Magazine," and "Sunday at
Home." The reading of an article in the "Leisure Hour," entitled the
"Thief in the Confessional," was the chief cause of the readings being
discontinued both in the work-rooms and the hospital. As this happened
recently and the particulars are still fresh in my memory I will
narrate them here. There were readings aloud in four hospital and three
work-rooms in the prison. In the hospital the Roman Catholics were kept
by themselves, and had a Roman Catholic reader. In the prison they were
scattered among the Protestants, and in the three work-rooms referred
to, perhaps about one-fifth of the prisoners were Roman Catholics. In
these rooms a Protestant reader was appointed, and there was no
disturbance about this arrangement until the arrival of a few Fenians,
and a zealous or rather an officious priest.

Shortly after their arrival the other Roman Catholic prisoners became
for the most part Fenians, and religious animosities soon sprang up
among the prisoners. Macaulay's History of England was being read by
one of my fellow prisoners, in one of the work-rooms, or sheds, as they
were called, when one of the ignorant and bigoted members of the Roman
Catholic creed got up and objected to its being read, and complained to
the governor on the subject. The governor, anxious perhaps to please
the new visiting director, who was reported to be a Roman Catholic,
took the complainant's part. The reading of the book was discontinued,
to the great exultation of the Roman Catholics: however, I got the same
book, and it was read from beginning to end in the work-room where I
was employed! the chaplain and the more intelligent Roman Catholics
considering it a very suitable book for the purpose. About this time I
wished to be exempted from reading on account of my health, and when I
could get a substitute I did give it up for some time; but the
substitutes available were not popular with the prisoners, and it was
very difficult to find suitable readers amongst them. Two of the Roman
Catholics wanted to read, one was a Fenian and a literary man, the
other was an ignorant conceited professional thief and an avowed
infidel, but they were not allowed: meanwhile the article I have
referred to as appearing in the "Leisure Hour," was read in one of the
sheds, and it so offended some of the Roman Catholics and the
professional thief and infidel who was not allowed to read, that he
took the matter before the director, who