A man was travelling once in Ireland. Night overtook him before he reached the place to which he was going. He knocked at the door of a cabin by the roadside, and asked shelter for the night. They invited him in. Just then the owner of the cabin was reading a chapter in the Bible, according to custom, before having prayer with his family. When the stranger was seated he went on with his reading. Then they kneeled down to pray, and after that, they retired to rest.
In the morning the same thing took place. This simple service seemed to have a great effect on the mind of the stranger. He thanked the father of the family for his kindness in giving him lodging for the night; and he thanked him still more for the words he had read and the prayers he had offered.
“They have kept me back from committing sin,” said he. “I came into this part of the country to attend the fair at the next town, which is to be held tomorrow. My object in going was to pass off a quantity of counterfeit money. This is the first time I ever attempted to do such a thing. But after hearing your reading and prayers, I see how wrong it is, and I won’t do it.”
Then he took a parcel of bad money from his pocket and threw it in the fire, and went home to try and get his living in some honest way.
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