The Cross and the Shamrock

o travel, and his progress, in company with his faithful guide, was tedious and slow in the extreme. The call was to a sick woman named Finmore, who was

one to be found in all America," he said, "provided he got a horse and wagon from the stable of the rich Yankee." And it was in company with this simple but brave and faithful man that Father O'Shane set out on the evening of the widow's death. They had not advanced many miles, however, when the wind veered round to the north-west, and a most violent snow storm blew quite i

t," said the boss; "the roads

man, "or die in the attempt; so let us have

ter? Ye ain't subpoenaed, or going to

n dangerously ill, and yon gentleman in the sitting room is a d

hould have had it and welcome. It will be ready in no time. Hitch on

they had come such a journey. Father O'Shane-poor old gentleman!-suffered terribly; had his ears frostbitten, and two of his fingers frozen. But no matter; a soul was to be saved, and that consideration alleviated all his sufferings,

rend sir," said O'Leary. "

e next world? All I regret is that you did not send me in the sick call sooner. All is well, however; she was perfectly conscious, and, I hope, worthily recei

She sends her divine manna, to strengthen him and sustain him for the trying and unknown journey; and she sends the music of her sweet hymns and litanies to cheer him on, and the light of indulgences and benedictions to guide his soul, illumine his understanding, and shed the rays of their heavenly reflection on the difficult passage that he has to traverse. And this food, these blessings, gifts, and graces, she has ready for all repentant sinners without exception, be they the inmates of the true fold, or straying without the bounda

nsolations of thy church! O Lord, the many sheep that are here not of thy fold gather and bring in speedily, that there may be but one fold and one Shepherd, as tho

n the valleys between hills; whole herds of sheep and cattle were suffocated; and the bodies of several teamsters, whose teams were overset, were du

nd he also regretted that he had it not in his power, according to his promise to the widow O'Clery, to visit her next day, and provide for her poor

y consigned to its narrow, cold habitation, than the official, assisting the children into the slei

county house" was something different from the much dreaded

her; she's ha

her dress is

ull that ere buf

athing on her little bare hands, w

said Paul; "we don't want to go there. The priest that attende

n he do so?" sa

e to my uncle, who is a vicar general in Ireland,

itish sarvice, then, and

iest next to the bishop

how. You must live here in this free country, and learn to be a man

' when all the people were Catholics; and where I came from, even now, they are all mostly Catholics. There are in the whole

, as he dismounted from the sleigh and or

hin the precincts of the terrible poorhouse. "O Lord, what will we do?" cried they. "O sir, do

ter than ye ever were used to. Take these young 'uns to the stove in the kitchen," said he to an under official. And the sobs and groans of the

Ireland, than this institution. Solely founded, as they are told, for their special use and benefit, there are instances, countless, on record, where the affectio

and grandfathers, and in vain look back for the existence of a poorhouse, or any necessity for its existence, before the advent of the "godly reformation" and the established church in their midst. They heard of such establishments as the ancient "beataghs," or houses of hospitality, which were provided for the stranger and destitute in every townland, the doors of which were open day and night, and on the boards of which cooked victuals for scores of men were continually ready. These were the

or Nial of the hostages planted his colors on the Alps, there was enough to feed the poor of Ireland. There was no necessity for a poorhouse; and there is

have a sympathy for, or at least are of, the same blood, religion, and race with its inmates. But in Ireland the case is different. The poorhouses, prison-l

than the lord of the soil allows the meanest dog in his kennel. Add to these the separation of man and wife, the isolation of members of the same family, the dangers of perversion and proselytism to the thinning ranks of the "law church;" and then, if you can, blame the poor Irishman for his horror of the dreadful poorhouse of England. He

en and women are ground up and annihilated-a labor-saving machine of political economy, introduced into the world by the robbers of the reformation, in order to get rid of surpl

t plundered and squandered by the vilest of the human race, as in Britain; hospitals, churches, abbeys, monasteries, convents, and other endowed provisions for the poor, were not robbed and confiscated by the sectarians of the new world, (probably because they did not exist there;) and hence the essential difference between the English and American poorhouse. There is no part of the Scripture the reforma