“I beg your lordship to hear me,” proceeded Father Maguire. “You say that Reilly has associated more frequently with Protestants than he has with persons of our own religion. That may be true, and I grant that it is so; but, my lord, are you aware that he has exercised the influence which he has possessed over them for the protection and advantage and safety of his Catholic friends and neighbors, to the very utmost of his ability, and frequently with success?” “Yes; they obliged him because they calculated upon his accession to their creed and principles.” “My lord,” replied the priest with firmness, “I am an humble but independent man; if humanity and generosity, exercised as I have seen them this night, guided and directed by the spirit of peace, and of the word of God itself, can afford your lordship a guarantee of the high and Christian principles by which this young man's heart is actuated, then I may with confidence recommend him to your clemency.” “What would you say?” asked the bishop. “My lord, he was the principal means of saving the lives of six Protestants-heretics, I mean--from being cut off in their iniquities and sins this night.” “How do you mean?” replied the stern bishop; “explain yourself!” The good priest then gave a succinct account of the circumstances with which the reader is already acquainted; and, after having finished his brief narrative, the unfortunate man perceived that, instead of having rendered Reilly a service, he had strengthened the suspicions of the prelate against him. “So!” said the bishop, “you advance the history of this dastardly conduct as an argument in his favor!” As he uttered these words, his eyes, which had actually become bloodshot, blazed again; his breath went and came strongly, and he ground his teeth with rage. Father Maguire, and those who were present, looked at each other with eyes in which might be read an expression of deep sorrow and compassion. At length a mild-looking, pale-faced man, with a clear, benignant eye, approached him, and laying his hand in a gentle manner upon his arm, said, “Pray, my dear lord, let me entreat your lordship to remember the precepts of our great Master: 'Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.' And surely, my lord, no one knows better than you do that this is the spirit of our religion, and that whenever it is violated the fault is not that of the creed, but the man.” “Under any circumstances,” said the bishop, declining to reply to this, and placing his open hand across his forehead, as if he felt confusion or pain--“under any circumstances, this person must take the oath of secrecy with respect to the existence of this cave. Call him up.”