is preserved. Surely
this is a redeeming virtue. Catholics are untiring in schemes of
benevolence and philanthropy."

"You will start, and perhaps condemn me, when I reply, that their
boasted charity is but the mask behind which they disseminate the
doctrines of the Romish Church. I may appear very uncharitable in
the expression of this opinion; yet hear me, Florry; facts are
incontrovertible. If you will think a moment, you cannot fail to
remember Patrick, the porter at our friend Mrs. D----'s. Having
received a dangerous wound in his foot, he was sent to the hospital,
where several of the nurses were Sisters of Charity. He remained
nearly a month, and on his return related to Mrs. D----, in my
presence, some of the circumstances of his long illness. His words
made a lasting impression on my mind:

"'Indeed, and I am glad enough to come home, ma'am; for never was I
treated worse in my life. The first week Sister Agnes, who nursed
in my room, was kind and tender as could be, and thought I, if ever
angels come to earth, this good woman is one; but I can tell ye I did
not think so long: she read some saints' lives to us, and asked me if
I was a Catholic. I said no, I was no Catholic. Then she tried every
way to make me one, and told me if I refused I would surely die and go
to purgatory. Faith! the more she talked that way the more I wouldn't
be a Catholic; and then she just let me alone, and not another thing
would she do for me. I might call from then till now, and never a step
would she come, or nurse me a bit. It is no good care of hers that has
brought me back alive and well: I tell you, Sister Agnes won't do for
any but Catholics.'

"Florry, is such charity akin to that taught by the Bible? Catholics
boast of their asylums; and by means of fairs and suppers, large
amounts are annually collected for the support of these numerous
institutions. I have been told by a directress of a Protestant orphan
asylum, that on one occasion a squalid woman, accompanied by two boys,
presented herself and entreated that her children might be received
into the asylum. The unhappy mother informed the directress that she
was a Roman Catholic, and had claimed the protection of her own sect;
but, said she, tearfully, 'Indeed I had no money to pay for their
entrance, and they refused to take my children.'

"Such, Florry, is their boasted charity; and I might add, their lives
are little in accordance with the spirit inculcated by our S