As to Mr. McDonnel’s repeatedly telling Catharine that she must leave Mr. L’s house immediately, for if she remained there Mr. L. would put the devil in her, Mr. McDonnel denied saying or doing anything whatever that was detrimental to the character of Mr. L. or any of his family.  Mr. McDonnel repeatedly refused to answer the questions put to him by Mr. L. He considered it insulting that Mr. L. should visit his house on such business, as no power on earth but that of the pope had authority to question him on such matters.  But being reminded that slanderous reports had emanated from that very house against Mr. L. he, Mr. McDonnel, said it was all to see what kind of a man he was that brought Mr. L. there, and if reports were exaggerated, it was nothing to him.

Mr. McDonnel said that he cleared the church before casting out the devil, and there was but one person besides himself there.  That, every word spoken in the church was in Latin, and nobody in the church understood a word of it.  That he had heard threats made by Mr. L., also that Mr. L. had said the pretended answers of the devil ware made through the medium of ventriloquism.  Father Kenny, in the progress of the interview, made two or three attempts to speak, but was prevented by Mr. McDonnel.

Thus ends the report written down by Mr. L.’s brother, who was present, immediately after the interview.  It was all Latin in the church, we see; but the low Irish will not believe that the devil could understand Latin.  However, it was not all Latin at the priest’s house, where Catharine Dillon heard what she declared on oath.  How slow the priest was to admit her (Eliza Mead) in the beginning, and to believe that she had his sable majesty in her, until it manifested uneasiness under the cannonade of church prayers!

“But you will ask, how could an educated priest, or an intelligent woman, condescend to such diabolical impositions?  I think it is something after the way that a man gets to be a drunkard; he may not like the taste thereof at first, but afterwards he will smack his lips and say, ‘there is nothing like whiskey,’ and as their food becomes part of their bodily substance, so are these ‘lying wonders’ converted into their spiritual substance.  So I think; I am, however, but a very humble philosopher, and therefore I will use the diction of the Holy Spirit on the matter:  ’For this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie,’ even of their own making, or what may easily be seen to be lies of other’s getting, “that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.’”

“John Murphey.”

Albany, June 2nd, 1852.