did, I never could stick a protestant, or rip up a heretic in the first rebellion that breaks out." About a third of the number excused themselves on the plea of sickness; in many instances this was feigned, and many of these were never called upon again. Our friend said that, for his own part, he never objected to British connexion, and did not scruple to take the oath. When the students came to the court-house there were only about a dozen testaments among them all, and a general scramble commenced,each man who had not a testament endeavouring to stand as far as possible from the few that had them. When the Dean had brought his pupils into order, our friend was standing with a testament, (which was his own property,) and a student on each side of him of these one never touched the book at all, and the other distinctly repeated the words in a negative sense, saying, "I will not," for "I will." He did so in a voice sufficiently loud to be heard by the Dean, but no notice was taken. Many came home to the college and spoke openly of the methods they had taken of evading the oath; and several declared that they had not taken it, and that they never would. The same gentleman assured us that though the subjection of the priest to his superior is only acknowledged in spiritual matters, yet practically the rule extends to all matters as if the priest be disobedient, the bishop has so many means of annoying him that he can make his life not worth having unless he submit to his rule. In this the inferior clergy greatly assist the bishop, as they are bound to reveal all matters connected with the welfare of the church, and they are all therefore spies upon each other. Many act thus from zeal for the church, and many more from a love of mischief. Let any man attempt to introduce the Bible among a number of Roman Catholics, and he will find that the laity, as well as the priests, are the spies of the church. Thousands at this moment wish to read the Scriptures for themselves, or to have their children taught; but if we inquire into the reasons which prevent them, we shall find that they are deterred by their fears that their neighbour will tell the priest, and the priest will exercise his spiritual authority by making the man that will not hear the church, as a heathen and a publican. An Englishman has little idea of this; but let him remember the fearful penalty which the priest inflicts in depriving a poor man of his employment, which is now the most usual method of persecution, as every protestant in Ireland knows. It is a most convenient system, as the employer dismisses his workman without assigning a reason. The priest never appears in the matter; he has handed over the criminal to the secular arm: but he has done So, well knowing that the order of the church must be obeyed. While

this system lasts, little can be done to promote the growth of protestantism, or the instruction of the people: every effort is in direct opposition to a complicated machine which is always efficient, because always obedient to its director. We can imagine Dr. M'Hale giving advice to a young priest, as Lord Nelson to a young midshipman, "You must always implicitly obey the orders of your superior officer without ever questioning them, and you must hate a Saxon as you hate the Devil." Let us not forget the spiritual power of the keys. The Irishman believes that the priest can consign him to hell, by denying him the rites of the church, or can detain him for ages in purgatory by refusing to pray for his soul. We recollect hearing of a presbyterian minister who dined with a priest, and complained of the difficulty of collecting his stipend ; he then asked advice as to the best method of enforcing his claim "I'll tell you what it is," said the priest: "just take a lease from me of about fifteen acres of purgatory, and I'll engage it will be you ever rented."

the best farm

As therefore the priests wield this tremendous power, we might suppose their ambition satisfied, but it is not so; they see in Ireland a great obstacle to their views, and that obstacle is the landed interest. The landlords of Ireland are generally protestant; and even where they are Roman catholic, they are from rank and station little likely to be subservient to the priests. Now the priests know that their power is inversely proportional to the influence of the landlord; and therefore, though Ireland, except in the protestant parts, is exclusively agricultural, the priests always say, "Repeal the Corn Laws, and give us cheap bread." They know that the measure must injure the country; but they believe that whatever influence is lost by the proprietor will be gained by the church. Again, for the same reason, the priests are nearly all repealers; not, as the commissioner says, because they must follow the people (this they never do, except as the huntsman follows his hounds, to drive them to his own object), but because English connexion is protestant, the united Parliament is not subject to Rome,-they therefore desire one of their own, which will be elected by, and dependent on, themselves. Again, while the ownership of Ireland is protestant, the occupancy is Roman catholic; therefore fixity of tenure is another object with the priests. Whatever will transfer the soil into the hands of their passive and obedient instruments, must be to them the most desirable object. Hence also the priests encourage the people to hold possession, and to resist a removal even by the murder of the landlord. This is what they call the wild justice of revenge. Can we suppose that a murder could be committed, as in the case of Lord Norbury, and that the murderer

could pass through a large crowd of people within five minutes after the deed, can we imagine this whole body of people, each bound to confess once a year on pain of mortal sin; and can we suppose that some priest in the neighbourhood must not have known the murderer? The seal of confession may be alleged to justify concealment; but can we suppose that with the power which the priests possess, they could not crush the Irish system of murder if they chose? They certainly have the power, but they choose rather to turn the passions of the people to their own account, and to justify the murderer by making excuses for him where his guilt is plain, or denying it where it is doubtful. We would now state a few facts which have come under our own knowledge; for though we do not keep a "commissioner," we occasionally visit Ireland. These we consider as the effect of the system above described; and if they are carefully considered, we believe they will convince our friends in England that there is at least some truth in the positions which we have laid down. Our assertion, that the priest's conscience is subject to his superior, accounts for many facts which would otherwise be involved in mystery. That an honourable and upright man should break his word is hard to understand; but the difficulty is explained when we find that he is only the passive instrument for conveying the orders of another. At an election, some years ago, one of the candidates called on a priest with whom he had long lived on intimate terms: his friend told him that he was most anxious on private grounds, to see him represent the county, but that as they disagreed on some political points, he did not think he should be able to vote for him, but that certainly he would not oppose him. Yet this very priest, about a month afterwards, led to the hustings a party of tenants who had been turned against their landlords; he came up with a cross erected on his car; he gave his own vote first, and afterwards saw that his people also voted against his friend. Now we knew this priest: he was a kind and a liberal-minded man; he had held a commission in the army, and was a gentleman by birth and education. Yet on this occasion he violated his promise, and forfeited the esteem of his protestant friends. Many of these found great fault with him; but we only blame the system, and pity the individual we feel sure that he intended to act exactly as he said, but he was bound to the despotism of his superior by the most fearful obligations; and he was no more master of his own actions than a sergeant who conveys an order from the captain to his soldiers to fire upon the enemy. Again, to show that this system of coercion in temporal matters extends to the laity, we can adduce another instance. A Roman catholic who had been in the

police, but who had fallen into distressed circumstances, called upon the protestant curate of his parish for advice. The curate spoke to him on the subject of the passive obedience required by the priest, and told him that if he ceased to obey orders, he ceased to be a Roman catholic. "No, sir," said the man, " I am quite independent, except that I should take the advice of my clergyman as your congregation would yours; and what is more, my father was as independent as I am." Pray, how do you prove that?" "In the great Clare election of 1828, when Vesey Fitzgerald was opposed by O'Connell, my father was tenant to Vesey Fitzgerald, and called upon to vote for his landlord. At first he declined to vote against O'Connell, but on being pressed, he obtained his landlord's sanction to wait till the last day of the election. As Mr. Fitzgerald was defeated, he called in my father, and he voted against O'Connell." Our friend, the curate, then asked, "What was the consequence?" Why, sir, he was fired at six times over the hedge; he was obliged to give up his farm, and that is the reason I now come to your reverence to look for a situation, as we have been going down in the world ever since." "Why, my good friend," said the curate, "Do you not see that your father was a private in the pope's army, and that having disobeyed his officer's orders, and deserted his colours, the general ordered out a file of men to shoot him." 66 Oh, sir," replied the poor man, “I have no chance in arguing with you, for you turn all I say against myself."

The priests sometimes betray themselves on this point. We quote a passage from a letter by the Rev. Justin M'Carthy, Roman Catholic curate of Mallow, to Sir Robert Peel, on the subject of the scarcity in Ireland.

"You know not," says the reverend gentleman, "when you may want them [the Irish people]. There was never a calm of such long duration in the political horizon of Europe. The first storm that ruffles it may blow an invading army to the coast of Ireland. Such an event, periling the existence of England, occurred more than once before, when the mechanism of naval transport was in an imperfect state. Who will say it may not occur shortly again, now that the creations of science afford increased facility? When it shall-ought the allegiance of the Irish peasant to be depended on? If he should ask those who have the guidance of his conscience, whether he is bound to risk his life to repel an invading foe, what should the answer be? These are questions of fact and morals some may not like to decide. The solution of the latter would perhaps suggest doubts to a teacher of political ethics, if allegiance pre-supposes protection, and if the extent of that be measured by his animal comforts."

The meaning of course is this,-If England be attacked, it will rest with the priests to say whether the Irish Roman Catholics ought or ought not to take her part: the priests have the guidance of their conscience, and they are therefore the proper judges of

the point, as to whether the Irish peasantry shall join with England or with her enemies. Again, the poor-houses have become a field for political agitation: at one of the elections of guardians a repeal-warden took upon himself to oppose the landlord of his town, who was chairman of the board, and is now a member of Parliament he was defeated by a majority of about two-thirds of the rate-payers. This of course provoked the man of the people, and he did not disguise his feelings. He said in the hearing of a Protestant neighbour, "This is too bad-landlords use undue influence such things must be stopped-we must make this a religious question, we must set the priests to work." The meaning which we attach to such phrases is this: I have been defeated, because the ratepayers choose a gentleman rather than myself; this they will naturally continue to do, until they are ordered by the fulminations of the authority which they cannot resist, to act otherwise. When the priest makes it a religious question every man must vote for me at the peril of his salvation, and thus I shall be able to ensure my election.

The Commissioner says in one place

"Everything in Ireland is made a party-matter. In Cork a thief could not steal a silver-fork but it was made a party-matter, and the thief was in consequence acquitted. Even the potato-pestilence is converted into a party matter." (p. 471.)

Now this is perfectly true; but what makes every thing a party question is, that the Roman Catholic Church endeavour to turn everything to their own advantage. From the letters of Mr. Savage and Dr. Cantwell, the English were almost convinced that Brian Seery was innocent, although he had been fully identified by Sir Francis Hopkins as the man who fired at him. This is one of the strongest instances of a question of fact being made a party-matter; but let us see how it is explained by one of the priests who lately left the Church of Rome. The Rev. Roderick Ryder, in his pamphlet, " Murder and the Murderer Reconciled," thus writes upon the subject,

"Every Roman Catholic book of theology, Seguori, Delahogue, Dens, and Bailly (see Bailly, p. 145), teach that there are four causes which dispense from the obligation of an oath to wit, the honour of God-the utility of the Church-the welfare of society-and the utility of a religious community. Now we all know that the greater the number of immoral men who profess any religion, the greater the contempt entertained for that religion; but by finding a verdict for a Protestant, against Seery, a Roman Catholic, they (Roman Catholic jurors) would have added to the number of reputed immoral men professing the Roman Catholic religion, and would in the same proportion have increased the contempt in which it is held. But their church teaches them that, though sworn to do that, they are bound not to observe the oath; therefore, as conscientious, consistent Roman Catholics, they could not find a verdict. If the public will not believe me, or the books of Roman