virtue to virtue, and
honor to honor, he became the glory of the church, and exercised such
influence on the destinies of his countrymen and of those committed to
his charge, that he might adopt the language of Joseph to his brethren:
"God hath sent me before you into Egypt, that you may be preserved on
the earth, and have _food to live_." (Gen. xlv. 7.) But this is
anticipating what naturally should have its place at the conclusion of
our narrative.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE DESERTED HOME OF THE ORPHANS.

"Now," said Murty O'Dwyer, one Sunday evening, as all the members of the
Prying family were seated around the tea table, "will any body doubt the
usefulness of confession? The very robber who, while under the influence
of drink and evil advice, plundered the widow O'Clery and her orphans of
their money, has returned from the scorching plains of the south, in
obedience to the advice of the priest to whom he confessed, to make
restitution; and he has made it."

"It beats all I ever heard," said Mr. Prying.

"That is only an ordinary occurrence with Catholics," rejoined Murty.
"Thousands of dollars, and I might say millions of money, are yearly
restored to those to whom it belongs, through the influence of this
divine institution."

"I wonder what has Paul done with the rest of the money, after paying
for the board of himself and his sister and brothers?" said Calvin.

"He has given me two hundred of it," said Murty, "to compensate me for
what I lost on account of the malice of Dominie Boorman, the
Presbyterian, because I could not believe according to his cruel code of
irreligion. He paid one hundred dollars for masses for the soul of poor
Cunningham, who died of fever and ague one week after his having made
the restitution. Two thousand, I believe, Paul paid into the convent
where his sister Bridget has gone to become a nun. And the rest, I
believe, he spent in raising an elegant monument over his parents and
beloved Eugene's remains. O, yes, I forgot; he paid five hundred dollars
towards the new Catholic church, S.A., where his convert friends
reside."

"It is to me the strangest thing on earth," said old Mrs. Prying, "how
liberal these Catholics are in paying to the support of their religion.
Where on earth do they get the means to put up such costly buildings as
they have erected in scores, within my own knowledge, these past five
years?"

"So far from this being strange," said Murty, "madam, it is the