A devoted Presbyterian Minister

Asenath Nicholson
1847
Chapter XXV (12) | Start of Chapter

My next call was to the house of a Scotch Presbyterian, named Smith. I mention his name because I delight to dwell upon it; the remembrance of those "mercy-drops" in the desert, where I was often hungry and thirsty, is pleasant to the soul. His wife, who is of a good family in England, received and welcomed me with all that Christian courtesy that made me feel myself at home among kind friends. Something was immediately brought me to eat, and presented in that manner and abundance that said, "you will oblige me greatly by partaking unsparingly." Reader, did you ever eat a slice of the "bread of covetousness?" I assure you I have, and it is bitter, sour, indigestible, and quite unfit for a healthy stomach. This was not such bread.

Ireland’s Welome to the Stranger is one of the best accounts of Irish social conditions, customs, quirks and habits that you could wish for. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, was an American widow who travelled extensively in Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine and meticulously observed the Irish peasantry at work and play, as well as noting their living conditions and diet. The book is also available from Kindle.