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"shall arise from this bed in health and peace." And the Bishop left me to reflection; and in the morning I arose in health, and, I hope, improved in virtue. His preaching is very impressive; and his voice, language, and manner, are all excellent. I could occasionally detect a dash of the soft dialect of his country in his flexible and varied tones. His action is subdued by good taste, and is wholly subservient to the dignity of his subject. Of course, his discourses are extempore.

To me the daily intercourse of a Priest was in itself a novelty, and I examined into his character, and analyzed its component parts, with the intense curiosity of a child struck at the sight of a flower he has never seen before. It was charming to observe his dress and habits; his violet robe, and garments of delicate lace,* his mystic signet ring of contrite amethyst, his chain and crucifix of gold. His manners so gentle, but so distant, so courteous, yet so reserved, seemed to me unusual and quite peculiar. His conversation is delightful, and he is singularly well informed on many

* I have understood that he has the peculiar and inherent love of fine linen, which often distinguishes men of exalted character.

subjects unconnected with his profession. The pictures of the Bishop have been chiefly painted since he became a "man of battle," and convey an impression of anxious, and somewhat stern deportment. There is one, however, of earlier date, by Neagle, in the house of the Jesuits of St. Joseph's, in Philadelphia, where he long resided. The youthful Priest is painted in his robe of white and stole of silver; THE SACRED BOOK lies open before him; the complexion is fair and ruddy; the forehead thoughtful; the lip severe; the hair in profusion, light and curling; the countenance is benign, full of sweetness, and possessing that elevated and unearthy expression which is so frequent among the Superior Priesthood of the Catholic Church; the picture reminded me of the beloved Evangelist, whose name he bears. But changed is this face of youth and hope since he was torn from the peaceful labours of the cloister, and compelled to run the gauntlet through the ranks of prejudiced and angry politicians. It is now a face of care, of age, and sometimes of suffering. The Bishop somewhat stoops, but not from age, for he has not yet numbered fifty winters; nor

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from infirmity, for his make is muscular, though not of large proportions; but study, prayer, and other priestly duties have laid their impress on his frame; and he yields not to the requirements made his time for needful repose, or ease; "Sleep, nature's soft nurse," is oftentimes by him unsought; his frugal meal is consumed in haste, like the Passover; the heat of summer, and the cold of winter are both by him alike unheeded; if the infant require baptism; the young instruction; the betrothed their marriage; the pious their communion; if the guilty desire to unburthen his conscience, the penitent to be absolved from his sin; or the dying to be consoled with the last affecting sacrament of his religion; for all and each of these, this Catholic Priest is ready and willing to devote each hour, to surrender all personal comfort, to risk his health or safety, and even to die in the fulfilment of his duty.-And this is the universal spirit of the admirable Clergy, of which he is the Prototype.

Each interview which I had with this singular and exalted personage, was in itself an event, marked with new features; and I never ceased to

feel his superiority; he was ever one above me; and I constantly recognised the influence which he is acknowledged to exercise over the minds of others. I have never known any man who possessed this inexplicable and mysterious element of power in so eminent a degree, and who used it so habitually and so unconsciously. None ever regarded him with indifference; by some he is hated; by some feared; and by many loved; but his name is never pronounced unattended by some striking and expressive epithet. I approach him with reverence and with diffidence, for separated from him by my Country, my Religion, and my sex, the usual intimacies of society never seemed in accordance with his station. Serene, apart, and passionless,—and high, and pure, and holy, I cannot mingle him with things material. Familiarity intrudes not into his presence; and worldly objects become divested of their importance, and sink into insignificance. Deeply conscious of the divinity of his mission, he clothes Religion with majesty and beauty; never have I discerned even a momentary weakness in his nature; never heard an unguarded word escape his lips; never, for an

instant, beheld his reason unseated from her throne. An habitual elevation of mind and sentiment prevails in his discourse and correspondence; and in all that concerns himself, may be remarked, the most refined and sensitive delicacy; he shrinks with innate disgust from even the involuntary thought of a dereliction from the most scrupulous morality. The untrodden snow, fresh from the clouds of Heaven, is not more pure than is his conscience, nor more spotless than the record of his life; and if human feeling, with unbidden presence, does sometimes penetrate the recesses of his bosom, it there is separated from earthly and corrupting influences, and becomes a heavenly sentiment.

Among the few ordinary attributes of character which belong to him, are a certain love of adventure and admiration of the picturesque. He enjoys the Ocean and its dangers; to him they are delight; "As rises the tempest, so does my spirit.'

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Niagara by moonlight, and the surrounding landscape crisped with hoary frost.”—“ I love my "beautiful, tormented birth place with fond, and pitying, and undying memory."—" Sweet to

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