and the best security against the wiles of your enemies: keep the
commandments, and hear the Church."

On this day no less than ninety-five received, and the effects of this
one visit even were felt by the overseers and employers of these men for
months to come. Even Anne Council, the girl whom we introduced as
disputing with her ignorant mistress about "the freedom of
worship,"--and which dispute was then decided in Anne's favor by the
interference of the boss, who remonstrated with his wife on her
imprudence in resolving to discharge her maid in the midst of their
hurry, while there was no chance of having her place supplied,--even
Anne, brought to a better sense by the advice of the priest administered
in confession, when she came home asked her saucy mistress's pardon for
speaking back to her this morning.

"I forgive you, Anne," she said; "though I am sure there is not a _lady_
in the hollow that would put up with your impudence but myself."

"I know I am hot," answered Anne, smothering her anger at this second
provocation in being called _impudent_. "The priest told us to be
obedient to those even who are not amiable nor kind; to serve them for
God's sake, as a punishment for our sins."

"Now," said Mr. Warren to his wife, "you see Anne has rather improved by
her visit to the priest, which you thought to prevent. Were you and I to
be _at her_ for six months, we could not get her to acknowledge as much
as she now has. The fact is, I am certain those much-abused priests are
far ahead of our dominies in knowledge of religion and human nature. It
is impossible otherwise to account for the influence they exercise over
the ungovernable Irish race, and over those millions whom they instruct