heaven that his safety was secure; like Peter on the angry waters, the Lord had said to him," Come," for he performed a sacred duty. He caught his little boy by the hand, and invoking the blessing of God upon his way he soon found himself in the vale which he had known from his early years. Every tree and stone was now familiar, even at midnight, and all seemed to tell him as he passed, that the period of his anxiety was approaching. He had taken the road which led to the cottage of Mihil Tyrrel, and many a wistful look was cast before to catch a glimpse of the light which was expected to beam from the little window. Moment after moment passed but the wished for lattice was unseen; the traveller knew that the house should be nearhe still went onward, and still all in the distance was dark. A misgiving seemed to seize upon him for an instant, and the stranger paused. 1 Johnny," said he," run up to the house before me, agra—run up and see are they there." But before he had well expressed the desire himself ran precipitately down the little path that led to the door, in a moment before old: Mihil Tyrrel. He looked about the cottage; all was chilling dark--no spark was in the hearth; no, reader, nor a morsel beneath the roof. The young man was in agony. "Father," cried he at length, "havn't you a bit of light? is it so bad with ye?" "It is, Mihil," answered the old mang "Yes; I have light and strength, now, a vic. I guessed that the storm wouldn't keep you from your father; but where is little Johnny?" Johnny had gone to seek his sister who lay in a little bed-room at the extremity of the cottage. He had received a cake from his father in a distant part of the country, which he had carried hidden and unperceived in his bosom until he came to bestow it on Katey there is a moral for brothers in such an act; 'twere a pity to pass it by in silence. The son was not long within when darkness fled from the cottage. His earnings placed a fire on the hearth and a meal on the board, and he did all that was in his power to make his parent happy. Sadness was an unusual mood of the old man on his son's return, and an occasional effort to be as he was wont could not make a dutiful child believe that he was happy. There was something even in the young man's reception by his father, which spoke more than delight at his return; it was evident that all was not well with old Mihil. Thus circumstanced, concealment of the proctor's visit for any lengthened period was impossible, and shortened as would be the felicity of the young man by its announcement-its announcement became a duty. Mihil Tyrrel, therefore, broke a protracted silence, by imparting the intelligence which pressed like a load upon his heart, and briefly related his interview with the tithe-collector on the day preceding. It was indeed calculated to wake the worst of apprehensions in the mind of the son, and his changeful colour showed how much he felt the danger in which he stood. His little savings would be barely sufficient to defray the debt; till the coming autumn, then, what would become of the father, little Kate, and his boy ?-they should starve. A project entered his mind at this moment, a last resource, and one that he almost feared to disclose. It was not to accede to the proposal of the minister; his religion and his regard for his children forbade that: there was no employment, too, and nothing remained but to remove to a distant part of the country where he might await the coming summer with some hope of support for his family. But then he should abandon his home-the home of his childhood. And would old Mihil Tyrrel become a wanderer in the day of his decline? He was determined to make the experiment, and after a lengthened preface on its necessity, broke the matter in as few sentences as possible. The venerable man turned his eyes upon his only child; they lit with an expression which he never before witnessed in them. He looked like a man struggling to give utterance to an overflowing soul. In an instant, however, his head fell. "Mihil Tyrrel," said he," my heart is broke! I won't leave my cabin, Mihil," continued the poor man. "I'll starve, avic, sure I'll starve, and my old bones will be laid by the side of your mother, that I loved. Go, Mihil, go, and take little Katey from me, too; but 'twas here my old partner died, your own mother, Mihil, and I will never leave it of my own accord―never!" "We'll all starve together, then," replied the heroic young man, "if a son's prayer for his father can't soften the heart of him that's leaning heavy on us." Next morning, at day-break, young Mihil prepared to pay a visit to the arbiter of his destiny. The old man was at the threshold to see his departure, his frame trembling with age, and his fine flaxen hair agitated by each current of air that swept from the road. He had watched every motion of his son until he saw him with tearful eye approach the door to depart; his eye, then, rested on the young man's features for a moment; at the next the son was on his knees-he clained a father's blessing. "The blessing of a worn heart be on your footsteps, agra,” said the latter, as he raised his palsied hands to heaven. The blessing of a worn heart be on your footsteps, that's going to keep the roof over your old father's head. Tell the minister that, an old man's prayer is following you; if he ever loved his father he won't send you back desolate;" and his hand rested on the head of his child. As the journey was one of considerable length, the day was far advanced when young Mihil Tyrrel arrived at the residence of the minister. It was seated on a beautiful declivity that overlooked a lake of fine extent, which spread its crystal surface, glowing in the brightness of a mid-day sun, pleasure boats were moored along its banks, among which children were amusing themselves, and far in the distance the sides of the Galtees, "clothed in their azure hue," added an interest to the appearance of the residence, which completed its beauty. The house itself was one in which the refinement and voluptuousness of modern architecture were united.The front was castellated, and a magnificent dome, spread over the entrance, was supported by pillars of exquisite workmanship, while the trees that thickened at its extremities, planted in such a way as to afford the happiest relief, exhibited a home which a prince might almost envy, and just fitted for the successors of the fishermen. The minister was at lunch when young Mihil arrived; he was, consequently, desired to stand at the hall-door; and wait the pleasure of the clergyman. After some few hours the latter thought proper to inquire the traveller's business, and it was announced to Tyrrel that he might see the reverend incumbent. He accordingly, with palpitating heart, entered the hall, whence he was led into the presence of the pastor, who, to the young man's astonishment, determined to hear his petition, in the presence of five or six ladies and gentlemen, seemingly the guests of the same cloth, for we all know that in those days reverend ladies were by no means a scarce commodity in Ireland. [To be continued.] R. B. MARY'S SONG. "So Mary, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand: and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and with dances".-Ex. xv. 20. Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea! Sing, for the pride of the tyrant is broken, His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave; How vain was their boasting! the Lord hath but spoken, And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave. Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea! Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride? DUBLIN: Stereotyped, Printed and Published, by T. & J. COLDWELL, 50, Capel-street. THE PUBLISHED WEEKLY, UNDER THE INSPECTION OF CATHOLIC DIVINES No. 45. DUBLIN, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1834. VOL. I. AND she brought forth her first-born son and wrapped him up in swaddli..g clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night-watches over their flock. 9. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God she round about them, and they feared with great fear. 10. And the angel said to them: Fear not; for behold I bring you, good, tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people. 11. For this day is born to you a SAVIOUR, who is CHRIST, the Lord, in the city of David.-St. Luke ii. 7. cle! TRANSLATIONS FROM THE FRENCH. FOR THE CATHOLIC PENNY MAGAZINE. BY PATRITIUS. THE INCARNATION. LET us now contemplate the Sovereign of heaven in a crib; him who darts the thunder wrapped up in swaddling clothes; him whom the universe cannot contain shut up in a Virgin's womb!— Oh, how antiquity would have expatiated in describing this miraWhat pictures would a Homer or a Virgil have left us of the birth of the Son of God in a manger-of the songs of the shepherds of the magi conducted by a star-of the angels descending in the desert-of a virgin mother adoring her new-born infant and of all this mixture of innocence, enchantment, and grandeur ! There are hearts so blind as to perceive nothing in the most divine objects. For our parts, always abstracting from what is direct and sacred in our mysteries, we think we can discover under their veils the most enchanting truths in nature. Jesus Christ, who may be compared to the moral world, assuming our nature in a Virgin's womb, teaches us the prodigy of physical creation, and exhibits to our view the universe framed in the bosom of celestial love. The parables and figures of this mystery are then engraved upon every object around us. Strength uniformly proceeds from grace; the river issues from the fountain; the lion is first nourished by milk, like that which is sucked by the lamb; and in fine, amongst mankind the Almighty has promised ineffable glory to those who practise the humblest virtues. Those might well complain of nature who could discover nothing in the chaste Queen of angels but mysteries of obscenityWhat is more affecting than this mortal woman become the immortal Mother of a Redeeming God; this Mary who is at the same time a mother and a virgin, the two most divine conditions of woman; this young daughter of the ancient Jacob, who hastens to the solace of human miseries, and sacrifices a Son to save the race of her fathers: this tender mediatrix between us and the Eternal, disclosing with the sweet virtue of her sex, a heart full of pity to our sorrowing hopes, and appeasing an irritated God?Enchanting dogma, which allays the terror of a God by interposing beauty between our nothingness and the divine Majesty! Ye poets who have received the creative fire describe to us this Blessed Mary seated on a throne of brightness, whiter than the snow; tell how she appears upon this throne, like a mystic rose, or like the morning star, the forerunner of the Sun of Grace-how the most beautiful angels minister to her-how harps and heavenly |