The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-05-26

They ushered us into sitting-room
that seemed magnificent as compared
with the cheerless bare white walls
adorned only with wooden crucifixes
and Virgin Marys, of other converts.
They served us with Turkish coffee
and sweetened water colored with
the purple juice Of berry, and then a
servant proceeded to show us about
the convent. But before we had gone
far we fell in with a grey-headed old
Monk who took so much friendly in
terest in us that he dismissed the ser
want and conducted us everywhere,
and showed us everything from cellar
to roof, gave us the history of his life
Che had been missionary in India and
had come to Mt. Carmel to spend his
last days in peaceful preparation for
the world to Gomez, and was so kindly
and fatherly attentive and withal such
a noble-hearted, broad minded chris
tian man that our ideas of Monks and
of Catholics generally began decid-
edly to improve. He inquired where
we lived, and when l told him that
was from Baltimore he seemed de,
lighted. 1t was fine city,-a great
many Catholics there. 81 suppose
you are Catholic, are you notr'
"No sir" Are you Protestant?
eyes" "What sect do you belong
to?" "Congregationalist." "Whatl"
"Congregationalist.' He tried Ito
pronounce it after me and said,"I
don't think l ever heard of that sect
before, you Protestants have so many
sects that it is very difficult to keep
track of all of Them" He asked me
what my occupation was, andI thought
now am in for it, if | tell him I'm
Minister. But did and it had just
the opposite effect from what / had
anticipated. He was even more at
tentive than before, and as we separa-
ted from him at the door, he held me
by the hand and said in low voice
so that the other Monks who were
just passing on the way to chapel
could not overhear. "You are "a
Protestant Minister, and l am Cath
olic Priest, but if we are both chris
tians that is all that is necessary. !
believe that my religion is the true
one and that you are mistaken, but
if you are honest in your beliefwe
shall meet again sometime before
very long in better world. Now,
I'm going in to prayers, and if you
will let me l would like to pray for
you, that you may be enlightened by
Gods truth, and I want you to pray
for me. Good-byel God bless you
both. The feeble old man went slowly
tottering into the chapel and left two
boys standing and looking after him
who as long as they live will remem-
Der with peculiar tenderness old
Father Augustine, and will ever think
more kindly of the Catholic religion
for his sake. -,
Next morning we sat off again on
our journey along the winding stream
of the river Kishon, that old river of
Deborah's Song, "the ancient river,
the river Kishon." I had expected to
see wide fast flowing torrent, such
as might sweep away an army, as it
did in the days of Deborah, rolling
down chariots of iron, tumbling men
and horses before it into the sea. But
a wild deer could have leaped it on
the run. And as we stood in the mid
die OF 1t, with the water scarcely
above the horses knees, it was diff
cult to realize the fearful destruction
wrought by that river swollen with
heavy rain among the flying host of
Sisera.
You remember the story, the most,
exciting and proudest in all the am
nails of Hebrew history. How Sisera
came down from the mountain fast
ness of Harosheth to meet Barak and
Deborah. He was Jabin's Captain,
King of the Canaanites,and rode at the
head of an army accustomed to vic
tory. They were freebooters, maraud-
ers, living in the mountains and