel V 'And 
 how could St. Bernard be a saint when he denied 
 it V said Ned. ' It wasn't an article of the faith 
 then,' said Tim, ' for the Pope hadn't settled 
 it.' 'Well,' says I, 'sure that's a new piece put 
 on it anyway ; and how can it be the old religion 
 after that ?' 
 
 " Well, with that he turns rounds to me ; fol 
 he's a mighty cute litt-o fellow, that would bother 
 anybody, and says he, * how long have you the
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 269 
 
 old coat V says he. ' It's turning the talk, yon 
 are/ says I. 'It's not.' says he ; ' its coming to it 
 I am : how long have you the old coat V says he 
 again. "WeU, they all allowed me to answer him: 
 BOj says I, 'It's eight years anyway, and may be a 
 bit more.' 'And mighty well mended it is,' says 
 he, ' for the time. Now, do you mean to tell me,' 
 says he, ' that you bought that coat eight years 
 ago ?' says he. * 'Deed and I do,' .says I. ' That 
 very coat V says he. ' This very coat,' says I. 
 So he puts his hand on my shoulder, and, says 
 he, 'Was this patch on when you got it ?' says he. 
 ' No,' says I. 'Nor none of the patches V says he. 
 ' Not one of them,' says I. ' And it's the same 
 coat for aU that,' says he. 
 
 " Well, I seen then what he was at ; and when 
 I came to think of it, it wasn't easy to think it 
 was the same coat, when there was hardly a bit 
 of the first coat left in it. 'Well, 1 think it's 
 hardly the same, after all,' says I. ' Well, 
 boys,' says he, ' did you ever hear tlie like of that ? 
 Didn't he say this minute it was the very coat V 
 
 " Well, tliey were all down on me then ; and 
 I tried to make the best hand I coiild of it; 'for 
 sure,' says I, 'it isn't like it, lor it was a blue coat 
 when I got it, and I leave it tx) yourselves, boys,
 
 270 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 if you can iind one bit of the blue c-ioth in it now.' 
 Well, with that the boys all began discussing if 
 it was the same coat or not ; and some allowed 
 that as long as I took it off at night, and put it 
 on in the morning, it was surely the same coat ; 
 and more of tliem allowed it was the cloth thai 
 made the coat ; and when the same cloth wasn't 
 in it, liow could it be the same cont. Well, 
 when they were all done talking, says Tim to me 
 — ' Is it the same coat,' says he, ' or is it not V 
 "■ Well, I think it's not,' .says T. ' And when did 
 it turn into another coat V says he ; ' was it when 
 the first patch was put on it 1' says he. ' No,' 
 says I, 'it wasn't, sure enough.' 'And was il 
 the second patch, or the thii-d patch, or the 
 fourth patch, or what patch,' says he, ' that 
 turned it into another coat V says he. Well, 
 with that they all began again^ and now they 
 were all for allowing tiiat it was the same coat. 
 Well, Ned Flanagan's byre is down, and so he 
 had the cow in the corner. So I turns to Ned, 
 and says I, ' That's a pretty little calf,' says I. 
 ' It's no calf,' said Ned, ' it's a cow giving milk 
 with a calf of her own.' 'Don't be joking,' sayi^ 
 I, ' it's a calf.' ' It's joking you are,' says he. 
 ' Waa it ever a calf',' says I ' It was,' says he.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 271 
 
 ' WTiat day did it turn into a cow V says I ; 
 ' was it a Sunday or a week-day 1 Here's a 
 learned man,' says I, pointing to Tim, * that will 
 prove to you that it's a calf still, if you can't tell 
 the day it changed,' Well, T\'ith „liat they all 
 allowed the day couldn't be told, and still the 
 calf had turned into a covv.- 
 
 " ' And,' says I, ' isn't it the same with the 
 corn that grows — v)ho can tell the day the ear is 
 formed 1 and isn't it the way with spring and 
 summer '{ and with child and man ] and isn't it 
 the way with day and night 1 and where's the 
 good,' says I, * of the priest telling us our reli- 
 gion must be the same now that it was at first, 
 just because no one can tell what day it changed 
 from one religion to another ; and wouldn't just 
 the same argument prove,' says I, ' that night 
 was day, or day night 1 But who would be the 
 fool to believe it against his own eyesight V says 
 I, ' and where's the good of argument that's as 
 fit to prove that black is white as to prove any- 
 thing else?' says I. 
 
 "Well, witl' that they all fell to talking, and 
 they allowed that things does change, in a way 
 that no one can tell when they changed, and that 
 there is no "se denying it
 
 272 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "Well, I was considering with myself that 
 when a thing is said sharp and clever about one 
 thing being like another, people, maybe, is apt to 
 take it up mighty quick, and think it very 
 learned, without stopping to consider how far 
 one thing is like another ; so, thinks I to myself, 
 would the religion of Jesus Christ be like an old 
 coat at all 1 
 
 " So I turns to Tim Reilly, and, says I, ' After 
 all, there's a difter between the coat getting old 
 and the calf turning into a cow, and I give in to 
 you entirely that it's the very same coat I bought 
 eight years ago.' 
 
 " * To be sure there's a differ,' says he, * be- 
 tween a thing getting old and one thing turning 
 into another, and that's what I was going to say 
 when you wduld be done talking,' says he ; so 
 then, he went on to talk a deal about the old coat 
 being the same, with all its patches ; and just 
 the same way, he allowed, when the Pope made 
 new decrees and new articles of faith, his religion 
 was still the same religion, and the old religion 
 for all til at. 
 
 " So I waited till he was done ; and then says 
 I, ' And do you mean to tell me,' says I, ' that 
 the religion of Jesus Christ is made up of 
 l>atclK\s and mendings, like an old coat. You're
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 273 
 
 right SO far anyway,' says I, * tliat your religioo 
 is old enough, like the old coat,' says I ; 'it's as 
 old as being patched and mended, and thread- 
 hare, and darned, and in rags and boles, and 
 tossed and turned, can make it ; but you'll never 
 get the holes out of an old coat by turning it,' 
 says I ; ' and isn't it enough for me to have my 
 old coat made of rags and patches without having 
 my religion made of them too V says I ; ' and 
 isn't that the way with all them that tries to 
 patch up a religion of their own merits, instead 
 of the merits of Christ ; for doesn't the Bible 
 say that " all our righteousnesses ai*e as filthy 
 rags " 1* And lohy do I patch the old coat V 
 says I. ' Isn't it because it's wearing out 1 and 
 when it's patched it's changed for the worse any 
 way from what it was once. And can that be 
 the way with the religion that God made t 
 Doesn't the Bible say that the heavens and the 
 earth will wear out like an old coat, but that 
 God keeps still the self-same ever more ]t And 
 
 * Isaiah Ixiv. 6, and compare Romans x. 3. 
 
 t Thou iu the beginning, O Lord, Jidst found the earth : and 
 the works of thy hanils are the heavens. 
 
 ITiey shall perish, hut Thou shalt continue : and they shall 
 all graw old as a garment. 
 
 And asa vesture Shalt Thou change them : and they shall b« 
 changeil : but Thou art the self-same, and thy years shall not 
 fail.— Hebrews!. 10. 11, 12, and Paalm ci. 20, 27, 28. Douay Bible. 
 Psalni cU. 25, 26, 27 In the Protestant Bible. 
 
 T
 
 274 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 w^on't his religion keep the same 1 " for the word 
 of the Lord endureth for ever ;"* so I leave you 
 the old coat for your religion,' says I ; ' but it 
 won't fit the religion of Ciirist ; for there never 
 was a coat,' says I, 'but the one, that could be 
 fitting for the religion of Christ.' 
 
 " Well, with that they all began tearing at me 
 to tell what coat that was ; and I made them 
 guess for it, and of all the guesses ever you heard 
 they were the quarest ; one allowed it was what 
 the priest says mass in ; another said it was what 
 the nuns wear on their heads ; another said it 
 was the red strip that some of the priests wear 
 over their shoulder ; one old woman said it be to be 
 the scapular ; another said it was the blue cloak 
 that's on the picture of the Virgin Mary in the 
 chapel ; and another allowed that it be to be some- 
 thing that was on the Pope : but they could make 
 no hand of it, till old Ned Flanagan, that reads his 
 Bible, says, 'Why, then, wasn't it the coat of Christ 
 himself, that was " without seam, woven from 
 the top throughout." 'f ' That's the hit,' says I ; 
 ' would there be seams and patches in the religion 
 of Christ, any more than on his coat V So with 
 that, for it was getting late, says I to Tim Reilly, 
 
 » I Peter t. 25. Douay Bible. t Gospel of St. John xii -' i
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 276 
 
 *I'll just take myself off with my old coat,' says 
 I ; *and may you get the religion without seams 
 or patches, afore I get a new coat.* So they bid 
 me good night kindly, and maybe they will think 
 of the coat." 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " you done it well : 
 and 'deed I didn't know there was so much good 
 to be got in an old coat ; and when times mend, 
 and you get a new one, I hope it will serve you 
 as well." 
 
 We hope so, too, and we hope the state of 
 poor Pat's coat will remind some rich people how 
 much the poor want some warm clothing in this 
 cold weather, when the most a poor man's wages 
 can do is to get a little meal at a dear price, and 
 maybe little enough of that. May God stir -up 
 the hearts of us all to remember how " the 
 religion without seam " teaches us to feed the 
 hungry and to clothe the naked. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 CONFESSION. 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, when they met last, "\t, 
 there anything new to talk of?" 
 
 " I don't know about its being new, Jom, " said 
 T 2
 
 276 TALK O* THE ROAD. 
 
 Pat : " maybe it's not old enough ; but it's au 
 old thing with me, anyway.'' 
 
 " And what is it V said Jem. 
 
 " It's confession, Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " And were you at confession, Pat 1" said 
 Jem. 
 
 " No, Jem," said Pat, " I wasn't. It's long 
 enough since I was there." 
 
 " And was it reading the Bible put you ofl 
 it, Pat ]" said Jem. 
 
 " No, Jem, it wasn't that put me off it,'' said 
 Pat : " sure, I quit confession, like a deal of the 
 boys, long afore ever I took to reading ; so, it 
 wasn't that." 
 
 *• Well, there's a deal of the boys, surely, that 
 doesn't read the Bible, nor go to confession 
 either," said Jem ; " more maybe than does go, a 
 great deal. And I'm thinking they're getting 
 more and more ; and what's the reason, if it's not 
 the i-eadiug that does it 1" 
 
 " Well, the times done a deal of it, Jem," said 
 Pat. " Sure, it was the famine put me off it ; 
 for I hadn't the dust to pay. Not but what the 
 priest would hear my confession if I hadn't the 
 money ; but, then, you know, Jem, they don't 
 like not to see the money ; and people doesn't
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 277 
 
 like to go without the money ; and that put va9 
 off it first." 
 
 "Well but, Pat," said Jem, "the times got 
 bettex'. and sui'e you might get the shilling then V 
 
 " Aye, I could," said Pat ; " but, then, how 
 would I remember all the sins I committed in 
 five years maybe 1 And if I couldn't mind them, 
 how would I confess them ] And then where 
 was the use of going 1 So, one way or another, 
 I quit confession long afore I took to the read- 
 ing." 
 
 " 'Deed, Pat," said Jem, " there's a deal, I be- 
 lieve, quit it just in the same way. But, are you 
 going to take to it again now ?" 
 
 " Not till I find it in the Bible, Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " And what set you talking about it, then 1" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " The wife, Biddy, set me talking about it," 
 said Pat. " Sure, she was at confession, and she 
 wouldn't quit talking about it, wanting me to go, 
 too." 
 
 *' And what did you say to her 1" said Jem. 
 
 " ' Won't I confess uiy sins to God,' says I ; 
 'and won't He be faithful and just to forgive me 
 my sins V* says I. 
 
 • l8t ^ pistle of St. John 1. 0.
 
 278 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " ' And what goou will tliab do you,' says she, 
 ' if you don't get absolution from the priest ?' 
 
 " ' And do you mean,' says I, 'that if God for- 
 gives uiy, the priest can send me to hell V says I. 
 
 " ' But how will you know it,' says she, * if the 
 priest doesn't say it V 
 
 " ' Well,* says I, ' I suppose that's the good of 
 confession and absolution, jnst to make it more 
 sure when we hear the priest say it.' 
 
 " 'To be sure it is,' says she; ' sure then we're 
 sure we are forgiven, when we hear it said ; and 
 how would we know it without V 
 
 " ' And mustn't we make a good confession, 
 Biddy, dear V says I. 
 
 " * To be sure we must,* says she ; * it's no 
 good without that.' 
 
 ** * Then the priest saying the absolution over 
 me,' says I, 'is just no security at all to me, only 
 as far as I can be sure that I made a good con- 
 fession ?' says I. 
 
 *' ' Well,' says she, ' sure it's the easiest thing 
 m life to make a good confea.sion to the priest ; 
 sure, if you do what pleases him, he won't be 
 hard on you at all.' 
 
 " ' Well, Biddy,' says I, ' it l)e to be a good 
 coufession. or it's no absolution after all ; and il
 
 tALK OF THE ROAD. 279 
 
 the priest lets me oft' a good confession, sure he 
 is only letting me oft" the absolution.' 
 
 " * It's fhe easiest thing in lite,' says she, ' to 
 make a good confession to the priest.' 
 
 " * And isn't it just as easy,' says I, ' to make 
 the same confession to God ? But Biddy, dear,' 
 says I, ' what have you to confess to the priest V 
 
 " * All my mortal sins,' says she. 
 
 " * Since when V says I. 
 
 " ' Since I went to confession afore,' says she. 
 
 " ' How long is that V says I. 
 
 " ' This time twelvemonth,' says she. 
 
 " ' And did you mind all your deadly sins 
 since that V says I. 
 
 " • Why wouldn't I ]' says she ; ' sure they're 
 not that many.' 
 
 " ' And how long did it take you ?' says I. 
 
 " ' Not the turn of my hand,' says she ; ' for 
 his reverence was in a huri-y, and a deal of 
 people waiting.' 
 
 " ' Maybe some was forgot in the hurry,' says 
 1. 'Tell me, Biddy, dear.' says I, 'isn't auger 
 one of the seven deadly sins V 
 
 '* 'It is,' says she. 
 
 ** ' And did you tell him every time you were
 
 280 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 angry at me and the childer, for the last year V 
 says I. 
 
 '• ' How would I V says she, ' when the childw 
 angers me every turn of the day, and it's forgot 
 as soon as over,' says she. 
 
 " ' And was that confessing all your mortal 
 sins for the year, Biddy]* says I. 
 
 " ' And what can I do V says she. ' Sure, I 
 can't go to confession every day in the year,' says 
 uhe. 
 
 " ' 'Deed can you, Biddy,' says I. 
 
 " * Is it nonsense you're talking V says she ; 
 ' where would I get time, or whei-e would I get 
 priests enough, or where would I get all the 
 shillings ?' says she. ' Sure it would take a 
 man's wages,' says she. 
 
 " ' I'll show you the way, Biddy, dear,' says I. 
 ' If we take to confessing our sins to God, sure 
 it's every night we will do that, Biddy ; and we 
 can tell them to Him while they're on our minds, 
 and ask His pardon, and ask Him, too, to help 
 \is the next day; and won't that k«ep us watching 
 ourselves 1 But when we leave it for once a-year 
 to the priest, why, the sins are all forgot, and 
 then they're not confessed at all, and then there's
 
 tALK OF THE ROAD. 281 
 
 no absolution, nor nothing to keep us watching 
 every day. That's the reason,' says I, 'that 1 
 would rather confess my sins to God, because it 
 makes a better confession,' says I. 
 
 " ' And didn't Jesus Christ command us to 
 confess our sins to the priest,' says she ; ' and 
 how will it be if we don't V 
 
 " * Can you say the Ten Commandments of 
 God, Biddy ?' says I. 
 
 " * To be sure I can,' says she ; * aren't they in 
 our catechism ?' 
 
 " ' Is confession among them V says I. 
 
 " * No, then, it's not,' says she. 
 
 " * And what commandments is it in ?' says I. 
 
 ' " It's in the commandment of the Church,' 
 says she. ' Sure enough, that's the way it is in 
 the catechism.' 
 
 " * Well, Biddy,' says I, * isn't it all nonsense 
 for them to be telling us that Jesus Christ com- 
 manded it Himself, when their own catechisms 
 allow that it is only a commandment of the 
 Church 1 Sure, if He commanded it, wouldn't 
 it be in the commandments of God V 
 
 " 'And Avho commanded it on us, tlicn,' says 
 she, ' if Jesus Christ did not ?' 
 
 *' ' The priests did, and Jes^ Christ diJiit,'
 
 282 TALK OP THE KOAD. 
 
 says 1. ' Sure, that's just the meaning of its beirie; 
 in the commandmeuts of the Church, and not iu 
 the commandmenta of God.' 
 
 " * Well,* says she, ' anyway, I'd never be easy 
 in my mind, if I didn't go to confession one* 
 a-year,' 
 
 " * Well, Biddy, dear,' says I, ' sure I'll never 
 say again your going, as long as it is in your 
 mind to go. But, sure, Bid< iy, dear,' says I, ' it 
 wouldn't do any harm, anyway, to confess your 
 sins to God, too.' So she allowed it wouldn't 
 'And now, Biddy, dear,' says I, 'wouldn't we 
 just lay it down for ourselves to go, both of us, 
 on our knees to God every night, and confess 
 our sins for that day, and ask His pardon, and 
 ask Him to help us against them the next day ; 
 and, when Easter comes round again, you can 
 go to the priest if you like ; and then you'll be 
 the better judge, Biddy,' says I, ' whether con- 
 fessing to the priest once a-year, or confessing to 
 God every night, makes the best confession,' says 
 I, Well, so Biddy agreed to do the same, and 
 we've both done it every night since. And now, 
 you would wonder to see how Biddy tries not to 
 be angered at the children. And, 'deed, Jem, 
 since I ])ut Biddy on that, it's making myself
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 283 
 
 mighty careful, too, about things I thought little 
 of before. And, maybe, when Easter comes 
 round, Biddy will think that confesstQg to God 
 makes the best confession." 
 
 " Well, 'deed, Pat," said Jem, " I think it's a 
 good way you took, and the best way of all to 
 learn what's best. Sure, it's a deal better than if 
 you tried to stop Biddy going to the priest. 
 A.nd, 'deed, when a person tries that way, thej'-'U 
 find that it's not so easy to make a good confes- 
 sion to the priest once a-}ear. And, sure, if 
 confession isn't done in reality, there's no good in 
 absolution ; and how can a man know, at the 
 end of a year, if he made a good confession at 
 all ] and he getting, maybe, three minutes, more 
 or less, to make it 1" 
 
 " Well, I think that's the gi-eat harm of it, 
 Jem," said Pat ; " the people goes to the priest 
 once a-year, and maybe not that often, and just 
 says a few words to him in a hurry, and then 
 thinks it's done, and all right ; and then never 
 thinks more of it till next year ; and it's just the 
 greatest stopper at all to people confessing their 
 ains in real earnest. Sure, if a man goes to con- 
 fess them to God every night, while he minds 
 them himself and knows that God saw them, it
 
 28') TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 will makfc him sore and sorry to have to tell the 
 same sins every night, and make him pray the 
 more for pardon and help, and make him strive 
 more, too. But, when he goes once a-year to the 
 priest, and gets clear of all in the turn of his 
 hand, won't he just go on the same for the next 
 year, and trust to get clean as easy 1 It's just 
 like paying by Peter Burro wes,* so it is ; and, 
 sure, that never made a man honest or indus- 
 trious." 
 
 " Well, 'deed, Pat," said Jem, " I thought that 
 once myself when I got to the sea shore near 
 Drogheda, after I had the sickness, and I met 
 Peter Reilly, the blacksmith, that is working in 
 a great factory in Drogheda now ; and he's the 
 hardest working boy at all, and the dirtiest boy 
 at all ; for his face is as black as a sweep with 
 the coal-dust, and his clothes that dirty with the 
 coals and the grease they use in the factory, that 
 you wouldn't like to touch them with the end of 
 a stick. And Peter had JHst come out of the 
 sea, washed for once in his life, and had ;ast got 
 the clothes on him when I came up. * And isn't 
 it the pity,' says I, * to see you in the dirty 
 
 *A saying in part of Ireland, for getting clear of a man's 
 debts in the Insolvent Court, of which Mr. Burrowes was a 
 judge.
 
 TALK OF TliE TiOAil. 285 
 
 clothes again, after the washing you got t * Well, 
 theu,' says he, * I'm as easy in the clotlies now as 
 it' I had been confessing to the priest ; sure 
 washing is like confessing,' says he ; 'it lasts the 
 year, anyway.' " 
 
 " Aye, that's too like what the people thinks 
 that confesses to the priest, and then thinks them- 
 selves all right to go on again just the way they 
 did before," said Pat ; " but I'm trusting Biddy 
 will think different afore Easter next." 
 
 And we trust that many of the Irish people 
 may think different about confession of sins. 
 
 CHAPTER XXTX. 
 
 THE HOLY WELL AND THE RAGS. 
 
 *' Jem, did you ever see a holy well V said Pat. 
 
 "Why wouldn't I, Pat?" said Jem; "sure 
 there's enough of them, though they're not as 
 plenty as they were when I was young ; but 
 there's enough still ; and I seen them many a 
 time, with the rags on the bushes, and the cut 
 knees, and the whiskey, and the prayers, and the 
 card-playing, and what not ? But why do you 
 ask, Pat V 
 
 " Well." said Pat, " I whs down in Galwav to
 
 286 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 fetoli up some sheejj, and I come in for a pattern 
 at a holy well, and it was a sight anyway ; of all 
 the people ever you saw there was there ; and 
 some crawling on their knees round the well, and 
 some praying, and some drinking, and some 
 courting ; and for the thorn bushes, you would 
 take them to be patchwork quilts, with the sew- 
 ing left out ; and I took to thinking what was it 
 for at all ; so I goes up to an old creature that 
 was cutting her knees creeping round the well, 
 and, says I, 'What are you serving your old 
 bones that way for V says I. ' Isn't it getting 
 quit of my sins ?' says she. ' Well,' says I, ' sure 
 I'm a Catholic long enough, and I never got quit 
 of my sins that, way, and never a priest ever told 
 ine of that way of getting quit of them.' ' Och, 
 jewel,' says she, 'sure you're at the I'ight place at 
 last, and why don't you turn up the knees of yoirr 
 breeches and get quit of your sins ]' And now 
 isn't that tlie quare way, Jem? and is it the 
 Catholic religion at all V 
 
 "Well, Pat," said Jem, "it is the Catholic 
 religion, or it isn't. If it is, why did the priest 
 never tell you that way to get quit of your sins t 
 and if it isn't, why does the priests allow them
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 287 
 
 poor creatures to be deceiving cheir own souls 
 with such folly ?" 
 
 '■ Well, Jem," said Pat, " I learned something 
 about that anyway ; for I was stopping in f 
 decent man's house, and, indeed, he was a very 
 knowledgeable man, and he has a deal of old 
 Irish books, and 1 fell to talking to him about 
 the holy well j and, at first, he wouldn't let on 
 that he knew anything about it ; ' but,' says he, 
 * sure the people always did it ;' but when he 
 seen that I didn't think much of the well, he let 
 out his mind ; ' and sure,' says he, ' I have some- 
 thing about it here in a book ;' and he fetched 
 down a book that was written by Dr. O'Connor, 
 that was a priest, and, he said, was the learnedest 
 priest that ever was in Ireland, and one of the 
 real ould O'Connoi's of Ballynagare, that come 
 of the kings of Ireland ; and he showed me out 
 of the book that Father O'Connor said the holy 
 wells was all paganism ; and how the heathens 
 had the holy wells in Ireland in the time of St. 
 Patrick and Columbkill, and how some stuck to 
 it after, in spite of them, and how it was part of 
 the worship of Bnal, the god of the heathens, 
 that the Tsrnplites worshipped on Mount Carmel,
 
 288 Talk of the road. 
 
 in the time of Elijah. — 1 Kings xviii. ; 3 Kings, 
 Douay Bible. ' So,' sa}'s he, 'there's something 
 old in our religion anyway ; for holy wells is 
 older than the Christian religion itself, for they're 
 as old as paganism ; so it's a fine religion, it is,' 
 says he." 
 
 " And the rags, Pat," said Jem ; " where did 
 they get them ]" 
 
 '' Well, if he didn't show me that, too, out of 
 Father O'Connor's book," said Pat ; " for I 
 asked him, and he just turned to a page where 
 Father O'Connor says, that some travellers were 
 going through a heathen country, away beyond 
 the Crimea, where the soldiers is, and they found 
 a tree all covered over with rags, just the same 
 as a bush beside a holy well, and it was people 
 with the ague stuck them there to get cured ; so 
 thei-e's paganism again for you, Jem." 
 
 " I wonder why the Catholic Church lets 
 people follow paganism instead of the Christian 
 religion," said Jem, 
 
 " Well, I seen in Father O'Connor's book that 
 the canons of the Church is against it," said Pat; 
 "and that the Catholic Church isn't to be 
 blamed for it at all ; and he says a deal of the 
 bishops would like to stop it."
 
 TALK OF THE ROAX). ^^ 
 
 ** And why don'tth.ej stop it, then V said Jem, 
 
 " "Well," said Pat, " I suppose it was because 
 the people was so fond of the holy wells that they 
 couldn't." 
 
 " Well, Put," said Jem, "if the bishops wasn't 
 able to stop paganism, isn't it enough to make a 
 bo!.y ^uess that they weren't the right bishops 
 at all 1 But did any one ever hear tell of them 
 trying f ' 
 
 "Well, Father O'Connor doesn't say they did," 
 said Pat. " But he tells about Bishop Milner 
 anyway ; that's the man that wrote a book called 
 * The End of Controversy,' that the priests get 
 all their learning out of, against the Pro- 
 testants." 
 
 "Aye, I seen that book with the priest's 
 clerk," said Jeiu ; '' but wliat about Bishop 
 Milner ]" 
 
 "Wliy, Father O'Connor allows that Bishop 
 Milner wrote a book crying up the holy well of 
 St. Winifred, for the miraculous cures that it 
 worked ; and, seemingly, Bishop Milner was 
 mighty mad at Father O'Connor for saying what 
 he did of holy wells," saifl Pat. 
 
 "And did J'-ishop Milner cry up the rags, 
 too t " said Jem.
 
 290 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Well, I can't say for that," said Pat ; " for I 
 didn't see that book ; but there is one bishop for 
 you anyway that helped on the paganism, instead 
 of stopping it." 
 
 " And did any ever try to stop it?" said Jem. 
 
 " Well, that's just what I asked the man that 
 showed me the book," said Pat ; says I, ' did 
 any pi-iest tiy to stop the people going to a holy 
 well V 
 
 " ' 'Deed did they,' says he ; * I seen them do 
 it a few years back.' 
 
 ** * And could they do it ? ' says I. 
 
 " ' Quite easy,' says he, ' once they tried it in 
 earnest. The people just quit the well at once 
 when the priest gave the orders.' 
 
 " ' Weil,' says I, ' there's some of the priests 
 anyway that's for stopping paganism.' 
 
 " ' Sorrow bit you'll say that,' says he, ' when 
 you hear why they did it. It's down the 
 country a bit,' says he, ' and it was the greatest 
 w^ell at all, with rags enough on the bushes to 
 cure all Ireland, if it was any good ; and there 
 comes a clergyman out of Dublin, one Mr. Gregg, 
 and he just takes a .slip off a branch of the bush, 
 with all the rags on it, and away he goes about 
 England and Ireland with it in his hand, just to
 
 TALK or THE ROAD. 291 
 
 show people the Catholic religion ; and with that 
 there comes lots of Englislmien just to look at 
 the well and the bvish ; and then the priests gave 
 out that no one was to go to the well any more ; 
 and there was an end of the holy well at wonst.'" 
 
 "I seen that same man and his twig," said 
 Jem. "i was in Kilcommon one day, and I 
 seen a great meeting, and I just went to it, and 
 I seen him with the twig in a glass-case, and him 
 holding it up, and it with the rags on it, and 
 thais the man that has the Irish tongue ; now 
 you couldn't help listening to him, like as if he 
 was singing a song ; and he told how that twig 
 bmlt a church and a school-house, beside that 
 same holy well ; and how the church is full of 
 people that gets the water of life out of the Holy 
 Scriptures now. So I don't wonder that the 
 priests made the people quit that well \ for may- 
 be them that went there would get the living 
 water once for all, like the way the woman of 
 Samaria got it at the well." — John iv. 10-15. 
 
 " So you see, Jem," said Pat, " the priests can 
 stop the paganism, when the Protestants make 
 them ashamed and afraid." 
 
 " Aye," said Jem, " the jniests is following, 
 T»ot leading, when they put down the like of 
 
 u2
 
 292 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 that. Why didu't they do it always ? And 
 why don't they do it everywhere now 1 " 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "sure it's getting 
 plain every day that it's the Word of God, and 
 not the priests, that will drive out the darkness 
 and ignorance out of the people's minds, and let 
 the true light shine in old Ireland. Will we 
 ever see the paganism and the darkness put out, 
 and the religion of Christ just what He made it 
 Himself, and the people looking to the Saviour 
 only to put away their sins 1 " 
 
 " Well," said Jem, " isn't it going on anyway 1 
 Isn't here two of us that has learned a deal these 
 last two years ; isn't there hope that a deal more 
 may learn the same way 1 " 
 
 Those that have this hope, we trust will be 
 stirred up to aid in ]«-omoting the enlightenment 
 of the Irish people. Every one who learns to 
 look at tlie True Light, is himself an instrument 
 to show that Light to others. 
 
 If anyone should wish to see more of the book 
 that was shown to Pat, he may find it in 
 •' Columbamis' Letters," written by Dr. Charles . 
 O'Connor, an Irish priest, of whose learning and 
 talents Irislmien may justly be j)roud. The
 
 TALK UF THE ROAD. 293 
 
 passage relating to holy wells is in the third 
 letter, vol. i., pp. 73 to 105, and is well worthy 
 of being read by anyone who wishes to under- 
 stand what is practised in Ireland, and the origin 
 of the practice. This letter was published in tlie 
 year 1810, and very sorely Dr. O'Connor \\as 
 handled for it by Bishop Milner and others. Dr. 
 O'Connor speaks of Bishop Milner's " miraculous 
 pamphlet" in defence of the well of St. "Winifred. 
 We have not seen that pamphlet, and should be 
 much obliged to any of our readers who can tell 
 us where it can be found : coming from the 
 author of the " End of Controversy," it is 
 deserving of notice. 
 
 We know the truth of the story about " the 
 twig " that built the church and school-house. 
 Now that Pat and Jem have got upon the holy 
 wells, we think it would be very desirable if our 
 readers, in various places, would send us the 
 particulars of "holy wells" in their several 
 localities, with a brief account of what is done at 
 them, and whether the practice is declining. 
 
 E. c. r.
 
 TALK OF THE KOAS. 296 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE SPECIAL PATRONESS OF MEATH. 
 
 'Jem, it beats all this time," said Pat, when 
 they next met on the road lately. 
 
 " What's in it now, Pat ] " said Jem. 
 
 " Well, if the Pope is anything at all, he's a 
 greater man than ever I thought he was," said 
 Pat. 
 
 "What's his greatness now, Pat 1 " said Jem. 
 
 "Sure, Jem,' said Pat, "the Pope has got the 
 Blessed Virgin Mary under his thumb (that's if 
 it's true), and just orders her about, and lays out 
 the work for her wherever he pleases, just as the 
 bishop would with a curate." 
 
 " Why, how can that be, Pat," said Jem ; 
 " isn't she the Queen of Heaven ] and wasn't a 
 new crown put on her in heaven last December, 
 when it was found out, at last, that she was con- 
 ceived without sin 1 and, if she is greater now in 
 \eaven than she ever was afore, won't the Pope 
 have to take his orders /roni her, instead of going 
 to use her like a young curate just out of May- 
 nooth r 
 
 " Well, Jem, I wonder you are that innocent,"
 
 296 TALK or THE ROAD. 
 
 bdid Pat ; "aure, wasn't it the Pope that put the 
 new honour on her, and put the new crown on 
 her head : and if he could do that to her, why 
 wouldn't she have to serve him better, and work 
 for him m(»re nor ever she did 1" 
 
 "Well, I'at, there's reason in that, sure enoiagh," 
 said Jem ; " but what has the Pope put 0*1 her 
 now V 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " sure I got the loan 
 of the Tablet newspaper,* and there's the whole 
 story, how the Bishop of Meath had a meeting 
 of a hundred of his clergy, on Saturday, the 21st 
 of July, to tell them the news ; and sure here's 
 the paper i'or yourself, just to read what he told 
 them." 
 
 So Pat pulled the paper out of his pocket, and 
 Jem read— - 
 
 " His lordship called the attention of the clergy 
 to a communication under date the 11th of Feb- 
 ruary of the present year, which he had had the 
 honour of receiving from the Holy See, and in 
 which the Holy Father was graciously pleased, 
 iu compliance with his lordship's humble sup- 
 plication, to declare the Blessed Virgin Mary 
 mb titulo i/nimaculatce conceptionis (Jem had to 
 
 • July 28, 1855, page 472.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 297 
 
 spell this part of it) to be henceforth a special 
 PATRONESS for the diocese of Meath. His lord- 
 ship, therefore, instructed the clergy to make 
 known to their flocks the benign condescension 
 of the Holy Father, in conferring this high 
 privilege on the diocese to which they belonged, 
 and also to excite the ardour of their devotion 
 of the Blessed Yirgin, under the illustrious title 
 of the imviaculate conception." 
 
 "Well, what do you think of that, Jem f ' 
 said Pat. 
 
 So Jem looked back at it again, and considered ; 
 and Jem said, " The Bishop of Meath got the 
 start of them, anyway; sure it was about Christ- 
 jQas we heard it was found out that the Blessrd 
 Virgin was conceived without sin ; and on the 
 11th of Februai-y the job was done, and the 
 Blessed Virgin, conceived without sin, was set 
 down for the diocese of Meath ; that was look- 
 ing sharp, anyway," said Jem. 
 
 " Quick work, sure enough," said Pat ; " but 
 the bishop was in no hurry to tell the news, when 
 he kept the letter five months in his pocket afore 
 ever he said a word about it." 
 
 " How came he to be the first 1" said Jem, 
 considering.
 
 298 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 "Well, he took the notion afore any other 
 bishop," said Pat ; " and mighty sharp it was." 
 
 "Wait a minute, Pat," said Jem ; "I wonder 
 is St. Patrick in heaven." 
 
 " Well, if he isn't, who is V said Pat. 
 
 "And why but he asked Jlrst, when he had 
 the start, and was on the spot V said Jem ; "and 
 wouldn't he ask for his own old diocese of 
 Armagh 1 I wonder, now, does the saints in 
 heaven intercede for the like of them things 1 
 But I'm thinking, now, maybe St. Patrick is at 
 the back of the hills in heaven ; for sure the 
 Protestants say he was a Protestant, and maybe 
 knew nothing about the immaculate conception ; 
 'cause why, it wasn't found out in his time ; and 
 then how would he get the start about ' the illus 
 trious title of the immaculale conception V 
 Woiildn't he be ashamed to go to ask the Blessed 
 Virgin any favour about it, and he knowing that 
 he never said one word for it, good or bad, in 
 all his life 1 And sure I often think it's little we 
 hear of St. Patrick now, and that little getting 
 less every day ; why, the Catholics seem to think 
 they have got beyond him entirely ; so maybe it 
 wouldn't be any good Ids asking now." 
 
 "Why, man alive," said Pat, "don't you see the
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. "299 
 
 job wasn't done in heaven at all, but only at 
 Rome V 
 
 " Well, that makes it plainer," said Jem. 
 "Sure the bishop would get the start there afore 
 St. Patrick. But T wonder is the Queen oi 
 Heaven under orders at Rome ? Sure that isn't 
 like being the Queen of Heaven at all ! Wouldn't 
 they have to take their orders from her 1" 
 
 " Aye ; but if it was the Pope that made her 
 the Queen of Heaven !" said Pat. 
 
 "Well, that doesn't stand to reason," said 
 Jem ; " sure only God himself could make her 
 the Queen of Heaven. And if He made her 
 queen, would she be under the Pope's orders to 
 run here and there whenever he bid her, to do 
 whatever work he would lay out for her 1 May- 
 be it's to Botany Bay he will be sending her next. 
 But what if it isn't the Pope that's setting her to 
 mind Meath at all ! What if it is herself, and 
 that the Pope only tells what .she is going to do 
 herself ! Sure that would be the great thing for 
 thfi diocese of Meath entirely." 
 
 " It would be the fine thing for them that lets 
 lodgings." 3aid Pat; "sure the lodging money 
 should be higher nor at the salt water itself 
 Wliy, wouldn't aU Ir»'.land bo coming into Meatli,
 
 300 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 the way they would have the Blessed Virgin 
 herself to look after them. But it is my opinion, 
 Jem, that the never a word was said to the Blessed 
 Virgin about it, neither *by your leave, nor with 
 your leave.' " 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " sure the Pope couldn't 
 liave the face to go to put the Blessed Virgin to 
 watch one diocese more nor another, without 
 saying one word to herself about it. Sure, doesn't 
 the Scapular say that the Blessed Virgin appeared 
 to Simon Stock 1 And isn't there stories about 
 her appearing to the Pope 1 And who knows 
 but she come to the Pope, or the Pope went and 
 axed her, and she said she was going to mind 
 the diocese of Meath herself." 
 
 "Not a bit of it, Jem," said Pat. "Sure, if 
 Popes could talk to the Blessed Virgin that way, 
 wouldn't she have told some of them, afore this 
 that she was conceived without sin ] And more 
 foreby, Jem, it's plain the Pope didn't say not 
 one word to her afore he put the diocese of 
 Meath on her." 
 
 " And how is that plain, Pat ?' said Jem. 
 
 " Why isn't it here, in this newspaper," said 
 Pat. " Doesn't the bishop say that it was the 
 Holy Father that conferred this privilege on
 
 TALK OF THL ROAD. 301 
 
 the diocese of Meath ] And the bishop didn't say, 
 nor the Pope didn't say to him, that the Blessed 
 Virgin said it herself; and if she said one word 
 to them about it herself, sure it's not that they 
 i\^ould forget to tell ?" 
 
 " Well but, Pat," said Jem, " sure they might 
 say the Blessed Virgin said it herself whether 
 she did or not." 
 
 " True for you, Jem," said Pat, " they might 
 say that, as well as a deal more they do say ; 
 but then they didn't think of saying it. Sure, if 
 they went to do the job themselves, without 
 ever axing the Blessed Virgin a word about it, 
 or without a notion in their heads to ax her, 
 why then they might never think of saying that 
 she said it herself; but if she had come to say 
 it herself, that couldn't he forgot, and they 
 would be sure enough to tell it. So now you see, 
 Jem, how it is ; the bishop and the Pope just 
 ^ot it up between themselves ; and they didn't 
 think one bit about the Blessed Virgin that 
 same time, not even enough to see that it would 
 be only decent to tell a lie about her ; that's 
 what it is, Jem ; and it was the great mistake 
 entirely for tlieui to make." 
 
 " But maybe, Pat," said Jem, " when the
 
 302 TALK OF iHE ROAD. 
 
 Pope has made the Blessed Yirgin the special 
 patroness of the diocese of Meath, maybe she 
 just hasn't one hands turn to do for it more 
 than she had afore ; and then, sure, the Pope 
 wouldn't have to go to ask her at all afore he 
 put it on her ; for it wouldn't make any differ- 
 ence to her, and so the Pope might do what he 
 liked." 
 
 " And isn't that the pretty humbug to put on 
 the diocese of Meath f said Pat ; " cocking them 
 up with a fine name as empty as a sucked egg. 
 And if people aren't one bit the better for having 
 the Blessed Virgin for their special jmtroness, 
 how do they know but it's all talk, and no better, 
 about her being a patroness at all ? And sure 
 it's only the Pope's word we have for that, when 
 it's not in the Bible. If the Blessed Virgin is 
 not a bit moi'e of a patroness, and hasn't a hand's 
 turn more to do for her clients, when she is 
 made special patroness, sure it's all humbug the 
 Pope writing over to make her special patroness. 
 And it she has more to do for them, when the 
 Pope has put it on her, who's the fool to believe 
 that the Queen of Heaven, if she be the Queen 
 of Heaven, could be ordered al)out, and more 
 work put on her by the Pope, without so much
 
 TALK OK THE ROAD. 303 
 
 as a bj your leave 1 It's making too fi'ee with 
 her entirely, so it is, if the Pope believes only the 
 half of what he says about her. It's enough to 
 make us see the w^ay we are made fools of, in 
 trusting to the Pope's word, and his letters, about 
 patrons," 
 
 ** But, Pat," said Jem, " tell me this, anyway ; 
 what will the people in all the other dioceses say 
 when they see the march that was stole on them, 
 and how the Meath people was up early enough 
 to get the Blessed Virgin, conceived without sin, 
 to themselves, before another could get a chance 
 at her ]" 
 
 "Why, then, Jem," said Pat, "if they have 
 any sense, isn't it proud they will be that the 
 Pope didn't go for to make fools of them, when 
 he w as up to his work. " 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " it will be the proud 
 day for Ireland when the people can't be made 
 fools of, with things that no man with sense can 
 believe, in what concerns their souls. But when 
 will that day come at all 1" 
 
 "When every man has his own Bible in his 
 own hand, Jem," said Pat : " that's the day, and 
 none other-"
 
 304 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXL 
 
 ABE THE PRIESTS TO GOVERN THE COUNTRY? 
 
 " J EM.," said Fat, " I wonder did God Almiglity 
 mean that the priests was to govern the 
 country V 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, " it isn't likely ; for 
 didn't Jesus Christ say his kingdom was not of 
 this world ?* and if the priests are only the 
 ministers of Christ, what business would they 
 have governing the country 1 But what set you 
 thinking of tliat, Pat V 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "I got another loan 
 of the Tablet newspaper, and it's the greatest 
 paper at all for telling a thumping bit of truth 
 betimes. Maybe a man couldn't make out a 
 newspaper- if he hadn't a good bit of truth in his 
 pocket, with a fine bag of lies beside it." 
 
 " Well, and what's in the Tablet now, Pat V 
 said Jem. 
 
 So Pat pulled out of his pocket the Tablet of 
 August 25tli, and they fell to reading the great 
 article in it ; and Pat read out : — 
 
 "This country of ours is a Catholic coimtry ; 
 the real constituents of it are the bishops and the 
 
 • St. John's Gosjiel, ch. xviii. v. 36.
 
 TALK OF THF tiOAD. 306 
 
 priests ; we take this for granted, and we do not 
 see liow it cau be questioned. There are, ol 
 course, exceptions — places where lay influence 
 predominates ; but, on the whole, the Irish re- 
 presentation is the work of the priesthood. The 
 Irish members are in Parliament because the 
 priests have sent them there ; they know it 
 perfectly well, and the Protestants are not 
 ignorant of it." 
 
 "Well, that's true, anyway," said Jem ; "sure 
 it's the priest makes the member, and no mistake. 
 But why does the people get the worst of it ? 
 What call have the people to it at all ? Isn't it 
 the poor case for them that has votes, to be 
 ordered one way by the agent and the tother by 
 tihe priest 1 And where's the differ, only that 
 no one gets beat at a fail- or a market for voting 
 again the agent 1 Bui wouldn't it be the fine 
 thing if Parliament would make a law that the 
 priests would just send their own members with- 
 out bothering the people all, and getting them 
 into trouble ? ? wonder is that what tlie Tablet's 
 after % it would be the fine thing tor the people 
 anyway ; sure it's the greatest of peace they 
 would get." 
 
 " Wc«i, it would be peace anyway," said Pat ;
 
 306 TALK OF THE UOAl>, 
 
 " Vjut that isu^t what the Tablet set me a-think 
 ing. Bid. God Almiglity mean that the priests 
 was to returu the members 1 " 
 
 "Well," said Jem, "if the kingdom of Christ 
 isn't of this world, wnat business would the 
 priests have, only -with the kingdom of heaven ?" 
 
 " Well, it ivill be the great day anyway," said 
 Pat, "when the clergy thinks of nothing only of 
 getting the people to the kingdom of heaven, 
 without harassing them about elections. Maybe 
 ct is what Jesua Christ would like, after all." 
 
 "Well, now," said Jem, "I'm thinking the 
 jlergy ought to keep to the kingdom of heaven. 
 But I wonder how it is in foreign parts, and in 
 A^merica ? Is it always the priests that returns 
 die members 1 " 
 
 "Well, man alive," said Pat, "isn't that the 
 very thing the Tablet tells us 1 Sure here it is ; " 
 and so Pat read out of the newspaper — 
 
 "The Irish pi-iests are also the only priests 
 in Europe or America who have such powers. 
 
 They can do in Ireland what the 
 
 priests cannot do in France, Belgium, or Pied- 
 mont." 
 
 " Well, if that isn't something to know," said 
 Jem ; " and what call have they to it in Ireland,
 
 TALK OF Till': KC'AD. ^U7 
 
 if tney haven't it iu any other part of the w rid ? 
 Sure it can't be no part of the religion of the 
 Church of Rome at all ! " 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pafc, " it's little I'm caring 
 now for what's part of the religion of the Church 
 of Rome. Sure I want to get the religiou of 
 Christ. And did Jesus Christ mean that the 
 priests was to have the power of returning the 
 members of Parliament, and governing the 
 country their own way 'i " 
 
 " Well, that's clear anyway," said Jem, " that 
 He didn't mean that at all, when He said his 
 kingdom wasn't of this world. But if ohe clergy 
 could get us good members, what would stop 
 them doing it 1 " 
 
 "Well, Jem, you omadhauu," said Pat, "sure 
 isn't that vrhat the Tablet is all about ; just 
 showing that the members the priests returns is 
 trie greatest set of viliians and cheaters in all the 
 Parliament ! Sure here it is, that the members 
 the priests send to Parliament thinks of nothing 
 but asking the Government for 'judgeships, 
 clerkships, and other favours.' And doesn't the 
 Tablet ' beg to ask them whether they have not 
 sacrificed not only the material intere.sts, but 
 tven the sjiiritual welfare, of the poor Irisluuiiii, 
 
 I 2
 
 308 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 to their own political and personal convenience.* 
 And now, Jem, isn't that enough to show that 
 the priests is the worst at all to return the 
 members for the country, when them they sends 
 thinks of nothing but what they can get out of- 
 it for themselves, and cares nothing at all about 
 the peo]ile 'i " 
 
 "Well, sure enough, that's fit for the people to 
 think about," said Jem. " But what's 'material 
 interests,' anyway 1 " 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat, "sure that's the 
 praties or the meal we eat, and the bit of thatch 
 on the roof that wants the new straw, or the 
 rotten sticks that's breaking under it in every 
 cabin you go into, and the stool that has lost the 
 leg, and the old pot that's cracked, and the sod 
 of turf that can't be got, and the window with 
 the old hat that's stuck in it, and the door that 
 won't keep out the cow Id, and for the ould 
 blanket and the bed, we'll say nothing of them ; 
 them's the ' material interests,^ Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " Oh, then, sure enougJi, it's little the priest's 
 member ever did for the 'material interests,"* 
 said Jem. " Sure the Rev. Mr. Owens did more 
 for that, anyway, when he gave me the blankets 
 that's over the children But what does the
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 309 
 
 Tablet mean about the spiritual welfare of the 
 poor Irishman ? What did the priests' membeiy 
 do with that at all ^ " 
 
 "Well, then, Jem," said Pat, "I'm not quite 
 clear about what they done with that ; but, sure, 
 here's what the Tablet lays the blame on them 
 for ; " and so Pat read out of the paper — 
 
 " Ireland is not only losing her population, but 
 the Church is losing that population in other 
 lands. It is not merely that Irishmen emigrate 
 bodily, but it is that Irishmen emigrate spirit- 
 ually. This is the question for the con- 
 stituents." 
 
 " Them constituents, you know, is the priests, 
 Jem," said Pat. 
 
 " Oh, then, I know what that means anyway," 
 said Jem, " though I don't see what the members 
 has to do with it ; but I know well what emigrat- 
 ing spiritually means; sure isn't that what 
 Father MuUiu said in his letter,* that the Irish 
 all turns Protestants in America 1 " 
 
 And with that Jem turned round on Pat, and 
 got a grip of his arm, and, says Jem, " Why 
 
 • For Father Miillai's letter, in which he cakulatea that 
 1.990.000 Coman Cashnlio emigrants have been hist to the 
 ''hiiich since the jear 1825, see the C'ATiJOLlo LAYUAtf vol i 
 p. 10a. ' ■ ■'
 
 310 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 wouldn't we both go to America, Pat, like so 
 Qiany of the boys that wants to turn 1" 
 
 " Oh, Jem," said Pat, " don't talk about that ; 
 sure that's what's killing me. Sure I could go 
 to America, and not be ashamed of Christ there, 
 if the wife and childer would beg till I send for 
 them ; but why would I be afraid to confess 
 Christ in Ireland, and maybe have Him ashamed 
 of me ; and don't talk of what's killing me, now, 
 anyway," said Pat. 
 
 So Jem allowed he wouldn't talk about it 
 then. 
 
 " But if the priests' members is that bad," 
 said Jem, " as the Tablet allows they are, does 
 God Almighty mean that the priests is to return 
 the members and to govern the country 1 " 
 
 " Well, if the priests' members is the worst of 
 all," said Pat, " sure that shows that God 
 Almighty meant the priests to mind the kingdom 
 ijf heaven, and let the people get the best meiubers 
 they could. But I'll tell you what, Jem,'' said 
 Pat, " we'll have to talk about going to America, 
 or speaking out like men in Ireland." 
 
 And if they do we aliall have to tell it.
 
 TALK. Of THE KOAD. 311 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 SPEAKING OUT. 
 
 " "Well, Jetn," said Pat, " it is stuck in me afc 
 last ; and there's no use talking — I'll have to do 
 something." 
 
 " Is that in regard of what you were saying 
 the last day, Pat ] " said Jem. 
 
 '« That's it, Jem," said Pat. " I'll have to do 
 what's right" 
 
 " And why would you have to do more than 
 you have done these two years back 1 " said Jem. 
 " Aren't you reading the Bible, and won't that 
 do?" 
 
 " Well then, Jem, it won't ; without we do 
 what is in the Bible," said Pat, 
 
 " And what's in the Bible ] " said Jem. 
 
 " Do you mind what we were talking of once," 
 said Pat, '* that them that is ashamed of Christ 
 and his words, Christ will be ashamed of them { "* 
 
 "Them words isn't easy forgot,' said Jem. 
 
 " Them words stuck in me all along," said Pat ; 
 " and I couldn't quit thinking wasn't I ashamed 
 of Christ and His words, and would not He h» 
 
 • Supra, p. llOi
 
 312 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Ashamed of me. Well, I was reading a while ago 
 m the Douay Bible, and I came on this, ' If thou 
 confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and be- 
 lieve in thine heart that God hath raised Him up 
 from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with 
 the heart Ave believe unto justice, but with the 
 mouth confession is made unto salvation.*"* 
 
 " And what would that mean ] " said Jem. 
 " It isn't like confessing to the priest anyway." 
 
 " People doesn't go to the priest to confess Jesi s 
 Christ, but only to confess their sins," said Pat. 
 
 ** And what does confessing Jesus Christ with 
 the mouth mean ^ " said Jem. 
 
 " Well, I suppose," said Pat, " when the 
 heathens believed in Jesus Christ, they had to 
 say it out, and go to chui'ch like men, instead of 
 pretending they didn't believe on Him." 
 
 " Well, that's plain anyway," said Jem; "they 
 wouldn't get salvation by Christ, if they didn't 
 acknowledge Him ; but what has that to do with 
 us 1 or how have we to confess Christ with our 
 mouths 1 " 
 
 " Jem," said Pat, " don't we know that we 
 must believe in Jesus Christ only, and follow His 
 woj-ds alone, and nothing else 1 " 
 
 * Kom^ns z. 9, 10
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 313 
 
 " We know that surely," said Jem, 
 
 " And if we say that out, that Is making con- 
 fe-ssiou with the mouth," said Pat. 
 
 " It is," said Jem ; " there is no use saying 
 against that." 
 
 So Pat turned round on Jem, and said, " Why 
 don't we do it. Jemmy Braunan ? Speak the 
 truth, like a man." 
 
 " Why, then, because we're afraid ; that's the 
 truth," said Jem. 
 
 " We are just afraid of men, and so we are 
 ashamed of Christ and of His words, and we 
 durst not confess Him with our mouths," said 
 Pafc. 
 
 *' Pat, we would be killed entirely if we did 
 it," said Jem ; " and get no work neither, and 
 the childer starve or else go to the poorhouse. 
 Wouldn't that be the quiet plan for them that 
 turn 1 " 
 
 "Jem, we'll have to come back on the words 
 of Christ," said Pat; "them words won't let ua 
 alone." So Pat read out of the Douay Bible : 
 " Fear ye not them that kill the body, and arc 
 not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him 
 that can destroy both soul and body into hell " 
 (Matthew x. 28). " Now, Jem," said Pat, "will
 
 314 TALK. OF THE KOAD. 
 
 we stand that, sooner than make confession witl. 
 the month nnto salvation ?" 
 
 " How can we do it at all V said Jem. 
 " Couldn't we confess Jesus Christ and his words, 
 and still not leave the Church of Rome at 
 alH" 
 
 " We carit, Jem," said Pat. " Sure, we will 
 have to confess that we believe in Jesus Christ 
 only. And sure that is clean contrary to the re- 
 ligion of the Church of Rome. Sure, Father 
 John himself will tell you that them that says 
 %at is flying in the face of the Church of Rome. 
 And how can we stick to both 1 Sure, there is 
 no use in imposing on God and on the priest 
 too." 
 
 " I wish we could do what's right in the Church 
 of Rome," said Jem. 
 
 " We can't," said Pat ; " and there is no use 
 talking of it. I tell you, Jem," said Pat, " we'll 
 have to go out of Babylon to deliver our own 
 
 80UJS." 
 
 *' And is the Church of Rome Babylon ]" said 
 Jem. 
 
 " Enough, to make us go out of her," said Pat. 
 
 " Is there anything about it in the Bible 'V 
 &aid Jem.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD, 315 
 
 " Plenty," said Pat, « and in the Douay Bible, 
 too." 
 
 So they fell to searching the Donay Bible ; and 
 they found it easy, for Pat had the places marked. 
 So they read this out of the Prophet Jeremiah, 
 chapter li., verses 6 and 7 : "Flee ye from the 
 midst of Babylon, and let every one save his own 
 life ; be not silent upon her iniquity ; for it is 
 the time of revenge from the Lord. He will 
 render unto her what she hath deserved. Baby- 
 lon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the 
 Lord that made all the earth drunk ; the nations 
 have drunk of her wine, and therefore they have 
 staggered." " And here's a great one," said Pat, 
 re-iding verse 9 : " We would have cured Baby- 
 lon, but she is not healed ; let us forsake her, and 
 let us go every man to his own land." 
 
 « Well, now, Pat," said Jem, " didn't the 
 Prophet Jeremiah live a long time before Jesus 
 Christ V 
 
 '* He did, surely," said Pat, " for it's in the 
 Old Testumeut it is." 
 
 " WeU, there wasn't a Church of Rome then," 
 Haid Jem. 
 
 " There couldn't be," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, then, Jeix-miah be to be talking of
 
 316 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 something else," said Jem. "Wasn't there a 
 great city then called Babylon 1" 
 
 " There was," said Pat ; " for I read about it in 
 the last Catholic Layman." 
 
 " It be to be that he was talking about, Pat," 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Well, the Catholic Layman allows it was 
 that city he was talking about," said Pat ; " but 
 if he was a prophet, why wouldn't there be an- 
 other meaning in it too ?" 
 
 " And what right would we have to put another 
 meaning on it?" said Jem. 
 
 " Stop a bit," said Pat, " there's more. Didn't 
 the Prophet Jeremiah say that the old city of 
 Babylon would be destroyed 1 Sure here it is — 
 ' It shall be no more inhabited for ever, neither 
 shall it be built up from generation to genera- 
 tion' (chap. 50, verse 39). And doesn't the 
 Catholic Layman say that it was destroyed 2000 
 years ago 1 and isn't that before Jesus Christ 
 came 1 and that it never was bvdlt ; and no one 
 ever lived in it since 1 Well now, Jem," said 
 Pat, '* if the Bible said anything more about 
 Babylon after that, doesn't it stand to reason 
 that it be to have another meaning 1" 
 
 " That stand.s to reason, Pat," said Jem ; " but
 
 TALE OF THE ROAD. 317 
 
 does the Bible say any more of Babylon after 
 that V 
 
 So Pat found out the 18th chapter of the Book 
 of Apocalypse or lievelation. " And now mind, 
 Jem," said Pat ; " St. John the Apostle wrote 
 this after Jesus Christ came, and after the city 
 of Babylon was destroyed and never built again ; 
 and for all that he speaks of Babylon going to 
 he destroyed ; for only listen to this :" and Pat 
 read verse 21 — " And a mighty angel took up a 
 stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it 
 into the sea, saying, with such violence as this 
 shall Babylon, that great city, be thrown down, 
 and shall be found no more at all." *' Now, 
 Jem," said Pat, " wouldn't that be the quare 
 thing to say of a city that was dead and gone 
 long before, if it hadn't another meaning ?" 
 
 " It he to have," said Jem ; "but what more 
 does it say of Babylon V 
 
 " Heres what St. John says of it," said Pat ; 
 and he read out of that same 1 8th chapter of the 
 Book of Revelations, verses 1, 2, 3 — "And after 
 these things I saw another angel come down from 
 Heaven, having great power ; and the earth was 
 enlightened with his glory. And he cried out 
 with a strong voice, saying : Babylon the great
 
 318 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 is frlleB, and is Lecome the habitation of devils, 
 and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold 
 of every unclean and hateful bird ; because all 
 nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of 
 her fornication." 
 
 " Them's terrible words," said Jem. 
 
 " Micjhty like what Jeremiah said of the old 
 city of Babylon," said Pat. " Sure here's what he 
 said, ' therefore, shall dragons dwell there, with 
 the fig-fauns, and ostriches shall dwell therein'* 
 (ch. L 39) ; only St. John makes the words 
 harder still," said Pat, " and that's maybe because 
 he explains the meaning." 
 
 " Well, but did it all happen while St. John 
 was living ?" said Jem, " for sure if it did it's all 
 past and gone." 
 
 " It didn't," said Pat, " for St. John only saw 
 it, like as you would see it in a show-box. And 
 before he saw it, the voice out of heaven said to 
 him, * I will show you the things that must be 
 done Iiereafter.' (Revelation iv. verse 1.) So you 
 gee, Jem, it was all a prophecy, and St. John just 
 took the words about Babylon to show it ; so you 
 sftf;, Jem, Babylon /je U> have another meaning." 
 
 • Th« Willi beasts of tlie df-^crt, with the wild heasta of thb 
 l»laiid», fchall dwell there, s-.imI the owIh shall dwell therein. 
 ri'rot«fetant y^raioii.) These bir.is were unclean among the Jewa.
 
 TALK OF THE BOAD. 
 
 519 
 
 "Well, it be to have, Pat," said Jem, "but 
 etiU the Eevelalion is the hardest book of alL aud 
 mavbe we ought to read the rest of the Bible, 
 ind not come to that." 
 
 "Well, Jem," said Pat "there's more thiDg* 
 in that part of the Bible that I can't come up to 
 than in any other ; bat there's one tiling in the 
 Book of Revelation plainer nor in any other, and 
 here it is for you, Jem," So Pat read chapter L 
 verse 3 : " Blessed is he that readeth and heareth 
 the words of this prophecy." 
 
 So Jem allowed it ought to be read aftCT- tiiat. 
 
 " Well, wait till I read you -what St. John 
 says of it aU,'' said Pat ; so Pat read chapt<;r xviiL 
 verse -1, " And I heard another voice from 
 Heaven saying, go out from her, my people, that 
 you be not p^irtakers of her sins." '* ^ow," said 
 Pat, " didn't he take the words of Jeremiah* 
 and fit them on to what he was speaking abcmt I 
 And if the voice from Heaven bids as go out, 
 won't we go t" 
 
 ** Well, Pat," said Jem. "there's one thing T 
 want yet. St. John irafnt talking of the city q\ 
 Babylon that was destroyed for ever before be 
 wus bom, that's plain anyway. And lie
 
 820 TALK OF THfc ROAD. 
 
 talking about something that was to come, and 
 fitting on the words about Babylon to it. But 
 what was it at all 1 Was it the Church of Borne 
 he meant 1 That's what we haven't got at 
 
 yet." 
 
 " It's coming, Jem," said Pat ; " it'll be got, 
 that same." So Pat tui-ned to the 1st Epistle 
 of St. Peter, chapter v., verse 13, in the Douay 
 Bible, and he i-ead — " That church that is in 
 Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth 
 
 you." 
 
 " Sure there wouldn't be a church in a city 
 that was destroyed, and no man living in it," 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Well, in course there wouldn't," said Pat ; 
 " but the Douay Bible explains that for us." 
 So Pat turned to the preface printed before the 
 Epistle of St. Peter, in the Douay Bible, and he 
 read — " He wrote it at Rome, which figuratively 
 he calls Babylon." And then said Pat, " If 
 the Douay Bible itself allows that St. Peter him- 
 self called Home Babylon, why wouldn't we do 
 it too V 
 
 "Well, that beats all," said Jem ; " Rome Ls 
 Babylon surely." 
 
 "Jem," said Pat, "do /ou mind all our talk
 
 tALK OF THE HO AD. 32 1 
 
 those two years and more ? Isn't it llitj Chm-cii 
 of Kome that sets up other mediators ] and tells 
 us to worship Mary and Joseph 1 and bids lis 
 trust in the scapular and blessed medals ? and 
 that cuts out God's commandments, for fear we 
 would learn to obey Him and not her 1 And, 
 more nor all, isn't it the Church of Rome that 
 says the word of God will set as astray ] and 
 doesn't that show her gone clean against tKs word 
 of God ? and isn't it the Church of Route that 
 taught that same to all the world ] and what 
 would make her Babylon, if going against God 
 himself wouldn't 1" 
 
 " Oh, Pat," said Jem, " how could we t\irn at 
 all 1 sure it's killed we would be entirely." 
 
 "Jemmy Brannan," said Pat, "wasn't it you 
 put me on the readin;,', when I was more loath 
 nor you were, and will I go out of Babylon afore 
 you ] ' 
 
 " What will wo do to get out, Pat ?" said Jem ; 
 " will we go to America 1" 
 
 " We won't, Jem," said Pat. " Mind you this, 
 Jeui," said Pat, " it isn't only about getting out : 
 it's about not being ashamed of Christ and of 
 His words ; and it's about confessing Plim before 
 "uen, and will I sneak out of old Ireland, only
 
 322 
 
 TAIiK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 because I'm ashamed of Christ 1 And, besides, 
 the children is too many, and will I leave them 
 and Biddy behind me ] And more foreby, Jem, 
 America isn't the place it was : it's getting worse 
 every year on them that goes there, and old 
 Ireland getting better, and the wages good." 
 
 *' Well, that's what the priests is preaching 
 everywhere," said Jem, "for the people to not go 
 to America, any more." 
 
 " Well, I wouldn't blame them, if it was only 
 the good of people they were thinking of," said 
 Pat ; " but sure you know, Jem, the priests have 
 uo country, only Rome ; and it's Rome they're 
 still thinking of, and not old Ireland; and it's 
 Rome they're thinking of, and neither Ireland 
 nor America, when they tell the people to stay 
 at home." 
 
 " Well, I'm thinking that betimes," said Jem, 
 " but I don't know a'most why." 
 
 " I'll tell you why to think of it, Jem," said 
 Pat : "sure I got another loan of the Tablet, and 
 here's a letter from Father Reardon* in America 
 to a priest in Ireland, and here's what he says : " 
 so Pat read out of tlie letter : 
 
 " I solemnly believe tliat if the vessels which 
 * Tablet, Sopt. 8, 1855— page 572.
 
 TAI^ OF THE ROAD. 323 
 
 bring them over were suddenly to founder, and 
 carry every creature on board into the depths of 
 the ocean, they would have a better chance of 
 salvation than they have after they have Uved 
 for some time in this country." 
 
 " Oh, Pat I stop a bit," said Jem, « isn't that 
 the awful thing to think o^ of a ship full of 
 creatures, maybe five hundred men, women, and 
 little children, God save us, and the men holding 
 their wives, as 1 have read in letters, and the 
 poor mothers hugging their little babies on their 
 poor breasts, and all them going down, screeching, 
 at once into the roaring sea to death ! and isn't 
 it the cruel thing to hear a priest speaking as if 
 he would like that ship to sink ! Oh, mercy on 
 us I " said Jem, " sure that's the poor thing." 
 
 " Well, sure Father Reardon can have no wife 
 or children of his own," said Pat, "and he 
 mightn't understand our feelings ; and why would 
 he stop at that, to save souls in his own fashion 1 
 but that isn't the part of his letter I want now," 
 said Pat ; so Pat read on. 
 
 "So entirely convinced am I of the fearful 
 havoc of souls which is the result of coming hex'e, 
 that were Almighty God to give me the powo- 
 of building A wall of fihe round Ireland, t*-
 
 324 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 prevent its people from leaving it, it should be 
 built before the ink with which I write this line 
 would dry. For the love of Jesus, try to kee]i 
 yoiu" people at home. For every individual you 
 keep, you snatch a soul from hell." 
 
 "Well, that's mighty fine," said Jem, "if 
 every one that staid in Ireland would go to 
 Heaven But it's another thing he was thinking 
 of : them that go to America leaves the Church 
 of Rome, and them that stays in Ireland is afeard 
 to leave it, and that's all one with him as the 
 differ of going to Heaven or Hell : but I am 
 afeard there's a deal of good Catholics in Ireland 
 that won't get to Heavep." 
 
 " But what do you say of the wall of fire 
 round Ireland to keep us in 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " Isn't the fires of Purgatory enough for them 
 to govern us with 1 " .said Jem. 
 
 "'Deed and it's not, then," said Pat, "the 
 people is getting to think little of Purgatory, and 
 that won't keep them in now ; and it's the wall 
 of fire the priests want now." 
 
 " And if they had the wall of fire round Ireland, 
 to keep in them that snap their fingere at the 
 priests when they get to America," said Jem, 
 " woulf^u't they have a good bit of fire in the
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD, 325 
 
 middle of Ireland too, for the boys that won't 
 mind the priests at home ? " 
 
 <' Well, it's a nice Patrick's Purgatory it would 
 be, more nor even St. Patrick thought of," said 
 Pat, " if Father John and Father Reardon got 
 their way. But it's not come to tliat yet any- 
 way." 
 
 " I'm in dread it's too hot for them that will 
 turn," said Jem. 
 
 " Well, Jem," said Pat, " it will be worse yet 
 ibr them that is ashamed of Christ, and that 
 won't confess him with the mouth. Anyway, 
 that is stuck in me, and I canH be without some 
 church ; and 1 11 have to find one that will let 
 me confess Christ and his words : that's the 
 church for me, Jem, and maybe I'll find it better 
 here nor in Amei-ica. My mind's made up any- 
 way, and if I'm beat, sure I can go to America 
 then as well as now ; and not feel then that I'm 
 skulking out of it, like a man that is ashamed of 
 Christ." 
 
 So if we should hear anything more of poor 
 Pat's future history, our readers may like to 
 know it, as well as we. For there are clear heads, 
 and some brave hearts too, among the poor 
 pooplf of Trpland ; and the humblest of them is
 
 326 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 worth cai'ing about. Such men may be scarce 
 in Ireland before long : and it concerns us all, 
 that Ireland should not be too hot for them tc 
 stay in.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 327 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIIL 
 
 THE BIRDS. 
 
 " Well, Pat," said Jem, when they met again, 
 " are you going to be quiet, or what are you 
 going to do at all 1" 
 
 " About what we were speaking of, Jem ]" 
 aaid Pat. 
 
 " Aye, sure that's what we have to think of," 
 isaid Jem. 
 
 "WeU," said Pat, "as for thinking, sure I can 
 think of nothing else ; but for what to do, sure 
 that^s the thing to think of." 
 
 " Aye," said Jem, " to think how a man will 
 live ; but sure, that's nothing : but to think hovv 
 wUl a man give a bit to the childer if he can't 
 get work, .sure that's the thing to think of." 
 
 "Aye, and the sore thing in earnest," said 
 Pat ; '* for a man to take his two choices, to be 
 ashamed of Christ and His Word, or else to have 
 the childer screeching to him for their bit ; and 
 him to see his own children hungry, and give 
 them no more tlian a stone — that is the hard 
 thing, Jem ; and isn't it the hard church that
 
 328 TALK OF THE UOAl). 
 
 puts a man to that ? Is it the church of Jesus 
 Christ at all V 
 
 " Oh, if they would only give us the Word of 
 God ; and let us give the childer their bit our- 
 selves," paid Jem. 
 
 " They can't do it at all," said Pat ; " sure 
 they're too far gone for that : sure their church 
 couldn't stand if they did it." 
 
 "And what's to be done with the childer 1" 
 said Jem " Sure it's not in man to see them want 
 their bit." 
 
 " Is the Bible true at all Jem 1" said Pat. 
 
 " Oh, God save us 1 don't say the like of that," 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Is there a word of truth in it at all V said 
 Pat. 
 
 " Oh, sure it's not in eai'nest you are now, 
 Pat V said Jem. 
 
 "It's in f-arnest I am now, for the soul that's 
 in me and for the childer that God gave me," 
 said Pat ; and then Pat turned round on Jem — 
 " And is it you that's in earnest," said he, "about 
 the Word of God 1 Is it His Word at all, or is 
 there any truth in it 1" 
 
 " It's tlie Word of the living God, that wil] 
 --tand for ovnr and ever," said Jeiy.
 
 TALK OF THE KOAD. 329 
 
 " And would you take His word, if He spoke 
 to you 1" said Pat. 
 
 " Oh, God help me ! and isn't that what 1 
 would like to do,'" said Jem; "but isn't it hard 
 when the church stands between Him and lue, 
 and between the childer anJ their bit?" 
 
 "Jem, have you sense in you V said Pat, "and 
 do you think that it is the church that stands 
 between us and the hearing of what He says ? 
 Sure, that be to be something else besides the 
 church that He made Himself." 
 
 " It be to be something else, that stands between 
 a man feeding his own childer and hearing the 
 Word of God," said Jem ; " but what will a man 
 do, Pat, when the childer is crying in the house, 
 and him walking the road and doing nothing H 
 Sure, flesh and blood can't stand it. But what 
 does the Word of God say about it at all 1" 
 
 "Jem," said Pat, "did you ever see a bird 
 lying dead on the gx-ound, because it was 
 starved ?" 
 
 " I never did," said Jem ; "and isn't that the 
 quare thing to think ofj now, in the hard winter, 
 and the long snow we had last spring? and I didn't 
 see one of them dead in the snow ; and I didn't 
 think of that before. And how did the creatures
 
 330 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 live at all, I wonder 1 sure there's as many 
 as ever this siimmer ; and now isn't it a wonder, 
 and we not to think of it ; sure that's another 
 wonder, too." 
 
 " I'U tell you "why, Jem," said Pat ; " sure here 
 it is in the Word of God ;" and Pat pulled out 
 his Bible, and read it out (Matthew oh. vi., v. 
 26), " Behold the fowls of the air ; for they sow 
 not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; 
 yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them ; are not 
 ye much better than they V* " Now, Jem," said 
 Pat, " do you see why you didn't see the birds 
 lying dead in the snow 1" 
 
 " Well, it's ever more the little things that's 
 biggest in the Word of God," said Jem. " Sure, 
 the birds gather up nothing for the winter, and 
 still they get through ; sure, it's God done that ; 
 and it's little we think of it, till the Word of God 
 shows it to us." 
 
 " Well, sure it isn't for the birds it's writter, 
 Jem," said Pat ; " sure it's God that feeds them ; 
 but they can't read it." 
 
 " Well, now, I see it," said Jem, " what Jesus 
 Christ said it for ; he wasn't talking to the birds 
 when he said, ' Your Heavenly Father feedeth 
 them; are ye not much better than they f ' Now,
 
 TALE OF THE ROAD. 331 
 
 vrouldn't that mean that He will care better still 
 for us ] " 
 
 " Stop, now, Jem," said Pat ; " there's more." 
 So Pat read verse 33, " But seek ye first the 
 kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all 
 these things shall he added unto you." 
 
 " Well, that isn't the way people takes," said 
 Jem. " Sure, everybody thinks they has to look 
 for their bit first ; and if they can serve God 
 after, and make their souls, well and good." 
 
 " And isn't that why I axed you if there is 
 any truth at all in the Word of God, or if you 
 will take His Word when He says it 1 " said Pat. 
 
 " Well, that's new entirely," said Jem ; " but 
 it's not new in the Word of God ; for sure it was 
 always there, only it's new to see it, I wonder 
 how would it be with us now, if we were just to 
 take the Word of God as if He said it to us 1 If 
 we were to take Him at His word now, woukl 
 He do it r' 
 
 "Isn't that just what I axed you, Jem," said 
 Pat. " Would you take the Word of God if He 
 spoke to you, or would you leave it 1 " 
 
 " Aye, then, I never thought of it that way 
 before," said Jem ; " and it's frightened I was 
 when you asked me would T take tlie Word ol
 
 532 TALK OF THK KOAD. 
 
 God ; who wouldn't, thinks I ; and is the man 
 mad that asks me, or what is he after ; is it going 
 to deny it he is 1 And now sure it's the very 
 thing to ask myself, is it the Word of God to 
 ourselves, or is it not 1 and will I take it, or will 
 I leave it?" 
 
 " Aye," said Pat, " isn't that w^hat it comes to 1 
 Sure, it's reading the Word of God we are, and 
 don't we call it the Word of God 1 but is it the 
 Word that God saystous, an d will we take Him 
 at His word ( If He was to say it to us, would 
 we tell Him we wouldn't take it ? and did Jesus 
 Christ say that for us, that if we seek His king- 
 dom FIRST, that food and clothing will be added 
 to us 1 " 
 
 " And how will it be, Pat, if we just take that 
 fiame as if Christ said it to ourselves 1 " said Jem. 
 " Was it meant, now, just for you and me 1 for 
 «ure if it was, what would stop me to take the 
 uromise of Jesus Christ Himself for the childer 
 and me 1 
 
 " Jem," said Pat, " does Jesus Christ tell 3^0?* 
 to seek the kingdom of God 1 " 
 
 " What else would I seek in heaven or eart,h 1 " 
 said Jem ; "or what else in heaven or earth 
 would Jesus Christ bid me seek ? "
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 333 
 
 " Well, then. Jem," said Pat, " isn't it for me 
 and for you, and for every one that has to seek 
 the kingdom of God, that Jesus Christ said this, 
 ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
 I'ighteousness, and all these things shall be added 
 unto you ? ' Didn't He mean just to clear us of 
 them things that stops us, with His own blessed 
 promise, that if we seek that, heHl mind the rest ? " 
 
 " And will He do for us and the childer too ? " 
 said Jem ; " sure that's what goes against us." 
 
 We cannot show menin our pages : we cannot 
 show the power of faith, and the energy in man 
 that springs from a principle Divine. But those 
 who have felt it may imagine the earnestness of 
 Pat, as he exclaimed — 
 
 "Will it be woi-se with us nor with the birds 1 
 Will He let us die in the snow no more nor 
 them ? " 
 
 We think that Pat has come near to the king- 
 dom of God. We think he is reading God's 
 Word as if it were in truth the Word of God, 
 that cannot fail to them that lay hold upon it. 
 We think his faith is becoming that victory 
 which overcometh tlie world (1 John v. 4) ; the 
 faith of prophets, apostles, and martyrs ; the faith 
 of the children of God, that makes tliem His
 
 334 taIjK op the road. 
 
 children, and lifts up their hearts and hopes t» 
 their Father in heaven. And we shall look to 
 hear what that faith leads him to do ; and what 
 it brings upon him from that Church which 
 stands between his little chiljiren's bread and the 
 Word of God. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 OUT OF WORK. 
 
 •Well, man, it's long since I saw you," said 
 Jem, "for I was up the country ; and how is it 
 with you all ? " 
 
 " Why, then, it's well enough, and it's bad 
 enough," said Pat. 
 
 " And is it don? it you did ] " said Jem 
 
 " I done it," said Pat, " and I'll stick up to it 
 now, come what will on me." 
 
 " Tell me about it now," said Jem. 
 
 "Well, I just went to Mr. Owens' church, 
 like a man," said Pat ; " and I went three Sun- 
 days, night and morning, and no harm come on 
 me at all ; and I was thinking, ' maybe it^s 
 not so hard, after all ; maybe I'm as safe as the 
 birds.' Well, it was all going smooth, when 
 down comes one Dr. Marshall, that waa once a
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. 335 
 
 Protestant clergyman in England, to preach in 
 the chapel, * Well,' says I, ' if a Protestant 
 clergy turns to us, sure I'll hear why he did it ;' 
 and to the chapel I goes. Well, who should I 
 Bee, sitting right foment the altar, with a big 
 Douay Bible in his hand, but the Rev. Mr. 
 Owens himself. ' Well,' thinks I, ' what will 
 come on it now V Well, of all the sermons ever 
 you heard, that was the one ; it beat ourselves 
 to nothiagj and Mr. Owens holding up the 
 Douay Bible fornint him ; and sorra one word, 
 good nor bad, Dr. Marshall took out of the Douay 
 Bible, nor no other Bible, from the one end to the 
 other ; and, thinks I to myself, if it was the Douay 
 Bible turned you, wouldn't you tell us that, any- 
 way. I'm not going to be worse nor ever I was, 
 thinks I. Well, there was a deal of soldiers 
 there, that was passing through the town, and 
 stopping for Sunday ; and when Dr. Marshall 
 began at the Queen in his sermon, the officer just 
 gave them the word, and they all marched out 
 of the chapel, making all the noise you please ; 
 and Father Marshall falls to praising the Queen, 
 but not a bit they stopped. Well, tliat sermon 
 settled me anyway ; for sure it's turned his back 
 on the Bible he has. says I ; that's the way he's
 
 336 TALK OP THE KOAD. 
 
 turned. Well, I watched till I seen Mi\ Owens 
 going out through the altar rails, and who should 
 up and shake his hand till I thought he would 
 have it off, only Father Corrigan, of Kilbride ; 
 for you see he doesn't like a bone in Father 
 John's skin : and so he shook hands with the 
 Rev. Mr. Owens in chapel, afore the congrega- 
 tion ; and I mind seeing them two good friends 
 in the relief committee. Well, Mr. Owens 
 comes out, and he goes in the face of all the 
 people to put up a paper on the big tree afore the 
 chapel. Well, he couldn't get it up, and the boys 
 comes round him, and takes the paper, and puts 
 it up for him. Well, and what would it be, only 
 to say he would answer that sermon in church 
 that night. Well, to church I goes ; and, sure 
 enough, if the church wasn't full of our own 
 sort, just hundreds of them there. You see he 
 took them so short that the priests could say 
 nothing again it, when the boys was gone out of 
 the chapel. Well, Mr. Owens just answers the 
 sermon out of a face, all out of the Douay Bible ; 
 ' that's it,' says 1, ' sure that's what I want to 
 hear.' Well, you never seen boys listen better, 
 you could hear a pin drop among them, only one 
 didn't drop, for nobody stirred. Well, when Mr.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Owens was done, the boys all got up and was 
 going without the prayers or the blessing, for 
 they don't get that in chapel, and a decent man 
 stands upon the seat, and, says he, ' Stop, boys, 
 there's more ;' and with that they all stopped 
 still, like mice, till the prayers and the blessing 
 was done. Well, thinks I to myself, it's a great 
 sight anyway to see the likes of them here." 
 
 " Well, it was a great sight, sure enough," said 
 Jem; "but I'm waiting to hear about yourself, 
 Pat, after what you done ; sure that's what I 
 want to hear." 
 
 " Amn't I coming to myself as fast as I can, if 
 you won't put me out," said Pat. " Well, Mr. 
 Owens gives out that ho would preach to them 
 again that night week. So I goes again, of 
 course ; and you know, Jem, there is five roads 
 leading up to the church. Well, who would I 
 pass on the road I went, walking back and forrad, 
 about fifty yards from the church, but Father 
 Peter, that's Father John's curate, looking at 
 every one, and taking their names ; and I heard 
 after there was a priest on every road. Well, 
 thinks I to myself, sui-e I'm done now anyway. 
 Well, I goes on to the church, but there wasn't 
 10 for 100 ; for sure they dui-sn't pass the priest. 
 
 /
 
 338 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 Well, it's witii ]Mr. Smith I was working ; and, 
 the next day, I sees Father John riding up to 
 )he house ; it's done now I am entirely, says I. 
 Well, Father John goes to the house, and he goes 
 away again ; and Mr. Smith comes into the field, 
 just looking after the work like ; and when he 
 comes to me, says he, 'I don't want you after the 
 night.' ' Well, your honour,' says I, 'sure there 
 is not a boy in the field more willing to work.' 
 'I don't want you,' says he, 'nor the likes of 
 you;' and with that he goes off". Well, I goes 
 home with the sore heart, and not a hand's turn 
 I done from that day to this, and it's the fortnight 
 to-day ; and, oh ! Jem, it's the sore thing and the 
 cruel thing to walk the roads, just not to hear 
 the childer's crying wdth the hunger, and to steal 
 into the house after dark, and be kept awake 
 with the poor chUder crying. Oh, aren't they 
 the cruel men that won't let the father use his 
 own hands to earn the bit to put into his own 
 innocent children's mouths, a«d them crying 
 about him with the hunger ! Oh, hadn't we 
 enough of that in the famine, and mightn't the 
 priests feel for us now ! Oh, is that the true 
 sense of the Scripture, at all, at all V and so Pat 
 began to ciy lik« a child over the children.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 339 
 
 " And is there nothing for the childer at all ]" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Sorra bit went into their mouths this day ; 
 for sure they lived on the one blanket this week, 
 and it's done last night," said Pat. 
 
 " Why, then, you'll just bring the craturs 
 down to me this night," said Jem; "for sure 
 I've the praties, and it's the big pot I'll put on, 
 and they will get their bellyfulls this night 
 anyway; so off with you, man, and bid them 
 stop crying." 
 
 So Pat went otf in a hurry, and Jem hurried 
 home to get on the big pot. 
 
 Well, the children turned to at the praties in 
 style ; and when Pat had got his share (for the 
 poor fellow was stinted worse than the rest, to 
 give the children what he could), Pat and Jem 
 fell to talking again. 
 
 " And what about the birds, Pat 1" said Jem. 
 
 "Well, it's thinking of that I am always," said 
 Pat. " It doesn't mean we can't be hungry at 
 all ; sure, I know that now; but it means some- 
 thing anyway— it means, anyway, that God cares 
 for lis ; and that He cares for what happens to 
 us ; and isn't that something 1" 
 
 " Well, a man that turns because it's right, 
 z 2
 
 340 TALK OP TilE KOAD. 
 
 might starve all out, and his childi'en too," said 
 Jem. 
 
 " There's no denying that now : he might, if 
 it was the -will of God," said Pat. 
 
 " Well, there was a deal that never read the 
 Bible, and never thought of God in earnest, that 
 died in the famine ; and, maybe, some that did," 
 said Jem. 
 
 " That's true, anyv/ay," said Pat, " I mind 
 the best Christian ever I knew just died for want 
 of the praties, and his children too." 
 
 " And what does it mean at all," said Jem, 
 " when Jesus Christ says, * Seek ye first the 
 kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and 
 all • these things shall be added unto you ' V 
 (Mat. vi. 38.) 
 
 " There is one thing it means, anyway, and no 
 mistake," said Pat ; " < Seek ye first the king 
 dom of God.' Oh, Jem, won't you seek that 
 first t Sure, there's no mistuke in that. "Wasn't 
 it you put me on the reading, and will you let me 
 ^o alone now ?" 
 
 " "Well, that's just what's troubling me," said 
 Jem ; " and there's no mistake in that surely. 
 But; what about the rest 1" 
 
 "Well, then, won't He do what's good V* sai(?
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 341 
 
 Pat. " lie won't keep us alive for ever. And 
 why would we ask it 1 isn't it the poor world for 
 the likes of us 1 Won't He take us some way 1 
 Won't it be sickness or suffering of some sort '? 
 Sure it be to be death ; and what signifies the 
 way 1 And if He takes us to His glory, sure it 
 won't be breaking His word with us ! And, any- 
 way, the word is good enough to make us trust 
 in Him, while He leaves us here ; and maybe 
 that's the meaning of it. For, sure, He won't 
 keep us here for ever, and why would wo ask it ! 
 And when He takes us out of it, sure His own 
 way is the best; better nor meal, nor praties, 
 nor anything." 
 
 ''Well, Pat," said Jem, " that's right anyway. 
 Sure, when God pleases to take us, the nothing 
 to eat is no more nor other sickness, when we 
 couldn't eat if we had it. Sure, why does a sick 
 man die, only 'cause he can't eat 1 and what does 
 it signify if the praties is there f But there is 
 one thing hard on me, Pat. Sure, if it was Goc' 
 sent the famine 1 could lie down and die under 
 His hand, and just put my trust in Him through 
 Jesus Christ; but when the priest sends the 
 famine on the childer, and him with the whiskey 
 [lunch afore him quite comfortable, sure that'.s 
 more nor flesh and blood can stand,"
 
 342 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 " Well, Jem, I'll put my trust in God, for all 
 the priest can do. And sure there is no saying 
 again' it, He helped me and the cliildren this 
 night anyway, out of your big pot ; His blessing 
 on you, Jem, for the good friend you are. And, 
 sure, if I get through till the praty planting, what 
 will I care for Father John and his calling at the 
 altar. Sui-e, times is turning for us that way. 
 Sure, Mr. Smith himself would be glad to get 
 me, sooner nor a blackguard at two-and-sixpence 
 that wouldn't do half a day's work of a man like 
 me ; but won't I take two shillings afore I go 
 back to the likes of him ? " 
 
 So Pat and the children went home to do 
 without the blanket ; and if we hear of what 
 happens to Pat, we will tell it as usual. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 HOW THE PRIESTS GOVERN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 " Well, Pat, how did you get through since ? " 
 said Jem. 
 
 '' Well, I put in the sorest time that ever came 
 on a wife and childer," said Pat. " I stood at 
 the cross, and I offered to work under wages, 
 and not a man would look at me ; for Father
 
 TAIiK OF THE KOAXt. 343 
 
 John read me out at the chapel, and when work 
 was scarce, and the boys all looking for it, no- 
 body would have any call to me." 
 
 " And wouldn't any of the Protestants give 
 you any work itself 1" said Jem. 
 
 "Well, the Protestants is mighty shy of them 
 that turns," said Pat. " They're afeard of 
 trouble, and they don't like to come under Father 
 John's tongue no more nor ourselves. And be- 
 sides, the people was riz about the election, and 
 all the blackguards was up, and them paid for 
 mischief, and the railway paid to fetch them on 
 Sundays and week days into Kilcommon frcw 
 Newtown, the way them that did the beating 
 would not be known, and no one durst go again 
 Father John and his boys while that la.sted ; and 
 it's myself that got it too, when Father Peter 
 gave the wink on me, and them boys followed 
 me out of the town, and fell to jostling and 
 kicking me." 
 
 "And did they hurt you, man V said Jem. 
 
 So Pat put one hand on his chin, and the other 
 
 to his upper lip, and he pulled his own mouth 
 
 open, and then he tried to say, " Will you look 
 
 vhere my teeth v^or, Jem ?" So Jem looked, 
 
 and three of Pat's front teeth were gona 

 
 344 Talk of the road. 
 
 " Oh, man alive, did the villains do that on 
 j'ou ?" said Jem. 
 
 "Wliy wouldn't they?" said Pat. "When 
 Father John took the praties off me, why 
 wouldn't they take the teeth ? What call would 
 T have to teeth V 
 
 " Isn't it the wonder the Government doesn't 
 make a law to let people do as they like and vote 
 as they like, without sticks and stones on them 1" 
 said Jem. 
 
 " Well, Jem, isn't there law for that already, 
 only the polis can't be on every road to see fair 
 play. Sure the law is good enough, if the priests 
 would only tell the boys to mind it ; but it's 
 neither law nor gospel with them. Well, I seen 
 one man anyway, and he did it rightly." 
 
 " And what was that, Pat V said Jem 
 
 " I don't know his name," said Pat, " but he 
 ivas a snug farmer, and him a Roman, coming in 
 to vote again the priest. And I seen him put 
 tiis horse in a stable, and his cart on the 
 street ; and he stuck the whip in under the hay, 
 ;;ud him just starting down the sti-eet to vote. 
 We\i, some decent people advised him for to not 
 ju;u down the street, for the boys was killing 
 1,'vei'yone with the sticks. Well be just turns
 
 TALK OP THE ROAD. SiH 
 
 ind looks down the street, and, sure enough, he 
 seen them at it. Well, the never a word he 
 says, but just takes the whip from under the hay, 
 and the fine new thong it had on it, and away he 
 walks down the street, and him looking that 
 quiet and that bould. Well, I just followed him 
 down a bit, and afore he got fifty yards there was 
 twenty made a run at him with the sticks. 
 Well, he just drew a crack of the cart-whip you 
 would hear a quarter of a mile off, and you never 
 seen a flock of sheep run purtier nor they ran 
 before him. Well, I seen Father Peter come 
 into the middle of them, and says he, ' For shame, 
 boys ; is it cowards you are 1 Go back to him 
 this minute ; ' and back they went, and the next 
 crack just sent them flying again ; and he 
 marched down the sti'eet, cracking his whip 
 every foot, and looking at no one, and not one 
 meddled him. Well, that was the time Father 
 Peter gave them the wink on me, and I knowed 
 I was set, and sure enough I was." 
 
 " And couldn't you swear it on them," said 
 
 Jem. 
 
 " A.nd how would T know the Newtown boys 
 ♦^'i swear it on ] " said Pat. " Sure, that's the 
 way it's done, by strange boys. And wasn't I
 
 346 TALK OF THK ROAD. 
 
 alone, and wouldn't there be t.wenty to swear I 
 done it myself 1 But I wouldn't care for that, 
 once the election is done," said Pat ; " sure it's 
 the praties and the work that I care for." 
 
 " And how did you come through at all 1 " said 
 Jem. 
 
 " The way we come through the famine — ■ 
 starving and crying," said Pat. " I never knew 
 worse in the famine ; and its harder nor all when 
 man does it on you, and not God." 
 
 " And wouldn't you speak to Mr. Owens, 
 maybe," said Jem. 
 
 " Well, I wouldn't, for I didn't turn for meal, 
 and I wouldn't have that put on me," said Pat ; 
 " and Mr. Owens thinks little of them that turn 
 for meal, or he could have plenty of them, as I 
 know well ; so I didn't go near him." 
 
 " And how did you get through at all 1 " 
 
 " Well, I put down the old coat I got after 
 harvest, and Biddy's petticoat, and on that we 
 got some turnips, and when that was done, the 
 childer cried themselves to sleep ; but when the 
 darlings got up next day, and never got bit nor 
 sup, and the wife crying in the corner, I thought 
 I was gone wild entirely. And the good wife 
 she is, that never said one word to fault what I
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 347 
 
 done, nor let me see her crying while she could 
 hide it. Well, that was the sore day, and it was 
 coming on the sore night, and I was thinking 
 would I take the childer to the workhouse, if 
 they got through the night ; but wouldn't that 
 be the sore place on them and me, after what I 
 done ? Sure, them that turns has no business in 
 the workhouse. And where would I ever get 
 another cabin to put them in, if I got out again ? 
 Well, while I was turning it over, what would 
 come into the house only a bng with a half-huu- 
 dred of meal, and a new blanket, and five shillings, 
 that Mr. Owens sent down when he heard the 
 way we were. Well, if the darlings hadn't their 
 supper that night, it was quare. Well, I went 
 do\vn to Mr. Owens next day to thank him for 
 the childer's lives ; and he allowed it wasn't he 
 done it at all. ' It surely was, your I'everence,' 
 says I. And with that he said it was money that 
 was given to him by reason of the Rights ol 
 Conscience Society, and that if I didn't get work 
 to earn for the childer's bread, he would get the 
 Rights of Conscience Society to come to the 
 place themselves, and set up work for them that 
 WHa put out of it. ' And what's the Conscience 
 Society, you*- »«vereuce ? ' says 1. And so ha
 
 348 TALK OP THE ROAD. 
 
 told me it was a society in Dublin and in Eng- 
 land that allowed every man had I'ights of con- 
 science to worship God and read his book, and 
 that woiild help every man to that same when it 
 was took oflp him. And he allowed it was the 
 Protestant Archbishop of Dublin and the Pro- 
 testants that done that same. * I mind that now,' 
 says I. ' Sure I seen a man out of England that 
 told me he went into a meeting, and heard the 
 Archbishop making them a speech, telling them 
 ^o keej) lip the rights of conscience ; but it's little 
 I thought then it was to send the supper into my 
 poor darlings' mouths, and them at the last 
 shift."* 
 
 " "Well, if that don't come nearer to feeding the 
 birds nor anything ever I heard," said Jem. 
 " If the quality would only mind that advice, 
 and stand up for the rights of conscience for 
 every man to do what he knows is right, that 
 would be the thing to put heart into poor men 
 like us to do what's right. It will be the great 
 day for Ireland when the rights of conscience is 
 free. But how did you come on, Pat, when that 
 meal was out 1" 
 
 " Well," said Pat, " that got me through till 
 
 * We greatly regret tliat this valuable Society no longer exists.
 
 TALK OF THE ROAD. 349 
 
 tlif weather took up for the praty-planting. bo 
 1 takes my spade, and stands at the cross. Well, 
 who would come by but Father Peter, and says 
 he, ' Boys, aren't you Catholics, and is it stand- 
 ing with a turncoat heretic you are V says he 
 ' What business has turncoat heretics about the 
 cross V says he. ' Will I be ashamed of you for 
 boys that won't stand up for your religion V 
 says he. With that I spoke up to him : 'It's the 
 Queen's street I'm on,' says ' and I ax leave oi 
 no man to stand on it. I'm come here to 
 earn the childer's bread with my own hands, and 
 nobody else's,' says I. ' You'll have to leave this; 
 says he. * Boys,' says he, ' will you stand it to 
 have the likes among you 1 Well, with that 
 Mr. Nulty steps in, hiring men. ' He won't 
 leave it till I hire him, Father Peter,' says 
 Nulty. * Is it hiring turncoat heretics you are ?' 
 says Father Peter. ' That won't hurt his dig- 
 ging,' says Mr. Nulty. ' Sure, he's the best spade 
 in the parish, and I'll hire him afore anyone. 
 Boys, wages is high, and I don't grudge top 
 price, and over too ; but the man that gives work 
 for the wages is the man for me,' says Mr. Nulty. 
 Well, Father Peter got quite mad, and says he, 
 * If you hire that turncoat you'll pot get another
 
 ^^0 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 man in the street to go with you ;' and with that 
 he kept looking at the boys as if he Avas cursing 
 every mother's son of them in his heart, 'cause 
 he knew well there wasn't a man there that 
 wouldn't sooner go to Mr. Nulty nor to anyone 
 else. 'Won't I?' says Mr. Nulty. 'Isn't it a 
 free country, and can't every man do as he likes 
 with his own hands and his own money ; but it 
 isn't free all as one as the slave states of America, 
 where no man thinks he's free but when he's 
 walloping a nigger. We want no slave-drivers 
 here to make us free of their horsewhips, nor no 
 niggers to work for walloping or horsewhipping.' 
 I give free wages, and I'll get free men,' says Mr. 
 Nulty ; and then he turns to the boys, and says 
 he, * I meddle with no man's i-eligion, and I have 
 no call to them that does ; let every man take 
 his own way for that, and give another the 
 libex-ty he likes himself: wages for work and 
 work foi' wages is the bargain here.' Well, he 
 said that out like a man. You know, Jem, the 
 way Mr. Nulty lays a thing down, as if it was 
 better nor done once he says it. So Father 
 Peter seen he was beat, and off he went, choking 
 with rage, and Mr. Nulty just took the pick of 
 the boys ; and now, Jem, I would get work at
 
 tjlle. of the road. 351 
 
 the cross just the same as another, and FatLer 
 Peter himself won't dare to say again it." 
 
 "Well, there's Dothiiig beats a priest like 
 standing up to him, because they're not used to 
 '«='^} said Jem ; " and they are so feared, too, be- 
 cause once the boys sees they can be beat, why 
 they are down entirely." 
 
 " Jem, it's the work that will make Ireland 
 free," said Pat. " Sure, when labourers is s-^arce, 
 a mail will be took for his spade, and not to 
 please the priest. And I know what I'll do now: 
 I'll handle myself at the spade ; for sure when a 
 man gets good wages he may give good work, 
 and never fear but he'll get the wages now, when 
 he gives the value ; for them that has to give 
 high wages will be MvuiV/id for willing hands 
 and hearts to work. So, with God's blessing, I 
 will get through yet." 
 
 We trust what the Irish people have already 
 suffered, and what they may yet learn, may be 
 made instrumental in making Ireland free. 
 There is no liberty like that which Christ has 
 promised: " If ye continue in my word, ye shall 
 know the truth, and the truth shall make you 
 free." And we believe that the present state of 
 the 1aV)our market, and the rising rate of wages,
 
 352 TALK OF THE ROAD. 
 
 will do more than any law could do towards so 
 curing to the people of Ireland the power of bein'. 
 free. But wage.'^ can be raised and obtained 
 at their proper level only by labourers being re- 
 solved to give good value for good wages, as F +. 
 intends to do. 
 
 Wo only wish there wei-e more Mr. Nulf.y.? in 
 
 iieland. 
 
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