Saint Patrick | Page 8

go on? Who has not heard, again and again, the old-fashioned
prayer wherein all is laid forth, in outline, but with distinctness! We
give thanks for this. May this be impressed upon our hearts. May this
lead us solemnly to reflect.
The heart that is full must overflow,--if not in one way, then in another.
Mr. Martin has not been told about Dr. Parsons. He sits and listens as
the Doctor goes on in the innocence of his heart, pouring forth with
warmth and fervor the life of the saint according to William Bullen
Morris, Priest of the Oratory,--pouring forth in unmistakable detail Mr.
Martin's projected discourse.
The prayer is ended; a hymn is sung, and then the missionary presents
to the audience the Rev. Mr. Martin, whom they are always delighted
to hear; he will now address them upon the life of Saint Patrick.
Mr. Martin rises. He takes a sip of water. He coughs slightly. He passes
his handkerchief across his lips. So far all is well. But the prayer is in
his mind. Moreover, he unfortunately catches his wife's eye, with a
suggestion of suppressed merriment in it.
What does he say? What can he say? There are certain vague lessons
from the saint's virtues; some applications of what the Doctor has set
forth; that is all. Saint Patrick was sober; we should be sober. Saint
Patrick was kind; we should be kind.
Even his own parishioners admitted that he had not been "happy" on

this particular occasion.
But at the close of the meeting Dr. Parsons received a compliment. As
he descended from the platform, Mr. John Keenan, who kept the
best-appointed bar-room on the street, advanced to meet him. Mr.
Keenan was in an exceedingly happy frame of mind. He grasped the
Doctor's hand. "I wish, sir," he said, with a fine brogue, "to
congratulate you upon your very eloquent prayer. It remind me,
sir,--and I take pleasure to say it,--it remind me, sir, of the Honorable
John Kelly's noble oration on Daniel O'Connell."
Late that evening the Doctor stood at his study-window, looking out for
a moment before retiring to rest. There was no light in the room, and
the maps and the charts and the tall book-shelves were only outlines.
There was a glimmer from a farm-house two miles away, where they
were watching with the dead.
The Doctor's daughter came in with a light in her hand to bid her father
good-night.
"What did you think, Pauline," he said to her, "of Mr. Martin's talk?" It
had not been mentioned till now.
Pauline hardly knew what to think. She knew that it was not what the
Rev. Dr. Parsons would have given them! But, honestly, what did her
father think of it?
The Doctor mused for a moment; then he gave his judgment. "I think,"
he said, "that it showed a certain lack of preparation."

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