134                          TEXAS   AND  MEXICO.
obtain from them is an avowal that, " This man plies
his trade very ably." The prejudice which exists
against the Catholic religion is really inexplicable in a
people who vaunt themselves the freest and the most
civilised in the world. In the forests to the west of
the United States are found a number of families of
the Methodist and Presbyterian persuasions, who really
believe that the Catholic priest is an infernal being with
veritable horns on his head. One day the Bishop of
Bufalo was obliged to take off his hat at dinner on
board a steamer, to prove that he had none. On one
occasion, on board a steamer which was ascending
the Mississippi, a Presbyterian lady declaimed fiercely
against Catholicism, venting her rage against its minis-
ters, and all this in a loud voice, so that she was
heard by a Catholic missionary lately arrived from
Europe, and who was sitting at the same table with her.
The missionary had but a very imperfect knowledge of
the English language, and being quite unable to keep
pace with a very tangled discussion, ventured to give
an argument ad hominem to the Presbyterian lady.
" Madam," said he, " are you thoroughly acquainted
with Catholicism and its priests, since you do not fear
thus to vilify them ? "
" Certainly not, sir,—and God forbid that I should
ever know anything about this cursed religion of the
papists."
" Well then, that being the case, allow me to say that
you must be a person of a malicious character."
At these words, the old lady started up, flushed with
rage and shame, and thus addressed her interlocutor :—¦
" Sir, you are supremely insolent to insult thus a
lady with whom you are totally unacquainted."