St. John's Well.

Rags of the cured.

shaken, and at a later period I came to the conclusion that it was a priestly device to insnare the conscience and to enslave men.

"Another thing which made early a deep impression on my mind was this. On my first remembered journey to Dublin, we passed by a place called, unless I mistake, St. John's Well. It is one of the 'holy wells' of Ireland. There was a vast crowd of poor-looking and diseased people around it. Some were praying, some shouting; many were up in the trees which surrounded it. All these trees were laden, in all their branches, with shreds of cloth of every possible variety and color. I inquired what all this meant. I was told, 'This is St. John's Well, and these people come here to get cured.' But what do those rags mean, hanging on the trees? I was told that the people who were not immediately cured tied a piece of their garments on some limb of the trees, to keep the good saint of the well in mind of their application; and, judging from the number of pieces tied on the trees, I inferred that the number that went away cured were very few. I had previously read some travels in Africa describing some of the religious rites of the sable sons of that continent, and the thought that those performed around St. John's Well were just like them occurred to me. I have no doubt but that the rites witnessed in my youth are performed there yet; that the rags of diseased persons are now streaming from those trees to remind the saint of the requests of those who suspended them. There was always a priest present to hear confessions, and to receive the pennies of the poor pil

B.

Sun dancing.

The trick discovered.

grims; and the impression then made upon my mind was, that it was a piece of paganism.

"I well remember yet another of these impostures. When a boy, I often heard that on the morning of Easter Sunday the sun might be seen dancing in the heavens and in the chapels, to express its joy on the anniversary of the resurrection of Christ, and I often wished to be where I could witness the phenomenon. It took place in a certain chapel, and in the presence of many pious and admiring beholders. An unbeliever in priestly miracles was present, who traced up the dancing of the sunbeams through the chapel to an individual managing concealed mirrors so as to produce the wonderful effect! Of this I heard; and although it seemed incredible, yet it made an impression on my mind. The probability of the imposture can not be doubted by those who know that the earth which covers the grave of Father Sheely (who was convicted of treason, and hung in the county of Tipperary), when boiled in milk, cures a variety of dis

eases.

"For years together I sat daily at table with a Catholic priest, who was a member of the family, and the curate of the parish, and I never saw a Bible used in the family. I never heard at table, or in the morning, or in the evening, a religious service. The numbers of the Douay Bible, published by subscription in folio, were taken in the family, but never read. And not only so, but I never heard a sermon preached in a Catholic chapel in Ireland, nor a word of explanation on a single Christian topic, doctrine, or duty. The

His mind a blank.

Fasting.

thing nearest to a sermon that I heard was a scold from the altar because some person sent for the priest at midnight to confess and anoint a dying person. And before I was sixteen years of age I never read a chapter in the Word of God, while in other respects my education was not neglected. I often asked the meaning of this thing and the other, but there was no explanation.

"On reaching the years of maturity my mind was a perfect blank as to all religious knowledge. While my mind was filled with superstitious notions concerning meats and penances, and external observances and legends, it was utterly ignorant of the Bible. With my Missal I was somewhat familiar: I said the Catechism when I was confirmed, at the age of nine or ten, and that was the amount of my religious education. At the age of eighteen years the Catechism was forgotten and the Missal was neglected; and as my conscience was uneducated, and my mind unfurnished with religious principles, the only test of truth left me was my common sense. I then became the associate of companions of Protestant education, who would sometimes ask me my reason for this and that observance, and not being able to give any, as none were ever given me, I was frequently put to the blush.

"From my youth up I was taught to abstain from all meats on Fridays and Saturdays. Why on these days more than any other I was never told. And if, by mistake, I was involved in the violation of this law, I felt a burden upon my conscience of which confession could only relieve me. Circumstances led me to

No meat on Friday.

His first step.

inquire into this matter. I saw good papists eating eggs, and fish, and getting drunk on these days, but this was no violation of the law of the Church! Yet, if these persons should eat meat of any kind, or use gravy in any way, their consciences were troubled, and they must perform penance! This led me to ask, Is this reasonable? If I may eat meat on Thursday, why not on Friday? Can God, in things of this kind, make that to be a sin on one day which is not on another? I saw, also, persons for whose moral worth I had the highest regard eating meats on those days, and without any injury, and I came to the conclusion that the regulations upon this matter were unreasonable, and rejected them. And, as far as I now remember, this was my first step toward light and freedom.

"Devoted to reading at this period of my life, I perused, without discrimination, every thing that came in my way. Some book or tract, now forgotten, gave rise to some inquiries as to the Mass. I asked, What does it mean? I could not tell, though for years a regular attendant upon it. Why does the priest dress so? What book does he read from when carried now to his right and now to his left? What mean those candles burning at noonday? Why do I say prayers in Latin which I understand not? Should I not know what I am saying when addressing my Maker? Why bow down, and strike my breast, when the little bell rings? What does it all mean? The darkness of Egypt rested upon these questions. I thus reasoned with myself: God is a spiritual and intelligent being,

The Mass abandoned.

and He requires an intelligent worship.

Conviction.

What wor

ship I render Him in the Mass I know not. My intelligent worship only is acceptable to Him, and is beneficial to me. I am a rational being, and I degrade my nature and insult my Maker by offering to Him a worship in which neither my reason nor His intelligence is consulted. Having come to this conclusion, I gave up the Mass as a superstitious form, well enough fitted for an idol, but unfitted to be rendered by a rational being to the infinitely intelligent Jehovah. I have never been to Mass since, save out of curiosity to see how an ignorant people can be edified by what seems to me the most unmeaning and farcical of all the rites that ever man has devised.

"When I came to this conclusion on the subject of the Mass, I experienced no great difficulty as to other matters which passed rapidly in review before me. Must I go to confession? My prejudices said Yes; my reason said No; and my logic was simply as follows: If I truly repent of my sins, God will forgive me; if I do not, the priest can not absolve me; and I spurned as unreasonable, and as an insult to my common sense, the terrible doctrine that 'every Christian is bound, under pain of damnation, to confess to a priest all his mortal sins, which, after diligent examination, he can possibly remember; yea, even his most secret sins-his very thoughts; yea, and all the circumstances of them which are of any moment.'

"With yet greater abhorrence I gave up the doctrine of transubstantiation. As explained by Dr. Challoner in his 'Catholic Christian Instructed,' it means