Verso (page 2 & 3)

{Left}
give her consent. And it was thought proper not to press Mr
Shea for his consent to show him she still persists to his
knowledge longer than a few days, as he at first imagined, she
is their darling child, all this objection is to her going to France
for they are too good christians to hinder her from being a nun.
There is one comfort I have in these two young ladies, which is
they seem so much attached to their families, they could
not think of being any where but here. I am sorry Miss
Coppinger cannot see the schools, as I think no one can
have an idea of their use unless an eye-witness; as you wish
to have a particular account of them, I shall tell you how
I began; I fancy I mentioned to you before that it was an
undertaking, I thought I should never have the happiness of accom
-plishing. Nothing would have made me come home but the
decision of the clergyman that I should run a great risk of
salvation, if I did not follow the inspiration. This made me accept
of a very kind invitation of my sister-in-law, to live with her, when
I arrived I kept my design a profound secret, as I knew if
it were spoken of, I should meet with opposition on every side
particularly from my immediate family, as in all appearance they
would suffer most from it. My confessor was the only person
I told of it, and as I could not appear in the affair I sent
my maid to get a good mistress, and to take in thirty poor
girls. When this little school was settled I used to steal there
in the morning, my brother thought I was at the chapel.
This passed on very well until one day a poor man came
to him, begging of him to speak to me to take his child into
my school, on which he came in to his wife and me, laughing
at the conceit of the a man who was mad, and thought I was
in the station of a schoolmistress, then I owned I had set
up a school, on which he fell into a violent passion
and said a vast deal on the bad consequences which may
follow. His wife who is very zealous (and so is he, but interest
blinded him at first, he was soon reconciled to it. He was not
the person I dreaded would be brought into trouble about it, it

{Right}
was my Uncle Nagle who is I think the most disliked by the
Protestants of any Catholic in the Kingdom. I expected a great
deal from him, the best part of the fortune I have I received
from him, when he heard it he was not angry at it, and in
a little time they were so good as to contribute largely to support
it, and by degrees I took in children not to make a noise about it
in the beginning, in about nine months I had two hundred children.
When the Catholics saw what service it did, they begged I would
set up schools at the other end of the town from those I had
for the convenience of the children, to be under my name and
direction, and they promised to contribute to the support of them
with which request I readily complied, & the same number of children
that I had, were taken in, and at the death of my Uncle I sup
-ported them all at my own expense, I did not intend to
take boys, but my sister-in-law made it a point, and said she
would not permit any of my famly to contribute to them unless
I did so, on which I got a master and took in only forty boys
they are in a house by themselves, and have no communication
with the girls, at present I have two schools for boys and five for
girls, the former learn to read, and when they have the Douay
Catechism by heart, they learn to write and cypher. There are
three schools where the girls learn to read, and when they have
the Catechism by heart, they learn to work, they all hear
Mass every day say their morning and night prayers, say the
Catechism in each school by question and answer all together.
Every Saturday they all say the beads, the grown girls every evening
they go to Confession every month, and to Communion when their con
-fessors think proper. The schools are opened at eight, at 12
the children go to dinner, at five oclock they leave school, the
workers do not begin their night prayers until six, after the beads.
I prepare a set for first confession twice a year, and I may truly
say it is the only thing that gives me any trouble, in the first
place I think myself very incapable, and in the beginning
being obliged to speak for upwards of four hours, and my chest not
not being as strong as it had been I spit blood which I took care
to conceal, for fear of being prevented from instructing the poor