mantel-piece; when Tom hears those tunes I guess he'll take the hint." And he did.

Tom called about eight o'clock that night and assured Polly that it seemed like an age since he had seen her, although not more than eighteen hours had elasped. Just before ten o'clock Polly's father glided cautiously into the room adjoining the parlor and glued his ear to the door-crack. Presently the clock struck ten, but Mr. Haskinson waited in vain for the music to follow the last stroke.

66

·

I must ha' made a mistake of an hour in settin' the blamed thing," he said. "It's pretty rough, but I'll keep awake another hour." When the lover's alarm began to strike eleven, the unsuspecting father mentally observed, "Now for Goodbye, Sweetheart.' But instead of that tune, the clock began to play, "Don't Go, Dear Tommy, Don't Go." Tom recognized the tune in an instant, and rewarding the roguish Polly with an explosive kiss, said:

"Why, you little goose; did you think I'd leave at such a ridiculously early hour? Not much."

Seems to me," murmured the deceived Mr. Haskinson in the next room, "that 'ere tune don't sound much like 'Good-bye, Sweetheart,' and it's not goin' to move him either. The lover's alarm is an infernal swindle; but I'll give it one more chance. If Dawn is Breaking' don't make him reach for his hat and make tracks, danged if I don't get a clock or something that shoots dynamite bombs."

As the last stroke of twelve rang out, the clock began to play "Stay a Little Longer, Love."

"You bet I will," gushed the delighted Tom, kissing the strategic girl some more. "Your musical clock, Polly, is a very clever idea, indeed; and I greatly appreciate the delicate method you have adopted to show me that my company is agreeable, no matter how late I may stay."

Then he kissed her again as a guarantee of his sincerity. "Well, darn my buttons!" softly ejaculated old Haskinson. 'Dawn is Breaking' is a consarned failure too!

that lover's alarm clock inside out.'

With this dire threat he went to bed.

"The

To-morrow I'll kick

An hour later Tom kissed Polly "good night," and the ingenious girl permitted him to depart without acquainting him how she had played a shabby trick on the only father she had in the world.

WHEN you meet with some contradiction, take your resolutions and place them in the wounds of our Lord, and pray Him to preserve them and you with them; then wait ourselves in His presence. Beware of thinking it necessary to offer each action to our Lord, for that would interfere with the simplicity of the practice of the presence of God.— St. Francis de Sales.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BURNING OF THE URSULINE NUNNERY, AUGUST, 11, 1834.

"FIRE! Fire!" was the cry of fifty odd years ago, when the flames streamed from the Ursuline convent on Mount Benedict, in what is now a part of Somerville. An old resident, whose house was near the scene of the outrage, tells graphically the story:

"I was but a boy at the time, and yet so vividly was the terrible excitement impressed upon me that it seems as if the years that have since passed were but so many days. I lived in Charlestown and was an apprentice to my father's brother. My sister went to the convent, or as we called it, the 'nunnery' school; and, as mother was dead, she lived altogether at the convent. For days great excitement prevailed in Charlestown. At the corners men were discussing the rumor, that proved so false, of the solitary incarceration of a young nun in the convent dungeon. Some openly declared she had been murdered by her sister nuns, and though stronger grew the bitter feeling, we had no idea of the terrible violence to come. But the crisis was near. On the 11th of August men began to gather around the convent walls. Soon a cart came by the house bearing tar barrels. And now I never can forget the sight- there came rushing by over one hundred men in hideous disguises and with painted faces.

Torches were Blazing, Tar Barrels Burning,

and men yelling, a perfect pandemonium of fiends. The convent windows were broken by stones and clubs, and the inmates were called on to leave the building. Suddenly the tumult was hushed, but for a moment, however; then the work of rapine commenced. Doors were burst open and the mob entered the building. Furnishings, pianos, harps, the altar and its sacred furniture - all were borne to the yard and destroyed. And then the torch was applied and the buildings were in flames. As the fire spread, the broken furniture was thrown into the blazing pile. The miscreants, maddened by scenes of violence, applied torches to the bishop's lodge, the stables and the old wooden nunnery that was a short distance off. The conflagration was at its height when the Charlestown and Cambridge fire companies came on the scene, and, to their shame be it said, they refused to work, and by force prevented the Boston department from extinguishing the flames. No one dared oppose the mob, and as I looked from our roof I saw all join in the insane destruction of property. All through the night

Fresh Scenes of Violence were Enacted.

The bishop's large and valuable library was made food for the flames. But the greatest outrage was now perpetrated. The tomb of the institution, was rifled, the plates torn from the coffins, the contents thrown on the ground and exposed to further insult. But, let my sister tell you her experience. She was in the convent at the time of its destruction."

"I was so small at the time," said the lady, "that I can remember

but little. However, I will tell you what I can. The night of the fire we retired to our dormitories as usual, but had hardly got to sleep when a dreadful noise awoke us. We sprang up and ran into the corridors, where the nuns followed, as frightened as ourselves. The mother superior went about directing the sisters in their terror. After a little all was quiet again, and we started for our beds, but, never reached them. Cries of 'fire' and the sight of flames drove us from the build ing by the rear door. We ran through the field and fell down the hill, for it was dark. Many of us were badly bruised. At the foot of the

hill was a fence over which most of us were unable to climb, and we had to wait till help came. Then, with some of my companions, we ran to my uncle's house, where in great fear we passed the night. • That is all I remember about it."

The Gentleman, then Continued:

"Greater excitement than ever existed after the fire. Boston was aroused; the press in strongest terms condemned the outrage; the citizens called a mass meeting at Faneuil Hall; the towns of Charlestown and Cambridge also held mass meetings, and at all these assemblies the strongest resolutions were passed. The Irish Catholics were fearfully excited, and vengeance was the cry. All praise can be ascribed to Bishop Fenwick, who counseled moderation and successfully allayed the excitement. The agitation was not entirely over, however, and confidence was not yet restored. The next night, the 12th of August, a mob, armed with knives and pistols, marched through the streets of Boston, menaced the Franklin Street Catholic Church, and then proceeded to Charlestown, where they made a bonfire of the convent fences. The people were alarmed, the military were called out, and the men from the revenue cutter Hamilton were quartered in Faneuil Hall. The citizens formed armed patrols and paraded in their several wards. A vigilance committee was organized, and further trouble was anticipated. But the pacific counsels of the leading gentleman, and the abhorence of the deed by all good citizens, gradually restored confidence. The city and State offered large rewards for the conviction of the offenders. Trials began, the law took its course, and the event faded from the minds of men. Now, after half a century, it is recalled."

The New St. Patrick's at Rome.

MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP RYAN, of Philadelphia, in directing the rectors of his diocese to make a collection for the new church of St. Patrick at Rome, so dear to the heart of Leo XIII., who wishes it to be his Jubilee church, makes a most effective plea for this great national religious and patriotic work. The archbishop says: "Our holy Father the Pope has expressed a deep interest in the project of erecting in Rome a church in honor of St. Patrick, and has contributed liberally to

the fund necessary to carry out this design. The Catholic nations of Europe have all representative national churches in Rome, except Ireland. His eminence the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda suggests that collections be taken up in all countries where the Irish have settled in considerable` numbers, in order that the proposed edifice should be worthy of its representative character. It is to be erected in the new portion of Rome where a church is much needed. No one can question the fact that the children of St. Patrick have done more for the extension and support of religion than any English speaking people in the world, and it is appropriate that they should build this representative church, and that it should bear the name of the great Apostle of their nation and their race.'

The Dublin Freeman's Journal, in announcing the return of PriorGlynn, O. S. A., of St. Patrick's Church, Rome, says: "The cornerstone will be laid on December 23, the feast of the Pope's Jubilee, when the Most Rev. Dr. Croke, Archbishop of Cashel, and the Most Rev. Dr. P. J. Ryan, of Philadelphia, the most eloquent prelate and the most renowned Irishman in the United States, will preach." One feels like uttering the prayer of the Roman balladist, in the "Lays of Ancient Rome:" "Heaven send Rome such a day, and send me there to see!"

Papal Pontifical Commissioner.

THE HOLY FATHER has long been known to have a special sympathy for Catholic Ireland, and his present act is another proof of his special interest in this portion of his great flock. The choice of his HOLINESS has fallen upon ARCHBISHOP PERSICO, whose perfect mastery of the English language, and long and varied experiences in the English lands

in the United States, in Canada, and in British India, specially fit him for this important trust. HIS GRACE was accompanied by the ABATE GUALDI, Ministrante at Propaganda for English and Irish affairs. The ABATE acquired his knowledge of English during the six or seven years he spent on the missions in the diocese of Westminster, England. MGR. IGNAZIO PERSICO was born at Naples, on January 30th, 1823, and entered the Capuchin Order in 1839. In 1846 he left Rome for the foreign missions, after having studied at the missionary college of his order, and passed an examination at the Propaganda super universam theologiam. He was appointed to work in the vicariate of Patna, then recently established. During the earlier years he spent there, he worked in the Himalayan regions, and even travelled as far as Chinese Tartary, Thibet, Cashmere, and Afghanistan. He established a college at Darjeeling, and there acted as chaplain to the English troops. He had great facility in learning languages, and for this reason was chosen by the apostolic visitor, MGR. HARTMANN to accompany him as "uditore" in his visits, especially in the Bombay presidency, where he held many important posts. He frequently preached in English or in Portuguese, and started a Catholic

newspaper. In 1853, at the time of the Goa schism, MGR. PERSICO was chosen and accredited by all the vicars apostolic of India as their commissioner and representative to the Holy See, and to the British government. The result of his memorial to the Holy See was the brief Probe Nostis. His mission to London, which was approved by the Holy See, had most satisfactory results. He published a memorandum on the conditions and wants of Catholics in India under British rule. Having been questioned by a parliamentary committee and by ministers, he obtained important despatches in favor of the Catholics of India, by which official recognition was accorded to the vicars apostolic in the presidencies, and to military chaplain and churches, and, what is more important, he obtained government patronage for Catholic schools. In 1854 he returned to India, and was consecrated coadjutor-bishop with right of succession, to MGR. HARTMANN, vicar apostolic of Bombay. The following year he became visitor and vicar apostolic of Hindostan and Thibet, visiting every part of his district, building many churches and schools, both for Europeans and Indians. At the time of the Indian mutiny, his vicariate was devastated, and for seven months he was shut up in the fortress of Agra. He afterwards accompanied the troops through many dangers as their chaplain. He visited Europe in 1855, and collected by his preaching alms for his distressed vicariate. He again visited England in 1859, and obtained confirmation of favors received six years earlier. Being in Rome in 1867, for the centenary of ST. PETER, he was sent to administer the diocese of Charleston, S. C., whose bishop was in exile, having been compromised in the civil war of the United States. Two years later he assisted at the council of Baltimore, and all the bishops present expressed a wish that the HOLY FATHER should appoint him to an American see, and he was accordingly sent to Savannah, Ga. He was afterwards present at the vatican council. On his return to America he visited his entire diocese and laid the foundations of a new and magnificent cathedral. The climate of Savannah having injured his health, in 1873 the HOLY FATHER accepted his resignation of that see, although all the population had petitioned against it. The Sacred Congregation of Propaganda entrusted him with an important mission to Canada, respecting Laval University, and the action of the clergy in political elections and other questions. In 1876 the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda proposed him for a metropolitan see in Italy, or for Halifax, N. S., and for this purpose he was called to Rome. No sooner had he arrived there then he was sent off in 1877 by the HOLY FATHER to Malabar, on the question of the Syro-Chaldaeic schism, and was so successful that he was greatly praised in a consistory by the HOLY FATHER. He was at this time spoken of in Rome as being likely to be appointed archbishop of Sorrento or Chieti, but at the pressing request of CARDINAL FRANCHI to the HOLY FATHER, he was named administrator of the dioceses of Aquino, Pontecorvo, and Sora. In 1880, having again been called to Rome, he was named apostolic visitor of the Chinese College in Naples, and has since been engaged in important matters in connection with affairs of Propaganda.