UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 AN 
 
 INQUIRY 
 
 INTO 
 
 CERTAIN VULGAR OPINIONS 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 THE CATHOLIC INHABITANTS 
 
 AND 
 
 THE ANTIQUITIES OF IRELAND: 
 
 In a Series of Letters addressed from that Island to a Protestant 
 Gentleman in England. 
 
 By the Rev. J. MILNER, D. D. F. S. A. &c. 
 
 The SECOND EDITION, revised and augmented 
 
 With copious Additions, including the Account of a Second Tour 
 through Ireland by the Author, and Answers to Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave, Dr. Ryan, Dr. Elrington, &c. together with Plates. 
 
 Finibu; occiduis describi/ur optima tellus. 
 Nomine, et antiquis Scotia scripta libris : 
 Insula dii>es opum, &c; 
 In qua Siotorum gentes habitare mcrenturi 
 Inciyta gens hominum milite, pace, fide. 
 
 St. Donatus, Episc. Fcssul. Sxcl. Mouo. 
 
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 3Lontiott: 
 
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 lull I ' 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Page 
 
 OCCASION of the winter's my age to Ireland. 
 -Political importance of the Irish Ca- 
 tholics one of the phenomena of the times. 
 <2 -^Dependence of the English Catholics 
 upon them. Journey through t Vales, 
 k The Isle of Anglesea. View of the Bay of 
 Dublin, - 3 
 
 LETTER IL 
 
 g Beauty of the river Liffy. Royal college of 
 71 Maynooth. Vindication of the Irish Ca- 
 tholic Clergy. Their past services to the 
 *J cause of literature in their own island, 
 and in foreign countries. Schools and 
 universities founded by them. Their zeal 
 and success in cultivating learning since 
 the Reformation. Account of some of 
 their writers, g 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 State of literature among the Irish Catholic 
 Clergy at present. The course of studies 
 pursued at Maynooth and in the other se- 
 minaries. Inquiry into the charge of pro- 
 selyting brought against them. Retortign 
 
 a2
 
 iv CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 of this charge upon the Protestants and 
 Government of Ireland, - 20 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Lay College at Maynooth. The necessity of 
 such an establishment. Objections of Ca- 
 tholics against sending their children to 
 the Universities, 29 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Public buildings in Dublin. General charac- 
 ter of the Catholic Prelates. Misrepre- 
 sentation of the Catholic Hierarchy. 
 Groundless objections against it. Fatal 
 consequences that would follow from an 
 attempt to suppress it. Constancy of 
 the Catholic Clergy under former religious 
 persecutions , - - 32 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Incomparable beauty of the environs of Dub- 
 lin. Character of different nations. 
 Native genius of the Irish. Tribute to 
 the memory of Edmund Burke. Ex- 
 cellence of Mr. Grattan. Amiable quali- 
 ties of the Irish. Testimony of other 
 writers in their favour, - 4^ 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Chief fault in the character of the Irish. 
 Fatal .consequences of it. Accumulated 
 guilt of duelling.- -Implies a want of true 
 courage. Easy means of putting a stop 
 
 tO it, - - - ;yj
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 LETTER VII I. 
 
 Departure from Dublin. Vestiges of the Re- 
 bellion. Memorials of Stonehenge. Re- 
 ligious disposition of the Irish Catholics. 
 What is superstition ? The exterior 
 practice of religion necessary. Respect of 
 the laity for their clergy. Services ren- 
 dered by the latter to the former. Pro- 
 posed residence of the established clergy. 
 Vain attempts of a great man to divide the 
 Catholic laity from the clergy. His ser- 
 vices to English Catholics appreciated, 6 1 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Situation of Carlow and Kilkenny. Natural 
 advantages of the latter. Inquiry into 
 the morality of the Irish. Causes which 
 have corrupted the morals of several. 
 Former injustice of theEnglish government 
 and laws. Conduct of the Orange party 
 previously to the rebellion. Subsisting 
 temptations to act against conscience. 
 Specific charges of immorality. Pilfer- 
 ing, Drunkenness, Libertinism, Per- 
 jury. Peculiar inconsistence of the last 
 mentioned charge, - . - 72 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Sir Richard Musgrave the most virulent of all 
 the calumniators of his Catholic country- 
 men. His history of the different rebellions 
 rejected by his patron, the Marquis Corn- 
 xvallis. General idea of that work. In-
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 stances of slander unparalleled for their 
 malice and absurdity. ~Vile forgery upon 
 the Catholics. Methods taken to give it 
 credit. Serious advice to Sir R. M. 
 Awful reflections arising from the perusal 
 of this forged instrument, - 91 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 Situation of the town ofThurlcs. New chapel 
 of St. Patrick. Newest mode of attacking 
 the ancient faith, Author of this method, 
 Testimonies of the learned from the pre- 
 sent time up to that of St. Patrick for the 
 existence of this Saint. Various other 
 proofs of the fact. Imputation on the me- 
 mory of St. Bridget. Proofs of its false' 
 hood. Fires on Midsummer eve, 107 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Inquiry into the arguments of Dr. Ledwich 
 against the existence of St* Patrick. 
 Misrepresentation of Catholic critics. 
 The arguments in question purely negative, 120 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 Various cavils of Dr. L against the history 
 of St. Patrick refuted. Pretended impos- 
 ture of the writers of the ninth century 
 concerning this saint. Similar charge 
 brought by Dr. L. against Christian mis- 
 sionaries in general. Unfair garbling of 
 Catholic prayers. Vain attempt to cajole 
 the Irish Catholics, - ~, 13%
 
 CONTEXTS. Vll 
 
 P3ge 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 Description of Holy Cross Abbey. Profane 
 praises of Henry VIII. Account of the 
 identical piece of the Holy Cross which oc- 
 casioned the foundation of this abbey. Ve- 
 neration of the Cross of Christ vindicated, 
 Appearance of the Rock of Cash el. 
 State of the ancient Cathedral and' of Cor- 
 mac's chapel. Description of the Round 
 Towers of Ireland. Examination of the 
 different opinions concerning their use.- 
 The writer's decided opinion, - 147 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 What species of Christianity was first esta~ 
 Wished in Ireland. The different systems 
 of Archbishop Usher and Dr. Ledwich. 
 Refutation of the several arguments 
 brought in support of the former, 163 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Usher denies that the ancient Christians of 
 Ireland acknowledged the Pope's Supre- 
 macy. Refutation of this assertion. 
 Chain of authorities in opposition to it. 
 Absurdities of Dr. Ledzeich on this subject. 
 His falsification -of St. Irenceus. Ge- 
 neral mistake of writers concerning the 
 four Archiespiscopal Palls brought from 
 Rome by Cardinal Paparo. The peculiar 
 system of Dr. L. co?icerning the religion
 
 viil CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 of the Culdecs. Refutation of it. The 
 wrong observance of Easter a novelty in 
 the British churches, - - 173 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Journey from Casket. Description of Fer- 
 moy. Comparison of the sister islands 
 in point of beauty. Charms of Glen~ 
 mire. Enchanting view of the river of 
 Cork. First founders of Cork. Esta- 
 blishmentsfor the education of children. 
 Ladies of the Presentation. Ditto of the 
 Ursuline Institute. Novels and theatri- 
 cal amusements proscribed, - 202 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Exemplary care of the Catholic clergy to 
 procure instruction for their flocks. 
 Comparison of the Irish poor with the 
 English poor in point of instruction.- +- 
 Personal exertions of the priests in this 
 respect. Classical learning among the 
 peasants. The a Hedged want of bibles. 
 Necessary precaution to render these use- 
 ful. Fatal effects of neglecting this pre- 
 caution, - - 11 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 A water party. Description of the beauti- 
 ful harbour of Cork. Population of 
 Cork. Relative proportion of Catholics 
 and Protestants in Ireland. Importance 
 of this subject. Causes of the increase of
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 .Page 
 
 Catholic population. Increasing wealth 
 and political influence of Catholic mer- 
 chants and tradesmen, - 228 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Journey to Wat erford.- Character of its in- 
 habitants. Damp on all the pleasing 
 views in Ireland, Impolicy of the system 
 of coercion. -Mischief of unequal laws. 
 Imprudence of vexing the consciences 
 of the soldiei^y. Folly and meanness of 
 the periodical triumphs over the Irish. 
 Irritation produced by the late Bills. 
 Motives of Air. Grattan's conduct. 
 Present disposition of the Irish Catholics. 
 Inconsistency of their opponents, 239 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Occasion of the Appendix. Journey to Wa- 
 ter ford harbour. Musing on the shore, 
 Dunbrody abbey. Farewel view of Ire- 
 land. Reflections on its calamities com- 
 pared with those of other countries. 
 Apparent economy of Divine Providence 
 in dispensing them,* lawfulness of seeking 
 their redress. Effects of exclusive laws. 
 Prejudices of the public. Means taken 
 to inflame them. Catechismof the Charter- 
 schools. Comparison of this with the (\i- 
 A
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 tholic catechism. -^-Impolicy of the calum- 
 niating system. Soldiers still subject to 
 actual religious persecution. *-A general 
 persecution planned by a powerful noble- 
 man. Controversy with Dr. Ledwich, 
 Expected attacks upon the present publica- 
 tion. The author" s adversaries. Tribute 
 to the memory of Dr. Sturges, The 
 Reviewers. The author's advice to his 
 Irish friends. Approach to the Small- 
 Island light-house. Its inhabitants com- 
 pared with the anachorites, - 25(: 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Arrival at Milford Haven. Description of it. 
 Account of a nexo-built church there. 
 Spirit of the Irish Catholics for improving 
 their chapels. Dimensions of those at 
 JVaterford, Cork, and Thurles. Chief 
 defect in these chapels. Superior beauty of 
 the pointed style. Origin of it . Different 
 orders of this style. Necessity of an able 
 architect. The merits of Air. Carter. 
 The Grecian style and different orders. 
 Due proportions of a Catholic chapel, 
 Necessity of symmetry. - Importance of 
 the altar. Mode of decorating it. The 
 tabernacle. Altar-piece. Galleries. 
 Ceiling, Windows. Organ and pulpit. 
 Benches. Attention to the ornamenting 
 of churches vindicated, - 288
 
 CONTEXTS. Xi 
 
 Page 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Occasion of the author's second voyage to 
 Ireland* Arrival at Water ford. Jour- 
 ney to Cork. Excursion to Middleton 
 and Cloy ne. Description of Cloy ne Round 
 Tower. Journey to Killarney. Feelings 
 occasioned by a view of the Lakes, and of 
 Innisfallin Island. Vindication of the 
 ancient religious. Ahsurdaccount of them 
 by a modern tourist. Account of the in- 
 habitants of Kerry. Classical literature 
 not quite extinct among the peasantry. 
 Ruins of Kilmalloc. Curiosities at 
 Limerick. Journey to Dublin, 8$c. 320 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 To the Author of Remarks on Dr. Milxer's Tour. 
 
 Presumptive evidence of this author's name. 
 His importunate queries concerning the 
 motives of Dr. Ms voyage, His accu- 
 mulative untruths. His various queries 
 concerning Maynooth college. His de- 
 fence of the Charter-schools. His pro- 
 posals for pensioning the Catholic clergy. 
 His quotation from Lord RedesdaWs 
 booh. His threatening language. His 
 pretensions to ancient literature, - ?A r >
 
 XU CONTENTS. 
 
 Tage 
 LETTER II. 
 
 To Dr. Ryan. 
 
 Objections to the present controversy. Short 
 and easy way of solving religious doubts. 
 Imprudent boasting of Dr. R. He 
 sacrifices his own cause. Various instances 
 of this, Acknowledged excellency of the 
 Vulgate text. Fidelity of the English 
 Catholic translation. Anecdote of the 
 Ryan family, - 371 
 
 LETTER III. 
 To Dr. Elrington. 
 This an abridgment of a longer treatise, noxo 
 suppressed. Dr. E. also injures his own 
 cause. Hinge of the controversy. -Dr. 
 E's presumptive proofs of Barlow's con- 
 secratioyi. Nezv documents for refuting 
 them. Dr. E's retorsion repelled. Vin- 
 dication of Cardinal Pole, in a note. 
 Requisite forms in conferring orders. Re- 
 markable change of these in \66Z. Con- 
 tradiction in the Homelies. Vain attempts 
 of Dr. E. to disengage himself from it. 
 Necessity of divine mission. The writer 1 * 
 former controversy concerning orders. 
 The prevailing system on this subject. - 
 Tacit Reformation. Extent of this. 
 New bust in Trinity college library, 393 
 
 Postscript, - - 419 
 
 Additional Notes, - - 436
 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Dublin, June 27, 1807. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 " XS it possible," said I to my- 
 self, as I read over the Parliamentary Debates 
 on a late question, " that the charges against 
 " the Catholics of Ireland, so confidently 
 " brought by one party, and so faintly denied, 
 " if not almost conceded, by the other, can be 
 
 B
 
 4 
 
 " true ? Are, then, my brethren in the sister 
 " island so destitute of education, morality, re- 
 " ligion, and civilization; and are their clergy, 
 " in particular, so scandalously illiterate, super- 
 " stitious, and disloyal as they are represented to 
 " be? It is no such long journey," continued 
 I, " from this my residence to the shore of the 
 " Irish channel; and from thence to the capital of 
 " Ireland is but the voyage of a few hours. 
 " What hinders me, then, from forming my 
 " own opinion upon these matters, by observing 
 " and conversing with the Irish Catholics in 
 " their own country ?" 
 
 I must, however, Sir, observe to you, that 
 previously to my holding this soliloquy, I had 
 conceived a wish of viewing one of the political 
 pheenomena of the present times; a people, with- 
 out any revolution or other visible cause, rising, 
 as it were, all at once, from apparent insignificancy 
 and absolute contempt, to the first rank of 
 importance and respectability in the scale of 
 nations. Within your memory, Sir, and mine, the 
 Irish Catholics were hardly thought worthy of 
 notice amongst politicians : they were almost 
 non-entities in the law and constitution of the 
 empire. If they were mentioned in the legisla- 
 tive assemblies, it was merely for the purpose of 
 adding some new weight to a system of legal 
 oppression, avowedly contrived to grind them to 
 atoms : when, behold, at the present day, these 
 Helotes, these Gibeonites, the hewers of wood 
 and drawers of water in the land of their nati-
 
 vity, have suddenly acquired so much impor- 
 tance, as to justify the first statesmen of the age 
 in unanimously and emphatically assuring us, 
 that the fortune of the whole British empire 
 depends upon theirs. 
 
 As I myself am no politician, I take up this 
 alarming assertion on the credit of those great 
 men who are well known to have often repeated 
 it : but thus much I can pronounce from my own 
 observations, that the fate of us English Catho- 
 lics depends upon that of our brethren in Ireland. 
 If their claims are overlooked, ours will never 
 be thought worthy of notice. On the other 
 hand, whatever redress of grievances or legal 
 privileges they obtain, we shall not long remain 
 deprived of them. Our political weight and im- 
 portance, compared with theirs, is small indeed. 
 They are the stately vessel which catches the 
 breeze and stems the tide ; we are the cock-boat 
 which is towed in her wake. 
 
 Such, Sir, were my musings, and such my 
 inclinations with respect to a tour to Ire- 
 land, when, a week ago, I received a letter 
 from a respected and most valuable friend then 
 near Dublin, in which he entreated me so 
 earnestly, and with such powerful motives, to 
 pay him and certain other friends in his com- 
 pany a visit, that I hesitated no longer about the 
 
 expedition. Already, then, after passing 
 
 through places in England familiar to me, I have 
 surveyed the romantic vale of Llangollen, and 
 the stupendous scenery round Capel-Carrig and 
 
 B2
 
 Snowden. I have traversed the barren heaths 
 of Anglesea, where, instead of the frantic Druids 
 of ancient times, described by Tacitus, I have 
 seen the assembled population of the island agi- 
 tated by the more enthusiastic orgies of religious 
 jumping. To be brief, I have crossed the narrow, 
 but rough channel, the dread of which deprives 
 you and many other Englishmen, who descant 
 upon the Irish Catholics without knowing them, 
 of the advantage I possess, in being able to see 
 them and converse with them. 1 now have also 
 viewed the celebrated Bay of Dublin, confessedly 
 the most beautiful in Europe next to that of 
 Naples, studded as it is on each shore with 
 innumerable shining villages, villas, and martello 
 towers ; and bounded, on this side, by the ma- 
 jestic hill of Howth, and, on that, by the aspiring 
 and diversified mountains of Wicklow, with the 
 vast and gorgeous capital of Ireland in the centre 
 of the scene: and now, behold ! having escaped 
 from the plucking of the Pigeon-house (l), I 
 am safely lodged upon one of the quays of the 
 Liffey. ' 
 
 I know, Sir, you would not forgive me, were 
 I to omit communicating to you the result of my 
 observations and reflections, upon matters which 
 have so often been the subject of our friendly 
 debates, now that they are under my eye. I shall 
 
 (i) A cu&tom-house office, situated at the quay where passengers 
 from England land, and which answers no other purpose than that 
 of extorting money froflu them, is not unaptly called The Pigeon- 
 house.
 
 therefore comply with your wish in such manner 
 as my leisure will permit; after stipulating with 
 you for that perfect freedom of judgment and 
 expression, without which all inquiry and dis- 
 cussion are nugatory and ridiculous. By the 
 same rule, Sir, after I shall have delivered my 
 opinion, you will be at liberty to judge of it, 
 and to controvert it asyoupiease. 
 
 Hatic veniam pethmisque damusque vicissim. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, 
 
 Your faithful servant, 
 
 J. M.
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Maynooth, June 29, 1 807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 T 
 
 X HE very morning after my 
 arrival in Dublin, particular business con- 
 ducted me to this place, which is about a do- 
 zen miles distant from that city. In my jour- 
 ney hither, and in my subsequent excursions, I 
 have had opportunities of surveying the shores 
 of the Liffy, which, if not so majestic and so 
 rich in princely villas, as the Thames is to the 
 west of London, is more enchantingly diver- 
 sified by its meandering turns, its alternate 
 shallows and depths, its hanging woods, and 
 its lofty banks, now smoothly shelving to the 
 water edge, now surmounting it in bold rocks 
 and perpendicular precipices. 
 
 The universal population of Maynooth, and 
 particularly the inhabitants of the Royal Catho- 
 lic College, still mourn the loss of their land- 
 lord and friend, the late good Duke of Leinster. 
 The noble palace and domain of his family 
 border the town to the east, whilst the col- 
 lege and the magnificent ruins of the ancient 
 castle of the Fitzgeralds, terminate it to the 
 west. The new building consists of lodging-
 
 9 
 
 rooms, schools, a church (l), a library, a hall, 
 and different offices, erected in a style worthy the 
 munificence of his Majesty and the liberality of 
 parliament ; and suitable to the accommodation 
 of 200 ecclesiastical students, besides a pro- 
 vost, a bursar, professors, and servants. An 
 extension of one of the wings is far advanced for 
 the lodging of 200 additional students (2), for 
 whose support, during the ensuing twelve months, 
 the present parliament, like the former, has vot- 
 ed 50001. in addition to the 80001. granted 
 heretofore. Methinks, Sir, I hear you exclaim, 
 with a, Pish ! as many others have exclaimed 
 
 (0 The difference between a Church and a Chape!, in the Ca- 
 tholic system is, that the former has different altars in it, while the 
 latter has only one. 
 
 (2) When the length of the preparation for taking Catholic order? 
 and the uncertainty of the perseverance of the students are consider- 
 ed, it is plain that even the enlarged establishment will not furnish 
 half priests enough to supply the vacancies annually occurring by 
 death, sickness, inability, and other accidents, among 2i3o offici- 
 ating Catholic Clergy. N. 13. While this second edition has 
 
 been in the press, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland, John 
 Foster, Esq. lias proposed and carried, in a Committee of the 
 House of Commons, that the parliamentary grant, nv.ule to this- 
 establishment during the last two years, should be curtailed in the 
 sum of 375&I. so that, instead of 130001. upon which its trustees 
 depended, and fur which they had made their arrangements it will 
 this year only receive the sum of 92 5. .1. The reason of this reduc- 
 tion seems to be, that the IJon. Gentleman having moved for 
 9428I. 1 8k. in favour of the Nonconformist Ministers of Ireland 
 thought it reasonable and politic to place the Catholic Clergy 
 upon a lower establishment than them. It has, however, escaped 
 his observation, that the latter have above four millions of his Ma- 
 jesty's subjects to serve, whilst the former have not above fym h :.- 
 <Ired thousand to attend.
 
 10 
 
 before you : " What a needless waste of money, 
 " for the support of an illiterate, uncivilized set 
 " of proselyting bigots, as the Roman Catholic 
 " Clergy of Ireland are universally known to 
 " be!" 
 
 Let us, then, Sir, suppose that the present set 
 of catholic clergy are really deficient in educa- 
 tion and literature; yet if the poverty to which 
 they have been reduced, and the laws which, till 
 of late, have existed against their receiving an 
 education; and especially if their past literary 
 glory and services are considered ; candour, I 
 think, will shield them from the very severe cen- 
 sure too generally passed upon them in this 
 respect. For who, Sir, were the luminaries of 
 the western world, when the sun of science had 
 nearly set upon it ? Who were the instructors of 
 nations during four whole centuries, but the 
 Irish clergy ? To them you are indebted for the 
 preservation of the Bible, the Fathers, and the 
 classics ; that is to say, of the very means by 
 which you yourself have acquired whatever lite- 
 rature you possess. In every part of this exten- 
 sive island, where St. Patrick preached the 
 gospel, he founded convents and schools of in- 
 struction, by means of which he enlightened 
 and civilized the inhabitants at the same time 
 that he converted them. These schools soon 
 became so famous, that they were frequented by 
 crowds of students from France, Flanders, and 
 even from Germany (1), as well as from the 
 
 (i) Sn<- Fiaccus Albinus, alias Alcuin, in vita St. Willibrordi-
 
 11 
 
 different parts of Britain (l). Gildas, the most 
 ancient of our British writers whose works are 
 extant, studied for a long time at St. Patrick's 
 seminary of Armagh (2) ; as did about the same 
 time the royal youth St. Pctroc. In the following 
 century St. Agilbert, a Frenchman, the second 
 bishop of the West Saxons (3), with the noble 
 brothers Edelhun and Egbert, and many others, 
 passed over to Ireland, for the same purpose of 
 improving themselves in sacred literature. Soon 
 after this, namely, in the seventh century, we 
 find great numbers of our countrymen, poor as 
 well as rich, flocking to Ireland, as to a general 
 mart of literature, where the hospitable Scots, as 
 the inhabitants were then called, with a genero- 
 sity unknown in every other nation, not only 
 instructed them gratis, but also fed them gra- 
 tis (4). At length a residence in Ireland, like 
 a residence now at an university, was consi- 
 dered as almost essential to establish a literary 
 character (5). 
 
 (0 Bed. Hist. Eccl. 1. iii. c. 27. 
 
 (2) Ada'nnan apud. Usser. Primord. ad. an. 498. 
 
 (3) " Agilbettus, natione Gallus, legen^arum gratia scripturarum 
 " 111 1 1 ibf-rnia. non parvo tempore comir.oratus." Bed. !. iii. c. 7. 
 
 (4) Muhi nobi'ium simul <-t mediocrium de jjente Anlorum, 
 " relic'.u Patria. insula, vtl divinae lectionis, vel continent'toris vitas 
 *' gratia, illo secesserant. C^uos omnes Scoti, iibentissime sus- 
 " cipicntes victum quotidianum, sine pretio, linros quoque et ma- 
 " g sterium gratuitum praebere ctirabai-.t." Bid. l.iii- c. 27. 
 
 (5) I cannot forbear quoting here the often repeated lines which 
 Camden ha, extracted f, om the life of St. Sulgenius, who flourished 
 iu the eighth century. 
 
 " Exemp'o patrum, commoUis anion-: legendi, 
 " Ivit ad Hibernos sophia mirabi'.e chiros." 
 
 c
 
 12 
 
 Not content with teaching the foreigners who 
 came to them for instruction, the Irish clergy, 
 in the eighth and ninth centuries, spread them- 
 selves over the greater part of Europe, for the 
 sake of converting and civilizing the Pagans in 
 the northern parts of it, and of instructing the 
 unlettered Christians in the other parts (l). 
 St. Killian became the apostle of Franconia, St. 
 Ilumold of Brabant, St. Virgilius of Carinthia, 
 St. Columban of the Swiss, St. Gallus of the 
 Grisons ; all of them Irishmen : not to speak of 
 St. Donatus, bishop of Fessuli (2), St. Cataldus, 
 bishop of Tarentum, who illuminated the church 
 of Italy, or of St. Fursey, St. Fiacre, St. Firmin, 
 St. Rupert, &c. who illustrated the churches of 
 France and Germany. In a word, there is hardly 
 a diocese in the countries here mentioned, which 
 does not record the learning and sanctity of some 
 illustrious missionaries from Ireland who formerly 
 served it. The most celebrated nurseries of learn- 
 ing in those ancient times, both in our own 
 country and abroad, were instituted by Irish 
 scholars. It was the learned Irish bishop St. 
 Aidan who instituted that of Lindisferne, which 
 
 (i) " Quid Hiberniam commemorem, contempto Pelagi discri- 
 " mine, paene totam, cum grege philosophorum ad nostra Gallica 
 " littora migrantem, quorum quisque, ut peritior est, ultro sibi in- 
 " d citexiiium, ut Salomoni sapientissimo famuletur ad votum." 
 Ericus Autissiodorensis r.ouo saeculo. 
 
 (2) This is the religious poet, from whose verses in praise of hi: 
 country 1 have taken my motto. See them more at large in Colgaa 
 upon St. Patrick.
 
 13 
 
 enlightened the northern and midland parts of 
 England. It was the venerable monk Maidulph 
 who opened the famous school of Malmsbury, 
 from which sacred and profane literature, Greek 
 as well as Latin (l), was diffused over the 
 southern and western parts of the nation. St. 
 Columkille founded the learned monastery of 
 Jona, in the Western Isles ; St. Columban those 
 of Luxieu and Bobbio(c); St. Gall the cele- 
 brated one which bore his name among the Alps. 
 In short, we are indebted to the Irish for the 
 most renowned universities of modern times. 
 Claudius Clemens was first professor of the uni- 
 versity of Paris, as Joannes Scotus was of that at 
 Ticinum, or Pavia (3). Even our boasted uni- 
 versity of Oxford is greatly, if not chiefly in- 
 debted for its foundation to the last mentioned 
 acute and eloquent scholar, who first opened an 
 academy for the instruction of English children, 
 upon the plan of the above-mentioned foreign 
 universities, and who excited the great Alfred to 
 
 (i) " Maidulpli, nati one Scotus eruditione philosophic. " Gul. 
 Malms, de Pon'.ii 
 
 (2) "Cum per totam Galliam divinse religionis fervor torperet, 
 *' Dominus ChrUtus, ad repcllendas ignavise tenebras, de occiduis 
 " Hibernian partibus ^plendidissimum radium Gallicis finibus emer- 
 " gere praecepit, B. Columbanum egregium Scotigenam." Diplom. 
 Caroli Magni, apud O'Flaharty Ogygia. 
 
 (3) " Cum iuVm Carolus regnare ceepisset et studia literarum ubi- 
 " quepropemodum essent in oblivione, contigit duos ScotosdeHi- 
 " berniain iittus Gallicum deveirre et in sjecularibus et in sacris 
 " Uteris mirubiliter eruditos, &o" Ex Notkero Monacho S. Gall: 
 roho sBcculo apud O'Flaharty. 
 
 C <:.
 
 14 
 
 institute one equal to them in his own domi- 
 nions (l). 
 
 (0 Usher Primnrd. The Centuriators of Magdeburg make Jo- 
 annes Scotus the first professor at Oxford ; but he seems to have died 
 a little before the schools were actually opened there. Several other 
 learned Irishmen appear to have encouraged and assisted Alfred in 
 his glorious undertaking to restore literature in England. This 
 prince's learned relation Ethel ward informs us that, in the year 
 891, three learned men came over to him from Ireland, whom he 
 received with great joy. Their names were Dufflan, Macbeathan, 
 and Magilmunan. The last he characterises as, " artibus frondens, 
 " littera doctus, magister insignis Scotorum." Chronicon Nobilis 
 Ethelwardi, 1, iv. c. 3. Welt-am from the Saxon Chronicle, that the 
 same year died Suibneh, who is termed " prsccipuus doctor qui 
 " inter Scotos fuit." In the Ulster Annals he is called, " Anacho- 
 
 " rita et scriba optimus." He died at Clanmacnois. N. B. It is 
 
 agreed among the learned, and it is evident by comparison, that our 
 ancient English or Saxon characters are borrowed from those of 
 Ireland, and that they were carried thither, together with Christia- 
 nity, by St. Patrick ; which saint is recorded by Nennius and his 
 other historians, for having written with his own hand ' * 365 a b i e- 
 " toria aut amplius," namely, alphabets for the instruction of the 
 
 Irish. The celebrated Richard Kirwan, Esq. L. L. D. 
 
 P. R. I. A. with whom Iliad the honour of holding a long conversa- 
 tion the other day, has published a learned Essay on the Primeval 
 Language, which he supposes to have been the Greek. I cannot, 
 however, help thinking that the Celtic, which is the root of the 
 Irish, and which appears to be allied with the Phoenician, Chaldaic, 
 Sec. has better pretensions to this honour. N. V>. 2 . The nau- 
 tical skill and hardihood of the three learned Irishmen mentioned 
 above, in traversing the broadest part of St. George's channel in a 
 coracle, or wicker basket covered with hides, (which, from the ac- 
 count of it, could not have been more than six feet long by four feet 
 wide) must astonish our most expert and brave seamen in these days 
 of naval glory. "Tres (illi) Scoti venerunt ad yL'lfred ;m Regem 
 " in una cymba, sine alio remice, dc Ilibemia. Cymba in qua 
 " devecti sunt, facta est ex duolus coriis cum dimidio : sumpsertint 
 " autem secum unitis hebdomadse viaticum; atque appulerunt in 
 " Cornubia, statimque progressi sunt ad /Elfredum regem." Chron. 
 Sax. an. 8911 Ethelwardadds the following particulars : " Abstra-
 
 15 
 
 True it is, the calamity which almost extin- 
 guished the flame of literature in England, I 
 mean the destruction of the monasteries by the 
 Danes, was productive of the same effect iu Ire- 
 land. Nevertheless, it is easy to prove that the 
 Irish clergy did not fall into total ignorance dur- 
 ing the dark period which succeeded this storm ; 
 likewise, that they soon recovered a considerable 
 degree of their former literary credit ; and finally, 
 that there was amongst them an uninterrupted 
 succession of men eminent for their learning and 
 talents, even down to the second destruction of 
 monasteries by the tyrant Henry VIII. Even 
 under the cruel and almost uninterrupted perse- 
 cution which they have endured till within these 
 few years, they have contrived to acquire, not 
 only professional, but also classical and orna- 
 mental literature. Several of them have studied 
 the classics and sacred literature, under hedges, 
 for want of schools ; and others have spread 
 themselves over the continent of Europe, there 
 to acquire that knowledge which their prede- 
 cessors originally diffused throughout it. The 
 
 " lninliir turn ferventes fide, anno in codem, Kibernia stirpe, tres 
 " viri lecti. Furtim consuunt lembum, taminis byrsis ; alimentum 
 " sibi hebdoniadarium supplent ; elevant, dies per septem totidem- 
 " que noctes, vela ; advelunitur in Cornualias partes." Our 
 Saxon ancestors had long been famous for their art and courage 
 in managing these frail vessels : 
 
 " Quin, et Aremoricus piratam Saxona tractus 
 
 " Sperabaf, (llmebat) cui pellc salum suIcareBritannum 
 
 " Ludjs, et assuto glaucum mare findere lembo." 
 
 Sidon. Apolin.
 
 1(3 
 
 success which they have generally met with in 
 their studies, has been equal to the ardour with 
 which they have applied to them. Accordingly, 
 Sir, you will find, upon inquiry, that the Irish 
 students in the foreign universities, down to the 
 very period of the late revolution, carried oft' 
 more than a due proportion of prizes and profes- 
 sorships, by the sheer merit of superior talents 
 and learning, and a much greater proportion 
 than fell to the lot of all other foreigners put to- 
 gether. 
 
 1 am far, Sir, from undertaking to give you 
 a list of the Irish Catholic Clergy, since there- 
 formation, so called, who have left incontro- 
 vertible proofs of their cultivated minds, and 
 rior literature in their writings : neither my 
 leisure nor my means permit me, at present, to 
 undertake the task. I will, however, present 
 you with the names of a few of these. Amongst 
 the prelates of this description were the M. R. Dr. 
 Peter Lombard, A. B. of Armagh, author of "De 
 Regno Hiberniie, Insula Sanctorum," Sec. ; M. R. 
 George Dowdal, his predecessor in that dignity; 
 tiie It. Ii. Daniel Roth, Catholic Bishop of Os- 
 sory, who published a most interesting account. 
 )f catholic affairs about two centuries ago (1.) 
 The M. !.. Peter Talbot, Catholic Archbishop of 
 Dublin, a celebrated controversial writer, who 
 died a prisoner for his religion in that city ; the 
 It. R. Daniel O'Daly, who died Bishop of Co- 
 
 (0 Anal ecta de Rebus Catholicism Anglia.
 
 17 
 
 imbria, in Portugal ; and the R, R, Thomas 
 Burke, Bishop of Ossory, both of them learned 
 and celebrated historians, of the order of St. Do- 
 minic ; the late M. R. James Butler, Archbi- 
 shop of Cashel, and victorious opponent of 
 Dr. Woodward, Bishop of Cloyne (1). Amongst 
 the learned writers of the second order of clergy, 
 were the R. Richard Stanyhurst, the well known 
 
 historian; Abb6 M'Geoghan, ; the R.J. 
 
 Colgan, ; the R. Luke Wadding, ; 
 
 the R. J. Lynch, ; the Rev. Dr. Martin, 
 
 Professor of Divinity at Louvain, who wrote the 
 Scutum Fidel, against A. B. Tillotson's Ser- 
 mons on Transiibstantiation, which he refuted 
 paragraph by paragraph ; the Rev. Dr. Nary, 
 who distinguished himself bv his controversial 
 writings against Dr. Brown, Bishop of Cork, 
 afterwards A. B. of Tuam ; the R.John O'Heyne, 
 an historian ; the R. Antony Lupi, alias Wolf, 
 an antiquary ; the R. John Ilaeket, a theo- 
 logian ; the R. Dominic Lynch, ; the 
 
 R. F. Alalone, the successful antagonist in con- 
 troversy against Archbishop Lusher ; the R. Ed- 
 mund Burke, controvertist ; the R. James 
 Usher, author of the Free Inquiry ( c 2) ; and the R. 
 
 (i) Looking over the list oi writers in Harris's Ware, chap. 13 and 
 ihap. m, I find thegrealei part of them have been Catholic Bishops 
 and other Clerg\ men ; nor is the ar.thor backward in acknowledging 
 their merit. Among in:my others oi this description, are the follow- 
 ing : Maurice de Portal, A. R. oi Tuam; Rd. Creagh, A. 13. of 
 Armagh; C. Dovan, P>. of Down ; N.French, B. of Ferns ; V. 
 Conrv, A. I. ol'Fuam; Keating, Mcssinghani, &:c. 
 
 ^2,' Thi- rr.oit able and learner! scholar was the immediate de- 
 . e.'i'hmt of Ap !ib:-iiop Usher, who betaking himself to the study of
 
 18 
 
 Arthur O'Leary, the triumphant, and, at the 
 same time, the amiable victor of John Wesley, 
 
 the controversy carried on between his ancestor and F. Malone, was 
 so overpowered and convinced by the arguments of the latter, that 
 he abandoned the religion in which he had been educated, and em- 
 braced that of the ancient Church. Being a widower, he took holy 
 orders in this Church, and was the first writer who may be said to 
 have defended it in the face of the public: his letters originally ap- 
 pearing in the Public Ledger, from which they were extracted, and 
 published in a separate work now upon sale, called: A free Examina- 
 t'h n of the common Methods employed to prevent the Growth of Popery. 
 Mr. Usher left ason, who is still living, and whom I had the pleasure 
 of seeing in one of the catholic establishments in Ireland. The plan of 
 liis Letters, which made a great noise in their time, is as foiiow3. 
 There being a great outcry concerning the alledged increase of 
 Popery inEngland, about the year 1767, Mr. Usher, in his first let- 
 ter, calls upon well informed and ingenious persons to account for 
 the fact, and to explain upon what principle error can prove an 
 over- match for trut h, ignorance for learning, idolatry for pure reli- 
 gion. Having, in his following letters, refuted the idle and ridi- 
 culous reason;; assigned for this strange circumstance, by different 
 writers, who attempted to answer him, he thus, in substance, ex- 
 plains the true cause of it : " You learned controvertists, when you 
 " attack the Church of Rome, never fail to assault her in some point 
 " or other in which s'tie is impregnable. You accuse herofteach- 
 " in idolatry or impiety, or the breach of faith with heretics, or 
 '' the lawfulness of murdering them, or some other immorality. 
 " This, to be sure, gains you a temporary applause amongst your 
 " zealous partisans, and inflames their hatred against Papists. But 
 " in the mean time, the Papists themselves, being conscious of the 
 " falsehood of these charges, are confirmed in their religion ; and 
 " serious protectant seekers, discovering by degrees the same false- 
 " hood, are induced to go over to the popish communion, &c." 
 Besides this Examination, Mr. Usher alio wrote Clio upon Taste, a 
 work which deserves to be placed on the same shelf with Burke's 
 Beautiful and Sublime. In writing the Examination, he was assisted 
 by my lamented friend, the late worthy, upright, and pious John 
 Walker, author of the Pronouncing Dictionary, Elements of Elocu- 
 tion, the Rhetorical Grammar, Deism disarmed, &c. This inge- 
 lroa.s author may with truth be called the Guido d'Arezzo of elocu- 
 tion ; having discovered the scale of speaking sounds, by which read- 
 ing and delivery are now reduced to a system.
 
 19 
 
 and of other enemies of religious toleration (l), 
 <Scc. I do not mention certain living writers, of 
 whom posterity will speak, because they are my 
 friends, and therefore I might be suspected of 
 partiality in the account I should give of them. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, &c. 
 
 (i) How little does this head of a great party, and chief author of 
 the riots in 1780, appear, when opposed to the deep learning, the 
 sound logic, and the sterling wit of an O'Leary! See Remarks 011 
 John Wesley's Letters, in O'Leary's Tracts, p. 205. Keating 
 and Co. 
 
 I)
 
 20 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Maynooth, June 30, 1 807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I 
 
 Make no doubt that you 
 will consider my letter of yesterday as a set 
 off, and that, being conscious of the ignorance 
 and stupidity of the present race of officiating 
 clergy in Ireland, I am desirous of investing 
 them with the past glories of their predecessors. 
 To be sure, Sir, it will be a difficult task to dis- 
 abuse you and other Englishmen of your preju- 
 dice against Irish priests, if you are determined to 
 entertain it: nevertheless, I beg you, by way of 
 forming a right judgment upon this matter, to 
 consider of proper answers to the three following 
 questions. As you must admit that the natives of 
 Ireland have not degenerated in their bodily 
 powers, have you any reason to suppose they have
 
 21 
 
 fallen off from their ancient fame, with respect to 
 their mental faculties ? Secondly, it being an 
 established rule with us, in the choice of candi- 
 dates for holy orders, to consider mental talents 
 next to piety and morality, is it not likely that 
 the clergy in Ireland should prove to be endowed 
 with, at least, an ordinary share of natural 
 genius ? Thirdly, do you conceive it possible, 
 that young men thus endowed, should spend 
 ten or twelve of the choicest years of their 
 lives in intense application to study, without ac- 
 quiring some share of knowledge and intellectual 
 improvement? You will probably say, that to 
 solve the last question, it is necessary you should 
 know how these ten or twelve years have been 
 employed ; what books have been read ; in short, 
 that you want to know (as an enlightened and 
 liberal reviewer has expressed himself), " what 
 "is the course at Maynooth (l) ?" I answer, 
 that if this be not known, it is not the fault of 
 the superiors of the college. Their well-frequented 
 library (2) and their class books are open to the 
 examination, not only of the Lord Chancellor 
 and the Judges of Ireland, who are bound by the 
 Act of 179.-3, to visit the establishment every 
 three years, but also of every civil inquirer (3). I 
 
 (i; Seethe Edinburgh Review in its strictures upon Carr's Stranger 
 in Ireland. 
 
 (2) To the fact here supposed I myself am a witness. 
 (3) While the present sheets have been in the press the whole plan oi 
 studies, together with the laws and bye- laws of discipline, and the 
 
 D L'
 
 2 
 
 will endeavour to give you a general idea of this 
 course. An indefinite time, perhaps two or three 
 years, is employed in the study of English, 
 Irish (l), Latin, and French Grammar (2). After 
 this a distinct year is appointed for the study 
 of poetry, and another year for that of rhetoric. 
 At the end of each year puhlic examinations are 
 held, at which the literati of the neighbourhood, 
 of whatever communion they maybe, are invit- 
 ed to assist, and also bear a part in them (3). 
 This forms what is called the course of the Hu- 
 manity Studies ; after which begin those of a 
 higher order. One whole year is always devot- 
 ed to logic and metaphysics, upon Lock's sys- 
 tem ; and another to mathematics, physics, and 
 
 names of all the professors and students of the establishment 
 since its first opening in 1795, have been printed in 50 folio pages, 
 ior the use of the Members of Parliament ; and it must be a matter 
 of heart-felt joy to every individual connected with it, that no one 
 fault or defect could be found in the whole, except that the 
 students applied too closely to their business, even at the times of 'vuca- 
 tion. This disposition has been termed monastic. 
 
 CO A professor of the Irish language forms one part of the estab- 
 lishment; an excellent constitution for perpetuating perhaps the 
 most ancient language in the world, the Celtic. 
 
 (2) Regularly speaking, the students are expected to have acquired 
 the greater part of these branches of knowledge, previously to their 
 admission at Maynooth. 
 
 (3) At the small seminary of Kilkenny, which I afterwards visited, 
 I found a boy explaining Lucian and Homer. The established 
 bishop, who was formerly provost of Trinity College, Dublin, fre- 
 quently honours the examinations there with his presence, and was 
 expected the morning when I attended. A friend of mine adds, 
 that when he left the College of Kilkenny, after four years residence 
 in it, besides Lucian and Homer, he had also read Longinus, 
 Sophocles, Lysias, &c. to say nothing of Horace, Tacitus, &c.
 
 23 
 
 astronomy, in which Newton is the chief guide. 
 The whole of this philosophical course the stu- 
 dent must publicly defend, not by answering a 
 few questions well known before hand, but by 
 solving the objections of each individual present, 
 amongst the company indiscriminately invited to 
 these defensions. To the study of philosophy 
 succeeds that of divinity, including canon law 
 and ecclesiastical history ; which takes up four 
 whole years, under three distinct professors, (at 
 least there is this number of them at Maynooth) 
 a professor of speculative theology, a second of 
 morality, and a third of the holy scriptures. 
 The divines, no less than the philosophers, are 
 required publicly to defend their several treatises; 
 and I mav add, that they are no less willing than 
 these are to exhibit their dictates and other class 
 books to every civil stranger, of whatever re- 
 ligion, who chooses to inspect them. If all that I 
 have here stated be matter of fact, and take no- 
 tice, Sir, I challenge inquiry into the truth of it, 
 where is the man who will dare to reproach 
 the Irish Clergy with being uneducated and 
 illiterate? Indeed, few of those who hold this 
 language have received half so good an educa- 
 tion (1). 
 
 (i)It may beallelged that I have here exhibited a picture of the edu- 
 cation a: the royal College of Maynooth, which is in the neighbour- 
 hood of the capital, and under the eve of dignified visitors, whereas 
 tin* present charge applies to the officiating clergy in general, and 
 particularly to those in the iemote partsol the island. To this 1 answer,
 
 24 
 
 I have spoken to the charge of ignorance 
 brought against the Catholic Clergy ; I will now 
 speak to that of bigotry and proselyting; in do- 
 ing which, I will not blink the question, but, 
 having fairly explained it, I am content to take 
 my share in the odium and contempt attached 
 to the imputation. If, then, the Catholic Clergy 
 were not deeply persuaded that the change of 
 religion and breach with the ancient Church, ef- 
 fected by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, Mere 
 undertaken upon unjustifiable grounds, and that 
 their Church still continues to be the true 
 Church of Christ, they would certainly be, not 
 only the most wretched, but also the most foolish 
 <>f men, to suffer what thev do suffer, for adhering- 
 to it and serving it. Now, Sir, admitting them to 
 be thus persuaded, would they not be destitute 
 of the characteristical virtue of Christianity, were 
 
 that since I visited Maynootli I have seen other catholic seminaries, 
 particiil p. rly those of Carlow and Kilkenny, and that the same studies 
 are pursued, and I have reason to believe with equal success, in these, 
 as in the first mentioned. I must add, that, having traversed a great 
 part of Leir.ster and Minister, I have sought in vain amongst the 
 parish priests and other clergy, in the towns and villages as well as 
 in th cities, for those illiterate and uneducated men which they art: 
 all in general supposed to he. So far from being persons of this 
 ' scription, I have found them well informed, well behaved, gentle, 
 modes*, charitable, and pious. Some of them have occasionally 
 1 < n called into courts of justice, to give evidence in different cause, - 
 certain letters of others have been published on various occasions 
 ) - v. ho of them has said or written any thing unbecoming a scholar, 
 a gentleman, or a Christian Divine
 
 25 
 
 they to refuse communicating the advantage 
 they possess to those whom they find sincerely 
 engaged in the search of it? For they do not 
 disturb the public peace by field preaching, or 
 that of private families, by intruding themselves 
 into them uninvited. On the other hand, as it 
 is not private emolument nor the aggrandize- 
 ment of a party, but the performance of an 
 apostolical precept (1), and the exercise of a 
 charitable office which they have in view, in their 
 communications with persons of other com- 
 munions ; so they would conceive it a baseness 
 and a crime to hold up any worldly consideration 
 of hope, or fear to them, or to use any other im- 
 proper means for gaining proselytes. Accordingly, 
 I maintain, without fear of confutation, that the 
 conduct of the converts to catholicity in gene- 
 ral, throughout Ireland, demonstrates the purity 
 of the motives by which they have been induced 
 to take this step ; as, on the other hand, the be- 
 haviour of those who have left this communion, 
 evidently shews they have done it for the sake of 
 expatiating in wider fields of belief and practice, 
 than were allowed them in their native Church. 
 
 Thus much, Sir, in vindication of the Catholic 
 Clergy from the accusation of proselyting. Let 
 us now see how far the persons who bring this 
 charge, arc themselves implicated in it. I have 
 already had abundant means of learning that the 
 
 (ij " Re always ready to satisfy every one that asketh you a 
 " ri-ason ot the hope which is in yon." i Pet. in. ij.
 
 26 
 
 Protestants of Ireland, in almost every part of it, 
 are possessed of the most ardent zeal for pro- 
 selyting the Catholics ; and this, not by means 
 of cool conviction and edifying example, but by 
 downright bribes and tenors. Here, a protestant 
 lady, for the sake of bringing them up Protes- 
 tants, clothes, feeds, and provides for catholic 
 children exclusively, whose parents will sell them 
 to her at this price ; there, a protestant landlord 
 turns all his catholic tenants out of their farms, or 
 exacts an oath as the condition of holding them, 
 that they will send their children to a protestant 
 school, which he has set up for the express pur- 
 pose of prosclytism. But why should I dwell 
 upon private instances of the system of protestant 
 proselyting, when it has been publicly professed 
 and acted upon by the government of the coun* 
 try, ever since it gave up that of putting its sub- 
 jects to death for adhering to their religion. In 
 fact, Sir, unexampled as such proceedings are in 
 past times, astonishing as they will appear in 
 ages to come, no less than 25,0001. (1) continue 
 to be annually levied (in a great measure, upon 
 the Catholics themselves), independently of the 
 rents of immense landed estates, for pur- 
 chasing the children of indigent Catholics (in as 
 much as no protestant child can be admitted into 
 a charter-school, unless a sufficient number of ca- 
 tholic children cannot be procured) and educat- 
 
 . (0 For the present year Mr. Foster has moved for the sum of 
 23,108 only, in favour of the protestant charter-schools.
 
 27 
 
 ing them in the protestant religion. In still greater 
 violation of the laws of nature, these purchased 
 victims are uniformly transported in covered 
 waggons or carts, to the greatest distance possible 
 from the residence of their parents ( l) ; the chil- 
 dren of the northern provinces being conveyed 
 to the charter-schools of the south, and those of 
 the south to the schools in the north, in order that 
 the parent may never have the consolation of 
 embracing the child, lest he or she should again 
 make a Papist of it (2) ; and that the child may 
 
 (0 Man}' English readers, on meeting with this anecdote in the 
 lust edition of the present work, expressed their doubt of its truth, and 
 supposed the writer had been imposed upon by some fraudulent 
 reporter; so great was their abhorrence of this violation of the 
 laws of nature! The fact, however, is so notorious in Ireland, 
 that mothers are accustomed to frighten their children by threaten- 
 ing lo put tliem into the black cart, which name they apply to these 
 vehicles of infant transports; a thousand times more infamous 
 than Robespierre's Diligences dc la Cayenne. In the debate which 
 took place in the House of Commons on the 13th of April last, 
 perhaps inconsequence of the present suggestion, the fact in question 
 was unequivocally admitted to be true, with all its aggravating 
 circumstances ; the effect of which was that the credit of the char- 
 ter, schools was not a little shaken. Previously to that debate, and 
 indeed soon after the institution of these schools, the author of 
 the History of Down, had boasted to the public of the wisdom of this 
 device of the charter-schools, in interchanging the children, so as 
 to prevent catholic parents from knowing their own offspring. 
 
 (2) It was justly observed by one of our senators, in the debate 
 above mentioned, that the feelings of the poor wretches whose 
 children are, by various means, extorted from them, must be as 
 keen as those of richer parents would be in similar circumstances. 
 I have known a mother, with a child at her breast, leaving three 
 others behind her, set off from the south of England to a remote 
 part of Ireland, in order to recover two more children, who had 
 been purloined from her through the misconduct of the father; and 
 placed in a protestant charter-school. \V hat will appear extra- 
 
 E
 
 28 
 
 never enjoy the advantage of a parent's love and 
 support, for fear it should thereby lose those 
 religious impressions which, at so great an ex- 
 pense, have been wrought upon it ! The Turks, 
 indeed, take away the children of their Greek 
 subjects, in order to recruit the ranks of their 
 janissaries ; but they do this from a motive of 
 policy, not of religion : the Irish government 
 alone, of all the governments in the world, vio- 
 lates the law of God and nature, in extinguish- 
 ing parental and filial affection, and in separat- 
 ing parents and children for life, from a princi- 
 ple of proselytism (]) ! If the theological dic- 
 tates of the divines at Maynooth are inspected, 
 
 ordinary is, that by great ingenuity and industry, she succeeded in 
 first finding out her children, and then bringing them away with her 
 to England. I have heard of another woman, whose child being 
 put into a covered cart, to be transported to a different part of 
 Ireland, she followed it at a distance, and, wlien it arrived at its place 
 of destination, she had the address to get herself hired as a servant 
 m the house in which it was lodged, and thus to have the nursing 
 and even the instruction of it, without the suspicion of her being 
 its mother. Such a history is more affecting than that of the Roman 
 Charity. 
 
 (0 Another more dreadful mischief must arise from the practice 
 of the charter- schools in changing the names of children (to prevent 
 their ever coming to the knowledge of their parents and relations) 
 and in sending them to different parts of the island to be educated 
 and apprenticed: it must sometimes inevitably occasion brothers 
 to marry with their sisters, and even fathers with their daughters ! ! 1 
 -But what matter a violation of the laws of nature, and a few 
 casts of incest, to the humane Sir R. M. and the pious Dr. D. 
 provided they can, by the regulations of the protestant charter- 
 schools, induce a certain number of popish children to persevere in 
 believing that there is noTransubstantiation, and that the Bishop of 
 Rome is Antichrist!
 
 29 
 
 it will be found that they condemn the practice 
 of barely baptizing the children of Jews and 
 Mahommedans, contrary to the will of their pa- 
 rents. In common. decency, Sir, do not reproach 
 us in future with bigotry and proselytism, at least 
 till the charter-schools are suppressed. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, &c. 
 
 3
 
 30 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Maynooth, June 30, 1 807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 X HAVE yet another subject to 
 write to you upon from this place, and have pre- 
 ferred doing it in a separate letter, rather than 
 swelling my former to a disproportionate size. 
 You have heard that, besides the ecclesiastical 
 seminary at Maynooth, there is also a lay col- 
 lege for catholic young gentlemen intended for 
 the world, which is now under the direction of a 
 worthy friend of mine. The latter establish- 
 ment, however, has no other communication 
 with the former, except that its members fre- 
 quent the same church, and attend the same- 
 lectures in philosophy with the ecclesiastical 
 students. 
 
 It has been asked, both in parliament and out 
 of it : " What need there is of a lay catholic coi- 
 " lege, in addition to the ecclesiastical one ?"' and 
 " Why, at least, those young men who are destined 
 " for the various walks of life are not sent to the 
 " public universities ?" One answer to these 
 questions is, that parents will judge for them- 
 selves in such matters, and that the college being 
 supported at their expense, they are not obliged
 
 31 
 
 to give an account to any one, of the motives for 
 their choice. However, Sir, there is no reason 
 why I should conceal from you what these mo- 
 tives are. To speak the plain truth, then we 
 "wish our youth in general to be educated apart, 
 precisely for the opposite reason to that which 
 makes you wish them to be educated at the uni- 
 versities. You desire them to be sent to these, in 
 hopes that, by associating with other youths, 
 whom you call more liberal, we more lax, they 
 may become more indifferent about their reli- 
 gion : we wish to keep them at a distance from 
 such society, for fear of the self-same conse- 
 quence. We have proof, indeed, that this con- 
 sequence does not always follow, but we have 
 also proof that it frequently does follow. In fact, 
 the catholic religion being much more strict and 
 rigorous, both as to belief and practice, than 
 that of the establishment, it is of course ri- 
 diculed by the members of the latter, for its 
 supposed superstition. Now the imputation of 
 this blind and grovelling vice is what few young 
 men of spirit will submit to. Hence they are 
 under a continual temptation, when intimately 
 and habitually mixed with protectant compani- 
 ons, of deserting their faith. Again, it is re- 
 (juired of students, in the English universities at 
 least, tu frequent the established service : but 
 our church not permitting this, nor even wink- 
 ing at occasional conformity, it is clearly seen 
 that the.-je are not proper places of education for 
 Catholics.
 
 32 
 
 I must add, that we are full as anxious about 
 the morals as about the faith of the rising gene- 
 ration. Now we have been taught by those 
 writers cf the day who have the best means of 
 gaining accurate information concerning the 
 state of morality in the universities, to form a 
 very unfavourable opinion of them in this re- 
 spect. Certain it is, that many things which 
 would he attended with expulsion in our catholic 
 places of education, appear as slight faults at the 
 public colleges ; judging of them from the con- 
 versation of very venerable members of them. 
 Indeed I have received authentic information on 
 this head, which I do not choose to commit to 
 writing, but which confirms me in the opinion, 
 that an university education is by no means fit for 
 a strict Catholic. Certain it is, that all large 
 assemblies of mankind, without strong religious 
 feelings, and frequent religious exercises, and 
 rigid discipline, are detrimental to the cause of 
 morality, though, with these advantages, they 
 may be highly beneficial to it. In a word, Sir, a 
 comparison between the best regulated protestant 
 college and any well disciplined catholic semi- 
 nary, will demonstrate the very great advantages 
 which the latter has over the former, in all the 
 above-mentioned means of maintaining strict 
 morality. 
 
 I have the honour, &c.
 
 S3 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 Dublin, July 6, 1807 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 B 
 
 'EING returned to Dublin, I 
 have had an opportunity of viewing the public 
 buildings which adorn it, the Custom-House, 
 the Parliament- House, the four Courts, the Ex- 
 change, the Lying-in-Hospital, the Bridges, the 
 Quays, Trinity College, and the Castle. The 
 chief objection I have to these buildings in gene- 
 ral, with the exception of the Castle and Trinity 
 College, is that their magnificence is dispro- 
 portioncd to the appearance of the city in other
 
 34 
 
 respects, and to the circumstances of the people 
 at whose expense they have been erected. Just 
 in the same manner, I am of opinion that the sta- 
 tue of Commerce, at the top of the first men- 
 tioned of these erections, is too colossal, even for 
 the elevated situation which it holds, and that it 
 appears, even at that distance from the eye, to 
 represent a Brobdignaggian female. Nothing 
 could exceed my grief and indignation, at seeing 
 the demolition Jthat is going on in parts of the 
 new and inimitably beautiful Parliament House, 
 under the direction of the Bank of Ireland, 
 which lias now got possession of it. Mcthinks 
 the Irish Parliament, before it was guilty of the 
 act of fdo de se t might have provided for the 
 unimpaired preservation of its sumptuous house, 
 as a monument of its own existence, and as some 
 consolation to the citizens of Dublin, for their 
 irreparable loss by the legislative union. 
 
 J have had opportunities, during tbe days I 
 have spent here, of conversing and forming an 
 acquaintance with several personages who are 
 generally esteemed for their learning, talents, 
 virtues, and public services. Amongst these I 
 cannot but particularize, for their merit in all 
 these points, the four catholic metropolitans, 
 and the other catholic bishops, to the number of 
 five or six, who happen to be in the city, or very 
 near to it, at the present season. The public ser- 
 vices of certain of these prelates are recorded in 
 the official dispatches of Government, and in the 
 rolls of the corporate bodies which have ho-
 
 35 
 
 noured them with letters of freedom ; and the 
 merits of them all are conspicuous in those Pas- 
 toral Letters and Remonstrances which they ad- 
 dressed to their respective flocks during the 
 dreadful rebellion of 1798. By these and their 
 other exertions (seconded as they were by the 
 general aid of the catholic priesthood) they pre- 
 vented that sudden conflagration from spreading 
 far and wide, and probably saved the lives of 
 thousands of his Majesty's troops, and of tens of 
 thousands of his subjects. Their talents, natural 
 and acquired, together with their christian and 
 social virtues, have gained them general re- 
 spect and regard, not only amongst their own 
 people, but also amongst other religious denomi- 
 nations. The virtues which I most admired in 
 them, and in others of their order with whom I 
 have occasionally conversed, are their fraternal 
 union and cordial co-operation in the discharge 
 of their several duties ; particularly in provid- 
 ing, to the utmost of their power, for the instruc- 
 tion, and the corporal as well as spiritual benefit 
 of their numerous flocks ; and at the same time, 
 for their perfect disinterestedness, to the eye of 
 which their own advantages appear as nothing, 
 when compared with those of their people. You 
 and your friends in England suppose, that no- 
 thing more is necessary to buy over the catholic 
 bishops and clergy of Ireland, than for parlia- 
 ment to vote a certain sum of money for this 
 purpose ; but I have reason to believe that they 
 never will consent to be bought, so as to make a 
 
 F
 
 36 
 
 separate interest from that of their poor flocks ; 
 and that they would rather starve with them, 
 than appear to league against them. Indeed, 
 were they to act this latter part, they would lose 
 the confidence of the people ; in which case they 
 would become incapable of performing the very 
 task that would be exacted from them. In a word, 
 Sir, I am persuaded that the catholic bishops and 
 clergy will continue to do their duty, in promoting 
 peace, patience, and loyalty amongst their people, 
 (as they have hitherto done) without fee or reward; 
 unless their proposed salaries should make part of 
 an enlarged and liberal system for the relief of 
 their countrymen, and particularly of the poorer 
 class of them. 
 
 I am aware, Sir, that the very mention of 
 catholic metropolitans and bishops in Ireland is 
 enough to make some Protestants lose their 
 temper, and others their reason. The most dis- 
 tinguished among these is a noble and learned 
 Lord, lately highly exalted in that part of the 
 United Kingdom ; who by his speeches in parlia- 
 ment (l), and his writings addressed to the 
 public (2), has most zealously and indefatigably 
 laboured to prepare the way for the destruction 
 of the catholic hierarchy there. For this pur- 
 pose he bedaubs it with the most hideous co- 
 lours, representing it as " an open defiance of 
 
 (0 See Substance of a Speech of Lord Rodesdale in the House of 
 Lords, May 1805, by authority. 
 
 (2) See Thoughts on the Catholic Question, lately published, 
 and universally attributed to thi* nobleman.
 
 37 
 
 " the law (l), a corporation with all the forms 
 " and gradations of a distinct and firm go- 
 " vernment (2), a rivalship of the established 
 " clergy and an attempt to seize upon their dig- 
 " nities, revenues, tithes," &c. (3) . Not con- 
 tent with stimulating a protestant legislature, to 
 abolish our ancient form of ecclesiastical go- 
 vernment, he calls upon the catholic laity to co- 
 operate in the undertaking; assuring them that 
 " this form is not essential to their religion (4)," 
 that many of the second order of the clergy 
 " wish to get rid of it (5)," and that, this be- 
 ing got rid of, they may confidently hope for the 
 redress of their grievances, &c. (6) 
 
 It is plain that this learned personage has 
 thought a great deal upon the subject, and I 
 have good reason to think that he has not con- 
 fined himself to thoughts upon it ; and yet it is 
 equally plain that he is extremely ill-informed 
 concerning it. Have then the catholic clergy 
 devised a form of ecclesiastical government in 
 the spirit of rivalship, and in defiance of the 
 established clergy ? Which clergy is the more 
 ancient? Do they withhold any honour, title, 
 possession, or revenue, which the law has attri- 
 buted to the latter? Do they require, or even 
 receive tithes from their own people ? Do they 
 exhort them not to pay, or rather do not they 
 exhort them to pay these (ill as they can af- 
 
 (0 Speech, p. r 9 . (i) P. 14. (3) Pp. 16, 45, (4) P. a; 
 (5) P. 2 7 . (6) P. 34. 
 
 F3
 
 ford to pay it) to the tithe-proctor ? Do 
 even our catholic bishops object to pay their 
 own tithes, to the person whom the law has ap- 
 pointed to receive them ? But our " hierarchy 
 " is a distinct and firm government, &c." What, 
 Sir, because the legislature has thought proper 
 to imitate the wisdom or our hierarchy in its 
 ecclesiastical government, must we lay it aside ? 
 Because you choose to be episcopalians, must we 
 become presbyterians ? It was the great St. 
 Patrick who established this apostolical form of 
 government throughout his spiritual conquest of 
 Ireland 1400 years ago, and above 1 100 before 
 protestancy existed ; and it is the glory of the 
 Irish Catholics that it has continued, without the 
 interruption of a day, the same and unaltered 
 from that remote period down to the present 
 time. Afflicted, as they have been beyond all 
 other christian nations, the virginal purity of 
 their first faith has never been sullied, nor has 
 the succession of their pastors ever been lost ; 
 notwithstanding the furious ravages of the Danes, 
 the oppressive tyranny of the Plantagenets, and 
 the long and unrelenting, but little known perse- 
 cutions of Elizabeth and the Stuarts (l). When 
 
 (i) Every writerhas recorded, and every man, woman, and child 
 is informed of the persecution exercised by Queen Mary upon the 
 Protestants of England (for those of Ireland remaining quiet were 
 never molested by her.) In the mean time, tew persons have heard 
 of the more severe, extensive, and lengthened persecution exercised 
 by Elizabeth and her successors on the English Catholics; and still 
 fewer have heard of that which the Irish Catholics had to suffer dur- 
 ing the reigns in question. The names and history of about 200
 
 39 
 
 that vain and sacrilegious female required, upon 
 pain of death, to be acknowledged as " the 
 
 English Catholicswho were putto death by Elizabeth for the profession, 
 or exercise oj their religion, are upon record. But though it is certain 
 that many more Irish Catholics suffered death during her rein on 
 the same account, I have not yet been able to recover the names of 
 more than between forty and fifty of them. Amongst these were sis 
 prelates : Patrick O'Keliy, Bishop of Mayo, Dermot O'Huiie, 
 Archbishop of Cashel, Richard Creagh, Archbishop of Armagh, 
 and Edmund Magauran his successor, Cornelius G'Duane, Bishop 
 of Down, and Edmund O'Gallagher, Bishop of Deny. The two 
 first of these suffered horrible tortures previously to their execution ; 
 the former having his legs broken with hammers, andneed.es thrust 
 under his fingernails, the other being obliged to wear, for several 
 days, jack, boots containing a quantity of qu.de lime, oil, butter, and 
 water. The common stretching rack was very frequently employed 
 against the catholic prisoners, and it was not unusual to tear the 
 nails from their fingers, or to batter the shaven crowns of the clergy 
 with sticks and stones, till their brains appeared. The year before 
 Elizabeth's death a number of mo. iks an 1 clergy, amounting in all 
 to 51 persons, obtained permission, in consequence of a petition to 
 her which they got presented, to retire to the continent, and a 
 Queen's ship was appointed to convey them. They embarked, as 
 they were ordered, at S cattery ; but had not sailed tar, when they 
 were all thrown into the sea and drowned. The Queen pretended 
 to be greatly incensed at the proceeding, and commanded the cap- 
 tain and officers of the ship to be confined. This, however, was only 
 an artifice ot ft. is hypocritical and remorseless princess; as the tra- 
 gedy h,"d been performed by her orders. Accordingly the officers 
 were afterwards rewarded with lauds which had belonged to the 
 aforesaid monks, and some of their descendants were in the posses- 
 sion ol them when my author wrote this account. See Dr. Burke's 
 litbtrn. Dominicana, p 105. lie quotes F. J. O'Heyne in his 
 Epilog Chronolog. It will be easily conceived that a much greater 
 number of Irish Catholics, chiefly clergy, were put to death for their 
 religion under the first Stuarts and the Usurpation ; when it is known 
 that I have collected the names of forty-two priests of the Domini- 
 can ordrr alone, besides four bishops and two nuns, who lost their 
 lives on thn account between the years i6oS and 1657. N. B. The 
 same reward wa, by public proclamation put on a priest's head as 
 upon a wolf's, namely, 5I.
 
 40 
 
 " Supreme Governess of the Church of Christ 
 " throughout all her dominions (l)," the con- 
 scientious Irish prelates acted the same part with 
 their brethren in England (2). They gave back 
 to the state all they held from it ; their posses- 
 sions, their mansions, their honours, their churches, 
 and their tithes. But with respect to their orders 
 and their spiritual jurisdiction ; as these did not 
 descend from the civil power, so neither could 
 they possibly be surrendered to it. 
 
 To place this matter in another point of view, 
 I presume, that even Lord lledesdale will admit 
 the maxim (which was universally allowed a few 
 years ago, when Mr. Home Tooke gave occa- 
 sion to an act for excluding clergymen from the 
 House of Commons), namely, that once a priest 
 or bishop, and always a priest or bishop. He 
 must absolutely allow the validity of our orders, 
 or he will be forced to confess that his own clergy 
 are not rightly ordained. In a word, the law 
 does explicitly admit of our orders, since it al- 
 lows our bishops and priests, upon merely tak- 
 iug the oaths, to hold the temporalities of any 
 bishopric or benefice to which they may be 
 named, without any further ceremony. It be- 
 ing then indisputable that his Lordship's ac- 
 
 (i) See the Act of Supremacy, i Eliz. cup. i. The celebrated 
 Lutheran Doctor Chemnitius complains of Elizabeth : " quod 
 *' faemineo lastu Papissam ct Caput Ecclesia; Christi se fecisset." 
 
 (2) All the English bishops were deprived of their sees, and com. 
 mitted to perpetual prison, for refusing the oath, except Kitchen of 
 LandafF, whom all allow to have been a most worthless prelate, and 
 ! ' the calamity of his see," as Dr. Heylin calls him.
 
 41 
 
 quaintance, Dr. Coppinger, for example, is a 
 true bishop, both in lazv and in fact, and that he 
 has been consecrated to exercise the episcopal 
 functions for the Catholics of Cioyne ; I should 
 be glad to know upon what principle of common 
 sense it can be denied that he is the Catholic 
 Bishop of Cioyne. Not long since his Lordship 
 maintained, with equal positiveness, that the 
 law does not acknowledge the existence of a 
 catholic parish priest : but the above-mentioned 
 bishop convinced him of his mistake, by referring 
 to the Act of Parliament in which this character 
 is recognized ( 1). To make an end, however, 
 of this matter : it is clear that the law has ad- 
 mitted the profession and practice of the ca- 
 tholic religion, which religion is universally 
 known to be episcopalian ; that it has recognized 
 the existence of our clergy, who can oniy be 
 proved to be such by the certificate of their bi- 
 shops ; and that it has even founded an ecclesi- 
 astical seminary to prepare students for ordina- 
 tion at the hands of catholic bishops within the 
 realm, and constituted these bishops., in conjunc- 
 tion with the crown-officers, superiors in this semi- 
 nary. Can any thing then be more inconsistent, 
 than to represent the catholic episcopacy as 
 standing in defiance of the law ! 
 
 I say nothing of the advantages to the state 
 from the episcopal form of government amongst 
 its catholic subjects, in preference to every other, 
 or of the gross misrepresentations of it in its ac- 
 
 S> " the printed Letters of Lord R. and Dr.C
 
 42 
 
 tual condition, which occur in the speech ahovc 
 alluded to, as these have been already so ably 
 exposed by two catholic prelates, the ornaments 
 of their order (l). I shall therefore conclude 
 with observing, that if the noble and learned 
 Lord alluded to, should ever succeed in his fa- 
 vourite object, of getting a law passed for de- 
 stroying the catholic prelacy in Ireland, he will 
 not stand in need of a single file of soldiers to 
 enforce it. All that will be necessary for him to 
 provide will be a sufficient store of halters or 
 guillotines; as it is certain that all the catholic 
 bishops are prepared to shed their blood (but not 
 till they have imposed their hands upon succes- 
 sors who may perpetuate the hierarchy) rather 
 than renounce their order and spiritual jurisdic- 
 tion. I will add, that the catholic clergy, and 
 pious laity in general, are equally well disposed 
 to surrender their lives in the same essential cause 
 of their religion. 
 
 I have the happiness, Sir, of being well ac- 
 quainted with the venerable and amiable succes- 
 sor of St. Patrick's spiritual jurisdiction in the 
 see of Armagh, and it is not irrelevant to the 
 subject I have been treating of, to take notice of 
 the sole worldly property which he appears to 
 
 have derived from his predecessors. It is the 
 
 head of one of them, a saint by the tenor of his 
 
 (0 See the Appendix No. IV. and V. to the " Substance of Ad- 
 " ditional Observations intended to have been delivered in the 
 " Houseof Commons &c. by Sir j. C. Hippisley, Bart, &c."
 
 45 
 
 lief, and amartyt in the cause of his death (l). 
 His name was Oliver Plunket, and he was put to 
 death in consequence of that sanguinary conspi- 
 racy against the religion and loyalty of the Ca- 
 tholics, which was hatched by the crafty and 
 sanguinary Ahitophel (2), Lord Shaftsbury, 
 and his associates the Rev. Dr. Tongue and the 
 Rev. Dr. Oates; the last-mentioned of whom has 
 given his name to the infamous plot. It is 
 needless to say, that the pious archbishop might 
 have saved his life by renouncing his religion, 
 and giving a colour to the plot ; but, as he had 
 lived, so he died, an innocent and pious catholic 
 bishop, and a faithful and affectionate subject of 
 his king and country. Not so the inveterate 
 enemy of the catholic name, the arch-traitor 
 Shaftsbury. He was soon after detected in the 
 very crime which he had, with diabolical false- 
 ness and cruelty imputed to the Catholics, a 
 real plot to assassinate his sovereign and destroy 
 the constitution. He escaped with his life to 
 Holland, but the divine justice overtook him, 
 and he speedily died there a wretched and unla- 
 mented death, leaving Sydney and Russel, and 
 many others, comparatively innocent, to expiate 
 his crimes on the scaffold. 
 
 My venerable friend recollects an acquaintance 
 
 fi) Even Bishop Burnet, who, amongstall his lies, never told one 
 in favour of a Catholic, gives Dr. Plunket an excellent character, 
 both as a subject and a man. 
 
 (2) Tins is the character which he bears in Dryden's admired po- 
 em entitled Abiolom and Ahitophel. 
 
 G
 
 44 
 
 of his in his younger days, who happened to be in 
 company with a former successor of Archbishop 
 Plunket at his house, when an emaciated old man, 
 with a tottering gait, and looks bespeaking hor- 
 ror, entered the room where they were sitting, 
 and exclaimed : "Am I never to have peace? Is 
 " there no mercy for me ? " It was Duffy, a 
 censured priest, and one of Lord Shaftsbury's 
 suborned witnesses against the venerable arch- 
 bishop. The living prelate made no direct an- 
 swer, but moving from his chair and opening a 
 glass case, repeated in a deep tone : " Look here, 
 " you unfortunate wretch :" when instantly the 
 old man fell to the ground in a swoon. The ob- 
 ject which he then exhibited to the perjured 
 witness, was that head of his holy primate which 
 he had caused to be struck off ! I learn, however, 
 that Duffy appearing to be truly contrite, was at 
 length admitted to the reconciliation with the 
 Church, which he so earnestly petitioned for. The 
 head of Archbishop Plunket is entire, and pre- 
 serves those features which are well known from 
 the pictures and prints of him, now so common. 
 
 I have the honour, &c.
 
 45 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Dublin, July 8, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 JL have now surveyed the places 
 most worthy of notice in the environs of this 
 capital. I have made the tour of the Circular Road, 
 so called because it surrounds the city, of which 
 it exhibits, in different parts, the most interesting 
 views, as likewise of the harbour, the bay, and 
 the neighbouring country. I have ridden round 
 Phoenix Park, which for hill and dale, luxu- 
 riant thicket and verdant sod, pure air and 
 variegated prospect; in short, for every advan- 
 tage, exeept lofty and spreading trees, is far su- 
 perior to Hyde Park and St. James's Park put 
 together. I have skirted the bottom of the 
 Wicklow mountains, and viewed the gay villas 
 
 G 2
 
 46 
 
 and plantations in the neighbourhood of Dun-* 
 drum and the Black Rock, which latter is washed 
 by the flowing tide, and is the favourite resort 
 of the citizens of Dublin. Amongst other villas, 
 I saw that of Kilmacud, the parting with which 
 drew tears down the stern countenance of its dig- 
 nified proprietor as he sat on his bench, when he 
 found himself ordered back to England. I was 
 told, that if he knew the fate of his favourite re- 
 sidence, now turned into a catholic boarding- 
 school, it would cause him to shed tears again. 
 
 But I have already intimated, that I did not 
 
 come into this island to survey its beauties, 
 natural or artificial, but to form an acquaintance 
 with its inhabitants. Hence, having paid some 
 attention to the particular character of the Ca- 
 tholic Clergy here, I am now intent on studying 
 that of the Catholic people in general. 
 
 It would betray great ignorance of human na- 
 ture, to expect to meet with exclusive qualities, 
 whether good or bad, in any people, or in either 
 sex. All mankind afford proof both of the 
 beauty of God's work and of the deformity of 
 human passions. They have all a mixture of 
 selfishness and compassion, of sensuality and mo- 
 desty, of vanity and a love of truth. The more 
 or the less of these different qualities in the 
 greater number of a people or of a sex, is what 
 constitutes its character : in judging of which, 
 however, we are very liable to be deceived by 
 adventitious circumstances, or preconceived pre- 
 judices.
 
 47 
 
 The vulgar English are persuaded that the 
 Irish are a stupid misconceiving people, and 
 many degrees below themselves in every mental 
 faculty. This prejudice, which is chiefly owing 
 to the poverty and depression of the latter (for 
 persons of superior fortune naturally suppose 
 themselves possessed of superior understanding) 
 is confirmed by the mistakes which the illiterate 
 Irish are apt to make, as other nations make, 
 when they express themselves in a language not 
 their own ; by the buffoonery of the stage, and 
 the peculiar pride, I must say so, of a people 
 who think that all the rest of Adam's children 
 throughout the world, are vastly inferior to them- 
 selves in every valuable endowment. It is agreed, 
 however, amongst intelligent and liberal ob- 
 servers, that the Irish are both remarkable quick 
 and remarkably clear in their conceptions ; and 
 that they acquire sciences and arts in less time 
 than the English do. But they are probably be- 
 hind our countrymen in that intense application 
 which is necessary, in order to acquire a perfect 
 knowledge and mastery of the science or art to 
 be attained: and in that depth of judgment, which 
 is perhaps our characteristic. Possibly it is to 
 this circumstance, more than to any other, that 
 the present difference in political situations be- 
 tween the inhabitants of the two islands is owing. 
 For, next to the omnipotent decrees of Provi- 
 {fencc, it is depth of judgment which regulat< s the 
 destiny of the world. Owing to the quit-kin -: 
 and clearness of their ideas, and a co::'.s" u'iug
 
 48 
 
 quickness of feeling, the Irish, in general, possess 
 a more ready and animated utterance; and, of 
 course, are naturally better formed for oratory, 
 in any language which they well possess, than 
 our countrymen are. You, Sir, never had the 
 advantage which was for some time mine, of 
 frequently hearing, in public debate as well as in 
 private conversation, the enchanting and com- 
 manding Irish Tully, the great Edmund Burke. 
 But what does not this country owe to his 
 eloquence I To form a right judgment on this 
 head, look back to that part of its history which 
 corresponds with the early part of the French 
 revolution. You will observe that many of the 
 most illustrious characters of this nation were then 
 so besotted with the congenial sounds of revolu- 
 tion and liberty, that, in hailing the overthrow of 
 a foreign government, they nearly brought about 
 the destruction of their own. They stood, blind 
 and unconscious of danger, on the brink of a 
 precipice, and did not see the torrents of blood 
 which already began to flow beneath it, and 
 which, at the command of Robespierre, soon 
 after swelled to a deluge; when the immortal 
 Burke, by vast and repeated exertions of those 
 talents with which God had blessed him, and at 
 the expense of whatever was most dear to him in 
 this world (as I well know) succeeded in tearing 
 the veil from the eyes of an adverse ministry and 
 a beguiled legislature, and thereby enabled them 
 to consult their own and the nation's safety. 
 Here was a triumph of eloquence which no ora-
 
 49 
 
 tor ever enjoyed before or since. But if you 
 
 cannot now hear the enchanting Burke, you may 
 hear his countrymen, the prompt and copious 
 Sheridan, the pointed and sublime Grattan. I 
 never witnessed any speaker command so much 
 attention in the House of Commons, or receive 
 such universal and unbounded applause as the 
 last mentioned did when he spoke on the catho- 
 lic question two years ago : yet it is certain he 
 has never put forth half those powers of his ora- 
 tory on your side of St. George's channel, which 
 he has repeatedly displayed on this side of it(l). 
 Why he should restrain them is to me a subject 
 of regret, both for the credit of his country and 
 for the sake of his cause. 
 
 "Whatever difference of opinion there may be 
 concerning the qualities of the Irish head, I think 
 there is none concerning those of the Irish heart. 
 The feelings of this people are universally allow- 
 ed to be quick, warm, and generous. Hence 
 they are, of all others, the most easy to be won 
 with kindness, the most susceptible of friend- 
 ship, and the most hospitable to every kind of 
 guest. I must add (what may appear strange 
 when we read history) they have, from the most 
 
 (i) A selection of Mr. Grattan's most brilliant speeches maybe 
 
 met with in Plowden's History of IrelanJ, vol. iii. Since this 
 
 present edition has been put to press, the Right. Hon. Gentleman 
 has done that justice to his transcendent talent" as an orator and 
 statesman which I before called for, in has unrivalled speech in the 
 Imperial Parliament concerning the Catholic Petition, on the night 
 of May 25.
 
 50 
 
 distant period, entertained the greatest possible 
 respect and affection for the English nation, not- 
 withstanding the frequent and atrocious injuries 
 they have received from it. So much easier is it, 
 according to the doctrine of a great master of 
 human nature, to forgive the injury we receive 
 than the injury M ? e inflict (l) ! I3ede is a witness 
 beyond all exception, of the partiality of the 
 Irish for the English in past ages (2) ; and any 
 Englishman who will shew them common justice 
 and humanity will experience that the same con- 
 tinues to the present day. 
 
 I have spoken of their hospitality, which in- 
 deed is extolled by all writers who treat of their 
 character ; but it is impossible to form a con- 
 ception of the extent to which this is carried, 
 without experiencing it. I will here mention 
 one instance of it, because it is universal, and 
 because, from circumstances, it is not susceptible 
 of ostentation. I dare say, Sir, you have won- 
 dered what becomes of those crowds of women 
 and children, belonging to soldiers who have 
 been sent abroad, and of the other poor whom 
 you see constantly returning from different parts 
 of England, to their native country, Ireland; 
 
 (i) " Proprium est human! generis odisse rjuem laeseris." Tacit. 
 
 (2) " A. D. 684, Egfridus Nordhumbrortim Rex, missoin Iliberni- 
 41 am, cum exercitu, dtice Berto, vastavit misere GENTEM IN- 
 " NOX1AM ET NATION! ANGEORUM SEMPER AM1CIS- 
 " SIM AM." Bed. Hist. 1. iv. c, 26. Alcuin d<? Pontif. Ecc. 
 Eborac.
 
 51 
 
 especially as you know there are no poor rates in 
 that island, nor any other legal provision for the 
 support of the indigent. The fact is, the cha- 
 rity and hospitality of the people supersede the 
 necessity of poor laws. Every cottage is open to 
 each poor person who chooses to enter into it. 
 There the stranger fares as the family fare ; is 
 kindly sheltered from the weather, and reposes 
 upon as good a couch as they themselves do. 
 
 You will perhaps accuse me of drawing a flat- 
 tering portrait of the poor calumniated Irish : 
 hear, then, what other late writers of acknow- 
 ledged talents and character, and to whom you 
 will not attribute the snme motives of partiality 
 which perhaps you ascribe to me. " Every un- 
 " prejudiced traveller," says the celebrated Ar- 
 thur Young, " who visits Ireland, will be as 
 " much struck and pleased with the cheerful- 
 " ness, as obliged by the hospitality of the inha- 
 il bitants, and will find them a brave, polite, 
 "liberal, learned, and ingenious people (0 " 
 " It is well known," says another intelligent 
 philosophic writer, "that many Englishmen who 
 ' went to Ireland teeming with contempt and de- 
 :< testation of the people of that country, after a 
 " few years association with them, have returned 
 " to their own with a disposition to become, on 
 " all occasions, their strenuous encomiasts (3)." 
 
 (i) Tour to Ireland, vol. ii. 
 
 (2) Essajs on the Population of Ireland, and the Character of the 
 Irish by a Member of the last Irish Parliament, Tho. Newenham, 
 Esq. p. 4 i. 
 
 II
 
 52 
 
 The same accurate observer justly celebrates 
 " The excessive hospitality of the Irish, their 
 " native good humour, their boundless charity, 
 " their uniform readiness to oblige and assist, 
 " their uncommon propensity to commiseration, 
 " &c. (I)." But I have run the full length of 
 my paper, and therefore remain, for the present, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 (0 Eways, &c. p. 47.
 
 53 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Dublin, July 8, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 D, 
 
 'O not fancy that I am the blind 
 and unqualifying panegyrist of the Irish. I can 
 see their faults as well as their good qualities. 
 Indeed, there is no good quality or virtue which, 
 without prudence and fortitude, will not lead us 
 into a sort of congenial fault or vice. Thus the 
 quickness and warmth of sentiment which I have 
 ascribed to this people, dispose them to be more 
 susceptible of affronts and injuries, and more 
 violent in their resentment than others who are 
 more cool and phlegmatic. This disposition evi- 
 dently tends to produce frequeut broils amongst 
 tho^e of the lower order, and numerous duels 
 
 H 2
 
 54 
 
 amongst those of higher rank. I am told that 
 this most absurd and inhuman practice is become 
 less common in Ireland than it used to be : cer- 
 tainly it is more common in England than it was 
 heretofore. But since in both countries it is, 
 alas ! too frequent, and since it is considered as 
 indispensable with respect to certain cases in that 
 military life to which, Sir, you have now de- 
 voted yourself for the defence of your country, 
 friendship induces me to give you my thoughts 
 upon it, in the hope, under God, of withdrawing 
 you from a most criminal disposition of mind, 
 in which, I fear, you are at present habitually 
 living. My thoughts naturally turn to this sub- 
 ject, whilst I hear every one around me lament- 
 ing the premature end of the amiable and peacea- 
 ble Mr. Colclough, the popular candidate for 
 Wexford, lately killed in a duel. 
 
 Supposing, then, Sir, you set no great store 
 by your life, in as much as it is your ozv?i, and 
 that, in consequence, you are ready to expose it 
 rather than put up with an affront or injury ; yet 
 can you forget that your king and country have 
 a claim upon it, both as you are a citizen, capa- 
 ble of rendering them service, and as you are a 
 soldier, sworn to devote your life to their cause ? 
 By exposing yourself then to death, in order to 
 avenge your own private wrongs, you are guilty 
 of a much greater injury to your king and 
 country than if you had attempted to rob the 
 public treasury ; in as much as a good citizen and
 
 55 
 
 soldier is of more value to them than a large sum 
 of money. 
 
 Moreover, you have a parent, a wife, and three 
 young children, who have each of them the 
 strongest claim to your love, support, and pro- 
 tection. What a crying injustice, what an unnatu- 
 ral barbarity would it not be, to reject these 
 claims, and rather than lose a mistaken point 
 of honour for yourself, to expose your dearest 
 connections to a real and irreparable loss ! But 
 it is not only the loss of certain advantages which 
 you would expose them to, in the case supposed, 
 but also the positive and irremediable misery 
 which you draw down upon them, that I wish 
 you to consider. For, O ! what heart-breaking 
 grief must overwhelm that parent, that wife, 
 and those children, when the news first reaches 
 them that you have come to an untimely end ! 
 that you have died in the actual transgression of 
 every law human and divine ! Must not their 
 countenances, from that, day forward, be marked 
 with sorrow and confusion ? Must not tears 
 and horror be the portion of their future lives ? * 
 O \ think of your mother, your wife and your 
 children, when you arc affronted by a giddy 
 comrade, or are challenged to light a duel. O ! 
 think you owe more to them, than to the erring 
 opinion of the world. 
 
 Independently, however, of these considera- 
 tions, remember you are a Christian ; that is to 
 sav, a disciple of him who has made the forgive- 
 nes.s of injuries (great as well as little, for there
 
 56 
 
 i 9 no distinction) the characteristic of those 
 who belong to him, and who, to confirm his 
 doctrine by his example, died praying for the 
 wretches who were shedding his blood. By con- 
 senting to a duel, you abjure his gospel in its 
 most essential point: you consent to the mur- 
 der of your brother, and to his murdering you ; 
 not knowing which of the two events may fol- 
 low. Should you die under the guilt of self- 
 murder, (for self-murder it is when you delibe- 
 rately go out to receive the ball of your adver- 
 sary) what must be your surprise and horror 
 the moment after death, when your spirit finds 
 itself in the regions of eternity I- When it rushes 
 into the presence of its tremendous Judge, un- 
 called for by him, and polluted with the foulest 
 guilt ! O! daring wretch, if God is infinitely just 
 and true, you must be everlastingly miserable ! 
 "And what will it avaail you," says Tertullian, 
 "'' to be extolled as a man of honour where you 
 " are not, and to be tormented where you are ?" 
 I will suppose, however, that you come off 
 victorious in the contest ; which is to say, that 
 you have murdered your fellow Christian, and 
 sent him, in the circumstances above described, 
 to meet his Judge: can you have peace in your 
 breast after this? Will not you henceforward be 
 for ever weighing in your mind the loss of his 
 life, the misery of his relatives, the fate of his 
 immortal soul, against the affront which he has 
 unguardedly offered you ? Probably you flatter 
 yourself with the hope of avoiding the guilt and
 
 57 
 
 misery here described, by keeping yourself out of 
 the danger of being called upon to fight a duel. 
 But remember, that as to the guilt in question, 
 you are habitually living in it before the Searcher 
 of Hearts, and that you will hereafter be judged 
 by him according to it, while you are living in a 
 disposition of mind to Jight a duel in any circum- 
 stances whatsoever. 
 
 Many persons, or rather most persons, admit 
 to a certain degree the sinfulness as well as the 
 absurdity of duelling. They lament that such a 
 practice should prevail ; but alledge that it is 
 better for a man of spirit to submit to it, than to 
 pass for a coward. This is, in reality to say, that 
 it is better to be a coward, than to pass for 
 one(l). Thus the poor mistaken Lucre^i a sub- 
 mitted to contract the sin of adultery, when she 
 found that otherwise her memory would be stained 
 with the infamy of it: whilst the truly virtuous 
 Susannah ('2), in the same circumstances, pre- 
 ferred the infamy of the crime to the crime it- 
 self. In fact, I maintain, that the man who 
 cannot brave the erroneous opinion of the world, 
 as well as every other calamity in the discharge 
 
 (j) The Chevalier sans rtproche it sans peur, as Bavard (that heio 
 of romantic valour, who knighted his sovereign Francis J. on tin*. 
 fit-Id ot batde) was railed, nevertheless refused to accept of a chal- 
 lenge; and, in this in-tance, heshewed more greatness and fimitKsi 
 or mind than in all his desperate engagements with the enemies of 
 his country. Hi was imitated in this respect by the illustrious liaron 
 de Renti. 
 
 (2) Casta Susanna placet^ Lucretia, cede Susanna;. 
 Tupost, ilia mor. nul;:it ante s elus. 
 
 See Dan. c Kiii. in the Vuieale Kdit,
 
 58 
 
 of his duty, is thus far a coward; and, indeed, 
 his own heart tells him that he is so. The true 
 hero is disposed to part with his reputation, as 
 well as' his life, rather than perpetrate a base or 
 bad action (l). It was a blind superstitious no- 
 tion, repeatedly censured by the Catholic Church, 
 and belied by the issue of the greatest part of 
 duels, namely, that " God is obliged to inter- 
 " pose for the protection of the injured party (2)," 
 which first gave rise to this barbarous practice. 
 The heroes of Greece and Rome, and the re- 
 nowned chieftains of Christendom, in early times, 
 could settle such disputes without murdering 
 one another ; and they did not think that even a 
 blow is that atrocious injury, which nothing but 
 blood can expiate (3). 
 
 But it is the legislature alone which can put 
 an effectual stop to this destructive malady. 
 O ! for an intelligent and active member of ei- 
 ther House of Parliament, who is ambitious of 
 glory by saving the lives of his fellow citizens, or 
 who is touched with compassion for the still re- 
 
 (i) " Justum et tenaceni propositi virum. 
 
 " Non CIVIUM ARDOR PRAVA JUBENTIUM 
 
 " Non vultus instantis tyranni 
 
 " Mente quatit solida." Ilorat. 1. iii. 
 
 2) This superstition, with the practice itself of duelling, took its 
 rise among the Pagan barbarians of Scandinavia, as Mallet shews in 
 
 h:s " Northern Antiquities." 
 
 (3) When the great Athenian general, Themistocles, was struck at 
 the council board by Eurybiades, a brother officer, he coolly an- 
 swered. XUTttfyv [LiM, W/.0V7CV Jc.
 
 59 
 
 curring distress of parents, wives, and children ; 
 or who is inflamed with true zeal to prevent the 
 accumulation of moral guilt ! Such a one would 
 certainly accomplish the great and desirable 
 work, though Mr. Wilberforce once abandoned 
 it in despair (1). But have we not laws already, 
 it will be said, and those sufficiently severe 
 against the practice of duelling ? Would you 
 add any thing to the rigour of capital punish- 
 ment, which is already in force against it ? I 
 answer, the laws in this case are severe enough, 
 and too severe, which is the very cause why they 
 are ineffectual. Whilst the laws make no dis- 
 tinction between a successful duellist and a com- 
 mon murderer (the prejudice of the people, which 
 attaches a kind of honour to duelling, remaining 
 such as it is), they never will answer any other 
 purpose, than to involve unfortunate juries in the 
 guilt of perjury, and to cause the blood of the 
 wretched victims of fashion to flow on from one 
 generation to another. To lay a proper restraint 
 upon duellists, let them be attacked in their ho- 
 nour and property : let all funeral honours what- 
 soever, and even the claim of being interred in a 
 common burying-ground, be interdicted, with re 
 spectto the body of the person who falls in a duel ; 
 and let thesurvivingduellist be declared incapable 
 of serving his country in the lowest rank u hatever. 
 Let one half also of his property or income, as 
 
 'i; Mi. Wilberforce gave notice of a new bill against duelling, 
 v.inch he intended to introduce into parliament in consequence, of 
 the duel between Mr. Pitt and Mr. Tierney. 
 
 I
 
 60 
 
 rated by a jury, be forfeited, or at least seques- 
 trated for his life. With these legal precautions, 
 I venture to affirm it, we should not hear of a 
 duel within these dominions in the course of live 
 years. Such laws would he acted upon by a jury, 
 should the occasion require it, and would be 
 productive of the intended effect. For do not 
 we find that the mere binding over of parties 
 under a pecuniary penalty prevents duels? In 
 a word, humiliation and degradation are the pro- 
 per remedies for a vice which originates in pride 
 and vain glory. 
 
 I am, &c.
 
 61 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Tulloxv, July 10, 1807 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 flOWEVER agreeable my resi- 
 dence in and about the capital had been to me 
 for some days past, yet I grew impatient to see 
 and become acquainted with the interior parts of 
 the island. I accordingly set off from Dublin 
 yesterday morning, and after viewing some ru- 
 ined churches, castles, round towers, &c. on 
 the road, I stopped to breakfast at Naas, in the 
 county of Kildare, about 15 Irish miles in a 
 south-west direction from the metropolis. It 
 was there I first observed those wide-extended 
 ruins of houses and cabins, which disfigure so 
 many other towns and villages as u'ell as Naas, 
 owing to the blind fury of the yeomen and 
 king's officers during the rebellion of 1~98, who 
 destroyed every habitation in which they found 
 arms, or suspected that arms might be conceal- 
 ed, or whose masters were absent from home (l). 
 
 (i) rt was a common practice amongst the peasants, whilst the 
 torturing S3 stem prevailed, to sleep under hedges and in the open 
 fields, for fearol rv v.\ sur,,ri.-<-d in their cabins and whipped c: 
 strangled, under pretext of their having concealed arms. 
 
 I 2
 
 #2 
 
 A barbarous and fatal policy, by which a great 
 many repentant rebels were forced to support the 
 cause in which they had hastily engaged ; and 
 many other men, who had previously been inno- 
 cent, were driven to join the rebellion, as their 
 only resource in the circumstances to which they 
 were then reduced ! Most of the chapels in that 
 neighbourhood, and throughout the county of 
 Wexford, to the amount of near fifty, were wan- 
 tonly demolished by the military on the same 
 occasion. These have since been rebuilt at the 
 expense of government ; but the ruins of the 
 dwelling-houses, which frequently extend from 
 one end of a long street to another, and cover 
 whole quarters of a town(l), still remain to at- 
 test the misconduct of both parties during the 
 rebellion. In traversing the plains of Kildare, 
 and viewing the huge perpendicular stones which 
 every where seem to grow out of them, I com- 
 prehended the reason why our ancient chroniclers 
 assign this part of Ireland as the place from 
 which the British enchanter Merlin transported 
 the Choir of (Hants, as Stonehenge was an- 
 tiently called (2), to the neighbourhood of 
 Amesbury. 
 
 (0 An English Gentleman of the highest honour, who was in 
 Ireland during the rebellion, mentions his having heard officers boast 
 that they had " burnt dov n whole villages at a time, as the shortest 
 " way of destroying whatever arms might be concealed in any part of 
 " them." See a Letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of England, 
 by Philip Howard, Eq. 
 
 (i) See Silvester Giraldus, Topogr. Hib. 1. xi. c. 18. Mat. We*, 
 ad An. 490, &c.
 
 63 
 
 I arrived at the town from which this letter 
 is dated yesterday in the afternoon, upon a visit 
 to a respectable friend, who is much known and 
 as generally beloved throughout this country. 
 During my short stay here, as well as during the 
 past fortnight in other places, I have remarked 
 and admired the sense of piety, and the zeal for 
 religion, which always has been the most distin- 
 guishing character of the Irish (l). This, I 
 know, you and other Englishmen call superstition. 
 But what is superstition ? 
 
 " Ask : Where's the North ? At York 'tis on die 
 
 " Tweed ; 
 " In Scotland at the Orcades ; and there, 
 " At Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where (2)." 
 
 You Church Protestants reproach us with super- 
 stition, because we often sign ourselves with the 
 sign of the cross, though (not half so often as 
 the first Christians did (3), and because we bless 
 
 (i) Floddard, a French writer in the tenth century, says of Ire- 
 land: "Omnibus vicinis gentibus fide prseuollet." Vita St. IlellenL 
 Florence of Worcester writes; "Hibernia, Insula Sanctorum, sanc- 
 " t;s et mirabilibus per plurimis sub'.imiter plena habetur." 
 Chron. A. D. 684. Joceline, an English Cistercian monk, of the 12th 
 century, sajs: "Hibernia special i nomine INSULA SANCTO- 
 " RUM ubique terrarum jure nominaretur." in Vita S. Patric- 
 Jonas, Mariauus Scotus, Baronius, Bozius, Pope Benedict XIV. 
 and other writers ofthe first authority, testify to the same effect with 
 respect to later ages. 
 
 1 , Fssay on Man, Book ii. 
 
 3) Termllian, who lived in the second century, describes the 
 gning tliemselves with the cross on almost every occur- 
 r ace of then !>ve>.
 
 t>4 
 
 holy water. The Dissenters reproach you with 
 superstition, because you sign your children with 
 this sign in baptism, and because you bless earth, 
 buildings, and military ensigns (l). The Qua- 
 kers reproach the Dissenters with superstition, in 
 pretending to bless one particular class for the 
 exercise of the ministry (<2). The fashionable re- 
 ligionists of the day, the Deists, reproach all de- 
 scriptions of Christians with superstition, in pre- 
 tending to any revealed mode of blessing at all. I 
 say this, Sir, to prevent your assuming as a fact, 
 the question, upon which you are not yet quali- 
 fied to form an adequate idea. If you will single 
 out any particular tenet or practice of our reli- 
 gion which you think superstitious, I will under- 
 take to refer you to above twenty learned priests 
 of my acquaintance 011 this side of the water, any 
 one of whom shall give you Complete satisfac- 
 tion upon it in convincing letters, that shall also 
 prove the writer to have received a good educa- 
 tion ; or, if you should decline this correspon- 
 dence, I am sure you will be satisfied by reading 
 Bossuet's Exposition of the Catholic Faith, or 
 Bishop Chalioner's Catholic Christian Instructed, 
 with his Grounds of the Old Religion. 
 
 I know, Sir, that you have a particular objec- 
 tion to the ceremonies of our Church, which you 
 are accustomed to term " cumbersome, supersti- 
 " tious, and destructive of true devotion." 
 
 (i) See De Laune's Piea, &c. 
 '.. / ;'.:: '."'ay's Apology-
 
 65 
 
 Without going far into the matter, remember 
 that the Dissenters bring the very same objection 
 against your Church ; and that our religious ce- 
 remonies are not a tenth part so numerous or cum- 
 bersome as those of the ancient people of God 
 were, which nevertheless were minutely pre- 
 scribed by the Almighty himself (l). 1 grant 
 you, that ritual ceremonies and exterior observ- 
 ances are not, of themselves, devotion ; but rea- 
 son and experience prove them to be highly be- 
 neficial in exciting it : just as the leaves of a 
 tree are not the fruit, and yet they are necessary 
 for the formation, the growth, and the preserva- 
 tion of the fruit. 
 
 In like manner I am aware that many of our 
 English Catholics, who agree with me on the 
 subject of religious ceremonies in general, are 
 very unjust to their brethren, the Catholics of 
 Ireland, in supposing and maintaining that, for 
 want of proper instruction, they place too much 
 confidence in exterior observances. These per- 
 sons should reflect on the caution which the great 
 O'Leary gives, " not to judge of the Irish by St. 
 " Giles's and Wapping, but to go and see them 
 "in their own country (2)." In fact, the only 
 equitable way of forming an idea of a people, is to 
 view them in their own country and in the mass. 
 Were any nation to be judged of from its emi- 
 
 fi) See the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, &c. 
 
 (i) The Rev. Arthur O'LeaTy's Address to the Lords Spiritual and 
 Temporal.
 
 66 
 
 grants, (as for example, our own from the adven- 
 turers and swindlers who formerly crowded Bou- 
 logne, Calais, and Dunkirk,) it would evi- 
 dently be the height of injustice as well as 
 folly. In opposition then to this prejudiced opi- 
 nion, I can take upon myself to say, that the 
 Irish Catholics areas well instructed as the English 
 are, not to trust to any things, as the means or con- 
 ditions of salvation, but the merits of Christ, and 
 their observance of the commandments. It is true, 
 indeed, speaking of them in general, and as a 
 people, that they are stricter than most others in 
 observing the precepts of the Church as to fast- 
 ing, abstinence, prayer, and the sacraments ; but 
 this every Catholic must commend. Thus, no 
 distance of place, no badness of the road or of 
 the weather, prevents them from attending divine 
 worship on the days prescribed; and ilj as is 
 frequently the case, there is not a roof to shelter 
 them, whilst their worship is performed, they will 
 .stand the freezing blast and the pelting storm, 
 till that duty is complied with. The chapels in 
 the towns arc crowded on working days, as well 
 as upon Sundays and festivals, and the behaviour 
 of the people, during the service, bespeaks their 
 faith and devotion : certainly it was a subject of 
 edification to me. I may add, that I seldom was 
 present at a mass on any day, at which several 
 persons did not communicate. Another circum- 
 stance edified me' in this people, and would have 
 edified me if I had been of a communion dif- 
 ferent from theirs ; I mean a vein of morality
 
 67 
 
 and religion which seasons their discourses. In- 
 stead of those horrid oaths and curses which in- 
 terlard and eke out the language of our English 
 labouring poor, wherever we hear it, in the 
 streets or upon the roads, my ears are now ha- 
 bituated to the language of piety amongst the 
 lowest orders of the people. Thus, for example ; 
 a poor blind man being relieved by me, expressed 
 his gratitude in the following prayer: "May 
 " God grant you a holy life and a happy death." 
 On a similar occasion a poor woman returned 
 thanks in these terms : ' ; May health, wealth, and 
 " heaven be given to you." 
 
 It is not, Sir, the consequence of superstition 
 and bigotry, as witlings have pretended, but of 
 nature and reason, that those who love and re- 
 spect religion, should also love and respect its 
 ministers. Accordingly the Irish Catholics are, 
 and always have been, remarkable for this be- 
 haviour towards their clergy. I have observed 
 it with pleasure, in the opulent and noble as 
 well as in the lowly and the indigent. But then, 
 to speak the truth, the clergy, in general, support 
 the credit of their station, and perform their 
 fluty, which, in fact, is to render themselves 
 worthy of such trealuu nt. It is impossible, Sir, 
 for you to form a judgment oi the labours of a 
 vigilant priest in Ireland, who lias to attend. 
 perhaps, five thousand parishioners, spread ovei 
 a distiict of probably nine 01 ten n :!c-: ju cir- 
 cumference, unless you were ted with ait 
 the several duties of ourmimsUy : :Ull you may 
 
 K
 
 68 
 
 easily conceive that the whole life of such a pas- 
 tor must be devoted to them. The first of these 
 duties is to assist the sick. Every priest must 
 be at all times ready to wait upon each sick person 
 in his parish, however poor and abject, and 
 however loathsome and infectious the disorder 
 may be, under which the patient labours. He 
 must be ready to set off in all weathers, and at 
 all hours, of the night as well as of the day, to 
 administer the comforts and benefits of our 
 religion : and it is a fact that very few Catholics 
 die m ithout such consolation and assistance. In 
 a word, the people who are accustomed to call 
 their priest by the endearing name of father^ 
 know and feel that they have a true father in him; 
 one who is ready to render them every service in 
 his power, temporal as well as eternal, and to 
 face death itself in the discharge of his spiritual 
 duties towards them. No wonder, then, that 
 they should experience the reverence and affec- 
 tion of children towards him. It appears that 
 Dr. Duigenan and other members of the legisla- 
 ture are determined upon obliging the establish- 
 ed clergy of Ireland to reside on their benefice*, 
 and to read prayers in their empty churches, with 
 the view of bringing over the people to their reli- 
 gion. Depend upon it, Sir, the catholic clerg\ 
 only laugh at this proposal. They say : " We 
 " should be glad if the dignitaries were to come 
 " amongst us, because then our poor people 
 " would get rid of the tithe-proctors. On the 
 " other hand, unless these gentlemen should take
 
 69 
 
 " more pains, and shew more disinterestedness 
 " than we do ; unless they should be willing to 
 " meet us in the smoaky and poisonous cabin, 
 " no less than in controversial debate, our con- 
 " gregations will never be the thinner for their 
 " presence." 
 
 This good understanding and natural union 
 between the catholic clergy and laity of Ireland, 
 has happily been such as to baffle those attempts 
 of a learned Lord, the old and unrelenting enemy 
 of the catholic name, which heretofore had too 
 much success amongst us Catholics of England. 
 Accordingly he reproaches, in severe terms, the 
 catholic nobility and gentry of Ireland with 
 being less enlightened, less liberal, and less I 
 know not what, than Catholics of the same rank 
 in England ( l). Happily the Irish are not dis- 
 posed to be guided by this nobleman, in any 
 matter whatever regarding their religion. And, 
 thank God ! the English likewise have lately so 
 behaved themselves, as to merit his equal cen- 
 sure, if, what we are told is true, that he has pro- 
 nounced "the English Catholics (all, except a 
 " few) to be as bad as the Irish (2)." You will 
 be surprised, Sir, that I should describe a per- 
 sonage who is supposed to have procured for us 
 the important advantages of the law of 1791, as 
 
 (i) See tli'- printed "Correspondence between Lord Redesdale 
 " and the Larl of Fingal," and " Thoughts on the Catholic Ques- 
 " tion" by tin- same nobleman. 
 
 <i) Seethe Report of the late Speeches in the Houscof Lordsrr. 
 ': e affairs of Ireland. 
 
 K 2
 
 70 
 
 " the ovd and unrelenting enemy of the catholic 
 (i name." To this I answer, first that the Act 
 of Parliament made Lord R and not Lord R. 
 the Act of Parliament. The important change 
 which had just taken place in France, where Ca- 
 tholics, and Catholics alone, were slaughtered 
 in thousands hy the implacable enemies of Eng- 
 land, the increasing liberality and political wis- 
 dom of the nation, joined to its experience of 
 the spirit of their enemies in the riots of 1780, 
 imperiously called for the relaxation of the penal 
 laws ; and things were already in such a train for 
 the success of the bill, previously to its being 
 put into the hands of Mr. Mitford, that any Yea 
 and Nay man, in either house, could have ear- 
 ned it with as much case as he did. Secondly, I 
 say, that however most Catholics, on both 
 sides of the channel, have changed their opinion 
 concerning this nobleman, I have never had oc- 
 casion to change mine. I heard his speech in 
 March 1791, and I heard that which he deliver- 
 ed in May 180o (to say nothing of his speeches, 
 publications, and conduct at other times), and I 
 assure you, Sir, I relished the latter speech bet- 
 ter than I did the former ; on the principle 
 which makes every sensible man prefer an open 
 enemy to a false friend. His object was the 
 same on both occasions, to divide the Catholics 
 into two parties (1), and particularly to set the 
 
 (i) The great object of bis speech in j > i , w ru to persuade Par- 
 U-iment that there was then, and ever had beep, two distinct cUi-^c:
 
 71 
 
 laity against the clergy, for their mutual destruc- 
 tion. He was far, however, from having the 
 same means of success, after he had thrown aside 
 the visor, as when he wore it. The advice which 
 Lord R. gives the Irish Catholics to join -with 
 him in pulling down their clergy, reminds us of 
 the proposed treaty between the wolves and the 
 sheep: "Nothing would be more easy," said 
 the wolves, " than to keep peace with you good 
 " sheep, if you would but turn out of your 
 " service those ill-bred barking dogs ofyours," 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 in the catholic body, the one Papists, who held all those abomina- 
 ble doctrines generally ascribed to them, the other good subjects 
 and good men, who had formerly been called Remonstrants, but 
 then were called Protesting Catholic Dissenters. He accordingly 
 proposed (in which measure he was at first supported by Mr. PitO 
 that there should be two separate Acts of Parliament, adapted to the 
 ed different principles and merits of these two classes; thus to 
 make a fundamental and incurable schism in the catholic body. 
 This insidious and fatal measure, however, was resisted in limine by 
 the present Chief Baron, Sir Archibald Macdonald; and infu 
 nite thanks h n tc God, but nonf to Lord R. the schism was pre. 
 it eJ 
 
 ^j^f^
 
 72 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Kilkenny, July 12, 1807. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Leaving Tuiiow about noon, 
 
 I proceeded to the county town of Carlow, 
 pleasantly situated on the banks of the Barrow. 
 Here I visited the spacious well built chapel, and 
 the neat well regulated seminary adjoining to it ; 
 and was much pleased and edified with what I 
 observed at both places. My next stage was 
 the city of Kilkenny, so called from St. Cani- 
 cius, by contraction Kenny, a holy abbot of the 
 sixth century, whose cell, or oratory, originally 
 at Achadbho, in the Queen's county, was after- 
 wards removed hither (1). This was heretofore 
 one of the most splendid and important places in 
 Ireland. Its artificial beauties have decayed ; 
 
 (t) A late writer, who on various occasions opposes his un- 
 founded conjectures to the authority of all ancient records, and the 
 judgment of all other modern authors, boldly advances that no such 
 person as St. Canicius ever existed, but that he is " an imaginary be- 
 " ing." See " The Antiquities of Ireland, by Edward Ledwich. 
 
 " DD. p. 384. 2d Edit." This is the newest fashion of attacking 
 
 the ancient faith. It may be proper here to mention, that St. Ca- 
 nicius, the patron of Kilkenny, and the founder of Achadbho, is re- 
 cognized, not only by all historians, hagiographers, and amongst the 
 rest by Usher and Ware, but also by his cotemporary, Adamnan, in 
 his life of St. Columba, with whom it appears St. Canicius en- 
 tertained a strict friendship. Vide Vitam S. Columb. I. i. c 4, 
 apud Messinpham,item 1. ii. c. 7. " Eadem bora S. Cahinnichus in 
 " suo versans monasterio, quod Campulus Jiovis dicitur," &c.
 
 73 
 
 the ancient monasteries and other public build- 
 ings being reduced to ruins : which ruins, how- 
 ever, are the finest and most interesting 1 have yet 
 seen in Ireland. But the venerable cathedral and the 
 lofty round tower adjoining it remain entire; as 
 does also the castle of the Ormond family, which 
 is built in the Vandalic style, that, about the 
 time of the reformation of religion, so called, 
 supplanted the enchanting pointed order of 
 the preceding ages. The natural advantages, 
 however, of Kilkenny, are of such a nature as to 
 bid defiance to the vicious taste and perversity of 
 modern ages : for you must certainly, Sir, have 
 heard the vulgar but true saying respecting this 
 city: "At Kilkenny they have earth without 
 " bog, air without fog, water without mud, and 
 " marble pavement that is good." I have visited 
 here the small but learned seminary of ecclesias- 
 tics, and the edifying convent of the Presenta- 
 tion, instituted by a pious citizen of Dublin, for 
 the education, in continual succession, of some 
 hundreds of poor female children. 
 
 Having, in my last letter, treated of the reli- 
 gion of the Irish Catholics, my subject now leads 
 me to say something 1 of their morality : vulgar 
 
 ^ O ml ' D 
 
 prejudices and obloquy, running still stronger 
 against them on this, than upon the former head. 
 The generality of our countrymen imagine that 
 Ireland is a country in which it is not sale either 
 to travel or to reside, and that its catholic popu- 
 lation consists of robbers, assassins, and other 
 vretches, dead to every sentiment of moral ho-
 
 74 
 
 nesty and humanity. This prejudice of the 
 nursery has been aided by the misrepresentations 
 and fabrications of news-writers, and other writ- 
 ers of Sir Richard Musgrave's description. These 
 men frequently publish downright falsehoods 
 against the Irish, as I myself have ascertained, 
 and on all occasions they aggravate the real of- 
 fences or" this people, and suppress the injuries 
 or grievances which have led to the commission 
 of them. Thus much, Sir, you may depend 
 upon, and the records of the courts of justice 
 will prove ; that the number of capital convic- 
 tions throughout Ireland, and more especially 
 throughout the counties in which the Catholics 
 are most numerous, those of Kerry and Gal way, 
 have not borne, during the last year, or the last 
 three years, the least proportion with those, 
 throughout an equal extent of population, in any 
 part of England. 
 
 With such characteristical dispositions as the 
 Irish are proved to possess, it is not in the nature 
 of things that they should be, upon the whole, 
 an immoral people ; and yet I am prepared to 
 meet with a great number of villains, and those of 
 the most hardened class, amongst them, for 
 these two reasons. First, experience shews there 
 area great many Avi etches of this description in 
 every nation under the sun ; no advantage of 
 disposition or education being at all times able to 
 stem t lie tide of human passions. Secondly, the 
 example which the Irish, have seen amongst 
 our countrymen for ages past, the treatment
 
 75 
 
 which they have experienced at their hands, and 
 the laws to which they have been subjected by 
 them, have been directly calculated to eradicate 
 every moral and humane feeling from their 
 breasts, and cannot but have produced a bad 
 effect upon a considerable number of them. 
 
 " Pudet hsec opprobria nobis 
 
 " Et dici potuisse, et non non potuisse refelli(l)." 
 
 To mount upwards in history two centuries ; 
 " Sir John Davies relates," says the last histori- 
 cal writer on the affairs of Ireland, " that in his 
 " time it was held no crime to kill a mere Irish- 
 " man (2). Whenever the Irish were mentioned 
 " in Acts of Parliament, it was to mark them out, 
 " not merely as enemies, but as being wholly out 
 " of the common rules of law and morality(3). 
 " The Irish were considered as a sort of rebel sa- 
 " vages, excluded from the contemplation of the 
 11 laws of God and man (4)." The same intelligent 
 and liberal writer agrees with former writers (5), 
 in exposing and execrating the acts of alternate 
 
 (i) Ovid. Metamorph. 
 
 (2) Historical Apology for the Catholics of Ireland, by Henry 
 Parnel, Esq. p. 53. 
 
 (3) Ibid. p. 54. 
 
 (4) Ibid. p. 98. This writer brings authority to prove, that dur- 
 ing Lord Mountjoy's administration, " No Irishman was pardoned, 
 " unless he undertook to murder his nearest friend or relation," 
 p. (ji. He is known to have pardoned two different chieftains, each 
 on the condition that he would assassinate the other. 
 
 (5) See Dr. Curry's invaluable Review of the Civil Wan in Ire- 
 I, 2 o!s. Svo-
 
 76 
 
 fraud (l) and violence practised by the govern- 
 ment of those times upon its Irish subjects, for 
 dispossessing them of their property, which pre- 
 vailed from the reign of Elizabeth, down to that 
 last and never-to-be-forgotten act of public per- 
 fidy, the infraction of the treaty of Limerick (2). 
 " This treaty,*' say the Irish Catholics, " ratified 
 " and exemplified as it was by King William and 
 " Queen Mary under the Great Seal of England, 
 " and confirmed by Act of Parliament (3), was 
 " our BILL OF RIGHTS, on the faith of which 
 " we surrendered, not only the city of Limerick, 
 " from which we had the year before driven King 
 " William, but likewise all the southern and 
 " western counties of Ireland ; the BILL OF 
 " RIGHTS, on the faith of which we renounced 
 " our allegiance to King James, till then our 
 " iking dejure and de facto, and swore fidelity to 
 *' King William. By the first article of this 
 " treaty, it was stipulated that, " The Roman 
 " Catholics of this kingdom (Ireland), shall en- 
 
 (i) The Apologist shews that the landholders in Connaught, after 
 being obliged to purchase from the crown titles to their own estates? 
 twice over, were at last dispossessed of them by Lord Strafford, under 
 the pretext of defective titles. 
 
 (2 " That treaty," says the Apologist, " remains a monument of 
 *' the most flagrant perfidy that ever disgraced a nation. Upon the 
 " faith of it the Irish Catholics gave up that power and influence, 
 " which you neither will nor can restore to them. And till that 
 " treaty is fulfilled in its most liberal sense, no ingenuity can remove 
 ** the stain of deliberate perjury from the character of the English 
 " nation." Hist. Apol. p. 132. 
 
 (3) Viz. of the Irish Parliament in 1695.
 
 77 
 
 ' ( jy suc h privileges in the exercise of their reli* 
 " gion as are consistent with the lazvs of Ireland, 
 " or as they did enjoy in the reign of King Charles 
 " II. and their Majesties, as soon as their affairs 
 " will permit them to summons a parliament in this 
 " kingdom, will endeavour to procure the said 
 " Roman Catholics such further security in that 
 " particular as may preserve them from any dis- 
 " turbance upon account of their said religion." 
 " Yet no sooner," continue they, " were these 
 " articles thus ratified, than the bishops began to 
 " preach up, that " peace ought not to ue kept 
 " with a people so perfidious," as they calumni- 
 " ously described us to be (l) ; the doors of both 
 " Houses of Parliament were shut against us, 
 11 which were open to us under Charles II. ; and 
 " more grinding laws were enacted against our 
 " religion than we had ever before experienced." 
 Not unlike these complaints respecting the 
 treaty of Limerick, are those relating to the 
 Union. "Do not quibble with us," the Irish 
 Catholics say, "concerning terms and formalities. 
 " It was clearly understood between us, that if 
 
 ' we co-operated to bring about the Union, as 
 " we actually did, you would effect our eman- 
 
 ' cipation. To give a colouring to this engage- 
 " ment, you inserted in the articles of the Union 
 
 " two different intimations of a proposed change 
 
 (i) Dr. Dopping, bishop ofMeath, preached this before the jus- 
 tices in Christ Church, Dublin, soon after the treaty of Limerick, 
 ilarris's Life of King William. 
 
 L2
 
 78 
 
 "of the qualifying oaths in our favour (1); 
 " when behold ! you now roundly tell us, that 
 " this alteration never shall take place, and that 
 " we must make up our minds to wear our 
 " shackles till the end of time." Of a still worse 
 tendency was the notorious connivance of ad- 
 ministration, as well as of the magistrates (2), 
 upon the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam from Ireland 
 in 1795, at the burning down of cottages and 
 hamlets, and the expulsion of their catholic in- 
 
 (i) In the fourth article of theUrrion it is enacted that the quali- 
 fying oath shall remain TILL PARLIAMENT SHALL OTHER- 
 WISE ORDAIN. 
 
 (2) Lord Gosford, Governor of that part of the kingdom, having 
 at length convened the magistracy of Armagh, described the excesses 
 which had then been going on for many months, in the following 
 terms: " A persecution, accompanied with all the circumstances of 
 *' ferocious cruelty, is now raging in this country. Neither age nor 
 " sex, nor even acknowledged innocence, can excite mercy. The 
 " only crime which the wretched objects are charged with is, the 
 " profession of the Roman Catholic faith. A lawless banditti have 
 " constituted themselves judges of this new delinquency, and the 
 *' sentence they denounce is equally concise and terrible. It is no- 
 *' thing less than confiscation of property and immediate banish. 
 "" ment. It would be painful to detail the horrors of this proscrip- 
 " tion : a proscription that exceeds, in the number of its victims, 
 " every example of ancient and modern history. For when have we 
 "heard or read of more than hulf the inhabitants of a populous 
 *' country being deprived of the fruits of their industry, and driven 
 " to seek shelter for themselves and their families where chance may 
 " guide them ? These horrors are now acting with impunity. The 
 '" spirit of justice, without which law is tyranny, has disappeared in 
 ** this country, &c." See Lord Gosford's Address, published in the 
 Dublrh Journal Jan. 5, 1796, and the other newspapers. It does 
 not appear that any one of these Orange incendiaries or murderers 
 was capitally punished. One or two, who were convicted, pro- 
 duced the king's pardon, which they had get beforehand.
 
 79 
 
 habitants, to the amount of many thousands (1) 
 throughout the counties of Armagh and Down, 
 by the Orangemen, in conformity with public 
 notice given to this effect (2), and affixed to the 
 houses of the devoted victims. This perse- 
 cution of the Catholics in the North was, in the 
 course of a year or two, followed by a stili 
 more violent one, and still more openly abett- 
 ed, on their brethren in the South. Whole 
 districts were subjected to free quarters, 
 which implies that they were abandoned to 
 the licentiousness of an undisciplined mili- 
 tary (3). Hence not only houses, and hamlets, 
 and chapels were burnt down, but aiso number- 
 less women were insulted, and even brutally 
 violated (4), and thousands upon thousands 
 of men were scalped (5), whipped, pickett- 
 
 (0 In these lawless and outrageous attacks upon their property, 
 xeveral hundreds of Catholics were actually murdered. 
 
 (2) The notice was generally in these terms ; '* To Connaught or 
 " to hell with you, you bloody Papists. If you are not gone by 
 " such a day, mentioning the day, we will destroy your property 
 " and yourselves." 
 
 (3) It is plain from General Abercrombie's orders, dated Dublin, 
 Feb. 26, 1798, independently of every othei proof, how enormous 
 and notorious the excesses of the military had been m the places' 
 where they were quartered. 
 
 (4) The soldiery and yeomen began by tearing off every article of 
 dress of a green colour from the females who wore it. But they soon 
 after proceeded to much more horrible excesses. Officers of rank, have 
 been heard to boast that " not a female escaped defilement within 
 " such and such districts, as the bayonet, they said, was sure to 
 * ed'ect compliance." Plowden's Hist, of Ireland, vol. iii, p. 705. 
 
 (5) This was the general punishment of all persons who wore
 
 80 
 
 efl(l), strangled, hanged outright, or shot (2). I 
 need not inform you, Sir, that all this barbarity was 
 
 short hair, (though many of them had been shorn by violence) and 
 who were therefore called Croppies. The operation was performed 
 by pressing a cap besmeared with melted pitch upon the head of the 
 victim, and then violently tearing it off, or else by firing guupowder 
 upon his skull. 
 
 (i) Lord Moira, in his speech in the British House of Lords, 
 Nov. 22, 1797, said: " L have known a man, in order to extort con- 
 " fession of a supposed crime, or of that of some neighbour, pick- 
 " eited till he actually fainted, picketted a second time, till he 
 " fainted agrun, and when he came to himself picketted a third 
 " time, till lie once more fainted; and all this upon mere suspicion. 
 " Men had been taken and hung up till they were half dead, and 
 " afterwards threatened with a repetition of this treatment, unless 
 " they made a confession of their imputed guilt. These were not 
 " particular acts of cruelty, .but formed part of the new system, See."" 
 Mr Alexander, a protestant schoolmaster of Ross, has published an 
 affecting account of the sufferings of two poor men of his town, 
 Driscol and htzpatrick. The former was suspected of administer- 
 ing unlawful oaths, merely because two prayer-books were found in 
 his possession. To induce him to confirm thissuspicion by his own 
 confession, " he had been strangled three times and flogged four 
 " times to no purpose," when Mr. Alexander saw him "brought to 
 ' the court-house, to undergo a repetition of his former punish* 
 * ' ments." The latter was a poor schoolmaster, who having cheerfully 
 taken the oaih of allegiance to his Majesty when tendered to him, and 
 proved that he neither was possessed of any arms, nor knew where 
 any were concealed; because he refused to take a general and un- 
 limited oath of informing against his neighbours, was repeatedly 
 scourged in the most inhuman manner. Another poor schoolmaster, 
 8 3 years of age, in nearly the same circumstances, was cut down 
 and killed at his cabin door. 
 
 (2) " At Carnew 28 men were brought out and deliberately shot, 
 " May 15, by the yeomen and a party of the Antrim militia, with- 
 " out any trial. At Dunlavin 34 men were shot without trial." Hay's 
 Hist, oflnsur. pp. 76,87. Among the latter were 18 yeomen of the 
 Saunders Grove corps. Sir Rd. Musgrave's account of the exe- 
 cution of the last mentioned men is as follows : I give it without 
 comments. It speaks for itself on the part both of the mur- 
 derers and of their apologists. " Captain Ryve knowing, from the
 
 81 
 
 as contrary to the letter and spirit of the. British 
 laws and constitution, as it was to natural equity 
 and sound policy. 
 
 Far be it from me, Sir, to urge the above- 
 mentioned acts of injustice and barbarity of a 
 tyrannical Orange faction and a licentious sol- 
 diery, together with the connivance of the exist- 
 ing administration, by way of justifying the en- 
 suing rebellion. I hardly set any bounds to the 
 duty of submission, in order to prevent so dread- 
 ful an evil. But most certainly I mention these 
 violences and this connivance as an extenuation of 
 the guilt of the rebels, and as the evident cause 
 why so many unhappy men were involved in it. 
 In short, I mention the notorious and crying im- 
 morality of so great a proportion of the Protest- 
 ants in' Ireland, as the evident cause of the 
 subsequent crimes of very many Catholics. I 
 
 u cruel and sanguinary spirit which the rebels had displayed at Bally- 
 "' more Eustace, that they meditated the extermination of all Pro- 
 " testants and loyalists, was driven to the necessity of adopting 
 " a measure, which nothing but motives of self-preservation and the 
 " emergency of the occasion could justify -The only troops in Dun- 
 " lavin were his corps of yeomen, &c. ; the number of prisoner-- far 
 " exceeded that of his garrison. The officers having conferred for 
 '* some time, were of opinion that some of the yeomen who had 
 " been disarmed, and were at that time in prison for being notorious 
 *' traitors, should be shot. Nineteen, therefore, of the Saunders 
 * Grove corps, and nine of the Narromore, were immediately led 
 " out and suffered death. It may be said, in excuse for this act of 
 ' severe and summary justice, that they would have joined the nu- 
 " merous bodies of rebels who were moving round and threatened 
 " the town. At the same time they discharged some, of the al>oz\, 
 '* corps in consideration of their former good character " p. 24?.
 
 82 
 
 must add, that the penal laws, as they existed till 
 of late years, had a direct tendency to undermine 
 every principle of religion, justice, and huma- 
 nity. " By these," says a late writer, " the 
 " entails of the estates of Catholics were broken, 
 " and they gavelled amongst their children. If 
 " one child abjured, he inherited, though he were 
 " the youngest : if the son abjured the catholic 
 " religion, the father, though a purchaser, became 
 " a tenant for life, whilst the son was tenant in 
 " fee. Children were encouraged to betray pa- 
 " rents and rebel against them; brothers were 
 " opposed to brothers ; and the ordinary duties 
 "of -family affection were prohibited as public 
 " crimes." Even now these unnatural laws are 
 in force against persons who have once abandoned 
 the catholic religion ; though an unexception- 
 able judge in these matters assures us, that such 
 conversions of Catholics are insincere, and made 
 against their conscience. We learn from him 
 that notwithstanding the pains which persons, 
 the best qualified, have taken with persons, bred 
 Romanists, but conforming to the established 
 religion, and notwithstanding the honourable, 
 confidential, and lucrative appointments which 
 they have attained by this conformity; still the 
 leaven of popery remains, and at the unequivocal 
 symptoms of approaching death, a few half- 
 smothered symptoms of Christianity were kindled 
 in their breasts, and " they have uniformly died 
 " in the Romish persuasion (l)." In the same 
 
 (i See a Representation of the State of Ireland, &c. by Pat.
 
 83 
 
 spirit of immorality, priests are still encouraged 
 by lesjal rewards to disobey their bishops and 
 abandon their religion ; yet when they afterwards 
 perform unlawful marriages, or commit other 
 acts of immorality, the blame is uniformly 
 thrown, not upon the law which cherishes them, 
 but upon their church which censures them. 
 
 But to make an end of this inexhaustible mat- 
 ter, I ask what has been the conduct of govern- 
 ment, and what it still is with respect to the poor 
 Irish Catholics who engage and spend their lives 
 in its service? Heretofore, they were cajoled to 
 enlist into certain catholic regiments, so called ; 
 under promise of being allowed to practise their 
 own religion, and of not being required to attend 
 any other. To render the deception more plau- 
 sible, priests were engaged as chaplains to the sup- 
 posed catholic regiments; but no sooner were 
 these compleated, than the priests were dis- 
 missed, and the soldiers drafted into different 
 regiments, mostly into those stationed in the 
 West Indies, where it was equally impossible for 
 the poor men to practise their religion, or to claim 
 
 Duigenan, LL. D. M.P. &c. pp. 8, 9. There are few persons ac- 
 quainted with the history of this gentleman and his family, (namely, 
 that his father and mother returned to the catholic communion in the 
 awful circumstances he has described, and that he himself was a Ca- 
 tholic) who will hesitate to pronounce, that the Doctor is preparing 
 a retreat for himself, " when we may hope the half smothered sparks 
 " of Christianity will be kindled in his breast" also! But the 
 learned gentleman may carry the jest too far ; and he ought to recol- 
 lect what he learnt in his Catholic Catechism, not to place his confi- 
 dence in acts of piety which are to be performed when " unequivocal 
 M symptoms of approaching death" shall appear. 
 
 M
 
 84 
 
 the contract under which they enlisted. At 
 present, Iish soldiers arc indulged in a certain 
 degree of religious freedom in their own country; 
 this, however, is far from being the universal case 
 even there: hut no sooner are they removed thence 
 to defend some other part of the empire, than 
 they are required, under pain of military punish- 
 ment, (for that is the convincing argument) 
 to lay aside their own religion, and to take up 
 that of the establishment. Rut, Sir, when you 
 have thus forced an Irishman to go to church, 
 have you made a Protestant of him? No, Sir, 
 the compulsory measure works no alteration ei- 
 ther on his understanding or his heart. He ap- 
 pears, because he must do so, at the public wor- 
 ship ; but with a mind full of indignation, if not 
 disaffection. He is a conformist exteriorly and 
 by force ; in his principles and his heart he is still 
 a Catholic. To satisfy yourself on this head, 
 wait till the situation described by Dr. Duigenan 
 arrives, when " unequivocal symptoms of ap- 
 " proaching death" shew themselves. You will 
 then uniformly, and without exception, find 
 these self-convicted conformists tortured with 
 guilty horrors, and impatient for the presence of 
 a priest, who may receive them back into the 
 bosom of their native Church What, then, have 
 you effected by your intolerant laws and articles of 
 war ? You have not made Protestants, you have 
 only made hypocrites ! You have not promoted 
 the cause of morality and religion in any point of 
 view whatsoever, but you have essentially injured
 
 85 
 
 'it ! You have caused men to stifle the voice of 
 their consciences, and you expect them to be ex- 
 amples of strict morality ! You have induced 
 them, in their own full persuasion, to abandon 
 their God, and you expect them to be faithful to 
 
 you. 1 have run to a much greater length 
 
 than I intended upon this subject ; not, Sir, by 
 way of recrimination or reproach, but to point 
 out, in the laws and governing powers of Ireland, 
 incitements and provocations to immorality, 
 which cannot but have produced their effect upon 
 a considerable number of its inhabitants. Still 
 these examples are by no means sufficiently nu- 
 merous to affect the character of the Irish in 
 general ; and it is still, thank God, true to say 
 of them, that they are at the same time a religi- 
 ous and a moral people. 
 
 I take no notice of the ancient calumnies 
 of Silvester Giraldus, the most peevish and 
 prejudiced of all our ancient writers (l) ; 
 first, because these were evidently intended as 
 an apology for the invasion of Ireland by 
 the first Plantagenet, to whom he was a re- 
 tainer; secondly, because these have been re- 
 futed by former writers (2) ; thirdly, because 
 they have been in a great measure retracted by 
 
 'j'j As a proof of this disposition, he begins his account of Ireland 
 with an apology for taking up a subject winch he alledges is so con- 
 temptible, applying to it a scriptural text concerning Nazareth; 
 " Ab Ilibernia potest alicpiid esse bom ?" 
 
 (2) See Sir James Ware's Hist, and Antiquit. c. 23. also Lynch in 
 <i Cambrensij Kvers-:*. 
 
 M 2
 
 86 
 
 the calumniator himself; and lastly, because 
 they are, in their own nature, monstrous and 
 incredible. To mention, then, later charges : 
 "The Irish have been accused of perfidy," says 
 Newenham(l): but he scouts the accusation. 
 Carr adds: "In no country in the world is 
 " treachery held in greater detestation than in 
 u Ireland, because in no region can be found a 
 " higher spirit of frankness and generosity (2)." 
 It has also been alledged that they are " destitute 
 " of a sense of equity (3)." This vague slander 
 is met by clear and certain facts : " A friend of 
 " mine,'' says the ingenious author quoted 
 above, " in whose house there is seldom less than 
 " 1200L. or 1500L. in cash, surrounded with 
 " 200 or 300 poor peasants, retires at night to 
 " his bed without bolting a door or fastening a 
 " window(4)/' I myself observed, that the 
 houses, both in the towns and in the country, 
 were very ill secured against nocturnal depreda- 
 tion, and that in the day time strangers ap- 
 peared to enter into them without molestation, 
 and to remain in them as long as they pleased; 
 which circumstance argues a great degree of 
 confidence in each others honesty. I have al- 
 ready mentioned the small number of capital con- 
 victions in Ireland, compared with those in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The Irish are also charged with drunkenness, 
 
 (0 Essays &c. 
 
 (2) Sirangerir; Ireland, p. 149. 
 
 (3) Essa)S. (4) Ibid.
 
 87 
 
 and I am ready to allow that their cheerful and 
 convivial temper, joined to the natural influence 
 of the climate, disposes them to indulge in this 
 vice. But after all, it is not by any means so 
 common as in England, and most other countries 
 under the same degree of latitude ; the reason of 
 which is, that the Iri^h are instructed and habi- 
 tuated to strive against this natural propensity. 
 As a proof of this, you can hardly enter into con- 
 versation on the subject of drinking with a poor 
 Irishman who has experienced his frailty in this 
 particular, without his telling you of the "oaths 
 " he has taken against liquor.*' The fact is, in order 
 to break themselves of the habit of drinking to 
 excess, these people are accustomed to bind 
 themselves by an oath not to taste of any inebri- 
 ating liquor during a stated time ; for example, 
 during a month, three months, or half a year. 
 There are persons so carried away with prejudice, 
 as to asperse the Irish character with the guilt of 
 a certain other branch of sensuality ; but no ac- 
 cusation can be more unjust, " The instances 
 " of connubial defection," says the late tourist, 
 4< are fewer in Ireland, for its size, than in any 
 u other country of equal civilization, &c. The 
 " modesty of the Irish ladies is the effect of prin- 
 "ciple(l). The low Irish are observant of 
 <c sexual modesty, though crowded in the nar- 
 " row limits of a cabin, and are strangers to a 
 "crime which reddens the cheek with horror.- 
 
 {) Cat:, p. 23O
 
 88 
 
 %< They nre not only remarkable for their early 
 " mania, es, but for the inviolable sanctity with 
 "which the marriage contract is kept : hence, 
 " amongst other causes, the number and health 
 " of their children ( 1)." 
 
 I have reserved the heaviest and most ordinary 
 charge against the morality of Irish Catholics, 
 and indeed ot Catholics in general, the charge 
 of habitual pei jury, to be discussed in the last 
 place. The liberal tourist, who has borne such 
 honourabe testimony to the virtues of the Irish 
 in other respects, appears to have given some 
 countenance to this calumny by the manner in 
 which he has described the prevarication of two 
 witnesses, at two different trials which he was 
 present at in Ireland: just as if he could attend 
 any trial of importance in England without wit- 
 nessing equal prevarication on the part of more 
 than two witnesses ! But to shew how far some 
 English persons of respectable circumstances and 
 situation are capable of carrying their prejudice: 
 I know a person of that description, who has re- 
 peatedly and publicly declared, that " the Irish 
 " are taught to believe there is no guilt in per- 
 "jury; and that priests attend at the doors of 
 <; the courts in Ireland, to absolve perjured wit- 
 " nessesas they return from them," Good God 1 
 when will these anti-catholic calumniators be- 
 come so far rational, as to see that this accusa- 
 tion stands refuted and scouted by the actual 
 
 (i) Carr, p. 405,
 
 89 
 
 visible situation of the party accused ! When 
 will they acquire sense enough to understand, 
 that Catholics would have no occasion to pe- 
 tition parliament for a redress of their grievances, 
 but would at all times have a remedy for them in 
 their own hands, if they could hut reconcile to 
 their consciences the taking of a false oath. Sure- 
 ly these Papists could procure some priest, either 
 for love or money, to absolve them! or what 
 would be still better, they might procure a'.' eno 
 ral dispensation from the Pope for a little oc, i- 
 sional perjury, which other people commit with- 
 out any dispensation whatever ! They would 
 thus obtain a great deal of wealth, influence, and 
 power, which they might employ for the benefit 
 of the Church, as well as for their own: arid, 
 what would be more valuable to them than yll 
 this, by swearing contrary to their own convic- 
 tion, they would vindicate their characters from 
 the foul charge of perjury, and would pass 
 
 for honest men ! But, Sir, to be serious, I beg 
 
 you will observe that the test oaths against Ca- 
 tholics have completely answeied their purpose in 
 keeping them out of parliament, benefices, and 
 places, and in subjecting them to a thousand in- 
 convenient and grinding laws. This incontest- 
 able and shining fact will, for ever, demonstrate 
 the religion which Catholics attach to the obli- 
 gation of oaths, and that their Church does not 
 furnish them with any remedy for escaping from 
 it. This incontestable shining fact will lor ever 
 confute and put to shame the calumnies of their
 
 90 
 
 enemies, many of whom are known to have never 
 refused an advantage which could be gotten by 
 swearing. I have mentioned to you, Sir, that 
 the test oaths, invented to keep Popery out of the 
 state, have completely answered their purpose : 
 but have those other oaths, which have been de- 
 vised by the legislature to exclude heterodoxy 
 from the established Church ; or corruption from 
 parliament, or smuggling from commerce, been 
 equally effectual ? You are aware, Sir, what de- 
 tails I could furnish upon each of these heads : 
 but I spare you the relation, on condition that 
 you never join the vile calumniators who have 
 the front to reproach Catholics with the practice 
 of perjury ! 
 
 I am, &c.
 
 91 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Kilkenny, July 13, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 A O attempt to answer, or 
 even to notice the different writers, who "have 
 publicly calumniated the religion and morals of 
 the Irish Catholics, would be an endless task : but 
 there is one of them so distinguished by the 
 virulence and grossness of his slanders, that I 
 cannot help at least pointing him out, and giv- 
 ing you a specimen of his spirit, in a few ex- 
 tracts which I shall make from his ponderous 
 libel, called, A History of the different Rebellions 
 in Ireland. I was by no means surprised, that a 
 work of this complexion should have suffered the 
 unprecedented disgrace of being rejected and 
 spurned at by the patron to whom it was inscrib- 
 ed ( 1). Judging of it, however, as I used to do, 
 by extracts, and knowing the mischief it occa- 
 sioned, I really wondered that no intelligent and 
 spirited Irishman should give that complete re- 
 futation of the whole, which several writers have 
 
 (i) See a Letter dated Dublin Castle, March 24, i8-r, signed 
 
 E. 1$. Littlehales, by order of Marquis Corn v. al lis, the Lord Lieute. 
 
 runt of Ireland, and addressed to Sir R. Musgrave, in which the 
 
 writer is ordered not to inscribe any future edition of his book *.c 
 
 nobleman 
 
 V
 
 92 
 
 given of particular parts of it(l). At length, 
 upon reading the work itself, and observing it to 
 be a mere farrago of unconnected passages, bor- 
 rowed, in all probability, from Orange news- 
 papers, without plan, order, style, genius, or 
 sentiment; I was no longer surprised that a man 
 of talents, and of a liberal mind, was not found 
 to undertake the dull and thankless task : since 
 of the most successful refutation of such a work, 
 it may with truth be said ; 
 
 " Nee habet victoria Iaudem." 
 
 Ovid. Metamor. 
 
 For my own part, Sir, I am far from having either 
 the patience or the leisure, necessary for exposing 
 the enormous mass of malicious and inflammatory 
 
 (0 Amongst these are F. Plowden, Esq. in his History of Ireland, 
 vol. iii. and Letter to Sir R. M. Dr. Caufield, Catholic Bishop of 
 Wexford, in his Reply to the Misrepresentations of Sir R. Musgrave, 
 Edward Hay, Esq. and Theobald M'Kenna, Esq. I cannot refrain 
 from giving a letter, first published by Francis Plowden, Esq. and 
 addressed to Dr. Troy by the parish priest of Naas, the Rev. Mr. 
 Dunne, in which the writer examines into the accuracy and truth of 
 Sir Richard Musgrave' s -account of the insurrection at his parish town. 
 It is to be remarked, that Mr. Dunne bears the character of a cool, 
 discreet, and credible man, and that he could not but be well in- 
 formed of transactions passing under his own eye. 
 
 Naa<:, June, 25. 1801. 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " I have remarked, in the account which Sir Richard Musgrave has 
 
 given, in his book on the late rebellion, that he has, in the article 
 
 regarding Naas, made very great mis-statements. He says, there was 
 
 i Captain Davis wounded, &c. not one word regarding that fact is
 
 93 
 
 falsehoods, which Sir Richard Musgrave has palm- 
 ed upon the public. Ail that I shall do is to 
 
 true. There was no Captain Davis in the garrison at that time. 
 Captain Davis came in a short time after, and is yet alive. All the 
 officers then in the garrison of Naas know this to be the fact. Sir 
 Richard also states, that two hundred rebels were killed in the 
 attack on Naas. The officers alluded to can give testimony, as 
 they were witnesses, that more than nine or ten rebels did not fall 
 on the occasion ; but in the course of three or four hours after, fifty, 
 seven of a crowd in the street were killed. Many of these were shot 
 when escaping from their huts, which were set on fire; others were 
 taken out of their houses, from their gardens, and brought to 
 the Ship, as the expression was, and hanged in the street. I knew 
 two men, Costelloe and Card, son and son.in-law of William 
 Costelloe, who lives near Crnddoxtown, on the Ballimore road, 
 who were called out of their fields when they were at work, by a 
 horseman, who getting ill on the road, was not able to go forward 
 with his party to Ballimore. They, relying on their innocence, and 
 thinking they were only going to goal, walked on quietly with this 
 single dragoon, when they were brought to the inn at Naas, and 
 instantly conducted across the street to the Ship, and hanged. The 
 same day a young man of the name of Walsh, was brought into Naas, 
 who was said by a female to be the person wh>shot Captain Svvaine, 
 in the action at Prosperous. It is now well known that he was not 
 within sixteen miles of Prosperous when the action took place there : 
 nevertheless, he was taken, without any form of trial, to the Ship, 
 and there hanged, dragged naked through the street to the lower 
 end of the town, and there set fire to j and, when half burned, his 
 body was opened, his heart taken out and put on the point of a 
 wattle, which was instantly placed on the top of a house, where it, 
 remained until taken down by one of the military, who marched 
 into town about nine weeks after. When the body had been almost 
 consumed, a large piece of it was brought into the next house, 
 where the mistress of it, Mrs. Newland, wai obliged to furnish a 
 knife, fork, and plate, and an old woman, of the name of Daniel, 
 was obliged to bring them salt. These two women heard them say, 
 that Paddy ate s/ceet, and confirmed it with a d-~ n their eyes ! These 
 women are living and worthy of credit, being judged honest and 
 respectable in their line and situation of life. Another fact mis . 
 
 N 2
 
 94 
 
 present you with a small posey of flowers called 
 from his savory garden, leaving them to 
 
 stated, or rather falsely asserted by Sir Richard, he says, these was 
 one " Cullen charged with firing three shots at a yeoman, and that 
 ** a person, called Kennedy, who was to prosecute the said Cullen, 
 " was seen speaking to a priest by Mr. Kemmis the crown solicitor, 
 *' through the bar of the goal ; and that in consequence of 
 *' this conversation, the said Kennedy denied what he had. 
 *' said before regarding Cullen." A more hardy falsehood 
 than this could not be asserted. Mr. Kemmis, whose character 
 entitles him to credit, will, I dare say, if asked, declare, that not 
 one word of the assertion, so far as it regards him, Kennedy, or the 
 priest, is true. Neither is it possible it could be true, as no one of 
 the name of Kennedy was in goal to prosecute Cullen. The only 
 prosecutor was Serjeant James Talland, who said, that "Cullen 
 *' charged and fired three shots at him." But when asked by 
 counsel, " why he did not fire at Cullen, whilst he (Cullen) was 
 " charging and firing three shots at him r" he answered, " that 
 " Cullen was in a sand pit." The Court, not satisfied with this answer, 
 further asked the prosecutor, whether " the same view which enabled 
 *' him to see Cullen charge and discharge several shots, did not allow 
 *' him also an opportunity to fire at least one shot at Cullen ?" It is 
 perhaps to the unsatisfactory manner in which the prosecutor answered 
 this question, that Cullen partly owes his life. This, when it could 
 not be proved that Cullen was a yeoman, excited additional zeal 
 in his counsel, who petitioned the Court to save a point of law. 
 The Court humanely extended the royal clemency, under the am. 
 nesty act, with reference to the twelve judges. Cullen was brought 
 forward at the following assize and acquitted. Thus, the crown 
 solicitor, Mr. Kemmis, Cullen';! Advocate, Counsellors Charles Ball 
 and R. Espinasse, Baron Smith, his Judge, the Grand and Petty Juries 
 of successive assizes at Naas, and others, bear testimony that Cullen's 
 life was saved in this manner, and not by the pretended solicitation 
 or interference of any priest. 
 
 (Signed) DUNNE, R. P." 
 
 (Addressed to) The Rev. Dr. Troy, Dublin. 
 
 Plowden's Hist, of Ireland, yoI. iii. p. 70S.
 
 95 
 
 make their natural impression on your senso- 
 rium (1). 
 
 " The common Irish," says Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave, " are doctrinally taught that they are 
 " bound by their religion to resist the laws and 
 " ordinances of a protestant state, and that an 
 
 " oath of allegiance is null and void(2)." " It 
 
 " is no less singular than true, that the lower 
 " class oi' Irish Papists never think their priests 
 " can contract any stain or contamination from 
 " the commission of crimes, how heinous so- 
 
 " ever (3)." "They (the rebels) killed one 
 
 " Coyle, a shoemaker, because he could not cross 
 
 (0 T have been informed by very respectable and well-informed 
 persons in England, that some young men in Dublin, knowing Sir 
 Richard's malicious propensity, and the nature of the work, which he 
 was engaged in, used to amuse themselves with sending him extra- 
 vagant stories which they themselves had invented over their bottle: 
 all whb.h they afterwards found in the History. 
 
 (2) Hist. &c In opposition to this flagrant falsehood, it may be 
 stated that ihc IrKh Catholics are doctrinally taught in their "General 
 Catechism," approved of by the four catholic archbishops, that they are 
 bound " to be subject to temporal powers, to honour and obey 
 " tli-:n;'" and that "it is sinful to res.st or combine against the 
 *' established authorities, or to speak with co itempt or disrespect of 
 
 " those v. ho rule over us." Pp. 29, 3-'. 4th edition. They 
 
 are also doctrinally taught that they "are obliged to keep their 
 " lawful oaths, and that it would be perjury to break them." P. 2S. 
 
 (3) Hist. p. 545. In opposition to this absurd as well as malicious 
 calumny, it appears that the Irish Catholics are doctrinally taught 
 that " to obtain salvation, all Christians indiscriminately must avoid 
 " evil and do good," and that " to commit sin brings death and 
 *' damnation on the soul" of every Christian, pp. 21, 19, and that 
 superiors oi every description are bound " to lead those under their 
 <( care to God h' example as well as by word," p. 30.
 
 96 
 
 ''himself; but, on finding him to be a heretic, 
 " they compelled him to cross himself as well as 
 " he could with his left hand, (his right hand 
 " being disabled by a wound) superstitiously 
 " believing that the doing so would inevitably 
 
 " doom him to everlasting damnation ( I )." 
 
 Here we are told, that a poor heretical shoemaker 
 was murdered for not crossing himself, and yet 
 that he did cross himself! and that he was sup- 
 posed to be damned, not for his heresy, but for 
 " crossing himself as well as he could !" "The 
 " practice of putting red tape round the necks 
 " of popish children prevailed in the counties of 
 " Wicklow and Wexford, to enable the rebels 
 " to discriminate protestaut from popish chil- 
 " dren in the massacre intended of the for- 
 " mer (2)." If this be true, how much louder 
 must have been the lamentation of mothers 
 throughout Wicklow and Wexford, when the 
 rebels became masters of those counties, than 
 that which was formerly heard in Bethlehem of 
 Juda ! and how must these wretches have out- 
 heroded Herod himself, in the murder of inno- 
 cents ! But all this is left to our conjecture; 
 for, unfortunately, Sir Richard has forgetten to set 
 down a word of it, though it was so much to his 
 purpose, in his history. In the mean time, as far 
 as my information extends, not only the children, 
 but also their mothers and sisters were left un- 
 
 ci ) Hist. p. *<4. 
 (2) Ibid- p. v^-
 
 97 
 
 injured by the rebels. Not a single protestant 
 female was affronted by any of them; whilst the 
 yeomen and king's troops were infamous for thier 
 conduct to catholic women.- To return, however, 
 to the tape : it is plain that our well-informed 
 historian has mistaken the strings, with which 
 the poor people are accustomed to tie the gospel 
 of St. John round the necks of their children, 
 for badges of protection from slaughter. And 
 surely the historian, who, as a custom-house 
 officer, is accustomed to carry about the gospel 
 of St. John in his pocket, and to force poor 
 merchants and tradesmen, with uncovered heads, 
 to bow down and kiss the leather and paper 
 of which it consists, will not accuse catholic 
 women of idolatry merely for honouring St. 
 John's gospel ! u The Celts immolated human 
 " victims to the Deity, and the Irish, who are ox 
 " that race, follow the same practice, and both 
 " on the score of religion (l)." From this pas- 
 sage we learn that Sir Richard Musgrave, though 
 an Irishman, is not a Celtic, or aboriginal Irish- 
 man, and that he does not approve of murdering 
 men in honour of God. Of what breed he really 
 is, heralds, I apprehend, will determine, with less 
 research, than divines will, what religion he is of. 
 In the mean time, the religion of nature will tell 
 him, that it is base and wicked to murder a whole 
 people in their reputation, from the price of 
 whose sweat and blood, he has risen to some ois- 
 tinction, and still draws so large a salary J 
 
 (0 Hist, of Din. Rebellions, p. 3-4
 
 98 
 
 . "In the year 1790, the translation^ of a 
 
 " hook, entitled, The General History of the 
 ' Church, from her Birth to her Triumphant 
 " State in Heaven, was printed in Duhlin by J. 
 " Mehaia, a popish bookseller. It was written 
 " originally at Rome, by a sanguinary bigot of 
 " the name of Pastorini. This writer defends 
 *' and expresses his approbation of all the mas- 
 " sacres of Protestants which ever took place in 
 " Fiance and Ireland. This piece of folly and 
 " blasphemy was published to encourage the mass 
 " of Irish papists to join in the conspiracy 
 " which was formed so early, and in the mas- 
 " sacre which was to succeed it in 1798 (l)." I 
 have quoted this passage, to shew the ease and 
 confidence, with which Sir Richard Musgrave, 
 who professes to make "truth his polar star," and 
 to he so anxious to investigate it in every matter, 
 is capable of palming upon the reader a whole 
 string of falsehoods. Tor, 1st, This History of 
 the Church is not a translation, but the original 
 text. dly, It was not originally written at 
 Rome, but in England. 3dly, The author was not 
 a sanguinary bigot, but a most mild and en- 
 lightened Christian, as the whole tenor of his life 
 and writings proves. 4thly, His name was not 
 Pastorini, this being a mere allusion to his mi- 
 nistry, but the II. Rev. Charles "Walmesley, 
 1). L). 1\ R. S. having been one of the scientific 
 men who were employed in correcting the old 
 
 ;:) Hist. ofDiff. Reb. p. 634.
 
 99 
 
 style. 5thly, The work was not first printed in 
 1790, but in 1771. 6thly, It does not express 
 the most remote approbation of any massacre, 
 whether French or Irish. 7thly, It consists 
 neither of Jolly nor of blasphemy, but of a most 
 ingenious ami learned exposition of the book of 
 Revelations (1). Lastly, It was not published to 
 excite an Irish conspiracy or massacre, neither of 
 which could he foreseen at the time of the pub- 
 lication, namely, about 30 years before they 
 happened : but to excite all Christians to lead a 
 holy life, and to prepare for the coming of that 
 awful Judge, before whom Sir Richard Musgrave 
 will be arraigned for his unprecedented malice 
 and horrible calumnies. 
 
 I shall conclude these quotations with a few 
 extracts from a copious Confession of Faith, con- 
 sisting of 35 articles, which Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave publishes as the genuine creed of Catholics ; 
 assuring his readers, that one copy of it was 
 found in a priest's box at Gorey, and is 
 now in the possession of a clergyman, whom 
 he names, at Aiklow ; that a second was found 
 some where at Carlow ; a third in the pocket 
 of a drunken priest in the county of Meath ; 
 and the fouith in the pocket of a robber who 
 was killed in the liberty of Dublin (2). I am 
 sure, Sir, alter pcrsusing these quotations, you 
 will not wish for any more ot them, nor require 
 
 (i) See the ad English edi; ; on, with additional Remarks and Elu- 
 cidations by the Author, printed by Coghlan, Duke-Street, Gros- 
 vtn r-Sqaaie. 
 
 (2) See I list, of DifF. Rebel, pp. 44*, 443- 
 
 o
 
 100 
 
 any other document to enable you to pronounce 
 upon the character of Sir Richard's huge volume, 
 and upon the conscience and honour of its 
 author. 
 
 1. " When we assemble we all cross our- 
 " selves, saying : " We acknowledge these our 
 " articles in the presence of Christ's Vicar, THE 
 " LORD GOD THE POPE, and in the pre- 
 " sence of the holy primates, bishops, monks, 
 " friars, and priests. 
 
 2. " We acknowledge they can make vice 
 " virtue, and virtue vice, according to their 
 " pleasure. They all falling down flat on their 
 " faces, beginning the articles, and speaking to 
 " the host, &c. we must all fall down before the 
 " great effigy of our Lord God Almighty. 
 
 6. " We are bound to believe that the holy 
 " massacre was lawful, lawfully put in execu- 
 11 tion against Protestants, and likewise to con- 
 " tinue the same, provided with the safety of our 
 " lives. 
 
 8. " We are bound to believe a heretic can- 
 " not be saved unless he partake of extreme 
 " unction. 
 
 10. " We are not to keep our oaths with he- 
 u retics, if they can be broken: for, says our 
 " Holy Father, they have followed damnation, 
 " and Luther, and Calvin. 
 
 12. " We are bound to drive heretics out of 
 ' the land with fire, sword, faggot, and confu- 
 " sion : as our Holy Father says, if their here- 
 " sies prevail, we will become their slaves ! O,
 
 101 
 
 " dear Father, keep us from that : (here the holy 
 " water is shaken, and they say Hail Mary three 
 " times.) 
 
 13. " We are bound to absolve for money or 
 " price those that imbrue their hands in the blood 
 " of a heretic. 
 
 19. " We are bound to celebrate the holy 
 " mass in Latin, having ourselves cloathed in a 
 " holy vestment and a shirt. 
 
 29. " We maintain seven sacraments essen- 
 " tial to salvation, baptism, eucharist, penance, 
 " extreme unction, holy orders, and matri- 
 "mony (1)." 
 
 Such, Sir, is this most curious Confession of 
 Faith, the authenticity of which Sir Richard 
 Musgrave maintains, with all his force of argu- 
 ment and persuasion : and thus far I believe in 
 his narration, that different copies of it were dis- 
 persed throughout the kingdom, and actually 
 found in the situations he mentions ; one of them 
 in the confessional box of an absent priest, ano- 
 ther in the pocket of a drunken priest, and a 
 third in that of a dead robber. But the questions 
 are, who drew up this master-piece of erudition 
 and orthodoxy? secondly, who placed copies of 
 it in those situations, or caused them to be 
 placed there? If you, Sir, and I, and a hundred 
 other persons, of common sense and information, 
 were required to fix upon some one Orangeman, 
 in preference to all others, for these bold though 
 
 (0 Appendix to Hist, of Diff. Reb. p. 15 i- 
 
 O 2
 
 102 
 
 unsuccessful attempts upon papists, I am con- 
 fident there would be no difference of opinion 
 amongst us. 
 
 If I had the unwished -for honour of Sir 
 Richard Musgrave's acquaintance, I would seri- 
 ously advise him, the next time he publishes a 
 forged creed for the Catholics, to consult with 
 Dr. Duigenan, who is a shrewd man. and well 
 acquainted with their doctrine and discipline. 
 Methinks this learned gentleman, on such an 
 occasiou would address him as follows: " I do 
 " not find fault, Sir Richard, with the nonsense 
 " of this creed ; for as our great predecessor, Lord 
 " Shaftsbury, used to say of his popish plot (the 
 " credit of which has been given to Dr. Oates), 
 The more, nonsense the better; if we cannot 
 make the people swallow greater nonsense than 
 this, zve shall never do any good with them (\) ; 
 still there is a prudence necessary in adapting 
 " our nonsense ad captum vulgi ; and there are 
 " some deceptions, which, falling immediately 
 " under the people's senses, it is impossible to 
 " make them swallow : in which case by attempt- 
 " ing too much we shall spoil all. Thus, to in- 
 stance the most indispensable, because the most 
 " irritating, of all charges against Papisis; I, like 
 " you, have maintained that they are bound to 
 :t murder all persons of a religion different from 
 " their own : but I did not pretend, as you un- 
 advisedly do, that they have a well-known 
 
 (0 North''. Examen. p, 95. Sir Join; Dalrymple's Memoirs, p. 43.
 
 103 
 
 " written creed to this effect; for the Protestants, 
 " who have all those popish creeds and catechisms 
 " in their hands, which I learnt in my youth, 
 "and who have conversed and lived with Papists 
 " in these islands, and at Rome itself, would 
 " never have believed me, if I had said so. My 
 " method was very different: I mounted up to 
 " the Council of Lateran, held six hundred years 
 " ago, and maintained that a certain ordinance 
 " of it, regarding the Albigenses, binds Catholics 
 ' to murder persons of a different communion 
 " till the end of time ; notwithstanding they 
 " themselves may know nothing at all of the 
 " matter. Now here I was out of the reach of the 
 " vulgar, both well dressed and ill dressed ; and 
 " thus I succeeded in my object, of raising a 
 " clamour against these Papists, and keeping up 
 " the laws against them. But above all things, 
 " Sir Richard, it was necessary, in fabricating a 
 " new set of articles for the Papists, that you 
 " should have been acquainted with those which 
 " they are universally known to hold, as also with 
 " the terms they make use of in their creeds and 
 11 liturgy. How ridiculous, for example, is it 
 " to make them talk, as you do, of saying Mass 
 M in a hull/ vestment and a skirt, when their very 
 " infants will tell their Protestant playmates, 
 " that it is not a skirt, but an alb, which the 
 " priest puts on to say Mass in ! How glar- 
 " ingly absurd is it to ascribe to them an opinion 
 <c that heretics are to be saved by means of cu*-
 
 104 
 
 " treme unction, whereas such persons are not 
 " allowed to partake of it ! How inconsistent 
 " with the arguments and ridicule which you 
 " yourself constantly make use of against the po- 
 " pish laity, for respecting their priests, and against 
 '" the priests themselves, for not marrying like 
 " the laity, is that article, in which you make 
 " them profess that both holy orders and matri- 
 " mony are essential to salvation, thus making 
 " priests of all the laity, and married men of all 
 " the clergy !"' 
 
 But my heart is sick ; and I am ill disposed to 
 laugh, while the following awful reflections pre- 
 sent themselves to my mind on the perusal of 
 this creed. If there are men in Ireland, who are 
 capable of deliberately forging such diabolical 
 articles of belief and practice, in the name of 
 their catholic fellow subjects, and of introducing 
 them into the boxes of absent people, and into 
 the pockets of drunken- or dead people in order 
 to gain them credit, of what are those men not 
 capable ! What will they not do, in other 
 respects, against the poor devoted papists, espe- 
 cially if they happen to be magistrates, or con- 
 nected with government ! Is not such a set of men 
 capable of accusing Papists unjustly, of crimes 
 against the state and the peace of society, and of 
 treating them as if they were actually guilty ? 
 Is it not capable of ordering them to quit certain 
 counties, and of burning down their cottages, 
 in case they continue to remain in them } Js it
 
 105 
 
 not likely, by suppressing information, packing 
 juries, and intimidating witnesses, to pervert the 
 course of justice, especially where the point at 
 issue lies between an Orangeman and a Catho- 
 lic (l). Again, Sir, if there is a people on whom 
 such infernal artifices of calumny and forgery 
 are employed by a prevailing party, how wretched 
 must be their situation ? Can we be surprised 
 if desperation should sometimes have driven 
 them to the commission of those very crimes, 
 which they are falsely accused of being habitually 
 addicted to ? Lastly, Sir, (but here again I 
 can indulge a smile) if Sir Richard Musgrave is 
 capable of publishing to the world a document 
 so glaringly absurd and contradictory, so re- 
 volting to common sense and decency, as this 
 forged Confession of Faith is, and of even appeal- 
 ing to witnesses for its authenticity, there needs 
 
 (i) The term of Orangemen is not a word of reproach, but a 
 title assumed by themselves, that is to say, if we are to believe Sir 
 It. Mu.sgrave, by a " Society of loyal Protestants, associated and 
 " bound together to defend the Constitution in Cliurch and State 
 
 " as established by the Prince of Orange," Hist. p. 70.- lie 
 
 acknowledges, however, that the first Orange lodge was formed in 
 the county of Armagh, September 21, 1795, in commemoration of 
 the battle of the Diamond, in which the Veep of Duy Buys, a little 
 
 before, had killed forty-eight Catholic Defenders, so called. But 
 
 it is incontest.ibly proved that these pretended " loyal Orangemen," 
 were the chief of these very Veep of Duy Boys, as they had pre- 
 viously been called, who fought the above-mentioned battle, and 
 who were guilty of all those acts of violence and cruelty to the 
 Catholics, stated by Lord Gosford in his speech. Notwithstanding 
 this disgraceful origin, the Orange lodges continued to multiply 
 throughout the island.
 
 106 
 
 nothing more to stamp the character of the 
 historian, and to consign the ponderous history 
 itself to the class of fabrications (l). 
 
 I remain, &c. 
 
 (i) Sir Richard Musgrave has published a Dissertation at the end 
 of his heavy work. Appendix, p. 178, in vindication of those burnings, 
 whippings, pickettings, stranglings, and other tortures, which were 
 so generally as well as illegally inflicted on the Irish previously 
 to the rebellion, and which, in fact, were the chief cause of it. 
 The sum of what he says is reduced to that vile excuse of all tyrants, 
 from King Herod down to Sheriff Judkin Fitzgerald, an alledged 
 slate necessity. In fact, this plea is a libel on the British Constitution, 
 which abhors the torture, and refuses to receive extorted confessions. 
 It is, in all respects, worthy of the historian of All the Rebellions, 
 and of the magistrate, who, turning executioner, could strip off his 
 clothes, and scourge a Catholic culprit (for a very slight offence) 
 in the public streets of Clonmel. He even boasts of this behaviour 
 in his book : but he does not say that he presented a petition to 
 government for a pension of 400 pounds per annum in reward of it; 
 which petition, of course, was rejected.
 
 10] 
 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Thurles, July 15, 1807. 
 
 F, 
 
 ROM the variegated beauties 
 of Kilkenny, I arrived, after a tedious journey 
 westward, at the dull uniform plains and dreary 
 bogs, in which this populous town is situated. 
 Hut the endearing* kindness and rare virtues of so 
 amiable and valuable a friend, as my present 
 
 P
 
 ]08 
 
 host, are capable of rendering the most gloomy 
 situation pleasant and agreeable. With respect 
 however, to the bogs, dark as they are to the 
 eye, they are yet a source of comfort and of 
 wealth to an industrious people, who have little 
 or no other fuel. Amongst other objects of their 
 industry at present, one is the rebuilding of 
 their noble and spacious chapel in the name 
 of their peculiar patron, as well as national 
 Apostle, THE GREAT SAINT PATRICK. 
 
 Nothing could equal my surprise, at coming 
 into this island, and dipping into the works 
 of history and antiquity, which have lately ap- 
 peared here, than to find that it is becoming the 
 fashion, to deny the very existence of this re- 
 nowned saint ; and to class him with the tutelary 
 deities of pagan nations. This opinion, which 
 was first broached upon a principle of hostility to 
 the religion preached by St. Patrick, has been 
 taken up by the ignorant, the bigotted, and the 
 irreligious. To the last mentioned class in par- 
 ticular, nothing is so precious, as a pretext for 
 laughing at the presumed darkness and super- 
 stition of their pious ancestors, whilst, in fact, 
 they themselves are the deserved objects of pity 
 to men of sound judgment and real learning. 
 After all, Sir, we must allow, it is not so very 
 extraordinary, that the existence of the Apostle 
 of Ireland should be called in question ; since, 
 upon the self-same principle, pretenders to phi- 
 losophy have, in our days, denied there ever 
 were such beings as Abraham, the father of God's
 
 109 
 
 people, Moses, the prophet and legislator of the 
 Jews, and even Jesus Christ, the founder of the 
 christian religion. 
 
 The author of the system in question is the 
 Rev. Edward Ledwich, LL. D. ( l), a writer who, 
 warped by religious prejudices, takes as much 
 pains to depreciate the character of his ancestors, 
 and to obscure their history, upon almost every 
 subject of which he treats, as a genuine anti- 
 quary would take to illustrate them. I can for- 
 give the Irish for not giving a complete answer 
 to Sir Richard Musgrave's History of the dif- 
 ferent rebellions, on the grounds which I have 
 elsewhere stated ; but really I cannot excuse 
 their neglecting to refute Dr. Lcdwich's History 
 and Antiquities of Ireland. Whenever this task 
 shall be undertaken by a writer of ordinary ta- 
 lents, learning, and industry ; I pledge myself, 
 that the work will be seen to contain more errors, 
 both as to facts and as to reasoning, than any 
 other work of equal bulk, bearing the name of a 
 man of letters. The authority of Dr. Ledwich has 
 seduced the Rev. Mr. Gordon (2) and Sir John 
 
 (i) This writer informs us, from Harris, that Ryves, a Master in 
 Chancery, in the reign of James I. started some doubts concerning 
 the existence of St. Patrick, by way of answering a certain libel, and 
 that he tried in vain to get them confirmed by the learned Camden 
 and Usher ; lamenting, as he does, heavily, that they could not 
 be induced to do this, and that in consequence of the " decision of 
 " these men hagiograpliy," (as he calls ancient history,) 
 
 " triumphed ovur criticism and erudition," p. 59. The fact is,, 
 
 Camden and Usher had a reputation for learning to lose, which 
 Ryves had not. 
 
 (*) See his late History of Ireland. 
 
 P2
 
 110 
 
 Carr(l), who give blindly into all his errors 
 Concerning St. Patrick, the original faith of Ire- 
 laud, and a variety of other religious subjects. 
 It is hardly worth while mentioning that Sir 
 Richard Musgrave has thought proper to insert 
 these at the beginning of his ponderous History ; 
 where also he condescends to lecture the Irish 
 Catholics on the religion of their ancestors, and to 
 give them his spiritual advice in a variety of par- 
 ticulars. 
 
 Let us now see what force we have to draw up 
 in defence of the patron Saint of Ireland, against 
 this new formed battalion which opposes him. 
 In the first place we have amongst our contem- 
 poraries, General Vallanccv, Rev. Mr. Whitaker, 
 Charles O'Connor, Esq. Rev. Alban Butler, &c. 
 each of whom is a host of literature compared 
 with Dr. Ledwich and his followers. To go 
 higher up, we 1 ave Fleury, Mosheim, Tillemont, 
 Cave, Nicholson, Harris, Ware, Usher, Cam- 
 den, Spelman, Bollandus, Baronius, Bellarmin, 
 Godwin, Parker, Bale, and, in short, every other 
 individual writer of distinguished learning in 
 modern times, Protestant as well as Catholic, 
 who has had occasion to speak of the conversion 
 of Ireland. Are authors of their character to be 
 reproached with being inferior to Dr. Ledwich 
 and Dr. Ryvesin criticism and erudition?(2) 
 
 (jj The Stranger in Ireland. It is proper to mention that this 
 ingenious, and otherwise liberal writer, professes no: to be versed in 
 subjects of antiquity, but to be guided in them by Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 (2) See Ledwich' s Antiq. p. 59.
 
 Ill 
 
 To proceed now to ancient authors in behalf of 
 St. Patrick : there is the great light of the twelfth 
 century, St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux in 
 Burgundy, who mentions the saint by name, as the 
 "apostle who converted the whole Irish nation 
 " to the faith of Christ (1 )." Another writer (2) 
 of the same age, our countryman Joceline, 
 a Cistertian monk, of the Abbey of Fumess, in 
 Lancashire, has left us this saint's life in great 
 detail. He tells us, that three score and six 
 other writers had preceded him on this subject, 
 but that he has particularly made use of the four 
 histories of St. Patrick's life, which had been 
 drawn up by four contemporary authors, his dis- 
 ciples, SS. Luman, Mel, Benignus, and Patrick 
 Junior, together with a fifth, written partly in 
 Latin and partly in Irish, by St. Evinus (;j). 
 
 There is another life of this saint still extant in 
 Colgan, composed by Probus, who lived in the 
 seventh century (4) ; and a pretty long account 
 of him by our British annalist Nennius, who 
 
 (i) In Vita S. Malach. c. x. 
 
 (2) The great St. Anselm, Abp. of Canterbury, who was born in 
 Piedmont in 1033, writes thus of St. Patrick : " Gloriosus el prae- 
 " dicandus ubique Domini Confessor Patricias admonitus est voce 
 " Angelica, ut Hibernijc insularn, (idem Christ i in ei proulicaturus 
 " ad.rft. Vide Pass. S. Gnign. &x. a pud Messingham. 
 
 {>>> S> e Joce'.ine's Work in Messingliam's 1'lorihgium and the 
 Bollandists, March 17. 
 
 (4) Such is the date sv gned to this writer by the profoundly learned 
 Bollaiidists. Siv tins work h ( olgan's 'Iritis 'it 'tiumului l:. Those 
 writer-, who, v. i'Ji Bishop Nicholson, bringdown I'robus to the 
 tenth centur), are ignoiant that he is mentioned by Aleuin in the 
 eighth. De iVr.i. &c. i.-Jborac.
 
 lie 
 
 also flourished in the seventh century (l). St. 
 Patrick is recorded as the Apostle of Ireland in all 
 the Martyrologies which have been composed 
 since his death ; namely, in the old Roman, 
 supposed to be that of St. Gregory the Great ; in 
 Beile's, in Florus's, in Usuard's, in Rabanus's, 
 in Wandlebert'S, in Ado's, and in that of the 
 Canons Regulars, to which order St. Patrick 
 belonged. The same day is attributed to his 
 commemoration in all these, being that which 
 his name still holds in the Roman, i. e. March 17. 
 He is also mentioned by all the original chroniclers 
 of whatever nation, whose subject led them to 
 speak of the conversion of Ireland ; by Sigebert, 
 Eiric of Auxerre, the Saxon Chronicler, William 
 of Malmesbury, Florence of Worcester, Ma- 
 rian us Scot us, Adamnan, and a hundred more, 
 who wrote between the seventh and the thir- 
 teenth centuries. These authorities evince that 
 St. Patrick was acknowledged bv all Christen- 
 dom, as well as by the Irish, for the Apostle of 
 that nation. Not only do all ecclesiastical his- 
 tories, but also the civil or Brehon laws of Ire- 
 kind record the merits of this saint (2). We 
 have an hymn still in being, composed in his 
 honour by one of his converts and disciples, St. 
 
 (0 Historia Biitonum. The learned editor of this author, Gale, 
 says of him : " Claruit Nennius anno post Christum 620." Bale, 
 Tanner, and Cave, agree in this date, while Usher, Ware, and 
 Nicholson, place him in the ninth century. 
 
 (2) See Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, by General Vallancey 
 vol. iii. pp. 95, 108.
 
 133 
 
 Fiech, which is generally allowed by the learned 
 to be genuine (1). We have, moreover, the 
 acts of two councils held by St. Patrick (2) ; and 
 even a circumstantial account of his life, called a 
 Confession, drawn up by himself, together with 
 a letter addressed to King Corotic, which all 
 the best critics admit to be his real composi- 
 tions (3). 
 
 Nor are there only written documents to prove 
 the existence of St. Patrick, but likewise all 
 other kinds of monuments by which the memory 
 of personages who heretofore lived can be re- 
 corded. The churches which he built, the dio- 
 ceses which he formed, the monasteries which 
 he founded, the havens where he landed, the 
 places in which he dwelt (most of which edifices 
 and places have preserved his name from the age 
 in which he lived (4) ; the very conversion of the 
 
 (i) Colgan, in Vita S. Pat. Ware, Harris, Usher, Nicholson's 
 Irish lib. Ledwich, by way of discrediting the antiquity of tru< 
 hymn, makes the poet appeal to Old Historians for cert9in particu- 
 lars of this saint's life. This is a wilful fraud. The original words 
 are barely, Ut refcrtur in Historiis. In fact, there were different 
 accounts of our saint drawn up in his life-time. 
 
 (i) See Spelman's Councils, also those of Labbe. 
 
 (j) Tillemont, Fleury, Butler, Usher, Ware, and the Boiland- 
 ists. The last mentioned hagiographers have published these inte- 
 resting and edifying pieces from manuscripts in the Vedastine and 
 other libraries. 
 
 (4) In Ireland, we have Holm Patrick, the island where St. Pa- 
 trick landed j Sttbhul, or Saul Patrick, the barn or monastery v. hie!, 
 he built; Aid Patrick, the high field where he lived; Knock 
 Patrick, Down Patrick, Craich Phadruig, the famous promontory 
 inConnaught v here he prayed (to <=ay nothing ol all the IV.ti.cKl
 
 114 
 
 Irish nation, and the universal tradition, not 
 only of our island, but also of the whole Chris- 
 tian continent, are all so many monuments of this 
 illustrious saint, and have preserved his memory 
 fresh, and untainted till the very hour in which 
 Dr. Lcdv.ieh wrote his book, as he himself ac- 
 knowledges (l). In a word, I have no difficul- 
 ty in saying, that the proofs of there having been 
 such a man as Romulus, or Alexander the Great, 
 are not so numerous and convincing, as are those 
 for the existence of St. Patrick; and the fact in 
 question cannot be rejected without establishing 
 a universal historical scepticism. Supposing for 
 a moment that St. Patrick did not convert the 
 Irish, the question then is : Who did convert 
 them ? It would be strange, if they alone were 
 ignorant of what all other nations are acquainted 
 
 and the Fitzpatricks who have filled Ireland in every age jince that in 
 which he lived ; all which are memorials of the great apostle of 
 the country. In the isle of Man, which owes its Christianity, no 
 less than Ireland, to our saint, as his history and the tradition of the* 
 place testify, are two churches, dedicated in his name. In Scot- 
 laud is Kirk Pal rick, the place of his birth, Port Patrick, &c. At 
 St. David's, in Wales, there was a monastery built by our saint, 
 which long; preserved his memory, as Usher testifies ; and in Corn- 
 wall was St. Patrick's Altar, as Malmesbury thus informs us: 
 " S. Patricius super altare suum, Cornubiam appulit, quod usque 
 " hodie apud incolns magnae devotionis 'habetur." De Antiq. 
 Glascon. p. 3 3. It is gathered from this ancient and judicious au- 
 thor, that no saint was more renowned at this aboriginal seat of 
 liritish Christianity, Glastonbury, during several ages before the 12th, 
 in which he wrote, than St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. The 
 monks there supposed they possessed his relics, though there is every 
 reason to suppose tVese were the remains of St. Patrick Junior, who 
 \ : . our saint's nephew. 
 
 ' ". p. Cj.
 
 115 
 
 with; namely, who was their apostle! if they 
 alone had no tradition to inform them, by whom 
 they had been taught to abandon idolatry, to ab- 
 hor human sacrifices, to renounce the gratifica- 
 tion of their passions, and to worship one Eter- 
 nal Being, by the observance of his pure and 
 sublime precepts ! (l) 
 
 The apostle of Ireland being thus insolently 
 attacked, it was not to be expected that its pecu- 
 liar patroness, the saint's contemporary and 
 spiritual daughter, St. Bridget, would escape 
 from insult. But in this instance, it seemed ad- 
 viseable to adopt a different kind of warfare for 
 annoying the ancient faith, from that which was 
 used in the former. The existence, then, of this 
 female saint, though resting upon the same sort 
 of evidence as that of St. Patrick and his fellow 
 missionaries from Rome, is by no means denied : 
 it is even admitted on this occasion, and to an- 
 swer the present purpose, that these Roman mis- 
 sionaries also had anexistence(2). But it is pre- 
 
 (i) A late tourist, whose wit becomes him better upon every other 
 subject than upon those of religion, says, that ' St. Patrick was ca- 
 " nonized for teaching the Irish to believe in the Trinity by means 
 " of a shamrock." The Stranger in Ireland. It is plain this writer 
 has a very inadequate idea of the benefits of Christianity, in elevat- 
 ing the mind, and purifying the heart, independently of its future 
 promises. But leaving all this out of the question, Dr. Ledwich 
 should have informed him, that St. Patrick was never canonized, 
 and that there is no historical foundation for the story of the Irish 
 shamrock, any more than there is for those of the Welsh leek, the 
 Scotch thistle, the French lily, or the English rose. 
 
 ':) Antiquities ot Ireland, p. 76. 
 
 Q
 
 115 
 
 tended, that they had " an accommodating 
 " spirit, in making an incongruous mixture of 
 Christianity and Paganism." In short, it is 
 maintained that St. Bridget and her sister nuns 
 of Kildare, were a continuation of "heathen 
 " druidesses, who preserved from the remotest 
 " ages an inextinguishable fire (l) ;" as "priest- 
 " esses of Vesta (2)." This is asserted on no 
 better grounds, than because the nuns of Kil- 
 dare used to keep a fire always lighted in their 
 convent, whilst other Catholics extinguished 
 theirs previous to the paschal solemnity (3). 
 But first, if Probus, Joceline, and the sixty- 
 six hagiographers who wrote the life of St. Pa- 
 trick, are not to be believed for the existence of 
 this apostle of Ireland ; upon what rational 
 ground is Cogitosus, with a comparatively small 
 number of the same kind of writers, to be cre- 
 dited for the existence of St. Bridget ? 2dly, 
 Upon what authority is it asserted, that " Dru- 
 " idesses kept up an inextinguishable fire from the 
 " remotest ages ;" or that there were Druidesses 
 or priestesses of Vesta in Ireland at all during the 
 sixth century ? Di\ Ledwich, after all his inqui- 
 ries, has not been able to produce any such au- 
 
 (0 Antiquities oflreland, p. 76, 
 
 (2) See Gordon and Carr. 
 
 (3) " Apud Kildariam occurrit Ignis Sanctae BrigiJje quem hex- 
 " ti?iguilnlan vocant, non quod extingui non possit, sed quod tarn 
 " ^olicite moniales et sanctae mulieres ignem, suppetente materia, 
 " fovent et nutriunt ut a tempore virginis per tot annorum curricula 
 " temper manserit inextinctus." 
 
 Girald, Camb ueMiratHlibusIIibern, Dist. ii. c 34.
 
 117 
 
 thority; which, indeed, if it existed, would 
 overturn his system concerning the conversion 
 of Ireland previously to that century. But last- 
 ly, it is plain that Dr. Ledwich and his followers, 
 in representing the preservation of a constant 
 fire, as a practice essentially connected with pa- 
 ganism, have overlooked a divine ordinance to 
 this purpose, of much earlier date than either 
 Celtic Druidism or the worship of Vesta : I speak 
 of the law in Leviticus, c. vi. ver. 12. The fire 
 upon the altar (of the tabernacle) shall be burn- 
 ing in it, and shall not be put out. It was for 
 contemning this inextinguishable fire, and using 
 a profane fire, instead of it, in their censers, that 
 the Levites, Nadab and Abihu, were mira- 
 culously burnt to death, Lecit. vi. 12. To give 
 you a proper idea, Sir, of this matter, I must 
 observe that, according to the ancient, as well 
 as the modern ecclesiastical liturgy (l), fire was 
 to be struck and lighted up, with solemn prayers 
 and ceremonies, on Easter Eve ; which fire was 
 to be kept burning in the church lamps till the 
 Eve of Good Friday in the ensuing year. Now it 
 might easily happen that for some such charitable 
 or pious motive as the nuns of Kildare afterwards 
 pleaded (2), St. Bridget might have urged an 
 excuse, or obtained a dispensation, for keeping 
 
 'i) That this discipline prevailed in Ireland at the period in qnes. 
 tion, we learn from the life of St. Kairan, Bishop of Saigar, who 
 was contemporary with St. Bridget. 
 
 (2) The nuns urged that they kept up this Cre for the relief ai* I 
 comfort of the poor. See Harris's Ware. 
 
 Q2
 
 118 
 
 up the fire in her convent on the aforesaid eve, 
 instead of putting it out. This custom being 
 once established, would, from mere respect to 
 the holy foundress, be retained by her succes- 
 sors. At length, however, to prevent any su- 
 perstitious attachment to a singular practice, and 
 to destroy the resemblance between this fire at 
 Kildare, and that which had formerly been kept 
 up in pagan Rome in honour of Vesta, the Arch- 
 bishop of Dublin, Henry de Londres, in the year 
 1220, caused it to be put out(l); after which, 
 the nuns were left at liberty to light it up again, 
 and to keep it burning, as they did till, three 
 centuries later, it was finally quenched by the 
 rapacious tyrant Henry VIII. who attempted to 
 extinguish the religion of the country, and 
 who actually turned the good nuns out of their 
 peaceful and holy solitude. 
 
 These modern hunters after paganism in 
 Christian Ireland think they have discovered 
 another instance of it (though they derive this 
 neither from Celtic Druidesses nor Roman 
 Vestals, but from Carthaginian or Phoenician 
 visitors,) in the fires lighted up throughout the 
 country on the eve of St. John the Baptist, or 
 Midsummer day. This they represent as the 
 idolatrous worship of Baal, the Philistine god of 
 fire, and as intended, by his pretended catholic 
 votaries, to obtain of him fertility for the earth. 
 The fact is, these fires, on the eve of the 24th of 
 
 (i) Auctor Anonym, apud Jac Ware, Disquis. p. 97.
 
 119 
 
 June, were heretofore as common in England 
 and all over the continent, as they are now in 
 Ireland ; and they have as little relation with the 
 worship of Baal, as the bonfires have, which 
 blaze on the preceding 4th of June, being the 
 King's birth-day. They are in both cases in- 
 tended as demonstrations of joy. That, how- 
 ever, in honour of Christ's precursor, is particu- 
 larly appropriate, as alluding to his character of 
 bearing zvitness to the light, John i. 7. and of 
 his being himself a bright and shinbig light, 
 John v. 35. (1) 
 
 (i) DurandusR&tionaleDivin. Qfiic,
 
 120 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Thurles, July 17, 1807. 
 
 Dear Si r, 
 
 I 
 
 .T would be an injustice to Dr. 
 Ledwich, still more than to St. Patrick and to 
 Ireland, were I to omit noticing the effulgence 
 of " erudition and criticism" which burst upon 
 the learned world " in the hour" when he wrote 
 the sixth chapter of his Antiquities (l) : an ef- 
 fulgence, however, which he acknowledges had 
 escaped the optics of a Camden and an Usher, 
 when particularly directed to it (2), and indeed 
 of every other historian and critic down to our 
 present antiquary. 
 
 Dr. Ledwich, upon whose foundation Gordon, 
 Carr, and Musgrave build, tells us that there 
 were Christians, and even bishops in Ireland, pre- 
 viously to the a?ra fixed upon for the arrival there 
 of St. Patrick (3); unfortunately, however, for 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 59. 
 (2) Ibid. p. 5 3. 
 
 (3} Dr. L. frequently repeats that the Irish had a regular hierarchy 
 before the age of St. Patrick. His argument is truly singular : 
 Archbishop Laurence says that the religion of the Irish was the samo 
 with that of the Britons (namely, at the beginning of the seventh 
 century.) Now the Britons had then a hierarchy, therefore the Iris!: 
 had a regular hierarchy previously to the fifth century.
 
 121 
 
 the cause of incredulity, these bishops, if there 
 were more than one, received their orders and 
 their mission from Rome, no less than St. Pa- 
 trick and his companions did. Now it is to get 
 rid of this Roman origin that Dr. Leclwich 
 plunges into the gulf of inconsistency and scep- 
 ticism. It is admitted, then, that there were 
 many Christians in Ireland before the arrival of 
 St. Patrick in the fifth century. It is admitted 
 that St. Palladius, a bishop, who had been a dea- 
 con of the Roman Church, was in Ireland a little 
 before St. Patrick, having been sent thither by 
 the same Pope Celestine who sent St. Patrick(l) ; 
 probably also the holy bishops St. Kiaran, St. Ibar, 
 St. Declan, and St. Albeus, arrived there be- 
 fore St. Patrick ; but they likewise derived their 
 episcopacy and mission, immediately from 
 Rome (2). The question, however, is not, who 
 was the first bishop in Ireland, but by whom the 
 Irish nation was generally converted to Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 Our critic next attempts to invalidate the cre- 
 dit of the ancient calendars and martyrologies ; 
 that is to say, of the public registers of all the 
 ancient churches in Christendom, being the most 
 authentic and certain monuments of the facts in 
 question, which are to be found. He objects 
 
 (i) Prosper, a contemporary writer; also Bede, Eccl. Hist. Li. 
 c. 13, &c. 
 
 (2) " Supra dicti quatuor Episcopi, Albeus, Declaims, Chiara- 
 " nus et Ibarus erant in HiberniaanteS. Patricium, missi a Romano 
 " Pontifice sicut et ipse. 1 ' Usser. Primord. p. 8co. Edit. iby^- 
 
 Vide etiam pp. 7S2, 7S8, 7S9.
 
 122 
 
 that certain errors have been detected in aome of 
 them. But by whom have they been detect- 
 ed ? By the catholic hagiographers them- 
 selves, by Bollandus, and Baillet, and Butler, 
 and Launoi, and Fleury : in consequence of 
 which detection, these errors have been generally 
 corrected in the calendars and liturgical books ; 
 as that mentioned by Dr. Ledwich in particular 
 was, which confounded St. Dennis of Paris with 
 St. Dennis the Are6pagite in the calendars of the 
 Gallican Church. In the next place, if it were 
 reasonable to reject all ancient histories and re- 
 cords, in which an error had been detected, we 
 might throw the whole collection of them into 
 the fire. For which of them is entirely faultless ? 
 After all, the errors now in question are not, ge- 
 nerally speaking, those of the hagiographers, 
 but of the present critic. He pretends, indeed, 
 that " those eminent catholic writers, Bollandus, 
 " Papebroch, Launoi, and Tillemont, rejected 
 " and spoke contemptibly of the deified phan- 
 " tonis," as he calls the saints in general. But 
 what person of learning is not indignant at this 
 deception ; it being notorious that those pro- 
 found scholars spent the greater part of their lives 
 in recording the histories and illustrating the 
 virtues of those very saints ? In writing their 
 works, the martyrologies were avowedly their first 
 authority; next to which, were the most genuine 
 acts of the saints they could procure. But what 
 more particularly regards the present purpose is,
 
 123 
 
 we know that these learned scholars and en- 
 lightened critics have one and all acknowledged 
 the existence in general of Ireland's apostle St. 
 Patrick, and the authenticity, in particular, of 
 the account which he gives of himself in his ce- 
 lebrated Confession (l). 
 
 Dr. Ledwich proceeds to find fault with cer- 
 tain puerile stones, recorded of St. Patrick by 
 Joceline and other writers. But do not the 
 classical Curtius, and the judicious Livy, relate 
 many idle tales of the founders of the Macedo- 
 nian and Roman empires? Have not we been 
 told that the former was the son of Jupiter, the 
 latter the son of Mars, and that he was suckled 
 by a she wolf? Are we, therefore, to say that 
 there never were such personages as Alexander 
 the Great and Romulus ? Certainly not. What 
 then are we to do? Reason tells us to imitate 
 the example of the hagiographers mentioned 
 above. We must light up the torch of criticism 
 when we read the legends of antiquity, in order 
 to discover which of them are to be rejected and 
 which retained. 
 
 Hitherto it appears that Dr. Ledwich has but 
 been skirmishing : but now he is going to dis- 
 play his full force against the united learning 
 and criticism of past ages. " I shall proceed," 
 he says, " with stronger evidence to prove our 
 
 (i) See Papebroch the Bollamlist, who h?s published it ; also 
 Tii!etnont Mem. Eccl. Butler's Lives of Saints, &c. 
 
 K
 
 1S4 
 
 "apostle an ideal personage (l)." His first ar* 
 guinent is, that if St. Patrick had received his 
 mission, orders, and archiepiscopal jurisdiction, 
 from Pope Celestine, Cogitosus, Adamnan, 
 Cummian, and Bede, would not have passed 
 over these circumstances in silence. To this I 
 answer, that it is contrary to every rule of criti- 
 cism and common sense, to oppose negative pre- 
 sumptions to positive testimony. The whole 
 collection of ancient writers, whose subject re- 
 quired them to treat of the conversion of Ireland, 
 agree in the above-mentioned particulars; but 
 Bede, for example, having undertaken to write 
 the history of England's conversion, not that of 
 Ireland, (which latter event preceded the former 
 by a century and a half) had no greater reason 
 to speak of St. Patrick, than he had to speak of 
 St. Remigius, the apostle of the French. The 
 same observation applies, in a great measure, to 
 the Irish writers, Cogitosus, Adamnan, and 
 Cummian (2). We have seen above, that where 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 62. 
 
 (a) The work of Cogitosus will be found to be nothing more 
 than an account of the miracles attributed to St. frigid. He men- 
 tions, however, incidentally, her having received the religious veil 
 from St. Macca, or Machillus, who is proved to be the disciple of 
 St. Patrick. See Vita S. Brigidae, apud Messingham, cap. ii. The 
 writer no where mentions the conversion of Ireland from Paganism, 
 nor even that of St. Brigid herself. The works of Cumienus, consist 
 of certain epistles to the monks of Ireland, in which he endeavour, 
 to persuade them to conform to the custom of the rest of Christen- 
 dom with respect to the time of keeping Caster. h\ these, though 
 he does not mention St. Patrick by name, yet he enforce* the nee 
 
 r :
 
 125 
 
 Bede's subject did lead him to commemorate St. 
 Patrick, namely, in his Martyrology, he has 
 actually done it (I). 
 
 The remainder of our sceptic's " stronger evi- 
 " dence" is equally defective and trifling. He 
 objects that Laurence, St. Austin's successor in 
 the see of Canterbury, writing to the prelates of 
 Ireland, complained that Dagan, one of their 
 number, coming to pay him a visit, refused to eat 
 with him, or to remain in the same house with 
 him (2). Hence the sceptic concludes that St. 
 Patrick could not have been the apostle of the 
 Irish ; because, in this case, Laurence, who was 
 the Pope's legate, would not have failed to re- 
 proach them with ingratitude to the Roman See. 
 He o-oes on to annie that Day-an must have con- 
 siderea Laurence as excommunicated, by refus- 
 ing to eat with him, in as much as by the canons 
 it was held unlawful to eat with an excommuni- 
 cated person. The first part of this paralogism, 
 I confess, I am unable to refute, because I can- 
 ity of having recourse to " the fountain of their baptism," and says 
 that messengers had already been sent from Ireland to Home, " aa 
 " children to their mother," to consult upon this point. See Sy log. 
 
 Epist. Hib. also Ware's Writers of Ireland. AstoAdamnan, he 
 
 expressly mentions St. Patrick in his Second Preface to the Life of 
 St. Columba, apud Messingham. " Homo sanctus proselytus Bnto, 
 " Sancti l'utricti Eplscopi Discipulus, 4"f." Let any person of 
 common understanding now judge of Dr. Ledwich's " strong evi- 
 " dence" against the existence of our Saint, derived from the al- 
 iedged silence ot Bede, Cogitosus, Cummian, andAdamnan. 
 
 (0 Vide 1 6 Kalendas Aprilis in Marty rol. Ven. Bedae, item 
 Flori Rabani, Usuardi, Notkeri, &c. 
 
 V; Vide HUt. Eccles. Beds. 1. xi. c. 4. p. 63. 
 
 II 2
 
 126 
 
 not see in it the very semblance of an argument. 
 Dr. Ledwich may contend with equal reason, 
 that I do not believe in the existence of St. Au- 
 gustine of Canterbury, the missionary from 
 Rome, and the apostle of the English, because I 
 have not reproached him with ingratitude to this 
 supposed source of his ordination. To the se- 
 cond part I answer, that though it was hereto- 
 fore held unlawful to eat with an excommuni- 
 cated person, yet a man might refuse in ancient, 
 as he may in modern times, to eat with those 
 who are not excommunicated, through pride, re- 
 sentment, and a variety of other motives. 
 
 Dr. Ledwich goes on to quote the letter of St. 
 Aldhelm to Geruntius, King of Cornwall, and 
 the British clergy of his dominions, in which 
 the saint testifies that the people of South Wales 
 (Demeta?) carried their resentment against the 
 English, though Christians, so far, that they 
 would not salute them, nor pray with them, nor 
 drink out of any cup which they had used, un- 
 less it was previously washed, &c. (1) After 
 this, the sceptic exclaims: "Words cannot 
 " convey a stronger detestation of Popery, than 
 " this testimony of Aldhelm (2)." The con- 
 clusion he would have us draw is, that the Irish 
 being of the same religion with the Britons, 
 could not be of the same religion with the Eng- 
 lish, in as much as the latter were avowedly 
 converts of Roman missionaries ; and that, theie- 
 
 (i) Ep. 44. Inter. Epist. S. Bonifac. 
 (2) P. 60.
 
 127 
 
 fore, the Irish had not been converted by St. Pa- 
 trick, who was one of that description. This is 
 a hobbling sorites, being lame in all its joints. It 
 is sufficient, however, for the present purpose, 
 to observe that the ancient Britons or Welsh had 
 other motives of animosity against the English 
 Saxons than those of a religious nature : motives, 
 which every one who has travelled in Wales, 
 knows they cherish down to the present time. 
 Nevertheless, I do not den}' that there were a 
 few even religious differences, for a certain time, 
 between the ancient Christians of these islands on 
 the one hand, and the See Apostolic, together 
 with the English Saxons and the Christians of the 
 whole world, on the other. But we are distinctly 
 informed what the subjects of these differences 
 were, namely, mere points of discipline, such as 
 no way regarded faith. It is notorious that the 
 chief of these differences related first to the time 
 of celebrating the festival of Easter, (a festival 
 which regulated all the moveable feasts and fasts 
 of the year), and secondly, to the above-men- 
 tioned pride and uncharitableness of the Welsh 
 with respect to the English. We have the most 
 clear and positive evidence possible, for deciding 
 upon this whole matter, in the conference held 
 between St. Augustine of Canterbury and the 
 British bishops on the confines of England and 
 Wales. In this St. Austin told them, that seve- 
 ral of their practices (observe, Sir, there is no 
 complaint on the subject of their faith) were 
 contrary to those of the Universal Church: never-
 
 . 128 
 
 theless, that if they would yield to him in the 
 following three points, to keep Easter at the 
 proper time, to observe the eeremonies of the 
 Apostolic Church of Kome in baptism, and to 
 join their labours with his in converting the 
 English nation, he was willing to tolerate their 
 particular practices in other respects (l). This 
 last condition required by. St. Augustine, demon- 
 strates that it was a want of chanty on the part 
 of the Britons, towards their former enemies, the 
 English, and not any diversity of religion, 
 which caused the principal part of the differ- 
 ences between them. For if these British bishops 
 had differed from the Roman missionaries, either 
 about the Eucharist, or the Supremacy of the 
 Roman Sec, or any other article of faith, do you 
 think St. Augustine would not only have allow- 
 ed, but even have required them to join with him, 
 in the evangelical work of converting the Eng- 
 lish, which be was then carrying on with the 
 greatest success? To call for the assistance of 
 preachers of a different religion would have been 
 to blast his best hopes. Here it is impossible 
 to excuse Dr. Ledwich of a deliberate imposition 
 
 (0 " Dicebat autem eis (Augustinus Episcopus Britonum) quod in 
 
 " iniillis qutdem nostra; consuetudini, imo universalis ecclesiae con- 
 
 *' traria geritis ; et tamtn, si in tribus bis mihi obtemperare vultis, ut 
 
 " Pascha suo tempore celebretis, ut ministerium baptisandi juxta 
 
 " inorem Romans Sancia; et Apostolicx Ecclesiae compleatis, ut 
 
 " penti Anglorum una nobiscum pnedicetis veibuni Domini, csctera 
 
 ' quar- agitis, quamvis moribus nostriseontiaria, gequanimiter cuncta 
 
 " tolerabimuV Bed. Keel. Hist. 1. ii- c. 7.
 
 129 
 
 on his unlearned readers ; especially when, re- 
 ferring to the passage above cited, he exclaims : 
 " Words cannot convey a stronger detestation of 
 " Popery than this testimony of Aldhelm." The 
 writer is not only aware, that the disputes be- 
 tween the Welsh prelates and the Roman mis- 
 sionaries in the sixth century, had no sort of re- 
 lation to the doctrines and practices, which con- 
 stitute what is now contemptuously termed 
 Popery; but he is conscious, that in those very 
 disputes, particularly in what regards the time of 
 keeping Easter, and the obligation of forgiving 
 injuries, he himself skies with the Roman mis- 
 sionaries against the British bishops. 
 
 Our critic's next strong objection, like his 
 first, is a mere negation. He refers to a letter 
 written in the name of Pope John, and certain 
 other officers of the Roman Church, to the bi- 
 shops and priests of Ireland ; in which, he says, 
 there is no mention made of St. Patrick. lie 
 ought, however, to have added, that the subject 
 of the letter did not lead to any mention of him, 
 as it barely relates to the old question concern- 
 ing the right time of celebrating Easter, and to 
 the Pelagian heresy, which appeared to be then 
 sprouting up in Ireland ( 1 ). This letter, or 
 another written a little before it by Pope Ho- 
 norius, seems to have produced its proper ef- 
 fect ; as we are assured by Bt^dt that, about this 
 time, the right and canonical time of keeping 
 
 (j IWe 1. ii. c. io.
 
 130 
 
 Easter was observed in the southern parts of 
 Ireland, in consequence of " an admonition 
 "from the Apostolical See (])." Thus much is 
 clear from this letter, and from two former let- 
 ters of St. Gregory the Great to the bishops of 
 Ireland (2), that these prelates were in the habit 
 of consulting the Pope for the time being, as 
 their spiritual father, and that the latter was ac- 
 customed to direct and admonish them as his spi- 
 ritual children : so far were they from treating 
 each other as heretics ! 
 
 After all his boasting, this enemy of St. Pa- 
 trick is forced to confess that all his " stronger 
 " evidences," as he calls them, are of a mere 
 " negative nature ;" but he expresses his hope 
 that they may gain some " weight by their accu- 
 " mulation (3)," though they have none when 
 separately taken. It is proper, however, he should 
 learn that nonentity added to nonentity will never 
 produce positive being. Uneasy at the awkward 
 situation in which he finds himself, after all his 
 vaunting of " enlightened criticism" and " de- 
 " monstrative proofs," he at once begs the ques- 
 tion, by asserting, in various vague and unsup- 
 
 " Porro gentes Scotorum quae in Austraiibus Hybernije insula 
 " partibus morabanttir, jamdudum, ad admonitionem Apostolicdt 
 " scdis Antisiitis, Pascha canonico ritu observare didicerant." Bed. 
 1. iii. c. j. 
 
 (2) Vide Epistolam Gregorii " Universis Episcopis per Hyber- 
 " .iam," lib. ii. Epistolarum Greg. Ep. 56. Ed. Horn. Item. Epist. 
 Greg. " Quirino Episcopo et caeteris Episcopis in Ilybernia Catho- 
 " has," lib. ix. Ep. 61. 
 
 (3) Antiq. pp. (>2, 64.
 
 131 
 
 ported forms of speech (l), that the religion of 
 the ancient Irish was essentially different from 
 that of the English and their Raman instructors, 
 and that this is plain fromBede; lastly, that 
 though he cannot discover "who was the preach- 
 er of these new opinions," as he calls them, 
 u so opposite to the Romans (2) ;" yet certainly 
 it was not St. Patrick, nor any other missionary 
 from Rome. He adds, that the first preachers of 
 Christianity in Ireland must have come from 
 Asia (3). I shall take an opportunity, in a sub- 
 sequent letter which I mean to write to you, of 
 recurring to this alledged difference between 
 the ancient Christianity of Ireland and that of 
 Rome. In it I shall particularly inquire, what 
 the enemies of St. Patrick would gain for their 
 cause, were it in their power to derive the Christi- 
 anity of Ireland from the Eastern Church. In 
 the mean time, 
 
 lam, &c. 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 64. (2) Ibid. (3) Ibid.
 
 132 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Thurles, July 19, 1807. 
 
 Deaf Silt, 
 
 hTILL dissatisfied, as he has rea- 
 son to be, with his success against St. Patrick, 
 Dr. Ledwich returns to the charge, and begins 
 to carp at a number of circumstantial particulars 
 related by the different biographers of our saint ; 
 which nevertheless are such as, if proved to be 
 untrue or absurd, would barely affect the accu- 
 racy, or judgment of the writers, and not the 
 existence of the saint. However, as I have re- 
 solved to give this bold invader of historical 
 truth a full hearing, I will not leave even these 
 his minuter criticisms unanswered. 
 
 He objects then to what is related of our saint's 
 being born in Scotland of Christian parents, "be- 
 " fore that country," he says, "was evangelized," 
 according to the chronology of Bede( 1 ). But first 
 our critic rejects the authority of Bede in toto, 
 as to the different conversions of the inhabitants 
 of these islands ; in as much as Bede ascribes all 
 these conversions to the see of Rome. In the 
 
 (i) Page 64.
 
 133 
 
 second place, Dr. Ledwich is aware that Kirk- 
 patrick, the place of our saint's birth, though now 
 in Scotland, was formerly within the territory of 
 Britain (l) ; and that, at all events, St. Patrick 
 was not of a Pictish or Scotch, but of a British 
 Roman family, his father Culphurnius being a 
 Roman decurio in rank (though afterwards a 
 deacon) (2), his mother Conchessa being a niece 
 of St. Martin of Tours (3). Of what conse- 
 quence is it then to inquire when the Picts and 
 the Scots were converted, since it is demonstra- 
 tively certain, that the Romans, Britains, and 
 Gauls, were Christians long before St. Patrick's 
 grandfather was born ? 
 
 Our critic next objects to the circumstance of 
 St. Patrick's having resided amongst the canons 
 of the Lateran Church at Rome ; because he tells 
 us, from Onuphrius, that " Pope Gelasius was 
 " the first who placed canons there, in the year 
 
 "492 (4)." He had before objected that 
 
 Platina, a superficial modern writer, does not 
 speak of St. Patrick in his lives of the Popes, 
 and now he quotes Platina's Commentator, Onu- 
 phrius, to prove that there were no clergy to 
 officiate at the head church of the Christian 
 
 (i) Usher in Primord. Camden's Britannia. 
 
 (2) The saint, in his Epistle to Carotic, says of himself, " In. 
 " genuus sum, secundum carnem ; nam Decurione patre nascor." 
 
 (3) Probus, Joceline, Sigebert, &c. 
 
 (4) Antiq. p. 58. 
 
 S2
 
 134. 
 
 world (1) in the middle of the fifth century. The 
 fact is (though Dr. Ledwich does not appear 
 to know it) that, during several ages after the 
 death of St. Patrick, the secular clergy in gene- 
 ral were called Canonici, because the canons were 
 their rule of life, in contradistinction to the 
 Monachi or Regulars, who professed to follow 
 the rule of St. Benedict, or some other monastic 
 rule (2). 
 
 The critic now carps at the title of Archbishop, 
 conferred on St. Patrick by his biographers. 
 " Here,'* he says, " all biographers, ancient and 
 " modern, discover their ignorance of ecclesias- 
 " tical history. Before Theodore, Archbishop 
 ' of Canterbury, enjoyed this title in 673, it 
 
 " was unknown in Britain (3)." Now let us 
 
 see (without going further for this purpose than 
 our venerable English historian) whether "all 
 " biographers, ancient and modern, discover their 
 '* ignorance," or whether Dr. Ledwich discovers 
 his presumption J, I read then in Venerable Bede, 
 that " the man of God, Augustine, going to Aries, 
 
 (i) There is an inscription on its walls to this effect. It was the 
 imperial palace of Constantine, and given by him to Pope Silvester, 
 long before the Pontificate of Gelasius. St. Leo the Great established 
 the regular observance of St. Augustine of Hippo amongst the 
 clergy of this church. It is to be observed, that the canons of the 
 Lateran Church have always acknowledged St Patrick as one of 
 their predecessors, and that they celebrate his festival, down to the 
 present day, with a peculiar office. 
 
 (2) Concil. Vernum. A. D. 755. Can. h. Concil. Aqnisgran. 
 cap. 115. See Van Espen, Tom. i. de Canonicis. 
 
 (3) P. 6 5 .
 
 135 
 
 " was consecrated Archbishop of the English 
 " nation, according to the orders of the holy father 
 " Gregory (the Pope) by Etherius, Archbishop 
 "of the said city (l)." I read concerning St. 
 Laurence, the immediate successor of Augustine, 
 that, having " obtained the rank of Arch- 
 " bishop (2)," he endeavoured to promote the 
 work of God which was begun ; and that he 
 " not only took care of the new church of Eng- 
 " land, but also extended his pastoral solicitude 
 " to the ancient inhabitants of Britain, and to 
 " the Scots who inhabited Ireland (3)." I read of 
 their successors, Justus and Honorius, that they 
 also were honoured with the title of Arch bishop^) J 
 I might extend my arguments, were there occa- 
 sion for it, by demonstrating that York (5), St. 
 David's, Seville, Mentz, Sirmium, and several 
 other sees in the western, as well as in the eastern 
 church, no less than Canterbury and Aries, were 
 honoured with the title and jurisdiction of Arch- 
 bishoprics long before the time of St. Theodore. 
 But the occasion does not require such a disser- 
 tation, and, I think enough has been already 
 said, to prove that antiquary grossly ignorant, 
 as well as intolerably vain, who has ventured to 
 
 fi) Bede Eccl. Hist. 1. i. c 27. See also c. 24. 
 
 (2) " Laurcntius Archiepiscopatus gradu potitus," I. ii. c. 4. 
 
 (3) Ibid. 
 
 (4) Ibid. !. ii.e. 15, 18. 
 
 (5) St. Paulirms, who was consecrated for the see of York in 622, \% 
 expressly termed Archbishop by I3cd, 1. iii. c. 25, and received the 
 inetropofuica' pall from Pope Honorius, i. ii. c. 17.
 
 136 
 
 reproach " all the biographers of St. Patrick, 
 " ancient and modern, with ignorance of eccle- 
 * : siastical history." 
 
 The following objection is nearly allied to the 
 foregoing. The writer cavils at the legatine autho- 
 rity and the use of the pall, said to have been con- 
 ferred upon St. Patrick by Pope Hilary in 462. 
 Now supposing that Joceline, arguing from the 
 practice in hisown time, may have erred in imagin- 
 ing that the use of this ornament necessarily ac- 
 companied themetropolitical dignity; yet nothing 
 is more certain than that Dr. Ledwich himself is 
 most egregiously deceived in fancying that the 
 Popes had no legates before the second Nicene 
 Council in 787. To mention two or three in- 
 stances out of as many hundreds of such dele- 
 gations : the great St. Augustine of Hippo says, 
 that he was sent by Pope Zozimus to Cesaraea, 
 in Mauritania, to perform certain ecclesiastical 
 commissions in his name (l). St. Leo the Great, 
 in the year 44i, testifies, that he had appointed 
 Anastasius, a bishop, to be his Vicar in the pro- 
 vince of Illyricum(2) ; and St. Gregory the Great, 
 acknowledges the Archbishop of Aries to have 
 been the legate of the apostolic see for a long 
 time past, with the use of the pall, in the letter by 
 which he makes St. Augustine of Canterbury his 
 
 (0 Aug. Epis. i 57 . 
 
 (j) " Vicem nostram coepiscoponostro Anastasio, secuti eorum 
 '* fcxemphim quorum nobis recordatio est veneranda, commisimus." 
 St. Leo, Metrop. Illyricum, ep. .75.
 
 137 
 
 legate throughout the British islands ( 1 ), though 
 he did not bestow the pall upon him till a later 
 occasion. Dr. Ledwich concludes his criticisms, 
 or rather cavils, in the following manner: "It 
 " must be tiresome to the reader, as it is to the 
 " writer, to pursue further this critical examina- 
 " tion of the life of our saint. I do not hesitate 
 " in affirming that every chapter in Joceline, 
 " Colgan, and Probus, is liable to similar objec- 
 " tions ; internal and invincible proofs these, that 
 " our apostle and his history are equally fabul- 
 " ous (2)." I also, Sir, must confess, that it is 
 tiresome to argue with a writer so strong in 
 assertion and so weak in proof; and I, in my 
 turn, do not hesitate to affirm, that there is not a 
 paragraph in all Dr. Ledwich's criticisms upon 
 St. Patrick and the ancient religion of Ireland > 
 which does not consist of groundless assertions 
 and chimerical suppositions, in opposition to posi- 
 tive evidence. 
 
 What I have just now said concerning chimeri- 
 cal suppositions, more particularly applies to the 
 account which our writer gives of the supposed 
 origin of the history of St. Patrick. He says : 
 
 (i) " Interrogatio Augustini Qualiter debemus cum Gallianim 
 et Britanniarum episcopis agere ? Respondit Gregorius In Gal- 
 liarum Episcopos nullam tibi auctoritatem tribuimus-, quia ab anti- 
 quis prasdecessorum meorum temporibus, pallium Are'atensis epis- 
 copus accepit, quern nos privare auctoritate accepta non debem^. .. 
 Britanniarum autem omnes episcopos tux fraternitati committimos 
 ut indocti doceantur, infirmi roborentur, perversi auctoritate cor- 
 rigantur." Bed. Hist. Eccl. 1. i. c 17. 
 
 (a) Anuq. p. C6
 
 138 
 
 that " The ninth century, being Famous for re* 
 " viviug and incorporating pagan practices 
 " with the Christian ritual, and observing that 
 " Rome had her Mars, Athens her Minerva, Car- 
 " thage her Juno, and every country and city 
 " a proper and peculiar deity, whose guardian 
 " care was its protection and security, conceived 
 " it a very becoming employment for Christian 
 " saints to assume the patronage of a Chris- 
 " tian people, &c. (1)." I should be glad to 
 know what Dr. Ledwich means by the ninth cen- 
 tury. Did these brilliant ideas seize, all at once, 
 the whole collection of men, women, and children 
 in the ninth century r Or was there, in the ninth 
 century, a combination of artful impostors 
 throughout Christendom, who undertook to make 
 their respective countrymen believe that there 
 had been a St. Patrick in Irelaud, a St. David in 
 Wales, a St. George in England, a St. Palladius in 
 Scotland, &c. whilst they were perfectly con- 
 vinced that all such saints were mere chimeras? 
 If the latter supposition is adopted, as undoubt- 
 edly it is, I ask, by what means could these impos- 
 tors prevail on the learned men throughout Ire- 
 land, England, Scotland, France, Flanders, Ger- 
 many, and Italy, to adopt their scheme, and con- 
 cur together, as they have done, in publishing 
 the same particulars (concerning St. Patrick, for 
 example) without the reclamation or objection oi 
 a single individual amongst them ? F>y what 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 66.
 
 139 
 
 artifice could they induce the princes and people 
 of Christendom, to build churches to the honour 
 of this phantom termed St. Patrick, and to call 
 their towns, havens, islands, and other places 
 after his name ? I could be amused. Sir, with 
 the revery of Dr. Ledwich, had it the merit of 
 originality, but being acquainted with the 
 learned dreams of the celebrated Hardouin, Avho 
 gravely maintains that all the classical books, 
 except Cicero's works, Pliny's Natural History, 
 Virgil's Georgics, and Horace's Satyrs, were 
 forged by the monks of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury (t), Dr. Ledwich's system loses its only 
 merit in my eyes, and raises no other sentiment 
 in my mind than unqualified contempt and in- 
 dignation. 
 
 Our author, by way of illustrating his sup- 
 position, alludes to the error of Hilduin, in con- 
 founding St. Dionysius, Bishop of Paris, with 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, and to the legendary 
 tale of St. James's body being conveyed from 
 Judea to Compostella ; but in neither of these 
 cases does there appear to have been a deliberate 
 attempt to impose upon mankind. The writers 
 
 (i) If Dr. Ledwich could be compared with Dr. Hardouin, he might 
 hereafter be honoured with the same epitaph : 
 Hie Jacet 
 llomin.um paradoxototatos 
 Orbi , literati ertentum, 
 Yenerar.da; autiquitatis cm. tor et destructor. 
 
 Doete Febricitaas, 
 Somiiia et inaiidi; . con - : ta vidians edidit, 
 Lredu'.itate pv, :, ;;aJ:/.C!u juvenis, delirils scuex. 
 
 T
 
 140 
 
 of these accounts were weak and ignorant men, 
 who paid too much credit to thcdreams or fables of 
 other men, weaker than themselves, and, by com- 
 mitting them to writing, gave a temporary run 
 to them. They did not palm upon the world a 
 belief in the real existence of phantoms. The 
 author had before quoted with applause the 
 opinion of a well-informed writer, as he calls 
 him, who says, that "the Spanish Patrick (l) 
 "might have appeared in a dream to the Irish, as 
 " St. George did to the English (2), and become 
 " their protector, and at last their apostle (3)." 
 The truth is, St. George was chosen to be the 
 patron saint of England, at a time when our an- 
 
 (0 It is true, there have been other St. Patricks, beside the 
 Apostle of Ireland, but none of them are, by any means, so cele- 
 brated in. history, as he is, and among these there is no Spanish 
 St. Patrick known. 
 
 (2) The learned Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, in his " Collection 
 " of ancient Ballads," denies the existence of the patron saint of 
 his country and of the Society of Antiquaries, pronouncing him to 
 be nothing more than a talisman, or character of enchantment. 
 Hence, when the writer of this had, in a Discourse on the King's 
 Recovery, mentioned St. George as an illustrious saint, his Lordship, 
 i'i a letter addressed to the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine, 
 called upon him to produce his proofs of the fact in question. The 
 writer accordingly published "A Dissertation on the Existence and 
 " Character of St. George," in which he has demonstrated, from the 
 most ancient and authentic monuments, in opposition to the bishop, 
 first, that there was such a saint; and secondly, that this was not the 
 infamous intruder into the see of Alexandria in the time of St. 
 Athanasius, against the assertions of Gibbon the historian. See the 
 Dissertation at Keating and Go's. Duke- Street, Grosvenor Square. 
 It is presumed that the bishop was fully convinced of his error, as he 
 ; not known to have renev/ed it since, 
 (j) Antiq. p. 59.
 
 141 
 
 cestors, under the warlike Edward III. were 
 preparing to make a conquest of France, not in 
 consequence of any dream, but of his being pre- 
 viously the acknowledged patron of military 
 men : and he never once was termed the apostle 
 of England, or even said to have been in Eng- 
 land, by a single man of learning. 
 
 Dr. Ledwich has elsewhere endeavoured to 
 prop up his system of mingled seeptism and ir- 
 religion, with the following chimerical assump- 
 tion : "The christian missionaries found it in- 
 " dispensably necessary to procure some saint 
 " under whose protection the inhabitants might 
 " live secure from temporal and spiritual evils. At 
 " a loss for a patron, they adopted a practice, de- 
 " rived from paganism, and pursued it to a great 
 " extent in the corrupt ages of Christianity (]). 
 " 'Thus of a mountain at Glendaloch a saint was 
 ,: made, as of the Shannon, St. Senanus ; and of 
 " Down, St. Dunus (2).'' When our reverend 
 sceptic first sported this ridicule (3), on the 
 great and good men, to whom he is indebted for 
 his civilization, and for whatever he possesses of 
 Christianity, the truly learned and judicious 
 
 (0 Dr. Ledwich had the effrontry to quote Baronius, Ciampini, 
 &c. as approving of such vile and impious frauds; whereas the words 
 of these writers barely imply, that the christian bishops wereaccus- 
 tomed to substitute the names of real mints for those of imagi/iury 
 deities. 
 
 2) Antiq. p. i-i. 
 
 3) Collectanea de Tl^bi:s liib. 
 
 T -
 
 142 
 
 Charles O'Connor was living, who did not fail 
 to call him to a proper account for bis irreligious 
 impositions. This celebrated antiquary chal- 
 lenged him to prove a single instance of such pa- 
 gan metamorphoses in the ecclesiastical history 
 of Ireland ; and descending to the particulars 
 mentioned by Dr. Ledwich, he shewed that the 
 Shannon, or Senus, was so called many ages be- 
 fore the Christian saint, called Senanus, was 
 born : and with respect to the pretended St. 
 Dunus, he denied that the name of any such 
 saint was to be met with, except amongst the 
 fabrications of Dr. Ledwich (l). With as good 
 reason, may some writers a few ages hence, deny 
 that any such personages as a Lord Shannon and 
 a Lord Down existed at the beginning of the 
 19th century; and may assert that it was the 
 practice of those our times, to personify rivers 
 and counties. With a still better show of reason, 
 may the learned some two hundred years hence, 
 if perchance any account of Dr. Ledwich and 
 his book should reach them, deny that such an 
 egregious sceptic ever could have existed, espe- 
 
 (0 Collectanea de Rebus Ilib. See Reflections on the History of 
 Ireland, by C. O'Connor, Esq. addressed to Col. Vallancey, vol. iti. 
 N. B. The reader will not fail to observe in what manner the Rev. 
 Doctor, who undenakes to correct " hagiography by criticism," 
 contradicts himself in the different accounts he gives of the saints of 
 his country. In his page 66, he says, they were invented by the 
 monks of the ninth century: in the present passage, p. 171, lie tells 
 us, that they were created by " the Christian Missionaries," whom 
 he describes as coming from Asia long before the age of St. Patrick, 
 and therefore in the very first ;<gcsof Christianity!
 
 143 
 
 cially as he is described as " A REV. L, L. D. 
 " AND MEMBER OF SEVERAL LEARNED 
 " SOCIETIES (1)." 
 
 Our author, after appearing to quit the field, 
 again returns to it ; and, as I have taken up the 
 gauntlet against him on the chapter of St. Pa- 
 trick, I am bound to return him stroke for stroke, 
 as long as he pleases to continue the combat. 
 He denies, then, that this saint is mentioned by 
 any author, or in any work of veracity down 
 to the time of Nennius (2), whom he places 238 
 years below this date : that is to say, he denies 
 that St. Patrick is so mentioned, during more than 
 three centuries and a half from the time of his 
 death. I answer, first, that if it were rea- 
 
 sonable to question the existence of all personages 
 deceased, concerning whom we have no contem- 
 porary, or other authentic records, composed 
 within three or four centuries from that in which 
 they lived, then might we deny there ever were 
 such men as Romulus, Cyrus, Abraham, or 
 Adam himself. But secondly, the fact itself, 
 asserted by Dr. Ledwich, is demonstrated in my 
 last letter to be grossly false. For, to omit other 
 document;, venerable Bede, who inserts the name 
 of our saint in his martyrology, lived within two 
 centuries from the time of his decease; the four 
 disciples of St. Patrick, who furnished Joceliue 
 
 ft) See the tide-page of a boo'.: called, "The .-Antiquities of Ire. 
 laud." 
 
 : : Antiq. p. 67.
 
 144 
 
 with his most important materials, were the saint's 
 own contemporaries: so was St. Fiech, whose 
 hymn, in honour of his master, yet remains. Nay, 
 the very history of the saint, composed hy himself, 
 is still extant, as well as the acts of his councils. 
 I have not yet referred to the important testimony 
 of St. Prosper of Aquitain, a contemporary of St. 
 Patrick and Pope Celestine, and one of the most 
 celebrated writers of his age. Commending the 
 zeal of this Pope, both in repressing the Pelagian 
 heresy, and in propagating the christian faith, 
 he says : " Moreover the same holy Pope or- 
 " dained a bishop to the Scottish pagan nation ; 
 " and thus, while he endeavoured to preserve the 
 i; Roman island (Britain) Catholic, he made the 
 " barbarous island (Ireland) Christian (l)." I am 
 not surprised that Dr. Ledwich should have al- 
 ways carefully shunned this irrefragable testimo- 
 ny, since it cuts up his laboured system to the 
 very roots. For it proves that Ireland was a 
 pagan island before the time of Pope Celestine 
 and St. Partrick ; it proves that this island was 
 converted by a bishop sent thither for that pur- 
 pose by the said Pope ; and it proves, that this 
 bishop must have been no other than St. Patrick, 
 
 (0 " Nee segniore cura ad hoc eodem morbo (Pelagiana haeresi) 
 '' Britannias liberavit (Celestinus Papa per German um Antissiodo- 
 " rensem): quando quosdam inimicos gratia?, solum sujc originis 
 44 occupantes, ^:tiam ab illo secreto exclnsit oceani; et, ordinato 
 " Scotis episcopo, dum Romanam ir.sulamstudetservare Catholicam, 
 " fecit etiam barbaram Chribtianam." Prosper, lib. contra Cob 
 latorem, cap. 4>.
 
 145 
 
 because St. Palladius, whom Prosper mentions as 
 having been sent thither a little before, by Pope 
 Celestine, on the same errand, did not succeed in 
 the attempt, and therefore crossed over the sea to 
 preach to the Scots in North Britain. 
 
 Drawing at length towards a conclusion of his 
 long chapter, the writer presents us with an un- 
 faithful translation of two prayers in honour of 
 St. Patrick (1), which translation expresses what 
 the prayers do not say, and omits what they ac- 
 tually do say. What is omitted in each of them, is 
 the main hinge upon which these and all the 
 prayersof the Church turn, namely, "THROUGH 
 " JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD." By this con- 
 clusion of her prayers, the Catholic Church pro- 
 fesses and practically enforces, that we can nei- 
 ther merit any favour from heaven of ourselves, 
 nor obtain it by the prayers of the saints, except 
 through and on account of the merits and atone- 
 ment of Jesus Christ. Had our critic been so 
 honest as to have inserted the conclusion of the 
 prayer, his charge of idolatry against the religion 
 of his ancestors, would have struck the most 
 ignorant reader with its absurdity, 
 
 Our writer finishes his laborious researches, 
 as he calls them, with a flattering address to the 
 Catholics of Ireland, terming them "a liberal 
 " and enlightened people ;" and affirming, "that 
 ' it is not possible they should be any longer 
 " amused with fictitious legends, or pay their 
 
 (i) P. 6?.
 
 146 
 
 " adoration to ideal personages, and that (what 
 " he calls) a scriptural, rational, and, manly 
 " religion, is alone calculated for their present 
 "improvements in science and manners (1)." 
 Here, Sir, we find the key to that mystery of 
 scepticism and absurdity, which we have been 
 viewing with so mucb astonishment. It is for 
 the sake of depriving the Irish Catholics of their 
 original faith, that Dr. Ledwich takes so much 
 pains to deprive them of the great apostle who 
 preached it to them. The fact, however, is, 
 the Irish Catholics are really too much " en- 
 " lightened" to become the dupes of such 
 wretched artifices. After having baffled the 
 machinations, and withstood the persecutions 
 of almost three centuries, in support of the 
 religion once for all delivered to them by the 
 saints (2) ? namely, by St. Patrick and his 
 disciples, in one of the golden ages of Chris-* 
 tianity, they are not likely to make a com- 
 pliment of it to the cajoling, the declamation, 
 or the sophistry of Dr. Ledwich. On the con- 
 trary, I promise myself that some of them, 
 at least, will keep an eye upon him in future, 
 and not let one of the numberless impieties 
 and errors, with which his book is replete, be 
 again published without a thorough refutation 
 of it. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 69. 
 (2) juch, v. 3.
 
 147 
 
 ^&&sjfy ""31 
 
 mm f l 
 
 1 ' ' - ^MEi ^fe^ S^^ 
 
 J 1 * nijm. St 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Casket, JulyQ i \ i i 8 07< 
 
 I 
 
 LEFT my worthy host and 
 the other good people of Thurles with regret ; 
 and, at the distance of ahout a league from it, I 
 stopped for some time to contemplate the beau- 
 tiful and interesting ruins of Holy Cross. This 
 Mas an ancient abbey of the order of Cisteaux in 
 
 U
 
 148 
 
 Burgundy, a refdrmed, or stricter branch of the 
 Benedictine order. Holy Cross was founded by 
 Donald O'Brian, King of Limerick, in the year 
 1 169 ; though the present ruins exhibit a style 
 of architecture of a later period than his reign, by 
 more than a century. Here are seen the noble 
 remains of the gorgeous church, with its mul- 
 lioned windows, canopied niches, perforated pis- 
 cinas (1), and elaborate sepulchres, dispersed 
 throughout the nave, transepts, and side ailes. 
 Here also may be traced the rich sacristy, the 
 strong muniment-house, the solemn chapter- 
 house, the studious cloisters, the sequestered ab- 
 bot's quarters, the frugal kitchen (2), and the 
 various other offices. But all is now a dreary 
 ruin and a wide waste ; where a deeper silence 
 reigns, than that prescribed by conventual disci- 
 pline in the twelfth century. For then the 
 church, at least, was seven times in the day re- 
 sponsive to the Great Creator's praise. But now 
 a gloomy and profane muteness has supplanted 
 his worship, even, in his temple ; a silence never 
 interrupted, except by the discordant voices of 
 impure birds and beasts that shun the day-light. 
 Such is the blessed change which is blasphem- 
 ously attributed to " the light and spirit of God" 
 in the Book of Homilies! And for making this 
 change, the obscene and irreligious Henry is 
 
 (1) The niches on the side of the altars for containing the cruets 
 and receiving the ablutions are so called. 
 
 (a) r J hese monks observed a perpetual abstinence from flesh meat, 
 wine, and all delicacies ; and they fasted every day in the year, except 
 the Sundays, and within the Paschal time.
 
 149 
 
 likened to " the pious Josaphat, Josias, and Eze- 
 chias!(l) Well might the poet ask: What 
 must have been the sacrilege of such reformers, 
 when what we now view at Holy Cross was the 
 effect of their piety ! (2) 
 
 The church and monastery of Holy Cross were 
 built, for the particular purpose of preserving a 
 portion of the true Cross, on which our blessed 
 Saviour suffered death. Certain it is, from ec- 
 clesiastical history, that the Christians never lost 
 sight of this precious relic. It was buried by 
 the heathens under a temple of Venus, in the 
 reign of the Emperor Adrian, when he demo- 
 lished the original city of Jerusalem; but it was 
 found again by the Empress St. Helena, at which 
 time particles of it were distributed throughout 
 Christendom (3). The three principal pieces of 
 it were preserved at Jerusalem, Coustantinople, 
 
 (i) Horn. vol. i. Sermon on Good Works, Part iii. 
 
 (2) I cannot forbear quoting at full length the admire! passage of. 
 the pdet here alluded to, describing monastic rains : 
 
 " Who spps these dismal heaps but will demand, 
 " What barbarous invader sacked the land ? 
 " But when he hears 110 Goth, no Turk, did bring 
 " This desolation, but a Christian King : 
 " (While nothing but the name of zeal appears 
 " 'Twixt our best actions and the worst of theirs) 
 " What must he think our sacrilege would spare, 
 *' When such th' effects of our devotion are ?" 
 
 Sir John Denhatn's Cooper's Hill. 
 N. B. Sir John Denham was an Irishman, to whom English 
 poetry is gremly indebted for its improvement, as the last great im- 
 prover of it repeatedly testifies : 
 
 " Here his first lays majestic Denham sung.'* 
 
 Pope's Windsor Forest, $c. 
 
 (3) St. Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem, a contemporary author, Catech., 
 ii. 10, 13. 
 
 U 2
 
 150 
 
 and Rome ; from each of which small particles 
 were occasionally taken. You will be surprised, 
 Sir, when I tell you, that the identical portion 
 of the true Cross, for the sake of which this 
 splendid fane was erected, is now in the posses- 
 sion of my respected friend and fellow traveller ; 
 having been preserved from sacrilege in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. by the Ormond family, 
 and by them transmitted to the family of Kave- 
 nagh, a surviving descendant of which has depo- 
 sited it with my friend (l). It is by far the 
 largest piece of the Cross I ever met with, being 
 about three inches long, and about half an inch 
 broad, but very thin. It is inserted in the lower 
 shaft of an archiepiscopal cross six inches and a 
 half in length, being made of some curious wood, 
 and inclosed in a gilt case. Had you seen me 
 respectfully saluting that material instrument of 
 my redemption, you would, perhaps, have accus- 
 ed me of idolatry ; and yet, Sir, you may recol- 
 lect, that when you and I and certain other 
 friends visited the British Museum, most of the 
 company kissed the old parchment of Magna 
 Charta, upon bended knees, without any impu- 
 tation of idolatry : and when the miniature jpf 
 your deceased father, inclosing a relic of his hair, 
 was brought home to you by the artist, you paid 
 it, if I remember right, some such homage of re- 
 spect and affection. You will tell me, that you 
 did not mean, on this occasion, to pay respect 
 
 (i) I have seen authentic vouchers for these several particulars in 
 the possession of my friend.
 
 lol 
 
 to the picture itself, but to the beloved person- 
 age whom it recalled to your remembrance ; and 
 I admit your plea. But pray, Sir, why may not 
 I avail myself of the same plea, in justification of 
 the respect which I paid to, what I believe to 
 have been, part of the very wood on which my 
 best friend shed his blood for me. Am not I as 
 well able to distinguish between a piece of wood 
 and the great Redeemer, as you are to distin- 
 guish, between a piece of colouring and your de- 
 ceased parent ? Or, as the nobles of the land are 
 to distinguish, between the empty chair of state 
 (to which they sometimes bow) and the King's 
 person ? Or as a witness in a court of justice is 
 to distinguish, between thf paper and ink he 
 kisses, and the word of God which these repre- 
 sent to him? 
 
 But, to quit the regions of controversy for those 
 of antiquity, having again mounted my chaise at 
 Holy Cross, and proceeded two or three miles 
 in the same western direction in which I came to 
 it, I descried, amongst the clouds, the Rock of 
 Cashel ; for so the ancient cathedral of this ine- 
 tropolitical see is called, from the lofty rugged 
 rock upon which it stands. A nearer survey of 
 this awful pile suggests the idea of a castle rather 
 than a church. In fact, it was both the one and 
 the other. Forhere the renowned Cormac Cuillinan, 
 who was at the same time King and Archbishop 
 of Minister (being also a celebrated legislator, 
 poet, and saint), erected his royal castle and his 
 metropolitical cathedral close together. The ca-
 
 152 
 
 thedral he consecrated to God, in honour of St. 
 Patrick, A. D. 900 (l) ; but another, much more 
 spacious and elegant, was added to this, above 
 two centuries later, being consecrated, and a 
 synod held in it, A. D. 1 134 : at which time the 
 former church began to be used as a chapter- 
 house. The present cathedral bears intrinsic 
 marks of the age assigned to its erection, namely, 
 the twelfth century ; as does Cormac's church, 
 now called Cormac's hall, of the tenth. But 
 both these venerable edifices, together with the 
 adjoining palace, have been abandoned by the 
 late archbishops ; who have built for themselves 
 a more comfortable residence in a different situa- 
 tion, and a ehurcFP better proportioned to the 
 small number of their flock. The huge pile of 
 building before us, covering, as it does, the native 
 rock, and seeming as if it had been formed out of 
 its summit, does not consist only of the cathe- 
 dral and the castle, but also of one of those re- 
 markable round towers, which are, in a manner, 
 peculiar to Ireland, and which have exercised the 
 ingenuity of so many antiquaries to explain their 
 original use. This tower, and that at Kilkenny, 
 are the highest I have seen in this country, and 
 adjoin to the cathedral, the latter being within a 
 
 (0 A curious old painting of Cormae in robes, partly royal and 
 partly archiepiscopal, together with his patron, St. Patrick, is seen in 
 the new and spacious catholic chapel of the city of Cashel, in the 
 care of the Rev. Mr. Wright. Though I have followed Ware, 
 Harris, Nicholson, &c. in the date here assigned to Cormae ; yet I 
 have some reason to suspect that he lived at a much later period.
 
 133 
 
 few feet of it, while the other actually communi- 
 cates with it by a door at a considerable height 
 from the ground. 
 
 These towers are, as their name imports, per- 
 fectly round, both on the outside and in the in- 
 side. They are carried up, in this shape, to the 
 height of from 50 to above 130 feet(l), and ter- 
 minate, at the top, in a tapering sugar loaf co- 
 vering, which is. concave in the inside, and con- 
 vex on the outside. They are, in general, about 
 14 feet in the diameter at the bottom, compre- 
 hending the thickness of the walls, and about 8 
 feet in the diameter of the cavity. They decrease 
 insensibly up to the top, where they measure upon 
 an average about 6 feet in the interior. There is a 
 door into them, at the height of from 6' to 16 or 
 20 feet from the ground. They are universally 
 built of stone, though not always of the stone 
 which the country affords. The materials of this 
 tower of Cashel, are found to have been brought 
 from a considerable distance, and are much bet- 
 ter than those of which the cathedral is built. 
 The workmanship of them is excellent, as ap- 
 pears to the eye, and as is proved by their dura- 
 bility. When viewed in the inside, they are found 
 to be perfectly empty. There are, however, 
 holes in the stone work of the walls, into which 
 beams appear to have been heretofore inserted, 
 for forming stories at proper distances ; though 
 all these beams arc now decayed, and there are 
 
 (0 Kilkenny tower is said by Harris to be r;: feet !''.''
 
 154. 
 
 a few small loop-holes, perhaps four or five in 
 the whole height, for admitting light into the in- 
 terior. Near the top of each tower, there are 
 usually four of these loop-holes, corresponding, 
 in general, with the four cardinal points of the 
 compass. I must not forget to add, that the 
 round towers are always found, either adjoining 
 to churches, or to the site of ancient churches. 
 
 From this description of these celebrated 
 towers, I make no doubt you will form as accu- 
 rate an idea of them, as if you had actually seen 
 them ; and will, of course, be qualified to judge 
 of the respective systems of different authors con- 
 cerning their use. But first, to say a few words 
 concerning the period in which they were gene- 
 rally erected : it appears to me that this must 
 be very remote, from the circular arches over the 
 doors of many of them, which prove them to be 
 anterior to the introduction of the pointed arch; 
 from the Saxon zigzag and other ornaments of 
 these door- ways ; from the circumstance of the 
 timber, which formed the stages of them, having 
 entirely mouldered away and disappeared ; and 
 from the account which Giraldus Cambrensis 
 gives of them in the 12th century ; for he de- 
 scribes them as quite common throughout Ire- 
 land, and as being then of a remote antiquity. It 
 seems to me, however, that he himself did not 
 understand their original use. The prevailing 
 opinion which ascribes the building of them to 
 the Ostmen or Danes, does not seem to be well 
 founded. These invaders never extended their
 
 155 
 
 conquests to all the parts of Ireland, in which 
 these towers are found. They were not so com- 
 pletely masters 'of any considerable part of the 
 interior country, as to venture upon raising 
 considerable structures in it. These pirates did 
 not build similar towers in England, Normandy, 
 or Sicily, when they conquered those countries, 
 nor did they even build such in their own coun- 
 try, as appears upon inquiry. Finally, the rea- 
 son assigned for attributing these works to fo- 
 reigners, namely, the supposed rudeness of the 
 Irish, is evidently ill founded. For can we 
 suppose that the tutors of the English, French, 
 and Germans, in the learned languages, the sci- 
 ences, and music, as the Irish are known to 
 have been during four centuries, were incapable 
 of learning how to build plain round towers of 
 stone, when they saw their scholars all around 
 them erecting stately churches and monasteries 
 of stone; most of which, we are assured, were 
 ornamented with towers. 
 
 Some persons have conceived the round 
 towers of Ireland to have been built as places of 
 security. I grant that a single person might de- 
 fend himself in one of these, cceteris paribus, 
 against a single enemy ; but the man who had 
 the means of erecting a tower of this nature, 
 would want space for many other defenders, 
 and for many persons to be defended besides 
 
 himself. Other conjecturers have supposed 
 
 they were intended for pharoses or beacons. 
 
 But, not to mention that they are frequently 
 
 X
 
 ^156 
 
 placed in low situations, and that two or three of 
 them are sometimes found to stand near toge- 
 ther, the apertures at the top of them are not 
 large enough to transmit any considerable body 
 of light, being the very reverse, in this respect, 
 
 to our modern light-houses. A third opinion, 
 
 that of the learned Vallancey, is, that they 
 were made by the Phoenicians or Carthaginians, 
 in their commercial visits to Ireland, as Pyra- 
 theia, or fire-altars. But to answer this pur- 
 pose, there was no occasion of carrying them up 
 to so great a height ; and they ought rather to 
 have been left open at the top, like our great 
 furnaces, than closed up, as they are found to be. 
 Besides, it is not likely that mere commercial 
 visitors should erect places of worship for them- 
 selves in all the interior parts of the country, as 
 
 well as upon the sea coast. A fourth system 
 
 is, that they were built for watch-houses, in 
 which guards were stationed to give notice, by 
 trumpets or other means, of the approach of ene- 
 mies or thieves ; and certainly if these towers had 
 been placed near the castles which were built in 
 the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries throughout Ire- 
 land, there would not be wanting tolerable good 
 authority to support this system, in a passage from 
 a well-informed author of the 16th century, which 
 has generally been overlooked (l). But as 
 
 (i) Stanyhurst, describing the manners of the Irish, saya : "Impri- 
 " mis autem castellano prscsidio se tuentur, ne, illis quiescentibus, 
 ** nocturna vis inferatur. Quare, ut tale quiddam incommodi de
 
 157 
 
 they are universally found near churches or 
 chapels, or at least near the site of ancient 
 churches or chapels, and as they are not always 
 even in elevated situations, I cannot admit them 
 to have been watch-towers. - A fifth hypothesis 
 is, that of Molyneaux and Dr. Ledwich (l), who 
 maintain that they were built for belfries to the 
 churches near which they are placed. In op- 
 position to this assertion I have to observe, that 
 none of these towers is large enough for a single 
 bell of a moderate size to swing round in it ; that 
 from the whole of their form and dimensions, and 
 from the smallness of the apertures in them, they 
 are rather calculated to stifle, than to transmit to 
 a distance, any sound that is made in them ; 
 lastly, that though possibly a small bell may have 
 been accidentally put up in one or two of them, 
 at some late period (2), yet we constantly find 
 
 " nocte non accidat, habent in castelli vertice, tanquam in specula* 
 " excubias, quse saepissime vociferant, et in frequentibusclamoribus 
 ** majorem partem noctis vigilant. Atque has vociferatidnes idcirco 
 * iterant nt nocturnis furibuset viatoribus significent, patrem familias 
 " non ita gravitur dormitare, quin promptus sit bostes a suis laribus 
 " viriliter ejioere." -De Rebus in Hib. gestis, p. 33. 
 
 (1) See his Dissertation in Collectanea, vol. ii. also his chapter on 
 Round Towers, in his Antiquities, p. 155. 
 
 (2) Dr. Ledwich tells us, from Mr. Smith, that the Round Tower 
 atArdmore has been, at some period, used to hang a bell in, as 
 appears by three '* pieces of oak still remaining near the top of it," 
 and by " two channels which are cut in the sill of the door where 
 " the rope went out, the ringer standing below the door on the 
 " outside." Antiq. p. 163. But if these pieces of oak were coeval 
 with the tower, it is unaccountable that they should have remained 
 entire, while the beams in every other tower have mouldered away. 
 
 X 2
 
 158 
 
 other belfries or contrivances for hanging bells 
 in the churchee adjoining to them. In the mean 
 time, we can derive no information from the 
 earliest writer who takes notice of the towers, 
 except that they were common throughout Ire- 
 land, that they were of great antiquity in the 
 12th century, and that they were considered 
 as having been built for some religious pur- 
 pose (1). 
 
 The idea, Sir, which first struck me, upon 
 attentively surveying these towers, was the same 
 which I have since learnt was adopted by Dean 
 Richardson and the learned Harris, namely, that 
 they were built ashabitations for a certain set of 
 anachorites, called Inclusi, or iOellani. "We other- 
 wise know, that such recluses very frequently 
 resided close to the churches of Ireland in an- 
 cient times. An early model of anachorites was 
 St. John the Baptist, who passed his life in the 
 
 Again, what reason can Dr. Ledwich assign why there are not holes 
 in the sills of every other tower? In a word, the ancient architect 
 were too wise, to place the bell under cover, and the ringer in the 
 open air. 
 
 (i) Giraldus giving a fabulous account of the origin of the lake 
 called Lough-Neagh, which, he says, was caused by the overflow- 
 ing ofa fountain, that on a sudden deluged a large tract of land and 
 destroyed a wicked race of people, adds that, in Calm weather, the 
 fishermen of the lake are accustomed to point out the tall, narrozo, 
 ecclesiastical round towers, peculiar to Ireland, under the water. 
 " Piscatores aquse illius turres ecclesiasticus, qua;, more patrise, 
 " arctse sunt et altse, nee non et rotundas, sub undis manifeste, 
 *' sereno tempore conspiciunt et extraneis transeuntibus, reique 
 " causas admirantibus frequenter ostendunt." Topograph. Hib- 
 Dist. ii. c. 9.
 
 159 
 
 deserts of Judea, cloathed with a hair cloth, 
 and living upon locusts and wild honey (t). 
 Afterwards, we find a Paul the Hermit, an An- 
 tony, an JHilarion, and a crowd of other solita- 
 ries, who filled the deserts of Egypt and Syria. 
 The greater part of these lived in monasteries, 
 but several of them resided by themselves in 
 caves, or upon the tops of mountains, or in other 
 situations almost inaccessible. At length, in the 
 fifth century, one of them, St. Simeon, a Syrian, 
 to prevent the interruption of visitants, and to 
 lead a more mortified life, caused a pillar to be 
 erected 40 cubits high, and three feet in diame- 
 ter; on the top of which he passed the last 20 
 years of his life (2). His example was followed 
 by others, and an order called Stylites, from 
 their living upon pillars, subsisted in the East, 
 till it was desolated by the Saracens. An attempt 
 to lead the same kind of life was made in the 
 West by one Vulfilaic, a native of Lombardy, 
 who undertook to live upon a column, near 
 Triers, in Germany. But the German bishops 
 judging this practice to be too singular in it- 
 self, and too rigorous for these climates, put 
 a stop to it, and obliged the new Stylite to de- 
 
 (0 Marti. 4. Luke i. 8. 
 
 (2) Amongst other vouchers for this extraordinary fact is fhe fa- 
 mous church historian Theodoret, who professes to have been per- 
 fectly well acquainted with the saint The Stylite, as he was called, 
 was, from time to time, furnished with a small quantity of food 
 from below, and he reposed against certain rails which suwuundcrl 
 the top of the pillar when he slept.
 
 160 
 
 scend from his column (l). It is well known 
 that the number of the recluses, together with 
 their austerity and abstraction from the things of 
 this world, was in no part of the western church 
 so great as in Ireland, during the four first cen- 
 turies after its general conversion (2). This 
 being, so, what wonder that some amongst them 
 who resided near the churches, for the sake of 
 approaching to the sacraments, should wish to 
 raise their cells into the air, to be thus more re- 
 tired from the crowds which frequented the 
 churches ; and also to imitate, as closely as this 
 northern climate would permit, the famous St. 
 Simeon and the other Stylites of the East (3). 
 By living within the column instead of the 
 outside of it, they avoided the ostentation which 
 the western bishops objected to, and by having a 
 covering over their heads, they were protected 
 from the greatest severity of the weather ; as it 
 
 (i) Greg. Turon. Hist. 1. viii. c. 15. 
 
 (2) Harris has furnished us with a long list of Irish anachorites or 
 Indusi, though it is evident he could not get to a knowledge of one 
 thousandth part of their number. 
 
 (3) It is certain that St. Simon's gruAvj was round, and though 
 Radeius speaks of the cells usually built for the Inclusi of Bavaria, as 
 being square ; yet, it is certain, that in a matter of optional devotion, 
 such as the one in question, there was no fixed ecclesiastical law. I 
 have observed, that the piers for supporting large doors and gates, as 
 also many other buildings in Ireland, are made in a circular form with 
 a conical cap upon them. Whence could this singular style have 
 been derived, except from the round towers ? And from what mo- 
 dels are rhe round towers themselves copied, except from the co- 
 lumns of the eastern anachorets ?
 
 161 
 
 was indispensably necessary they should be in 
 this northern climate. If we examine the door- 
 ways of the towers, we find them universally 
 raised from the ground, generally to the height 
 of from six to twenty feet. Hence we may con- 
 clude, that they were not made to be easily en- 
 tered into, or for any of the ordinary purposes 
 of life. They are also very commonly orna- 
 mented in the style of the times, namely, the 
 Saxon style ; because the ceremony of intro- 
 ducing the anachorite into the door of that 
 cell, from which he was no more to go out^ 
 like a monastic profession, was conducted with 
 much solemnity (l). It required a ladder to 
 get into the tower, which the recluse, of course, 
 drew up after him when he entered, and which 
 would be equally necessary for him, to ascend or 
 to descend from one story to another. He would 
 naturally occupy which ever story suited the 
 weather, his health, or his devotion; but he 
 would undoubtedly receive the priest who came 
 to communicate him, or the charitable person who 
 brought him provisions, or the pious Christian 
 who sought his advice (2), in the lower apart- 
 ment, next to the door. 
 
 (i) In the life of St. Raynerus the Anachorite, it is said : "Cum 
 " multa devotione ct reverentia clausus est in clusorio, juxta ostium 
 " majoris ecclesise." 
 
 (2) We learn from St. Bernard, that St. Malachy, afterwards 
 Archbishop of Armagh, in the 12th century, applied for religious 
 instruction, when a youth, to a holy solitary, by name Imarus, who 
 was ihut up in a cell near the cathedral of the said city, probably in a
 
 1(52 
 
 Upon the whole, Sir, I have no sort of doubt, 
 that these curious and singular monuments of 
 Irish antiquity, were built for the habitation of 
 anachorites, within a century or two after the 
 conversion of the island. They are admirably 
 well adapted and situated for the purposes of 
 these recluses, and they bear as near a resem- 
 blance, as circumstances would permit, to the 
 srvtei of the admired Syrian hermits. It is im- 
 possible to shew what other purpose they were 
 calculated for, and it is equally impossible to 
 discover the vestiges of any other Clusoria in 
 the neighbourhood of the great churches ; which, 
 however, we know to have heretofore existed 
 near many of them. But, after all, the present 
 antiquarian disquisition is insignificant, com- 
 pared with that which I am next required to 
 enter upon ; namely, what species of Christi- 
 anity was originally preached to the Irish na- 
 tion ? 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 round tower. St. Bern, in Vita St. Malach. c. 2. We have also 
 seen above, that the famous Scribe of Ireland, at the close of the 
 9th century, Suibne, led the life of an anachorite. N. B. The 
 Rev. VV. Beauford, in vol. iii. of the Transactions of the Royal Irish 
 Academy, p. 80, remarks, that round towers, resembling those of 
 Ireland, are frequently found near the old Greek churches in the 
 East, where, intact, these stylite anachorites were very common.
 
 I6S 
 
 4 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Cashel, July 22, 1807* 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 IN treating of the important 
 subject of antiquity, which I announced at the 
 conclusion of my last letter, I have to combat 
 two principal adversaries ; persons of very dif- 
 ferent characters, attainments, and systems, but, 
 nevertheless, combined together in the same 
 cause, that of robbing the Irish Catholics of 
 their ancient faith. These persons are Arch- 
 bishop Usher and Dr. Ledwich. They both 
 maintain, that the original Christianity of Ire- 
 land was not Catholic, but rather the reverse of 
 it. They are, however, very different and incon- 
 sistent in their stories with respect to the source 
 and nature of this Christianity, as will appear 
 from the following abstract of their respective 
 systems. What Archbishop Usher says is, in 
 substance, this : " Unquestionably there was a 
 " missionary from Rome, of the name of Pa- 
 " trick, who, together with his disciples, con- 
 " verted the greater part of our Irish ancestors 
 '* from paganism to Christianity, about the 
 " middle of the fifth century. All history attests 
 
 Y
 
 1(54 
 
 "it, and it would be madness to deny it. But I 
 " can prove, from the very acts of this apostle, 
 " from venerable Bede, and other ancient doc- 
 " tors of the Church, that the religion then im- 
 " ported by St. Patrick was different in its essen- 
 " tial parts, from that professed by the Catholics 
 
 " at the present time." On the other hand, 
 
 Dr. Ledwich exclaims : " Away with the phan- 
 " toms invented by confederated monks of the 
 " ninth century, in imitation of Mars, Minerva, 
 " and Juno. There never was such a man at all 
 " as St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland ; and it 
 " is certain that the Irish were converted to a 
 "religion the very reverse of popery, by some 
 " unknown preachers from Asia, long before the 
 " fifth century, when he is supposed to have 
 *' lived ; which pure religion continued in Ire- 
 " land down to the year 1152. As to Ware, 
 " Harris, and Primate Usher, they had not even 
 " a tolerable idea of our original episcopacy (l) ; 
 " and when they appeal to the testimony of Bede 
 " and the English Saxon church, in opposition to 
 " Popery, they appeal to acknowledged Papists." 
 
 1 shall first pay attention to the arguments 
 
 of the Archbishop, as they are detailed by Har- 
 ris ; after which I shall again notice the declama- 
 tions of Ledwich (2) : the occasion, however, 
 requires that I should compress both the former 
 and the latter, together with my answers, into the 
 narrowest compass possible. 
 
 (i) See An-tiquit. p. S7. 
 
 (2) See a Dissertation annexed to the Life of St. Patrick,.
 
 165 
 
 I. It is urged by Usher, that the Christianity 
 "which prevailed in the age of St. Patrick, and a 
 considerable time afterwards, could not be the 
 religion of modern Catholics, because the poet 
 Sedulius in the fifth century, and our venera- 
 ble Bede in the eighth, strongly recommended 
 the reading of the holy scriptures. But does the 
 Catholic Church in these times forbid the read- 
 ing of them ? So far from that, she imposes a 
 strict obligation of reading them upon all her 
 clergy, and she interdicts the practice to none of 
 her children ; she only expresses a desire, that 
 they who apply- to it, may have some small pre- 
 vious tincture of literature, or, at least, that they 
 may be possessed of docile and humble minds, 
 so as to be willing to admit her interpretation of 
 the many things hard to be understood (l), which 
 occur in them. In the mean time, I might quote 
 whole volumes of passages from the Fathers (2) 
 and Councils (3) of the Church, belonging to 
 
 (i) 2 Pet. iii. 16. 
 
 (2) See in particular amongst St. Patrick's contemporaries, St. 
 Basil, Lib. dc Spir. S. c. 27. St. John Chrys. in Orat. 4. in Epist. 
 adThessal. and St. Vincent of Lerins, in the whole of his golden 
 work, called, " Commonitorium adversus profanas Usereseon no- 
 " vitates." 
 
 (3) See in particular the speech of St. Wilfrid, commended by 
 Cede, H'st. I. iii. c. 27. also the decrees of the synods of Herudford, 
 1. iv. c. 5. and of Hed field, I. iv. c. 17. Sir Richard Musgrave, 
 referring to the assertions of Usher, which he recommends to the 
 consideration of Catholics, takes upon himself to assert, that " until 
 " Archbishop Anselm's time, (namely, the 12th century) the Irish 
 " clergy were totally ignorant of the councils of the Church, and 
 
 Y 2
 
 166 
 
 the ages in question, by way of proving that they 
 admitted certain unwritten apostolical traditions 
 as the word of God, equally with the written 
 Bible ; and that they unanimously rejected from 
 their communion, as heathens and publicans, all 
 those who refused to hear the Church in her deci- * 
 
 sions(l). II. It is objected by Usher, that 
 
 what is called St. Patrick's Purgatory was not 
 instituted by the saint of that name. This I 
 readily grant (2); but if he argues from thence, 
 that St. Patrick and the early Christians did not 
 believe in a middle state of souls after death, 
 which may be assisted by the prayers of living 
 Christians, he is guilty of an error both in rea- 
 soning and in fact. It will be seen in this saint's 
 second council, that he forbids the holy sacrifice 
 to be offered up for those persons after their 
 death, who had rendered themselves unworthy to 
 have it offered up for them in their life-time (3). 
 It will not be disputed that the writings of Bede 
 abound with testimonies in favour of prayers for 
 the dead, of purgatory, &c. (4) and it is a fact, 
 
 " derived their knowledge of Christianity for near 8co years from 
 " no other source but the Bible." Memoirs of the Rebellion, p. a. 
 It is not by way of entering into a controversy upon ecclesiastical 
 matters with Sir R. Musgrave that I notice this revolting false- 
 hood, but only by way of shewing Sir Richard's propensity to 
 assert with the utmost confidence facts of which he is totally ig- 
 norant. 
 
 (i) Matt, xviii. 17. 
 
 (2) It was set on foot by an Abbot Patrick several ages later, and 
 was once suppressed by an order ofthe Pope, namely, in 1497.J 
 
 (3) 2 Concil. S. Patricii, cap. 12. Spelman, ConciJ, p. 57. 
 
 (4) Hist 1. iv. c. 23. 1. iii. c. 19.
 
 167 
 
 that he himself, when he came to die, earnestly 
 desired that prayers and masses might be of- 
 
 ferred up for him (1). III. It is said that St. 
 
 Patrick condemned the worship of images. 
 True, he condemned and extirpated the use of 
 pagan idols ; but here is not the shadow of 
 an argument to shew that he deviated from the 
 received doctrine and practice of the Universal 
 Church, with respect to the paying a proper re- 
 verence to the cross of Christ, his image, or the 
 images or relics of the martyrs and saints, or 
 with respect to the pious usage of desiring the 
 saints to offer up prayers for us. At the time 
 "when St. Patrick arrived in Ireland, he saw the 
 cross of Christ exalted \ipon the imperial stand- 
 ards, and he left the great doctors of Christia- 
 nity, a Chrysostome, an Augustine, a Prosper, 
 and a Leo, bearing ample testimony to the piety 
 and utility of all these practices (2). PJe him- 
 self is recorded as bringing over relics into this 
 island (3), as Usher himself acknowledges St. 
 Palladius did before him (4). With respect to 
 our native historian and theologian, Venerable 
 Bede, whom Usher appeals to, he describes St. 
 Augustine of Canterbury preaching the gospel to 
 King Ethelbert, with the cross for an ensign, and 
 
 (0 Cuthbert in Vit. Bed. Act. Bened. torn. iii. 
 (2) Seethe Liturgy of St. Clirysost. Aug. Serm. 25. de Sanctis, 
 Ike. Prosper de Vita Contemplat. c. 4. Leo Serm. deS Vine. 
 \l' Jocelin, cap. 166. 
 4 Primord. p. If 2.
 
 168 
 
 the figure of Christ for an emblem (l) ; he repre- 
 sents the same saint consecrating pagan temple9 
 with holy water and relics (2), and offering up ho- 
 mage to God by the sacrifice of the mass (3). With 
 respect to images in particular, Venerable Bede 
 proves that God did not interdict the total use of 
 them, by his commanding the figures of cheru- 
 bim and oxen to be placed in the temple: " for 
 " certainly,*' he adds, " if it was lawful to make 
 " twelve oxen of brass to support the brazen sea, 
 " it cannot be amiss to paint the twelve apostles 
 
 " gi n g t0 preach to all nations (4)." 'IV. We 
 
 are told that the liturgy of St. Patrick differed 
 from that of the Roman Church. It is not, 
 however, proved to have differed, in the smallest 
 tittle, from that which was followed at Rome 
 when St. Patrick received his mission ; much less 
 is it proved to have deviated in any point which is 
 essential to the nature of the sacraments and sa- 
 crifice of the Church in all ages and countries. 
 That the catholic liturgies of all times and 
 countries have been essentially the same in this 
 respect, is abundantly proved by divines and 
 canonists (5). Nevertheless, it is to be remark- 
 ed, that a certain latitude in mere ceremonies 
 
 (i) Lib. i. c. 25, 
 
 (2) Lib. i. c. 26- 
 
 (3) Lib. i. c. 30. 
 
 (4) De Templo Salom. cap. 19. 
 
 (5) See Explication de la Messe, par Le Brun, Goarius, Mo- 
 rinus, &c.
 
 169 
 
 and particular devotions, has always been allowed 
 to great or national churches, under the regula- 
 tion of their head pastors. St. Gregory per- 
 mitted our apostle, St. Augustine, to adopt any 
 usages of this nature for the infant church of the 
 English, which he might choose to borrow from 
 the French or other catholic nations (l) ; and 
 the court of Home at the present day, so far from 
 requiring the orthodox Greeks, who have col- 
 leges there, to conform to her ritual in these un- 
 essential points, obliges them to adhere to their 
 own. V. It appears that the mass was some- 
 times, in former ages, said by the Irish clergy at 
 night. So it was, in the same ages and on the 
 same occasions, namely, on the eves of certain 
 great festivals, by the clergy of every other 
 catholic country. It is still said by us at mid- 
 night on Christmas night. In the mean time, 
 we learn from Bede, that nine of the clock in the 
 
 morning was the usual time of saying it (<2). 
 
 VI. Bede and Cogitosus speak of " the sacra- 
 " ment of the Lord's body and blood :" -whence 
 it appears that the sacrament was in ancient 
 times administered in both kinds. I answer, 
 that the Catholics use the same language at the 
 present day, though the laity receive the sacra- 
 ment only under one kind ; that the difference 
 of receiving it under one or under both kinds, is 
 a mere point of discipline, which may be, and 
 
 (i) Hist. Eccl. 1. i. c. 27. 
 
 () Hora tertia. Hist. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 12.
 
 J 70 
 
 lias been, changed as the circumstances of time 
 and place required ; and that, nevertheless, the 
 present practice of the Church, in communicat- 
 ing the laity under the form of bread alone, was 
 the practice of our infant English church, as 
 appears from Bede himself(l). In the mean 
 time, we are to. observe that this illustrious doc- 
 tor of the English church, at the beginning of 
 the ninth century, expressly teaches, not only 
 that the mass is a true sacrifice, in which Christ 
 is truly and really present, but also that a true 
 and proper change or TRANSUBSTANTIA- 
 TION of the bread and wine into the body and 
 blood of Christ takes place in it. I will tran- 
 scribe his words in the margin, and I defy the 
 subtilty of the most ingenious controvertist of 
 your acquaintance, to give them any other 
 meaning than that which I have assigned(2). 4 
 
 (i) See the History of the Sons of Sabereth, I. ii. c. 5. 
 
 (2) " Lavat nos (Christus) a peccatis nostris quotidie in sanguine 
 " suo, cum ejusdem beatae passionis memoria ad altare replicatur, 
 *' cum paniset vini creaturain sacramentumcarnis et sanguinis ejus, 
 " ineffabili spiritus sanctificatione TRANSFERTUR : sicque cor- 
 " pus et sanguis illius non infidelium manibus ad perniciem ip- 
 " sorum fundituret occiditur, sed fidelium ore, suam sumitur ad sa- 
 " lutem." Bed. Horn, in Epiph. torn. 7. As the doctrine of the 
 eastern cliurcli is particularly implicated in the present controversy, I 
 shall select, from among scores of other testimonies relating to it, a 
 passage from the catechetical discourses of a holy father who was bi- 
 shop of the primitive church of Jerusalem in the fourth century ; 
 *' The bread and wine of the eucharist, before the invocation of the 
 ** adorable Trinity, were mere bread and wine ; but that invocation 
 41 having taken place, the bread becomes the body of Christ, and the 
 * wine becomes the blood of Christ. Since, then, Christ thus de-
 
 171 
 
 VII. Archbishop Lanfraric complains, that the 
 Irish neglected the use of chrism in baptism, or 
 did not make use of it in a proper manner, and 
 that a single bishop amongst them was accus- 
 tomed to consecrate another bishop, without the 
 presence of two others, as the Council of Nice 
 requires, But what trifling, Sir, is this ! For 
 since it is evident that Lanfranc did not, on this 
 account, deny the validity of the Irish baptisms 
 and orders, and since both Catholics and Pro- 
 testants are agreed that chrism is not essential to 
 baptism, nor the presence of three bishops to con- 
 secration, it is plain that the diversity in question 
 neither was, nor was considered to be, a suffici- 
 ent ground for the rest of the Church to break 
 off communion with the prelates of this island. 
 
 -VIII. In order to prove that the clergy 
 
 were permitted in ancient times to marry, and 
 that therefore the Church then was upon a dif- 
 ferent footing from what it is now, Archbishop 
 Usher mentions that St. Patrick was the son of 
 the deacon Calphurnius, who himself was the 
 son of the priest Potitus. I answer, that if the 
 learned primate had acted fairly hy his readers, 
 he would have informed them that the same au- 
 
 " clares concerning the bread ; THIS IS MY BODY, who can 
 " doubt any longer ? And since he confirms what he said, and de- 
 ' clares, THIS IS MY BLOOD, who will dare to hesitate, and 
 " affirm that it is not his blood r" He once changed water into wine, 
 " which resembles blood, at Cana in Galilee: and is he not worthy 
 " to be believed, when he* says that he changes wine into blood ?" 
 Sec. St. Cyril of Jernsal. Catech. Mystagog. i. See also the Liturgy 
 if St. Basil, and of St. Chrys. in Le Brun, Sec 
 
 7
 
 172 
 
 thor who mentions these particulars concerning 
 St. Patrick's family, expressly tells us that the 
 children of Calphurnius and Potitus were born 
 previously to their father's ordination ( 1 ). 
 
 To prevent being obliged to return again to 
 the same subject, I shall take notice here of some 
 of the extravagant assertions of Dr. Ledwich on 
 the subject of clerical and monastic celibacy. He 
 asserts, that the ancient Irish ascetics, called 
 Culdees, were married (2) ; and he appeals to an 
 authority in support of his assertion. But what, 
 Sir, do you think, is this authority ? It is the 
 bare word of the profligate and deistical writer of 
 the' last century^ Toland ! Such is the " en- 
 " lightened criticism" of this vaunting anti- 
 quary of Ireland ! To be sure, a monastery of 
 3000 monks, as was that of Benchor under St. 
 Comgall (3), with each one a wife and family, 
 was admirably calculated for the observance of 
 those austere rules of obedience, silence, abste- 
 miousness, poverty, &c. which Dr. Ledwich ad- 
 mits them to have practised; having borrowed 
 them, he tells us, not from the Christian monks 
 of Egypt, but from the more ancient heathen 
 priests of Egypt ! So desirous is he of making a 
 
 (0 " Post'quam vero aliquantulum processerant in diebus suis 
 " (Parentes S. Patrkii) faelici generatione completa, communi 
 " consensu, castitati studuerunt, et sancto fine in Domino qui- 
 " everunt. Calphurnius autem prius in Diaconatu diutius Domino 
 " servivit, postremo in Presb'yteratu vitam finivit." Jocelinus Vit. 
 S. Patric. c. i. 
 
 (2) Antiq. p. in. (3) Ibid. p. 90.
 
 173 
 
 confused medley of Christianity and paganism (1)! 
 Three thousand monks in a monastery with their 
 wives and families ! How far will the imposi- 
 tions of some men go, and the credulity of 
 others ! He says, however, that " when it 
 " came to their turn to officiate they did not 
 " cohatnt with their wives ; as by the 28th canon 
 " of the African code, subdeacons, who handle 
 " the holy mysteries, deacons, priests, and bi- 
 " shops are directed, at their several terms, to ab- 
 " stain from their wives : a practice derived from 
 " Egypt to the Jews, and from them adopted by 
 " the Christians. Celibacy was unknown for the 
 " first three hundred years of the Church (2)." 
 What a mass of misrepresentation and falsehood 
 is here heaped together ! In the first place, by 
 Ledwich's own account, the monks in general, 
 and the Culdees in particular, " had no office in 
 " the Church ; even the abbots had not priest- 
 " hood till the 12th century (3)." St. Columba is 
 mentioned as an exception to this rule. Hence 
 their " turn to officiate," according to this au- 
 thor himself, never came round." 2dly, The 
 antiquary most shamefully imposes upon the 
 reader, in what he pretends to quote from the 
 28th canon of the African code. The canon 
 here mentioned has no relation whatever with the 
 matter in question. In the 25th canon, how- 
 ever, of that code, it is thus decreed : " In 
 
 (i) Antiq. p, 90. (2) Ibid, pp. m, 112. (3) Ibid, 
 
 Z2
 
 174 
 
 '.' conformity with what had been established in 
 " former councils, it is <?u* .order that subdea- 
 " cons, deacons, prie^sjiand bishops, shall ab- 
 11 stain from their wives, and be as if they had 
 " none ; and if they act .otherwise, they shah be 
 'i removed from -their, office (!).". in the coun- 
 cil of Nice, held in 38$ .(.-2), the council of 
 Aries, held in 314 (3)j. 9,nd in other councils, it 
 was forbidden to bishops, priests, and deacons, 
 to have any woman, at} all in their houses, except 
 a mother, a sister, or some very near relation. 
 3dty, The writer equally imposes upon those who 
 trust to him, in what he says about the deriva- 
 tion of clerical continency from pagan priests. 
 If those illustrious prelates who framed the 
 African code, Aurelius, St. Augustine, St. Aly- 
 pius, &c. to whose authority he has just now ap- 
 pealed, are to be believed, this observance is de- 
 rived from the apostles (4), Nor does he less aim 
 
 (0 " Placuit, quod in diversis conciliis firmatum est, ut sub-. 
 *' diaconi qui sacra mysteria contrectant et diaconi et presbvteri, sed 
 " etepiscopi, secundum priora statuta, etiaraabuxoribus se conti- 
 *' neant, ut tanquam non habentes videantur esse ; quod nisi fecerint 
 " ab ecclesiastico removeantur officio." Integer Codex Canonum 
 Ecc. Afric. Can. 25. Concil. Labbe, torn. ii. p. 1061. 
 
 (?.\ Nicenl Can. 2. 
 
 (3) 2 Arelat. Can. 3. 
 
 (4) " Cum praeterito concilio de continentia et castitatis mo- 
 " deramine tractaretur, gradus isti tres qui constrictione quadam 
 "castitatis per consecrationes adnexi sunt, episcopos, presbyteros, 
 *' et diaconos, ita complacuit, ut condecet sacros antistites ac Dei 
 ** sacerdotes, nee non et levitas, vel qui sacramentis diviais in. set-
 
 , 175 
 
 at deceiving, when he asserts, that" "celibacy 
 *? was unknown for the first 300 years of the 
 " Church." For does not St. Paul teach that, 
 though he that giveth his virgin in marriage does 
 well, yet that he who giveth her not does bet' 
 ter (1). Does he not intimate that he himself 
 was unmarried ? Is there a single father of the 
 Church, -from the first to the last of them, who 
 has not written in commendation of virgini- 
 ty (2) ? St. Jerome, who flourished in the fourth 
 age, testifies that it was the established rule in 
 the great patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria, 
 and Rome, that is to say, generally speaking, in 
 Asia, Africa, and Europe, to admit no persons 
 into their clergy, but those who either never had 
 been married, or who had renounced the married 
 state (3). With respect to our English church 
 
 " yient, continentes esse in omnibus, quo possintsimpliciterquoda 
 " Domino postulant impetrare ; ut quod upo&toli docuerunt, et ipsa 
 " servavit antiquitas nosquoque custodjanuis." Codex Afric. Can. 3. 
 Eabbe, t. ii. p. 1052. 
 
 (1) i Cor. vii. 38. 
 
 (2) I shall satisfy myself with here mentioning, that the illustriou* 
 doctor and martyr St. Cyprian, in the 3d century, wrote a whole 
 book, as several later fathers wrote others, in commendation of 
 virginity. In the same century, the great Origen declares thus; 
 " Videtur mihi quod illius est soiius orTerre sacrificium iudesinens, 
 " qui indesinenti et perpetuae se voverit castitati." Horn. 23. ia 
 Num. 
 
 (3) " Quid facient orientisecclesise, quid/Egypti et Sedis Apostoli- 
 " cae, quae autvirgines clerics accipiunt aut continentes; aut si uxorea 
 " habuerint mariti esse desistunt." St.IIicron. Epist. adversus Vi- 
 
 .gilant. St. Epiphanius delivers much the same testimony. Expos. 
 iid.Cath.
 
 176 
 
 at the end of the sixth century, we gathei 
 from St. Gregory's permission for the clerks in 
 minor orders to take wives (1), that this was un- 
 lawful for the clergy in holy orders, namely, for 
 bishops, priests, and deacons, agreeably to the 
 well known rule of reasoning (2); and we are 
 justified in inferring the same with respect to 
 the Irish clergy in St. Patrick's time, from the 
 canons in his councils and other authorities (3). 
 
 (0 " Si qui sunt clerici EXTRA SACROS ORDINES constitute 
 *' qui se continere non possunt, sortiri uxores debent et stipendia sua 
 " exterius accipere." Resp. i. St. Greg. St. Aug. Bed. Hist. Ecc 
 1. i, c, 27, 
 
 (2) " Exceptio confirmat regulam," . 
 
 (3) " De Tribus semihibus Evangeliorum, centesimum episcopi 
 " et doctores qui omnibus omnia sunt ; sexagesimum clerici et viduae 
 " quae continentes sunt, trigessimum laici qui fideles sunt, qui per- 
 ' fecte Trinitatem creduRt. His amplius non est in messe Domini, 
 " Monachos vero et virgines, cum centesimis jungimus." Synodus 
 alia S. Patricii, cap. xviii. apud Spelman, p. 58. In his former sy- 
 nod, at which his disciples Auxilius and Iserninus were present, and 
 which is held to be genuine by all the most able critics, our saint 
 decides as follows : " Mortachus et virgo, unus ab hinc et alia ab 
 * aliunde, in uno hospitio non commaneant ; nee in und curru a 
 *' villa in villam discurrant, nee assidue invicem confabulationem 
 
 * c exerceant." Can. ix. Spelman, p. 52. "Virgo quae voverit 
 
 " Deo, permaneat casta, et postea nupseritcarnalem sponsum, ex- 
 *' communionissit, douec convertatur : si conversa fuerit et dimiserit 
 " adulterium, poenitentiam agat, et postea non in una domo nee in 
 ' una villa habitent." Can.xvii. In case our antiquary chooses to de- 
 scend from St. Patrick to his disciples, he will find St. Fintemis, the 
 friend of the great Columba, celebrated by Adamnan, (w hose au- 
 thority he admits.) " Quod a puerili agtate integram carnis et ani. 
 " mae, Deo juvante custodierit," Vit. S. Columbee, c. it.; and he 
 will find St. Columba himself, the father and patron of the Culdees, 
 extolled as " Virgo immaculatus ab omni labe integer," l.ii, c. 18,
 
 177 
 
 But I fear I have tired you with the length of 
 this polemical letter, which, however, I could 
 not shorten, in justice to the important points of 
 antiquarian research of which it treats. For the 
 present, then, 
 
 I remain, &c.
 
 173 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Cashel, July 25, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir 
 
 HL 
 
 AVING undertaken so 
 desperate a cause, as that of proving the religion 
 of St. Patrick and his converts not to have been 
 the Catholic, no wonder Archbishop Usher, with 
 all his talents, should have failed in it; no won- 
 der his adversary F. Malone, having the works of 
 the fathers at his elbow, should have gained so 
 decided a victory over him, and that the perusal 
 of their respective writings should have deter- 
 mined the Archbishop's descendant, the Rev. 
 James Usher, to become a Catholic, as I have 
 related in one of my first letters to you. Soon 
 after this controversy, it became the fashion 
 with protestant disputants, following in this the 
 famous Chillingworth, to make light of the an- 
 cient doctors and councils of the Church, and 
 to appeal to the scriptures alone in every religi- 
 ous controversy ; or rather, as the fact is, to that 
 meaning which every man chooses to put upon 
 the scriptures. The most important, however, 
 of Usher's objections, remains to be examined : 
 he denies that St. Patrick and his disciples ac- 
 knowledged the Pope's spiritual supremacy. If
 
 179 
 
 this be true, undoubtedly their religion was not 
 Catholic ; for it is their union with the succes- 
 sor of St. Peter, as their visible head here upon 
 earth, which does keep, and ever has kept the 
 members of the great Catholic or Universal 
 Church, spread as it is all over the Universe, in 
 one faith and one communion. 
 
 Let us now see how far this objection is con- 
 formable or opposite to historical documents. 
 I shall refer to the Primate himself in his learned 
 works, called De Britannicarum Ecclesiarum 
 Primordiis, and his Index Chronologicus, when I 
 can do so ; because it may save me some little 
 trouble, and because nothing is more satisfactory 
 than an adversary's own confession. In a word, 
 I mean to convict Archbishop Usher, the Con- 
 trovertist, upon the evidence of Archbishop 
 Usher, the Antiquary. The following facts then are 
 admitted and distinctly stated by him, together 
 with the authorities on which they rest, relative 
 to the connection which subsisted in ancient 
 times between the churches of these islands and 
 the See of Rome. 
 
 In the year of Christ 1?6* Lucius, a British 
 prince, being desirous of becoming a Christian, 
 sent messengers to Pope Eleutherius, for this 
 purpose, who dispatched two holy doctors, Faga- 
 nus and Duvianus, by whom he and great part 
 of the Britons were instructed and baptized (1). 
 
 (i) See In'!. Chronol. and the passages there referred to in the 
 Piimord Wherever I quote from another author, I mention his 
 name. 
 
 A a
 
 180 
 
 In 314 the British Bishops of London, York, 
 and Colchester were present with other bi- 
 shops from different provinces at the Council 
 of Aries, in which, among other things, the 
 uniform observance of Easter throughout Chris- 
 tendom was decreed, as likewise that the R6man 
 Pontiff should each year give notice to the rest of 
 the bishops of the day on which it was to be kept. 
 In 325 the General Council of Nice was held, 
 in which the prerogatives of the Holy See were 
 recognized ; as they were more fully at the 
 Council of Sardica in 347. At both councils 
 certain British bishops were present. In 37% 
 St. Ninian, a British bishop, but one who had 
 been instructed in the Christian religion at Rome, 
 converted the Picts in Cumberland, Galloway, 
 &c. (1). In 397 St. Albeus, an Irishman by 
 birth, was consecrated bishop by the Pope, and 
 afterwards returned into Ireland. In 402 two 
 other Irishmen, SS. Declan and Kieran, after 
 studying at Rome, were consecrated bishops by 
 the Pope, and sent to preach the gospel in their 
 own country (2). The same account is given of 
 St. Ibarus, another celebrated Irish bishop. He was 
 sent from Rome to Ireland in the year 420 (3). 
 In 431 Palladius, a deacon of the Roman 
 Church, was consecrated by Pope Celestine bi- 
 shop of the Scots, and sent by him to the Scots of 
 
 (0 Usher cites the words of Bede, Hist. !. iii. c. 4. " Nynia, 
 " qui erat Roma regulariter fidem et mysteria veritatis edoctus." 
 
 (2) Primord. p. 66r. ed. 1639, 
 
 (3) Ibid. p. Sco.
 
 181 
 
 Ireland ; but, being discouraged by the opposi- 
 tion he there met with, he passed over to the 
 British Scots in the Highlands, and is acknow- 
 ledged as their apostle. In 432 St. Patrick, after 
 residing long at Rome, and learning his religion 
 there ( 1 ), is sent to preach the gospel in Ireland 
 by the abovementioned Pope Celestine.-- In 
 434 Secundinus, Auxilius, and Isernus are or- 
 dained bishops, and sent from Rome to the 
 assistance of St. Patrick. In 462 St. Patrick 
 goes to Rome, to give an account of his mission 
 in Ireland, and to obtain from Pope Hilarius a 
 confirmation of what he had settled there. 
 About the latter end of the fifth century, it was 
 the custom of the Irish to go in crowds to Rome 
 upon pilgrimages of devotion (2). In 540 St. 
 Finian of Clonard, the master of so many eminent 
 Irish scholars, was consecrated bishop at Rome. 
 In 580 SS. Columbanus and Gallus pass over to 
 the continent, where they are received by the 
 bishops and princes of France and Italy as 
 illustrious and orthodox doctors of the Catholic 
 faith. In 594 Pope Gregory the Great writes 
 different letters to the bishops of Ireland, in an- 
 swer to questions which they had proposed to him 
 concerning baptism, the Nestorian errors, and 
 other matters. In these he writes in the style of a 
 
 (i) " Patricias Romanis disciplines eruditus." Girald. Cambv 
 cited by Usher. * 
 
 (?) Gerald. Camb. in Vita S. David, quoted by Usher. 
 A a 2
 
 182 
 
 superior td his inferiors (l). In 597 Pope Gre- 
 gory sends St. Augustine, afterwards Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, and other monks from Rome, to 
 convert our pagan ancestors, the English Saxons. 
 He soon after gives him full authority overall the 
 bishops in the British islands (2). In the year 
 609, St. Augustine's successor in the See of Can- 
 terbury, St. Laurence, exercises this authority by 
 writing separately to the Irish and Welsh bishops, 
 exhorting them to conform to the rest of the 
 Church in the observance of Easter (3). In 628 
 the southern Irish are reclaimed from their 
 erroneous practice by Pope Honorius. -In 630 
 a deputation of learned and holy men were sent 
 by fhe bishops of Ireland to " the fountain of their 
 " baptism, like children to their mother (4)," 
 to confer with the Apostolic See concerning the 
 observance ofEaster, and other matters. Amongst 
 these was St Lasrean, who was consecrated 
 bishop by Pope Honorius, and appointed his 
 legate in Ireland (5). In 636 St. Birinus was 
 sent by Pope Honorius to convert the pagan 
 West Saxons and Mercians. In 640 Tomiarius, 
 
 (z) Vide Epistolas S. Grog. 1. ii. ep. 36, et 1. ix. ep. 61. 
 
 (a) " Britanniarum omnes ep'ucopos toae fraternitati committimut, 
 *' at indocti doceantur, in6rmi persuasione roberentur, perversi 
 " auctoritate corrigantur." Bede Hist. 1. i. c 27. - 
 
 (3) Ibid. 1. ii. c. 4. 
 
 (4) See Usher, also Epist. Cummieni in Sylog. and an abstract of 
 it in Ware's Writers of Ireland. Art. Cummienus. 
 
 (5) This is expressly stated by Usher, Primord. p. 938.
 
 183 
 
 Archbishop of Armagh and other Irish prelates, 
 still anxious about the right observance of Easter, 
 write to consult Pope Severinus, and receive ail 
 answer to their letter from his successor Pope 
 John. In 648 St. Foillan, an Irish ecclesiastic, 
 goes to receive episcopal consecration from Pope 
 Martin, with authority to preach the faith 
 amongst infidels. In 686 St. Kiilian, an Irish 
 bishop, goes to Rome on the same errand.-^- 
 About this time, and during a long time after, 
 England continued to be supplied with bishops 
 and learned doctors from Ireland, who differed 
 in nothing from the Roman missionaries, except 
 as to the time of keeping Easter, and the form of 
 their clerical tonsures. In 680 St. Wilfrid, Arch- 
 bishop of York, assisted at the first great La- 
 teran Council of 125 bishops under Pope Agatho, 
 in which he bore testimony to the orthodoxy of 
 the Churches of Ireland, as well as of Britain(l). 
 In the eighth and ninth centuries the Irish 
 continued to flock to the continent more than 
 ever (2), where they were received, not only as 
 brethren, but also as masters, by the most zealous 
 partisans of the See of Rome, such as St. Boni- 
 face, Archbishop of Mentz, and Pepin, King of 
 France. One of these, St. Virgil, Bishop of 
 
 (i) " Wilfridus pro omni aquilonari parte Britanniae etHyberniae, 
 " insulis, quae ab Anglorufn et Britonum, nee non Scotorum. et 
 " Pictorum gentibus incoluntur veram et Catholicam (idem con. 
 " fessus est, et conscriptioue sua corroberavit." Bede Hist. 1. v. 
 
 c. jo. 
 
 (2) This appears by the testimony of Erric of A uxerre, quoted 
 above in my second letter.
 
 184 
 
 Salsburg, who died in 784, having, at different 
 times, certain controversies with his metropoli- 
 tan, the above-mentioned St. Boniface, the de- 
 cision of them was, in every instance, referred 
 to the Pope (l). At the beginning of the ninth 
 century, Dungal, an Irish doctor, wrote a book, 
 which he dedicated to the Emperor Lotharius, in 
 defence of the cross and pious images, against 
 the innovator Claude, Bishop of Turin (2) ; and 
 at the end of this century, those three hardy 
 scholars mentioned in a former letter came over 
 from Ireland, to the pious and learned King Al- 
 fred, in a boat made of two bullocks hides and a 
 half. Their business, after staying some time with 
 Alfred, was to perform a journey of devotion to 
 Rome (3). At this time, it was the practice for 
 metropolitans to take an oath of canonical obe- 
 dience to the Pope, as it was the practice of other 
 bishops to take such an oath to them (4). Hence, 
 as the Archbishop of Canterbury, ever since the 
 commission of St. Gregory the Great to St. 
 Augustine, had legatine jurisdiction in Ireland, 
 so we find the Irish prelates taking such an 
 oath to the English primates in the eleventh cen- 
 tury (5). I now, meet with another anecdote 
 
 (0 Ware's Descript. &c. 
 " (2) Ibid. 
 
 (3) Chron. Sax. Ethelward. 
 
 (4) Vide De Marca Concordan. Sacerd. et Imper. Thomassin, de 
 Discip. Van Espen. Jus. Canon, &c. 
 
 (5) See one of these made by Patrick, the other by Donatus, 
 successively Archbishops of Dublin, to Lanfranc, Archbishop of
 
 185 
 
 to my purpose* in Usher's own lucubrations.- 
 In 1096 the people of Waterford, being .desirous 
 of having a bishopfor that nourishing city, applied 
 for this purpose to St. Anselm, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, being iheLegatus Natus, as canonists 
 express it, of all the British islands (l). The 
 same primate understanding that Samuel, Arch- 
 bishop of Dublin, caused the cross to be borne 
 before him, in the same manner as if he had been 
 possessed of legatine jurisdiction, reprehended 
 him in the terms which are to be seen below (2). 
 The inconvenience of a whole national Church 
 being subject to a foreign legate of the Holy 
 See was deeply felt in Ireland. Accordingly in 1130, 
 the Irish succeeded in getting Gilbert, Bishop 
 of Limerick, a pious and learned man, appointed 
 by -the Pope his special legate for Ireland (3), 
 He was succeeded in this office by the celebrated 
 St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh (4), the 
 
 Canterbury, Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. So. The following is an ex- 
 tract from the former. " Ego Patricius ad regendam Dublinam, 
 " Metropolem Iliberniae, electus, tibi Rev. Pater Lanfrance Britan- 
 " niarum Primus, et S. Dorobemer.sis Ecclesiae Archiepiscope, 
 " profasionis meae chartam porrigo ; meque tibi, tuisque successo- 
 " ribus in omnibus quae ad Christianam religionem pertinent ob- 
 *' temperaturum esse promitto." 
 
 r Index Chron. ad dictum Ann et Primord. See also Eadmer. 
 II -t. Novorum, c. y->. 
 
 ii) " Practerea aujivi quia facis portari crucem ante te in via. 
 " Quod si verum est, mando tibi ne amplius hoc facias: quia non 
 " pertinet nisi ad Archiepiscopum a Romano Pontifice pallio con- 
 " firmatum." Epist. Anselm, I. iii. ep. 72. 1. iv. ep. 27. 
 
 l : >) Usher Ind. ad diet. Ann et Primord. 
 
 .-1) S. B -rnard de Vim S. Malach. c. x.
 
 186 
 
 friend of the great St. Bernard, vho was the light 
 and ornament of the 12th century (l). It is 
 particularly recorded of St. Malachy, that he 
 regulated all ecclesiastical affairs " according to 
 "the apostolical sanctions, the decrees of the 
 " fathers, and the customs of the Holy Roman 
 " Church (2)." One of his most important regu- 
 lations, in quality of legate, was the establishment 
 of a new metropolitical see, which seems to have 
 been that of Tuam. Being anxious to have his acts 
 confirmed by the apostolic see, and also to obtain 
 the important privilege of the Pallium for his 
 own see and this new creation, by means of which 
 they would be graced with an inherent and per- 
 manent authority and dignity (3), he went to 
 Rome about the year 1140, where he easily ob- 
 tained whatever else he asked for, biUt was told 
 
 (i) It may not be improper to shew what were the sentiments of 
 this illustrious doctor (whose merit is acknowledged by Luther him- 
 self) concerning the general spiritual supremacy of the Pope, as these 
 undoubtedly were in unison with the doctrine of the Church in 
 general. Writing to Pope Eugenius III. he says: " Tu es cui 
 " Claves traditsc, cui oves creditae sunt. Sunt quidem et alii coeli 
 " janitores, et gregum pastores; sed tu tanto gloriosius quanto et 
 " differentius utrumque pro ceteris nomen hsersditasti. Habent 
 " iili sibi assignatos greges, singuli singulos: tibi universi crediti, 
 " nni unusj nee modo ovium sed et Pasiorum ; tu unus omnium 
 " Pastor." S. Bernard. De Consideratione Ad Eugen. P. lib. ii. 
 c. 6. 
 
 (2) Bern, in Vit. Mai. c. ill. 
 
 (3). " Visum sibi (Malachae) non tute satis actitari ista absque 
 " sedis Apostolicse auctoritate; et Romam proficisci deliberat: 
 " maximequod Metropolicac sedi deerat adhuc, etdefuerat> abinitio 
 " palii usus, quod est plenitudo honoris." S. Bern. Vita Mai. 
 
 C. XV.
 
 187 
 
 that the use of the Pallium was an affair which 
 demanded mature consideration (1), as involving 
 the rights not only of the other Irish sees, but also 
 those of trje see of Canterbury. At length, in the 
 year 1151, the Cardinal John Papario was sent 
 by Pope Eugenius III. as every one has heard, 
 to convey four palls to the four archiepiscopal 
 sees of Ireland : by which act artful contro- 
 vertists have represented, and ignorant readers 
 have believed, that the Church of Ireland be- 
 came, for the first time, subject to the see of 
 Rome ; whereas, in fact, it was barely an ex- 
 emption of it from the legatine jurisdiction of 
 the see of Canterbury, and the assumption of it 
 into the immediate protection of the Apostolic 
 See. This was considered, at the time when it 
 took place, not as a subjection, but an eman- 
 cipation. 
 
 Here, Sir, is a chain of facts, the greater part 
 of them being recorded by Usher himself, which 
 carry up the acknowledgement of the Pope's 
 spiritual supremacy in Ireland from the middle 
 of the 12th century (the pretended sera of its 
 commencement) clearly up to the first prelates 
 of Ireland at the end of the fourth century. I 
 could strengthen this chain by adding many 
 collateral links to it, if it were not already suffi- 
 ciently strong; I shall, therefore, satisfy myself 
 
 ':' " Et confirmationis quiclem privilcg'nim (Malacliias) mox 
 ' accepit: dr paliis autem, ait Summus Ponlitex, opportet solem- 
 " u.;:- i;n." Ibid. C. xv . 
 
 r>b
 
 188 
 
 with calling your attention to two observations 
 on the facts I have stated. First, supposing the 
 object of Cardinal Papario's embassy in 1151, 
 had been to enslave the Church of Ireland to the 
 see of Rome, as fraudulent or superficial theo- 
 logues represent, is it not rational to suppose that 
 some of the Irish prelates, princes, or people, 
 would have opposed the measure ? We know how 
 long and how stoutly their predecessors resisted 
 the arguments and authority of different Popes, 
 who wished to make them conform to the right 
 time of keeping Easter. Yet there was no op- 
 position to the reception of the palls brought by 
 the above-named Cardinal, nor were any mur- 
 murs heard on the occasion, except a few in 
 England, from the partizans of the see of Canter- 
 bury (!)> which then lost a jewel from its metro- 
 political mitre. The papal legate, Cardinal Pa- 
 pario, appears to have been as well received in 
 Ireland, as the former legates, St. Malachy, 
 Gilbert, and St. Lasrean had been. In the 
 second place, Sir, you will be pleased to pay atten- 
 tion to the number of learned and devout Irish 
 scholars, who, during the several ages in question, 
 spread themselves over our island, and the whole 
 continent of Europe, not excepting Italy itselfj 
 as I have shewn in one of my former letters. 
 Now can it be supposed, that these would have 
 been hospitably received, and placed at the head 
 of monasteries and colleges, as they generally 
 
 (0 Sec Roger Hoveden, cited below.
 
 189 
 
 were, if they had differed from the great body 
 of Christians in any essential point, particularly 
 in the leading one regarding the Pope's supre- 
 macy ? Common sense rev.olts at the idea. But, 
 says Dr. Ledwich, who on this point makes com- 
 mon cause with Usher : we have proofs that one of 
 the most celebrated Irish scholars and saints of his 
 age, the abbot Columbanus, "charged Pope Boni- 
 " face III. with heresy, and suspected his Church 
 "to be in error. 1 In another letter he en- 
 " treated to be permitted to retain his national 
 
 "customs. But clerical resentment is not 
 
 " soon appeased : our missioner was expelled his 
 " abbey : after which he returned to Bohbio, in 
 " Italy, and erected a monastery there (i)." In 
 this account Dr. Ledwich imposes numerous and 
 gross errors upon the public. The fact is, St. 
 Columbanus, being shut up in his monastic soli- 
 tude, had been totally misinformed concerning the 
 famous question of the Three Chapters, and of 
 the second Council of Constantinople, in which 
 this question had been decided ; as likewise con- 
 cerning the conduct of the deceased Pope Vigi- 
 lius, who, he had been led to believe, encouraged 
 Nestorianism. Hence he exhorted the reigning 
 Pope to clear himself and his see from these im- 
 putations, by a clear exposition of his faith 'an 
 advice perfectly consistent with the submission 
 due from an inferior to his superior. So far, 
 however, from breaking communion with the 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 552. 
 
 BbU
 
 190 
 
 Church of Rome, or accusing it of heresy, this 
 holy solitary expressly declared, in the very 
 letter referred to, that " there is no other faith 
 *' but that of the Roman Church; that this 
 " Church never espoused the cause of any heretic ; 
 " and that hehimself continues indi visibly attached 
 " to the Chair of St. Peter (l)." Other less im- 
 portant errors, which Dr. Ledwich is guilty of 
 in the above quoted passage, are the following. 
 The letter was not addressed to Boniface III. but 
 to Boniface IV. (2). It was not in this, but in 
 a former letter to the Pope, that Columban re- 
 quested to be left to his national observance of 
 Easter : a singular petition this, from a pious 
 abbot to an heretical prelate, with whom he is 
 supposed to break off communion ! This letter 
 in question was not written from Luxieu in 
 Burgundy, but from Bobbio, in Italy (3). St. 
 Columban was not expelled from Luxieu, in con- 
 sequence of the freedom of his letter to the Pope, 
 or of any other kind of " clerical resentment(4) ;" 
 but in consequence of the resentment of a libi- 
 dinous King, Theodoric, and an ambitious Prin- . 
 cess, Brunehault, whose crimes he was obliged 
 to reprove (5). * 
 
 fi) BibUotheca Patrum, torn. xii. 
 
 (a) Dom. Cellier. Hist, des Auteurs Sacr. torn. xvii. p. 489. 
 
 f 3 ) Ibid. 
 
 (4) I hope the Rev. Dr. L. will not manifest any of this " clerical 
 *' resentment," at the present exposure of his numerous and gross 
 errors. 
 
 (5) Mabillon Annal. Bened- 1. ii.
 
 191 
 
 Our present antiquary, on various occasions, 
 shews the greatest earnestness to derive the religion 
 of his native island, from oriental, rather than from 
 Roman missionaries. But if he had any proofs, 
 or plausihle arguments, which he has not, that 
 the facts were as he wished it to be, this would not 
 help his cause : in as much as the Greek and the 
 Latin churches professed and maintained an unity 
 of faith and ecclesiastical government (the most 
 essential part of which was the spiritual supre- 
 macy of the See of Rome) during all the ages in 
 question ; namely, from the beginning of the 
 Church, down to the great oriental schism, in the 
 year 866. Hence the most illustrious oriental 
 prelates and patriarchs, as St. Athanasius of 
 Alexandria, SS. Chrysostom, Flavian, and Igna- 
 tius of Constantinople, &c. appealed to the Bi- 
 shop of Rome for the time being, as to the ac- 
 knowledged head of the Univeral Church, against 
 the injuries they received from other prelates, in 
 conformity with the canons of the General 
 Council of Sardica referred to above (l); and, 
 by so doing, they met with the redress they 
 sought for. What man of learning can now look, 
 without indignation, upon the following passage 
 of Dr. Ledwich's book, in which, endeavouring 
 to prove a religious conformity, in the second 
 century, between the churches of these islands 
 and those of Asia, and their common opposition to 
 that of Rome, he writes thus concerning St. 
 
 (i) Can. iii. and Can. viii.
 
 19% 
 
 Irenxus, who was a Greek by birth, and had 
 conversed with St. Polycarp, the disciple of St. 
 John the Evangelist, but who then was Bishop of 
 Lyons in France : " Irena3us, in the second cen- 
 " tury, loudly complains of Roman innovations, 
 " that the schismatics at Rome had corrupted the 
 *' sincere law of the Church, which led to the 
 " greatest impieties. These opinions," adds he, 
 " the Presbyters who lived before our times, who 
 " were also the disciples of the apostles, did in no 
 11 wise deliver. I who saw and heard the blessed 
 " Polycarp, am able to protest in the presence of 
 *' God, that if that apostolic presbyter had heard 
 " these things, he would have stopped his ears, 
 " and cried out, according to his custom : Good 
 " God ! for what times hast thou reserved me, 
 * l that I should suffer such things. He would 
 " have fled from the place where he was sitting 
 " or standing, should he have heard these 
 " things (1)." 
 
 To say nothing of the alterations and mutila- 
 tions^), which Dr. Ledwich is guilty of in trans- 
 lating this passage from the Greek, I affirm that 
 he here knowingly and deliberately imposes upon 
 the public, in a point of the utmost importance. 
 For he saw plainly that what Eusebius quotes 
 from the work of St. Irenseus, now lost, does not 
 
 <i.) Antiq. p. 56, and in Index. 
 
 (2) Amongst other omissions Dr. L. suppresses the circumstance 
 that Florinus, the innovator in question, was himself an Asiatic 
 priesi.
 
 193 
 
 regard the Church of Rome itself, but certain 
 schismatics called Blastus and Florinus, who were 
 cut off from its communion, and degraded from 
 the priestly office (l), on account of their errors. 
 The former taught, amongst other errors, that of 
 the Quartodecimans concerning the time of keep- 
 ing Easter(2), which error Dr. Ledwichso frequent- 
 ly preconizes ; the latter was a Valentinian here- 
 tic, and a precursor of Manes, in denying that 
 God created whatever evil there is found in the 
 world (3). It was against the latter innovator, 
 that St. Irenaeus exerted himself with so much 
 force, reminding him of the time, when they 
 were joint hearers of the holy Bishop of Symrna, 
 St. Polycarp, and affirming that if the master of 
 the latter, St. John the Evangelist, were alive, 
 and heard such doctrines as Florinus taught, he 
 would express his indignation against them in 
 the terms above quoted (4). As to the Church 
 itself of Rome, so far from representing it as 
 schismatical, St. Irenasus, as Eusebius himself 
 testifies, openly exhibits it as the standard of 
 truth, and the depository of apostolical tradi- 
 tions ; enumerating for that purpose, the suc- 
 cession of its bishops, from St. Peter down to 
 
 ( 1 ) Qlvfivcg Tp c -v;D'jr5p^u tvjt ewl'/isi'aq favxeg&v. Euseb. Fee!. 
 Hist. 1. v. c. 15. Tertul. Praescrip. c. 5;. 
 
 (2) Tertul. Prccscrip. c 53. 
 
 U) Ftisfb. keel. Hist. !. v. c. 2-. 
 
 .; Ilvl.
 
 lf)4 
 
 his contemporary Pope, St. Eleutherius (1), 
 the same who sent missionaries for the conver 
 sion of Lucius and his British subjects (2). The 
 passage quoted by Eusebius, and here referred 
 to, is taken from a work of St. Irenscus still in 
 existence (3), in which this celebrated Greek doc- 
 tor, the ornament of the second century, says 
 many things still more energetic(4), in defence of 
 tradition, of the authority of the Church and of 
 the apostolic See. It is possible Dr. Ledwich 
 may not have seen this well-known work of St. 
 Irenreus, but he must have been perfectly con- 
 scious he was shamefully misrepresenting this 
 father's meaning, in the passage which he quoted 
 from Eusebius, because he had this under his 
 eye when he wrote. 
 
 With respect to the bestowing of palls by Car- 
 dinal Papario in the name of Pope Eugenius III. 
 A. D. 1151, upon which Dr. Ledwich and other 
 writers so much harp, it was not, in fact, nor 
 was it considered as any subjection of the Church 
 of Ireland to that of Rome. On the contrary, 
 it was a dignity and an immunity from foreign 
 
 (1) Tfl xvryi rx^si (ruiy ivi pw/r^? eTtenorcSauvTajv) hui tvj 
 uvtv, fotixxft, v) re xzo tv xtogtq\uv ev rS\ zv.YLkv\p(a. nctpxhaig, 
 'Aui to 7% xkvficicu; v/fvyjMx xxtv]vtv}c-v iig v^xg. Ibid. C. vi. 
 
 (2) Bede Eccl. II ht. !. i.e. 4, &c. 
 
 (3) Contra H seres. 
 
 (4) "Adhanc eccie^iam (Romanam) PROPTER POTIOREM 
 " PRINCIPALITATEM neccsse est omnem convenire ecciesiam,'* 
 Sire. Contra litres. 1. iii.c. >,.
 
 195 
 
 jurisdiction conferred upon it; in as much as 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the time being* 
 had claimed a legatine jurisdiction over Ireland, 
 ever since the time of St. Augustine( 1 ), by virtue 
 of the authority " over all the Britains(2)," con- 
 ferred upon him and his successors by St. Gre- 
 gory. Accordingly the Irish prelates, and St. 
 Malachy in particular, as I have shewn, had 
 earnestly solicited the court of Rome, to send 
 palls to the Church of Ireland, in proof of her 
 immediate dependance on the See Apostolic. 
 
 I come now to consider the system which is 
 peculiar to Dr. Ledwich on the present subject. 
 In fact it is such as never did enter, and is never 
 likely to enter, into the conception of any other 
 man of letters whomsoever. Having vainly at- 
 tempted to give an Asiatic origin to the Chris- 
 tianity of Ireland, totally unconnected with, 
 and in direct opposition to the Christianity 
 which prevailed at Rome, in England, and other 
 places ; he endeavours to shew a continuation of 
 this newly discovered religion down to the 12th 
 
 (i) Bede says of St. Laurence, successor of St. Augustine of Can- 
 terbury ; " Noa solum novae, quxde An^lis erat collecta, ecclcsiae 
 " curam gerebat, sed et veterum Britannia; incolarum, necnon et 
 " Scotorum,qui Ilibemiam incoluut, populis, pastoralem impendere 
 *' solicitudinem curabat," 1. ii.^c. 2. Hence when the four palls 
 were granted to the Irish metropolitans, Roger Hoveden complains 
 thus : " Hoc factum est contra antiquam consuetudinem et di^- 
 " nitatem Cantuariensis ecclesiae." Hoveuen ad an. 1 1 5 1. 
 
 (,2) " Britanniarum omnes episcopos ture fraternuati committi- 
 " nius." Bed. 1. 1. c. 27. By Britannia, in the Plural, Polybius and 
 P olomy understand bo' . the sister islands 
 
 C c
 
 196 
 
 century (l), amongst an order of pious monks, 
 called Culdees. He tells us, that their founder 
 St. Columba (2) was a quartodeciman (3) ; that 
 " they did not adopt the corruptions of the 
 " Anglo-Saxon church, or the superstitions 
 " which contaminated Christianity (4) ;" that 
 " they adhered to the ancient faith, and abhorred 
 " Roman innovations ( 5);" that "Cummian, a 
 " Culdee, apostatized and listened to Roman 
 " emissaries(6) ;" that " at length Adamnan, the 
 " Culdean' abbot of Hy, likewise apostatized (7)-" 
 These are the few, among the many glaring errors, 
 which this " cultivator and destroyer of anti- 
 " quity," as I have elsewhere called him, has 
 fallen into in speaking of the Culdees. 
 
 In the first place, these Colidei, or Ivor'' 
 shippers of God, were not a distinct order of 
 monks founded by St. Columba, and confined 
 to the island of Hy ; but this was a general 
 name for all the ancient Scotch and Irish monks, 
 or rather canons regular, as we are assured by 
 unquestionable authority ( 8).- 2dly, St. Columba 
 and his monks of Hy, were not quartodecimans, 
 
 (i) Antiq. p. 96. (2) Ibid. p. 103. (3) Ibid. p. 127. 
 (4) P. ibid. (5) P. 100. (6) P. 108. 
 
 (7) P.m. 
 
 (8) G'ualdus calls them " Caelibes, quos Caelicolas vel Coli- 
 " deos vocant." Topograph. Hib. dist. ii. c. 4. Hector Boetius, 
 lib. vi. Hist. Scot, says, that the name became so common, that 
 priests in general, almost down to his own time, were called 
 " Culdei," that is to say, " Cultores Dei."
 
 197 
 
 if Bede, who knew them so well, may be credited 
 in what he affirms concerning them(l). 3dly, 
 The Culdees had no other faith, or ecclesiastical 
 discipline, except as to the mode of computing the 
 festivals of Easter, than the English church, and ail 
 the other churches of the same ages had. For does 
 Dr. Ledwich himself believe, that, if they had 
 denied the real presence of Christ in the blessed 
 Eucharist, or the utility of praying for the dead, 
 or of desiring the prayers of the saints, or the 
 Pope's supremacy, or had even rejected the use 
 of pious pictures in their churches, or of holy 
 water, and such like things, which we are sure 
 the English Saxons adopted, they would have 
 been invited to join with the Roman missionaries, 
 in forming our infant church, in educating its 
 youth, and in governing it in quality of bishops ? 
 Would their virtues have been so highly extolled 
 by Bede, and the Catholic hagiographers in gene- 
 ral, as they are, and would the names of their 
 saints be inscribed upon the churches, and in the 
 martyrologie's of Home, and of ail the Catholics 
 of Christendom ? 4thly, It is evident, that what 
 Dr. Ledwich writes concerning the ancient reli- 
 gion and Roman innovations, ought to be in- 
 verted : for nothing is more certain, than 
 
 (0 " Quern tamen (Diem Paschse) non semper in lima quarta- 
 " decima, cum JudEcis, ut quidum rebantur, sed in die quidem Do- 
 " miniea, alia tamen quiiu decebat hebdumada, celebrabant. 1 ' 
 Kfcles. Hist. 1. iii. c 4. 
 
 C c2
 
 189 
 
 that the ancient British prelates originally 
 followed the practice of Rome and the 
 other churches, with respect to the time of 
 keeping Easter, as well as in other particulars ; 
 and that the error which they and the Irish 
 prelates fell into upon this point was an innova- 
 tion, comparatively of a late date. Of this we 
 have positive pooofs : for the chief bishops of 
 the British church were present at, and subscribed 
 to the Council of Aries, as I observed to you 
 before ; the very first canon of which appoints 
 the time of Easter to be kept on the same day 
 throughout the world, and that the Pope should 
 give general notice of that day (l). 
 
 This canon was confirmed in the oecumenical 
 council of Nice, and the Emperor Constantine 
 wrote a circular letter to all the churches of the 
 christian world, informing them of what had 
 been decreed in that particular, and exhorting 
 the several bishops to subscribe to it (2). In this 
 letter he testifies, that our British provinces were 
 amongst those which agreed, as to the time of 
 celebrating Easter, with Rome and the remainder 
 of the West, as also with the South, the North, 
 
 (0 " Breviarium Epistolae Domino Sancti9simo Fratri Silvestro 
 ** Marinus vel Coetus Episcoporum qui adunati fuerunt in oppido 
 
 " Arelatensi Quid decrevimus communi concilio caritati tuse 
 
 " significavimus, ut omnes sciant quid in futurum observare de- 
 " beant. Can. i. Primo loco de observatione Paschae Dominici 
 " ut unodie et uno tempore, per omnem orbem a nobis observetur; 
 ** et, juxta consuetudinem, literas d omnes tu dirigas." Labbe, 
 Couci!. torn. i. 
 
 (2) Euseb. on Vit. Constant, 2. iii. c. 17.
 
 199 
 
 and a great part of the East (l) ; in opposition 
 to a certain part of the East, namely, Syria 
 and Mesopotamia. It is evident, then, that the 
 observance of the British churches was conform- 
 able to that of Rome in this particular, at least 
 down to the year 325, when the aforesaid letter 
 Avas written ; and there cannot be a doubt, that 
 they continued in the same observance, as long 
 as the Pope, agreeably to the ancient custom, / 
 and the decree of the council of Aries (2), had a 
 facility of writing to them, and giving them 
 notice of the right day of keeping Easter ; that 
 is to say, until the Britons were crushed by the 
 Saxons, and driven into the mountains of Wales 
 and Cornwall. This catastrophe was complete 
 about the year 500 ; at which time we may sup- 
 pose that, attempting to calculate the vernal 
 equinox, and the time of the moon, for them- 
 selves, instead of receiving the calculations of 
 Rome and Alexandria (3), they fell, not indeed 
 into the practice of the Jews and Quartodecimans, 
 which consisted in keeping the Pasch on the 
 14th day of the moon next after the vernal equi- 
 
 ( 1 ) ct(> I'av xuTot, T'/,v tEv fafiai'M noXtv rs nut atyi'/.v l v, 
 irufa'uv re ukuguv, dtymrov, czwjiav, yuKhizg, fyeTTUViug, 
 KtjkixSt ohy t v khlNa.]?., ccaavdiv r; h6iy.v\giv,%ovriKy l v ts y.ui yj?j',uuv t 
 fxiu, cj/x^iivaj OvKccttstcci yvwfJAQ. Euseb. Vit. Cons. 1. hi. c. 19. 
 
 (2) Can. i. 
 
 (3) St. Leo testifies that the calculation was made at Alexandria, 
 (which city was famous for astronomical studies) ami being notified 
 to the Pope, was by him promulgated throngho:t Christoiid .
 
 200 
 
 nox, whatever day of the week that happened 
 to he, but into a peculiar error of their own, 
 by keeping Easter on the 14th day when it fell 
 upon a Sunday ; whereas the churches on the 
 continent, in this case, waited till the ensuing 
 Sunday. This erroneous calculation the British 
 prelates seem to have communicated to those 
 of Ireland and Scotland. The error in question, 
 though attended with great inconveniences (l), 
 yet not being formally condemned by the 
 Church, like that of the Quartodecimans, was 
 tolerated by the Roman See and the prelates in 
 communion with it, until the Christians of these 
 islands becoming sensible of it, gradually re- 
 linquished it. Now this rectifying of an 
 
 acknowledged error, Dr. Ledwich . repeatedly 
 terms apostacy. But to what system did the 
 British churches apostatize ? To that which was 
 common to all Christians except themselves ; to 
 that which their fathers had followed, and sub- 
 scribed to in a great council ; in short, to that 
 which Dr. Ledwich himself, with all those of his 
 communion, adopt at the present day ! See, 
 Sir, into what disorders and contradictions this 
 bewildered antiquary has plunged, in order to 
 
 (i) Venerable Bede furnishes us with a striking instance of this 
 inconvenience with respect to KingOswv, who followed the British 
 computation, and his Queen Eanfeld, who adopted that of the con- 
 tinent. It happened on one occasion, that the King was celebrating 
 his Easter with Halleluiahs and flesh meat, while the Queen was be. 
 ginning her Holy Week with lamentations and fasting, L. iii, c. 25.
 
 103 
 
 prove that Catholicity was not the ancient reli- 
 gion of Ireland ! 
 
 I have run to this length upon a controversy, 
 comparatively trivial ; because I could not more 
 briefly dispel the mist in which Dr. Ledwich has 
 involved it, for the sake of misrepresenting one 
 of the most important subjects of Irish antiquity, 
 the ancient religion of the island. 
 
 I am, &c.
 
 2lW 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 
 Cork, July 27,, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 lVlY road from Cashel to this city 
 led me through Cahir, Baliporeen, and Fermoy. 
 The last mentioned town is a new creation, hav- 
 ing stferted up, all at once, at the command of 
 its proprietor, Mr. Anderson. It is pleasantly 
 situated on the banks of the Blackwater River, 
 over which a firm and elegant stone bridge is 
 thrown. The town itself being uniformly built of 
 neat houses of stone, overcast with a white 
 composition, and the streets standing in parallel 
 and perpendicular lines, being also well paved, 
 and kept exceedingly clean, few, if any towns 
 of the same size in England, can be compared 
 with it in exterior beailty. With respect, how- 1 
 ever, to the face of the country in general, 
 speaking of it as far as I have yet seen it, I can- 
 not agree with a late able writer, that Ireland is 
 " the fairest island in the world (l);" while her 
 elder sister stands by her side. This I am sure 
 of, that I have not yet seen in Ireland such a 
 
 (0 See Parnell's Historical Apology for the Irish Catholics, 
 p. 107.
 
 203 
 
 garden as the vale of Evesham, such hills and 
 dales as those of Derbyshire and South Wales, 
 nor such forest scenery as that of Windsor or the 
 New Forest. True it is, this country appears to 
 a disadvantage, in consequence of its relative po- 
 verty and unsettled state, which cannot but 
 have proved unfavourable to the planting of 
 hedges, trees, and woods ; as likewise to the 
 building of neat villages, elegant churches, and 
 comfortable farm-houses, with the other numer- 
 ous ornaments and conveniencies to be met with 
 in every well inhabited part of England. I may 
 add that, as far as I am able to judge, the soil 
 and climate of this island, though perhaps better 
 adapted to pasturage, are not so favourable to the 
 growth of large timber trees and wheat corn, nor 
 to the ripening of fruit, as those under the same 
 parallels of latitude in our own. 
 
 As I approached, however, to the city of Cork, 
 I found the country surprisingly improve in all 
 these respects, till reaching the Vale of Glanmire, 
 by what is called the lower road, I was quite en- 
 chanted with the beauties, natural and artificial, 
 of the scenery which opened to my view ; parti- 
 cularly with the grand expanse of water in the 
 center of it, skirted, as it is on each side, with 
 verdant meadows, and enclosed by lofty hills, 
 A\hose groves, on the tops of them, seem to reach 
 the clouds. But this view was only a foretaste 
 of the delight which I experienced, when I beheld 
 this sheet of water disemboguing itself into the 
 grand estuary of Cork. As my eye wandered up 
 
 1) (1
 
 204- 
 
 and down the delightful scene, surveying by 
 turns the majestic tide, covered with ships and 
 boats, moving in various directions ; the aspiring 
 hills and rocks, crowned with elegant villas and 
 plantations ; and the magnificent city itself, with 
 the back ground of vast mountains ; I concluded 
 in my mind, that neither the Severn at Chepstow, 
 nor the sea at Southampton, were to be compared 
 with it. 
 
 The Tenowned emporium of Cork owes its 
 foundation to St. Finbar, its first bishop, and his 
 disciple St. Nessan ; who, about the end of the 
 sixth century, established a school there, which 
 soon became exceedingly celebrated and numer- 
 ous. By this means a hollow marsh, as the name 
 Cork implies (l), soon grew up to be a bishop's 
 see, and a flourishing city. It is still remarkable 
 for the numerous well regulated schools it 
 contains, for instructing the youth of both sexes, 
 especially the poor, in the several branches of 
 literature proper for them, and chiefly in the re- 
 ligious doctrine and morality .originally taught 
 here by St. Finbar. Indeed, no pains are spared 
 /or this purpose, by the bishops and priests in 
 every part of Ireland which I have visited ; and I 
 confidently assert, that a more glaring and 
 calumnious falsehood never was published against 
 any set of men, than that which is constantly 
 propagated in England, against the Irish Ca- 
 tholic Clergy, that they keep the lower order of 
 
 (i) Corcach.
 
 205 
 
 the people uninstructed, in order to attach it more 
 firmly to themselves and their religion, under an 
 idea that ignorance is the mother of devotion. 
 
 This very morning, Sir, I have visited a ca- 
 tholic school, formed upon Mr. Lancaster's plan, 
 For the education of poor boys ; and I could not 
 but admire the method by which two hundred 
 children are taught to read, write, and cast ac- 
 counts, together with their christian duty, un- 
 der one master, and that in less time, than a tenth 
 part of their number could acquire equal learning 
 by the ordinary method. A large school is now 
 preparing for this establishment, when the 200 
 boys will be augmented to 600. There are 
 other schools in the city, at which from 600 to 
 700 poor catholic boys are educated, by means 
 of a subscription amongst the bishop, clergy, gen- 
 try, and opulent tradesmen of their communion. 
 In other parts of Ireland, where there are few or. 
 no Catholics of these descriptions, I found that 
 the poor-schools were supported by the pence and 
 half-pence collected, for this purpose, every 
 week by the parish priest. 
 
 Tor the education of poor girls, there are two 
 houses in different parts of the city, of the insti- 
 tute founded by my respectable friend, called the 
 Presentation ; in each of which there arc seven 
 or eight mistresses, who educate gratis as many 
 hundreds of poor children in constant succession. 
 Tor the nature of the institute requires, that its 
 members should receive no gratuity whatsoever 
 for their trouble, but should devote themselves 
 
 1 ) (1 2
 
 206 
 
 during life, to the instruction of poor children, 
 from pure motives of charity and religion (l). 
 There are already five other houses of this new 
 institute ; one at Kilkenny, another at Killar- 
 fiey, a third at Waterford, and two in Dublin. 
 Besides these, there are other establishments for 
 the education of poor girls at Tullow, Thurles, 
 Drogheda, and in most parts of Ireland ; differing 
 in certain respects from the above-mentioned in- 
 stitute, but all having the same meritorious ob- 
 ject in view, the gratuitous instruction of poor 
 female children. The members of some of the 
 latest institutes, engage in them for a twelve- 
 month, others for their lives. I found also, in 
 different towns and cities, small communities of 
 single men, of a pious and charitable disposition, 
 who have devoted themselves, but without any 
 permanent engagement, to religious exercises and 
 the education of poor boys; many hundreds of 
 whom they have constantly in a course of reli- 
 gious, moral, and useful instruction. Some of 
 these good men are possessed of considerable pro- 
 perty, which they devote to the same laudable 
 object as they do their persons. I have met with 
 other classes of these associated schoolmasters, 
 who, being otherwise unprovided with the means 
 
 (r) How well these ladies succeed in their patriotic as well aa 
 pious undertaking, the public has heard from Sir John Carr, who 
 asserts that " the children educated at the Convent of the Presenta- 
 " tion atKillarney, are universally sought after as servants, by Pro- 
 " testants as well as by Catholics, on account of their irreproachabls 
 * 4 conduct." Stranger ia Ireland, p. 3R4.
 
 207 
 
 of supporting themselves, are accustomed to make 
 shoes, or exercise some other handicraft in extra 
 hours, in order to gain just so much as is neces- 
 sary for their maintenance, while their principal 
 employment is the charitable instruction of poor 
 boys. 
 
 I say nothing of the Catholic Orphan and 
 Asylum Houses at Cork and in Dublin, nor of 
 the private schools for the education of the youth 
 of both sexes ; but I must not omit to inform 
 you, that in the former of these cities, besides 
 the two communities of the Presentation, men- 
 tioned above, there is also a convent, as it is 
 called, of theUrsuline ladies; an institute which 
 has been long celebrated all over the continent 
 for its method and success in giving a moral, re- 
 ligious, and genteel education to young females 
 of the higher class. The ladies of Cork have at 
 present, about sixty children of that description 
 under their care, whom they instruct in the or- 
 namental as well as the religious branches of edu- 
 cation. To accomplish the principal objects they 
 have in view, they conceive it to be as essentially 
 necessary to keep their scholars from the know- 
 ledge of some things, as it is to communicate to 
 them information concerning others. In two 
 points they are, with just reason, inexorably 
 rigid ; they never permit a novel to enter within 
 their walls, and they never suffer a scholar to go 
 out of them, in order to be present at a theatrical 
 representation. In fact, of what use would their 
 lessons of filial duty, domestic retiredness, the
 
 208 
 
 dread of sin, and the love of God, be to the mind 
 of a pupil, who should behold all such virtues 
 held up to contempt in those ensnaring publica- 
 tions of the circulating libraries, and those still 
 more fascinating amusements of the theatre. For 
 when does the grave parent appear upon the 
 stage, but in quality of a jealous and avaricious 
 tyrant, who is the enemy of his offspring's hap- 
 piness ? For what end is the serious moralist 
 or Christian introduced there, except to detect 
 him in vice, and expose him as a hypocrite ? On 
 the other hand, is there a character of either sex, 
 brought forward to engage the admiration and 
 affection of the spectators, who is not a model of 
 the fashionable vices of the age, (being precisely 
 those which young people ought to be chiefly 
 armed against) its dissipation, its prodigality, 
 and its irreligion ? In vain, Sir, will you attempt 
 to correct the deleterious effects of this subtle 
 poison, by mingling some moral lessons in the 
 cup of vice. The virtues you recommend to us 
 are those which, in this age arid country, we are 
 not strongly tempted to violate. On the other 
 hand, the vices which you hold out to our hatred, 
 are such as we before-hand held in abhorrence. 
 In spite of what dramatists and rhyming moralists 
 say, my experience tells me, that the real reforma- 
 tion of my disorderly passions is a work of se- 
 riousness and pain, not of- amusement and plea- 
 sure. In vain do you remind me, that the stage 
 has of late years been chastened, and that the in- 
 decencies, which, sullied the drama 6ffy or sixty
 
 209 
 
 years ago, are now banished from it. Supposing 
 this were true to the extent you wish me to un- 
 derstand; supposing there were nothing in the 
 plot, nothing in the words, nothing in the 
 dresses, nothing in the dances, nothing in the 
 company, either within the doors or without the 
 doors of the theatres, to excite one particular 
 passion, the most difficult of all others to curb 
 and repress, (but, alas! how far are these sup- 
 positions from the truth in each of the instances!) 
 yet, remember, Sir, there are other passions con- 
 genial to the human breast, which it is equally 
 our duty to fight against, as against the one al- 
 luded to (l). In a word, Sir, the morality of 
 the theatre is directly the reverse of the morality 
 of the gospel, and in many respects, even of the 
 natural law ; and I hereby warn you, Sir, never 
 to complain to me of your children, should they 
 turn out undutiful, or otherwise immoral, if you 
 permit them to frequent the playhouse, or even 
 the circulating library. 
 
 In concluding this letter, I must not forget to 
 mention, that the ladies of the institute of St. 
 Ursula, at Cork, besides their school for the 
 education of genteel children, take part in the 
 
 (i) There is one vice, in particular, more frequently and severely 
 condemned in scripture than any other, and declared even to be the 
 beginning of all evil, which in the system of drarretic molality, and 
 pven in common discourse, has been transferred into the catalogue of 
 virtues, namely, pride. Chr.s'.ians now-a-days are not only proud, 
 tut thev are constantly professing their pride, and boasting ot it ! It is 
 unnecessary to shew, in what manner the ethics of the stage are di- 
 rectly calculated to excite and augment this immoderate opinion and 
 love ot our own worth and qualities.
 
 210 
 
 meritorious work of their sisters of the Presenta- 
 tion, by keeping open a poor-school in a dif- 
 ferent part of their house, where eighty poor ca- 
 tholic girls are instructed by mistresses appointed 
 for this purpose. The present superior of this 
 establishment is sister to my friend the. Catholic 
 Bishop of Cork, whose name is held in so much 
 respect by persons of all denominations in both 
 islands. 
 
 I am, &c.
 
 211 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Cork, July 28, 1807. 
 
 XT would require a volume, to 
 dwell upon the different modes, in which the 
 catholic clergy of Ireland exert themselves, to 
 procure, not only a moral and religious, but also 
 a practically useful education, for the poor chil- 
 dren of their respective parishes. This is the 
 fact with respect to the villages and hamlets, no 
 less than the towns and cities. I can speak to 
 this point from my own observation and expe- 
 rience. For when, in travelling through the 
 country, my chaise has stopped at a village, I 
 have generally made it my business to inquire 
 for the school, which has often turned out to be 
 the same building with the chapel; and I have 
 always found it well filled with children, who 
 were learning to read, write, and cast accounts, 
 as well as their catechism. In like manner, 
 when the driver of the chaise, in creeping up a 
 mountain or hill, has descended from his seat in 
 
 Ee
 
 212 
 
 order to relieve his horses, I have seldom failed to 
 descend from mine, in order to intrude myself 
 into some or other of the smoky cabins of the 
 poor on the road side, for the purpose of examin- 
 ing the children, who swarm in them, upon the 
 chief points of their catechism. Now I aver that, 
 upon the desert mountains as well as in the 
 thronged villages, I have found the children in 
 general far better instructed in their religious and 
 moral duties, than I have found poor children 
 of the same age (for I have heretofore made it my 
 business to examine them also) in the country 
 places of England (l). This assertion, which 
 intimates that the lower order of Irish are, upon 
 the whole, better instructed than the same class 
 in England, I know, will surprise you. But to 
 convince you that I am not singular in my 
 ideas (2), and byway of taking a more compre- 
 hensive view of the subject, I shall state to you a 
 
 (i) The present Bishop of London complains, that he " found vast 
 " numbers of his diocesans in a state little short of pagan ignorance 
 " and irreligion." What wonder that a great proportion of the 
 members of the established church should be as indifferent to its 
 doctrine as to its rites, when we are assured from good authority, 
 that " out of a population of 64,000 inhabitants, 52,000" are of 
 this description Archdeacon Woodhouse's Charge, A.D. 1800. 
 
 (2) The intelligent author of a late pamphlet, called " The 
 Address of a Christian Philosopher to the Hibernian Society in Lon. 
 don for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge in Irelaud," very 
 forcibly maintains and proves, that the bulk of the vulgar Irish are 
 better instructed in the Christian doctrine, than the bulk of the vulgar 
 English, p. j.
 
 213 
 
 fact which I have lately learned from a military 
 officer of equal honour and discernment. He said 
 that, having raised a company of soldiers, com- 
 posed of nearly the same number of Englishmen 
 and Irishmen, he found so many more of the lat- 
 ter had learned to read and write than of the for- 
 mer, that he was obliged to choose most of his 
 serjeants from amongst them. As you are seldom 
 without a regiment, or a battalion at least of 
 regulars in your neighbourhood, in which, of 
 course, you will find a third of the soldiers to be 
 Irish, I invite you to make the experiment upon 
 it, with respect to the comparative number of 
 Englishmen and Irishmen who have learnt to 
 read and write, which my friend was obliged to 
 make upon his company ; and I request you will 
 communicate to me the result of your inquiry. 
 
 If what is stated should be well grounded, how 
 much is the English public imposed upon, by the 
 incessant and loud complaints with which it is 
 stunned, on the subject of the alledged brutal 
 ignorance of the Irish poor, and their toatl want 
 of education ; as if they were a race of savages, 
 unacquainted with the use of letters, and utterly 
 destitute of christian and moral instruction ! If 
 this were true, the fault would not rest with them, 
 but with their government, which, till of late 
 years, prohibited their having masters of their 
 own religion. But it is not true ; for as to the 
 use of letters, I really believe, conformably to 
 the statement of my friend the officer, that a 
 
 Ee2
 
 214 
 
 greater comparative number of them are ac- 
 quainted with it, than of the poor cottagers in 
 our own country ; and with respect to christian 
 and moral information, I know, and am sure, 
 that the former are learned compared with the 
 latter. If, Sir, you hesitate to admit this asser- 
 tion, I request you will, in the first place, after 
 reading over the Church Catechism in The 
 Common Prayer Book, and The General Cate- 
 chism for the Catholics of Ireland^ 1 ), impartially 
 tell me, without any reference to controverted 
 points, which of the two compositions you think 
 best calculated to furnish a comprehensive idea 
 of the doctrines of Christianity, and the ge- 
 neral duties of morality. In the second place, 
 I beg you will inform yourself of any man, 
 whatever his description may be, who has visited 
 both islands, whether the Catholic Clergy on my 
 side of the water, or the Protestant Clergy on 
 your side of it, are more assiduous in visiting 
 and instructing their poor parishioners, and 
 particularly in teaching the children their cate- 
 chism (2), 
 
 (i) Punted and sold by Fitzpatrick, No. 4, Capel-street, Dublin. 
 
 (a) The author of the above quoted Address to the Hibernian So- 
 ciety, paints a striking, but true picture of the professional labours 
 nd merits of theCatholicClergy of Ireland, in the following passage; 
 " If, Gentlemen, you are not under the influence of very gross pre- 
 u judice, you will, in receiving representations of the necessitous 
 44 state of Ireland, maturely weigh the allegations of men who have
 
 215 
 
 Yet such is the infection of a general report, 
 that those who are liberal on other subjects are 
 found to be bigottecl on this. Thus the late 
 tourist writes as follows : " The instruction of 
 " the common people (in Ireland) is in the low- 
 " est state of degradation.* In the summer a 
 " wretched uncharactered itinerant derives a 
 *' scanty existence by opening a school in some 
 " ditch covered with heath and furze. What 
 " proportion of morals and learning can flow 
 
 " stigmatized, and still stigmatize as the last of mankind, some of 
 " the most deserving and useful men in the community. Yes, Gen- 
 " tlemen, take an impartial view of them, and you must allow that 
 " I do not sav too m<:ch. There are among them preachers and 
 ** teachers of the first excellence: there are men of profound em. 
 ** dition, men of nice classical taste, and men of the best critical 
 *' acumen. They are not formed, it is true, to shine in the draw- 
 " ing-room or at the tea-table; nor are such qualifications very de 
 *' sirable in churchmen ; for you well know, that the rrf.ned man- 
 " ners of fashionable life are often as incompatible wiu christian 
 " morality, as the grosser vices of the vu'?ar herd. Their manners 
 " are, in general, decent; but their pxertions are great, thHrzealis 
 *' indefatigable. See them, in the mo^t inclement seasons, at the 
 " most unseasonable hours, in the most uncultivated parts, amidst 
 " the poorest and most wretched of mankind ! They are always 
 " ready at a call ; nothing can deter them ; the sense of duty sur- 
 " mounts every obstacle ! And there is no reward for them in this 
 *' world! The good effects of their zeal are visible to every impar- 
 " tial and discerning mind j notwithstanding the many great disad- 
 " vantages under which it labours. For instance, you may often 
 '* find a parish so extensive and populous as to require two or three 
 " clergymen properly to serve it ; and yet the poverty of the parish 
 " is such as to be scarce able to maintain one in a tolerably decent 
 " manner. I could point out many other disadvantages, but I for. 
 bear at present, &c After all, the good effects are so con- 
 " spicuous that I repeat it again: the lower orders of Irishmen rsrc 
 " better instructed in the doctrines of Christianity, than the lower 
 *' orders of Englishmen." P. 27.
 
 216 
 
 " from such a source can easily be imagined. A 
 " gentleman stated, before the Dublin Associa- 
 " tion for distributing Bibles, that whole parishes 
 " were without a Bible (1)-" Elsewhere he says : 
 " Education never beamed upon the poor Irish- 
 " man : sentiments of honour were never instilled 
 " into him." But, without stopping to contro- 
 vert the general statement of the fact itself, 
 which is far from being accurate, I could wish to 
 ask this writer, why an itinerant master, especi- 
 ally amongst a people of simple and uncorrupt 
 manners, may not instil good morals and litera- 
 ture into his scholars as well as a high pensioned 
 pedagogue of London or Westminster ? The 
 late classical and illustrious lHmund Burke ac- 
 knowledged to his friend, my Right Rev. Fellow- 
 traveller and present host, that he learnt more 
 Latin and Greek from an obscure schoolmaster 
 on the banks of the Blackwater, than he after- 
 wards acquired at the more celebrated places of 
 education, and at the university itself. With 
 respect to social, civil, and generous principles, 
 such as come under the description of sentiments, 
 in case the tourist thinks these are acquired from 
 schoolmasters, he must admit that the itinerants, 
 whom he describes, are capable of communicat- 
 ing them; since he unequivocally attributes 
 them to the Irish poor, who are known to have 
 no other masters. By the same argument he 
 must admit that these itinerants arc capable of 
 
 (0 Sir John Carr's Stranger in Ireland, p. 251.
 
 217 
 
 teaching classical learning, since he tells us of a 
 poor horse-boy, in the county of Kerry, who 
 was found by the gentleman, his employer, to 
 be well versed in the classical historians, ora- 
 tors, and poets (l) ; adding, that classical learn- 
 ing was quite general among the peasants in that 
 remote part of Ireland a few years ago. That 
 this is an undoubted fact, and that a great pro- 
 portion of these peasants, some twenty or thirty 
 y ears back, could even converse fluently in 
 Latin, I can testify in some degree from my own 
 acquaintance with- some of them, and still more 
 from the account of witnesses of the highest ho- 
 nour, and of first-rate information. Indeed the 
 fact has already been asserted, in the face of the 
 British public, by the enlightened O'Leary, who 
 speaks of " barefooted boys studying the classics 
 " in the mountains of Ireland, and of the civility 
 " of the common people there to strangers, and 
 " to one another, as circumstances unparalleled 
 " with respect to the common people of other 
 " nations (2)." 
 
 But, says our author, who, upon this point, 
 speaks the opinion of Protestants in general, 
 the Irish Catholics must be grossly ignorant of 
 religion and morality, since "there are whole 
 " parishes in Ireland without the use of a Bible." 
 It is to supply this deficiency, that an association 
 of voluntary subscribers has lately been esta- 
 
 (0 Sir John Carr's Stranger in Ireland, p. 180. 
 (j) See the Rev. Arthur O'Leary's Address to the Lords Spiritual 
 and Temporal, with an Accountof Sir Henry Mildmay'sBill, p. 16.
 
 18 
 
 blished in London. Is then the perusal of the 
 Bible, Sir, the only means by which mankind 
 can attain to a knowledge of the revealed truths 
 of religion ? Was it intended to be such by the 
 divine Author of Christianity, when he sent his 
 apostles to teach all nations, even to the end of 
 the world (l), without saying a single word to 
 them about writing the gospels or epistles ? In 
 fact, our Saviour knew that 99 out of a 100 of 
 those individuals of all nations, whom he sent his 
 apostles to convert, would neither be abje to pro- 
 cure any written books of revelation, nor even to 
 read them, if they could procure them. Were 
 the patriarchal families, and the other servants 
 of God, in a state of ignorance, concerning either 
 the positive injunctions of the Almighty respect- 
 ing the Sabbath-day, the rites of sacrifice, or 
 their moral duties, during the space of near 2500 
 years ; namely, from the days of Adam down 
 to those of Moses, in consequence of no part of 
 the Old Testament being then written ? And 
 were the Christian Churches established by the 
 apostles throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa, 
 ignorant of the law of Christ, because no part of 
 the New Testament was at that time committed 
 to writing? During more than four hundred years 
 after the christian aera, that is to say, during the 
 golden ages of the Church, the Canon of the 
 scripture, as it is generally received by Pro- 
 testants, remained unsettled. In fact, the di- 
 
 (0 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.
 
 21$ 
 
 vinfe law, like the law of the land, is partly 
 written, and partly unwritten ( l) : and as it is 
 possible that we might have known and enjoyed 
 the British laws and constitution, though our 
 ancestors had been unacquainted with the use of 
 letters ; so it is possible, that all the essential 
 doctrines and institutions of Christianity, might 
 have been transmitted tons (as several of them, 
 by the confession of Protestants themselves, ac- 
 tually have been) (3) though the different books 
 of the New Scripture had not been composed. 
 Such is the uniform doctrine of the enlightened 
 Fathers of the Church in the primitive ages, that 
 is to say, of au Augustine, a Vincent of Lerins, 
 aTertullian, and an Irenceus. As I am not writ- 
 ing a treatise of controversy, butfearely refuting 
 a popular error, I shall satisfy royself with quot- 
 ing in the rnagi-n of this letters, passage from the 
 last mentioned doctor of the Greek a<nd Gailican 
 churches, who, as we have seen above, had been 
 instructed in his faith by an illustrious disciple 
 of St. John the Evangelist, I mean St. Poly- 
 carp (3). You will see that he expressly admits 
 
 (i) " Lex Scripla" and "Lex non Scripta," Blatkstone's Com- 
 mentaries, vol. i. sect. 3. 
 
 (2) Such as the observance of Sunday instead of the Sabbath, the 
 practice of infant baptism, and the very belief in the inspiration of 
 the four gospels and canonical epistles, &c. 
 
 (j) '* Tantae igitur ostensionis cum sint haec, non opportet adhuc 
 " qtieerereapud alios veritatem, quam facile est ab eccksia sumerr, 
 ' cum apostoli, quasi in depositorinm divrs, plenissimi in earn 
 " contulerint omnia quae fliuat veritatis, ut oronis qui velit, sunrat 
 " ex ea potum vitae. Quid autem si neque apostob quidem scrip- 
 
 Ff
 
 220 
 
 the possibility of retaining the revealed word of 
 God without written documents, and that he as- 
 serts the fact of several whole nations in his time 
 possessing this divine word, as far as was neces- 
 sary for them, without ink or paper, by the help 
 of tradition and the Spirit of God. 
 
 And what, after all, is the word of God ? " It 
 " does not," says a holy father, " consist in the 
 "letter of it, but the sense." For the letter, we 
 are assured, killeth, but the spirit giveth life(l). 
 If in reading the scriptures, we fall into essential 
 errors with respect to its meaning, it becomes to 
 us a dark lanthorn, or what is worse, an ignis 
 Jatuus, instead of a beneficial light. Thus you, 
 Sir, whom I know to be a strict member of the 
 Church of England, think that the Dissenters 
 would be more enlightened than they are, if they 
 did not read the Bible at all, whilst they under- 
 stand one passage of it against episcopacy, another 
 against the established liturgy, and a. third 
 against the doctrine of man's freedom of action ; 
 and both your church and the congregations of 
 the Dissenters wish to take the Bible out of the 
 hands of the Quakers, when they interpret it to 
 forbid baptism and the eucharist, the defending 
 
 < 
 
 turas reliquissent nobis ; nonne oportebat ordinem sequi tradi- 
 tionis, quam tradiderunt lis quibus committebant eccles'ias ? Ctn 
 " ordinationi assentiunt multse gentes Barbarorum, qui in Christo 
 ** credunt, sine charta velatramento.scriptamhabentes perspiritum 
 ** in cordibus suis salutem, et veterem traditionem diligenter custo 
 " dientes." St. Iraen. contra Hares. Hi. c. 4. 
 (1) a Cor.iii. 6.
 
 221 
 
 our country from the attacks of its enemies, the 
 payment of tithes, and the shewing due respect 
 to magistrates and the sovereign. Hence, Sir, 
 you see, that the mere distributing of Bibles is 
 not a sure way to diffuse the light of the gospel 
 amongst the people, unless you furnish them, at 
 the same time, with some accredited interpreter 
 of their meaning ; which meaning the very dissen- 
 sions amongst honest and well-meaning people, 
 who profess to make it their only guide, prove to 
 be often obscure, or rather unintelligible ; in other 
 words, unless you point out to them a living speak- 
 ing tribunal, which is at all times open and ready 
 to explain their difficulties, and to decide upon 
 their controversies. The good sense of human 
 legislators has, in every state which has been 
 founded since the beginning of the world, provid- 
 ed such living speaking tribunals for the interpre- 
 tation of their laws ; and, as the great Fenelon 
 observes, it would be evidently better to have 
 no code of laws at all, than such a one as 
 should authorize every man to interpret it for 
 himself (1). 
 
 (i) Whereas infinite mischief arises to mankind from their igno- 
 rance and wilful violation of the laws of the state, and whereas the 
 support of judges and tribunals to interpret these laws is attended 
 with an enormous expense to the public, and with other great incon- 
 veniences, it would be well worthy the charity and patriotism of the 
 Bible Societies to subscribe for a cheap edition of all the statutes of 
 the realm, and to distribute the copies amongst the poor, or at least 
 to lodge one copy in every village in the united kingdom, that every . 
 . ibject might decide for himself in whatever concerns his person and 
 property ! You, who are a magistrate and a sensible man, start at 
 
 F f 2
 
 What then are the sentiments and ordinances 
 Of the Catholic Church in this respect? She 
 earnestly wishes, in the first place, that the truths 
 and the maxims^ of God's word may be deeply 
 impressed upon the minds of all her children, and 
 she requires of all her pastors, from the highest 
 to the lowest, as the most important of all their 
 duties, to be unremittingly assiduous in inculcat- 
 ing this word to the young and ignorant. To 
 qualify themselves for fulfilling this obligation, 
 She enjoins all her pastors constantly to read and 
 study the holy scriptures, which indeed she has 
 the merit of having preserved inviolate, during 
 the many centuries which have elapsed since 
 their delivery. With respect to the laity, she ne- 
 ver interdicted the Bible to them, as Protestants 
 suppose ; but, at a time when coblers and tailors 
 were insulting heaven with their blasphemies, and 
 convulsing the earth with their seditions (1), all 
 grounded upon the misinterpretation of the 
 Bible, she enjoined, that those who took this 
 mysterious book in hand, should have received 
 such a tincture of learning, as to be able to read 
 it in one or other of the learned languages, un- 
 less their respective pastors should judge, from 
 their good sense and good dispositions, that 
 they would derive no mischief from reading it in 
 
 this proposal! But pray, Sir, are not the common people better 
 qualified to judge for themselves of human laws, regarding the 
 things of this world, than of divine revelations concerning the mys- 
 terious nature of God, his invisible grace, and his spiritual kingdom ? 
 (0 Muncer, Knipperdolling, and the other first Anabaptist*.
 
 223 
 
 the vulgar tongue (l). At present, however, 
 the Catholic Prelates do not think it neces- 
 sary to enforce even this restriction, and, ac- 
 cordingly, you may find in the shops of all the 
 principal booksellers in Ireland, Bibles in folio, 
 in quarto, and in octavo, which are indiscrimi- 
 nately offered to sale, with the entire approbation 
 of those prelates. 
 
 . One restriction, however, necessarily remains 
 upon all Catholics who read the scriptures, that is 
 to say, upon the clergy, the bishops, and the Pope 
 himself, no less than upon the laity; which is, 
 not to interpret it in any other sense than the 
 Universal Church has always understood it. 
 Hence these sayings of the fathers, Nil nisi quod 
 traditum est (2). Quodubique, quod semper, quod 
 ab omnibus (3), are fundamental maxims in our 
 communion. In fact, this is saying that we ac- 
 knowledge a still subsisting tribunal in our 
 Church, for deciding on contested points in the 
 divine law ; as there ever must be human tribu- 
 nals to interpret doubtful points in the laws of 
 men. But do not fancv that this restriction was 
 imposed by our Church, from a consciousness, 
 that the plain obvious text of scripture is con- 
 trary to her tenets and favourable to yours ! It 
 has always subsisted, it is of divine origin. You 
 know, Sir, which are the chief points of contro- 
 
 (i) Reg. iv. Ind. Trid. 
 
 (x) Po t >e Stephen writing to St. Cyprian. Inter Opera. St. 
 
 Cyprian. 
 (3) Vincentius Lt-ria in Commonit
 
 224 
 
 versy between your Church and ours. Now, are 
 you really of opinion, that any sincere, unpre- 
 judiced person, reading in his Bible the texts 
 principally controverted between Catholics and 
 Protestants, would, if left to follow the unbi- 
 assed dictate of his own judgment, prefer your 
 interpretation of them to ours ? Do you think, 
 that a simple upright man, reading, for instance, 
 the institution of the blessed sacrament of the 
 gospel, Take, eat, this is my body ; Drink, this 
 is my blood (i), and the promise of it: My flesh 
 is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed (2) , would 
 be led to believe that it was a mere ceremony of 
 eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance 
 of him, which Christ was instituting* and pro- 
 mising ? Or do you, indeed, conceive, that Pro- 
 testants, in explaining these texts, as signifying a 
 mere commemorative and figurative ceremony, 
 adopt interpretations, which, in their natural and 
 obvious sense, the words present to them? 
 Again, when the same unprejudiced reader 
 should meet with this striking declaration of 
 Christ to his head apostle, whilst he bestowed 
 upon him the name of PETER, or ROCK, Thou 
 art PETER, and upon this rock I will build my 
 Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it ; and I will give unto thee the keys of 
 the kingdom of heaven, &c. (3) would he be led 
 
 (i) Matt. xvi. 26,27. Markxiv. 22. Lukexxii. 19. 
 (t) John vi. 55. 
 (3) Matt. xvi. 18.
 
 9.9.5 
 
 to fancy, that Christ here constituted every civil 
 prince, pagan as well as Christian, ahead of his 
 Church, and not the successor of St. Peter ? 
 Lastly, have the catholic pastors any reason to 
 fear that such a reader will be induced to dispute 
 their authority in spiritual concerns, from pe- 
 rusing such texts as the following : Tell the 
 Church, and if he will not hear the Church, let 
 him be to thee as a heathen or a publican ( 1 ) . Obey 
 your prelates (2), and be subject to them : for 
 they watch as being to render an account to God of 
 your souls (3). 
 
 With tli is restriction, dictated by common 
 sense no less than by religion, (for would it not be 
 foolish in a private individual, to suppose that 
 he understands the scriptures better than all 
 the fathers and doctors of the Church put to- 
 gether; and that God has abandoned the whole 
 Church to error, and preserved him from it ?) I 
 say, with this restriction, I would not, at the 
 present day, withhold the divine text itself, even 
 in the vulgar tongue, from any one who is desirous 
 of reading it, though I know very well that he 
 may acquire the sense of it, in all necessary 
 points, much more speedily and securely from 
 his catechism, and the instructions of his pastor; 
 yet would not I withhold it, because there- is an 
 unction and energy in the text, which no other 
 
 (0 Matt, xviii, 17. 
 
 (2) TlsiQsgOe rug tyovixews u/xv- 
 
 (j) Ileb. >;iii. 17.
 
 226* 
 
 language can equal. But, if I found a second 
 Voltaire extracting mental poison from Solo- 
 mon's Song ; or another Cromwell, reading to a 
 ruthless soldiery God's ordinances concerning 
 the smiting of the Amorites and Canaanites (l), 
 in order to induce them to kill every Catholic, 
 man, woman, and child in Ireland ; or a Venner, 
 maintaining from the Revelations, that no King 
 is to be obeyed but King Jesus ; or finally, were 
 I to hear those dangerous comments of our mo- 
 dern Moravian and Antinomian Methodists on 
 St. Paul's Epistles (2), importing that they, being 
 made free by Christ, are not subject to any law 
 either of God or man, I would, if it were in my 
 power, withdraw the Bible from every such pro- 
 faner of it, and, instead of it, I would put into his 
 hands the excellent General Catechism for the 
 Catholics of Ireland, mentioned above, in which 
 he would find the ; bread of God's word broken, 
 and prepared for his weak digestion, by those 
 prelates to whom this duty particularly belongs. 
 
 In a woTd, the object of the associators, and 
 other persons, who distribute Bibles amongst the 
 Irish peasantry, with instructions to hammer out 
 of them a religion for themselves, is not to en- 
 lighten, but to obscure their minds ; is not to 
 communicate religious knowledge, but to deprive 
 them of that which they have, to unsettle their 
 belief, and cause them, like themselves, to be 
 
 (i) Deut. vit. . 
 
 (2) To the Romans and Galatians.
 
 227 
 
 tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind 
 of doctrine, Ephes. iv, 14.(1). 
 
 I remain, &c. 
 
 (0 A most respectable and intelligent correspondent of mine has 
 favoured me with the following observations, relative to the subject 
 last treated of. "-The Associators are composed of three 
 *' distinct classes, the contributors, the managers, and the agents. 
 " The first class consists chiefly of good-natureJ, religious, and 
 " wealthy men and women, residing mostly in and about London. 
 " These persons hearing much of the reported ignorance, poverty, 
 ' and crimes of the Irish, and conceiving that the reading of the 
 " Bible is.the grand specific for all these evils, contribute their mo- 
 " ney very freely to an institution professing to furnish every cabin 
 *' with the sacred text. The second class consists of the managers, 
 " who are, for the most part, hypocritical, ostentatious traders 
 " upon a false character for piety and good works, who circulate 
 " amongst the former class every falsehood in fact, and groundless 
 ** conjecture which seems calculated to promote their views. The 
 ' agents are low vulgar preachers, secretaries and clerks, being 
 " chit-fly of some sectarian description, sordid, unconscientious, 
 " and earning a livelihood by deceit and fraud. In proof of all this, 
 " and to shew how egregiously the contributors are imposed upon 
 " by the managers and agents, I can take upon myself to confirm 
 " Mr. M. K 's assertion in his Thoughts on the Civil Condi. 
 
 " tion of I he Catholic Clergy ; that after all the boasted labours and 
 " ostentatious reports, of these men having distributed in Ireland 
 " fifty, sixty, and seventy thousand Bibles within certain periods, 
 " it does not apptar that a single voluvte, thus contributed, has found 
 " its u- ay into a single catholic cottage. Many others, as well as 
 " myself, have inquired after these Bibles in the very districts 
 " pointed out in the Reports in question, but without the least 
 " success. The truth is, the missionaries and their agents are ge- 
 *' nerally no better than impostors, embezzling the money of their 
 " masters and mistresses, and then feeding them in exchange for it 
 " with false and absurd report's ; calculated, however, to gratify 
 " the favourite and devp-rooted prejudices of English Protestants." 
 
 Ci :\
 
 228 
 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Cork, July 31, 1807. 
 
 SlNCE I wrote to you last, I 
 have had different opportunities, in the visits I 
 have paid to the gentry who possess villas upon 
 the estuary of Cork, to survey, in detail, its seve- 
 ral beauties. I am just now returned from the 
 most delightful sailing party upon it, which I
 
 229 
 
 ever enjoyed in my life ; not excepting those in 
 Torbay and on the coasts of Dorsetshire and 
 Hampshire. The day could not be finer, nor 
 the wind better regulated, so as to give spirit to 
 the sailing, without the smallest degree of dan- 
 ger, nor the company more agreeable. Our 
 vessel was part of a flotilla of about twenty sail, 
 in one of which there was a band of music. But 
 what chiefly enchanted me, were the views upon 
 the water, and the surrounding landscape still 
 varying, and becoming more and more interest- 
 ing the further we sailed ; the harbour, where 
 part of the royal fleet is constantly stationed, the 
 elegant town of Cove rising from the water in 
 the form of an amphitheatre, the numerous bays, 
 rocks, mountains, and islands, with interspersed 
 country seats, pavilions, villages, fortifications, 
 and batteries, down to the very opening of the 
 great sea. Immense sums have been thrown 
 away upon some of these fortifications and bat- 
 teries, which are evidently calculated to repel 
 those enemies alone who may happen to descend 
 from the clouds; and it will be well if a great 
 part of the million, or fifteen hundred thousand 
 pounds, which are said to be still required for erect- 
 ing certain new fortifications, with all the necessa- 
 ries and conveniencies belonging to them, be not 
 equally thrown away. For, by what I can learn, 
 Ireland is of all other parts of the British empire, 
 peculiarly the country of jobs ; which may be 
 accounted for upon political as well as moral 
 principles. 
 
 G " 2
 
 230 
 
 The city of Cork is computed to contain about 
 100,000 inhabitants, two-thirds of whom are Ca- 
 tholics ; the remaining third consists of members 
 of the established church, Dissenters, Quakers, 
 and Methodists. The last mentioned are increas- 
 ing prodigiously in Ireland as well as in Eng- 
 land : but it is all at the expense of protestantism ; 
 for they never gain a proselyte among the Catho- 
 lics. Yet, however populous the cities and towns 
 are in this island, it is in the country cabins, that 
 the strength of its numbers is to be found. These 
 cabins line the road side in every county I have 
 yet visited, as well among the cross and bye 
 roads, as the turnpike roads, in a manner that, 
 even after travelling through Lancashire and 
 Staffordshire, you will hardly conceive ; and all 
 of them swarm, as I have before expressed my- 
 self, with handsome, healthy children. I need 
 not add that the cottagers are, in a manner, ex- 
 clusively Catholic, in three out of the four pro- 
 vinces of Ireland ; and that in the fourth the Ca- 
 tholics are more numerous than all the other de- 
 nominations of believers and unbelievers put to- 
 gether. In some country parishes in which I 
 stopped, I found that there were not more than 
 three or four protestant families, whose servants, 
 at the same time, were Catholics ; in others, that 
 only the minister and his clerk were Protestants, 
 the latter of whom was barely an occasional con- 
 formist. 
 
 In ascertaining that the catholic population of
 
 23-1 
 
 Ireland is exceedingly great, I had but to- con- 
 sult my own eye sight; but I never should have 
 been able to form any thing like a correct idea 
 of its absolute number, or of the proportion 
 which it bears to the rest of the inhabitants, 
 without the information which I have derived 
 from the calculations of industrious and Intelli- 
 gent writers on this subject, who have had bet- 
 ter means of information than I possess. The 
 Royal Irish Academy published the plan of a 
 statical inquiry concerning Ireland, one part of 
 which was directed to the enumeration of its 
 inhabitants, as distinguished into Catholics and 
 Protestants ; and Edward Hay, Esq. a member of 
 the academy, took great pains in executing that 
 plan (1), with the concurrence and approbation 
 of Lord Fitzwilliam, Edmund Burke, Esq. and 
 other distinguished personages in his native 
 county of Wexford. The Rev. Mr. Whitlaw has 
 since prosecuted the undertaking ; but it was re- 
 served for Major Newenham to furnish the legis- 
 lature and the public with a treatise which is de- 
 servedly considered as the standard work on the 
 population of Ireland (&). It is a satisfaction, 
 however, to observe that the different enumera-
 
 252 
 
 tors do not materially differ in their returns, and 
 that they all give the lie direct to Dr. Duige- 
 nan (1), who fears he shall not be thought sin- 
 cere by the church which so amply pays him, if 
 he omit any opportunity of insulting and injuring 
 that from which he has deserted. A few days 
 ago I had the gratification of dining, and spend- 
 ing an eveninor, with the obove-mentioned en- 
 lightened and accurate author, Major N. who 
 still further convinced me by word of mouth, of 
 the correctness of the statements which he has 
 demonstrated in print; namely, that the Catho- 
 lics of Ireland, to speak in round numbers, are 
 considerably more than four millions, while the 
 inhabitants of every other denomination do not 
 greatly exceed one million. You will be pleased 
 to observe, Sir, that a great deal of importance, 
 in a political as well as a moral point of view, be- 
 gins now to be attached to the question concern- 
 ing the relative numbers of the Protestants and 
 Catholics of Ireland; for a reason which I may 
 be allowed to quote from the illustrious Edmund 
 Burke, and which he assigned almost ten years 
 ago : " I am sure," says this best friend of his 
 king and country, " that every one must be sen- 
 " sible of the truth of Lord Fitzwilliam's asser- 
 " tion, on seeing Mr. Hay's plan: that the de- 
 
 (0 He maintains that " the whole inhabitants of Ireland do not 
 exceed three millions, and that one million two hundred thousand of 
 these are Protestants." Speech of Dr. Duigenan, May 13, 1805.
 
 233 
 
 " pression of the Catholics is not the persecution 
 " of a sect, but tyranny over a people (l)." 
 
 That the catholic population should be so great 
 as it is, and that it should have gone on increas- 
 ing, under so much depression, poverty, and per- 
 secution as it has endured for two centuries and 
 a half, is really astonishing. The history of the 
 human race furnishes bat one parallel to it, the 
 increase of the Israelites in Egypt. This sur- 
 prise will be the greater, if we take into consi- 
 deration the two following circumstances.' In 
 the first place, the vast and incessant drains upon 
 the young men of Ireland, occasioned by the ar- 
 my and navy, particularly of late years. How 
 great these are and have been may be thus esti- 
 mated. It is admitted that two fifths of the 
 present disposable forces of his Majesty are Irish, 
 and that 120,000 Catholics of this country lost 
 their lives in fighting for him, during the last 
 war alone (2). The second circumstance here 
 alluded to, is the constant and prodigious ef- 
 flux of poor Catholics from their own country, 
 who formerly poured into the continent of Eu- 
 rope, and latterly into America, the West Indies, 
 and England. I have reason to think, that of 
 
 (i) Copy of a Letter from Edmund Burke, Esq. to Dr. Hussey, 
 June 9, 1798, in Appendix to Hay's History of the Insurrection. 
 
 (2) Statical and Historical Inquiry, p. 133. With these facts be- 
 fore our eyes, how ridiculous must the vapouring of Dr. Duigenan 
 appear, who pretends that the Protestants do not stand in need of the 
 aid of Catholics to fight the battles of the country ! See his Speech 
 above quoted.
 
 C34 
 
 the catholic congregations of London, Man- 
 chester, and Liverpool, the only large congrega- 
 tions in England, three fourths are Irish, or the 
 descendants of Irish. 
 
 If you wish to know the causes of the great 
 population or* this island, you will find them to 
 be such as do honour to its poor inhabitants : 
 their chastity and their abstemiousness. It is 
 agreed amongst political and moral writers, that 
 monogamy, or the marriage of one man with 
 one woman, and that indissolubly contracted, as 
 the laws of the Catholic Church require, is the 
 great source of population; and that libertinism, 
 polygamy, and divorce, are highly injurious to 
 it. Now it has been stated, that the poor Irish, 
 both men and women, are remarkable for their 
 chastity. They marry young, and their religion 
 takes away one of the chief incentives to infide- 
 lity, by teaching them, that even this infidelity 
 in either party, would not justify a second mar- 
 riage whilst the other is living. On the other 
 hand, the poor cottager is not afraid of being 
 able to support himself and his family, whilst he 
 and they arc content to live upon potatoes and 
 milk. It is true, he must pay a high rent for the 
 garden in which he is to grow these potatoes, not 
 less than five pounds per acre, and an exorbitant 
 tax to the tythe-proctor, which I have seen esti- 
 mated, when every thing is considered, at one 
 fifth of the whole value of the crop ( 1 ). Still he 
 
 (i) Besides the amount of the tithes, as valued by themselves, the 
 proctors (illegally) charge two shillings in the pound for valuing
 
 235 
 
 hopes to meet these expenses by the daily shil- 
 lings which he is to earn by his labour, and the 
 sale of a pig, which he will feed with the parings 
 of his potatoes. And yet there are writers now- 
 a-days (they must be actuated by pure malice 
 against the Irish, and a wish to starve them) 
 who advise the landlord to deprive the poor of 
 the food which they have, potatoes, and to oblige 
 them to use the food which they have not, and 
 cannot get, wheaten bread (1). For my part, I 
 consider our illustrious countryman, who intro- 
 duced this nutritive root into Ireland, as the best 
 friend and benefactor that ever landed upon its 
 shore since the arrival of St. Patrick ; and I sin- 
 cerely wish that the mischief-making statue of 
 the hero of Glencoe and pacificator of Limerick, 
 were exchanged for the figure of that universal 
 genius and glory of his country, Sir Walter 
 Rawlcigh. His books might be placed in the 
 back ground, and his sword and truncheon un- 
 der his feet (2) ; but his left hand should grasp 
 
 them. In some parts of Ireland, as Mr. Grattan stated in the Irish 
 Parliament, the proctor or the farmer exacts two distinct sums for 
 every child whom he finds in a cottage ; one for christening the 
 child, another for purifying the mother, though no such ceremonies 
 were performed by any minister, and though, in most cases, there 
 was no minister to perform them, had they been required. 
 
 (i) This measure has been repeatedly and strongly recommended 
 and insisted upon by some writer, who is much extolled tor his 
 sagacity and local knowledge, in Cobbet's Political Register. 
 
 (2) It is true, the wars in which Sir Walter Ilawleigh was en- 
 gaged in Ireland, the Low Countries, and South America, were 
 unjust and cruel ; but that war, the fault of his mistress, t.ii/a- 
 beth, who was a tyrant in her own stale?, and a pirate to fore i 
 kingdoms. 
 
 U h
 
 236 
 
 a bunch of the Virginian leaves, and his right 
 should present the true Hesperian apple, the 
 subsistence of millions of the human race, and 
 the renovating strength of the British trident. 
 
 Far different is the situation of many Irish Ca- 
 tholics in the cities and principal towns, from 
 that of the cottagers in the country, of whom I 
 have been speaking. Iudustrious, intelligent, 
 honest, and frugal, they have acquired by com- 
 merce or trade, not only the conveniences of 
 life, but also the means of purchasing considera- 
 ble portions of the inheritance of their forefathers, 
 which the luxury of the present nobility and 
 gentry has obliged the latter to sell. It is said 
 that more than two thirds of the real property 
 which has been sold of late years in Ireland, has 
 been bought by Catholics ; and a well-informed 
 writer asserts, that, within the last twelvemonth 
 alone, they have purchased lands to the amount 
 of above 800,0001. (l) From what 1 myself can 
 observe, it is clear to me that upon the whole 
 there is now a vast deal more wealth amongst 
 the Irish, than amongst the English, Catholics ; 
 notwithstanding so many of the latter are per- 
 sons of noble families, and of great landed pro- 
 perty. 
 
 The increasing wealth of the Irish Catholics, 
 accompanied with the elective franchise which 
 they enjoy, cannot fail of giving them great 
 
 (0 See Two More Letter? from Peter Plymley, so called, to bis 
 Brother Abraham.
 
 237 
 
 weight in the legislative assembly. It is true, 
 they cannot be members of parliament them- 
 selves, but they can place several of their 
 friends in it. At the late election for the 
 county of Tipperary, out of 6500 registered free- 
 holders, 5000 were found to be Catholics. At 
 the present time, out of 10500 freeholders in 
 that county, 9200 are Catholics. Accord- 
 ingly, both the county members were returned 
 upon their interest. On the same occasion, Sir 
 John Newport, the deservedly popular member 
 for the city of Waterford, was returned, chiefly 
 by means of their votes, in opposition to go- 
 vernment, the corporation, the established clergy, 
 the army and the navy, all of whom exerted 
 themselves in favour of another gentleman. 
 
 In a word, superior as the Catholics of Ire- 
 land are to the Orange faction which opposes 
 them, in numbers, abilities, and integrity, with 
 daily increasing wealth and political influence; 
 befriended, as they also are, by the talents and 
 the exertions of the first men and ablest writers 
 in the empire, it is not in the nature of things, 
 that they should, much longer, remain an infe- 
 rior cast, the Helots and the Gibeonites of their 
 native land. This is augured by their friends(l) : 
 this is dreaded by their enemies (2). They are 
 
 (0 See the Speeches of Lord Grenville, Mr. Fox, Mr. Grattan, &c. 
 upon the Catholic Question in 1805. 
 
 (2) See the Speech of Dr. Duigenan, &c. on the above-men- 
 tioued occasion. 
 
 II h 2
 
 238 
 
 sailing into port with a straight and rapid course. 
 Nothing can defeat their hopes, but an unex- 
 pected dereliction of that prudent, temperate, 
 and loyal conduct, which they have hitherto 
 pursued. 
 
 I am, &c.
 
 239 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Waterford, Augusts, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 -HAVING travelled through a. 
 considerable part of Leinster and Munster, I 
 ihould have been glad to see something also of 
 Connaught, as also to have accepted of the kind 
 invitation of the noble proprietor of Killarney, to. 
 view the wonders of his celebrated domain. But 
 having already exceeded the time I had prescribed 
 to myself for this hasty excursion, and business 
 calling me home, behold I am now at the sea- 
 port from which I am to quit this interesting 
 island. With respect to the great commercial 
 city from which I write, I have experienced that 
 its intercourse with the opposite coasts of Wales, 
 inhospitable as they are to all strangers, and par- 
 ticularly to their never-forgotten invaders, the 
 Sassenachs(l), has not, in the least degree, af- 
 fected the national character of its inhabitants. 
 They are as open-hearted and hospitable, parti- 
 cularly to those of our countrymen who are dis- 
 posed to be friendly to them, as the rest of the 
 Irish are. 
 
 (i) Saxons the English pwpte.
 
 240 
 
 My road from the grand emporium of Cork to 
 this of Waterford, led me through the elegant 
 town of Fermoy, the populous town of Clonmel, 
 and the pleasant town of Carrick upon the Suire. 
 The pleasure, however, which I experienced in 
 viewing these several places was much alloyed, by 
 the pain I felt in surveying the most magnificent 
 and beautiful buildings in them, I mean the bar- 
 racks. From the habitations of this denomina- 
 tion, which you are accustomed to see in Eng- 
 land, you will not be able to judge of the extent 
 or sumptuousness of those in all the considerable 
 towns, and many of the villages in Ireland ; while 
 the whole expense of erecting them, and of sup- 
 porting the numerous inhabitants of them, ne- 
 cessarily falls upon the people. The following 
 facts, which have been communicated to me by a 
 well-informed personage, may serve to give you 
 some just ideas upon this subject. There are, at 
 all times, from thirty to fifty thousand regular 
 troops stationed in Ireland, besides twenty- one 
 thousand militiamen, and numerous bodies of 
 \eomanry upon permanent pay ; the total ex- 
 pense of which military establishment, including 
 the ordnance, barracks, martello towers, and in- 
 cidentals, consumes the whole, or nearly the 
 whole four millions which the taxes of Ireland 
 annually produce. You will ask : " How, then, 
 " does the Irish treasury provide, for its enor- 
 ' c mous civil establishment; for its pensions, its 
 " protestant charter-schools, its churches, glebe- 
 f< houses, its magnificent annual grants to private
 
 241 
 
 " and local establishments, and to individuals ? 
 " Above all, how does itsupply the two seventeenth 
 u parts of the gross expenditure of the empire, 
 " in war as well as peace, which Ireland is bound 
 " to defray by the articles of the Union ?" 
 These are natural questions for an Englishman, 
 and particularly for an English landholder or 
 stockholder to propose ; and the answer will, I 
 conceive, afford him new and important matter 
 
 for reflection. This enormous deficit, then, 
 
 is supplied by England, and actually comes 
 out of the pockets of our own country- 
 men, who are otherwise so heavily taxed on their 
 own account. It is provided annually in Lon- 
 don, under the colour of a loan for Ireland ; but 
 substantially, and bona fide, it is a gift ; for it 
 never will, nor can be repaid. The debt rapidly 
 accumulates, and not a chance exists of its dimi- 
 nution. See, then, how the case stands. The 
 Irish say : " Give us equal laws, without religi- 
 ' ; ous distinction : give us the full benefits of the 
 " British Constitution, give us the same in- 
 " terest in defending it that you have, and we 
 " undertake to defend it without expense to you : 
 " nay, to supply you with myriads of brave sol- 
 " diers, who, as matters stand, will not engage in 
 ; ' your service. You may then (you must be 
 " sensible of it) keep your four millions per 
 ''annum in your pockets ; you may withdraw 
 " your 50,000 troops, and disposeof them for the 
 " general service; thus doubling your actual 
 'means of security, and enabling yourselves
 
 242 
 
 11 even to carry the war into the heart of the 
 " enemy's country."-- Now are not these con- 
 siderations important enough, even on the prin- 
 ciple of self-interest, to excite the attention and 
 inquiry of the people of England ? If the Eng- 
 lish stockholder feels, as the fact is, that his pro- 
 perty is, in the present state of things, rendered 
 less valuable, and is annually more and more im- 
 paired by these drains upon it from Ireland ; if 
 the country gentleman, the farmer, the merchant, 
 the manufacturer, feels that a considerable por- 
 tion of those taxes, which weigh so heavy upon 
 him, is imposed or rendered necessary merely to 
 support the ascendancy of one tenth part of the 
 population of Ireland over the other nine parts of it, 
 lias he not a right to complain of this appropria- 
 tion of his money, and to require that he himself 
 shall not be taxed and aggrieved, with the 
 evident risk of losing all that he possesses in 
 this world, and his life itself, merely for the sake 
 of aggrieving a large portion of his fellow sub- 
 jects, and preventing their enjoying the common 
 blessings of the constitution? But it is not so 
 much the expensiveness of the present system 
 of governing Ireland, which I complain of, as 
 of the nature itself of that system, namely, 
 jealousy and coercion. The barracks are, in the 
 system of modern tactics, what the numerous 
 castles were with which the Normans so severely 
 oppressed the English after the conquest (l), and 
 
 (0 Henry of Huntingdon, speaking of William the Conqueror, 
 says : ** Ad castella otnties fatigabat construenda." The Saxon
 
 243 
 
 With which the English themselves bridled the 
 Irish upon the invasion of this island a century 
 later. And yet, Sir, the British constitution is 
 not that odious thing, nor is the reigning mo- 
 narch such a tyrant, that a nation which could 
 freely enjoy the former, and live quietly under 
 the latter, would rush into all the guilt and hor- 
 rors of rebellion to get rid of them ! Neither is 
 the religion of our forefathers, which reared that 
 glorious structure of the constitution, so averse 
 to a settled and monarchical form of government, 
 that its" professors must necessarily be traitors 
 and Jacobins ; nor are the Irish people the faith- 
 less and cold-hearted race, that they are not to 
 be won by justice and kindness, but must ne- 
 cessarily be kept to their duty by chains and the 
 sword! In a word, Sir, I repeat again what, in 
 substance, I have said before: the four millions 
 per annum spent upon soldiers and barracks 
 might be saved to government; the 50,000 regu- 
 lars might be spared for the general exigencies of 
 the empire, and these even might be strengthened 
 by 100,000 more of the finest recruits'in the uni- 
 verse ; whilst the island itself would be rendered 
 infinitely more safe than it is at present, by 
 raising whatever number of hardy and well- 
 trained military men or fencibles might be 
 thought necessary ; provided Protestants had 
 
 Chronicler says of the same king : " Cask T.a permisit jedifkari : 
 *' pauperis valde opprimi." Ad an. 1086. He elsewhere drawr a 
 most horrible picture of the sufferings of the people in consequen e 
 of these military stations. Ad an 1 137. 
 
 li
 
 244 
 
 liberality enough to say : " Since Irishmen will 
 " not give up that faith of St. Patrick which they 
 " professed when our ancestors were pagan sa- 
 " vages in the wilds of Holstein, let them retain 
 " it ! And since, according to our fundamental 
 " maxim, all Christians are free to interpret the 
 " scriptures for themselves, if they persist in 
 " maintaining, that Christ gave his real body, 
 " when he said : Take and eat, this is my body ; 
 " and that he actually conferred a spiritual 
 "jurisdiction on St. Peter and his successors, 
 " when he said to him: Thou art a rock, 
 " and upon this rock I will build my Church : let 
 " them maintain these sentiments ; provided they 
 " ascribe to the civil power (as they certainly do) 
 u the plenitude of temporal authority. We will 
 " not insist on their swearing the contrary, nor 
 " shall any of them fare the worse for their reli- 
 
 " gious tenets." "Do you then wish," say 
 
 the bigots, whose only religion consists in a ha- 
 tred of Catholics, " that a believer in transub- 
 " stantiation, the mass, and prayers to the saints, 
 " should be a commander in chief or a lord chan- 
 
 " cellor, and thus domineer over us ?" "No," 
 
 the Catholics reply, " we have never for a mo- 
 " ment looked up to such honours, nor aimed at 
 " such powers. You Protestants well know that, 
 ' with all the advantages which you possess 
 " over us, and particularly that of having the 
 " sovereign of your religion, who alone can dis- 
 '* pense civil and military honours and autho- 
 u "O'i a o es would pass away without one of our
 
 245 
 
 '^people attaining to the above-mentioned, or 
 " any other of the first offices of the state. What 
 " we really want are the substantial and ordinary 
 " benefits of the constitution ; which, however, 
 " experience convinces us we shall never enjoy, 
 " whilst a legal distinction subsists between us 
 " and other subjects." 
 
 By way of pointing out the grievances they 
 labour under from the distinctions in question, 
 the Irish Catholics are accustomed to refer to the 
 administration of the laws in their regard. 
 " Without complaining," they say, " of inten- 
 " tional injustice, yet we know that human na- 
 " ture is human nature, and we see the many 
 " wise checks upon the partiality and prejudices 
 " of all persons concerned in the administration 
 "of justice, and particularly of jurymen, which 
 " have been devised by the constitution. This is 
 " extended so far, that even a foreign prisoner of 
 " war, when tried upon any indictment, is al- 
 " lowed to have one half of his jury composed of 
 " foreigners. But in most of our counties, we 
 " find that the pannels of jurymen arc in a man- 
 " ner exclusively composed of Protestants. In- 
 " deed, how can it be otherwise, when the law, 
 " as it stands at present, prohibits Catholics from 
 "being sheriffs, or even under sheriffs? These 
 " officers being thus appointed, upon a principle 
 " of opposition to Catholics, can wc expect they 
 " will not be more or less influenced in sum- 
 " moning jurors, especially upon party trials, in 
 : favoui of men of their own spirit ? Accord- 
 
 J i <J
 
 246 
 
 " mgly M'C prefer, when the choice rests with us, 
 '* to try our causes in England, rather than in 
 " Ireland. And it has not unfrequently happen- 
 " ed to some of us, that after trying a cause and. 
 " gaining it on the other side of the water, we 
 " have lost it upon trying it again on this side 
 <f of it." 
 
 Do not tell me, as many do, of the wisdom of 
 the legislature in devising those tests for shutting: 
 Catholics out of both its houses, and for prevent- 
 ing them from serving their country in other re- 
 spects : for it is a notorious fact, that these tests 
 were enacted, not in the wisdom, but in the folly 
 and downright madness of the legislature and the 
 nation. They were enacted by the same parlia- 
 ment which voted the reality of that chaos of ab- 
 surdity called Oates's Plot, when the blood of 
 Catholics, avowedly innocent, was libated in tor- 
 rents to the national bigotry ; a period which, as 
 Hume justly observes, " throws a great stain on 
 "the British annals (l)." With respect to the 
 Established Church, so far from these tests being 
 necessary for her safety, it is precisely from the 
 time of their being framed, that her health, which 
 was so vigorous under Elizabeth and the first 
 Stuarts, (when parliament and the great offices of 
 the state were open to Catholics) began to decline 
 into latitudinarianism and impotency. These 
 tests, which were the effect of delirium in Eng- 
 land, were the fruit of direct perjidy in Ireland, 
 
 (0 Hist, of Great Brit. Charles II. c. vi.
 
 247 
 
 b^jug enacted there in express violation of a so- 
 lemn treaty under the great seal of state, by vir- 
 tue of which treaty the Catholics gave up their 
 allegiance to King James, their alliance with 
 Louis XIV. (who then had ships and troops up- 
 on their shore), and the possession of Limerick, 
 with the southern and western counties of Ire- 
 land. 
 
 Supposing, however, that it were wise and*he- 
 cessary to govern Ireland with the iron rod, ra- 
 ther than the olive sceptre, and for this purpose 
 to keep up there the present enormous and ex- 
 pensive military establishment ; yet, I should 
 think, it would be prudent to remove the griev- 
 ances, and to secure, at least, the attachment of 
 the component parts of this establishment. Now 
 two fifths of the regular soldiers, as I have stated, 
 and four fifths of the militia are Catholics, whose 
 religion is immoveable planted in their hearts; 
 and who, nevertheless, (together with the sailors 
 of their communion) are the only catholic sub- 
 jects, that are not now generally at liberty to 
 piactise their own religion, but are obliged to 
 conform to another, at which their consciences 
 revolt ! Do not talk of military discipline : no 
 such intolerance prevails in the armies of France 
 or Austria ; in the latter, the numerous Jewish 
 soldiers are permitted to observe even their Sab- 
 bath day ; and yet I presume the French and 
 Austrian armies are as well disciplined as out- 
 own. But I will add no more upon this subject, 
 except a single observation, which I long since
 
 248 
 
 made upon very good grounds, namely, that an 
 Irish catholic soldier will never think he is 
 fighting in his own cause, while the cause for 
 which he fights, stands in opposition to the 
 exercise of his religion. 
 
 A circumstance, still more extraordinary in my 
 eyes, is, that the government of Ireland should 
 countenance and encourage, hy the presence and 
 attendance of its constituted authorities (l) and 
 its troops, those tumultuous rejoicings which take 
 place throughout the country, on the anniversa- 
 ries of the landing of King William in Torbay, 
 and of the battles of Aughrim and the Boyne; to- 
 gether with a kind of worship paid to that 
 king's statue, which if Catholics paid to the 
 image of the world's Redeemer, would be termed 
 idolatrous. What is the direct tendency of all 
 this, except to encourage the few to insult the 
 many, by way of reminding them that they 
 are a conquered people? You have subdued 
 them, despoiled them, and chained them ; but 
 what wise end does it answer, thus wantonly to 
 trample on your prostrate and unresisting victims, 
 or, to speak more properly, on your own valua- 
 ble subjects, by thus celebrating a public tri- 
 umph over them thrice in every year? Is there 
 
 I The Duke of Bedford gained great credit by absenting himself 
 from these impolitic processions in the year 1806. His successor 
 in the Vice-royalty, the Duke of Richmond, wisely followed his 
 example last year, in spite of all the declamation of Mr. Gifford, 
 and menaces of the Corporation of Dublin.
 
 24/ 
 
 an instance of such cruel and impolitic behavi- 
 our in any civilized state of ancient or modern 
 times ! The Romans triumphed but once over 
 their conquered foes, and then admitted them to 
 the full benefit of subjects. But to descend 
 to modern times : did the French Catholics, in 
 the zenith of their power, insult the Huguenots 
 with public triumphs and rejoicings, on the anni- 
 versaries of the battles of Jarnac and Moncon- 
 tour, when the former conquered the latter, or on 
 that of the capture of Rochelle, when the Pro- 
 testant Imperium in Imperio was finally crushed ? 
 This reminds me of a query proposed by the late 
 Tourist in Ireland (l). He asks, why the grand 
 stone statue of his present or his late majesty, 
 which ever it be, in the city of Cork, is painted 
 yellow ; he ought to have said orange ? I am 
 surprised that none of his friends should have 
 told him, that it is intended thereby to signify, 
 that the king is an Orangeman, and of course 
 that he belongs to a few thousands, instead of al- 
 most as many millions of his subjects (2) ! 
 
 (i) The Stranger in Ireland, by Sir John Carr. 
 
 (2) A certain noble Lord, who has filled one of the first offices in 
 Ireland, is said to have read this passage out of the-first edition of 
 the present work, in a certain illustrious assembly on the night of 
 last May 27, in proof that the author had represented the King as an 
 Orangeman, and as having authority over a few thousands, instead of as 
 many millions of his Irish subjects : till another noble Lord, equally 
 distinguished by his talents and liberality, taking the book outof his 
 hands, and repealing the whole context, convinced him thru the 
 iiithor had not represented the matter in this light, but had sat)ri2eJ 
 : Mayor an / ' 'orpurut'ton if Cork for so representing it.
 
 250 
 
 In reverence, f as well as obedience to trie! 
 supreme legislative power, I will not touch upon 
 two acts of parliament lately re-enacted at a 
 time of profound quiet, concerning the breaking 
 into houses in search of arms, and confining the 
 inhabitants to their houses between sun-set and 
 sun-rise, further than to observe, that they have 
 filled with dismay* the best disposed people, I 
 mean modest women as well as loyal men, who 
 remember what they heretofore experienced from 
 the former operation of these laws. It is true, 
 the enforcing of them depends upon the execu- 
 tive power, and in this is their hope : still they 
 say, " our enemies havesuch facility of access to 
 " the castle, and so much greater weight there* 
 " than we have, that we cannot help considering 
 " ourselves as now lying at their mercy." 
 
 I know, Sir, you are impatient to ask me the 
 momentous question, whether, after all I have 
 seen and heard, and reflected upon in Ireland, I 
 am of opinion that the Irish Catholics are strictly 
 loyal, and may be depended upon by govern- 
 ment, under whatever circumstances may happen 
 at the present eventful period ? I will answer 
 your question, if you will give me leave first to 
 make two or three observations. In the first 
 place, it is plain that government does not thus 
 depend on them, by its introducing into parlia- 
 ment the two bills above alluded to, which it cer- 
 tainly knows have a tendency to inflame the dis-
 
 251 
 
 orders they are intended to cure(l). Secondly, 
 it appears that Mr. Grattan, and most of our other 
 friends in the legislative assemblies, think that 
 the Catholics cannot be entirely depended upon, 
 by their voting for those bills. This, this is the 
 blow which reached the heart of every Irish Ca- 
 tholic whom I conversed with. When he heard 
 that even Grattan had consented to disturb 
 the midnight rest of his family, and to make 
 his house a prison to him during sixteen out of 
 the twenty-four hours in winter, he indignantly 
 exclaimed ; Et tu, Brute? The loyal Irishman's 
 only comfort at this intelligence, was in perusing 
 the brilliant and pathetic speeches of his other 
 countryman Sheridan. For my part, I have 
 apologized for Mr. Grattan, and have besought 
 my friends not to weigh one night's vote against 
 the invaluable services of many years. " Mr. 
 " Grattan," I have said to them, " is as much 
 " your friend as ever he was ; but having tried 
 " in vain to obtain for you what lie conceives 
 " to be your due, he thinks it impossible you 
 
 (i) Tn further proof of the fears of Government, it may be re- 
 marked, that none of the various Acts of Parliament for arming the 
 people of England in their own defence have been extended to the 
 hardy and warlike sons of Ireland; and that no French prisoners 
 have been confined in any part of Ireland, since the recall of Lord 
 L'iUwilliam in 1795 ; though previously to that period such prisoners 
 were indiscriminately landed and confined in either of tin' islands! 
 Is not this an unnatural state of things in a common empire, and 
 one that evidently tends to ruin! The easy remedy is in the hands 
 of Government. Every motive of policy cries out TJNITE 4 
 UNITE ! 
 
 K k
 
 252 
 
 " should not resent the disappointment ; and 
 " therefore he wishes to hinder you from doing 
 " yourselves and your country harm. In this he 
 " imitates a skilful surgeon, who having fruit- 
 " lessly endeavoured to disperse a dangerous hu- 
 " mour, when he finds a cruel operation neces- 
 " sary, binds his best friend." Thirdly, I 
 have to observe, in spite of PATRICK DUIGE- 
 NAN, (when he turned his coat, why did not 
 he change his name ?) who endeavours to prove 
 all his own forefathers for fourteen hundred years, 
 up to the first Patrick, to have been traitors ; 
 that the Catholics of this realm have, in times of 
 trial, manifested a principle of duty and loyalty, 
 in opposition to apparent interest, which no 
 other description of Christians has evinced. I 
 might prove this by an appeal to the history of 
 the English Protestants, during the two catholic 
 reigns; of the Presbyterians of Scotland ; of the 
 Huguenots of France; of the Gueux of the Low 
 Countries ; of the Lutherans of Germany ; of the 
 Calvinists of Geneva and Switzerland, &c. 
 Having made these remarks, I answer your 
 question by saying, that I have never heard a 
 seditious or disloyal speech uttered in any of 
 the numerous and diversified companies, which I 
 have met with in various parts of Ireland, during 
 the six weeks I have passed in it ; nor have I the 
 least reason to suppose that they will swerve from 
 the line of conscientious duty, which the great 
 body of them has hitherto followed : though per- 
 haps they may not be quite so forward in volun-
 
 53 
 
 teering their services, as if they had found these 
 were more wanting, and that they themselves were 
 better trusted. Of two things I am confident; 
 that the stories of dangerous combinations and 
 unlawful meetings amongst the Catholics (l), 
 which have been propagated in the newspapers of 
 late (2), originate in the mere bigotry and malice 
 of their enemies ; and that the Catholic Bishops 
 and Clergy will, at all times, faithfully discharge 
 their own duty, by endeavouring to keep the 
 people steady to theirs. 
 
 I will here, Sir, close my correspondence with 
 you from Ireland; hoping, when we meet, to 
 hear your remarks on the several subjects of it. 
 By way of conclusion, I will present you with 
 an extract from a pamphlet lately published at 
 Dublin, for the sake of the sensible and pathetic 
 address at the end of it ; which I am confident is 
 calculated to reach both the heart and the head of 
 every Englishman, who is not quite brutalized by 
 
 (i) Having, in my road to the south of Ireland, called, by ap- 
 pointment, upon a most respectable friend, to dine and pass the 
 evening with him, accompanied by two other friends of known 
 loyalty; (one of whom has been distinguished by such public 
 honours for the proofs he has given of it, that few Orangemen are 
 likely to merit the same) I afterwards found, that a messenger had 
 been sent by some of these gentry to the Castle of Dublin, to accuse 
 us of a seditious meeting. The charge, however, was dismissed 
 with deserved contempt. 
 
 (2) The accompanying a funeral, an ordinary meeting to di> 
 potatoes, the planting of a May-pole, and even the amusements 
 of little children, in the very country I have alluded to, lave been 
 denounced to government, and published in the rrwspapers as in- 
 surrectionary movements! 
 
 Kk 2
 
 S54 
 
 bigotry or avarice. The author is arguing against 
 those friends of the Catholics, who constantly dis- 
 suade them from petitioning parliament for a re- 
 dress of grievances, on account of the alledged 
 unreasonableness of the time ; when he says : " If 
 44 the friendly dissuasion is unable to fix a period 
 " at which it shall be;?0 wrong to break silence; 
 44 if their friends resolve, that to attempt it this 
 " year is improper, and in the next will be dan- 
 44 gerous, and in the third will be unusual, unne- 
 44 cessary, and the symptom of punishable dis- 
 n affection revived. If years of slavery roll on 
 " their generation, to the exit of their fore- 
 "father, and bring to their last view the sad 
 " vision of a posterity of slaves condemned by 
 44 THE GREAT OATH, which gives freedom to 
 " all others, is not such dissuasion the acknow- 
 41 ledgment that forbearance would be a crime ? 
 
 44 If during this endless round of evils still 
 44 great, and hope deferred, and friends not yet 
 44 resolved, a mighty apparition should start up 
 44 between earth and heaven, intercepting the view 
 u of the world : if lightnings blaze, and bloody 
 4 meteors run through the atmosphere, and 
 44 shouts approach, that 4 SLAVERY IS NO 
 '' MORE:' if the sufferers, as they will do, re- 
 ject the unholy invitation, and offer to die 
 " with the brothers who afflicted, rather than 
 ' live with tRe aliens who court them : with what 
 14 consistency shall it be said to those deluded, 
 4 broken-hearted reptiles : Come on, brave men, 
 11 and fight for our common freedom !"
 
 Z55 
 
 May they not well answer to this call : " We 
 '* will fight for you, and let Providence judge our 
 " cause, and see our distress. If you qonquer 
 " with us, our doom is perpetual. The consti- 
 " tution will be saved, and you say it excludes 
 " us everlastingly. If you are vanquished, you 
 " will be spared with honour ; you had fought 
 " for the dearest thing to man, which those 
 " enemies came to wrest. But while they spare 
 " you, thejP will exterminate us for safety and 
 " for example. We shall fight as slaves, and we 
 " shall perish as traitors (1) !" 
 
 (0 Remarks on the Protestant Barrister's Vindication, &c. by a 
 Catholic of Dublin, pp. 7i>7*.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 TO A CATHOLIC MERCHANT OF WATERFORB. 
 
 At Sca t August 12, 1807. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 jL OUR kind anxiety for the suc- 
 cess of my voyage to my native island, made you 
 wish to hear the particulars of it; and your im- 
 patience at the interruption of our conversation 
 concerning chapel-building, induced me to pro-
 
 256 
 
 mise you, that I would resume the subject in 
 writing as soon as possible : I therefore take up 
 the pen here on shipboard, by way of beginning 
 my two-fold task; hoping, with God's permission, 
 to finish on the opposite coast, which there is 
 every appearance, from the state of the weather, 
 that I shall reach in the course of twelve hours. 
 
 My journey from your city to the station of 
 the Milford Packet at. Cheek Point, was the most 
 unpleasant I had experienced since my arrival in 
 Ireland, from the reflection that it was the last 
 I was to take, at least for a considerable time, in 
 a country so interesting in itself, and so dear to 
 me, for the numerous and valuable friends I was 
 leaving behind me, in every part of it which I 
 had visited. Impressed with these ideas, I 
 strayed on the shore of the grand estuary, where 
 the united currents of the Suire, the Barrow, 
 and the Nore, mingle with the briny waves of 
 St. George's Channel; and my melancholy was 
 far from being relieved by contemplating the 
 magnificent ruins of Dunbrody Abbey on the 
 opposite side of the harbour. I felt indignant 
 at the memory of that sacrilegious tyrant, who 
 could envy good men and loyal subjects the pri- 
 vilege of worshipping God in peace and retire- 
 ment; and I was mortified, that the state of the 
 tide would not allow me to visit those instruc- 
 tive remains, for the improvement of my heart as 
 well as of my knowledge. 
 
 My reverend friend and myself came on board 
 the vessel yesterday evening, and were the only
 
 passengers in it. But the sky threatening a 
 squall, which actually took place in the night, 
 the captain would not sail till four o'clock this 
 morning. The weather is now moderate. There 
 is wind enough to make us spoom briskly through 
 the waves, and there is sea enough to give spirit 
 to the sailing : for the worst kind of prison is 
 that of being on shipboard in a mill-pond. Al- 
 ready have the pleasant coasts of Tramore Bay 
 disappeared to my view, and Hook Head itself is 
 quickly flying from me. While thus I cast a 
 farewel look on the land of my catholic brethren, 
 and offer up a prayer to God the Father of all 
 men(\), for their welfare, a number of affect- 
 ing thoughts, relating to their singular history 
 and situation, present themselves to my mind, 
 which I cannot help here giving vent to, by com- 
 mitting them to writing. 
 
 I reflect on the long-continued and uninter- 
 rupted sufferings of your countrymen ; no other 
 christian nation having been for so long a time, 
 and without remission, subject to such successive 
 calamities and degradations as yours has been. 
 Other races of men have occasionally been visited 
 by misfortunes and disgrace : my proud coun- 
 trymen, in particular, have twice been bowed so 
 low by the yoke of foreign conquest, as to drink 
 the very dregs of human misery, and even to be 
 ashamed of the name of Englishmen. But each 
 of these disgraces was of short duration. Canute, 
 
 (i) Malac. ii. 10.
 
 259 
 
 the son of the sanguinary tyrant Swaine, wisely 
 repressed the injustice and insolence of his Da- 
 nish countrymen, and placed his English sub- 
 jects on a perfect equality with them. In like 
 manner Henry, the son of the Norman Conque- 
 ror, left no means untried to make the English 
 forget that they were a conquered people. The 
 success of this policy was equal to the wisdom of 
 it : for, whereas his father had subdued England 
 with an army of Normans, he himself subdued 
 Normandy with an army of Englishmen. In a 
 word, the calamities of England, both foreign 
 and domestic, like those of other christian 
 states, have been of a temporary nature, whereas 
 those of Ireland seem to have been perpetual. I 
 look in vain for the period of her greatness and 
 glory, commensurate with her physical strength, 
 wealth, situation, and other advantages : or ra- 
 ther, to come nearer to the idea of national as 
 well as individual happiness, I look in vain for 
 the period, when the Irish, sitting in their na- 
 tive woods and cabins, could eat the produce of 
 their herds and gardens, and enjoy the comforts 
 of their religion unmolested by others, and at 
 peace among themselves. On the contrary, I see 
 nothing in their history but a succession of 
 civil wars, foreign invasions, conquests, op- 
 pression, and religious persecution ; the lat- 
 ter still multiplying and refining its modes of 
 injuring and tormenting, down to the very 
 
 LI
 
 160 
 
 commencement of his present Majesty's 
 reign (I). What has added a sharpness to your 
 sufferings on the score of religion, is that you ' 
 have had to endure them at the hands of a peo- 
 ple who are the avowed patrons of religious as 
 well as civil freedom, and who, in fact, have 
 left every other description of subjects to invent 
 and follow new modes of religion at their plea- 
 sure, whilst they have been employed, during 
 almost three centuries, in endeavouring to ex- 
 tort from you the original faith which your an- 
 cestors received, with the very name of Christ, 
 1400 years ago, at a time when their own fore- 
 fathers were worshipping Thor and Woden in the 
 forests of Scandinavia. 
 
 (0 Two causes have evidently and perhaps equally contributed to 
 the national misery of the Irish ; their own inconsiderate heats and 
 endless divisions, and the insatiable avarice and cruelty of their ene- 
 mies. Ever since the reign of Elizabeth, there has been a party 
 bent on the extirpation of the native Irish. Charles 1. complained 
 of it in his time, reproaching his governors in Ireland with " threat- 
 *' ening the last extremities to the whole community of the nation, 
 ' and resolving to destroy, root and branch, men, women, and 
 '* children." JE/xov Bugi\iK%, Art. r2. It is certain that Crom- 
 well, Coote, Ireton, and the other Puritan Officers of those times, 
 pursued this plan to the utmost of their power, professing that they 
 rendered glory to God by exterminating idolatrous Papists. There 
 is reason to think that the persons who secretly encouraged the out- 
 rages in Armagh in 1795, and those which lately prevailed in the 
 county of Limerick, speculated on the hopes of a general Catholic 
 rebellion. Conversing on this subject the other day with a well 
 educated Irish gentleman, he exclaimed : " That is the right way 
 *' with the Papists, to force them to meet us in the field.' '
 
 261 
 
 These severe and long-continued sufferings, 
 no doubt, have proved a subject of complaint 
 and scandal to many of your countrymen. 
 Those which the people of Italy had to endure 
 1200 years ago, scandalized the ancient Irish, as 
 Ave learn from their correspondence with the con 
 temporary Pope, St. Gregory the Great (1). 
 The saint, in return, admonished them, in the 
 words of scripture, that God chastheth every 
 child whom heloveth. Indeed, how frequently, or 
 rather generally, was God's chosen people of old 
 in affliction and humiliation ! What did they 
 not suffer in the bondage of Egypt, in the cap- 
 tivity of Babylon, from the persecuting sword 
 of the Greeks, and the iron yoke of the Romans ! 
 They were really the most enlightened people on 
 the face of the earth, in consequence of their 
 possessing the revealed truths of heaven ; yet, in 
 what contempt and detestation were they not 
 held by their conquerors ! What sarcasms and 
 invectives do not the brightest and most liberal 
 
 (i) Regist. Epist. St. Greg. Mp.g. Lib. ix. Ep, 6r. Its address is as 
 follows: " Gregorius Quirino Ep;scopo, osetensque Episcnpis in 
 * Hibernia Catholicis." From this letter, it appears that the bishops 
 in Ireland were, at the end of the 6th century, under the same mis- 
 take, concerning the intricate question of the Three Chapter*, as" 
 their countryman, St. Colnmbanus, was at thesame period in Bur- 
 gundy. Nevertheless, as their error evidently proceeded from mere 
 misinformation, aith respect to a fact, which they were disposed to 
 quit, as they actually did, upon being better informed from due au- 
 thority, the holy Pope addresses them and treat* them ni orthodox 
 Catholics 
 
 L
 
 262 
 
 minds of pagan antiquity, a Tully, for ex- 
 ample (1), and a Tacitus (2), pour forth against 
 them and their religion ! It was the same with 
 Christianity and Christians, during the three first 
 centuries of the Church ; that is to say, during the 
 golden ages. What stupid bigots, and what odious 
 criminals, are not the followers of the divine 
 Jesus represented to have been, by the philoso- 
 phic Tacitus and Pliny, and by the imperial 
 Dioclesian and Julian. We, nevertheless, know 
 that a poor but consistent christian slave was 
 more truly wise and enlightened, as well as in- 
 finitely more virtuous, than was the whole collec- 
 tion of these* philosophers and emperors ! 
 
 Considering the subject of national sufferings 
 with reference to these facts ; and reflecting, in 
 particular, how generally God's people of old 
 abandoned him in their prosperity, and returned to 
 him in their calamities; may we not suppose, that 
 God has made use of the long continued temporal 
 afflictions of your people, as the means, in his 
 hands, of preserving them in that inviolable at- 
 tachment to the faith which they first received, 
 
 (i) Cicero, in his Oration pro'L. Flacco, calls the religion of the 
 Jews, "Barbara superstitio," and Jerusalem itself, *' Maledica 
 " civitas," adding: " Stantibus Hierosolymis, paccatisque Judaeis, 
 " tamen istorum religio sacrorum a splendore hujus imperii, gravi- 
 '* tate nominis nostri, majorum que insitutis abhorrebat : nunc vero 
 " hoc magis quod ilia gens, quid de nostro imperio -entir^t, ostendit 
 " arm;*: quam cara Diis immortalibus esset docr.it quod est 
 ** vii'a, quod elocata, quod servata (obseriata)." 
 
 (i) Tacit. Hist. L. r.
 
 26$ 
 
 and in that general disposition to piety, for which 
 they have been celebrated by ecclesiastical his- 
 torians and writers, from Venerable Bede down to 
 Pope Benedict XIV, (l) as surpassing other 
 Christian nations ! There is one circumstance 
 relative to the religion of the Irish Catholics, 
 which seems almost peculiar to them ; namely, 
 that it makes an indelible impression, not only 
 upon those who live up to its precepts, but also 
 upon those who disgrace it by their conduct. 
 The consequence is, that there are always much 
 better hopes of reclaiming a profligate Irish Ca- 
 tholic during his life time, or else of his spontane- 
 ous repentance previous to his death, than there are 
 with respect to wicked Christians of other coun- 
 tries. Whether this be owing to a peculiar mercy 
 towards your people, as our ancient historians, 
 English (2) as well as Irish tell us, or rather to 
 the care of their pastors, in deeply imprinting the 
 maxims of the gospel on their infant minds, the 
 fact is indisputable; as most of those who have 
 
 (i) In Epist. ad Archiep. and Ep. Heb. die 15 Aug. A. D. 174*. 
 Vid. Hibern. Dominicanam, p. 21. 
 
 (2) " Uodecim diebus, totidemque noctibus (S. Patricius) in 
 *' cacumine montis Eli jejunavit, id est Cruachaneli j in quo colie 
 ' in aere tres petiliones pro his Uibernensibus, qui (idem Christ: 
 " rccipcrent, clementer postulavit. Prima ejus petitio fuit, ut fertui 
 " a Scotis, quod unusquisque receperet penitentiam credciitium, 
 " licit in eitremo vi;ae suse. Secunda, ne a barbaris consumeren* 
 " tur in xtemum. Tertia, ut non supervivat aliquis credentium in 
 44 adventu judicii." Nennius Histor. Britonum. Vide ctiam Mau 
 West, an. 49 .
 
 264 
 
 had much experience in the sacred ministry, par- 
 ticularly in death-bed scenes, can testify as well 
 as myself. 
 
 Alter all, Sir, I grant we must not pretend to 
 trace, with any thing like certainty, the inscru- 
 table ways of the Almighty, and it is evidently in 
 the order of his providence (as the example of 
 the saints and the (toe trine of the Church, ex- 
 pressed in her liturgy, prove) to seek for peace 
 and tranquillity, by procuring the redress of our 
 temporal evils, when it is in our power to obtain 
 them. On the same principle, we are bound to 
 entertain a sense of gratitude towards those per- 
 sons who have been instrumental in conferring 
 these temporal blessings upon us ; and therefore 
 towards his Majesty, and many other distin- 
 guished characters now living, whom it is unne- 
 cessary to name. The' civil advantages, which 
 the Catholics have obtained during the present 
 reign, have certainly been very great, and it is 
 frequently asserted (though chiefly, I believe, by 
 those persons who are sorry we have obtained any 
 benefit at all), that all the positive grievances of 
 the Catholics are redressed, and hence, that they 
 have attained to the ne plus ultra of their consti- 
 tutional claims ; in a word, that it is no penalty 
 or hardship to be deprived of those further pri- 
 vileges, "which the law (with what consistency I 
 do not inquire) has reserved for persons who 
 do not believe Transubstantiation. 
 
 Supposing, for the sake of the argument, that
 
 265 
 
 all positive penal laws against Catholics were 
 actually redressed (l), yet we are the best, be- 
 cause we are experimental judges, whether the 
 mere exclusive laws against us, do or do not act as 
 penalties. I should be glad to ask one of these 
 ethical politicians, if, in consequence of some 
 whimsical exclusive law regarding the colour of 
 his hair, or some other circumstance totally irrele- 
 vant to his civil and social duties, he found him- 
 self held in contempt as a person not to be trusted, 
 or placed on their level by persons of his own 
 rank, whether, in this case, he would not feel he 
 was suffering from a law both penal and unjust ? 
 In short, if disgrace be not a penalty, where is 
 the suffering of standing for a short time in the 
 pillory ? That Catholics, and particularly Irish 
 Catholics, do experience this contemptuous 
 treatment from their fellow subjects, in conse- 
 quence of the partiality of the laws, constant ex- 
 perience proves. Heretofore, when the latter were 
 excluded from the benefit of the laws, and when 
 it was held no crime to kill a mere Irishman, they 
 were supposed b}' the vulgar to be Ouran-outangs, 
 or brutes of some species or other, and accordingly 
 
 (0 That the torture itself is not yet entirely laid aside in Ireland 
 may he gathered from a criminal information received in the Court 
 of King's Bench, Dublin, a few months ago, against a magistrate, 
 for scourging a young man till he fainted, and then confin- 
 ing him, without medical assistance, till his back became ul- 
 cerated. This was done to force the prisoner to confess a petty 
 theft of which he could not otherwise be convicted. See Globe, 
 May 6, 18.8.
 
 66 
 
 scores of affidavits were made by serious religi- 
 ous Englishmen, from the testimony of their own 
 eye sight, that the Irish people were found to 
 have tails growing from their bodies, a quarter 
 of a yard long(l). At present, when the laws 
 are more equitable, and are content with requir- 
 ing that no Irish Catholic shall be entrusted to 
 carry a military dispatch in quality of aid-de- 
 camp, or to summon a jury as an under-sheriff, 
 the old Irish are no longer thought to have wings 
 and tails, but are barely looked upon as a race 
 of savages. Accordingly the term Wild Irish is 
 as familiar in the English language, as that of 
 Wild Beasts. 
 
 But the particular exclusion of Catholics from 
 the offices of sheriff and under sheriff, is not a 
 mere disgrace, as you well know, for it is at- 
 tended with the most serious ill consequences, as 
 your countrymen frequently experience. In like 
 manner the existence of an " Incorporated So- 
 " ciety for promoting Protestant Schools," is 
 the continuation of one of the most odious and 
 fatal kinds of persecution devised by the religi- 
 
 (i) See Hay's History of the Insurrection, last page, and the au- 
 thorities quoted by him. This opinion or' the original Irish having 
 tails, seems to have been generally propagated by the Puritans in 
 the reign of Charles I. in order to diminish the horror of slaughtering 
 them. Cromwell himself had recourse to another expedient. He 
 undertook, to prove to his soldiers, that it was a meritorious act in. 
 them to exterminate the Irish nation, from the example of Joshua 
 and the Israelites destroying the tribes of Canaan. See Anderson's 
 Royal Genealog. p. 786.
 
 267 
 
 ous politicians of the last century. In fact, bow 
 much more wise a thing would it be, to 
 employ fifty or sixty thousand pounds, a 
 great part of which is raised upon the Ca- 
 tholics themselves (l), in buying up the 
 tithes of the poor, than in purchasing their 
 children, and educating them to hate and perse- 
 cute their fathers, mothers, and brothers. Our 
 statesmen complain of the violent animosity 
 which actuates the different religionists in Ireland : 
 but are not they themselves, in a great measure, 
 the cause of it, while they lavish the public 
 money upon such institutions as the Charter 
 Schools ? For my part, I cannot help thinking, 
 that this is the case; from knowing the heart- 
 burning which these schools provoke among the 
 Catholics, and the spirit of contempt, hatred, 
 and resentment, which these seminaries labour to 
 infuse into their purchased victims against their re- 
 lations and countrymen. I have now lying before 
 me, what is called, THE PROTESTANT CATE- 
 CHISM of the INCORPORATED SOCIETY, as 
 also that of the Catholic Metropolitans, called the 
 GENERAL CATECHISM, both of them lately 
 republished. A slight comparison between these 
 clearly shews the different spirits by which they 
 have been dictated. The former -industriously 
 
 (i ) j 5, coo I or rather, I believe, 30,000 1. are annually voted for 
 the Charter-schools. The land<d property belonging to the public 
 most amount to as much, or protinbly to a great deal mere. 
 
 M in
 
 263 
 
 instils into its pupils an abhorrence of the Catho- 
 lics as idolaters, a hatred of them as traitors, and 
 a dread of them as murderers ! 'In defiance of 
 common charity, of the repeated declarations 
 and acts of the legislature, and of constant ac- 
 tual experience, it teaches the catholic infants, 
 whom its patrons have 'purloined, that, "the 
 " papists (namely their parents as well as other 
 " Catholics) hold that faith is not to be kept 
 " with heretics, and that the Pope can absolve 
 " subjects from their oath of allegiance to sove- 
 " reigns (I).'* It instructs them to believe that 
 these their parents, together with the rest of Ca- 
 tholics, firmly believe that those " who differ 
 *' from them," and of course these very children, 
 are to be "rooted out by fire and sword." To 
 strengthen this opinion, the misrepresented his- 
 tories of Queen Mary's persecution (2), and of 
 
 () Protestant Catechism of the Incorporated Society, Part ii. 
 p. 9. 4U1 ed. 
 
 (2) I havealways lamented and condemned the persecutions in 
 Mary's reign. It must, nevertheless, be remembered, that deprived, 
 a she had been, of her hereditary throne, by Cranmer, Ridley, 
 Sandys, Poynet, Dudley, and the other heads of the Reformation, 
 she never persecuted any of them, till two. years afterwards, when 
 they set on foot a second rebellion against her, under Wyat, &c. 
 Such was the case in England ; in the meantime, the Protestants in 
 Ireland remaining quiet, were never once molested during the whole 
 of this catholic reign, though it is evident they might have been ex- 
 terminated by a word speaking. "The Irish Roman Catholic bi- 
 " got*. !" exclaims the eloquent Parnel : " The Irish Roman Catho- 
 " lies are the only sect that ever resumed power without exercising 
 " vengeance'." Hist. Apolog. p. 47.
 
 269 
 
 the Irish massacre (]), are exhibited to the 
 frighted imagination of the poor infants. In the 
 mean time the important duties of citizens, sub- 
 jects, and Christians, are hardly so much as 
 hinted at throughout the whole Catechism. 
 How different, in all these respects, is the code 
 of christian and moral institutes, which the Ca- 
 tholic Prelates of Ireland have drawn up, for the 
 instruction of their unbought pupils ! In this 
 there is no mention of the numerous and revolt- 
 ing blasphemies and immoralities with which 
 the works of Luther and Calvin abound ; no no- 
 tice of the perfidy, treason, and rebellion taught 
 and practised by Cranmer, Hid ley, Knox, and 
 every other patriarch of the reformation, in the 
 several countries where it has prevailed ; there is 
 not so much as a hint of the countless hosts of 
 catholic victims whom Protestantism has immo- 
 
 (i) No part of Irish history has been more maliciously misrepre- 
 sented than that of the year 1641. If the Irish Catholics toot up 
 arms, let it be remembered that the English Protestants and the 
 Scotch Presbyterians had previously taken up arms; but with this 
 difference, the Catholics armed in their own defence and in defence 
 of their sovereign, the Protestants and Presbyterians armed for the 
 destruction of both, and they succeeded in bringing the King to the 
 scaffold. 2clly, It in the confusion and horrors of the civil war in 
 Ireland many Protestants were murdered by a lawless Catholic banditti, 
 an infinitely greater number of Catholics were slaughrered in cold 
 blood by Piotestants; and the latter were the first to begin the diabo- 
 lical work of massacre, as Clarendon owns ; namely, in the island 
 Magee, where near 3C00 unarmed and peaceable men, women, and 
 children were murdered, mostly in their sleep. See the trial of the 
 R. Catholics of Ireland, by Henry Brooke, Esq.; also Dr. Cuny'g 
 History of the Civil Wars oi Ireland, vol. i. book 5. 
 
 M m 2
 
 70 
 
 later!, in the pure spirit of religious persecution, 
 in England, France, Germany, and especially 
 in Ireland, during the reigns of Elizabeth, James 
 I. Charles I. and Oliver Cromwell. Instead of 
 copying, in these particulars, the example of 
 the dignified authors and patrons of the Pro- 
 testant Catechism, the Catholic Prelates have 
 framed their Catechism, to enforce the general 
 duties of Christians, subjects and citizens, parti- 
 cularly with respect to submision to lawful au- 
 thority (l), and charity (2) to all mankind. - 
 The attention of our great statesmen is otherwise 
 taken up (3) (though it is a questiou whether it 
 
 (i) Question. What are the duties of subjects to the temporal 
 powers ? Answ. To be subject to them, to honour and obey them, 
 not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake ; for such is the will of 
 God, i Pet. ii. Q.. Is it sinful to resist or combine against establish, 
 ed authorities, or to speak, with contempt or disrespect of those who 
 rule over us ? A. Yes. St. Paul says : Let every soul be subject to the 
 higher powers ; he that resisteth the power resisteth God's ordinance: 
 und thty that resist, purchase to themselves dammition, Rom. xiii. 
 General Catech. Lesson xvii. p. 29. 
 
 (2) Q. Who is my neighbour, whom I am bound to love? A. 
 Mankind or every description, and without any exception of persons; 
 even those who injure us, and differ from us in religion. Q,. What 
 particular duties are required of you by that rule? A. Never to injure 
 your neighbour by word or deed, in his person, property, or cha- 
 racter; to wish well to him, to pray for him, and always to ass;st 
 him, as far as you are able, in his spiritual and corporeal necessities. 
 Lesson xix. p. 34. ed. 4. 
 
 (3) Soon after the first edition of these Letters, the subject of the 
 Protestant Charter Schools in Ireland, particularly with respect to 
 their religious instructions, was taken up in Parliament by the liberal 
 and well informed H. Parnel, Esq. The Hon. Member compared 
 together the lessons of the Charter School Catechism with those of 
 the Catholic Catechism (of both which he held copies in his hands)
 
 271 
 
 can be taken up with a matter of greater import- 
 ance), or else I should be glad to ask them, whe- 
 ther, after this brief view of the doctrine and spi- 
 rit of the Irish Protestant, and the Irish Catholic 
 Catechism, they really think it is for. the benefit 
 of the state, to pay (50,0001. every year(l), in 
 order to get a certain number of catholic chil- 
 dren instructed in the former, rather than in the 
 latter ? And secondly, Whether it would not be 
 more wise to employ that sum in paying the 
 tythe-tax of the poor cottagers ; thus enabling 
 them to rear their own children, and instruct 
 them in their own catechism ? 1 would say one 
 word more to the illustrious personages in ques- 
 tion, if I had an opportunity, to the following 
 effect : " As far, my Lords and Gentlemen, as 
 " relates to exciting the hatred and detestation 
 " of the charter-school children, and the other 
 " uninterested Protestants of Ireland against its 
 " general population ; no doubt these public 
 
 in much the same manner as they are contrasted above. The conse- 
 quence was that the former was universally reprobated, anil the sale 
 ot "it stopped, so that now a copy of it is not to be had at any price. 
 A Rt. Hon. Minister is reported to have said, by way ot' a set oti', 
 that, "after all, the condemned Catechism is better than Maine's 
 ** works, which," he said, " are taught in the catholic schools." 
 No assertion can be more calumnious. Our Bishops and Clergy ab- 
 horthe works of Paine even more than they do those of Duigenaa 
 and Musgrave. 
 
 (2) This computation will not apppar extravagant, when to the 
 parliamentary grant are added the annual bequests, gifts, rents, and 
 dividends, and the support ol the Bluecoat Hospital, &c.
 
 272 
 
 4 ' charges of perfidy, disloyalty, barbarity, and 
 14 idolatry (I), answer their purpose. This, how- 
 14 ever, I know you consider as an evil, rather 
 " than a benefit. But, with respect to the ob- 
 44 ject which you so earnestly wish for, namely, 
 44 that all your subjects should be of one reli- 
 44 gion, and that the religion of the state ; be 
 44 assured that neither the Irish Protestant Ca- 
 44 techism, nor the Bishop of London's Confu- 
 " tation of Popery, nor De Coetlogan's Aba- 
 44 minations of the Church of lloure, nor all the 
 44 interpretations of the Revelations, either by 
 44 learned Warburtonian lecturers (2), or un- 
 44 learned country clergymen, ever gain one sin- 
 " gle proselyte from the Catholics in either island. 
 * c The fact is, Catholics of every description are 
 44 perfectly conscious, they have been taught a 
 44 creed diametrically opposite to that, on which 
 44 the objections of these adversaries are ground- 
 " ed. What the arguments really are, which, 
 " from time to time, cause certain catholic no- 
 44 blemen, gentlemen, and clergymen, to aban- 
 " don the religion of their ancestors, need not be 
 " pointed out to you : siuce the general behavi- 
 
 (i) Prot. Catech. Part iv. p. 24. 
 
 (j) Bishop W'arburton has left a salary for a preacher, to prove 
 every year at Lincoln's Inn Chapel, thatthePope is Antichrist; who, 
 if he should succeed in his argument, would prove at the same time, 
 that he himself, together with the founder of his lecture, had bor- 
 rowed his orders, his liturgy, and his Christianity, from this chief 
 agent of Satan.
 
 273 
 
 " our of these persons during their lives, and 
 " more particularly at their death, sufficiently 
 " manifests them. Let it suffice to say, that 
 " these are so well understood among Catholics, 
 " that even when the pastor of a numerous flock 
 11 has conformed to the established church, and 
 " has published writings to induce them to fol- 
 " low his example, he has not succeeded with a 
 " single individual amongst them (1) ; no not 
 " even with one amongst his own servants. On 
 " the other hand, that these arguments are not 
 " unknown to Protestants, Dr. Duigenan is a 
 " witness beyond all exception (2)." 
 
 But the examination of the Catechism of the 
 Incorporated Society, which was sent to me by a 
 friend a few days ago, has caused me to digress 
 widely from my subject : I therefore return to 
 the consideration of it, but that only for a few 
 minutes longer. It is perfectly inconceivable to 
 my mind, that men of sense and candour should 
 so often assert, and that even in their solemn 
 parliamentary speeches, that there is no positive 
 grievance of the Catholics left unredressed, when 
 they cannot help knowing, from being so often 
 
 (0 Some years ago the priest of Worcester, the Rev.H. Wharton, 
 conformed to the establishment, and published a book to justify hi* 
 conduct ; as did also the Rev. Mr. Hawkins, another priest, who 
 then resided at Worcester; but not a single Catholic abandoned his 
 religion. Every one knew the motives of these priests, their con- 
 duct sufficiently bespoke thera. 
 
 (-; Sec above, p. 70,
 
 274 
 
 reminded of it, (I myself have been reminding 
 them of it in various publications during* these 
 twenty years (l), that catholic soldiers and- sai- 
 lors, at the present time, to the number of more 
 than 200,000 men, are not yet free to prac- 
 tise their own religion, and are forced, under 
 the pain of military punishment, to conform to a 
 worship repugnant to their consciences. What 
 adds a fresh sting to this persecution is, that it is 
 exercised in the teeth of an act of parliament, 
 namely, the act of 1793. This act makes it 
 lawful to every Irish subject, except about forty 
 individuals, to profess and practise the catholic 
 religion ; but in the first place, if the soldier, in 
 obedience to orders, crosses the sea, whether to 
 Britain, Gibraltar, the West Indies, or any 
 other British settlement, he is immediately in- 
 formed, that his act of parliament is of no force 
 there. Secondly, while even he remains in Ire- 
 land, his officer, if he is an Orangeman, or other- 
 wise of an intolerant or irreligious disposition, 
 fails not to answer him, when he pleads the pri- 
 vilege of the act of 1793 : " I know nothing of 
 Cf your act of parliament, but I know that the 
 ' first article of war requires you to attend the 
 ' established worship ; and go to it you shall, 
 
 (i) See a Sermon on the Recovery of his Majesty, preached at 
 Winchester, April 23, 1807. I have never ceased, since that pe- 
 riod, in various publications and private memorials to men in 
 power, to urge this grievance. The time is come when it must be 
 redressed.
 
 275 
 
 <( or to prison and the halberts." I am asto- 
 nished that men of reflection should not see, how 
 unwise it is to leave so dangerous a weapon as 
 that I have been pointing out, to be taken up, 
 in a moment of danger, by a Hoche or a Hum- 
 bert ! (1) 
 
 (i) This paragraph, asserting that catholic soldiers and sailors are 
 still subject to religious persecution, has called forth the strongest 
 invectives against me in Faulkner's Journal, the European Maga- 
 zine, the Belfast News, &c. from a Gentleman of Newry, who 
 signs himself William Henry Pratt. I wish to my heart he could 
 prove me to be in an error, by demonstrating that the above-men- 
 tioned defenders of our country are free to serve God according to 
 the dictates of their consciences ; but though Lord Muskerry (whom 
 he names) and many other officers, behave to their catholic soldiers 
 in the article of religion with a wise and liberal policy ; yet this is 
 far from being the general case ; and it is a fact so notorious, that 
 catholic soldiers are almost every where in England, and in a great 
 many parts of Ireland, constrained by their officers to attend the 
 established worship, contrary to their consciences, that it does not 
 stand in need of any other proof. Mr. Pratt quotes the first article 
 of war, to shew that nothing more is required of the soldiers than 
 " to frequent divine service j" but he carefully suppresses the follow- 
 ing clause, requiring them to " frequent divine service and sermon, 
 " in the places appointed/or the assembling of the regiment, troop, or 
 " company to which they belong " (which places certainly are not 
 catholic chapels.) He omits also the clause which subjects soldiers 
 so absenting themselves to " the forfeiture of 1 2 pence for the first 
 " offence, and to be laid in irons for 12 hours for the second." He 
 moreover omits the whole 5th article which subjects the soldier to 
 '* the punishment of death for disobeying the lawful command of his 
 " officer," such as that of attending divine service is there supposed 
 to be. About three years ago, when Messrs. Fox and Wind- 
 ham were in power, great pains were taken to get the following 
 clause: "Or some other place of worship licensed according to 
 " law," annexed to the aforesaid clause; and this addition was 
 understood to have obtained the assent of every member cf the cabi- 
 net, when the circumstance coming to the knowledge of a cfrfti ; n 
 
 No
 
 276 
 
 This, however, my dear friend, and all your 
 other grievances put together, are a mere trifle, 
 compared with the wide wasting, exterminating 
 persecution, with which you are threatened by 
 amanwho, from his connections, is supposed 
 to be one of the most powerful men in the em- 
 pire, and who lately filled one of the first situa- 
 tions in your island. Yes, if the Legislature 
 could be persuaded to follow up, and the public 
 to approve of, the plans of the nobleman I allude 
 to, Ireland would become, in the reign of George 
 III. a scene of more horrible carnage, than it was 
 in those of Elizabeth and Oliver Cromwell. What 
 he professedly aims at, is the new-modelling of 
 your unchangeable form of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment. He is bent upon the annihilation of 
 all Catholic Metropolitans, Bishops, and even 
 Parish Priests ; for no other reason, than because 
 the state has chosen to adopt this same aposto- 
 lical form of government for the Established 
 Church. Following up this rule, he must equally 
 forbid the use of our Missal and Breviary, be- 
 cause the Common Prayer Book is almost en- 
 tirely taken out of them. Again, he is resolved 
 upon depriving the Catholic Church, of the es- 
 
 illustrious but short-sighted yoiing man, he found means to defeat 
 
 the measure. ^ Mr. Pratt accuses me of disloyalty, in pointing 
 
 out " the danger of leaving so powerful a weapon to' be taken up by 
 ' an enemy in the hour of danger." My answer is, that a traitor does 
 not inform his officers of a weak part which he has discovered in the 
 fortifications he was ordered to defend ; but he informs the enemy 
 ofit, or he leaves the latter to find it out.
 
 277 
 
 sential and inalienable rights of every society, 
 that of excluding atrocious and refractory of* 
 fenders from its communion. But to make short 
 of this matter : it is impossible the learned au- 
 thor of the present scheme should be ignorant, 
 that the innovations which he here proposes, 
 go to far greater lengths of schism, than those 
 contained in the famous CIVIL CONSTITU- 
 TION OF THE CLERGY, enacted by the 
 French national assembly ; the enforcing of 
 which constitution caused the murder of 24,000 
 clergymen, and the banishment of 64,000 others, 
 independently of lay sufferers, without accom- 
 plishing its object. Nor has this personage any 
 reason to suppose, that the Catholic Bishops and 
 Priests, and Laity of Ireland, if called upon to 
 suffer the extremity of the law in defence of 
 their religion, would shew less firmness than their 
 brethren in France have done. 
 
 But while bigotry thus threatens you on one 
 side, irreligion, half serious and half jocose, 
 assaults vou on the other. Your celebrated 
 chronologist, Archbishop Usher, with some of 
 Ins followers, near two centuries ago, endea- 
 voured to persuade your fathers, that your apos- 
 tle St. Patrick, and your other holy bishops, 
 abbots, monks, and hermits, during several cen- 
 turies, were not Catholics, but Protestants. The 
 method, however, that he adopted for this pur- 
 pose, which consisted in distorting and misre- 
 presenting the tenets of the ancient fathers and 
 doctors, was, as a late writer says, " A terrible 
 N n 3
 
 278 
 
 way of defending Protestantism (l)." Accord- 
 ingly? it is at tne present day completely given 
 up. But a still more daring attempt upon your 
 ancient faith, is now made by one of your de- 
 generate countrymen, a Dr. Ledwich ; in deny- 
 ing the very existence of that apostle, to whom 
 he himself, no less than you, is indebted for be- 
 ing a Christian. What he would have you be- 
 lieve is, that no such man as St. Patrick ever had 
 a being, but that, somehow or other, the eccle- 
 siastical writers of the ninth century, in Eng- 
 land, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy, 
 conspired together, in order to make the world 
 believe that there had existed such a personage 
 four centuries earlier, namely, in the fifth cen- 
 tury, and that this personage converted the 
 Irish nation to the faith of Christ. Dr. Led- 
 wich tells you, moreover, that the plot succeed- 
 ed completely, and that it was never discovered 
 till he, Dr. Ledwich, wrote his book. Insult- 
 ing as these paradoxes are to common sense : 
 outrageous as they are to the honour of litera- 
 ture ; yet, in an age of novels and newspapers, 
 they have gained credit with several writers ; and 
 it is easy to foresee, that if they are not opposed, 
 they will, on the joint credit of their novelty 
 and irreligion, become fashionable opinions ! 
 There is no danger that you, or your catholic 
 friends, will take up with these particular extra- 
 
 (i) See the General and Biographical Dictionary, Art. Usher.
 
 279 
 
 vagances of Dr. Ledwich (l). You are not 
 likely to discard your great apostle St. Patrick 
 to the region of " fictitious pagan deities," 
 without the shadow of an argument, upon the au- 
 thority and recommendation of Dr. Ledwich : 
 but I take this opportunity of cautioning you 
 against trusting to this writer as an antiquary 
 upon any subject whatsoever that he treats of ; 
 assuring you that his book, called The Anti- 
 quities of Ireland, is chiefly distinguished by 
 the singularity and extravagance of the opinions 
 which it contains, and the confidence and disin- 
 genuousness of the author in supporting them. 
 
 But I must here apprise you, that I have treat- 
 ed the subjects last mentioned, and indeed most 
 of the others here touched upon, at much greater 
 length in a series of letters, which I have addressed 
 from your island to a friend of mine in England ; 
 and as I am convinced the perusal of them M^ould 
 afford some pleasure to you and my other nu- 
 merous friends in your island, and some useful 
 information on several important points, to many 
 
 (0 It appears, however, that even the late Catholic Historian of 
 Ireland, O'Halloran, for want of knowing better, has been seduced 
 into the fashionable error of attributing the conversion of Ireland to 
 Asiatic preachers, in consequence of the wrong calculation of Easter, 
 which for some time prevailed in it. He was ignorant that the 
 British and Irish Christians originally con lonned to the practice of 
 the Roman and other churches in this point, as I have .proved ; also 
 that they never were Quartodecitnuns, as Bede expressly asserts ; 
 finally, that the latin were too small and inconsiderable a sect to 
 send missionaries out of Syria into distant countries to make prose- 
 lytes.
 
 280 
 
 persons who stand greatly in need of it, in the 
 country to which I am hastening, I am strongly 
 inclined to get these letters back into my hands, 
 in order to revise and publish them. Should I do 
 this, I*am aware it will be to my own cost ; as I 
 am sensible what an outcry they will occasion 
 against me. One clergyman will preach and 
 print a sermon, of which land my writings shall 
 form the subject matter, for the beginning, the 
 middle> and the end (l). Another will probably 
 snatch up some half sentence, and having dragged 
 it out of its context, and dressed it up in his own 
 malicious comments, will hold it up to the pub- 
 lic, as a specimen of my immoral or seditious 
 doctrine. In vain shall I protest against the 
 caricature ; in vain shall I appeal to the whole 
 tenor of my doctrine ; he will stun me and the 
 public with repeated vociferations : "I hold you to 
 " your own words. Fire shall not burn this out 
 " of me." Such is the language of my late 
 and most voluminous antagonist. I had not 
 such an adversary to deal with when I wrote 
 my former letters (2) ; for Dr. Sturges is 
 both a gentleman and a scholar (3). It is 
 
 (i) See the Sermon preached before the University of Oxford, at 
 St. Mary's, Nov. 5, 1805. 
 
 (2) Letters to a Prebendary. 
 
 (3) Whilst this work is in the press, I hear with regret of the death 
 of that respectable and learned gentleman. 
 
 " Spargite flores, &c. 
 
 *' His saltern accumulem donis et fungar imam 
 " Munere."
 
 281 
 
 is true, he tried the strength of his pen, and his 
 friends tried their weight in parliament ; while 
 other friends tried the efficacy of certain specific 
 arguments upon me, which are generally found 
 convincing; still there was in that controversy 
 no^contemptible quibbling, no indecorous brawl- 
 ing, no confident impugning of the known truth. 
 From adversaries who can descend to take up 
 these weapons, I must ever turn with disgust, 
 hoping that they are not employed nor abetted, 
 by persons of greater respectability than them- 
 selves. 
 
 There is, however, another set of combatants, 
 whom, though they should make use of the 
 most unfair weapons, it is not lawful for us au- 
 thors to despise ; I mean, the Minos's, the 
 iEacus's, and the Rhadamanthus's of the regions 
 of literature. Now, as I am provided with no 
 golden bough, nor medicated sop, I can ex- 
 pect nothing but the severest sentence for my 
 present bold intrusion into their domains. The 
 latter I believe to be more essentially requisite, 
 and might alone suffice to secure me from the 
 severity of the two parties into which the dusky 
 quorum is divided. To speak without figure: if 
 in issuing these letters to the public, I would 
 but compound with the religion and irreligion of 
 the times ; if I would but make a few slight 
 sacrifices of the cause which I support, I make 
 no doubt I should find my own private account 
 in the reports of the Reviewers, and even the 
 Antijacobin might once more speak favour-
 
 282 
 
 ably of a Papist (l). But, with God's help, I 
 hope to keep on my steady course till the end of 
 it, in the pursuit of truth alone ; content with no 
 other reward, for the present, than that of my 
 own conscience. 
 
 I lind I must reserve for another letter the 
 subject of ecclesiastical architecture, which I had 
 originally designed should have been 'the princi- 
 pal matter of this. I shall therefore, by way of 
 finishing with you at present, take the liberty of 
 giving you, and our other friends, a few words 
 
 of advice. Circumstances then, dear Sir, have 
 
 certainly been irritating; the times are critical and 
 eventful ; but, for heaven's sake, keep yourselves 
 cool : a great part of your past miseries have been 
 owing to the intemperate warmth of some of 
 your countrymen. Be patient : for it is un- 
 questionably better " to bear the ills we have, 
 " than fly to others that we know not of." Re- 
 mind the poor people, over whom your influence 
 extends, of the accumulated misery which too 
 many of them drew upon themselves nine years 
 ago, by listening to the exaggerated histories, 
 
 (i) How did this Review cheer me and praise me, when I published 
 the first volume of my History of Winchester, as may be seen by look- 
 ing back to its numbers for February and March 1791. But now, I 
 make no doubt, it will discover that I am ignorant, stupid, and even 
 a Jacobin. Still they are not my talents nor my sentiments, but the 
 interests of the Antijacobin which have undergone a change. 
 Since the first edition of these letters, [ have given the Review in 
 question fresh cause of offence, by proving that its proper title now 
 is Jacobin, not Antijacobin. See the Supplement to Sir John 
 Hippisley's Additional Observations.
 
 283 
 
 false alarms, and delusive promises of anarchists 
 and agitators, of different manners and habits, and 
 of a different creed from their own ; men who 
 sought not the relief of the people, but their own 
 aggrandizement and emolument. They excited 
 and fanned the flame, and then, seeking their 
 safety inflight, they left it to be extinguished in 
 the blood of their deluded victims. If I had the 
 voice of thunder, I would cry throughout your 
 island, at this momentous period in particular: 
 " Irishmen, be cool : command your temper, 
 " Your evils are working their own cure: they 
 " can last but a very little time longer. In a 
 " word, increasing, as you are, so rapidly in 
 " number, wealth, and influence, you must find 
 " your proper level in society, and your weight 
 " in the scale of the empire. Those statesmen 
 "who pretend to fix the ne plus ultra of your 
 " privileges, at any point whatever, short of those 
 '* enjoyed by the rest of your fellow subjects, 
 " might just as well usurp omnipotence, and say 
 "to the flowing tide: hither shall thou come, 
 (i but no further : and here shall thy proud waves 
 " be stayed (l)." 
 
 In a word, be loyal ; remembering the obliga- 
 tion incumbent upon us all, both by the natural 
 and the divine law, of being subject to the higher 
 powers not only for wrath but also for conscience 
 sake ; and of rendering to all their dues : tribute to 
 whom tribute h due, custom to whom custom, fear 
 
 (i) Job xxxviii. i j. 
 
 Oo
 
 284 
 
 to whom fear, honour to whom honour (l). Re- 
 member also the additional obligation of loyalty 
 we have contracted, by the strict oath of alle- 
 giance which we have taken. We are constantly 
 accused of making the apparent interest of our 
 religion the only rule of our loyalty ; but the 
 history of Christendom, during the three last 
 centuries, demonstrates the falsehood of this 
 charge, and shews that it may be retorted on 
 those who bring it. Let one example, suffice: 
 when Edward VI. died, was there a single re- 
 former of any eminence who was not engaged in 
 Lady Jane's rebellion? When Mary died, was 
 there a single Catholic -(and the nation was then 
 almost all Catholic) to oppose the succession of 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 But, whilst I exhort you to be faithful to your 
 sovereign, let me not forget to admonish you of 
 the fidelity you owe to your God. You will 
 gather from what I have already said, that I 
 consider your approaching emancipation, as an 
 event which is likely to be trying to your religi- 
 ous constancy and piety. To speak the truth, I 
 think I see, that the very prospect of this change 
 makes a few individuals affect an air of latitudi- 
 narianism, totally inconsistent with the tenets of 
 catholicity, and, in particular, disposes them 
 to barter away the inalienable spiritual rights of 
 the Church for their own temporal advantage. 
 
 d) Rom. xiii.
 
 285 
 
 The system of indemnification, at the expense of 
 the Church, has of late been acted upon to a 
 great extent upon the continent of Europe. 
 But then they were only temporal possessions 
 which were thus disposed of: whereas, in the in- 
 stance to which I allude, the vital interests of 
 Christ's spiritual kingdom have been held up to 
 sale, by those who never had, nor can have, a right 
 to dispose of them. Nevertheless, whatever may 
 be the disposition and conduct of a few indivi- 
 duals, I trust, in the divine protection, that 
 the great majority of the Irish Catholics, under 
 all circumstances, whether prosperous or ad- 
 verse, will, in conformity with their conduct, dur- 
 ing the fourteen past centuries, continue faithful 
 in the belief and practice of every tittle of their 
 unchangeable religion, till the very end of time : 
 or rather, till the day previous to it, when, if the 
 prayer of St. Patrick, upon mount Chruachaneli 
 was heard, the vast Atlantic will cause Ireland to 
 disappear from the face of the globe, in order to 
 spare his beloved children the experience of 
 those horrors, which Christ tells us, will cause 
 men to wither azvay for fear, and cry out to the 
 mountains, fall upon us, and to the hills, cover 
 us ! ( 1 ) 
 
 Having just now been upon deck, I find we 
 arc off the light house of the Small Islands, as 
 they are called. The light house has much the 
 
 (i) Luke xxi 26. xxiii. 33. 
 
 O o 2
 
 586 
 
 appearance of an Irish Round Tower, though, 
 instead of standing in an open country, it is 
 placed on the pinnacle of a small insulated 
 rock, which jnst appears above the bosom of the 
 deep, at the distance of twenty miles from the 
 Welsh coast. In this narrow and dreary cell, 
 seeing nothing but the " wild and wasteful 
 " ocean," hearing nothing but the perpetual 
 lashing of its surges, mingled with the howling 
 of contending winds, and the shrill screaming of 
 cormorants, three poor human beings live im- 
 mured from one three months to another, when 
 they receive a fresh supply of oil for their lamps, 
 and of provisions for themselves. Their only 
 pleasure, in the mean time, is to drink whisky, 
 and their only prospect, is to have it in their 
 power to drink whiskey, as long as they live. On 
 the other hand, if there are charms in heavenly 
 contemplation and devotion, beyond all other 
 pleasures which can be tasted here upon earth ; 
 and, unless the inspired penmen deceive us in 
 assuring us there are such, we may well believe 
 the ancient inhabitants of the rouud towers (l), 
 
 (0 In deciding, as I unequivocally do, that the round towers of 
 Ireland were the cells of certain anachorets in the early ages of its 
 Christianity, (though not of all anachorets, or Inctusi ; for doubtless 
 many lived in cells upon the ground), I enter my protest against the 
 idea of penitentiary houses, in which the hermit is supposed to re- 
 move from one floor to another, according to the terms of his pe- 
 nance ; or in which a number of penitents were shut up in the dif. 
 f.-rcnt floors of the building. To form a right judgment in matters 
 of this nature, the antiquary ought to be acquainted with th<; general
 
 287 
 
 the anachorets, enjoyed these higher pleasures, 
 and thus received an ample indemnification for 
 the austerities they endured, even that hundred 
 fold reward which Christ has promised here upon 
 earth, to those who abandon satisfactions in this 
 world for his sake(l). But I must conclude 
 with assuring you that 
 
 I am, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 J. M. 
 
 discipline of the Catholic Church, and the particular manners and 
 opinions of the monks and hermits during the early and middle 
 ages. 
 
 (i) Matt. xix. 19. 
 
 ^i&i.^
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO THE AFORESAID MERCHANT. 
 
 Milford, August 13, 1807. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 WlTUIN two hours from the 
 concluding of my letter to you of yesterday, I 
 found myself at the entrance of the celebrated 
 haven of this place. I was surprised and de- 
 lighted with the capaciousness of this bold inlet, 
 capable, as it is, of containing all the ships of
 
 289 
 
 war in the world ; with its numerous and diversi- 
 fied bays, and with the smooth and tranquil state 
 of its waters, compared with the boisterous waves 
 of the Irish Sea which I had just quitted. This 
 circumstance is owing to the haven's being so 
 completely landlocked. 
 
 I have walked from the hotel this morning, to 
 enjoy the different views of this charming place, 
 which rises, in the form of an amphitheatre, 
 above the majestic bason of the haven, and com- 
 mands every part of it, with the numerous ves- 
 sels sailing in different directions upon it. The 
 town is rapidly increasing in size and importance : 
 but were it within a hundred miles of London, it 
 would increase at a much quicker rate, and, I 
 make no doubt, would soon become the largest 
 watering-place within an equal distance from 
 that city. Still this haven cannot vie, either with 
 the bay of Dublin or the harbour of Cork, in 
 grandeur or beauty. 
 
 After the sea prospects, the object which pleased 
 me most in my rambles, was a small, plain, new- 
 built church, upon an eminence, near the en- 
 trance of the town, which from the hasty view 
 I had of its outside, appeared to me as faultless a 
 specimen of pointed architecture, as I had almost 
 ever met with from modern skill (l). I was 
 told that the architect is a French emigrant, by 
 
 (i) Upon a second view of it, in (be present year i8->8, now that 
 it U finished, i think! have discovered several defects in it.
 
 290 
 
 trade a shipbuilder, who resides near Milford ; 
 and I make no doubt, that his success in the pre- 
 sent work, is owing to his having closely copied 
 some ancient church in the neighbourhood. The 
 mention of this unexpected sight, brings me to 
 the subject which ought to have formed the 
 matter of my last letter to you, that of eccle- 
 siastical architecture, or rather the particular 
 branch of it which regards the building of Ca- 
 tholic Chapeis. I must premise, however, that I 
 am not myself an architect, in the lowest 
 sense of the term : all that I can pretend to in 
 this line is, some little experience, and a few ob- 
 vious reflections which I have made concerning 
 it. You will judge for yourself of the propriety 
 of my rules and observations, and adopt them or 
 net, in the chapel you talk of erecting, just as 
 you think proper. 
 
 I own, I was delighted to find the spirit which 
 I every where met with amongst the Catholics of 
 your country, after I had quitted the capital, for 
 rebuilding their chapels, in a better style than 
 they have hitherto been in ; and I can readily 
 believe the anecdote you told me, concerning 
 the vestry that was held in your neighbouring 
 parish (1). I have been informed that you are 
 
 (0 The aneolote is as follows. A parish church in the county of 
 Waterford being in great decay, a vestry of the protestant inhabitants 
 of the parish was held, to consider of the means of raising money to 
 repair it. No such means, however, occurring to the meeting, one 
 of the company spoke to this effect : " Gentlemen, if you will follow
 
 291 
 
 indebted, for the improvements which are going 
 on in so many places, to the bigotry of the Orange 
 yeomanry, and the fury of the soldiers during 
 the rebellion of 1798. Not content with de- 
 stroying whatever houses they found vacant at 
 that period, they every where burnt down the 
 chapels. Foi the loss of these, government, with 
 equal justice and wisdom, made an adequate 
 compensation, by means of which, and of vo- 
 luntary contributions, they are in a great mea- 
 sure restored with advantage. The example of 
 your eastern counties, in which these transacti- 
 ons took place, has stimulated the Catholics in 
 other counties, that were never disturbed, to 
 exert themselves in the same line of chapel im- 
 provement. I cannot recollect half the places, 
 where I saw new and elegant chapels, either built 
 or in the act of building : the following places, 
 however, strike my memory at the present mo- 
 ment; Timolin, Castle Dermot, Tullow, Carlow, 
 Thurles, Cashel, Cahir, our Lady's at Cork, 
 Carrick on Suire, and Trinity extra at Watcrford. 
 All these erections, however, must yield in exte- 
 rior beauty to your principal chapel, or rather 
 church, at Waterford. Its extensive and lofty 
 facade, with its massive, but regular pillars, pi- 
 lasters, entablature, and pediment, the latter sur- 
 
 my advice, I will be answerable for the success of it. Let us make 
 a present of our church to the Papists. They will not fail to put it 
 into good repair ; and when that is done, we can take it from them, 
 us we did before." 
 
 p P
 
 C92 
 
 mounted with an ornamented cross, and charged 
 in the tympanum with appropriate ecclesiastical 
 ornaments, carved and gilt, forms not only the 
 greatest ornament of your great city, hut is the 
 nohlest front of any modern place, of worship 1 
 recollect having seen in Ireland, Still I must 
 give the preference, for an inside view, to Our 
 Lady's at Cork(l); and you know, Sir, it is 
 the spirit of our religion, to bestow the greatest 
 pains and expense upon the interior decorations 
 of our churches and chapels, while other modern 
 denominations of Christians, exhibit their masni- 
 licence and ornaments on the outside of their 
 places of worship ; imitating, in this respect, 
 the example of the pagan Greeks and Romans. 
 It remains to be seen whether the grand chapel 
 at Thurles will or will not, when finished, exceed 
 each of these chapels, both in exterior and inte- 
 rior grandeur and elegance (2). 
 
 (i) Since the former edition of these Letters, the inside decora- 
 tions of this Church have been compleated, and it has been furnish- 
 ed with a most costly and elegant tabernacle, a beautiful altar.piece, 
 and every other requisite suitable to the magnificence of the build- 
 ing. A particular account of the whole, and of the ceremony of 
 blessing it, has lately been published. , 
 
 (2) Interior dimensionsof the three above-mentioned chapels. 
 
 Feet, 
 Waterford Great Chapel, length - - 105 
 
 Breadth of the nave and side aisles, - - 65 
 
 Length of the transept, the chapel being in theformofacrosss, 95 
 Height of the groined deling, - - 5c 
 
 Our Lady's Chapel, or Church of Cork, having three altar?, 
 
 Length, . . - 1B9 
 
 Hreaddi of the nave and side aisle*, . - bz
 
 The chief and the general fault of all these 
 new built chapels, consists in the incongruous 
 mixture of different orders and styles of architec- 
 ture which is observable in them. In your grand 
 church, for example, and in the elegant one 
 which is almost finished at Carrick, I remarked, 
 that the windows and the inside arches of 
 the intercolum nations are sharply pointed, while 
 the general style of each chapel is Grecian. I 
 recollect also, that the vaulting of your chapel 
 is executed partly in circular arches, partly in 
 pointed groins ; and it is plain to me, from con- 
 versing with two or three of your architects, that 
 they consider it as a proof of their taste and 
 knowledge, thus to combine different styles in 
 the same building, and even to invent new styles 
 of their own. Seeing the master builder, atone 
 of the above-mentioned new chapels, about to 
 place a whimsical sort of capital for the butment 
 of a pointed arch, I took the liberty of asking 
 him, what order or style that capital belonged 
 to? He answered me : " it is of no particular 
 " order or style ; but it is a fancy Corinthian 
 k< capital."- " Do you, then, really imagine, 
 {; Sir," said 1, " that you can fancy a more 
 
 Length of the transept or cross aisle, ~ 90 
 
 Height ot the vaulting, - 42 
 
 New Chapel at Thurles, length - 120 
 
 Length o( tin- porch, - - zo 
 
 Length ot'the transept, - . 120 
 
 Height ot the vaulting, - ^4 
 
 Height of the tower, - . 10Q 
 
 Pp2
 
 294- 
 
 11 beautiful Corinthian capital, than that which 
 " has obtained the approbation of all civilized 
 ' nations in ail ages ?" 
 
 The first canon, or rule, then, for chapel- 
 building, which, Sir, I shall venture to lay down 
 for your observance, and of the other parties con- 
 cerned in the intended erection, is that, after pro- 
 per consultation with respect to beauty, pro- 
 priety, expense, and practicability, you should 
 fix, not only upon the general style, but also 
 upon the particular order, or period of architec- 
 ture, in which you will have it executed ; and 
 that you should give the most precise and rigid 
 orders, that this style and order be adhered to ; 
 not only in the essential, but also in the minuter 
 parts of your building, and in the very orna- 
 ments and furniture of it. You will find, in 
 your illustrious countryman's (l) Treatise on 
 the Sublime and Beautiful, the principles upon 
 which a number of uniform members of a build- 
 ing are calculated to give pleasure ; and, with- 
 out reading this treatise, you will experience 
 this pleasure, from contemplating your build- 
 ing when finished, if it be so constructed. 
 Your practice of introducing so much pointed 
 work into your chapels as you do, shews that 
 you sec the beauty of this style, and its peculiar 
 propriety for ecclesiastical buildings : but again 
 let me impress my first canon upon your mind. 
 Good taste and good sense require, that you 
 
 (0 Butkd
 
 29$ 
 
 should adopt the point in all your arches, or in 
 none of them. The law of unity and simplicity 
 applies to the other arts, to painting, statuary, 
 music, and even poetry, no less than to build- 
 ing. 
 
 " Denique, sit quod vis, simplex duntaxat et unum." 
 
 Horat. de Art. Poet. 
 
 You will gather from what I have just now 
 said, that I myself greatly prefer the pointed 
 style, which by some persons is called the Nor* 
 man, by others the Gothic style (l), especially 
 for religious edifices. Indeed, it was invented 
 and perfected, in the zenith of the Church's 
 wealth and power, by ecclesiastical personages, 
 and for religious purposes ; that is to say, for 
 augmenting the solemnity of divine worship, 
 and exciting the attention, awe, and devotion of 
 those who assisted at it : and certainly, never 
 did any invention of the human mind, more 
 
 (0 I agree with the persons who object to the term Gothic, as ap- 
 plied to the pointed style of architecture, that it was invented by the 
 artists who restored the Grecian style, as a word of reproach to the 
 former. Nevertheless, the word does not convey any such disgrace- 
 ful idea at present, and the style itself is generally admired ; since 
 the inhabitants of Gothland are now a civilized people; and the 
 sovereign of Sweden values himself in quality of King of the Goths 
 and Vandals ; and since the Normans themselves, to whom the in- 
 vention of the beautiful style in question is ascribed, v. ere themselves, 
 two centuries before that period, as great destroyers of the arts as 
 f ver the Goths had been. I own the word Gothic does not raise my 
 -touiacb, in the same degree it does those of iome of my friend?.
 
 Q96 
 
 Completely answer its intended purpose, than 
 this lias done. Tor wjiere is the mortal so stupid, 
 so dissipated, or so irreligious, who does not 
 experience something of these awful and religious 
 feelings among the long-drawn ailes, the aspiring- 
 arches and pinnacles, and ramified tracery of an 
 ancient cathedral ! (l) Since the plundering 
 of ancient reformers, the fury of later fana- 
 tics, and the more destructive caprice of fan- 
 tastic modern improvers, these venerable piles 
 are but, as it were, the skeletons of what they 
 were three hundred years ago ; yet where is the 
 being, possessed of a soul, who will say that the 
 paragon of modern art and magnificence, St. 
 Paul's Cathedral, disposes his mind for prayer and 
 contemplation in the same degree that York, Lin- 
 coln, and Winchester Cathedrals do ? (<J) 
 
 It has been pretended by some writers, that 
 this grand effort of human ingenuity and indus- 
 try, the pointed style, was borrowed from the 
 Eastern Saracens, by other writers from the 
 "Western Moors of Spain, while a third class 
 derive it from the Northern Goths of Scandina- 
 via ; as if there had been more native genius and 
 
 d) See (lie author's sentiments on tills subject more at length ia 
 The History und Antiquities of Winchester, vol. ii. c. 2. 
 
 (2) I would have added to this list Westminster Abbey, were it 
 not now a mere statuary shop, where huge blocks of stone, ill 
 wrotight, no less than well wrought, and some of them not wrought 
 at all, confusedly cover all the beautiful arch-work of the walls and 
 begin to fill even the open spaces of the ailes and naves.
 
 297 
 
 grandeur of conception, more ardent religious 
 feelings, and greater encouragement for eccle- 
 siastical architecture among these several bar- 
 barians, than existed anions? our own masnifi- 
 cent and ingenious Normans of the 12th and 
 13th centuries ! Let any intelligent person 
 survey the vast and expensive cathedrals and 
 abbey churches, which the Norman prelates 
 began to build in every part of England, soon 
 after the conquest, the substance of which 
 still remains ; and then let them tell me, whe- 
 ther so much ardour, so much ingenuity, and 
 so much liberality, as they severally manifested 
 fur the advancement of ecclesiastical architec- 
 ture, Mas not likely to discover whatever in it 
 was most beautiful and perfect ? But I have 
 elsewhere fully confuted these several systems (1), 
 and have shewn, amongst other things, that if 
 this beautiful style had been borrowed from any 
 foreign original whatsoever, we should have pos- 
 sessed some copy or other of it, that was intro- 
 duced all at once, in a complete and regular form. 
 But no such specimen has anywhere been discover- 
 ed. On the contrary, we see this art, like other 
 arts, rising from a small beginning, and gradually 
 growing up to its perfection through a succession 
 of aires. It is evident to the eye-siuht, that the 
 Norman architects in the J lth and 12th centu- 
 
 (i; See the llislory nfWii hestir, vol, ii. p. 1S.4. A No !'.---:, \ s o;i 
 Gothic Archit:-< turc, by i\v Rev. Thomas Wnrton, Rev. J. Deruham, 
 v [;t;i'm Gm.-i-, and the Rev. J. Milner, public ! by J. Tujlur, a; 
 
 fin.- Architectural Library, liolburn.
 
 298 
 
 ries, used to ornament the plain surface of their 
 churches, with rows of circular arches; and that, 
 by way of variety, they frequently caused these 
 arches to intersect each other, which intersec- 
 tions formed pointed arches ; and that they soon 
 after began to open these intersections by way of 
 windows ; and that, in a very short time, they 
 made all their arches pointed; and that they pro- 
 ceeded to ornament these with trefoils, canopies, 
 &c. In short, it has been proved(l), both by his- 
 tory and theory, that as the pointed arch is the 
 chief character, so it is the grand source of all the 
 other members, and of all the ornaments of the 
 architecture in question. I am far, however, from 
 asserting, that the Normans of France and Italy, 
 and the Christians of Europe in general, were not 
 intent on the improvement of their churches, at the 
 same time that our ancestors were; or that the dis- 
 coveries of oneuation were not immediately com- 
 municated to the others : all that I maintain is, 
 that as ecclesiastical architecture was no where so 
 much encouraged as it was in England, from the 
 Uth century to the 15th, so I am convinced, the 
 chief merit of discovering and improving pointed 
 arches, is due to the Normans and English. The 
 tradition of foreign countries, which ascribes the 
 building of their most beautiful pointed cathe- 
 drals to our countrymen, confirms this opinion. 
 Again, I do not mean to deny, that pointed 
 arches are to be met with in Syria, in the East 
 
 (i) See the above-mentioned History and Essays.
 
 299 
 
 Indies, and in the Moorish parts of Spain ; but I 
 deny that any of these arches are 600 years old ; 
 that is to say, are coeval with many of ours, or 
 that they ever grew to be such miracles of gran- 
 deur and beauty, as our ancient cathedrals. 
 
 Should you and your friends resolve upon 
 building in the pointed, vulgarly called the Go- 
 thic style, it will, in the next place, be neces- 
 sary to determine upon some particular order, or 
 period, as it is sometimes called, of this style ; 
 for there is as much difference between the 
 pointed order of Henry the Third's reign, in 
 which Salisbury Cathedral was built, and that of 
 Henry the Seventh's, who built the chapel of his 
 name at Westminster, as there is between the 
 Doric and the Composite orders of Grecian ar- 
 chitecture. The chief distinguishing features of 
 the different periods, consists in the span of the 
 arch. During the first period, indeed, that is to 
 say, during the reigns of the three first Henries, 
 this was not fixed, the angles being either very 
 obtuse, and hardly perceptible, or else prodi- 
 giously sharp, and by no means elegantly formed. 
 During the second period, namely, during the 
 reigns of the three first Edwards, the taste of 
 our architects directed them to prefer the form 
 of pointed arch, in which right lines drawn from 
 the springing or imposts across, and so up to 
 the crown of the arch, make an equilateral tri- 
 angle. During the third period of the pointed 
 style, which comprises the reigns of the three 
 
 Qq
 
 300 
 
 last Henries, the architects being more anxious 
 about their own reputation, by hanging vast 
 weights in the air, and surprising tlfe spectators 
 with the richness and intricacy of their work, 
 than about the general effect of the buildings, 
 made the arches much flatter, and brought 
 down the roofs much lower than their pre- 
 decessors had done. The dressings of this 
 style went on increasing in richness; so that 
 to take up the idea of my friend, the late Poet 
 Laureate (l), the first period may be called 
 that of the simple Gothic t the second that of the 
 ornamented Gothic, and the third that of the 
 florid Gothic (2). You will easily judge from 
 what I have here said, that I* myself prefer the 
 second order, as better calculated to answer the 
 grand object of the pointed style, and as being 
 gracefully ornamented without being gorgeously 
 bedecked. Hence also you comprehend, that I 
 like the style of York, Lincoln, and Winchester 
 churches, better than I do that of King's College, 
 Cambridge, and Henry the Seventh's, Westmin- 
 ster. Still there may be a necessity, for the sake 
 of economy, or to gain more space in a chapel, 
 to adopt the flat arch of the third order (but 
 without its usual dressings) rather than the 
 grand aspiring arch of the second. Which ever 
 order, however, you choose, you must strictly 
 
 (r) The Rev. Thomas Warton. 
 
 2} Obs^ivutian.^on Spencer's Fairy Que^n.
 
 01 
 
 adhere to it, within the same range of build- 
 ipg, for all your windows, doors, baUusters, 
 picture-frames, and for your very tabernacle. 
 If you wish to be convinced of the necessity of 
 this rule, go to Lincoln's Inn Chapel, and ob- 
 serve the bad effect of the great Inigo Jones's 
 inattention; who, in attempting the pointed style, 
 has placed a sharp angled East window under a 
 remarkably flat arched ceiling. 
 
 From the whole of what I have said concern- 
 ing the pointed architecture, you will judge how 
 difficult, or rather impossible, it is to build a 
 chapel in this style, without the assistance of per- 
 sons who understand it, and are accustomed to it. 
 At all events, you must have an architect who is 
 completely master of it; and this architect must 
 furnish you, not only with a plan, but also with 
 working drawings for the several parts of the 
 building, the decorations, and the furniture, Bat 
 where is this master of ancient architecture to be 
 found ? Not among the men who have been em- 
 ployed by our king, the nobles, and the prelates, 
 to build what are called their Gothic Castles, and 
 to improve, as these dabblers undertake to do, the 
 master-pieces of antiquity, our awful cathedrals, 
 while " they do not understand," as an able 
 judge pronounced of them, " either the nature or 
 11 the uses of a cathedral (1)." I know one man, 
 
 (0 This is what the lute Dr. Douglas, Bishop of Salisbury, pub- 
 licly declared at a meeting of lUe Society of Antiquaries, concerning 
 the celebrated architect, who had, just before he came to the See, 
 spent i6,' o' 1. in sweeping away the altar, chapel*, monuments 
 
 Q 4 2
 
 302 
 
 indeed, who is eminently qualified to* direct any 
 work of this nature ; and who, without either an 
 original or a copy to look at, could sit down and 
 make pure and perfect drawings for any kind of 
 buildings in the pointed style, from a monument 
 to a cathedral, according to any one of its dif- 
 ferent periods : but this architect resides not iu 
 Ireland, but in England ; and he is so inflexibly 
 strict in adhering to ancient rules and practice, 
 that he would not build for a prince, who should 
 require the slighest deviation from them (1). 
 
 It is probable, that the difficulties attending 
 the erection of your chapel in the pointed style, 
 may determine you to adopt the Grecian archi- 
 tecture ; and certainly, it is infinitely preferable, 
 to have a perfect work of the latter kind, than a 
 caricatura of the former; which, indeed, is the 
 proper term for most of the Gothic chapels, as 
 they are called, that I have met with in England. 
 
 and whatever else was most interesting in that sacred edifice, in de- 
 stroying its proportions, and in making a confused jumble of its or- 
 naments. See a Dissertation on the modern Style of altering an- 
 cient Cathedrals, by the Rev. J. Milner, D. D. F. S. A. Nichols, 
 Red-Lion-Court, Fleet-Street; Keating, Brown, and Co. 
 
 (i) Mr. Carter, Architect, Eaton-Street, Pimlico. See his An- 
 cient Architecture of England; also his Specimens of Ancient 
 Sculpture and Painting; but especially his intersected Views of dif- 
 ferent Cathedrals, &c. of England, engraved at the expense of the 
 Society of Antiquaries. With the most enthusiastic passion for 
 the pointed architecture, his whole life has been devoted to the 
 study of it, from its great principles, down to its minutest orna- 
 ments.
 
 SOS 
 
 I will, then, suppose you have fixed upon the 
 Grecian style : it will still remain with you 
 to choose amongst the different orders of this 
 style, whether your buildings shall be of the sim- 
 ple Tuscan or Doric Order, or of the elegant 
 Ionic Order, or of the florid Corinthian, or Com- 
 posite Order. This being once chosen, you 
 must insist upon its being strictly adhered to ; 
 and above all, you must prohibit the introduc- 
 tion of the smallest pointed arch, trefoil, quatre- 
 foil, or pinnacle, and much more so of a spire. 
 In fact, nothing can be more improper or in- 
 congruous than the practice of modern archi- 
 tects, in raising spires upon Grecian churches; 
 since the spire is the natural growth of the point- 
 ed arch, as I have elsewhere demonstrated (l) : 
 nor can any example of such an ornament be dis- 
 covered among the genuine remains of Greece or 
 Rome. This matter being settled, you will next 
 want a plan, the most important part of which 
 will be the proportions. 
 
 Mere in England, when a catholic chapel is to be 
 built, the architect, who is generally some common 
 carpenter or mason, instead of being directed to 
 take his proportions from those well-studied mo- 
 dels of our religious ancestors, in the churches and 
 chapels which still subsist in every part of the 
 land, is left to form his own plan ; and he, being 
 possessed with no other ideas, than those of build- 
 
 (i) See History of Winchester, and Essays on Gothic Architecture, 
 quoted above.
 
 304 
 
 ing aplace of worship, and of following the fashion 
 of the day, as nearly as he can, fails not to go and 
 measure some one or more of the snug chapels of 
 ease, or Methodist meeting-houses, which sprouts 
 up, like mushrooms, around us. In short, he values 
 himself upon the breadth which he gives to his 
 plan; and if he can even bring it to the form of 
 a square, he fancies he has gained the best possible 
 shape for a chapel. But these ideas argue an 
 ignorance of the characteristical difference, be- 
 tween our public worship, and that of the Me- 
 thodists and other Protestants. Theirs consists, 
 in a manner, wholly in words ; ours chiefly in 
 action. They meet to hear the Bible expounded, 
 and the Common Prayer read to them, in a room 
 to which they do not attach the idea of greater 
 sanctity, than to any other place. Accordingly, the 
 pulpit, with the king's arms painted on the wall, 
 and some huge boxes, called pews, to contain the 
 people, are all that is required for the ornament or 
 furniture of such a place of worship. Whereas the_ 
 essential part of our worship, like that of the 
 people of God in all past times, consists in an ac- 
 tion of the most solemn and awful kind ; one that 
 much more perfectly and emphatically expresses 
 the supreme dominion, and the infinite power* and 
 goodness of God, than any words whatsoever can 
 do. In short, we worship God by sacrifice; as 
 his servants were ever accustomed and taught to 
 do, both under the law of nature, and under the 
 written law. Our sacrifice, however, is as much 
 superior to theirs, as the divine Victim upon our
 
 305 
 
 altars excels, in dignity and merit, the animals 
 which were immolated by the patriarchs and 
 priests of the old law, in memory of him. Now, 
 for the due performance of a worship of this na- 
 ture, it is easily conceived, that a sanctuary of a 
 sufficient size, and one removed to a proper dis- 
 tance from the people, is requisite ; yet still so 
 that they may be able to see the action that is 
 going forward, and to hear the priest in his pray- 
 ers to God, and his addresses to them. In a word, 
 the oblong form of building is that which has 
 generally been approved of and adopted, not 
 only by Catholics, but likewise by those different 
 denominations of eastern Christians, whose chief 
 worship, like ours, consists in sacrifice. 
 
 To determine the best relative proportions of a 
 catholic chapel, is a difficult, or rather an im- 
 possible thing ; as these must vary, more or less, 
 according to different circumstances. But, after 
 examining many ancient chapels, and plans of 
 chapels, it appears to me, that one third part of 
 the whole inside length, is, in general, a good 
 proportion for its inside breadth (where there are 
 no galleries or side aisles), as likewise for its 
 interior height ; though certainly a few feet 
 more added to the height, would be gained in 
 the grandeur of the chapel (l). Still, as the 
 
 (i) It mav not be amiss to insert here the proportions of some of 
 the most celebrated churches, ancient and modern. 
 
 Winchester Cathedral. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 Total i .side length from West to East. 531 3
 
 806 
 
 people ought, by all means, to see and hear what 
 is going forward at the altar, as I said before, 
 and likewise to hear distinctly the sermon ; hence, 
 to prevent carrying the nave to a length incom- 
 
 Breadth of the nave and aisle sides, 86 
 
 Height of the vaulting, 78 
 
 Length of the transept or cross aisle fromNorth to South, 208 
 Length of the choir and sanctuary, 138 
 
 Breadth of the choir, 41 6 
 
 York Minster. 
 
 Total length 49S 
 
 Breadth of the nave and ailes, 109 
 
 Height of the vaulting, 99 
 
 Lincoln Cathedral. 
 
 Total length, - 498 
 
 Breadth of nave and aisles, * 83 
 
 Height of vaalting, 8^ 
 
 St. Paul's, London. 
 
 Total length, ~ 500 
 
 Breadth of the nave and side aisles, * 107 
 
 Length of transept or cross aisle, 248 
 
 Height of vaulting, 83 
 
 St. Peter's, at Rome. 
 
 Total length of the church, Palms 970 712 
 Interior length, 829 594 
 
 Length of transept, 225 
 
 Height of vaulting, aoo 
 
 It is, however, to be observed that a large cathedral was not intend- 
 ed to unite a single congregation in one and the same service ; it is 
 evidently too vast for this purpose : but it was meant to be a basilic, 
 or corps of building for various religious purposes. This idea has 
 never once found place in the brains of any of our modern cathedral 
 reformers : no wonder, then, they have made so many blunders and 
 so much havoc in them. It is from the comparative length and breadth 
 of th choir, which is the part particularly destined to the principal 
 service, that these proportions are to be taken.
 
 307 
 
 patible with these purposes, you act with perfect 
 judgment in your principal new built chapels in 
 Ireland, by adding a transept to them. Thus 
 they are built in the form of a cross ; a form 
 which, though unknown to pagan antiquity, has 
 been adopted by christian architects, as well in 
 the circular as in the pointed style, both for its 
 conveniency, and its analogy with the christian 
 worship. 
 
 Next to the rule of proportion, undoubtedly 
 stands that of symmetry, or a due correspondence 
 of the parts. Your columns, windows, and doors, 
 ought, therefore, to correspond exactly with each 
 other from end to end, and from side to side, 
 except that the East (l), or altar end, requires to 
 be fitted up in a more rich and elegant manner, 
 than the rest of the chapel, as I am going to ex- 
 plain ; though undoubtedly in the same style and 
 order with it. Hence, in fixing upon the site of 
 your intended chapel, you must, if possible, 
 choose a spot not encumbered, and not likely to 
 be encumbered with other buildings close to it, 
 in order that you may have windows on both 
 sides, and those facing each other. Hence also, 
 should there be a necessity of forming the en- 
 
 (i) It wa* a primitive practice of the Church to pray towards the 
 East ; on which account the ancient churches are almost always 
 found to be built from East to West, and the altars to be placed at 
 the East end of them. The custom is so general, that when, from 
 particular circumstances, there is a necessity of building a church or 
 rhnp"! in a different direction, it is usual to call the altar end the 
 H.-.-i enJ, and the opposite the West end of the sacred edifice. 
 
 R r
 
 SOS 
 
 trance door of the chapel at one of the sides, in 
 stead of the West end, I should recommend, by 
 all means, a sham door to be made opposite to it, 
 for the purpose of preserving symmetry* 
 
 What the head is to the human body, the 
 Altar is to a church or chapel of Catholics, or of 
 other Christians, whose supreme worship con- 
 sists in sacrifice. The word "ALTAR," says 
 Johnson, " is received with Christianity into 
 " all European languages (!)" But where ls the 
 scriptural, or the proper meaning of the words 
 altar and priest, without a sacrifice? Not to 
 proceed, however, into this subject, you will 
 judge, from the importance of that member, the 
 altar, with respect to the whole body of an an- 
 cient church, and the obvious reference which all 
 the other members have to it, of the ignorance 
 and folly of our modern church-improvers, who 
 always begin their depredations with sweeping 
 away the altars and altar screens ! In case these 
 men have not taste enough to perceive, that all 
 their gutting, and levelling, and scraping, and 
 painting, and varnishing, tend to nothing else 
 but to turn an awful place of worship into a mere 
 hall, or promenade ; they ought at least to have 
 learning enough, to read the first Rubric in their 
 Common Prayer Book, which pointedly condemns 
 their practice (2). 
 
 (i) Dictionary. 
 
 (2) This requires that " The chancels shall remain as they have 
 " done in times past." See Dissertation on the Modern Style, &>;.
 
 309 
 
 Whatever magnificence then, or appropriate 
 decorations your fund will afford, this is the part 
 of the chapel on which to bestow them. The 
 expense, however, of a complete marble altar, 
 may, I think, well be spared in these damp cli- 
 mates ; as such altars are found to be always ex- 
 ceedingly cold and clammy to the hand, and to 
 keep the altar-linen in a perpetual state of mois- 
 ture. On the other hand, I do not approve of 
 the parsimony of substituting a mere wooden 
 altar, painted in imitation of marble, with a plain 
 cross of Malta in the front, for the rich and va- 
 rying antependiums of our ancestors. If you 
 will have a tomb-altar, let it be made in imita- 
 tion of that most exquisite tomb altar at War- 
 dour chapel, or of the equally beautiful one at 
 Lulworth chapel. Should this be impractica- 
 ble, you might place on the front of your altar 
 a carved and gilt relievo of the mystical Lamb, 
 resting on the sealed volume; or of the pelican 
 feeding its young : or of the chalice and host, 
 with angels in the act of adoration ; or of the 
 monogram of JESUS (1), or of CHRIST, sur- 
 rounded with rays. If the altar is square, the 
 
 (i) The letters J. II. S. which are so frequently seen, Jo not mean 
 Jesus Homiiium Salvator, as is generally supposed ; but they arc the 
 Greek, monogram, or cypher of the sacred name ; being the three 
 first letters of it, viz. of IHDOT2. In like manner the X, with 
 the P (which in Greek has the power of R) inserted in it, is the 
 monogram of the word CHRIST, being the two fir^t letters of 
 XPIST02. 
 
 Rr2
 
 310 
 
 figure of a dead Christ, with those of the Blessed 
 Virgin, St. John, &c. painted in light and shade, 
 so as to represent carved work, would have an 
 exceedingly good effect in that situation. I need 
 not mention that the altar ought to be raised 
 above the level of the chapel, by a proper number 
 of steps, in proportion to the height and length 
 of the latter. 
 
 The tabernacle upon the middle of the altar, 
 you well know, is to us, what its type, the Ark of 
 the Covenant, was to the ancient people of God ; 
 and therefore ought, like that, to be the richest 
 and most ornamented article in the whole sanc- 
 tuary. Its form should be that of a regular 
 building, and it may, with great propriety, be a 
 model of the West end of your own chapel. It, 
 however, admits of being decorated with niches, 
 statues, vases, and other appropriate ornaments, 
 in carving and gilding. With respect to gilding, 
 however, it is proper to observe, that this should 
 be used with great caution. A proper quantity 
 of it helps the effect of ornaments in a very great 
 degree : but too much of it is tawdry and con- 
 temptible. The crucifix which surmounts the 
 tabernacle, ought certainly to be the best exe- 
 cuted one you can procure. It ought also, in the 
 situation which it holds, to be elegantly orna- 
 mented, and proportioned in size to the taberna- 
 cle. If in any article there is room for fancy, it 
 is in the form of the candlesticks ; for those in- 
 tended for domestic uses are of such various 
 shapes, that it is not easy to find out a new one ;
 
 311 
 
 and on the other hand, it is desirable that no- 
 thing appertaining to the divine worship, should 
 have a vulgar and household appearance. Nei- 
 ther the candlesticks, nor the flowers, reliqua- 
 ries, or other ornaments about the altar, should 
 be too numerous, bulky, or gorgeous. The 
 Simplex Munditiis is a universal rule in decora- 
 tions of every sort. 
 
 A beautiful altar-piece, proportioned to the 
 size of the altar end, is obviously so essential an 
 ornament, that I hardly need mention it, except 
 by way of observing that there are many excel- 
 lent pictures proper for altar-pieces now upon 
 sale at reasonable prices, in various parts of Lon- 
 don: as, among the loads of paintings which have 
 been brought into England of late years from 
 abroad, those which represent the most pious 
 subjects are in the least request. I must say, 
 however, that the most pious of all subjects, 
 namely, the crucifixion, is the one to which I am 
 least partial for an altar-piece, because it is a re- 
 petition of what is exhibited immediately be- 
 neath it on the tabernacle. To be brief, the whole 
 East end of the chapel ought to present an inte- 
 rior facade, or piece of finished architecture. Four 
 pillars, or pilasters, of the order you have previ- 
 ously chosen, should support a cornice, or rather 
 entablature, which should finish in a closed or 
 open pediment. The tympanum of the latter, 
 admits of any of the devices mentioned above, 
 as proper for the front of the altar, in relievo, 
 painting, or stained glass. The open space also
 
 312 
 
 between the columns on each side, and directly 
 over the credence table, is well adapted to a niche 
 and statue, or a well proportioned picture, and 
 the cornice may, with great propriety, be 
 crowned with urns or other vases. 
 
 Supposing, however, the chapel to be built in 
 the form of a cross, as I have said is the case with 
 some of your best chapels in Ireland, and that the 
 altar is placed in the centre of the intersection, 
 you will ask how the latter is to be ornamented, 
 so as to preserve its character of superior magni- 
 ficence and importance? I grant the difficulty 
 there is, in this case, to gain the desired effect ; 
 at least if there be an eastern shaft to the church 
 or chapel, extending beyond the altar, and of 
 the same height with it. Our ancestors shut up 
 their high altars to the East with those exquisite 
 altar screens, either of open work, as at Durham, 
 or of close work, as at St. Al ban's and Winches- 
 ter, which are the most astonishing of all their 
 beautiful works (l). But in these churches, the 
 eastern shafts of the cross, beyond the altar, had 
 no communication with the worship performed at 
 it. In St. Peter's Church at Rome, a most 
 splendid and beautiful canopy (2), formed of the 
 bronze which heretofore covered the cupola of the 
 
 (i) This particularly holds good with respect to the two last- 
 mentioned altar screens. The carved work in them, though execut- 
 ed in stone, is so delicate as to baffle the efforts of the most labori- 
 ous artists barely to make a drawing of it. 
 
 (a) Notwithstanding the richness and elegance of this large and 
 beautiful canopy, executed after a design of the celebrated Bernini,
 
 313 
 
 Pantheon, and richly gilt, is raised over the high 
 altar, on elegant twisted pillars of the same metal, 
 to the height of 87 feet. This gives the altar as 
 much dignity as it well admits of inthat situation. 
 In ease, however, there should he no eastern shaft 
 in your new chapel, or only one with a low roof, 
 for the purpose of a private chapel, or a sacristy, 
 like the Lady chapels in most of our cathedrals ; 
 your altar will then admit of all the ahove-men- 
 tioned decorations, and even of a painted East 
 window instead of an altar-piece. 
 
 I come now to speak of the hody of the cha- 
 pel ; and first with respect to galleries. Indeed 
 every canon of architectural taste must yield to 
 necessary convenience and economy. Hence 
 if galleries are requisite to contain your numbers, 
 they must certainly be erected; otherwise be as- 
 sured that these encumbrances take off from the 
 beauty and solemnity of your sacred edifice, but 
 much more those that run along the sides of it, 
 than when there is barely one at the West end. 
 
 With respect to your ceiling, if you leave 
 this to the plasterer, he will give you ornament 
 enough, in circles, festoons, flowers, and such 
 other ornaments as he is accustomed to form in 
 drawing-rooms ; but on this very account, if 
 there were no better reason, they ought to be pro- 
 
 it must be admitted, that if this wonder of the world, St. Peter's of 
 Rome, is deficient in any tiling, it is in the importance of its high 
 altar. The great Michael Angelo had a plan for correcting this, 
 one part of which required that the altar should be raised 50 fee: 
 
 high.
 
 314 
 
 scribed from the house of sacrifice and prayer. 
 To make short of the matter, as there is no kind 
 of ceiling for churches in the pointed style equal 
 in heauty to groining, so there is none for those 
 \i\ the Grecian style, to be compared with circular 
 arching. If, for want of sufficient pecuniary 
 funds, or of sufficient space in your chapel, you 
 cannot adopt the bold semicircular arch, you 
 must be content with an elliptical one ; and at all 
 events, you must restrain your plasterers from 
 introducing the common ornaments, with which 
 they are accustomed to decorate their drawing- 
 rooms, and square modern chapels. In case your 
 circular or elliptical ceiling is supported with 
 broad ornamented ribs, resting upon the cor- 
 nices of pilars or pilasters, as in the vaulting of 
 St. Peter's at Rome, and of Wardour Chapel, 
 which is the St. Peter's of modern English places 
 of worship, I can conceive nothing in the Gre- 
 cian style more appropriate or beautiful. The 
 pillars themselves, or the pilasters, in chapels, 
 where there are no side galleries, and where the 
 congregation is decent and orderly, should be 
 continued down to the floor of the building ; 
 but where the people are of a different descrip- 
 tion, and the pillars or pilasters are not of a firmer 
 texture than plaster or deal wood, it will be ad- 
 visable to make the latter terminate in consoles 
 or brackets, at one third of the distance from 
 the architrave to the ground. 
 
 As no circumstance is more favourable to 
 awful and sublime sensations than the " dim
 
 315 
 
 " religious light" which poets have celebrat 
 ed (l), and philosophers have remarked upon(2), 
 (at the same time that sufficient light must be 
 had for all necessary purposes) it is advisable, 
 in case you cannot procure a sufficient quan- 
 tity of painted or stained glass, to place your 
 windows very high; that is to. say, within a 
 few feet of the ceiling. At Wardour no win- 
 dows at all are to be seen in the body of the 
 chapel, which contributes greatly to the awe 
 which the stranger feels at his entrance into 
 it. Nevertheless there is quite sufficient light 
 from the sky to read a book, or to view dis- 
 tinctly the beautiful pictures, one of which 
 adorns every vacant space between the pi- 
 lasters. The fact is, there are windows of a 
 sufficient size, one over each picture, but the 
 sight of them is happily intercepted by the 
 projecting cornice beneath them. In chapels, 
 havin"; side galleries, there must necessarilv be 
 windows, or portions of windows in the aisles 
 >elow them. In this case, if painted or stained 
 ^ass is not to be had, the desired effect may 
 be partly obtained, by glazing the windows with 
 rough glass, which is nothing more than com- 
 mon Mass, one side of which has been rubbed 
 with sand and water, till it becomes impossible to 
 see through it, whilst it transmits the light as 
 well as ever. Perhaps you will say it is owing 
 
 (\> Milwu's 1! Pensercso. (2) Burke on tlie Sublime. 
 
 S s
 
 316 
 
 to my Gothic taste, that I prefer casements to 
 sashes ; but leaving this out of the question, the 
 plumber can dispose his lead into any shape that 
 is desired, with much greater facility than the 
 joiner can his wood. Thus it is easy in a case- 
 ment window, to have a border all round each of 
 the lights, and a circle in the upper part of it, to 
 contain stained or painted glass, when the pro- 
 prietor is not able to glaze the whole window in 
 that manner. I could wish that every window in 
 your chapel, had a contrivance to open part of it, 
 and that there were also certain apertures in the 
 ornamental work of the ceiling, yet so as not to 
 disfigure it, to answer the purpose of ventilators. 
 It is hardly possible to procure too much fresh 
 air in chapels crowded as yours are : and the up- 
 per region is the proper place to introduce it, 
 because thither the heat and vapours ascend, and 
 air thus introduced does not flow in a current 
 upon any part of the congregation, to the danger 
 of their health. 
 
 There are two pieces of furniture in most cha- 
 pels, which it is difficult to dispose of properly, the 
 organ and the pulpit. The former generally finds 
 its place in a gallery at the west end of the cha- 
 pel. Sometimes, however, the choristers, who 
 must be near the organ, object to that situation. 
 In other instances, it cannot be so placed, with- 
 out obstructing a beautiful west window. In 
 these circumstances, I would not indeed sacrifice, 
 the organ itself, but I would sacrifice the case of 
 it. by requiring the b..ilder to dispose of his pipes
 
 317 
 
 horizontally, or in some such manner as should 
 neither spoil symmetry or conceal beauty. At 
 the chapel of New College, Oxford, the pipes of 
 the organ are so placed along the mullions of 
 the grand west window, as rather to help its 
 effect, than to obstruct it. The pulpit cannot 
 be stationary, without both injuring symmetry, 
 and taking up a great deal of space where it 
 is most wanted. Why, then, should not the 
 preacher be contented with a light moveable 
 pulpit, which can be wheeled from the vestry 
 directly before the altar ; or, if the chapel is small, 
 with a large and firm reading-desk, covered with 
 a suitable veil ? It is evident, that in this situa- 
 tion he best commands the whole of his audience : 
 whereas, when the pulpitis placed in the ordinary 
 way, on one side of the chapel, he can never see 
 the whole of his flock at once, and generally is 
 overlooked by a part of it. 
 
 I would not in erecting a new chapel, be in- 
 different as to the form and colour of the benches, 
 nor even of the cushions. The former should be 
 as light in their construction, as is consistent 
 with a proper degree of strength. Nothing can 
 injure the effect of a chapel more than those 
 clumsy boxes and enclosed sheep-pens, called 
 pews, which the Catholics of late years have bor- 
 rowed from the Protestants. I am speaking here 
 of England, and particularly of London ; for I 
 never saw any thing of the sort in Ireland. Look 
 at the exquisite stall-work, in the choirs of our 
 ancient cathedrals, and even at the plain oaken 
 
 S s 2
 
 318 
 
 benches for the common people, which still 
 remain in many of the parish churches; you will 
 there see how well our ancestors knew how to 
 combine lightness with strength, and elegance 
 with convenience. The benches and cushions 
 should be perfectly uniform, and of the same 
 colour, if possible, with the chapel itself, which 
 I suppose to be of a grey, a blue, an olive, or a 
 yellow hue. If there must be a variety of colours 
 in any instance whatsoever, let there be as little 
 of it as possible, and by all means avoid strong 
 contrasts. 
 
 Thus, dear Sir, I have executed the task you 
 imposed upon me, by throwing together my 
 thoughts upon chapel building. I know very 
 well, that if you shew this letter to our protest- 
 ant friend Mr. P. he will ridicule the whole of 
 these details as superstitious minutiae, and he 
 will ask, if it is not possible to be impressed with 
 proper religious feelings, without all these artifi- 
 cial means of exciting them ? There can be 
 
 no doubt, but Mr. P. when he enters within the 
 bare damp walls of his parish church, and views 
 from his enclosed box, the enormous pulpit over 
 his head, and those tremendous beasts, the lion 
 and the unicorn, before his face ; there can be no 
 doubt, I say, but he is struck with as much re- 
 verence and devotion, as if he were praying in the 
 modern Vatican at Rome, or in the ancient Ca- 
 thedral of Lincoln, as it existed 300 years ago : 
 but it is not so with you and me. We are so apt 
 to be distracted and tepid in our prayers, that we
 
 319 
 
 stand in need of every aid from sensation as well 
 as reflection, to fix our wandering thoughts, and 
 to warm our cold hearts. But what is most to the 
 present purpose, let Mr. P. consider, that He who 
 knezv what was in man (1), judged such exterior 
 means of exciting the attention and piety of his 
 chosen people, to be so fit and necessary, that he 
 deigned himself to enter into far more numerous 
 and minute details of this nature, in his revealed 
 word, than those contained in the present let- 
 ter (2). 
 
 But the Waterford packet, which will convey 
 to you my former letter as well as this, is on the 
 point of sailing, and I myself, after calling upon 
 a few friends in Monmouthshire, the Malvern 
 Hills, and Worcester, must hasten home to my 
 house at Wolverhampton, where I shall be glad 
 to learn your opinion concerning my ideas of 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture. In the mean time, 
 I remain, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 yours, &c. 
 
 J. M. 
 
 (i) Johnii. 25. 
 
 (2) See the details concerning the tabernacle and the temple, in 
 the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Kings, &c.
 
 320 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 TO A PROTESTANT GENTLEMAN IN ENGLAND; 
 
 Being an Account of the Writer's Second Tour 
 through Ireland. 
 
 Dublin, Sept. 1% 1808. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 OAVING at length accepted 
 of the invitation of my much respected friend at 
 Cork, to be present at the solemn benediction of 
 his elegant chapel in that city, which was fixed 
 for the 22d of last month ; and being unable to 
 leave my home before the 15th of it, I found it 
 difficult enough, from a variety of causes, to
 
 321 
 
 arrive there in due time. Having, .by appoint- 
 ment, joined the respectable companion of my 
 tour at Bristol, we were first detained a consider- 
 able time by the wind and tide, at the New Pas- 
 sage, on the banks of the Severn. At different 
 stages in Wales we were delayed by the want of 
 post horses and the badness of them. Embark- 
 ing at Milford. we were baffled during two whole 
 days and as many nights, by calms and adverse 
 gales, in our hopes of a speedy voyage to Ire- 
 land. Landing at Waterford, we found still 
 greater difficulty to procure horses at the dif- 
 ferent post towns in Ireland, than we had expe- 
 rienced in Wales; tiii, arriving late at Clog- 
 heen, the postmaster there declared, that if we 
 chose to risk our persons, he would not risk his 
 horses and drivers among the Kilworth moun- 
 tains, infested as they were with robbers, in the 
 dark, and without a guard. Perceiving no re- 
 medy for the grievance, we were obliged to pass 
 the night at that miserable place ; and we set off 
 the next morning for Fermoy in the style of an 
 eastern caravan, being four chaises, in company 
 with an escort of dragoons. In spite of all 
 these impediments, we arrived at Cork just in 
 time to witness the splendid and awful ceremo- 
 ny, the sight of which, in the opinion of my 
 fellow traveller, abundantly repaid him for all 
 the pains he had taken to be present at it. 
 
 Tlje hurry which accompanied me to this 
 island has attended me ever since, that is, till 
 now, when I am within a few days of quitting it
 
 S22 
 
 on my voyage homeward, by the way of Holy- 
 head. So that, instead of writing to you from the 
 different places which I have visited in Ireland, 
 as I did during my first tour, I am obliged to 
 content myself with giving you a general ac- 
 count of what I have seen and observed here in a 
 single letter. 
 
 The pleasure which I had experienced at my 
 first visit to Cork, was renewed with advantage 
 at my second visit. Indeed, I should be desti- 
 tute of sense, could I ever survey its natural 
 beauties with indifference ; and I should be de- 
 void of sentiment, not to feel, beyond the 
 power of expression, the refined urbanity and the 
 superabundant kindness which I have twice ex- 
 perienced from so many of its respectable inhabi- 
 tants. I have again enjoyed the rich and diver- 
 sified views upon the magnificent estuary of Cork 
 in a sailing party, with which a gentleman, who 
 is a joint proprietor of a yacht, has indulged me, 
 in common with many other friends. The scene 
 about Cove and Monk's Town was particularly 
 interesting, from the number of transports and 
 King's ships, which were waiting there to con- 
 vey our troops to the relief of our brave Hespe- 
 rian allies. It was also a curious sight to me, as 
 an Englishman, to see the Cork fishermen near 
 the mouth of the harbour, hauling up large tur- 
 bots into their boats, almost as fast as you 
 can catch perch in your river. 
 
 I found that the different schools and other 
 charitable and pious institutions, supported by
 
 321 
 
 is increasing at a rapid rate(l). What does this 
 prove, but the futility and absurdity of the ex- 
 pensive system which government is pursuing ; 
 and that since it cannot proselyte the Catholics, 
 nor root them out, nor transport them to Canada, 
 as an evangelical member of parliament has pro- 
 posed, the best way is to let them believe in 
 transubstantiation and the Pope, and to adopt 
 them as emancipated subjects. 
 
 You return from what you term your digres- 
 sion concerning the Charter-Schools to your fa- 
 vourite (but as I thought exhausted) subject; 
 the motive of my voyage to Ireland. It seems 
 you have " collected fresh evidence that this 
 " was to persuade the R, Catholic Clergy to re- 
 " sist, by every means in their power, any mo- 
 " dificationor new arrangement of their present 
 " government (2)." This evidence is drawn 
 from a passage of my Letters, in which I express 
 my conviction that " the Catholic Bishops and 
 " Clergy are not to he bought at any price what- 
 " soever to form a separate interest from that of 
 " their flocks, and that they will not even ac- 
 " ccpt of pensions, except upon a footing of in* 
 " dependency, and as part of a genera! arrange* 
 " ment for the relief of their body (3)." To do 
 you justice, Sir, you are not the only person 
 who has argued in this maimer from the passage 
 in question. A Noble Lord, who once filled the 
 chief efficient situation in your island, read it at 
 
 (il P. 7i. (Y; P. 30. (3, Seealovep jc, 
 
 T t
 
 324 
 
 writer would shew how this ecclesiastical form of 
 government, with its power of excommunication, 
 is more hostile to his Majesty's civil govern- 
 ment, than the Presbyterian, Methodistical, or 
 any other form of church government is; all 
 which equally claim the right of excluding re- 
 fractory members from their society. Lastly, 
 that he would demonstrate in what respects it 
 would be more for the peace and safety of the 
 state that the-Catholics of Ireland or of England 
 should live in a state of ecclesiastical democracy 
 or anarchy, than that they should live under their 
 ancient well-ordered hierarchy, which, for its 
 wisdom and order, has been copied by the 
 
 Established Church. In my observations on 
 
 his Lordship's project for the destruction of this 
 hierarchy, I signified, that in case he could per- 
 suade the legislature to concur in this his favou- 
 rite measure, and to pass an act for the purpose, 
 we should make no exterior resistance to the exe- 
 cution of the law, but satisfy ourselves with 
 yielding our lives rather than comply with it (l). 
 At the recital of this moderate and peaceable sen- 
 timent, you are petrified with horror ! calling it 
 " the most dangerous sentiment that has ever 
 " appeared from an audacious pen." Youthen 
 present your reader with two whole lines and a 
 
 half of black dashes, (2), in 
 
 order to impress him with similar horror! But 
 
 ^i) Sen above, p. 42. (2) P. 44.
 
 325 
 
 pray, Sir Richard, if in the course of future 
 contingencies, another Queen Mary were to 
 mount the throne, and to get an act of parliament 
 passed requiring all her subjects to profess their 
 belief in the Pope's Supremacy and in Transub- 
 stantiation, how would you act ? I tremble for 
 your inflexible faith on one hand, and your 
 flexible loyalty on the other, in the situation in 
 which I have placed you : but, Sir, you must 
 look it in the face, and must answer me one way 
 or other. Tell me, then : would you become a 
 Papist in obedience to the law ? Or would you 
 meekly yield your life, as I have said the Catho- 
 lic clergy and laity will do, rather than suffer Lord 
 Redesdale to new model their Church ? Or would 
 you take up arms against Mary, as Sir Thomas 
 Wyatt, Bishop Poynet, and so many other Pro- 
 testants did, in defence of their religion ? Not 
 aware of this obvious retort to which you were 
 exposing yourself, you proceed to assume your 
 ascendancy airs and Orange menaces, by talking 
 of putting mc to prison, and banishing me from the 
 realm, as a person who is doing mischief to the 
 state, &c. (l) Such language, Sir, may do 
 very well for Ireland, where Orangemen claim 
 the privilege of insulting and threatening Catho- 
 lics in whatever manner they please; and some- 
 times of executing their threats, however con- 
 trary to law : but on this side of the channel, 
 where the Catholic is not only nominally, butao 
 
 (i; Ibid.
 
 326 
 
 tually as much under the protection of the law 
 as the Protestant is, it serves no other purpose 
 than to render the person who uses it ridiculous. 
 Return, then, Sir, your rusty Toledo into its 
 scabbard, and, instead of vainly flourishing it in 
 the air, sit yourself down at your desk, and 
 coolly consider, whether it becomes that author 
 to descant upon mischief done to the state by 
 writing, whose principal work has been spurned 
 from the throne, because it is calculated to in- 
 flame the resentment of four millions of subjects; 
 and whether it is decent for that man to call 
 for fresh restraints on the press, who stands con- 
 victed before the public of fabricating under 
 his own name the vilest calumnies against tbe 
 great mass of his countrymen ! But, Sir, we 
 clearly see what kind of restraints upon the press 
 you are desirous of introducing; they are to be 
 such as will leave you at liberty to publish another 
 close printed quarto of 1000 pages, full of misre- 
 presentation, falsehood, and forgery against the 
 Catholics, but will tie them up from vindicat- 
 ing themselves, and exposing you ! They are 
 to be such as will permit you to disfigure the 
 history of past events, but will hinder your oppo- 
 nents from presenting this history in its true 
 colours (1). 
 
 (i) Amongst other crimes against the state with which tlve egre- 
 gious Remarker charges me, one is for mentioning the infraction of 
 the treaty of Limerick, though he does not attempt to deny the' 
 fact. Another is, my calling Queen Elizabeth " an hypocritical
 
 327 
 
 ' It is with great reluctance and some degree of 
 confusion that I find myself called upon to dis- 
 cuss subjects of ancient literature with the writer 
 of the Remarks and the Memoirs of theRebellions. 
 Had Dr. Ledvvich come forward, to assert his 
 claim to be still called The Antiquary of Ireland, 
 he would have found me prepared with historical 
 evidence for still further refuting his extravagant 
 paradoxes concerning the ancient apostle and 
 religion of your country. But as he declines the 
 contest, under the pretext of his age, with what 
 face can you, Sir, present yourself to it, consci- 
 ous as you are of being utterly unprovided for it? 
 How ridiculous is it, for example, to hear you 
 repeating the words of your master Ledwich : 
 " St. Patrick is not mentioned by any author, or 
 " in any work of veracity, in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 
 " or 8th century ; he was not heard of when 
 " Bedc died in 735," after I have demonstrated 
 thatBede himself records "St. Patrick the Apostle 
 " of Ireland/' in the only passage of his works 
 
 " anrl remorseless princess." It appears that this writer then does not 
 see either cruelly or hypocrisy in Elizabeth's frequent tampering 
 with poor Mary's keepers to put her privately to death, or with her 
 signing the death-warrant ami delivering it to her secretary, and then 
 punishing him for sending it to be executed; and with her lament- 
 in" the death of the deceased to her son James, and swearing that 
 f-he was innocent of it. I say nothing of her putting to death 
 above 100 priests for high treason, whom, by the testimony 
 of her own feed historian, Camden, she allowed were innocent 
 ofthatcrime. See Letters to a Prebendary, 4th edit. pp. 194. h 
 34> &c-
 
 328 
 
 where it was rational to look for such a record, 
 namely, his Martyrology ! (1) Again, have I 
 not quoted the* still existing life of St. Patrick by 
 Probus, whom I have proved, on the testimony 
 of Charlemagne's friend, the celebrated Alcuin, 
 to have been a writer of credit in the 7th cen- 
 tury ?(<sj) Have I not referred to the circum- 
 stantial account of this saint which occurs in the 
 Annals of our celebrated chronologer Nennins, 
 who flourished at the beginning of the same 7th 
 century ? (3) Have I not vindicated the metri- 
 cal eulogium of this apostle by his disciple St. 
 
 (0 The learned Monsig. Georgi, Chaplain to Benedict XIV. 
 in his Notes on Ado's Martyrology, testifies that St. Patrick's 
 name occurs in the genuine copy of Bede's Martyrology, that is 
 to say, in the copy as he left it, without the addition- of the 
 subsequent saints made by Florus and others. N. B. The 
 
 great Baronius, in his notes on the Roman Martyrology, lamented 
 exceedingly that the ancient Martyrology of Rome, the same which* 
 Pope Gregory the Great, at the end of the sixth century, mentioned 
 as liuiofj " dispersed throughout Christendom," could not in his 
 time be found. At length the learned Rosweyde discovered it 
 (proving it to be genuine to the satisfaction of all the learned) at the 
 head of a copy of Ado, in a monastery at Cologn. In this marty- 
 rology, or public register, (which was read throughout ail the wes- 
 tern church within less than too years from the death .of St. Patrick, 
 his name is thus recorded; "XVI. Kalend. April. (17 Martii) 
 " S. Patritii Episc. qui primus apud Scotos ptEcdicavit." 
 
 (z) I have shewn that our illustrious countryman Alcuin quotes 
 him as an author of respectability in the eighth century. De Pontif. 
 Eborac. apud Gale. This refutes the account of Nicholson and 
 others, who wish to bring him down to the 10th century. 
 
 (3) Gale, Cave, Tanner, Butler, Sec.
 
 S29 
 
 Ficck, who died early in the 6th century ?( 1 ) 
 Finally, have I not dwelt upon the Confession 
 of St. Patrick, or the History of his Life, written 
 by himself, which, no less than his Epistle to 
 Corotic, and the Acts of two Councils held by 
 him, is admitted to be genuine by the most able 
 critics (2). These accordingly agree in drawing 
 their narrative concerning our saint from his 
 Confession, in preference to all other records 
 whatsoever ! Now, Sir, if it be true that I have 
 adduced this mass of primitive evidence in proof 
 of St. Patrick's existence, (to say nothing of my 
 other numerous and irrefragable arguments) with 
 what face can you meet me upon this question, 
 without attempting at least to invalidate either 
 the authenticity or the authority of my docu- 
 ments? To speak plainly, Sir, your confidence 
 has every appearance of impugning the known 
 truth. 
 
 I may argue in the same manner with respect 
 to the Pope's Spiritual Supremacy, which, ac- 
 
 (i) It is admitted to be genuine by Ware, Harris, Usher, Ni- 
 cholson, Colgan, &c. 
 
 (2) Bollandns, Tillemont, Usher, Ware, Flcury, Butler, &c < 
 In the present edition I have cited the testimony of the learned Cul- 
 dean Abbot of Jona in the middle of the 7th century, Adamnan, an 
 author of whom Dr.Ledwich himself speaks with great respect. In his 
 Preface to the Life of his predecessor, St. Columba, he says : 
 " Quidam proselytus Brito, homo sanctus, Sancti Vatritu Episcopi 
 " discipulus, Mavetus nomine, ita de nostro prophetizavit patrono, 
 " &c." 
 
 l T U
 
 m. 
 
 cording to Dr. Ledwich's system, you deny to 
 have been acknowledged in Ireland before the 
 middle of the 12th century. In vain have I pro- 
 duced a chain of original documents in proof of 
 the contrary, which reach from the period you 
 have assigned, namely, the arrival of Cardinal 
 Papario, with his four palliums, in 1152, up to 
 the very life-time of St. Patrick in the 5th cen- 
 tury* Instead of being awed by this body of 
 evidence, you reproach me with my "parade 
 " of monkish learning," and my "quotations 
 "upon quotations from monkish writers (l)," 
 and you treat.your readers with a long quotation 
 from Leland's History of Ireland, whose asserti- 
 ons upon this subject, as might be expected, ex- 
 actly chime with thoseof Dr. Ledwich(2.) Such 
 an authority may do very well with novel-readers 
 of the present day, who cannot distinguish be- 
 tween the dates and the authority of Dr. Led- 
 
 (i) Pp. 4 . 12. 
 
 (2) Dr. Ledwich himself is forced to admit that the Bishop of Lis- 
 more, O'C'onarchy, was the Pope's Legate in Ireland at the time 
 when Cardinal Papario arrived there, and that Gilbert, Bishop of 
 Limerick, had been received as Legate before him. N. B. I am 
 aware that there is a respect and politeness due to each other from 
 writers who are engaged in opposite and the most hostile causes. 
 Still this rule has its bounds. And as a man who had been detected 
 in the commission of any very base action, would be expelled from 
 the company of gentlemen ; so, when a writer itoops to threatening, 
 instead of arguing, and publishes manifest forgeries of the most mali- 
 cious tendency, for genuine records, he can expect no better treat- 
 ment than to be hunted out of the republic of letters by every mem- 
 ber who has the honour and interest of that republic at heart.
 
 331 
 
 wich and Dr. Leland on one hand, and of Ve- 
 nerable Bede and Abbot Cummienus on the 
 other, but must expose the writer, who now ap- 
 peals to it, to the unqualified contempt of real 
 scholars. 
 
 I remain, Sir, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 J. M. 
 
 Uu 2
 
 332 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO T-HE REV. EDWARD RYAN, D. D. 
 
 Author of " The Analysis of Ward's Errata, 
 u and the History of the Effects of Religion, fyc." 
 
 Revd. Sir, 
 
 XT is as unexpected to me as it is 
 unpleasant, to be called out to the field of con- 
 troversy on the subject of biblical criticism. 
 Those persons who have looked into my theolo- 
 gical writings, know that I have been accustom- 
 ed to adopt a shorter and more satisfactory way 
 of settling religious controversies, than that of 
 sending each well-meaning religious inquirer to 
 hunt through his Bible, from the beginning of 
 Genesis to the end of Revelations, for each text 
 that regards, or that may be thought to re- 
 gard the subject of his inquiry ; then tell- 
 ing him to compare each text with the ^atin 
 Vulgate, the Greek Septuagint, and the pri- 
 mitive Hebrew, in the numberless editions and 
 manuscript copies of each of them ; and lastly, 
 advising him to consult all the huge commenta-
 
 333 
 
 tors and controvertists, ancient and modern, 
 upon their discordant interpretations of the seve- 
 ral texts in question. This, Sir, you know, is 
 your method, if you are consistent with your- 
 self, and speak out. What I have said, in 
 my Letters to Dr. Sturges, as also in the fore- 
 going Letters, and on every other occasion, is to 
 the following effect : " The Bible is indeed the 
 " word of God, and deserving of all the worship 
 " we can possibly pay it : but God never in- 
 " tended that all mankind should learn the whole 
 " of his law from a book, much less from so large 
 " a book and so mysterious a book as the Bible 
 " is, otherwise he would have told us so, and 
 " would have provided, in his wisdom and 
 " power, that all mankind should be able to 
 w procure Bibles, and should have leisure and 
 " learningsuflicientto read and study them. He no 
 <l more intended that all men and children should 
 " learn the whole of their belief and practice from 
 " the books of scripture, than the British legisla- 
 <! ture has intended that the bulk of the nation 
 *' .should learn and decide upon their civil duties 
 Kt from reading over the statutes at large without 
 " the help of judges or tribunals. In one word, it 
 " would obviously be better (both reason and 
 " experience prove it) to have no law at all, 
 " than a law which every individual should be 
 " at liberty to take into his own hands, and ul- 
 
 tc timately to decide upon for himself. What, 
 
 " then, do I advise the religious inquirer to do r 
 My advice is, Hear the Church ; that Church
 
 .334 
 
 " which you profess in your creed to be always 
 " Holy and always Catholic, that living speaking 
 t{ tribunal, which has decided all religious con- 
 " troversies that have arisen since her foundation 
 "18 centuries- ago, and which Christ, in his 
 " wisdom, has appointed to decide them, not by 
 " anv new revelation that he makes to her, but 
 " by her adhering to his divine word once rc- 
 tl vealed and delivered to her, which she faith- 
 " fully preserves through all ages, as well in writ- 
 " ten tradition as in manuscript and , printed 
 " Bibles. Think, for a moment, how you know 
 " that your Bible and each of the several books of 
 " it, (the Canticles for example, or the Rcvela- 
 " tions) was written by prophets or apostles ? 
 " How do you know, that when they wrote those 
 " particular books, they were under the influ- 
 " ence of divine inspiration ? How do you know 
 " that these books have not been corrupted or 
 " altered, during the long succession of ages and 
 " of copies and translations through which they 
 " have passed ? You have no security, you have 
 " no rational grounds whatever to decide in fa- 
 " vour of your Bible, upon any one of these 
 " points, except the authority of the Catholic 
 " Church, which you profess to believe in when 
 " you repeat your Creed. She says :" ' I have 
 
 * preserved these books so carefully through all 
 ' ages, that while kingdoms and empires, and civil 
 ' constitutions, and the state of literature and of 
 ' society itself, have frequently been changed 
 
 * around me, I am sure these books have not
 
 335 
 
 1 been materially changed ; and I know them to 
 1 have been originally revealed by tradition from 
 1 the apostles. But take notice : the same tradi- 
 
 * tion which tells me that the scriptures are the 
 
 * word of God, and that commits them to my 
 
 * care, tells me also that I am appointed to ex- 
 ' plain all and every controversy that may arise 
 'among the faithful about the meaning of any 
 ' part of them, by referring to the sense in which 
 1 my chief pastors in different ages and countries 
 
 ' have understood and do understand them.' 
 
 " Now, my good religious inquirer, will you be 
 " so inconsistent as to admit the authority of the 
 " Catholic Church when she hands down to you 
 " the Bible, and to reject it when she tells you 
 " that such and such is the meaning of certain 
 " controverted passages in it? Will you call her 
 " a faithful witness on one occasion, and a frau- 
 " dulent impostor on the other ?" 
 
 Such, Sir, being my short, simple, rational, 
 and satisfactory method of settling religious con- 
 troversies, 1 have never hitherto entered into the 
 boundless and craggy field of biblical criticism. 
 But since, Sir, you accuse me of having published 
 a considerable work upon this subject, Ward's 
 Errata, and of having set it forth with the Life 
 of the Author (1), and of having done this 
 
 (i) Dr. R van's words are these ; " It is said that Dr. Milner wrote 
 " War!-, Life, and recommended the Errata to the Popish Bi- 
 4t shops, the Bishops to the clergy, and the clergy to the laity." 
 This is almost as circumstantial as Sir Richard Musgrave's account
 
 3S<5 
 
 " for the purpose of exposing the Protestant 
 " Bible and the Protestant Clergy to ridicule and 
 " contempt (l) :" and since, upon your credit, 
 as I really believe, more than upon that of Sir 
 Richard Musgrave, I have been severely censur- 
 ed on this account in various magazines, reviews, 
 and parliamentary debates, you cannot be sur- 
 prised if I should ward off your attack upon me 
 in the best manner I can. 
 
 To proceed now to the substance of your 
 work : you tell us, that " It exposes Ward's 
 " book and its patrons sufficiently ; that it is 
 " likely to prevent another edition of the Errata, 
 " and to remain unanswered (2)." Now, Sir, in 
 the first place, you will see that your work is 
 answered, and that by the very person whom 
 you have dared to the contest. Secondly, it will 
 appear that, instead of exposing Ward's book and 
 its patrons, whoever they may be, you have 
 betrayed your own friends and your cause. 
 Thirdly, so far from preventing another edition 
 of the Errata, i am satisfied that your Analysis 
 
 of the matter, and Is not one whit truer. I really believe the publi- 
 cation to have originated in the professional speculation of a very 
 honest bookseller. As far as regards myself, I again assert, and defy 
 contradiction, that ihe work was printed before I saw Ireland, or 
 knew any thing of the matter; and that, not having seen, down to 
 this moment, the Irish edition of Ward's Errata, I am at a loss to 
 know where materials could be found for writing the life of that ex- 
 traordinary man, William Ward. 
 
 (i) These words form part of the title page. 
 
 (b) Pp. 3> 4,
 
 339 
 
 tower has been destroyed, but is now replaced 
 with open wood work, which fits it for a belfry. 
 At Montrath I surveyed, with grief, the scene of 
 the late outrageous riots of the Orangemen, on 
 the anniversary of the battle of Aughrim, July 
 12, which ended in the death of the late worthy 
 priest of the parish, the Rev. Mr. Duane. I hap- 
 pened to meet on the spot his weeping father, 
 and some of his other friends, who drew a most 
 horrible picture of the scene which had been 
 there exhibited. Amongst other things they 
 complained that one of the actors in these scenes, 
 who had been condemned, at the late assizes, to 
 six months imprisonment, was released at the 
 end of the first month ; using, at the same time, 
 much such language as that which the Apologist 
 for the Catholics says is familiar to them : 
 " There is no justiee for us." (l). With these 
 feelings amongst the populace, I was not sur- 
 prised at the post boy's muttering, when I told 
 him to stop his horses opposite to the chapel of 
 Montrath : " we will have our revenge." I 
 preached the forgiveness of injuries to him, from 
 the doctrine and example of our Redeemer, 
 in the most forcible manner I could ; but i will 
 not answer for it, that I made a convert of the 
 post-boy. A wise and firm government would 
 effectually put a stop to these dangerous tri- 
 umphs repeated every year, and more than once 
 
 <\) See an Ilibtorical Apology for the lri r .li Catlio'ics, ly 
 William Parne!, Ksj. if'-;. 
 
 X v
 
 240 
 
 in the year, of the few over the many ; or rather, 
 it would give equal laws to both parties, by which 
 means they would soon forget~their mutual in- 
 juries. ; 
 
 At Monasterhaven, finding the barge setting 
 off for Dublin, we quitted our chaises, and took 
 our passage on board of it. I found it to be a 
 neat and convenient vehicle, particularly for a 
 student; and accordingly I availed myself of the 
 facilities it afforded both for writing and read- 
 ing. It also furnished a very good ordinary, 
 with the stinted allowance of a pint of wine, to 
 each passenger. I gave you my observations, in 
 my former tour, upon this city, and the unrivalled 
 beauties of its environs. Many of these I have 
 again surveyed with increased delight. In one 
 direction I have viewed Phoenix Park, with the 
 domains of Luke White, Esq. heretofore the family 
 seat of the Lutterels, the diversified banks of 
 the Liffey, Luftm, Clondalkin Round Tower, 
 and Castle Bagot. In another direction, I have 
 skirted the north side of Dublin Bay, which ter- 
 minates at the new harbour and the bold pro- 
 montory of ilowth. In a third expedition, I 
 passed by the Black Rock and Bray, to the 
 charming situation of Cabinteely, belonging to 
 Mr. Byrne, near which I beheld the largest 
 Druidical altar I ever beheld (1). In a fourth, 
 
 (i) This vast altar-stone measures 16 feet in length, 14 in its 
 greatest breadth, 6 in its thickness at one end, and 2 at the other, 
 Neither of the imposts a't Stonehenge, nor that at Kitcoty's house,
 
 S41 
 
 I entered through an astonishing aperture, called 
 The Scalp, amongst the Wicklow mountains, and 
 viewed the romantic glen of The Dargle, the 
 chosen retreat of the great Mr. Grattan. The 
 variegated beauties and wonders of this situation 
 must fill the mind of every visitor, whose atten- 
 tion is not in part taken off, as mine was, by con- 
 templating the qualities of its illustrious pro- 
 prietor, his unaffected simplicity of manners, his 
 native benignity, .kindness, and hospitality. But 
 such is the character of sreat minds in general, 
 while little minds are found to be a composition 
 of affectation and selfishness. 
 
 In the city from which I write to you, I have 
 been charmed to see the numerous Catholic 
 establishments of charity and piety, not only 
 flourish, but also increase, under the fostering 
 piety and zeal of my Rev, friend the Catholic 
 Archbishop, and his religious clergy, and through 
 the munificent charity and personal exertions of 
 many individuals, of each sex, belonging to their 
 flock. I was particularly delighted with the 
 piety, order, and neatness which reign in the 
 Catholic Orphan House, lately instituted at 
 Harold's Cross, where a certain number of religi- 
 ous ladies have devoted their lives to the support 
 and education of the poor outcasts of society in 
 
 in Kent, bears any sort of proportion with it in bulk,. It rests in an 
 inclined position, on seven other large stones, and is situutt d at u 
 ^lace called Brennan's Town. 
 
 Xx <2
 
 342 
 
 question. I was equally pleased at seeing that 
 my honoured friends, the Ladies of the Presenta- 
 tion, had divided themselves into two communi- 
 ties in different parts of the city, in order to 
 educate a greater number of poor female children. 
 Nor was I less edified at the industry, modesty, 
 and penitential tears of the happy converts, 
 whom I saw and exhorted at their house in Town- 
 
 send-street. But these and other heartfelt 
 
 pleasures, which I have enjoyed during m} T pre- 
 sent residence in Dublin, have received a bitter 
 alloy, from the violent dissensions which agitate 
 the Catholics of this metropolis at the present 
 moment, and which threaten the worst of con- 
 sequences to our common religion. I should be 
 sorry to acquaint you with the coarse and un- 
 christian language which has been printed against 
 me, in consequence of my refusing to publish in 
 the newspapers the particulars of a commission 
 "with which I had been honoured by the Catholic 
 bishops of Ireland; because this would lower the 
 idea which I have endeavoured to give you of 
 Irish civility, generosity, and hospitality. And I 
 should regret still more to repeat to you the 
 indecent and schismatical language which has 
 been held and printed against these bishops by 
 persons professing themselves Catholics ; because 
 this might lead you to suppose I had deceived 
 you, when I have so often told you, that we had a 
 living speaking tribunal, namely, that of the 
 bishops themselves, for deciding upon, and
 
 3*3 
 
 settling all dissensions that may arise amongst 
 us regarding ecclesiastical matters, as the one in 
 question incontestably is([). All that I shall 
 
 (0 The question at issue regards a certain change in the mode at 
 present followed of recommending candidates for episcopal powers 
 to the holy See, which change our parliamentary friends represented 
 as necessary for effecting the desired emancipation of Catholics. 
 It is admitted, on all hands, that the present mode, though pri- 
 mitive, wise, salutary, and, in itself, unexceptionable, may admit 
 of certain alterations ; as in fact, this point of discipline has been 
 altered at different periods, for the greater good of religion. But of 
 this matter it is for the Bishops and Head Pastor alone to judge, and 
 to decide upon its expediency or inexpediency : they being ex. 
 clusively the legislators of discipline, as they are the judges of fuilh. 
 Conformably with this doctrine, it will be found in the pages of 
 ecclesiastical history, from the Acts of the Apostles down to 
 the latent Concordata, that whatever interference any lay persons 
 have ever lawfully exercised in the appointment ot Pastors of the 
 Catholic Church, thev have exercised it by virtue of a concession and 
 delegation from the Church herself. It is in vain that one party 
 alledges a pretended natural right; a second party a right of tem- 
 poral sovereignty; a third party a right connected with natural 
 independency ; a fourth party a right arising from the claims to civil 
 privileges to exercise power in this important religious concern. No 
 one, nor ull of hese pretensions put together, can form any valid 
 claim to it: let the illustrious Bossuet speak, to this point with his 
 accustomed force and perspicuity. The following passage deserves 
 the attention of Christians, and particularly of Catholics, at the 
 present period. '* Thus speaks the Catholic Church to her chil- 
 " i!nn: you are a people, a state, and a society; but Jesus 
 " Christ, who is your king, holds nothing of you ; his authority is 
 " derived from a higher source; naturally you have no more right to 
 " give him ministers than you have to appoint him to he your 
 " king. Thus his ministers, who are your pastors, derive their 
 " authority from the same high source that he himself does; 
 " and it is essential that they should come to yon by an order of 
 " his appointment." Variations, Book xv. See also the Divine 
 Right ol I'piscopacy an ! Lccies'uhtical Democracy Detected, by tho 
 orey ut writer.
 
 S44 
 
 say is, that the intemperance which I complain 
 of is that of a few persons, compared with the 
 whole body of Irish Catholics ; and that the 
 storm itself, we may hope, will be of short con- 
 tinuance in proportion to its violence. 
 
 I have the honour to remain* 
 
 Sir, &c. 
 
 J. M,
 
 345 
 
 * 
 
 SUPPLEMENT, 
 LETTER I. 
 
 TO THE AUTHOR OF REMARKS, 
 
 Occasioned by some Passages in Dr.- Milner's Tour 
 in Ireland. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 XT will be a saving of some 
 trouble and paper in needless circumlocutions and 
 innuendos, it* I say at once that I suppose my- 
 self to be now answering the publication of Sir 
 Richard Musgrave. The following are my 
 reasons for entertaining this supposition. First, 
 Different persons, who have the best means of 
 gaining information upon the subject, agree in 
 attributing the work to him. Secondly, As the 
 historian of " The Rebellions in Ireland," must 
 have deeply felt the discredit into which the 
 " Letters from Ireland" have brought his labo- 
 rious compilation, by the number of false- 
 hoods and fabrications which they have dis- 
 covered in it, and as the author of them is not 
 celebrated for the most forgiving temper, it is 
 natural to suppose he would make some attempt 
 to avenge himself upon tiie Aviiter of those
 
 346 
 
 letters. Thirdly, There is reason to doubt whe- 
 ther any other author, except he who has con- 
 trived to tell eight palpable falsehoods in about as 
 many lines, concerning my deceased friend Dr. 
 Walmesley's publication (1), was capable of re- 
 porting so many glaring untruths concerning my 
 pretended " literary labours in Ireland," as are 
 heaped together in nine or ten pages of " The 
 Remarks." Lastly, The motive which the au- 
 thor of "The Remarks" assigns for concealing 
 his name, evidently applies to the historian of 
 " the Rebellion," and, as I hope, to no other writer. 
 He says, that " things are now come to such a 
 " pass, that all the enemies of our present esta- 
 " blishment may, with safety and applause, put 
 " their names to their writings, whilst those who 
 " would wish to defend the State and the Church, 
 " where they are attacked, dare not in common 
 " prudence avow their publications" (%). The latter 
 assertion, as it regards other Protestant authors, 
 is notoriously false and absurd ; but it is quite 
 consistent, and probably true, when adopted as 
 an excuse for an incognito, by the historian of 
 " the Rebellions;" as that writer could not at- 
 tack my letters, without either proving the Ca- 
 tholics to have a creed which obliges them, "not 
 "to keep their oaths with heretics," but *' to 
 * f drive them out of the land with fire, sword, 
 " faggot, and confusion" (3) ; or else pleading 
 
 (i) See above, pp. 98, 99. (2) Remarks, p. 45. 
 (3) See above, p. ico.
 
 347 
 
 guilty to the foulest slander that ever was forged 
 by hypocrisy and malice against an insulted 
 people. 
 
 I observe, Sir, that the first part of your 
 pamphlet is taken up with an inquiry into the 
 motives for my first voyage to Ireland : and 
 you applaud your presumed sagacity in dis- 
 covering, from the circumstances of my having 
 had business at Maynooth (which is true), and 
 of my "visiting every convent and college in 
 " the island" (which is false), that I must have 
 " crossed the channel upon a particular mission, 
 11 namely, for the purpose of encouraging the 
 " refractory, and confirming the wavering among 
 " the Roman Catholics in their opposition to, and 
 " rejection of a plan to separate their Church 
 " from the Court of Rome" (0. When I com- 
 pare this and similar passages in your Remarks 
 with the assertions of certain late newspaper 
 writers, professing the Catholic religion, that I 
 was " sent over by the minister as the successor 
 " of Lord Redesdale, to grind down the faith 
 " and morals of Catholic Ireland," I cannot 
 help smiling at your opposite blunders, and re- 
 marking to my friends, that, while you are both 
 in the wrong, you mutually refute each other. 
 
 The real motives, then, of my voyage, were 
 precisely those which I have assigned in my 
 " Irish priest-like book," as you call it; if any 
 one can tell what sort of a book that is. I 
 
 (') Page 7. 
 
 Vy
 
 348 
 
 agree with you, Sir, that my tour has answered 
 other secondary purposes which I had not in view 
 when I undertook it : but it so happens that you 
 have not, by accident, hit upon any one of these, 
 in your account of " my nefarious labours in Ire- 
 " land," as you term them. But, since you are 
 so extremely curious, and ask so many questions 
 on this matter, I will fairly tell you what these 
 secondary purposes were, after I have examined 
 what you report concerning them. These reports 
 constitute that mass of falsehood concerning my- 
 self, of which I said that no other writer, but 
 the historian of the Rebellions, was capable of 
 heaping up so much of it within so narrow 
 a compass. "The precipitancy," you say, " of 
 " this visit (to Maynooth) has confirmed many 
 " in their belief of the report, that Dr. Milner 
 " came over on a particular mission. Nay, it has 
 " been further reported, that among the books 
 " and papers in his trunk, the Dr. brought over 
 " an old copy of Ward's Errata to the Pro- 
 " testant Bible, and a copy of the same ffard's 
 " Controversy of Ordination ; of both which 
 " works Dr. Milner is reported to have procured 
 " a new edition to be printed by subscription. 
 " And it is also reported, that Dr. M. himself 
 " wrote the Preface to JFard's Errata, than 
 " which, be the writer whom he may, a more au- 
 " dacious attack against the established religion 
 u has not been published. It is rumoured, that 
 ' before he left Ireland, he set on foot a periodi- 
 ' cal publication, called The Irish Magazine,
 
 349 
 
 a which, he the editor and contributors whom 
 " they may, is one of the most audacious, 
 " &c. (l) Whoever reads the pamphlet by a 
 " Christian Philosopher, &c. will think with me, 
 " that Dr. Milner is the said Christian Philoso- 
 " pher." How strange it is, that in this whole 
 string of facts, so confidently reported, there 
 should not be a single one, nor hardly a single 
 collateral circumstance, that is not a direct false- 
 hood. For first, I did not go over to Ireland upon 
 any particular mission ; nor is my journey to 
 Maynooth any confirmation of my having gone 
 over upon such a mission : nor did I carry over 
 with me any copy of Ward* s Errata : nor any copy 
 of Ward's Controversy of Ordination : nor any 
 books at all (except my prayer book and the New 
 Testament) : nor any papers : nor had I any 
 sort of trunk or box with me on that occasion, 
 nor any thing resembling a trunk or box (2). 
 
 (i) This libeller elsewhere calumniously insinuates, that I am, 
 the author of " a curious Essay entitled the Antipopery Club at 
 " Fitzpatricks," p. 38, thus trying to excite the Catholics against me, 
 no less than government. 
 
 (2) The positiveness with which the writer speaks of my pretended 
 trunk, and the contents of it, might lead persons acquainted with 
 his official situation, and his readiness to perform the lowest 
 services of the state, even that of an executioner, to suppose that he 
 was the identical custom-house officer at the Pigeon-hou=e, of whose 
 plucking I have so heavily complained, p. 6. The equal positiveness 
 with which most of the above-mentioned falsehoods are asserted, 
 joined to other circumstances, have persuaded me that this same 
 writer drew up and citculated amongst the Members of Parliament, 
 on the 25th of last May, the day on which debates on the Catholic 
 Petition commenced, a baud-bill inscribed ** On the reverence to be 
 " paid to a solemn oath as taught bv a Vicar Apostolic, &c." In thil
 
 360 
 
 Nor did 1 procure the former work to be printed 
 by subscription, or otherwise; it having been 
 printed before I went to Ireland. Nor was the 
 latter work printed by subscription at all, nor by 
 my means ; for I did not so much as know that it 
 was printed, till you informed -.me and the world 
 that I was the publisher of it. Nor did I write 
 the Preface to the Errata, which every one who 
 looks at it sees to be part of the original work. 
 Nor did I set on foot the Irish Magazine, or ever 
 contribute a s'mgle line towards it: nor do I 
 know who its editors or contributors are, or any 
 one of them. Nor did I write the Address of the 
 Christian Philosopher : the author of it being 
 known in Dublin, though I have not the pleasure 
 of bis acquaintance. For the truth of the several 
 particulars concerning the different publications 
 I refer to the booksellers and printers of Dublin. 
 As to the nature and contents of my baggage, 
 not having other evidence, I leave the reader to 
 judge between your word and mine. After all, 
 Sir, I should not have been so anxious about 
 these egregious falsehoods, if you had not by 
 
 hand-bill the libeller, misrepresenting an argument which I had urged 
 against Sir Richard Musgrave, to shew that Catholics are not 
 idolaters, exclaimed, Henceforwapd, whose life or property k 
 *' safe, when either may be taken away by evidence upon oath, 
 " when the person to whom it is administered is taught to believe, 
 " he only kisses the leather and paper of a book, whose contents are 
 " represented as erroneous and undeserving of respect !" The only 
 circumstances which 1 complain of respecting this band-bill, are, that 
 the author of it concealed his name, and that he circulated it one 
 day too late for me to counteract its malicious tendency.
 
 sn 
 
 means of them led Dr. Ryan and Dr. Elrington 
 to make those warm attacks upon me, which I 
 could not repel without entering upon the two 
 points of controversy for which I have the least 
 taste, and which, of all others, I have hitherto 
 most carefully avoided ; and if you had not also 
 thereby drawn upon me certain severe reflections, 
 or insinuations, in the two Houses of Parliament, 
 particularly from one Right Rev. Prelate, who 
 seems not to be sufficiently informed of the 
 degree of credit due to his informant. 
 
 Having refuted youraccount of these matters, 
 I will now, Sir, as I promised, gratify your 
 curiosity, by telling you what those secondary 
 purposes really were which my tour has answered ; 
 independently of the primary ones mentioned in 
 my first letter, it has then enabled me to state to 
 my countrymen several of the remaining griev- 
 ances which the Catholic inhabitants of Ireland 
 still endure from men of the party and disposi- 
 tion of the writer of the Remarks, that is to 
 say, the chief existing obstructions to the peace 
 and welfare of the British empire.- -It has drawn 
 the attention of the legislature to that unnatural, 
 cruel, and impolitic system of spending the pub- 
 lic money in purchasing the children of Catholics, 
 in order to educate them in the immoral and 
 dangerous principles of the charter-school cate- 
 chism. The system itself of the charter-school^ 
 is shaken, and their catechism exploded and 
 suppressed. I need say no more concerning ir, 
 when I state that you yourself have been forced
 
 S52 
 
 to give it up as indefensible (1). The tour lias 
 moreover led me to vindicate the primitive 
 apostle and religion of Ireland, from the mis- 
 representations under which they were sinking. 
 The tide of public opinion, upon these points, 
 has now turned, both in England and Ireland ; 
 and I trust that no writer, who has a character 
 for literature to support, will henceforward un- 
 dertake to prove upon historical grounds, that 
 there was no such man as St. Patrick, or that 
 the first Irish Christians were Protestants, or that 
 they derived their Christianity from Eastern 
 Quartodecimans instead of the Roman See. 
 Lastly, my tour has put me upon reviewing that 
 ponderous performance " The Memoirs of the 
 " Rebellions in Ireland ;" which review has ter- 
 minated in a clear demonstration that this work 
 of mischief and malice, is a compound medley 
 of misrepresentation, forgery, and absurdity. 
 
 I proceed now to the substance of your " Re- 
 " marks :" having employed your first ten pages 
 upon inquiries into the motives of my voyage to 
 Ireland, and my employment while I remained 
 there, you spend almost as many in carping at 
 the Royal establishment of Maynooth, particu- 
 larly at the plan of studies followed, and in pro- 
 posing a number of questions concerning it. Your 
 sarcasms having fallen pointless to the ground, 
 I shall leave them there, and proceed to answer 
 your questions: strange as these will sound in 
 
 (i) See the concluding note in the Remarks, p. 49.
 
 353 
 
 the mouth of a man who pofcsses to have studied 
 at an university, You ask, "What are defen- 
 sions?"(l) Johnson will inform you that a 
 cause may he defended as well as a -place. In a 
 word, defensions are scholastic exercises, in which 
 students support hy argument a variety of posi- 
 tions in the sciences which they have studied. 
 You inquire next, what is Dogmatic Divinity ? (2) 
 It means doctrinal, or speculative divinity 
 (from dogma, a doctrine), in opposition to moral, 
 or practical divinity. Here I ascertain that your 
 ignorance is not affected but real ; as otherwise 
 you would not have undertaken to "supply from 
 " the Dublin Almanac'another Lecturer, viz. one 
 " in Dogmatic Divinity," in addition to the 
 Lecturer on Speculative Divinity whom I men- 
 tioned. You want to know, what arc dictates? 
 They are the viva voce lessons of a professor, 
 which lessons, amongst us, it has been customary 
 for the students to take down in writing. You 
 appear to boggle at the word restitution (3), as 
 
 0) P- '4- 
 
 (2) Ibid. 
 
 (3J P. 17. It is well known that the practice of confession among 
 the Catholics is productive of many restitutions. I do not mean to 
 find fault with the morality of our public tribunals; but I am free 
 to say, that it falls greatly short of that which prevails in our tribunals 
 of confession, as appears by the following anecdote. About ten 
 years ago a man of Dublin, not originally a Catholic, but who, 
 like many others, was desirous of dying one, thinking himself in 
 imminent danger of death, sent for a priest, whose name was Fitz- 
 simons, to attend him. What passed betweem them must, of 
 course, ever remain an inviolable secret, except what afterwards 
 appeared publicly, namely, that the sick man put 50 1, into the
 
 35* 
 
 connected with the virtue of justice. It is fit, 
 then, Sir, you should know what our moral pro- 
 fessors teach on this head, which is, that if any 
 man has injured his neighbour in his perion by 
 cruelty, in his property by fraud or arson, or 
 in his reputation by misrepresentation or ca- 
 lumny, he is strictly bound to make to the 
 injured party all such satisfaction, called restitu- 
 tion, as it is in his power to make. I have said 
 that your ignorance is in part real ; whence I 
 conclude that some of your questions may be 
 seriously put. But when I see you deliberately 
 misquoting the author whom you undertake to 
 answer, as you do a certain writer in the Evening 
 Herald, concerning the theological course of 
 Maynooth College ; when I find you substitut- 
 ing Confession for Confirmation, virtues for 
 vices (\), foisting in some words, and leaving 
 out others, I maintain you are guilty; not of 
 affectation^ but of an unpardonable fraud. After 
 all, it seems you will not be satisfied unless I 
 furnish you with a catalogue of all the theologi- 
 
 priest's hands, to remit (without answering any questions) to a 
 Merchant of that city, with whom he had lived as clerk. The priest 
 paid the money, and took a receipt for it. In process of time the 
 clerk iegained his health, when standing in need of the 501. he sued 
 the Merchant for it, and actually recovered it by the verdict of a 
 jury, under the 'direction of Lord Avenmore, on the ground of its 
 having been paid without any apparent consideration for it. 
 
 (1) The writer of the Remarks makes his correspondent, Acade- 
 micus, say, that they teach at Maynooth, "The moral virtues and 
 *' the virtues opposite to them" p. 17.
 
 355 
 
 cal books in the library at Maynootb ! Though 
 lam not competent to give that, vet I fancy it 
 will not be difficult for you to procure it, if you 
 will pay a clerk for transcribing it : still I doubt 
 much whether you will be much the wiser for 
 having it. I can, however, inform you of what is 
 evidently more to your purpose than a catalogue, 
 namely, that the dogmatical professor of May- 
 nooth has, within this fortnight, published a 
 most elaborate Treatise on Religion ( 1 ), which, I 
 am sure, will gain him and the College much cre- 
 dit at Oxford and Cambridge, whatever you, Sir, 
 may think or say of it. 
 
 On the subject of proselyting, which you next 
 introduce, you are outrageous and insulting. 
 You call my Letters to a Prebendary " an artful 
 " and daring work,*' intimating your regret that 
 I was " suffered to remain in the country an 
 " hour after writing it(l)." In this language, 
 Sir, I recognize the genuine spirit of an Irish 
 Orangeman. Had you the slightest pretensions 
 to the character of a man of letters, instead of 
 threatening me with persecution, you would have 
 endeavoured to shew that my work consisted of 
 false reasoning and misrepresented facts. But 
 you were sensible that in this attempt men of 
 greater talents than fall to your share have failed! 
 
 [i) Tractatus de Religione ad usum Tbeologiae Candidatorum ; 
 " Autore L. E. Dtluhogue, S. T. Doct. et Prof. .Dublin, I'.tz- 
 
 pntikk. 
 
 (I) Pp. 21, 2). 
 
 7.7
 
 3j6 
 
 You then proceed to challenge me to name a 
 certain Protestant Lady who feeds and cloaths 
 Catholic Children on the condition of their being 
 educated Protestants, (as if you thought that 
 practice dishonourable in an individual which 
 you defend as honourable in the government.) 
 You likewise call upon me to mention what land- 
 lords require their Catholic tenants to send their 
 children to Protestant schools, or turn them out 
 of their farms on account of their being Catho- 
 lics. I answer, that you certainly know of a 
 lady near the capital who answers the first de- 
 scription ; that you have probably heard of a 
 landlord in one of the eastern counties who an- 
 swers the second ; and that you certainly 
 must be informed of another landlord in one of 
 the southern counties who answers the third, he 
 having lately dismissed from his estate, at one and 
 the same time, not less than 200 Catholic tenants, 
 orderly men, and who had always been punctual 
 in the payment of their rents. 
 
 The transition from proselytism to charter- 
 schools was quite natural. You admit that they 
 were instituted and are still supported at an enor- 
 mous public expense, for this purpose : but you 
 defend the purpose. My opinion is, and I am 
 sure it is that of all my countrymen who under- 
 stand the matter, that this remnant of the old 
 persecuting code is the most barbarous and un- 
 natural pait of the whole of it. I have exposed 
 the cruelty and immorality of buying up (you 
 call it takhig up) the children oi the poor,
 
 357 
 
 changing their names, and transporting them to 
 distant provinces, for the avowed intent that the 
 child may never know its parent, nor the parent 
 its child, and that the latter may he systemati- 
 cally educated to hate the former. I have also 
 shewn that this unnatural practice exposes the 
 son unwittingly to strike and wound his own 
 father, and the father unwittingly to marry and 
 
 commit incest with his own daughter. No 
 
 matter for all this, you say ; though the thing 
 itself is bad (l), yet the practice of it is evident- 
 ly good, from the hatred which the Papists 
 bear to it. Barbarity, incest, any thing but 
 
 'Popery ! Such is Orange morality ! But you 
 
 add : " Not one of the children admitted into 
 " the charter-schools are or were, purchased : 
 " they are orphans, or they are voluntarily en- 
 " tered by their indigent fathers or mothers; 
 " and, in the latter case, no child is now ever 
 " admitted without an attestation from under the 
 " hand of the parents, or some near relation, 
 " that the child is entered voluntarily (2)." And 
 this attestation, or deed of contract, you would 
 have me admit as a proof that the children are not 
 sold and bought ! Are, then, the peasantry of 
 Ireland more destitute of natural feeling than the 
 lamia or the ostrich of the desert, that they wish 
 
 (r) The Remarker expressly states that the Charter-scliools are 
 bwl, but then he ^ays the Papists an- ucrse, p. 28. 
 
 (*) P. 35- 
 
 Z z 2
 
 35S 
 
 to abandon their infant offspring, and to have 
 no further relation with them for time and for 
 eternity, without any temptation for so doing? 
 Or rather, is it not that they are bribed to make 
 this sacrifice by a pecuniary premium, namely, 
 that of releasing them from the expense of main- 
 taining their children in future. Why, Sir, the 
 very argument you bring against me supports my 
 statement ; and the ceremony of the parent's at- 
 testation proves the transaction to be a sale and 
 a purchase ! But after all : is such a bargain re- 
 gistered in the sight of the Lord of nature ? And 
 will it be a crime, as you intimate it will be, 
 (in pleading for the practice of interchanging the 
 children of the northern and southern districts) 
 if a child should fly from those who have pur- 
 chased it with money, to the arms of its natural 
 mother ; or if that mother who sold her child to 
 keep it from starving, should, when in better 
 circumstances, again receive it to her embraces ? 
 I answer NO ; and I say, that the means adopted 
 by the charter-schools- for retaining their pur- 
 chased victims, are as contrary to nature, as those 
 were by which they first acquired them. You 
 next deny that ' these schools are confined to 
 " Papists : as Protestants," you assert, " are ad- 
 " mitted into them; though certainly popish chil- 
 " dren are preferred (l)." This is as much as to 
 say : "If we cannot indulge our bigotry to the 
 
 (0 P. 35.
 
 359 
 
 i full extent of our wishes and means, by pur- 
 " chasing a sufficient number of Popish children 
 " from their parents and their religion, we will 
 " then exercise our charity by giving support 
 " and education to the children of Protestants, 
 " to whom this will be a benefit, (as there will be 
 " no change of names, country, or religion, and 
 " no permanent separation from parents,) though 
 " certainly the bigoted motive is preferable." 
 In concluding this matter, you dispute with mc 
 about the sums voted and expended upon this 
 system of Protestant proselyting. The sum vot- 
 ed I stated at 25,0001. per annum. The fact 
 is, this year 23,018 1. were voted by parliament 
 for this purpose. The total income I stated at 
 60,000 1. per annum. Now, Sir, if to the 23,0181. 
 paid out of our taxes, are added the 10,0001. per 
 annum, which, you allow, the Incorporated So- 
 ciety possesses in lands and funds, likewise the 
 annual value of the premises which they occupy, 
 and the average amount of donations and be- 
 quests, I believe I shall be found to have made a 
 very moderate estimate of the whole sum : with- 
 out taking into the account the Bluecoat-School, 
 and a variety of other schools and institutions, 
 which may all he considered as so many branches 
 of the Charter-School institution. Notwith- 
 standing all this, as you yourself remark, a great 
 proportion of the children, thus proselyted at 
 such an enormous expense, return again to the 
 religion of their parents, and in three at least, 
 uutof the four provinces of Ireland, tiiis religion
 
 360 
 
 is increasing at a rapid rate(l). What does this 
 prove, but the futility and absurdity of the ex- 
 pensive system which government is pursuing ; 
 and that since it cannot proselyte the Catholics, 
 nor root them out, nor transport them to Canada, 
 as an evangelical member of parliament has pro- 
 posed, the best way is to let them believe in 
 transubstantiation and the Pope, and to adopt 
 them as emancipated subjects. 
 
 You return from what you term your digres- 
 sion concerning the Charter-Schools to your fa- 
 vourite (but as I thought exhausted) subject; 
 the motive of my voyage to Ireland. It seems 
 you have " collected fresh evidence that this 
 " was to persuade the R. Catholic Clergy to re- 
 " sist, by every means in their power, any mo- 
 " dificationor new arrangement of their present 
 " government (2)." This evidence is drawn 
 from a passage of my Letters, in which I express 
 my conviction that " the Catholic Bishops and 
 " Clergy are not to be bought at any price what- 
 " soever to form a separate interest from that of 
 " their flocks, and that they will not even ac- 
 '* cept of pensions, except upon a footing of in- 
 " dependency, and as part of a general arrange- 
 " ment for the relief of their body (3)." To do 
 you justice, Sir, you are not the only person 
 who has argued in this manner from the passage 
 in question. A Noble Lord, who once filled the 
 chief efficient situation in your island, read it at 
 
 (i) P. 2-. (2) P. 3-. (3) See above p. 35,
 
 361 
 
 fall length in the illustrious assembly to which 
 he belongs, on the 27th of last May, by way of 
 proving that I was thwarting the plans of govern- 
 ment. But I was powerfully vindicated on this 
 head by a justly celebrated statesman there pre- 
 sent ; and I have no difficulty in confessing that 
 I still retain the' same opinion upon this matter 
 which I have published. Strictly loyal on one 
 hand, and rigidly orthodox on the other, I shall 
 approve of every fresh pledge of our attachment 
 to our king and country, which the guardians 
 of our religion, its prelates, may deem consistent 
 with its doctrine, its discipline, and its safety, 
 and which they may freely and disinterestedly 
 offer : but I shall ever protest against our 
 Church becoming dependant upon a Protestant 
 government, as would be the case, if, in the ex- 
 isting circumstances, the clergy touched the pub- 
 lic money. And I shall always adhere to the 
 axiom of my deceased friend, the great Edmund 
 Burke, that "the professors of one religion are 
 " not proper persons to appoint the ministers of 
 
 " another." After all, Sir, this statement of 
 
 my objections against our clergy's becoming 
 pensioners of the state, contains no better 
 " evidence' 1 as to the object of my voyage to 
 Ireland, than any other passage whatever of my 
 book does. 
 
 You next treat us with different and dull quo- 
 tations from Lord lledesdale's " Thoughts on 
 " the Catholic Question," which, as 1 have for-
 
 362 
 
 merly answered, I shall here pass over(l). I 
 wish, however, that, when you or any other re- 
 tainer of that nohle Lord, whether Catholic or 
 Protestant, lends himself again to forward his 
 schemes against our Church and Hierarchy, he 
 would inform the public whether his Lordship, 
 in 1791, when he introduced into parliament the 
 bill for our relief, was ignorant that our Church 
 is essentially episcopalian ? Secondly, that this 
 
 (r; "It is the R. Catholic Hierarchy which is the bane of the 
 ** country." Thoughts ou the Catholic Questran, attributed to Lord 
 Redesdale. "A vast majority of the R. Catholics of Ireland would 
 " be quiet, if their priests and agitators would let them be quiet ; 
 ' and the majority of their priests would probably be quiet, if the 
 " ambition of their superiors did not goad them to action. It is the 
 " R. C. Hierarchy, preserved in Ireland, which is the bane of that 
 
 * c country. The greater part of the R. Catholics of Ireland 
 
 " dread the return of this despotism, (that of their clergy) but they 
 " dare not open their lips against it, except in low and secret mur- 
 " murs, whilst they are compelled to applaud the exertions of its 
 " establishment in language which the poor heart would fain deny 
 " but dares not l r Poor, poor hearts, who were forced to 
 whisper to the Lord Chancellor, " in low and secret murmurs," the 
 conviction of their souls, which they did not date to express in the 
 hearing of their priests, for fear that they should send them to p.ison 
 and the gallows, or at least should prosecute and tine them! His 
 Lordship goes on : "A few, with honest firmness, avow their dis- 
 *' like to any encrease of the powers and influence of their priests ; 
 11 and these ire principally independent country gentlemen, who feel 
 " that they have all that is necessary for the quiet enjoyment of their 
 
 " religious opinions."-; But why are the names of these Catholic 
 
 friends of Lord Redesdale in the two islands always kept concealed 
 both in his pamphlets and his speeches ! These honest independent 
 Catholics, so superlatively loyal '. These pious Catholics, who com- 
 bine to restrain the power of their Church at the present day ! 
 
 These self-denying Catholics, who think it right that Mr. M d 
 
 should rise to the Chancellorship, and. that they themselves should 
 for ever be coi.hued to their present stations !
 
 363 
 
 writer would shew how this ecclesiastical form of 
 government, with its power of excommunication, 
 is more hostile to his Majesty's civil govern- 
 ment, than the Presbyterian, Methodistical, or 
 any other form of church government is ; all 
 which equally claim the right of excluding re- 
 fractory members from their society. Lastly, 
 that he would demonstrate in what respects it 
 would be more for the peace and safety of the 
 state that the Catholics of Ireland or of England 
 should live in a state of ecclesiastical democracy 
 or anarchy, than that they should live under their 
 ancient well-ordered hierarchy, which, for its 
 wisdom and order, has been copied by the 
 
 Established Church. -In my observations on 
 
 his Lordship's project for the destruction of this 
 hierarchy, I signified, that in case he could per- 
 suade the legislature to concur in this his favou- 
 rite measure, and to pass an act for the purpose, 
 we should make no exterior resistance to the exe- 
 cution of the law, but satisfy ourselves with 
 yielding our lives rather than comply with it (l). 
 At the recital of this moderate and peaceable sen- 
 timent, you are petrified with horror ! calling it 
 " the most dangerous sentiment that has ever 
 "appeared from an audacious pen." Youthen 
 present your reader with two whole lines and a 
 
 half of black dashes, (o) ? i a 
 
 order to impress him with similar horror ! But 
 
 '. See above, p. 4:. (?) P. 44. 
 
 A a a
 
 364 
 
 pray, Sir Richard, if in the course of future 
 contingencies, another Queen Mary were to 
 mount the throne, and to get an act of parliament 
 passed requiring all her subjects to profess their 
 belief in the Pope's Supremacy and in Transub- 
 stantiation, how would you act ? ; I tremble for 
 your inflexible faith on one hand, and your 
 flexible loyalty on the other, in the situation in 
 which I have placed you : but, Sir, you must 
 look it in the face, and must answer me one way 
 or other. Tell me, then : would you become a 
 Papist in obedience to the law ? Or would you 
 meekly yield your life, as I have said the Catho- 
 lic clergy and laity will do, rather than suffer Lord 
 Redesdale to new model their Church ? Or would 
 you take up arms against Mary, as Sir Thomas 
 Wyatt, Bishop Poynet, and so many other Pro- 
 testants did, in defence of their religion ? Not 
 aware of this obvious retort to which you were 
 exposing yourself, you proceed to assume your 
 ascendancy airs and Orange menaces, by talking 
 of putting me to prison, and banishing me from the 
 realm, as a person 'who is doing mischief to the 
 state, &c. (1) Such language, Sir, may do 
 very well for Ireland, where Orangemen claim 
 the privilege of insulting and threatening Catho- 
 lics in whatever manner they please ; and some- 
 times of executing their threats, however con- 
 trary to law: but on this side of the channel, 
 where the Catholic is not only nominally, but ac* 
 
 (i) Ibid.
 
 365 
 
 tually as much under the protection of the law 
 as the Protestant is, it serves no other purpose 
 than to render the person who uses it ridiculous. 
 Return, then, Sir, your rusty Toledo into its 
 scabbard, and, instead of vainiy flourishing it in 
 the air, sit yourself down at your desk, and 
 coolly consider, whether it becomes that author 
 to descant upon mischief done to the state by 
 writing, whose principal work has been spurned 
 from the throne, because it is calculated to in- 
 flame the resentment of four millions of subjects; 
 and whether it is decent for that man to call 
 for fresh restraints on the press, who stands con- 
 victed before the public of fabricating under 
 his own name the vilest calumnies against the 
 great mass of his countrymen ! But, Sir, we 
 clearly see what kind of restraints upon the press 
 you are desirous of introducing; they are to be 
 such as will leave you at liberty to publish another 
 close printed quarto of 1000 pages, full of misre- 
 presentation, falsehood, and. forgery against the 
 Catholics, but will tie them up from vindicat- 
 ing themselves, and exposing you ! They are 
 to be such as will permit you to disfigure the 
 history of past events, but will hinder your oppo- 
 nents from presenting this history in its true 
 colours (l). 
 
 (i) Amongst other crimes against the state with which tlie egre- 
 gious Remarker charges me, one is for mentioning the infraction of 
 the treaty of Limerick, though he does not attempt to deny the 
 fact. Another is, my galling Queen Eliiabcth " an hypotyriuuil 
 
 Aa a <2
 
 366 
 
 It is with great reluctance and some degree of 
 confusion that I find myself called upon to dis- 
 cuss subjects of ancient literature with the writer 
 of the Remarks and the Memoirs of theRebellions-. 
 Had Dr. Ledwich come forward, to assert his 
 claim to be still called The Antiquary of Ireland, 
 he would have found me prepared with historical 
 evidence for still further refuting: his extravagant 
 paradoxes concerning the ancient apostle and 
 religion of your country. But as he declines the 
 contest, under the pretext of his age, with what 
 face can you, Sir, present yourself to it, consci- 
 ous as you are of being utterly unprovided for it? 
 How ridiculous is it, for example, to hear you 
 repeating the words of your master Ledwich : 
 " St. Patrick is not mentioned by any author, or 
 " in any work of veracity, in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 
 " or 8th century ; he was not heard' of when 
 " Becle died in 735," after I have demonstrated 
 that Becle himself records "St. Patrick the Apostle 
 " of Ireland," in the only passage of his works 
 
 :< and remorseless princess." It appears that this writer then does not 
 sse either cruelty or hypocrisy in Elizabeth's frequent tampering 
 "with poor Mary's keepers to put her privately to death, or with her 
 signing the death-warrant and delivering it to her secretary, and then 
 punishing him forsendin^ it to be executed ; and with hef lament- 
 ing the death of the deceased to her son James, and stcearing that 
 she was innocent of it. 1 say nothing of her putting to death 
 above ioc priests for high treason, whom, hy the testimony 
 oi her own feed .historian, Camden, she allowed were innocent 
 of that crime. See Letters to a Prebendary, 4th edit. pp. 194,
 
 s6r 
 
 where it was rational to look for such a record, 
 namely, his Martyrology 1(1) Again, have I 
 not quoted the still existing life of St. Patrick by 
 Probus, whom I have proved, on the testimony 
 of Charlemagne's friend, the celebrated Atcuin, 
 to have been a writer of credit in the 7th cen- 
 tury ? (a) Have I not referred to the circum- 
 stantial account of this saint which occurs in the 
 Annals of our celebrated chronologer Nennius, 
 who flourished at the beginning of the same 7th 
 century ? (3) Have I not vindicated the metri- 
 cal eulogium of this apostle by his disciple St. 
 
 (i) The learned Monsig. Georgi, Chaplain to Benedict XIV. 
 in liis Notes on Ado's Martyrology, testifies that St. Patrick's 
 name occurs in the genuine copy of Bede's Martyrology, that is 
 to say, in the copy as he left it, without the addition of the 
 subsequent saints made by Florus and others. - - N. B. The 
 great Baronius, in his notes on the Roman Martyrology, lamented 
 exceedingly that the ancient Martyrology of Rome, the same which 
 Pope Gregory the Great, at the end of the sixth century, mentioned 
 as being " dispersed throng! out Christendom," could not in his 
 time be found. At length the learned Rosweyde discovered it 
 (proving it to be genuine to the satisfaction of all the learned) at the 
 head of a copy of Ado, in a monastery at Cologn. In this marty. 
 rolugy, or public register, (which was read throughout all the wes- 
 tern church within less than ioo years trom the death of St. Patrick, 
 his name is thus recorded; " XVI. Kalend. April. (17 Martii) 
 " S. Patritii EpUc. qui primus apud Scotos piaedicavit." 
 
 (2) I have shewn that our illustrious countryman Alcuin quotes 
 him as an author of respectability in the eighth century. De Pontif. 
 Rborac. apud Gale. This refute-; the account of Nicholson and 
 others, who wish to bring him down to the 10th century. 
 
 ry Ga'e, Cave, Tanner, Butler, &c.
 
 368 
 
 Fieck, who died early in the 6th century? (l) 
 Pinally, have I not dwelt upon the Confession 
 of St. Patrick, or the History of his Life, written 
 by himself, which, no less than his Epistle to 
 Corotic, and the Acts of two Councils held by 
 him, is admitted to be genuine by the most able 
 critics (2). These accordingly agree in drawing 
 their narrative concerning our saint from his 
 Confession, in preference to all other records 
 whatsoever ! Now, Sir, if it be true that Lhave 
 adduced this mass of primitive evidence in proof 
 of St. Patrick's- existence, (to say nothing of my 
 other numerous and irrefragable arguments) with 
 what face can you meet me upon this question, 
 without attempting at least to invalidate either 
 the authenticity or the authority, of my docu- 
 ments ? To speak plainly, Sir, your confidence 
 has every appearance of impugning the known 
 truth. 
 
 I may argue in the same manner with respect 
 to the Pope's Spiritual Supremacy, which, ac- 
 
 (i) It is admitted to be genuine by Ware, Harris, Usher, Ni- 
 cholson, Colgan, &c. 
 
 (2) Bollandus, Tillemont, Usher, Ware, Fleury, Butler, &o 
 
 In the present edition I have cited the testimony of the learned Cul- 
 dean Abbot of Jona in the middle of the 7th century, Adamnan, an 
 author of whom Dr.Ledwich himself speaks with great respect. In his 
 Preface to the Life of his predecessor, St. Columba, he says : 
 " Quidam proselvtus Brito, homo sanctus, Sancti Patrit'd Episcopi 
 " discipulus, Mavetus nomine, ita de nostro prophetizavit patrono, 
 " &c."
 
 369 
 
 cording to Dr. Ledwich's system, you deny to 
 have been acknowledged in Ireland before the 
 middle of the 12th century. In vain have I pro- 
 duced a chain of original documents in proof of 
 the contrary, which reach from the period you 
 have assigned, namely, the arrival' of Cardinal 
 Papario, with his four palliums, in 1152, up to 
 the very life-time of St. Patrick in the 5th cen- 
 tury* Instead of being awed by this body of 
 evidence, you reproach me with my "parade 
 "of monkish learning," and my "quotations 
 ' upon quotations from monkish writers (l)," 
 and you treat your readers with a long quotation 
 from Leland's History of Ireland, whose asserti- 
 ons upon this subject, as might be expected, ex- 
 actly chime with those of Dr. Ledwich (2.) Such 
 an authority may do very well with novel-readers 
 of the present day, who cannot distinguish be- 
 tween the dates and the authority ot Dr. Led- 
 
 (]) Pp.4. 12. 
 
 (2.) Dr. Ledwich himself is forced to admit that the Bishop of Lis- 
 more, O'Clonarchy, was the Pope's Legate in Ireland at the time 
 when Cardinal Papario arrived there, and that Gilbert, Bishop of 
 Limerick, had been received as Legate before him. N.B.I am 
 aware that there is a respect and politeness due to each other from 
 writers who are engaged in opposite and the most hostile causes. 
 Still this rule has its bounds. And as a man who had been detected 
 in the commission of any very base action, would be expelled from 
 thecompany of gentlemen ; so, when a writer stoops to threatening, 
 instead of arguing, and publishes manifest forgeries of the most mali- 
 cious tendency, (or genuine records, he can expect no better treat- 
 ment tl an to b" hunted out of the republic of letters by every mem- 
 b< r who bus the honour and interest oftiuit republic at heart.
 
 370 
 
 wich and Dr. Leland on one hand, and of Ve- 
 nerable Bede and Abbot Cummienus on the 
 other, but must expose the writer, who now ap- 
 peals to it, to the unqualified contempt of real 
 scholars. 
 
 I remain, Sir, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 J. M.
 
 371 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO T-HE REV. EDWARD RYAN, D. D. 
 
 Author of " The Analysis of Ward's Errata, 
 "and the History of the Effects of Religion, $c." 
 
 Revd. Sir, 
 
 XT is as unexpected to me as it is 
 unpleasant, to be called out to the field of con- 
 troversy on the subject of biblical criticism. 
 Those persons who have looked into my theolo- 
 gical writings, know that I have been accustom- 
 ed to adopt a shorter and more satisfactory way 
 of settling religious controversies, than that of 
 sending* each well-meaning religious inquirer to 
 hunt through his Bible, from the beginning of 
 Genesis to the end of Revelations, for each text 
 that regards, or that may be thought to re- 
 gard the subject of his inquiry; then tell- 
 ing him to compare each text with the Latin 
 Vulgate, the Greek Septuagint, and the pri- 
 mitive Hebrew, in the numberless editions and 
 manuscript copies of each of them ; and lastly, 
 advising him to consult all the huge commenta- 
 
 Bbb
 
 37$ 
 
 tors and controvertists, ancient and modern, 
 upon their discordant interpretations of the seve- 
 ral texts in question. This, Sir, you know, is 
 your method, if ydu are consistent with your- 
 self, and speak out. What I have said, in 
 
 my Letters to Dr. Sturges, as also in the fore- 
 going Letters, and on every other occasion, is to 
 the following effect : " The Bible is indeed the 
 ' word of God, and deserving of all the worship 
 " we can possibly pay it : but God never in- 
 li tended that all mankind should learn the whole 
 " of his law from a book, much less from so large 
 " a book and so mysterious a book as the Bible 
 " is, otherwise he would have told us so, and 
 " would have provided, in his wisdom and 
 " power, that all mankind should be able to 
 " procure Bibles, and should have leisure and 
 " learningsufficienttoread and study them. He no 
 " more intended that all men and children should 
 " learn the whole of their belief and practice from 
 " the books of scripture, than the British legisla- 
 " ture has intended that the bulk of the nation 
 " should learn and decide upon their civil duties 
 " from reading over the statutes at large without 
 " the help of judges or tribunals. In one word, it 
 " would obviously be better (both reason and 
 " experience prove it) to have no law at all, 
 " than a law which every individual should be 
 " at liberty to take into his own hands, and ul- 
 
 if timately to decide upon for himself. What, 
 
 " then, do I advise the religious inquirer to do ? 
 My advice is, I/car the Church ; that Church
 
 373 
 
 u which you profess in your creed to be always 
 " Holy and always Catholic, that living speaking 
 " tribunal, which has decided all religious con- 
 ' troversies that have arisen since her foundation 
 1 18 centuries ago, and which Christ, in his 
 " wisdom, has appointed to decide them, not by 
 " any new revelation that he makes to her, but 
 " by her adhering to his divine word once re- 
 " vealed and delivered to her, which she faith- 
 " fully preserves through all ages, as well in writ- 
 " ten tradition as in manuscript and printed 
 "Bibles. Think, for a moment, how you know 
 " that your Bible and each of the several books of 
 " it, (the Canticles for example, or the Revela- 
 " tions) was written by pFophet-s or apostles ? 
 " How do you know, that wlien they wrote those 
 " particular books, they were under the influ- 
 " ence of divine inspiration ? How do you know 
 " that these books have not. been corrupted or 
 " altered, during the long succession of ages and 
 " of copies and translations through which they 
 " have passed ? You have no security, you have 
 " no rational grounds whatever to decide in fa- 
 " vour of your Bible, upon any one of these 
 " points, except the authority of the Catholic 
 " Church, which you profess to behcvc in when 
 " you repeat your Creed. She says :" ' I have 
 1 preserved these books so carefully through all 
 ' ages, that while kingdoms and empires, and civil 
 ' constitutions, and the state of literature and of 
 ' society itself, have frequently been changed 
 ' around me, I am sure these books have not
 
 374 
 
 * been materially changed ; and I know them to 
 
 * have been originally revealed by tradition J rom 
 ' the apostles. But take notice : the same tradi- 
 ' tion which tells me that the scriptures are the 
 ' word of God, and that commits them to my 
 
 * care, tells me also that I am appointed to ex- 
 
 * plain all and every controversy that may arise 
 
 * among the faithful about the meaning of any 
 
 * part of them, by referring to the sense in which 
 ' my chief pastors in different ages and countries 
 
 ' have understood and do understand them.* 
 
 " Now, my good religious inquirer, will you be 
 " so inconsistent as to admit the authority of the 
 " Catholic Church when she hands down to you 
 " the Bible, and to reject it when she tells you 
 " that such and such is the meaning of certain 
 " controverted passages in it? Will you call her 
 " a faithful witness on one occasion, and a frau- 
 " dulent impostor on the other ?" 
 
 Such, Sir, being my short, simple, rational, 
 and satisfactory method of settling religious con- 
 troversies, I have never hitherto entered into the 
 boundless and craggy field of biblical criticism. 
 But since, Sir, you accuse me of having published 
 a considerable work upon this subject, Ward's 
 Errata, and of having set it forth with the Life 
 of the Author (l), and of having done this 
 
 (0 Dr. Ryan's words are these ; " It is said that Dr. Milner wrote 
 " Ward's Life, and recommended the Errata to the Popish Bi- 
 " shops, the Bishops to the clergy, and the clergy to the laity." 
 This is almost as circumstantial as Sir Richard Musgrave's account
 
 375 
 
 "for the purpose of exposing the Protestant 
 " Bible and the Protestant Clergy to ridicule and 
 " contempt (l) :" and since, upon your credit, 
 as I really believe, more than upon that of Sir 
 Ptichard Musgrave, I have been severely censur- 
 ed on this account in various magazines, reviews, 
 and parliamentary debates, you cannot be sur- 
 prised if I should ward off your attack upon me 
 in the best manner I can. 
 
 To proceed now to the substance of your 
 work : you tell us, that " It exposes Ward's 
 "book and its patrons sufficiently; that it is 
 " likely to prevent another edition of the Errata, 
 " and to remain unanswered (2).*' Now, Sir, in 
 the first place, you will see that your work is 
 answered, and that by the very person whom 
 you have dared to the contest. Secondly, it will 
 appear that, instead of exposing Ward's book and 
 its patrons, whoever they may be, you have 
 betrayed your own friends and your cause. 
 Thirdly, so far from preventing another edition 
 of the Errata, I am satisfied that your Analysis 
 
 of the matter, and is not one whit truer. I really believe the public 
 cation to have originated in the professional speculation of a very 
 honest bookseller. As far as regards myself, I asjain assert, and defy 
 contradiction, that the work was printed before I saw Ireland, or 
 knew any thing of the matter; and that, not having seen, down to 
 this moment, the Irish edition of Ward's Errata, I am at a loss to 
 know where materials could be found for writing the life of that ex- 
 traordinary man, William Ward. 
 
 (ij These words form part of the title page, 
 
 (a) Pp. 3) 4.
 
 S76 
 
 is expressly calculated to occasion one. For if 
 any controvertist on our side of the question is 
 desirous of embarking upon such an undertaking, 
 he will have nothing more to say in vindication 
 of it than what follows : " 1 here present you, 
 " intelligent and learned biblical scholar, with a 
 " third edition of Ward's Errata to the Pro- 
 " testant Bible, by way of answer to Dr. Ryan's 
 <c Analysis of that book, as he calls it. Read 
 " and compare them together, paragraph by pa- 
 '* ragraph, attending carefully to all the Doctor's 
 " confessions, apologies, explanations, and re- 
 *' marks, in favour of the version which he de- 
 " fends, but not overlooking, as he always does, 
 " the acute, learned, and important arguments 
 " and criticisms which fill every right hand page 
 " of Ward's book. After doing this, decide as 
 *' your own judgment shall direct you, which 
 " writer has the better of the cause." 
 
 To give a general outline of the controversy 
 (for it does not enter into my plan, nor could it 
 be comprised within the compass of one of these 
 Letters, to go into a minute detail of the whole of 
 it) : Ward undertakes to prove in his Errata, that 
 the different English translations of the Bible are 
 all of them, more or less, corrupt. For this pur- 
 pose he exhibits, on every left-page of his quarto 
 book a kind of Polyglot, which contains first a 
 great many texts of scripture taken from the 
 Latin Vulgate ; secondly, the corresponding 
 passages in the English Catholic translation ; of 
 which the b*t\v Testament was published by the
 
 377 
 
 Divines of Rheims in 1582, and the Old by the same 
 Divines, when re-established at Douay, in 1609. 
 Thirdly, this Polyglot contains the same passages, 
 as they are found in three different editions of the 
 English Protestant Bible, those of 1562, 1577, 
 and 1579, all which the author maintains to be 
 corrupt. Of these editions, the first is from the 
 translation begun by Tindal in 1526, and finish- 
 ed by Coverdale in 1535, as altered by Cranmer 
 and the Genevan editors ; the two latter are 
 from the version called the Bishop's Bible, which 
 appeared in 1568 (l). Lastly, the Polyglot ex- 
 hibits these texts as they stand in the last Pro- 
 testant edition which Ward seems to have seen 
 before he wrote, that of 1683, which edition is 
 given from the translation now in use, called 
 King James's Bible, first published in 1610. In 
 this last Ward shews that a great manv of the 
 former errors are corrected, but that a consider- 
 able number remain to be corrected. I men- 
 tioned before that every right hand page of 
 Ward's Errata consists of controversial criticism. 
 Such is the nature of Ward's book. 
 
 Now, Sir, what is the substance of your Ana- 
 lysis of the Errata ? It is contained in the fol- 
 lowing passage of it : " Ward constantly im- 
 " putes the errors of the first translators of 
 
 {'.) I take my account of the English Protestant translations from 
 RMiop Pretyman's Elements of Theology, vol. ii. p. i.S. and a''j 
 from Johnson's Historical Account of Engli-.li Translations. The 
 Bishop's account ol the Catholic version is not accurate-
 
 378 
 
 " our Bible to malice or design : whereas the 
 c * learned Father Simon ascribes them, in some 
 " degree, to a want of sufficient knowledge of 
 " the Hebrew and Greek languages. Gregory 
 " Martin (1) was justifiable in attempting to 
 " expose the errors or supposed errors of the 
 " English translation, which had not been cor- 
 " rected in his time. But Ward and the present 
 " Popish Clergy have not that excuse. If our 
 " English translations, which had been published 
 " in 1562, 1577, and 1579, remained incorrect 
 " till the year 1688, when Ward wrote, then 
 " would the Errata be a severe critique on those 
 *' translations. But as they were corrected in 
 *' the year 1663, his book was a libel on himself 
 *' and on those who should republish it. He ad- 
 " mits that many errors of our first versions were 
 " corrected in our present Bible agreeably to the 
 " Popish construction : and surely it was not 
 " honourable to insert these errors in his list of 
 " errata, nor decent to impute to the fourth edi- 
 " tion of a book the errors of the first three (2). 
 If this is not abandoning, and even betray- 
 ing your cause, instead of defending it, I am at 
 a loss to conceive what language can be termed 
 so. For, to say nothing of the ignorance you 
 
 (i) Gregory Martin was the person who was chiefly employed at 
 Rheims and Douay in detecting the errors of the Protestant versions, 
 and in giving the Catholic translation. Ward's remarks ate chiefly 
 borrowed from those of Martin. 
 
 (2) Analysis, p. 5.
 
 579 
 
 betray concerning the different Protestant trans- 
 lations and editions of the Bible, as if these cor- 
 responded with the dates of the copies used by 
 Ward, it seems you are willing to allow me that 
 the numerous and important errors which you 
 give up as indefensible, remained uncorrected in. 
 your Bible down to 1683, that is to say, for 
 double the time that they actually disfigured it ; 
 whereas they were reformed in King James's ver- 
 sion, published in 16*10. You see, Sir, that I am 
 not disposed to take any undue advantage of 
 your cause: but the very existence of these errors, 
 joined to the nature of them, together with the pe- 
 riod and other circumstances of their prevalence, 
 proves entirely ruinous to it, and gives a decided 
 victory to Ward over you. For, Sir, you are to 
 observe, that this author did not profess himself 
 to be a biblical critic^ whose object it was to ren- 
 der your text as correct as possible. No : he 
 wrote as a controvertist, and barely made use of 
 the corruptions in question, to prove that the 
 Reformation, so called, had been undertaken 
 and carried on upon false grounds, lie begins 
 his book with the following passage: " Our pre- 
 " tended reformers having .squared and modelled 
 " to themselves a faith contrary to the certain 
 " and direct rule of apostolical tradition, deli- 
 " vered in God's Holy Church, Mere forced to 
 ' ; have recourse to the scripture as their only juie 
 
 " of faith. But their new doctrines, so far 
 
 " iron) being contained in the holy scripture-, 
 " that they were directly opposite to it, they 
 
 C c c
 
 380 
 
 " were fain to corrupt the scripture by false 
 " and partial translations, by which they en- 
 " deavoured, right or wrong, to make those 
 " sacred volumes speak in favour of their new- 
 " invented faith and doctrine (l)." He then 
 proceeds, after certain general charges and preli- 
 minary observations, to point out in his Poly- 
 glot these corruptions, with respect to all the 
 leading points of controversy between Catholics 
 and Protestants, some of them being in the pre- 
 sent English Bible, but a great many more 
 having existed in the translations, which were 
 published and read during the early part of the 
 reformation. Now, Sir, if it be admitted, as you 
 actually admit, that Ward makes his charges 
 good, though it be only with respect to those 
 early versions, he clearly gains his cause, and it 
 is to no purpose for you to exclaim as you do : 
 " the errors of our first versions have been cor*. 
 " rected in our present Bible, agreeably to the 
 " Popish construction (2).' 1 For he fails not by 
 anticipation to answer you : "The change was 
 "made too late to answer your purpose. The 
 , * people were deceived by a vast number of cor- 
 " ruptions in the sacred texts, during the reigns 
 " of Henry VIII. Edward VI. and Elizabeth, 
 " till they had in general renounced the ancient 
 " faith and embraced your new system. And 
 
 (i) English edition of 1737, p. 17.
 
 381 
 
 " when this was effected, and the growing sect of 
 " Puritans began to turn these corruptions 
 " against you, particularly at the famous con- 
 " ference of Hampton Court, in the beginning 
 " of the first James's reign, at last you thought 
 " proper to correct them.'* 
 
 But I perceive it will be necessary to give you 
 two or three specimens of Ward's objections, 
 and of your answers to them, in order to shew 
 how completely you yield the victory to him, 
 As no arguments seem more efficacious for 
 inducing the people to abandon the ancient 
 Church, than to persuade them that the crosses 
 and images of Jesus Christ and his saints, with 
 which Catholics adorn their churches and houses, 
 correspond with the idols of paganism, and that 
 the relative honour ( 1 ) which we pay to these 
 
 (i) This is still too potent a weapon in the hands of bigoted or 
 unprincipled preachers and controversial writers, for them honestly 
 te forego the use of it. Accordingly, they persist in telling us to our 
 faces, that we do not understand our own theologians, our own 
 prayers, and our own catechisms; in short, that we are idolaters; 
 notwithstanding we cheerfully repeat to them the anathemas printed 
 in the last page of Ward's Errata ; "Cursed is he who commits 
 *' idolatry, who prays to images or relics, or worships them for 
 *' God." They persist in it, that if I kiss the representation of my 
 crucified Saviour, I pay divine homage to the materials of which it is 
 composed ; but that if they kiss the book of the gospels, or uncover 
 their heads to King William's statue, or bow to his Majesty's empty 
 throne, (as peers are accustomed to do) the honour and worship 
 pass from the material representation to the thing represented. But 
 if the Dublin Doctors and the Bampton Lecturers are bent upon 
 " leading people by the nose, in making them believe that C'atho- 
 " Yks are idolaters, when they are not," as the learned Dr. Monta- 
 
 C c c ( :
 
 382 
 
 sacred memorials, corresponds with the idolatry 
 paid by the heathen nations to those idols of false 
 gods, so the first Protestant translators of the 
 Bible took care, wherever the words Idols and 
 Idolaters occur in the text, to translate them 
 Images, and the JVorshippei s of Images. This is 
 what Ward charges them with in the several 
 passages which he produces upon this subject, as 
 also with the iconoclasm of destroying all crosses, 
 pious images, and pictures throughout the land, 
 in order to favour such an idea. To this you 
 answer : " Our opponents charge us with mis- 
 " construing twelve texts, for the purpose of 
 " proving Catholics guilty of idolatry. But six 
 " of the twelve being corrected in our Bible, 
 " ought to have been left out." Now what is 
 this, Sir, but confirming Ward's objection, 
 instead of refuting it ! And what is now the 
 
 gue. Bishop of Chichester, reproached the bigots fof his time, let 
 them first prove that we have renounced our General Councils, and 
 that we teach our flocks, in private, a different doctrine from that 
 which we inculcate in our public catechisms. The second Council 
 ofNice,which was held on the subject of images, says: "The faithful 
 *' kiss and respect pious images, but do not pay to them the divine 
 *' worship which, according to faith, is due to God alone." Act vii. 
 The Council of Trent defines that " There is not any divinity or vir- 
 " tue in the images of Christ and his saints, for which they are to be 
 *' worshipped, and that nothing is to be asked of them, nor hopes to 
 " be placed in them, as, in times past, the pagans put their trust in 
 " idols." Stss. xxv. The General Catholic Catechism teaches 
 that " the crucifixes and the pictures of Christ and his saints are to be 
 '* respected, as representations and memorials of them, but that 
 *' they have no life, nor sense, nor power to hear or help us," 
 p. 26.
 
 383 
 
 material part of the defence which you set up in 
 favour of the misconstructions which Ward 
 maintains still disfigure the English Bible ? 
 You claim, in the words of Simon, " a certain 
 "latitude in favour of translators (l) ;" and 
 you carry this latitude so far as to allow thein 
 even to foist into their English version the word 
 Image in two several passages, in which, by your 
 own acknowledgment, it does not occur in the 
 original Greek (2). 
 
 In like manner, Ward says that, in order to 
 lessen the authority of the Catholic Church in 
 the minds of those who had been accustomed to 
 look up to her as the interpreter of God's word, 
 and the heiress of the promises of Christ, the 
 first reformers uniformly omitted the word Church 
 where the corresponding word occurs in the 
 original, and substituted the word Congregation, 
 which they then generally applied to their respec- 
 tive associations, instead of it (3). He produces 
 seven instances of this corruption in the early 
 translations and editions of the New Testament. 
 Let us hear what you say on the subject : 
 " Ward produces seven texts to shew that we 
 " mistranslated our 13ible, for the purpose of in- 
 
 to P. =s- 
 
 (2) Rom. chap. xi. ver. 4. Acts chap, xiw vcr. 35. 
 
 (3) Ward says, that for the same reason they left out the word 
 Cat/u>/k, at the he. -id of the Epistles of St. James, St. Peter, &c. 
 using the word d m red insteiid of it. ^ir Thomas More has a long 
 dis-ertntion jiuainsl his contemporary Tindal, for substituting CW> 
 g/ ( . atiou for C'//ii, 1 '(. See his woi ks.
 
 384 
 
 "juringthe credit of his church, and to excuse 
 " our apostacy from it. But the former mis- 
 " translations of these seven texts having been 
 "corrected in our' present Bible, should have 
 " been excluded fropi his catalogue of Er- 
 "rata(l)." True, you did correct it, Ward 
 says, " but not till you had grown up to some* 
 <l thing like a church, &c. and began to censure 
 *' and excommunicate your dissenting bre- 
 *' thren (2)." Again you say : " Ward pro- 
 *' duces eight texts, in which he accuses us of 
 " misconstruing against the Sacrament and the 
 " Mass. But five of the eight having been cor- 
 c< rected in our version, agreeably to his own, 
 <: should have been excluded from his book, and 
 <{ the other three have no relation to the Sacra- 
 
 " menr, even in his own translation (3)." 
 
 " Ward produces six texts, which charge us 
 " with new translations in defence of the suffi- 
 " ciency of faith alone to salvation, without 
 " the aid of works. He ought to have excluded 
 *' from his columns four of the six texts which 
 
 (i) The eighth corruption complained of by Ward does not con- 
 sist in foisting the word but into the text ; " My Dove is but one j" 
 as Dr. R. pretends, but in changing the word one (so favourable to 
 the Church's Unity) into the word alone, as it stood in all the an- 
 cient Protestant versions, " My Dove is alone." 
 
 (2) See Ward's Preface, p. 12. Engl. Edit. / 
 
 (3) The intelligent reader who will consult the notes of Ward 
 himself upon these three texts, will be of a very different opinion 
 from Dr. Ryan concerning them. With respect to the first of them, 
 "Be/a himself confesses that he translated it in the manner he has 
 tfone, in order to favour the Protestant system.
 
 "have been corrected/' Really, Sir, consi- 
 dering the scope of Ward's treatise, the reader 
 would be led to suppose that you had written in 
 concert with him. Most certainly your triumph 
 over him, and over me, as his supposed editor, 
 is exceedingly misplaced ; and I repeat it again, 
 if any thing is likely to occasion another edition 
 of Ward's book, it is your Analysis of it. As 
 my business is with you, rather than with the 
 Protestant Bible, I shall say nothing of the er- 
 rors which, in my opinion, still disfigure it. 
 Aiany of those, which you call trivial, in my 
 cyts, are important (l). Indeed, every thing 
 
 (i) For example, it is not of slight importance towards settling 
 the dispute concerning the possibility of leading a continent life, 
 whether we read, i Cor. vii. 9, "If they do not contain, 1 ' according 
 10 our translation and according to the Greek, as well as the Vulgate, 
 St 5f OVA ey/.^rivovrui : or whether we read : " If they cannot 
 " contain^ as it stands in the common English Testament. I'oc 
 the very same reason the text of St. Matt. xix. n. O'J %XVT; 
 %k$ovsi rev hoyov rourov, is faithfully translated in our Rheims 
 Testament : " Ail men do not receive this saying ;" and unfaithfully 
 in the common Testament : " All men cannot receive this saying." 
 I cannot help noticing another corruption in the common English 
 Testament, which, though small to the eye, is great as to the sense, 
 i;i as much as it spoils a scriptural argument in favour of the Catho. 
 Jic doctrine concerning the body and blood of Christ being both 
 received under either kind. The Creek, text is : ug.TS c; uv e;t)iy\ 
 t;v uptcj tcvtcv, v, Wi/tf to zortyov tou 'AVftov dvx^iug, 
 -<o%cg ;tzi tou gifxazog v.xi r;u cu;j.urcg rov y.Vfi'ov, 
 1 Cor. xi. 27. " Wherefore whosoever ohull eat this bread, or drink 
 " the c.ip of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and 
 " blond of tin: Enid." Instead of this our faithful version, the Com- 
 mon T-stanii':il mo-t unfaith fully translates the pa<sag<; : " Whoso- 
 " ever ;ru>] cat this br?ad and drink this cup shall be guiltv, Sec"
 
 386 
 
 is important tliat regards the purity of God's 
 word. 
 
 I give you credit, Sir, for the great merit which 
 you ascribe to our Latin Vulgate and to our 
 English Catholic translation of it by the Divines 
 of liheims and Douay. I cannot, however, ad- 
 mit that the Council of Trent, or the Divines just 
 mentioned, have set too high a value on the 
 former. The fact is, our Church being under 
 the necessity of pointing out to her children an 
 authentic, unadulterated text of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, recommends that which she has always 
 had under her own eye and in constant use, 
 namely the Vulgate, without saying an}' thing 
 of the other texts, which do not possess the same 
 honour and advantage. The question is not 
 between a version and an original in ordinary 
 circumstances : but here is a version which was 
 partly made and partly corrected by the first 
 biblical scholar, and one of the greatest and 
 most holy men who ever lived, St. Jerom (l), 
 in consequence of an order from Pope Damasus, 
 under the eye of the great St. Augustine, and of 
 that constellation of illustrious Doctors who 
 adorned the Church at the beginning of the fifth 
 century : a version which was made when the 
 best and \mr cat copies of the Hebrew, Chaldaic, 
 Greek, and Latin, together with the Polyglots of 
 
 (i) This Father corrected the old Latin version of the New Tes. 
 tamcnt, from the Greek aud translated the Old from the Hebrew.
 
 387 
 
 Origen, &c. were to be had : finally, a version 
 which has been constantly in the hands of the 
 Western Church in all its extent, during fifteen 
 centuries, and which, in the mean time, has been 
 transcribed a million of times. Hence no material 
 error could creep into the whole, or even into any 
 great number of copies of it (l). On the other 
 hand, the Hebrew and Greek originals having 
 been during many ages chiefly in the hands of 
 wandering Jews and divided oppressed Asiatics, 
 the Church cannot answer for what changes 
 they may have undergone. 
 
 With respect to our Rheims and Douay trans- 
 lators of the Vulgate, they were men who had 
 given proof of their integrity by their conduct, 
 and who, before they quitted England to pre- 
 serve their religion, were the brightest ornaments 
 of its chief university. Consult the learned 
 Historian of Oxford, Anthony Wood (2), for 
 the characters of Dr. Allen, Dr. Win, Reynolds, 
 Dr. Bristow, and Dr. Gregory Martin. It was 
 the last mentioned divine who had the greatest 
 share in the important work; " a most excel- 
 " lent linguist," says Wood, " exactly read and 
 " versed in the sacred scriptures, who went be- 
 " fore all of his time in human literature, whe- 
 
 (t) Slight verbal errors of copyists and printers must have found_ 
 olace in every copy ami edition ; but it has been the care o! the se-^ 
 v -r.ti succeeding Popes to have these corrected as much as possible. 
 
 i ;; Athenae O\on. 
 
 I ) d d
 
 388 
 
 " ther in poetry or prose (l)." I cannot, in my 
 opinion, bestow a higher praise on the transla- 
 tion itself, than by quoting the only objection 
 that I have ever heard made to it. I give this 
 objection in the words of a learned Protestant 
 Prelate. He says : " It retains so many Eastern, 
 " Greek, and Latin words, as to be unintelligible 
 "to a common reader (2)." Making due al- 
 lowance for the exaggeration, this is saying 
 no more than that the translators were too scru- 
 pulous in sticking to their original : which, 
 if it be a fault, is a fault on the right side, being 
 quite the reverse of that which you allow your 
 Tindal and Coverdale, and Mathew and Cran- 
 mer to have been guilty of. This is the version 
 which, under the names of the Douay Bible and 
 Rheims Testament, is now upon sale in folio, 
 quarto, and octavo sizes, by the chief Catholic 
 booksellers in Dublin, Cork, London, and Edin- 
 burgh (3). It is true, the language of it, which 
 in many places was become obsolete, has been 
 
 (i) The above-mentioned learned biographer gives an extract 
 from a public Oration which was delivered to the Duke of Norfolk 
 upon his visiting Oxford, concerning the celebrated Martin, who 
 then resided wiih the Duke, in which the orator says : " Habes, 
 *' Ulustrissime Dux, Hebraeum nostrum, Graecum nostrum, 
 " poetam nostrum, decus et gloriam uostram." 
 
 (a) Bishop Pretyman's Elem. Theolog. vol. ii. p. j6. 
 
 (3) Such being avowedly our English Catholic Bible, no wonder 
 that at a general meeting held at Cork for purchasing Bibles and dis- 
 tributing them amongst the poor, a Rt. Reverend friend of mine 
 moved that the Bibles to be so distributed should be of the Catholic 
 version.
 
 389 
 
 modernized and amended, but without any es- 
 sential alterations, by the late learned and pious 
 Dr. Challoner, Bishop of Debra, and Vicar 
 Apostolic (1). 
 
 I cannot bestow the same praise of candour 
 upon you, where you assert that Ward "falsely 
 u accuses Luther and other foreign reformers 
 " with reviling the sacred text, and making God 
 "the author of sin (2)." For surely you will 
 not deny that the above-mentioned father of the 
 reformation has, for example, called St. James's 
 Epistle (because this apostle insists upon the 
 necessity of good works, " an inflated and 
 "chaffy (straminosa) epistle (3);" that he has 
 claimed the right of altering the inspired text 
 according to his own pleasure (4) ; and that he has 
 
 (i) A few years ago a literary adventurer, Dr. Geddes, undertook 
 to furnish the Catholics with a new translation of the Scriptures, and 
 actually published some volumes of one. He was considered by the 
 public as a Catholic, because he had formerly been one, and be- 
 cause he was too much encouraged by certain Catholics. But the 
 man was not even a Christian, as appears by the profane liberty with 
 which he treats and speaks of the sacred text. This learned Scotch- 
 man was certainly a man of first rate abilities, nevertheless he proved 
 himself to be greatly deficient in that critical knowledge and exqui- 
 site taste with respect to our language, which are so essentially requi- 
 site in an English translation of the Bible. His volumes are now 
 upon sale as waste paper. 
 
 () P. 4- 
 
 (3) See Luther's Preface in Ep. Jacob, in the original Jena edi- 
 tion. See also the manner in which he speaks of the same epistle 
 concerning Extreme Unction. Ue Captiv. Babyl. 
 
 (4) Luther having been reproached by the Catholics with adding 
 the word u/uni after faith in his German translation of Rom. iii. 28. 
 " We conclude that a man is justified by faith (alone) without the 
 " deeds of the law ;" thus vindicates his scandalous corruption 01 
 
 i) d d 2
 
 390 
 
 written a whole book, De Servo Arbitrio, in 
 which be maintains against Erasmus, that " free- 
 " will is a vain title ; that God works the evil 
 " in us as well as the good ;" and that 
 " God necessarily, by his own free will, renders 
 " us worthy of damnation ;" adding that be 
 " said these things, not by way of discussing 
 " them, but of deciding upon them, not meaning 
 " to subject them to the judgment of any one, 
 " but exhorting all the world to submit to 
 "them (!)." It is needless to prove that Cal- 
 vin, Beza, &c. taught the same impieties.-^ 
 I must complain of a still greater deficiency of 
 candour in you, where, speaking of these foreign 
 reformers, you say : "If these men, educated in 
 " the Popish Church, committed errors or ex- 
 " cesses, they are imputable to that Church(2)." 
 ^ What, Sir, am I answerable for all that the 
 new privy counsellor, Dr. D. has ever said and 
 done, because he was once a Catholic, and used 
 to serve at mass ? And are the impieties of 
 Hobbes and Tindal imputable to you, because 
 they were the sons of English ministers, and 
 educated Protestants? 
 
 the text-. " Sic volo, sicjubeo ; sit pro ratione voluntas. Lutherus 
 " itavult, et ait se esse Doctorem, super omnes Dociores in toto 
 " Papatu. " P ropterea debet (vox sola) in meo Novo Testa- 
 
 *' mentomanere, etiamsi omnes Pap-asini ad insaniam redigantur. 
 
 " Pcenitet me quod non addiderim et illas duas voces omnibus 
 
 et omnium (sine omnibus operibus omnium legum.") Lutheri 
 Opera Germ. torn. v. It would be useless after this to give oilier 
 instances of Luther's corruptions of the Scripture. 
 (0 De Servo Arbitr.
 
 391 
 
 It were easy to shew, that the answers which 
 you profess to give at the end of your book, ta 
 certain queries which Ward proposes, seldom ap 
 ply to them, and that frequently you are seen 
 not so much as to understand the matter which 
 you treat of. But this would draw out my letter 
 to an unseasonable length. I cannot, however,, 
 refrain from giving one curious instance of the 
 former kind ; namely, where ^the answer does 
 not at all apply to the question. Ward asks, in 
 his 7th Query : " Is not the Bishop of Rome th 
 " chief Patriarch of the western worlds a nd con- 
 " sequently of England }" To this you reply: 
 " Formerly he was ; and in one instance acted, as 
 " a friend to England, by a flagrant act of injus- 
 " tice to the Irish nation. Adrian IV. granted 
 " Ireland to King Henry II. as if the island be- 
 " longed to his Holiness, and not to the natives. 
 " The Ryans lost an extensive territory at that 
 ' time ; and yet most of them have been so in* 
 " fatuated as to continue ever since attached to 
 " the Popes, &c. (1)'' You then go on to rail 
 at other Popes, but never once attempt to an- 
 swer Ward's query : " Whether the Bishop of 
 " Rome is Patriarch of the western world, and 
 " consequently of England ?" To consider, 
 however, what you have said : Are we, Sir, 
 then, to understand you, that, supposing the 
 Ryans had lost an extensive property in conse- 
 quence of the unjust grant of Adrian IV. which 
 
 (i) P. s s.
 
 you know was not the case, would it have been 
 right in them to abandon the Church of which he 
 was the head, by way of revenging themselves 
 upon him ? And are we to suppose that you have 
 lenounced the faith of your ancestors and family 
 from any such resentment, or by way of indem- 
 nifying yourself for your loss of patrimony ? Thus 
 much is certain, that all the proselytes made from 
 our communion, are made by the Established 
 Church. We never hear of a Catholic becoming 
 a Presbyterian, an Anabaptist, a Quaker, or even 
 a Methodist. The fact is striking, and I think 
 that Dr. Duigenan, Dean Kirwan, Dr. O. B. 
 and several others whom I could name, are ca- 
 pable of explaining it. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, 
 
 Rev. Sir, your obedt. Servt* 
 
 J.M. 
 
 Wolverhampton, Dec. 1, 1808.
 
 393 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 TO THE REV. THOS. ELRItfGTON, D. D. 
 
 Late Senior Felloxv of Trinity College, Dublin: 
 
 Rev. Sir, 
 
 U NTIL the present day, I 
 had been for some time past resolved, and in- 
 deed prepared to send you a detailed answer to 
 your late work, entitled : " The Clergy of the 
 " Church of England truly ordained, and not 
 " obliged to subscribe to damnable contradic- 
 " tions, in answer to Ward's Controversy of 
 "Ordination, 1 ' the rough draft of which reply 
 is now lying before me; and though, Sir, lam 
 sensible of the advantage I hereby give you, in 
 the possible event of a serious debate between us 
 on the subject in question, I am resolved to lay 
 before you an outline of the answer which I in- 
 tended to make to you. 
 
 I begin my treatise, Sir, with stating my mo- 
 tive for replying to vou; namely, your implied 
 attack upon me ; for you expressly say : " I wish 
 " tube understood, whenever I name Mr. Ward,
 
 394 
 
 " to mean the person who has adopted and pub- 
 " lished his book, and, by so doing, made himself 
 " responsible for it, as if he had really been the 
 " author of it, and had written it at the present 
 "time(l)." Now, as it is publicly known 
 that I have constantly been charged with being 
 the publisher of that book, and as this charge 
 has been brought against no one else but me, it is 
 plain that your very severe blows are aimed at 
 me. I then demonstrate the egregious mistake 
 you are'under in this particular, as also in sup- 
 posing my episcopal brethren to have been en- 
 couragers of the obnoxious work. In a word, 
 Sir, I prove you to be a literary Quixote, who 
 fancy yourself combating with a host of gigan- 
 tic foes, whilst you are only tilting at the puny 
 speculation of a bookseller ! 
 
 In the next place, I disclaim the attempt of 
 diving into all this long and intricate contro- 
 versy, because, on one hand, it is of a nature so 
 peculiarly irritating to the Clergy of the Estab- 
 lished Church, and because, on the other, it is of 
 no sort of consequence to the defence or truth of 
 my own Church ; on the contrary, I profess to 
 content myself with barely refuting the arguments 
 of Dr. Elrington, and with shewing that he, like 
 Br. Ryan, injures the cause which he undertakes 
 to support. 1 begin by proving that he in- 
 jures it at his very outset ; since of the four al- 
 ledged Catholic authors whom he appeals to as 
 favourable to his cause (2), two of them were 
 
 (0 Note p. 7. (2) P. 3, &c.
 
 395 
 
 excommunicated for their errors, the third was 
 only saved from this censure on the same account 
 through the interference of a great King, and 
 the fourth, Bossuet, speaks of the orders of the 
 Church of England in such opprohrious terms, 
 that I should feel greater repugnance in publish- 
 ing his words, than all the rest of my treatise put 
 together. 
 
 I then demonstrate that Dr. Elrington does 
 still greater injustice to his cause, by the too ex- 
 tended ground upon which he places it ; and 
 here I shew my candour to him, as I did before 
 to Dr. Ryan, by refusing to take advantage of an 
 important concession which he improperly makes 
 
 to me. The first question, in order to decide 
 
 upon the invalidity of the English Ordinations, 
 is, whether Mathew Parker, the first Protestant 
 Archbishop of Canterbury in Queen Elizabeth's 
 reign, was duly consecrated ? The Lambeth 
 Register (which Ward pretends is a forgery) 
 mentions three Bishops (besides a suffragan) 
 as assisting at his consecration, Barlow, Seory, 
 and Coverdale. The next question, then, is, 
 whether these men themselves had received epis- 
 copal consecration ? It answered Ward's pur- 
 pose, in diiferent* respects, to depreciate these 
 apostate friars (l) as much as was in his power, 
 
 i Coverdale and Seory were apostate friars, and Barlow an 
 apostate monk.. They all three abjured their vows of chastity and 
 religion to follow the liberty of the new gopH. 15nt the two latter 
 abandoned it and returned to their ancient faith in Mary's time, 
 which they again abjured under Kliiabcth. Coverdale krj't bini>_r. 
 iLroad during that time. 
 
 E C C
 
 396 
 
 and to deny that any one of the three had been 
 consecrated. Nevertheless, layman as he was, 
 he knew too much of theology, to assert that 
 a defect in the orders of the assistant Prelates, 
 Scory and Coverdale, M*ould have invalidated 
 the consecration of Parker, provided only the 
 Consecrating Prelate, Barlow, had himself been 
 consecrated (l), and that he used the propel* 
 form for that purpose. Accordingly, he speaks 
 of Barlow as of a man " who had been imposed 
 * upon the nation for such a Bishop, that on him 
 "must be built, as on a foundation, the whole 
 " Episcopacy and Priesthood of the Church of 
 " England (2)." Now Dr. Elrington, as I shew, 
 very unwarily, as well as very untheologically, ad- 
 mits, that " if Ward could prove that Scory and 
 " Coverdale- (in addition to Barlow) were not truly 
 " Bishops, it would then follow that Parker also 
 11 was not a Bishop, and the succession of the Ens:- 
 " lish Clergy would be destroyed (3)." It ishere to 
 be observed, that Ward has adduced some very 
 strong documents, though not so many as he might 
 have done, against the consecration of Scory and 
 
 (i) It is true, the ancient as well as the modem canons prescribe 
 that three Bishops should be present at a consecration. But this is 
 barely a precept, not an essential condition. It appears by the form 
 used in the Church of England, as well as in the Catholic Church, 
 that only one Prelate is considered as the consecrator. 
 
 CO P. 15. 
 
 (3) *> 3.
 
 397 
 
 Coverdale, arguments which Dr. E. is far from 
 having answered in a satisfactory way. 
 
 Having enlarged upon this capital bluncfcr of 
 Dr. Elrington, I proceed to the grand inquiry : 
 whether Barlow, who is named as the consecrat- 
 ing Bishop of Mathew Parker, is proved by 
 Ward's antagonist to have himself received epis- 
 copal consecration. Ward argues, and it is ad- 
 mitted on all hands, that though special mention 
 is made in the registers of Barlow's appointment 
 to the See of St. David's in the year 1535, and 
 of his confirmation in it by Archbishop Cranmer, 
 there is no hint of the important circumstance of 
 his consecration. Now this defect Dr. E. en- 
 deavours to supply by a number of presumptive 
 proofs, which of course I am put upon examin- 
 ing. I shew, then, that this gentleman is under 
 an egregious mistake in supposing that Barlow's 
 ranking as a Bishop, and being admitted as such 
 to the bench of Bishops in Parliament and in 
 synods, and his being translated to other sees, 
 and even being present, as an assisting prelate, 
 at the consecration of other bishops, are any 
 proof's of his having been consecrated himself. 
 Arguing on this head from canon law and eccle- 
 siastical history, I shew that it is episcopal con- 
 firmation alone which gives the Prelate authority 
 to govern his diocese, and which properly makes 
 him the Bishop of it, together with every right, 
 privilege, and power belonging to a Bishop, ex- 
 cept the power of conferring orders and confirm- 
 ing children, even though he never should he 
 E e e %
 
 398 
 
 consecrated at all : whereas if he were even con- 
 secrated for a diocese> without being confirmed 
 for it, he would have no right, privilege, or 
 power in it whatever. In this manner I repress 
 the empty triumph of Dr. E. over poor Ward. 
 In like manner I shew that the act of parliament 
 under Henry VIII. which the Doctor refers to, 
 adds no weight to his opinion, as it was made to re- 
 strain the power of the Pope, not that of the King ; 
 that Barlow himself, so far from making any ac- 
 count of consecration, publicly preached (which 
 he could have no reason for doing, unless to ex- 
 cuse his own want of consecration) " that if the 
 " King's Grace, being Supreme Head of the 
 " Church, did denominate any lay man to be 
 " a Bishop, he would be as good a Bishop as 
 u himself, or the best in England :" moreover, 
 that his metropolitan Cranmer, whose business it 
 "was, according to the canons, to enforce Bar- 
 low's consecration within three months from his 
 appointment, taught and subscribed, in records 
 which I refer to, the same anti-episcopal doc- 
 trine which Barlow preached, and that he and 
 most of his time-serving brethren acted upon this 
 principle, when they petitioned the child Ed- 
 ward VI. for a renewal of their episcopal powers, 
 on the scandalous plea that they had terminated 
 with the life of Henry VIII. which powers they 
 "were content to receive and hold like a civil of- 
 fice, "Durante bene placito ;"* and " Quamdiu 
 " se benegesserint." 
 Such being the prevailing-low-church notions
 
 399 
 
 of the prelates themselves about Consecration 
 and Apostolical Succession, in conformity with 
 those of the foreign Protestants (l) at the be* 
 ginning of the reformation, it might seem use- 
 less to take notice of the concessions of the early 
 Protestant writers of this country, or the re- 
 proaches of their contemporary Catholic antago- 
 nists on the subject ; nevertheless, as Dr. E. is 
 so extremely warm, and even violent in his lan- 
 guage against Ward concerning it, I go through 
 both these chapters, and I shew that, so far from 
 disarming the latter, he puts new weapons into 
 his hands, or the hands of those who choose to 
 
 fight his battles. In conclusion, being foiled 
 
 in all his attempts to answer Ward's objections on 
 the subject of Barlow's ordination, (themain hinge, 
 as I observed, on which that of Parker turns) the 
 Doctor has recourse to retorsion, and addressing 
 himself to Ward's supposed publisher, that is to 
 me, he indignantly asks me, whether I do not know 
 that twelve other Bishops, whom he names, labour 
 under the same disadvantage that Barlow does, 
 in having no register of their consecration ? (C) 
 This challenge, of course, puts me upon investi- 
 
 (i; The Catholic Bishop ofNaumberg being dead, Luther, a pri- 
 vate- monk, consecrated his own pot companion, Nicholas Amsdorf, 
 to succeed him. Sleidan, Comment. 1. 14. This Amsdorf targh? 
 that " good works, so far from being a help, were an impediment 
 " to salvation." Mosheim's Etc!. Hist, by Maclaine, vol. iv. 
 y. .:,;. 
 
 1 2 1 One of these prelates was the mild nndedif/'.ng Cardinal Pole, 
 ton-x-niicg v. ho'-e register ot consecration, as well as his conduct, lilt-
 
 400 
 
 gating the matter ; the result of which is a 
 discovery, that of the twelve Bishops whom he 
 
 monstrate that Dr. Elrington is guilty of the most inexcusable misre- 
 presentation. Two instances of this, namely, that the Cardinal "made 
 * the See of Canterbury vacant by the murder of Cranmer," and that 
 *' he took possession ofitanthe first Sunday after that mirder,'* 
 p. 106, 1 refute by the arguments of the learned Anthony Harmer 
 (Henry Wharton, Chaplain to Archbishop Sancroft) in his " Spe- 
 " cimen of Errors in Burnet's History of the Reformation." This 
 author shews that Cranmer was dead in the eye of the statute and 
 canon law of England, and therefore no longer in possession of the 
 archbishopric, upon his being attainted of high treason against 
 Mary and Elizabeth, the two daughters of his benefactor Henry 
 VIII. in favour of Jane Grey, two years and a half before his exe- 
 cution : and that soon after his condemnation he became equally 
 dead in the eye of the Catholic canon law, in consequence of his 
 being deposed and excommunicated by the Pope: so that his natu- 
 ral life was not the smallest obstacle to the advancement of the 
 Cardinal, or of any other person to the archbishopric. Accord- 
 ingly, the latter was chosen and confirmed Archbishop, and put in 
 full possession of all the spiritualities and temporalities belonging 
 to the see long before Cranmer's death. Nevertheless, it so happen- 
 ed from different causes, that he could not be ordained priest, and of 
 course could not be consecrated till about the time of Cranmer'* 
 death. If Ward or I had committed any such egregious blunders, 
 though with no malicious intention, Dr. E. would have exclaimed 
 in his usual style and with a note of admiration : Proh Pudov ! 
 How averse the Cardinal was from those horrid scenes of blood 
 which disgraced the latter part of Mary's reign all historians testify. 
 And how gladly he would have saved Cranmer's life, at the expense 
 of all the honours and emoluments of the archbishopric, which he 
 was then in possession of, is seen in his humane and edifying letter 
 to th?t unhappy time-serving prelate, of which the following is an 
 extract ; " Si te ab horribili ilia, quse tibi, nisi resipiscas, impendit 
 *' (non solum corporis sed etiam animae) mortis sentent'ia, ullo modo 
 * liberare possem, id profecto omnibus divitiis atque honoribus, 
 * Deum testor, libentiss'ime anteponerem." Inter Epist. Poli. 
 [low different a disposition Cranmer himself evinced whilst 
 lie was in power, by the crowds of victims (and those mo&tly Pro- 
 testants, and for being Protestants) whom he sent to the fire, 1 have 
 shewn in my Letters to a Prebendary, See Letter v. p. 175, 
 4th edit.
 
 401 
 
 sets down as unregistered, two of them never 
 existed in the sees for which he names them ; 
 and with respect to the remaining ten, I produce 
 the consecration registers of them all except one, 
 Avho, as I give reason to believe, was consecrated 
 at Rome. 
 
 But beside the question relative to Barlow's be- 
 ing a consecrated Bishop, there is another grand 
 question, as you know, Sir, relating to the va- 
 lidity of the form which he must have made use 
 of on the occasion in question ; or rather, of the 
 forms in general which were universally used by 
 the Established Church, as well in the ordination 
 of Priests as in the consecration of Bishops, 
 down to the year \66, when these forms were 
 altered. The subject is delicate, and therefore I 
 shall touch it very slightly and briefly. What 
 Ward maintains, arguing the point from reason 
 and authority, is in substance this. In conferr- 
 ing the peculiar office and power annexed to each 
 holy order, it is essential that a form should be 
 used by the Prelate. consecrating or ordaining, 
 expressive of the peculiar office and power in- 
 tended to be conferred : whereas he says, the 
 form of consecrating Bishops (l), as it stands 
 in the old Ritual, composed by Cranmer, is just 
 as proper for the ceremony of confirming, or lay- 
 
 i) The following is the ancient form devised by Cranmer. The 
 Archbishop says to the prrlate elect : " Take the Holy Ghost, and 
 " remember that thou stir up the prace of God which is in thre 
 " by the imposition of hands: for (j<kI hath not giveu us the 
 " spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and soberness."
 
 402 
 
 ing hands upon children (i), as it is for con- 
 ferring the powers of the Episcopacy. He like- 
 wise argues that the form of ordaining Priests is 
 equally defective. To this ohjection Dr. El- 
 rington makes different answers : he says that 
 the mere circumstances of this man being pre- 
 sented for Priesthood and that for Episcopacy, 
 &c. sufficiently determine the power which each 
 candidate receives from the officiating Prelate. 
 To this I reply : then no form whatever is neces- 
 sary in giving orders, but the whole may be per- 
 formed by dumb shew. Speaking of the Priest- 
 hood in particular, the Doctor asserts that it is 
 and ever was conferred in his Church by the 
 self-same form (Receive the Holy Ghost : whose 
 sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven, &c.) by 
 which it \s conferred in ours : and then address- 
 ing me, he indignantly asks : " Will Mr. Ward's 
 " editor call the validity of the orders conferred 
 " in the Church of Rome in question (2)." This 
 challenge I answer in my detailed letter, (of 
 which I am here giving a rough outline) by a 
 
 (0 In cutting down the Catholic Missal, Breviary, Ritual, and 
 Pontifical into theBook of Common Prayer, and that of making and 
 consecrating Bishops, Priests, &c. as well as in framing the Arti- 
 cles, it is plain that Cranmer and his fellow labourers were divided 
 between the fear of theobjections of the Catholics on one hand, and 
 that of incurring the censure of John Calvin, who continued for a 
 long time to dictate to them from Geneva, on the other. See Fox'* 
 Acts and Monuments. In no instance does Cranmer's spirit of Pres- 
 byteriauism appear bo plain, as in his form of consecrating Bishops. 
 
 '--} P. 22.
 
 403 
 
 dissertation on the essential constituent power 
 of Priesthood, which I prove, from Scripture, 
 the holy Fathers, the Canons, and the Rituals 
 of all Christian Churches, in the East and in the 
 West, from the time of the Apostles down to 
 tnat of the Reformation, and from the sentiments 
 and practice of God's servants, since the be- 
 ginning of the world, consists in the power of 
 offering up sacrifice. Hence, though you and I 
 should both agree that your form conveys the 
 power of forgiving and retaining sins, Ward in- 
 timates that it is still essentially defective, in as 
 much as it neither confers nor is intended to con- 
 fer the power of sacrificing. It is true, the Doc- 
 tor appeals to some ancient liturgies and modern 
 divines against Ward's argument concerning the 
 necessity of appropriate forms of conferring or- 
 ders. But here also I meet him in an ample dis- 
 cussion of the ancient Canons, Sacramentaries, 
 and Treatises on this subject, from the Aposto- 
 lical Constitutions down to the passage inserted 
 by him from Bossuet ; which very passage, with- 
 out quoting his other very harsh and offensive 
 words, I shew makes against the Doctor instead 
 of making for him. 
 
 In conclusion, Ward asks in substance this 
 question ; (for studying, as I do, perspicuity and 
 brevity, I take his meaning rather than his 
 words) : " In case Cranmer's old indeterminate 
 " forms of ordination and consecration were va- 
 " lid and sufficient, what occasion was there for 
 <c changing them to a more determinate form in 
 Fff
 
 404 
 
 " 1662 ? (1) Here Dr. Elrington finds himself 
 quite embarrassed, and is unable to give any 
 better answer than the following : " Two forms 
 ** may be sufficient and valid, and yet one may 
 " be preferable to the other (2)." Had he been 
 acquainted with the circumstances of the case, 
 his embarrassment would have been much 
 greater. These I will mention, without making 
 any comment upon or drawing any conclusion 
 from them. The celebrated Chillingworth had an 
 intimate friend, as persons acquainted with his 
 history know, the Rev. John Lewgar, S. T. B. 
 When he entered into the pale of the Catholic 
 Church, he took his friend along with him, and 
 when he deserted it, as being too confined for 
 his belief and practice, he tried to lead back his 
 friend ; but he tried in vain. This friend gave 
 himself up in a particular manner to the study of 
 the ordination controversy, upon which he pub- 
 lished different tracts. His most famous tract, 
 entitled Erastus Senior, now before me, in 
 which he argues strongly against the vague in- 
 
 (i) The words marked below in italics are those which were 
 added in 1662 to the ancient form; and these, with other altera* 
 tions, were sanctioned by the Act of Uniformity passed in the same 
 year. " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a Vriest 
 " in the Church of God, now committed to thee by the imposition of our 
 ** hands in the name of the Father, c}c. and remember that thou stir 
 " up, &c"- " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and 
 
 " work of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed to thee by the 
 11 imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, &c." 
 
 (2) P. 24.
 
 405 
 
 determinate form then in use, was published in 
 the above-mentioned year, at a time when the 
 convocation was sitting, and when, in conse- 
 quence of the conferences with the Dissenters, 
 which had been held at the Savoy, several impor- 
 tant changes in the Liturgy were agreed upon. 
 To be brief, the force of Lewgar's arguments was 
 felt, and the ordination and consecration forms 
 were altered to their present state ; but whether 
 that was done in due time to obviate Ward's ob- 
 jection I need not here mention. 
 
 Besides the controversy about orders, you 
 have a second controversy with Ward, or rather 
 with his supposed editor, concerning the Homi- 
 lies. In defence of these Homilies, now so ge- 
 nerally neglected and contradicted by your bre- 
 thren, you throw down the gauntlet in a manner 
 which renders you answerable for the contents of 
 the whole of them. Indeed, your hardihood is 
 almost unparalleled, when you undertake to re- 
 concile the contradictory passages in these anti- 
 quated sermons which Ward has pointed 
 
 out. One of these passages asserts that 
 
 "All sects and degrees of men, women, and 
 " children, oi % whole Christendom, have been at 
 "once drowned in abominable idolatry; of all 
 " other sins most detested of God, and most 
 " damnable to men, by the space of 800 years 
 "and more(l)!" while the other teaches that 
 " The Holy Ghost has been always present, go- 
 " verning and preserving the Church from the 
 
 (i Ilomil. on Idolatry, part iii. 
 
 r f f-
 
 406* 
 
 " beginning, &c. (l) 1 ' To get out of this di- 
 lemma in which Ward has placed you, or rather 
 in which you have placed yourself you alter- 
 nately try to break each of its horns, but to no 
 sort of purpose. You first tell us, (after a co- 
 pious proof of your unacquaintance with the 
 Catholic doctrine, particularly with Bellarmine's 
 Treatise concerning images) that, supposing the 
 Church of Rome to have been drowned in ido- 
 latry during the 800 years preceding the Re- 
 formation, yet " the Church of Christ is not 
 " confined within the limits of the Church of 
 " Rome." Acting in the character in which you 
 have placed me, that of Mr. Ward's defender, I 
 prove to you in my dissertation, that the Chris- 
 tians of the East and of the West, of the North 
 and of the South, had no other tenets respecting 
 the article in question, images, during all those 
 800 years, than the Church of the diocese of 
 Rome itself had, and I remind you of the unli- 
 mited nature of the charge of " damnable ido- 
 " latry," contained in the Homilies ; this being 
 brought against " all sects and degrees of men, 
 " women, and children of whole Christendom ;" 
 nay, as it is elsewhere expressed, " against all the 
 " world." Being foiled on this side, you turn 
 to the other, and assure us that " a Church 
 " does not cease to be a Church by becoming 
 " corrupt; a true Church and a pure Church not 
 " being synonimous terms." But this I prove 
 to be an utter mistatemcnt of the case : the real 
 
 (r) Homil. on Spirit - , &c.
 
 407 
 
 question being, according to the terms of the 
 Homilies, whether that can be the true Church 
 of Christ, which "is drowned in the pit of 
 " damnable idolatry ;" or, to use your own 
 terms, whether that can be " the elect and 
 " faithful people," the depository of God's spirit, 
 and sacred orders, the whole collection of whica 
 is " drowned in abominable idolatry, of all other 
 " crimes the most detestable of God, and the 
 11 most damnable to men ?" 
 
 The review of this charge of idolatry against 
 the Catholic Church, led Ward back to his 
 former controversy. Accordingly he has dwelt 
 upon the inconsistency and folly of Protestants 
 deriving their priesthood, and even their very 
 Christianity, from notorious idolaters ; repeat- 
 ing, after your controvertist Sutcliff: "Anti- 
 " christ cannot ordain priests in the Church of 
 " Christ." To this you answer, from some of 
 our divines, that the schism, or heresy, of the 
 ordaining prelate does not vitiate the orders con- 
 ferred by him. This, Sir, I admit to be true, 
 provided he retains the due matter and form of 
 the respective orders, and provided he intends to 
 do what the Catholic Church does, and would 
 have him do on such occasions. I shew, how- 
 ever, that the latter is not to be presumed 
 with respect to downright and " damnable 
 "idolaters:" and, by the same rule, I argue 
 that those prelates who neglect the Sacrifice of 
 the New Law, and who held the sacrament to he 
 nothing else but a mere administration of bread
 
 408 
 
 and wine, cannot ber Supposed to have ordained 
 priests for the characteristical office of their order, 
 that of offering up this sacrifice. I point out the 
 momentous consequences that i follow from this 
 principle, and likewise from another of first rate 
 importance, which you bave.totajly overlooked. 
 In a word, I prove, that, though Holy Orders 
 themselves could have been transmitted through 
 these eight centufies of. dark idolatry, which 
 the homily and you speak of with so much horror, 
 yet that the divine mission, or jurisdiction requisite 
 for the exercise of them\i\\x\st have become utterly 
 extinct ; inasmuch as this is .lost not only by 
 apostacy and idolatry, but also by heresy, 
 schism, excommunication, or even suspension. 
 Following up this principle, I cannot help shew- 
 ing, at length, that, though Barlow had trans- 
 mitted the episcopal orders of our Church, it 
 was uttterly impossible for him to transmit its 
 jurisdiction ; as likewise I remark on the blun- 
 dering accounts which you and Burnet give 
 of this transaction. According to these it 
 appears that Barlow confirmed Parker ( 1 ), 
 and, eight days afterwards, Parker confirm- 
 ed Barlow (2) : that is to say, the father be- 
 
 (r) " None coming to (Bow Church) to object against the election 
 *' (of Parker) they, Barlow, Scory, Coverdale, andllodgkins, con- 
 *' firmed it in the usual manner (viz. Deo 9). On the 17th of Decern* 
 " ber, Parker was consecrated." Burnet's Hist. Reform, b. iii. 
 
 p. 43- 
 
 (2) " Barlow was only a Bishop elect (when he was appointed io 
 *' consecrate Parker), but not confirmed." Dr. Eirington, p. 51. 
 Parker being consecrated " afterwards he consecrated Grinda', 
 " Cox, &c, and confirmed Barlow and Scory.'* Ibid, p- 109..
 
 409 
 
 gat the son, and the son begat the father ! But 
 I have done with this matter, having already said 
 a great deal more concerning it than I intended 
 to say. 
 
 Such, Sir, is an imperfect sketch of the letter 
 which I had prepared, and was upon the point 
 of sending to the press, in vindication of myself 
 from your indignant and unmerited attack upon 
 me. But I have considered, 1st, that such a 
 letter would swell the present work to a dispro- 
 portionate size; 2dly, that the subject of it is 
 of a nature so peculiarly irritating, that it is 
 hardly possible to treat of it at length without 
 giving great and wide-extended offence ; 3dly, 
 that it is more for the credit and advantage of our 
 Church that the established cler^v should stand 
 upon the apostolical succession, and defend their 
 orders, than that they should contemptuously 
 spurn at them, as the greater part of their emi- 
 nent writers do in the present age ; 4thly, that 
 the line of controversy which I have hitherto in- 
 variably followed upon this subject, has been 
 directed against the low church latitudinarians of 
 tlie latter class, and not against the few remain- 
 ing high churchmen of the former description. 
 Upon the two last of these observations I must 
 explain myself. It is then evidently for the 
 credit and advantage of the Catholic Clergy that 
 you, Gentlemen of the Establishment, should 
 claim a succession from the apostles, through 
 our Church; because thus you cannot pretend 
 to be priests and bishops without allowing us to
 
 4*0 
 
 be priests and bishops also. Hence we have only 
 to refer the Lord Redesdales and the Musgraves 
 to you, for a refutation of their objections 
 against our hierarchy. Accordingly it is seen, 
 that when a Friar Kirwan, or any other dissi- 
 pated and loose priest, who is desirous of expa- 
 tiating in freer fields of belief and practice than 
 our Church allows, he is uniformly admitted into 
 your ministry without any other ceremony than 
 that of abjuring his faith (l), while dissenting 
 ministers of the first distinction who enter into 
 yourChurch, haveneyer, since the reign of Charles 
 II, been permitted to officiate in it without re- 
 ordination. 
 
 To speak now of what I call my own line of 
 controversy upon this subject. In case, Sir, 3^011 
 have dipt into my History of Winchester, and 
 the copious dispute which grew out of it between 
 Dr. Sturges, Chancellor of that diocese, &c. and 
 myself, in consequence of my stating that his 
 patron the celebrated Bishop Hoadly, "hadun- 
 " dermined the Church of which he was a pre- 
 " late (2)," you must be informed that one point, 
 Avhich was most warmly contested between us, 
 related to the establishment and continuation of 
 
 (1) This Capucin Friar, who rose to the dignity of a Dean in the 
 Established Church, lias left standing evidence of his real belief, 
 and of his motives for professing one contrary to it, in a remarkable 
 sermon which he preached and published in London a little before 
 his change. 
 
 (2) Hist, of Winch, vol. ii. p. 34, first edit. See also Reflect, 
 on Popery by the Rev. J. Smrges, LL. D. &c, and Letters to a 
 Prebendary,
 
 411 
 
 ministers in the Church of Christ. My respecta- 
 ble opponent professed to follow the system of 
 our former common friend, the celebrated Dr. 
 Thomas Balguy, Archdeacon of the diocese, to 
 whose moderation it was certainly owing that he 
 did not become Bishop of Gloucester, and pro- 
 bably also Archbishop of Canterbury. So great 
 was the authority of the latter in the Established 
 Church, that Dr. Sturges, speaking of the very 
 point in question, says of him : " Dr. Balguy has 
 " treated this subject with a precision of thought 
 " and a correctness of reasoning almost peculiar 
 "to the author (l)," and that Dr. Hey, Pro- 
 fessor of Divinity in the University of Cam- 
 bridge, thus recommends him in his public lec- 
 tures : " As I distrust my own conclusions more 
 " than I do his (Dr. Balguy), if, upon considera- 
 " tion, you do not judge that they are recon- 
 " cileable, I must exhort you to confide in him 
 " rather than in me (2)." I must add, that the 
 several published discourses of this dignitary, 
 were delivered in charges to the Clergy of the 
 Diocese of Winchester, or preached at the con- 
 secration of the most eminent prelates and pri* 
 mates of his communion, that they are dedicated 
 to his present Majesty, and that they never have 
 been controverted by any writer except by my- 
 
 (i) Reflect, on Popery, p. 22. See also Dr. Sturpcs's Considera- 
 tions on the Establishment, in Letters to the Bishop of London. 
 
 (2) Lectures in Div.nity delivered in the University of Cambridge, 
 by James Hey, D. D. as Norrisiun Professor, vol. ii p. J04. 
 
 g 
 
 r cr
 
 413 
 
 self (l). I mention these circumstances to shew 
 the high authority of this divine, and to excuse 
 myself from the task of quoting the doctrine of 
 several other modern divines of inferior talents, 
 though of equal dignity. His definition of a 
 Church is this : " It is a number of persons 
 " agreeing to unite together for the performance 
 " of religious duties." According to this, as I 
 have elsewhere shewn, there is no need of Christ's 
 institution to form a Church ; and we may with 
 as much propriety speak of " the church of 
 "Diana of Ephesus, or of Venus of Paphos, as 
 " of the Church of England." Proceeding to 
 shew the origin of ministers, and of a liturgy, 
 he never so much as thinks of the apostles, or of 
 Christ, but argues, that " It is highly expedient, 
 " if not absolutely necessary, that the offices of 
 " religion should be committed to some certain 
 " persons, and regulated in some certain manner ; 
 " but to whom these offices are to be committed, 
 " and in what manner performed, the society itself 
 " must judge, or appoint others to judge for 
 " them. We have here," he adds, " the first sketch 
 " of what may be called church authority" (y). 
 
 (1) Dr. Balguy was perfectly consistent with himself when he 
 answered a question which I put to him at Winchester, in the pre- 
 sence of the late Lord Bristol, Bishop of Derry, &c. that in " case he 
 " had been made Archbishop, and an avowed unbaptized Jew had 
 " been directed to him by the King to be consecrated Bishop of an 
 " English See, he would certainly have performed the ceremony." 
 
 (2) See Discourses, &c. by Thomas Balguy, D. D. Archdeacon, 
 &c. printed byDavies, Holborn, 1785. See also his Sermons on the 
 Consecration of Archbishop Moore and Bishop Hurd.
 
 413 
 
 Thus you see, that this learned and eminent dio-- 
 nitary of the establishment is not quite sure that 
 there ought to be any ministers of religion at all ; 
 but if there must be such, he is entirely con- 
 vinced, that so far from needing an apostolical 
 succession, or stated form of ordination, or wor- 
 ship, the society itself has a right to determine 
 what sort of persons these shall be, namely, 
 whether bishops or presbyters, or occasional 
 preachers ; whether they shall be priests or 
 priestesses, and whether these offices shall be con- 
 ferred by the town crier with his bell, or in any 
 other way, and whether the service of religion 
 itself shall consist in praying, preaching, the 
 sacraments, &c. or in shouting and jumping, ac- 
 cording to the form of worship observed by the 
 Welsh Methodists. 
 
 Such, Sir, is the latitudinarian system con- 
 cerning orders, to say nothing of the other 
 branches of it, which I long combated in oppo- 
 sition to the most eminent divines and dignitaries 
 of the establishment. Yet, though the contro- 
 versy was so public as to find its way into the 
 Houses of Parliament, yet every Protestant of 
 note, as well of the clergy as the laity, whom I 
 knew, or could hear of, except the late Bishop 
 Horseley, declared in favour of my chief oppo- 
 nent, Dr. Sturges, and, of course, in opposition 
 to your system of regular succession, as well as 
 tome(l). It is possible, Sir, that you and your 
 
 (0 Amongst those illustrious pef$onage who dec'ared :n favour 
 
 Gg-3
 
 414 
 
 brethren in Ireland, may not have arrived at the 
 philosophic refinement which, I have said, is so 
 common in England ; and that you may, in the 
 sincerity of your heart, have pointed all that 
 train of arguments with which you have thun- 
 dered upon poor Ward and me. In this case I 
 expect you will ask how members of the esta- 
 blishment could possibly deviate so widely from 
 its primitive doctrine, as my antagonists are 
 proved to have done. I answer this question in 
 the words of the learned Professor of Divinity 
 cited above : " The foundation of all this is a tacit 
 " reformation, which has taken place in the 
 " Church of late years (l)." Dr. Balguy himself, 
 
 f Dr. Sturgrs and his writings, was the late Lord Chancellor 
 Rosslyn, speaking from the wool sack, July 10, 1800. 
 
 (1) Dr. Hey's Lectures, vol. ii. p. 48. The intelligent Overtati 
 asserts that, in virtue of charges which he refers to, of certain pre- 
 lates now living, the most celebrated for the vigour of their orthodoxy, 
 " an attendance at these Lectures, is, in many cases, necessary as a 
 " qualification for orders." True Churchman ascertained, p. 24. * 
 It may not be amiss to observe, that the celebrated Prciessor 
 describes this tacit Reformation, as now taking in Socinianism 
 itself. The following are specimens of his public lectures con- 
 cerning it. " We and Socinians differ only about what we do not 
 " understand. If we allow one another the use of expressions at 
 " will (and what great matter can there be in what may almost be 
 " called unmeaning expressions), we need never be upon our guard 
 " against each other." Lect. vol. ii. p. 41. " If the Dissenters join 
 " us, all they need do is to use, or perhaps be present, while we 
 " use a few unmeaning words," (those professing a belief in the 
 blessed Trinity, and the incarnation of the Son of GoH\ " So long 
 " as we clearlv maintain the Unity of God, why need others scruple 
 " a few unmeaning sounds, merely because they seem to interfere
 
 415 
 
 though the chief stickler against those who 
 petitioned Parliament for an alteration in the 
 articles, &c. some years ago, yet expressly tells 
 us: ' I am far from wishing to discourage the 
 <e clergy of the Established Church from thinking 
 " for themselves, or from speaking what they 
 " think, or even from writing, where the im- 
 u portance of the occasion may seem to demand 
 " it; I only contend that men ought not to attack 
 41 the Church from those very pulpits in which 
 " they were placed for her defence(l)." Pie then 
 goes on to insist upon the necessity of keeping 
 up an appearance of uniformity of doctrine; 
 which, in other words, is the necessity of deceiv- 
 ing the people, by teaching a doctrine, in matters 
 of salvation, which frequently is directly contrary 
 to the preacher's own conviction of the truth. 
 The master both of Dr. Balguy and Dr. Sturges, 
 the renowned Dr. Uoadly, Bishop of Winchester, 
 
 " with it ?" vol. ii. p. 260. Among the numerous expedients 
 which have Wen devised for justifying a soiemn oath and subscription 
 to certain articles of religion which the swearer utterly disbelieves, 
 is that of Dr. Hey, who maintains that the words in which they are 
 conceived bear a different meaning from what they did formerly. 
 This he exemplified by referring to the statutes of certain colleges, 
 which 1 presume are equally sworn to with the articles. Concerning 
 these he says : " The clause / will say so many masses for the soul 
 " of Henry VI. may come to mean: / icill perform the rdt. . 
 " duties required of mt by those ft'Ao have authority." vol. ii- 
 p. 63. 
 
 (1 Discourse, p. 20.
 
 416 
 
 in a sermon .which he preached before the late 
 King, still more expressly inculcates this system 
 of religious dissimulation. He says : " Religious 
 " reflection is not the humour of the times, nor 
 " can men of any sort be brought to examine 
 " their own opinions and popular fashions. We 
 " must, therefore, wait till our people are in abetter 
 " temper, gently and gradually correcting their 
 " foolish and erroneous notions and habits : but 
 " still taking care not to offend them with un- 
 " reasonable truths : nor to throw in more light 
 " than the weak optics of men, so long used to 
 " sit in darkness, are able to bear (1)." I have 
 supposed, Sir, that you and your brethren in Ire- 
 land hold this tacit Reformation in abhorrence ; 
 and yet from a particular circumstance which 
 struck me the other day, when I visited your 
 superb library of Trinity College, I am not with- 
 out some suspicion that it may have found its 
 way amongst you also. Viewing the bust which 
 go round the gallery, I observed one which, from 
 the freshness of the marble, I judged must have 
 been very lately placed there, and, of course, I 
 should suppose, Sir, with your concurrence, as 
 senior fellow. Impatient to learn what new 
 worthy had been preferred to keep company with 
 
 (0 See this quoted by Archdeacon Blackburn, Confessional, 
 p. 376.
 
 417 
 
 the Bacons, the Ushers, the Swifts, and other 
 eminent defenders of the Established Church, I 
 hastened to the iigure and found it inscribed 
 with the name of Dr. Clayton, Bishop of 
 Clogher, namely, of that very bishop who so 
 loudly called upon his brethren in Parliament 
 to "amend what," he said, "they knew to be 
 "amiss," asserting that "no two thinking men 
 " ever agreed exactly in their opinion, not only 
 " with regard to all the articles, but not even with 
 " regard to any one of them( 1 )." However, as it is 
 possible that this suspicion may be ill grounded, 
 as far as you, Sir, are concerned, and that you 
 may resolve upon breaking another launce with 
 me, under the pretence of attacking Ward, I 
 hope, in this case, that you will give me credit 
 for my past defence of the Establishment against 
 her own most favoured sons, and that you will 
 join with me in heartily reprobating the senti- 
 ments and conduct, not only of your Patriarchs, 
 Cranmer, Barlow, Grindal, &c. with all the 
 foreign Protestants, but also the publicly avowed 
 opinions of so large and respectable a proportion 
 of your modern brethren. I have reason, indeed, 
 to think, they will not thank you for bringing 
 this discussion forward, as I am witness to the 
 pains they took seven years ago to suppress it: 
 
 (1) Ibid. p. 2.8.
 
 41 
 
 but that is a business in which, of course, I can 
 have no vote. In the mean time I have the 
 honour to remain, 
 
 Rev. Sir, 
 
 Wolverhampton, 
 Dec. 12, 1806/ 
 
 Your's, & c. 
 
 J. M.
 
 419 
 
 POSTSCRIPT, 
 
 r pHE delay which, from various circumstances, ha* 
 taken place in the present publication, enables 
 me to add to it a few remarks on three several pamphlets 
 from the pens of established clergymen, which have 
 been printed in Dublin within the last six weeks. One 
 of these is entitled " An Address to the Clergy of the 
 " United Church in Ireland on the present Crisis, by an 
 " aged Minister of the Gospel." Whether from age, 
 or from some other cause, the author is ever running 
 into inconsistencies and contradictions, which render 
 the confutation of him by another person quite unne 
 
 cessary(l). Speaking of the first edition of this 
 
 work, he describes it, in one passage, as " The fa- 
 " shionable light reading of the drawing-room and 
 " circulating library (2) ;" and in another as " a dis- 
 " gusting composition, taken up with old wives' fables, 
 " monkish tales and legends (3), exploded even by eri- 
 " lightened Catholics ; and with disquisitions on the 
 " demons or lesser gods whom the Platonists and other 
 
 (i) Of one of there blunders he seems to be a little conscious, 
 where bespeaks of "a contest, the peculiar feature of which is that 
 " ull is attack and no defence, the champions being all on one 
 " side," p. 9. 
 
 (2) P. I.. 
 
 (3) Public report nfTires this publication on the hitherto boasted 
 Antiquary of Ireland, Dr. L .1 ch ; and the nbu^e we here wit- 
 ness of original documents, when they can no longer be employed 
 1.0 the discredit of the ancient apostle aad faith of Ireland, confirms 
 ?he prevailing opinion. 
 
 II hh
 
 420 
 
 " heathens -worshipped (I)." He says that ray " Mis- 
 " sion to Ireland, whether voluntarily undertaken, or 
 " enjoined hy the Court of Rome, is to be imputed to 
 " a dread of those doctrines (the worship of demons, 
 " &c.) being weakened by a spirit of independency, 
 " which, he says, is manifested among the higher and 
 u more respectable classes of R. Catholics (2);" yet he 
 tells us, in almost the same breath, that "The decep- 
 " tion and spiritual tyranny of the grand apostacy is 
 '* daily acquiring strength in the western extremity 
 " (Ireland) of its prince and 'leader, and that casting 
 " off its slough it begins again to rear i,ts crest, &c.(3)" 
 13 e terms me " a great champion of Popery, and a vi- 
 " sitor who astonishes bishops, priests, &c. with pro- 
 " digies of erudition, taste, and virtu (4)" Neverthe- 
 less, he soon after quotes Dr. Geddes to prove that 
 " the Roman Catholics could have no cause to com- 
 " plain, and many of them would rejoice, if Dr. 
 " Sturges had repelled the accusations and reflections 
 " contained in ihe History of Winchester (5)." Ad- 
 verting to himself as a writer, he characterizes his la- 
 bours as- " hnmble," apologises for " venturing to ad- 
 " dress his clerical brethren: (6)" j^et he scruples not in 
 his title page, as well as in the body of his work, to de- 
 scribe himself as " being such a one as Paul the 
 " aged ;(7) v that is to say, St. Paul the Apostle. He 
 asserts that " the ministers of the United Church of 
 " Ireland are equal to those of any other church or age 
 4i in talents, erudition, and every qualification that can 
 " render them a blessing to their flocks, and a credit 
 " and ornament to the church in which they serve (8)," 
 
 (i) P. 29. (2) I bid. (f; P. 38. 
 
 V 4 V ; P. 11. (5) P. 29. (() P. 47- P. 4 
 
 f?} P 4. F;i*t. toPhilem. !$; P. ,6.
 
 421 
 
 Yet with all this, he reproaches them that " The 
 " watchmen are slumbering on their towers ; that the 
 " shepherds do not raise their warning voice, while the 
 " beasts of the field come to devour (1) ; that not a 
 " single Elija appears to support the cause of truth 
 " against the prophets of Baal ;" and a considerable 
 portion of his book is taken up with accusations against 
 them on the score of laxity, corruption, and a neglect 
 of all preparatory discipline and studies^) : adding the 
 following very "important remark," as he calls it, 
 though certainly it is not a very abstruse one : " How 
 " can we detect their (the Methodists) deceptions, or 
 " expose their deviations from the truth, if we our- 
 " selves have never come to the knowledge of the 
 " truth (3);" 
 
 In " training" his brethren to the warfare to which 
 he endeavours to rouse them, he utterly disclaims the 
 use of " any other weapons except those of thegosp: 1 ;" 
 adding, " these were the only wea[>ons by which the 
 " first apostles of the Reformation broke down the idol 
 " to which every knee bowed, and rescued such a por- 
 " tion of God's people from the yoke of popery (4)." 
 To be sure the last Henry, Elizabeth, and Ann, never 
 caused a single persecuting law to be enacted ! Nor did 
 Cranmer, Ridley, Abbot, Calvin, Beza, Knox, Usher, 
 Downman, &.e. ever preach up or practise any religious 
 persecution (5) ! However, as by some means oi otljcr 
 
 (i) P. ,i- 0) P- M- 
 
 ( 5 ) P. 3 6. (4) Pp. 16, 17. 
 
 (5) See " Letters to a Prebendary on Persecution." Bayle 
 
 remarks that, when Archbishop Usher and the other Pron-stant 
 Bishops of Ireland, solemnly remonstrated, in an instrument which 
 they cans \1 to be read in the churches, ngaiuM the Kind's proposal 
 ot granting a toleration to the Catholics ol Ireland, they argued 
 upon pure principles of persecution, namely, the allcJged unlaw- 
 
 II hh2
 
 422 
 
 certain arguments not quite evangelical, but ad- 
 dressed to men's temporal hopes and fears, still ap- 
 pear upon the face of the statute book, no doubt 
 our aged and tolerating minister will vote for their 
 
 abrogation, as useless and improper weapons ! But 
 
 no such thing: so far from it, he reproaches the 
 parliamentary advocates of toleration with their con- 
 duct in all the bitterness of inflamed jealousy ; declar- 
 ing that "their success must infallibly lead to the 
 u destruction'of the Protestant establishment, and the 
 " extinction of the Protestant Hierarchy and 
 " Church (1)." So much for the exclusive use of gospel 
 weapons ! Finally, our second St. Paul strictly en- 
 joins his brethren not to employ " the weapons of 
 " abuse and contempt against their enemies, but to 
 " shew them meekness and good conversation (2).'* 
 Take now a specimen of these lessons from the apostle 
 himself. Speaking of the Catholic Clergy of Ireland 
 collectively, he calls them : " The most illiberal, the 
 " most intolerant, the most persecuting of all zealots 
 " that affect the name of Christians; who let loose upon 
 " the public that malignant spirit which has been so 
 " long confined to their chapels and confessionals ; 
 " old adepts in forgery, &c. (3)" Such is " the meek- 
 " ness and good conversation," as well as the consisten- 
 cy of this ancient minister of the gospel, who declares 
 himself to be such another as St. Paul. 
 
 fulness of tolerating what they called error and superstition. Arch- 
 bishop Abbot and the Bishops of England objected upon the self- 
 same grounds to a similar proposal of James [. with respect to the 
 English Catholics. Knox and his brethren in Scotland argued in 
 the same manner against sparing the lives of certain Catholic noble- 
 men; so did Cranmer, when he forced Edward VI. to sign the 
 death warrant of Joan Butcher, &c. ; so also did Calvin, when he 
 saused Servetus to be burnt. 
 
 (OP. 7. OOP. 45- (3)P'*3-
 
 423 
 
 II. The second work which has issued from the Dublin 
 press against me within these few days, is entitled : 
 " Reflections on the appointment of Dr. Milner as the 
 " Political Agent of the R. Catholic Clergy of Ireland, 
 " by the Rev. Thomas Ellington, D. D. late Senior 
 " Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin." This is the 
 writer with whom I have had the preceding contest, 
 who was before known to me as the acrimonious adver- 
 sary of Dr. Troy, under the final letters of his name 
 S. N. His present object is to defeat or retard the 
 dreaded, but inevitable emancipation, on the ground of 
 my alledged crimes and misdemeanors in the present 
 Letters, all of whieh he charges to the collective body 
 of the Catholic Clergy of Ireland. 
 
 The learned Doctor opens his charges against me with 
 flatly denying that the object of my voyage to Ireland 
 was such as I have declared it to be, and with confi- 
 dently maintaining that I went thither " to assist at a 
 " consultation of the Catholic Bishops at May- 
 u nooth(l)." This, he says, I have confessed in one of 
 my printed letters. But I have neither confessed the fact, 
 nor is it true. He next reproaches me with speaking 
 ill of all the Protestant Sovereigns of England between 
 the Reformation and the Revolution, which is a false- 
 hood ; as also of the different heads of the Reforma- 
 tion^), which is true ; and I should be glad to know w hat 
 he has to urge in behalf of Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, 
 Cranmer, Latimer, Knox, &.c. in opposition to what I 
 have proved against them in my " Letters to a Prelx n- 
 dary (3)." It is a fact, however, that these proofs were 
 produced, not for the purpose of irritating Protestants, 
 but for that of vindicating Catholics. But the subject 
 
 (i) P. 7. (2, P. 8. 
 
 (jj Letter V. aa thf Reformation.
 
 424 
 
 upon which my aggressor is peculiarly sore, and which, 
 therefore, he most frequently and loudly reproaches me 
 with touching, is that of the sanguinary persecutions 
 heretofore carried on by Protestants, not only against 
 Catholics, but also against their fellow Protestants who 
 differed from them in certain articles of belief. This 
 he represents as particularly calculated to provoke the 
 resentment of Protestants, and to prevent their con- 
 senting to do away the remainder of the penal laws. 
 But I cannot agree with him upon this point. On the 
 contrary, I have found by experience, that nothing is 
 so effectual for silencing the persecuting clamours of 
 bigotted Protestants, and for inducing moderate Pro- 
 testants to enter into terms of mutual forgiveness and 
 peace, as a clear statement of historical facts on both 
 sides, and the forcing them to balance the account of 
 blood between Catholic and Protestant kings, prelates, 
 and writers (1). Unable to deny the fact in question, 
 namely, that above COO Catholies were put to death in 
 England for their religion during Elizabeth's reign, (to 
 say nothing of about 70 more who were executed on 
 the same account in the subsequent reigns, and of seve- 
 ral hundreds who died in prison, or were sent into per- 
 petual exile ; and to say nothing of the numerous dis- 
 senters who were put to death, or otherwise persecuted 
 for their respective opinions) our controversialist pre- 
 tends that they suffered for treason, and defies me to 
 mention one of them who was " tried as a herctic(2)." 
 I agree with him, that they were not tried as heretics,. 
 |So : there was too much common sense and decency in 
 
 (i) The writer falls into most egregious errors with respect to dif- 
 ferent circumstances of Mary's persecution, by following that 
 treacherous guide Hume, in preference to more ancient and au-* 
 thentic historians. 
 
 fa) P- 15.
 
 45 
 
 the legislature, to pretend that the little modern Church 
 of England was the main stock of Christianity from 
 which the great Church of all nations and all ages had 
 broken off: accordingly, they did not venture to pro- 
 claim the Catholic religion heresy. However, as they 
 were resolved upon extirpating it from these islands, 
 they made the practice and profession of it a capital 
 crime ; and, as it was necessary to give that pretended 
 crime a name, they called it High Treason. But in what 
 did tins high treason consist ? Consult the statute 
 book(l) and the history of the sufferers (2), you will 
 find that it consisted in nothing else but in savinsr or 
 hearing Mass, receiving Catholic Orders, being recon- 
 ciled to the Catholic Religion, and denying that a 
 
 wanton female was Head of the Church of Christ. 
 
 But I have elsewhere vindicated at full length the cause 
 of our English Catholic sufferers during the long period 
 of their persecution (3). With respect to the Irish suf- 
 ferers in the same cause, especially the ecclesiastics, 
 whose history Dr. Elrington equally misrepresents, and 
 whose memory he grossly insults, have elsewhere 
 signified my intention of leaving their vindication in 
 the hands of their successors, and particularly of two 
 of them, who are eminently qualified for undertaking 
 the task, and to a certain degree pledged to undertake 
 it(4). My opponent reproaches me not less severely 
 
 rV r IT/, cap. i. cap. ii. 5 Eliz. cap. i. 13 Eliz. cap. ii. 23 
 Fiir. cap. i. 27 Eliz. cap. ii. 
 
 (2) See John Stow. Chron. Camden's Annales, Dodd, &c. 
 
 (3) See Letters to a Prebend. Letter VI. and VII. 
 
 (4) I may j\:st observe, in passing, that Dr. Elrington, Dr. Ryan, 
 and oth'-r late writers tunc admit the existence of St Patrick ; 
 though ihev continue faintly to deny that his religion was the same 
 with that of the present Catholic Church. The first mentioned is
 
 4Q6 
 
 for the terms in which I have spoken of King William, 
 than for those in which I have mentioned Queen Eliza- 
 beth^); and he enters into long dissertations, byway 
 of justifying both his horrid perfidy in violating the so- 
 lemn treaty of Limerick, and his remorseless cruelty 
 in signing an order for the cold-blooded murder of his 
 sworn subjects in the vale of Glenco. It only remains 
 for the writer to prove, by a revision of this prince's 
 letters and conduct, that he was a man of truth and a 
 man of feeling, a faithful affectionate son-in-law, and a 
 generous true-hearted British King. 
 
 In the present letters, as well as in various other 
 works, I have pointed out the impolicy as well as the 
 cruelty of refusing the brave and numerous Catholic 
 defenders of their country the practice of their own 
 religion, and forcing them to conform to another which 
 they do not believe in (2). This Dr. E. considers as a 
 mark of my disaffection, while I consider it as a proof 
 of my loyalty. Numerous and fatal have been the 
 effects of the mixed bigotry and irreligion I complain of, 
 particularly in Spain and South America". The other day, 
 when our troops marched into Spain, two or three Eng- 
 lish priests, who had been in the habit of attending their 
 
 inclined to believe the martyred Plunket to have been guilty ; 
 namely, of attempting to raise7o,ooo men forthe service of France! 
 No doubt he believes in every tittle of the corresponding Popish Plot, 
 as it is called, fabricated and sworn to by their reverences Dr. Oates 
 and Dr. Tongue 1 This gentleman reproaches me with not naming 
 F. Peter Walsh amongst the eminent Catholic writers. If he con- 
 sults my " Ecclesiastical Democracy Detected," he will there see 
 proofs that this boasted loyalist was the willing tool of a persecuting 
 government, and a traitor to his religion. As such, when he was 
 found out by the Catholics, he was taken into the pay and service of 
 the Protestant Bishop of Winchester. 
 
 (0 P. 24 . (2) P- *8.
 
 427 
 
 sick and dying countrymen of the Catholic religion while 
 in Portugal, requested permission of General Moore to 
 continue their pious work in the neighbouring king- 
 dom. The petition was referred to the staff, who de- 
 cidedly rejected it. We may easily conceive the effect 
 which such a decision must have had on the Portuguese 
 and Spaniards, as well as upon the Catholic soldiers. 
 The Doctor carries his malignity so far as to reproach 
 me with disaffection, for exhorting the Irish Catholics 
 to bear their grievances with patience, and to be loyal, 
 even in opposition to the apparent interests of their reli- 
 gion^). Do they then feel nothing unless I remind them 
 of their wrongs ? and is it impossible that better terms 
 should be held out to them than those which are now 
 offered by government ? Still more effectual to traduce 
 my allegiance, he goes twenty years backwards, when the 
 bill for the relief of the English Catholics was on the 
 carpet ; on which occasion he reproaches me, after a 
 false and most malicious detail of facts, with " dis- 
 " approving of one of the greatest attempts ever made 
 " to give unequivocal assurance of the loyalty of 
 " Catholics (2)." But if I am guilty of any crime in 
 this transaction the legislature partakes in it ! The ease 
 is briefly this: In the year 178y, a Declaration, said to 
 have been drawn up by a Protestant Peer, which states 
 many horrid tenets imputed to Catholics, and strongly 
 disavows them, was circulated amongst our people for 
 general signature. We all rejected the tenets; but 
 many of us complained that the disavowal of them, in 
 the instrument, was expressed in loose and doubtful 
 terms. In return, we were assured that our Protestant 
 fellow subjects, to whom that Declaration was to be 
 presented, had not a conception of our nice distinctions 
 and scruple.-, and that the instrument was, on no 
 
 (ii IV- ii, '} (*; I*P- 43. *>}- 
 
 1 ii
 
 428 
 
 account whatever, to be turned into an oath. 
 In this, however, we were egrcgiously deceived. 
 A new- oath of allegiance, formed indeed upon 
 the plan of the Declaration, but aggravating all 
 its faults and difficulties, and prefaced with a 
 schismatical appellation, to which every Catholic was 
 to have signed his namc(l), previously to his having 
 taken the oath, was inserted in Lord Redesdale's bill, 
 and presented to Parliament, without any approbation 
 of the body, either lay or ecclesiastical. In these 
 circumstances, the Apostolic Vicars met, and con- 
 demned the new oath and appellation, declaring, at the 
 same time, not what Dr. E. falsely ascribes to them, 
 but that " no Catholic ought to take a new oath, or 
 " sign <\n instrument upon doctrinal matters without 
 " their approbation." In short, ' they appointed me 
 their Agent, and I had the good fortune, through the 
 blessing of God, and the liberality of such men as 
 Messrs. Burke, Windham, Fox, Sir Archibald Mac- 
 donald, Lord Grenville, Lord Moira, and Bishop 
 Horseley, to convince both Houses of Parliament of 
 our loyalty and the justice of our cause, and to procure 
 the adoption of our present oath instead of the one 
 fabricated by Lord Redesdale, and his Catholic agent(O). 
 I repeat it then : if there was any defect in my loyalty 
 upon this occasion, the Houses of Parliament, after a 
 long and accurate investigation of the matter, were par- 
 takers of my guilt! Having just published an explana- 
 
 (i) In the original Bill of 1791, it was provided that every 
 Catholic, previously to his taking the oath of allegiance, should 
 subscribe himself in the records of the Court as follows: "I hereby 
 " declare myself a Protesting Catholic Dissenter." 
 
 (2) This circumstance, the reality of which C. B. Esq. will not 
 publicly deny, ought to serve as a warning to the Irish Catholics 
 not to trust their concerns in his hands ; however impatient he shews 
 himself to have the management of them.
 
 429 
 
 tionXO of a late transaction which my adversaries next 
 object to me, I will say nothing more of it here than 
 that there is not in my conception, any contradiction 
 between my " giving an opinion that the bishops 
 " would probably agree to consult government with 
 " respect to the loyalty of future candidates for episco- 
 " pacy to a limited number, perhaps two, three, or 
 " four times," and my declaring that " I would rather 
 " shed my blood than consent to an A Catholic King's 
 " enjoying any real power orinrluence,direct or indirect, 
 " over any portion of the Catholic Church :" because, 
 in my view of this matter, the aforesaid negative power, 
 under all the proposed restrictions, would not have 
 amounted to any real power or influence, direct or 
 indirect. However, as the measure, under every kind 
 of modification, was found to be so highly offensive to 
 the great body of the Irish Catholics, and as their 
 bishops have unanimously voted it 10 be inexpedient, 
 1 have thought it my duty to join my voice with theirs, 
 in also declining it to be inexpedient. 
 
 In a word, little else can be concluded from Dr. 
 Ellington's publication, except that he is very much 
 displeased with my book ; a circumstance which, I 
 own, docs not give me a worse opinion of it, and which 
 is not likely to be removed bv the letter addressed to 
 him in the present edition of it 
 
 III. The third publication which has appeared 
 against my Letters in the present year, is called, 
 " Strictures on Dr. Milner's Tour and .Mr. Clinch's 
 " Inquiry; with a new I'lan lor obtaining Imiaiicipa- 
 " tion : a Conciliatory Tract, bv the Hev. Kdward 
 
 " Itvan, D. L). Author, Ixc." This is that generous 
 
 controvertist, who, as 1 have shewn above in mv letter 
 to him, i.^ hi the habit of yielding to his antagonist 
 
 (i) 1,'r. Milner's Appeal tothe G.tholic- ul liehnd. 
 Ill J
 
 430 
 
 even greater advantages than the latter has occasion to 
 take. The present Conciliatory Tract, no less than 
 " the Answer to Ward's Errata," affords abundant in- 
 stances of this generosity. I shall not, however, stop 
 to avail myself of them, but shall satisfy myself with 
 giving a slight sketch of the work itself, and that, for 
 the most part, in the words of the author. He appears, 
 indeed, extremely desirous that I should answer twenty- 
 one queries which he proposes to me in one part of his 
 book, and twenty-nine others which he puts down in a 
 subsequent part of it. But I cannot think of taking up 
 my time and that of my readers with discussing such 
 subjects, unless he can shew that any of them relate to 
 my letters, or to some other matter in debate. He is 
 still more earnest with me to answer a work which, it 
 seems, he published some years ago, under the title of 
 " An Address to the R. Catholic Nobility and Gentry 
 " of Ireland." He testifies of it that " the arguments 
 " were directed with force," though, he owns, " they 
 " did not produce the desired effect (1)." We will then 
 put the matter upon this issue ; when his arguments 
 seem likely to produce their desired effect, by making 
 a single convert to his religion, I will then attempt to 
 make such answers to them as it may be in my power 
 to make. At present I shall confine myself to a 
 few extracts from the strictures before us. He enters 
 upon his work with stating that "Dr. Milner finding his 
 " master's (the Pope's) authority likely to suffer some 
 " diminution in Ireland by the King's Veto, employed 
 " all his talents to defeat the good purpose of certain 
 " Romish bishops and of the legislature. After visit- 
 " ing several parts of Ireland, he returned to England, 
 " and published his tour : a very curious performance 
 " indeed ! In this tour he describes rivers, harbours, 
 
 (0 P. ?
 
 431 
 
 '* round towers, and intersperses these narratives 
 " with aspersions on Protestants, and feeble arguments 
 " in support of the Pope's Supremacy : as if he had 
 " said this with himself: The supremacy is in danger; if 
 " I publish a grave defence of it I shall be answered. I 
 " will write an entertaining tour, and introduce here 
 " and there what I have to say on the subject. I will re- 
 " vile the English government without apparent malice, 
 " flatter the pride and prejudices of the popish laity, 
 " and gratify the clergy so far by panegyrics, that they 
 " will be easily prevailed upon to adhere to that supre- 
 " macy, and even to think it an essential part of their 
 " religion (1)." Having fabricated this speech for me^ 
 the learned Doctor proceeds to condemn me for hav- 
 ing spoken it, exclaiming : " Who could suppose 
 " that a Christian Bishop would act thus ? An Apos- 
 " tolical Vicar might be expected to visit Ireland to 
 " conciliate rather than irritate," Sec. (2) He after- 
 wards proceeds to state his " new conciliatory plan," 
 which is this. He offers to leave Catholics in posses- 
 sion of the several tenets which he enumerates and de- 
 scribes as being " useless, contrary to reason, unedify- 
 " ing, delusive, blasphemous, superstitious, and idol- 
 " atrous(3), provided they will give up to him their 
 doctrines concerning heresy (that is to say, provided 
 they will acknowledge him, Dr. Ryan, to be an ortho- 
 dox good Catholic) and the Pope's Supremacy (4). On 
 this condition he promises them emancipation in this 
 world, and a share of felicity with him in the world to 
 
 come. With the same facility that he fabricates 
 
 a speech for me concerning the object of my tour, he 
 fabricates one for the Irish bishops of the eighth cen 
 
 (i) P. 6. CO Ibid. 
 
 ( 3 ) P. i 9f u) Ibid.
 
 452 
 
 tury against the Supremacy of the See of Rome, and 
 then proceeds to argue from it in the following strain : 
 u Such might and probably would have been the an- 
 " swer of the Irish bishops of the 8th or 9th century to 
 " a claim of foreign jurisdiction over them. But, alas [ 
 " the conduct of the present bishops is the reverse J 
 " They wish for a foreign jurisdiction ! Insist on the 
 " continuance of the Papal Supremacy ! Literally re- 
 ' fuse emancipation from the shackles of the Pope ! 
 " Surrender their concerns to his Vicar ! and appoint 
 " him their agent ! I blush at finding my countrymen 
 " duped by a man like Dr. Milner, who is inferior to 
 " many of them in piety and talents ; inferior to them 
 " perhaps in every thing except art and intrigue. As 
 " a Milesian, I feel indignant at the degeneracy of these 
 u bishops ! As an Irishman, I feel national degradation 
 " on beholding 22 bishops out of the 28 so infatuated 
 " and abject as to hug their chains! so destitute of pa- 
 " triotism, as to submit without a struggle to the like 
 *' dymoc of a foreigner ! The idea of the keys is too 
 
 " absurd for criticism (1) ! Were it not for Dr. Mil- 
 
 " ner's influence on the Roman bishops, it can hardly 
 " be supposed that so many of them would have voted 
 
 " for the Pope's Supremacy. The English colonists, 
 
 " whom the Pontiffs encouraged, dispossessed sects, 
 u clans, &c. The Ryans lost large properties, without 
 " any attempt on the part of the Popes to check the 
 " hungry invaders (2)." 
 
 I must not, however, forget that our Doctor, with 
 all his professed liberality and benevolence to the Catho- 
 lics, finds their exclusion from places of honour and 
 profit, and the extreme depression and misery of the 
 greater part of them very rational and proper : for, says 
 he, " exclusion from power does not arise from into- 
 
 (0 P. 59- (*) P 77-
 
 435 
 
 " lerance or contempt. I do not persecute nor despise 
 " my neighbour, because I do not give him share of my 
 " property or power. A brother does not despise his 
 " brother, by not dividing his estate with him. A 
 " father may love two sons, but shew marks of favour 
 " to one which he witholds from the other (1)." Allud- 
 ing to the condition of Irish Catholics in their own 
 country, as described by me, one of the queries which 
 he solemnly calls upon me to solve is the following : 
 " Are there not hewers of wood and drawers of water in 
 " every nation of the globe (2) r" Instead of answering 
 this question, I will make an unessential change in it, 
 and then leave the learned Doctor to solve it himself. 
 Suppose that, instead of believers in transubstantiation, 
 the law appointed the llyans to be hewers of wood and 
 drawers of water to the rest of their countrymen, would 
 the Doctor be satisfied with his own argument; name- 
 ly, that there must be people of this description in 
 
 every nation on the globe r Nor must I pass over the 
 
 following essential part of the author's conciliatory 
 plan. " Let government be authorized by law to ask the 
 " three candidates for a (Catholic) bishopric the fol- 
 " lowing questions: in what instances have you shewn 
 " your attachment to the King lor the last rive or --even 
 " years? Have there been any nightly meetings of 
 " Threshers, White Boys, robbers of anus, &c. in 
 " your parish? The priest who suffered such things 
 " .shall have our decided negative (:J)." The former 
 condition reminds me of Itoberspierre's reign of terror, 
 when every man who could not prove that he had com- 
 mitted some atrocity was punished as a suspected pri- 
 son. The latter condition goes beyond the tvranny of 
 Roburspierre himself, in making the poor priest answer- 
 able lor thv.- conduct ol thousands ot persons nu leis 
 
 'i; V. 8. (z) \ i, P. 16.
 
 434 
 
 than for his own. But why restrain the law to Catho- 
 lic clergymen ? Why should it not be so framed, as to 
 prevent Dr. Ryan from obtaining promotion, while any 
 breaches of the peace occur among the Protestant in- 
 habitants of the parish in Dublin, where he offi- 
 ciates? 
 
 The Doctor passes from his reveries to his dream*, 
 one of which he relates to us as a serious matter of fact 
 as follows : " Having finished my above-mentioned 
 " queries, I went to bed, fell asleep, and had the fol- 
 " lowing dream. I fancied that this pamphlet was pub- 
 " lished, and that soon after I was present in a R. Ca- 
 " tholic assembly, where Lord Kenmare rose to speak, 
 " and proposed a memorial to be presented to the Pope, 
 
 " shewing that the King and Parliament refuse 
 
 " to do more, unless your Holiness renounces the 
 
 " doctrines of heresy and supremacy ; that if you 
 
 " call a synod, and do not suffer Dr. M. to interfere, 
 " we do not doubt but their decision will confirm our 
 
 " opinion ; that a renunciation of those two articles 
 
 " would probably secure emancipation, &c." 
 
 The dream goes on to state, that after the memorial had 
 been read, Mr. O'Gorman or Mr. O'Connel (the 
 Doctor forgets which) delivered a speech " approving 
 
 " of the greater part of the memorial, &c. shewing 
 
 " that Dr. O'R. should have the supremacy, &c." 
 
 and concluding as follows : " Any of our bishops must 
 love Ireland more than the Pope or Dr. Milner 
 Even Dr. Ryan, though a bitter enemy to our doc 
 trines and worship, seems to love the country more 
 than either of them. He is a merits Hibernicus ; all 
 his ancestors on his father's and mother's side have 
 been Milesians, and most of them Catholics. I do 
 not blame him for his enmity to the Popes, by whose 
 means the Ilyans lost a large property, &,c. (1)" 
 
 (i) P. 84 et seq. 
 
 a
 
 435 
 
 I think it must be allowed on all hands, that if Dr. 
 Ryan is not a first-rate orator, logician, or theologian, 
 he is at least an unparalelled dreamer. Tn return for his 
 new plan for emancipating Catholics, I strongly recom- 
 mend, that when they get into Parliament they should 
 unanimously vote for the restitution of Dr. Ryan's 
 estate to him, on the single condition of his proving 
 that he has lost an estate, whether by means of the 
 Popes six hundred years ago, or by any other 
 means whatsoever.
 
 436 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 (Page 50, Note 2.) I have dwelt much, in various 
 notes of this Work, upon the injuries which the Irish 
 have, at different times, suffered from the English, in 
 order to induce the latter to make such satisfaction to 
 the former as it is in their power to make. But as cer- 
 tain Irish writers of the present day are found to abuse 
 the ignorance of their countrymen, in making them 
 believe that their ancestors never did any mischief to the 
 inhabitants of Britain, and that their island has derived 
 all sort of mischief and no degree of benefit from ours, 
 I think it right, from the same conciliatory motives, to 
 
 make the following observations. 1- If Ireland 
 
 ha3 frequently been invaded and laid waste by the inha- 
 bitants of Britain, these, perhaps, have as often suf- 
 fered the same calamity from the Irish. The piracies 
 of the Irish, during a long period, were as destructive 
 to our island as those of the Danes were at a subsequent 
 period (1), and the Hibernian chieftain Neil Nao-Gaillac 
 in particular spread desolation throughout it from its 
 western to its eastern shore. It was in one of these 
 piratical expeditions that St. Patrick was captivated 
 and carried as a slave to Ireland, with many thousands 
 of his countrymen, as he testifies of himself (2). These 
 invasions during the British period were frequently re- 
 peated after the Saxons became masters of England ; 
 and it is a fact, that a great proportion of those invad- 
 
 (i) " Recesserunt ergo impudentes grassatores Hyberni domum, 
 " post nua lougum tempus, reversuri." Bed. Eccl. Hist. 1. z 
 c. 14. 
 
 Cofess. St. Fat. c, i.
 
 437 
 
 ing hosts who were destroyed by our renowned King 
 Athelstan on the plains of Brunanburgh, in the year 
 
 833, consisted of Irish chieftains and soldiers. . 
 
 2 0, It is a fraudulent deception, to represent the inva- 
 sion of Ireland by Henry II. as the consequence of the 
 English Pope's Bull, viz. that of Adrian IV. as that Bull, 
 admitting it to be genuine, remained without effect. It is 
 a still greater imposition to describe the inhabitants of 
 Ireland as forming a nation at that period, and as being 
 at peace, and happy amongst themselves, in the consci- 
 ous possession of civil and religious rights. They con- 
 sisted of a motley group of Irish, Scots ( 1 ), and Ostmen, 
 or Scandinavians, being subject to numerous petty des- 
 pots, who led them our, as their passions or their ca- 
 price dictated, to mutual slaughter ; and the state of 
 religion and morality amongst them, in spite of the 
 zealous efforts of the different Pontifical Legates, Lan- 
 franc, St. Anselm, Gislebert, St. Malachy, and Cardi- 
 nal Papario, was in the most frightful disorder. Every 
 one knows that the English entered Ireland at the invi- 
 tation of one of its kings, and that they were rewarded 
 with a settlement in it, for the services which they ren- 
 dered him, and that most of the other native princes 
 hastened to do homage to the English King, in a 
 manner which shews they had no idea of a common 
 cause or a common country. On the other hand, the 
 state of ecclesiastical discipline and morals was such as 
 fully justifies the description which Adrian IV. gives of 
 it, in so much that the great light of the age, St. Ber- 
 nard, describes the Irish Christians as being almost rc- 
 
 i St. Bernard even in his time distinguishes between the Irish and 
 the Scotoh in Ireland. Vitce St. Malach. c. iii. An ancient author 
 cited by Tillemont says: " Scoti llibernis superiores lucre et 
 *' inagis bellicosi." in Vita St. Pair. 
 
 k I, k 2
 
 438 
 
 duced to a state of paganism (2). In proof of this, 
 it will be sufficient to mention the following in- 
 contestable facts : that seventeen persons of the same 
 family, eight of whom were married men and destitute 
 of orders, were Archbishops of Armagh before and dur- 
 ing the time of St.Malachy,and almost down to the reign 
 of Henry H, and that it was not till the English invasion 
 that the Irish Prelates found themselves enabled to 
 establish regular and canonical limits to their dioceses 
 and succession among themselves; as also to abrogate 
 the* prevailing polygamy, incestuous marriages, the 
 practice of baptizing the children of the rich with milk, 
 
 &c. &c. 3 Q ' If Ireland has received injuries, she 
 
 has also derived benefits from this island.- St. Patrick, 
 the instrument of God in its Christianity and civiliza- 
 tion, was a native of Britain, so was King Alfred, the 
 author of its laws and constitution. Most of the waiters 
 who enlighten it at the present day, in religious as well 
 as in profane literature, are Englishmen. 
 
 (Page 57, to Note 1.) On the subject of duelling add 
 the following anecdote, which was communicated to 
 me by a valuable friend.- A young officer of rank 
 and family fancied himself insulted by the great Tu- 
 renne, and demanded satisfaction of him in the usual 
 forms. The hero took no notice of the challenge, 
 though frequently repeated. At length the officer 
 contrived to meet him in a public place, and actually 
 spit in his face. Surprised at the outrage, Turcnne half 
 drew his sword, but recollecting himself, he returned it 
 into its scabbard, when making use of his handkerchief 
 be said to the officer : " \ ouug man, if I could as soon 
 
 (1) " Barbaries, imo Paganismus sub nomine Christians" Vita 
 St. Malach. c. vii.
 
 439 
 
 " wipe away the guilt of your blood from my consci- 
 " ence, as I can wipe off your phlegm from my face, 
 " your life would be the forfeiture of your insolence." 
 Having thus expressed himself, Turenne retired in all 
 the majesty of triumphant virtue, and the young officer 
 was so struck with his heroism, that he asked his par- 
 don on the spot, which Turenne not only gave him, 
 but also became his friend and patron. Such behaviour 
 in a sreneral so renowned for braverv, who had laced 
 death in 50 battles, and who, at last, met with it in the 
 defence of his country, is a striking proof that the re- 
 fusal of a challenge upon Christian motives is consistent 
 with true courage. 
 
 (P. 5q, 1. 13.) In August last an officer, Major 
 Campbel, was condemned and executed at Armagh for 
 killing another officer, Captain Boyd, in a duel. But, 
 as it is generally understood that this singular instance of 
 legal justice for the offence in question, took place in 
 consequence of the circumstances of the duel, rather 
 than of the duel itself, there is reason to fear it will not 
 have any great effect in putting a stop to the inhuman 
 practice. The former has left a widow and ii\* children, 
 the latter a widow and seven children. Thus, says an 
 intelligent journalist, sixteen victims have at once been 
 immolated on the bloody altar of false honour 1 
 
 (P. C>7.) The ordinary salutations of the Irish, to each 
 other consist of mutual prayers. ie An aon Dia yuit :" 
 May the only God bless you ; says one poor man to his 
 neighbour : to which the other answers : " Is aon Dia, 
 " agus Muire, agus I 'ad rig :" May the only God hl<w< 
 you; and Mary and Patrick prat/Jor you. 
 
 (!'. "!)) A late writer confirms Mi. IMowderA a< 
 count of the outrages couuniind upon the women l\
 
 440 
 
 the yeomen and King's troops in certain parts of Ireland 
 whilst they were upon free quarters there. " It was the 
 " profligate boast," he says, " of a party who had been 
 " hunting out United Irishmen, that they had violated 
 " every girl in the town they had ransacked. And it is 
 " from humanity only I do not reveal the names of 
 " those men, and one of them an Irish peer." Miles's 
 Letter to the Prince of Wales, p. 225. Certain anec- 
 dotes which have come to my knowledge respecting this 
 particular species of barbarity are too shocking to be re- 
 lated. 
 
 (P. 81.) I cannot forbear particularizing one act of 
 illegal violence, which took place in the Diocese of Kil- 
 dare, about a year after the suppression of the rebellion, 
 because it is well authenticated ; because the injured 
 parties are known; and because it displays the spiritand 
 
 conduct of a certain faction in striking colours. > 
 
 The celebrated Father Franks, a parish priest of that 
 diocese, kept himself for a long time upon such good 
 terms with the neighbouring Orangemen, that he ac- 
 quired the name of the Orange Priest. At length, by 
 some means or other, he became obnoxious to them, 
 and a party of them resolved to take summary vengeance 
 of him. The priest's servant, seeing them approach 
 to the house, and suspecting their design, met them at 
 the door with a large quantity of whiskey, and kept 
 plying them with glass after glass till he found means to 
 effect his escape. Missing the jobject of their ven- 
 geance, these ruffians attacked a poor tailor who hap- 
 pened to be at work for the priest, and left him bleed- 
 iug on the floor. Then, breaking into another room, 
 they discovered the Rev. Mr. Barry, coadjutor to F. 
 Franks, whom they instantly charged with having been 
 concerned in the rebellion. It was an easy matter for 
 him to refute this accusation, as he was in Portugal at
 
 441 
 
 the time when it took place, and as he had been but 
 four months in Ireland. Upon this the leader of the 
 band advancing, placed his hand on the young clergy- 
 man's head, pronouncing at the same time this sentence : 
 " As a rebel I acquit you: as a priest I condemn you. 
 
 " Fall to, boys." Instantly every sword is raised 
 
 against Mr. Barry. But as he was young and active, 
 and they enfeebled by liquor, and especially as the 
 room was too low and narrow to allow play for their 
 swords, after receiving several severe gashes, he con- 
 trived to rush down the stairs and out of the house, by 
 which means he saved his life. 
 
 (P. 226.) Among other pious frauds of the Bible 
 Societies in Ireland, in order to trick the Catholic inha- 
 bitants out of their religion, is that of endeavouring to 
 persuade them that their own Popes and most emi- 
 nent divines advise them to lay aside their Catechisms, 
 turn a deaf ear to their pastors, and hammer their own 
 religion out of the several books of the Bible. For this 
 purpose they have published and circulated among the 
 Catholic poor a garbled and corrupt translation of a 
 letter from Pope Pius VI. to Martini of Florence, in 
 commendation of his translation of the Scriptures into 
 Italian. But they have taken care to suppress the pas- 
 sages in which his Holiness enforces the rules of the 
 Index, and praises the work for having notes to ex- 
 plain difficult passages conformably to the doctrine of 
 the Holy Fathers : in fact, it consists of 23 quarto vols. 
 The tract in question, which, together with the cor- 
 rupt copy of the Pope's letter, contains also some letters 
 from German Jansenists, who are described as being 
 good Catholics, was circulated at Cork two months 
 alio, when 1 was in that city. Printed hy A. Paris, 
 Took's-court, London, for the Religious Tract Society, 
 Price '!-. K<l. per 100,
 
 442 
 
 (P. 284.) In the opinion of enlightened and expe- 
 rienced Prelates and Pastors with whom I have con- 
 versed, nothing has operated more fatally towards 
 damping, ifnot extinguishing that spirit of religion and 
 piety for which Irish Catholics were heretofore so re- 
 markable, as the initiation of a great number of them 
 into the mysteries of Freemasonry. Such being its 
 effect, it is with good reason, then, that the institution 
 itself has been condemned by Benedict XI V. and other 
 Pontiffs, and that the members of it are required, in 
 Ireland, to renounce it, as the condition of their being 
 admitted to the sacraments. I am aware that the free- 
 masonry of most (though not of all) of our British 
 lodges is innocent, compared with that of the lodges on 
 the continent ; and that, on this account, the very 
 masters of the former are derided by the foreign adepts 
 of the Scotch, the Rosicrucian, and the Kadosh 
 knights, and particularly by the Illuminati, as "mere 
 " children, delighted with trappings, and ignorant of 
 " the real secrets of their fraternity (1)." Still I main- 
 tain, that even this mummery, (a mummery more con- 
 temptible than the buffoonery of a masquerade, and 
 more fabulous than the Arabian Nights Entertainments,) 
 is inimical to religion and morality. For what can be 
 more impious than the very terms of those horrid exe- 
 cratory oaths which (with drawn swords presented 
 to the breast) the three degrees of British Masons re- 
 spectively take ? What more offensive to God, than to 
 swear to keep secret that which it may be necessary, 
 for the cause of religion or of society, in short, for our 
 own or our fellow creatures' sake, to make known to 
 those who may prevent an impending evil I What 
 
 (i) Philo, alias Baron Knigge, in bis Letter to Spartacus, alias 
 Weishaupt, as quoted by Baruell. Memoirs of Jacobinism.
 
 443 
 
 more profane, than to invoke the Almighty at all 
 on so frivolous a thing as Freemasonry is ? I say no- 
 thing of the other formularies and ceremonies of the 
 craft, which evidently point to heterodoxy, and even to 
 Deism. To speak now of the boasted morality, that is 
 to say, of the alledged philanthropy of masonry. 
 Christianity teaches us that there is an order as well as 
 a. duty of Universal Charity. We are bound, indeed, to 
 love all mankind, and to assist them to the best of our 
 power ; but the bond: of charity are incontestably 
 stronger and closer, which unite us with some persons, 
 than those which unite us with others ; and unable as we 
 are to relieve our fellow creatures, we must first afford 
 relief to our parents, if they stand in need of it ; then to 
 wife, husband, and children ; next to our fellow Christi- 
 ans and countrymen ; with a view, at the same time, to 
 their respective deserts. Again, by tin: laws of nature 
 and of God, there are and must be gradations in society. 
 The father must be the head of his family; the prince, 
 pastor, or magistrate, is necessarily superior to those 
 over whom he is placed for their common happiness. 
 Now all these primary laws of God and of man, Free- 
 masonry tends to confound and subvert. Tims, for ex- 
 ample, if, being a member of the fraternity, some perfi- 
 dious Algerinc, or blood-stained Jacobin or Orangeman, 
 were to perform his apish tricks to my eyes, and whisper 
 his Shibboleth in my cars, 1 should be obliged to give 
 him the money in my poek< i, which I had destined for 
 the deserving widow and helpless orphans, my next door 
 
 neighbours. 1 say nothing of the loss of time, money, 
 
 and health, which the requisite attendance at these secret 
 invsterics, with their consequent compotations, draws 
 after ii, and I shall conclude w ith observing, that, more 
 than oin respectable acquaintance of mine, whom vouth- 
 iul cut io-ily heretofore seduced into the engagements 
 'it freemasonry, has eoininccd me l>v his countenance 
 *nd his lijuguaire that, he heartily repented of them. 
 IT MS.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 P<;ge 45 line 17, for remarkable, r. remarjtably, 
 83 1, for it, read them. 
 94 note I. i. for these, r. there. 
 J33 line 12, for Brilains, r. Britons. 
 354 5, for unreasonableness, 1. unstusoJiablenesa. 
 356 5, after finish, add it. 
 a6a 5, for the, r. its. 
 274 note for 1807 r. 1787. 
 371 line 19, for uninterested r. uninstructed. 
 Ibid, note for Hospital, r. School in Dublin, 
 304 line 4, for sprouts, r. sprout. 
 317 * 2 for or, r. nor. 
 325 5, before mentioned, add J. 
 328 13, for humble, r. original. 
 330 18, before now, r. not. 
 
 337 """ x 7 f r judicandam, r. judicandum. 
 
 338 13, for J. TT. r. T. W. 
 346 8, for pages, r. /iraes. 
 
 348 5, for nefarious, r. multifarious. 
 
 364 8, for flexible, r. inflexible. 
 
 373 "* IO > ' or written, r. unwritten. 
 
 378 15, for 1663, r 1683* 
 
 413 24, Dele yet. 
 
 414 N. 1, 1. 3, for vigour r. rigour. 
 
 427 line 15, iox effectual, x. effectually. 
 
 Printed by Keatinc, Brown, and Co. 
 38, Duke-Street, Grosvenor-Sc|uare.
 
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