ten numbered several thousands. As
he gave out the words of the pledge to abstain, with the Divine
assistance, from all intoxicating liquors, he laid great emphasis on the
word "liquors," pronouncing the last syllable of the word with almost
exaggerated distinctness. After this he would go round the ring of those
kneeling to take the pledge, and put round the neck of each the ribbon
with the medal attached.

I ought to remember his visit to Liverpool, for I took the pledge from
him three times during his stay in the town.

My mother took the whole family, and, wherever he was--at St. Patrick's,
or in a great field on one side of Crown Street, or at St.
Anthony's--there she was with her family. She was a woman with the
strong Irish faith in the supernatural, and in the power of God and His
Church, that can "move mountains." A younger brother of mine had a
running in his foot which the doctors could not cure. She determined to
take Bernard to Father Mathew and get him to lay his hands on her boy.

At St. Patrick's, with her children kneeling around her, she asked the
good Father to touch her son. He, no doubt thinking it would be
presumptuous on his part to claim any supernatural gift, passed on
without complying with her request. Father Mathew's next gathering was
in the Crown Street fields. I was a boy of about nine years, attending
Copperas Hill schools. Mr. Connolly, who was in charge, was a very good
master, but there was nothing very Irish in his teaching. Some idea of
this may be formed when I mention that--though there were not a dozen
boys in the school who were not Irish or of Irish extraction--the first
map of Ireland I ever saw was on the back of one of O'Connell's Repeal
cards.

It was not until the Christian Brothers came, a few years afterwards,
that this was changed. I shall always be grateful to that noble body of
men, not only for the religious but for the national training they gave.
We had Brothers Thornton and Swan--the latter since the Superior of the
Order in Ireland.

Under them we not only had a good map of Ireland, but they taught us, in
our geography lessons, the correct Irish pronunciation of the names of
places, such as (spelling phonetically) "Carrawn Thooal," "Croogh
Phaudhrig," and similar words.

But our old master, Mr. Connolly, was a good man too, according to his
lights. Hearing of Father Mathew's visit, he asked how many of the boys
would go to Crown Street to "take the pledge"-