What a curse, not alone to him, but to his children, and to society at large! On an evil so palpable, and its long train of sad consequences, it is unnecessary to dwell; nor should I refer to it here, save as an additional illustration of the immense importance of the early religious training of our female poor.

Strictly speaking, education is not the mere imparting of secular knowledge. It is the formation of character. Hence the religious element should largely enter into all education. Happily, on this point, all religious denominations agree. All would have the youthful mind thoroughly imbued with the morality of the gospel. Religion teaches us to worship the Supreme Being, to honour our parents, to give good example to our children, and train them in the way in which they should go, to obey the higher powers, to respect the law, to regard the rights of property, to love our neighbour, to succour the needy, to return good for evil, to be patient under sufferings and poverty, to keep our passions in subjection—in a word, to carry out, in the practice of our lives, the benign precepts of the Christian dispensation.

We have seen how largely religion enters into the educational system of the convent schools; and to this circumstance, in a great measure, must be attributed the strong devotional feeling, and high tone of morality of the women of Ireland.

'It is another tribute justly due to the young women of Ireland,' says Sir John Forbes, to record their singular decorum and modesty of demeanour, and their general propriety of conduct. I do not hesitate for a moment in giving to them decidedly the palm, in these particulars, over the rustic damsels of both England and Scotland."1

But we must not detain our kind conductress. We next enter a portion of the original convent, which has been preserved. In one of the rooms is a fine copy of the life-sized portrait of the venerable foundress, which has already been

1 'Memorandums made in Ireland in the autumn of 1852,' by John Forbes, M.D., F.R.S., Physician to her Majesty's Household, vol. i. p. 103

described. Just one hundred years ago, she built these rooms, for the reception of a religious community-a daring act at the time, when, she tells us, in one of her letters,' she built it as it is, in order not to have it noticed as a convent.' How different now, when all denominations can erect their houses of religious worship, and schools, and other institutions, without fear of molestation, in the open light of day!

We next pass to a house close adjoining the convent-Miss Nagle's asylum. It now accommodates forty aged females, who are comfortably lodged, and boarded, and clothed, and tended by the Sisters, with that affectionate care which religion only can inspire. We are interested by the simple history of some of the inmates. Here is one, who, some years ago, had a respectable shop in the city; but, as time went on, her business declined, and, in her old age she found herself without means or friends: here is one who honourably supported herself by her industry, until she was stricken with sudden blindness: and here is a tall venerable figure, with the snows of more than eighty years upon her head, propped up with pillows, in an easy chair by the fire-side. She has long outlived her generation; she notices not our presence; she is apparently unconscious of all going on around her; her time of departure is evidently close at hand. The kind greeting which the nun has for each, as we pass along, her affectionate inquiries about their ailments, her patient attention to all they have to say, and the interest with which she dilates to us upon their little histories, impress us most pleasingly. No trouble nor expense appears to be spared that can contribute to the comfort of all who are so fortunate as to be received into the asylum. This is evinced by the arrangements of the refectory, and the dormitory with its excellent heating apparatus, and the special chapel for the inmates, where mass is celebrated for them, as many are too aged and infirm to attend the chapel of the

convent.

1 Under date May 13, 1770.

In this convent are eight-and-twenty nuns-ladies who have left their homes and all that the world can bestow, to dwell in obscurity, voluntary poverty, and self-denial, and devote themselves unceasingly to promoting the welfare, temporal and eternal, of their poorer fellow-creatures. As we take our departure, we cannot refrain from uttering an ardent wish, that we had been accompanied in our visit by some of our English fellow subjects, excellent and well-meaning men, but sadly misinformed, who inveigh against convents, and would, if they had the power, banish from these kingdoms institutions which confer such great and lasting benefits on all classes of the community.

The North Presentation convent, at the opposite side of the city, is equally interesting. It numbers about twenty religious, and educates 800 poor girls, of whom 350 are in the infant school-a fine building recently erected for the nuns by a benevolent citizen of Cork, at a cost of 800l.

Of the Presentation order, there are 52 convents in the United Kingdom, of which 51 are in Ireland, and one in Livesey Street, Manchester, opened in 1835.

The great success of the Sisters in the gratuitous education of poor girls may be seen in a visit to any of their convents. In addition to this their main work, the convent of Saint Francis, Cashel, conducts a flourishing certified industrial school, of which a full account will be found in Chapter XVII. The nuns of the Manchester convent devote themselves, 'with admirable zeal and self-sacrifice,' to teaching, in Saint Patrick's schools, in Livesey Street, 475 children, and are among those specially mentioned by her Majesty's Inspector of Schools as successful teachers and trainers of school mistresses. The particulars of all the Presentation convents in the United Kingdom will be found in the chapter 'Statistics of Convents,' further on.

CHAPTER IX.

OBJECTIONS TO CONVENTS.

Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas.

JUVENAL.

BUT it may be said—'No doubt, in convents, such as that just described, there is an unceasing succession of good worksworks of great public usefulness and Christian charity. This is not denied. But are all the inmates happy? Are they free agents? Are they not, in some instances, treated with harshness and caprice? Nay, would not some, if they could, be glad to escape from the convent? And, consequently, ought there not to be a Government, or other, commission, with full powers, to visit all convents, separately examine the nuns, and liberate those who are immured there against their will?'

This opens up a most important branch of our subject; and, if my readers will take the trouble to accompany me to the end of this chapter, I have no doubt whatever that I shall be able to satisfy them, that such apprehensions, as to coercion and durance in the convents of these kingdoms, necessitating measures of State intervention, are wholly without foundation, being simply the result of the gross misrepresentations and misconceptions that extensively prevail.

When a young lady wishes to enter a convent--in the first instance, she consults her confessor; she lays before him the state of her mind; and he, after several interviews, and on full deliberation, decides as to whether her wish is a mere passing impulse of devotional feeling, or a vocation—that is, a call by God to a religious life. If the latter, the young

lady, by her confessor's advice, speaks on the subject to her parents, if she has not already done so, with a view to obtaining their consent. She next sees the Mother Superior of the convent which she desires to enter, confides the matter to her, and obtains from her all the information she may require as to the duties and obligations of the institute. After this, with the approval of the Bishop or his delegate, she enters the convent as a postulant-that is, one who postulates or entreats to be admitted into the order.

The postulant, on entering the convent, assumes a plain black stuff dress and a white muslin cap; and immediately enters on the devotional exercises, and special duties of the institute—for instance, the work of teaching in the schools in the Presentation order, and the visitation and relief of the poor and sick in the congregations of Charity and Mercy. Thus, from the very commencement, she becomes habituated to that which will be the occupation of her whole future life.

After six months' experience as a postulant, if she continues of the same mind, as to which she is questioned by the Bishop at a special private interview, and if she is considered by her superiors a fit subject for admission, she receives the habit and the white veil, at the interesting and solemn ceremony of the Reception. After this she has two years more of probation,1 when, if she still desires to enter the order, as to which she is again privately questioned by the Bishop, one month before the time of profession, and further, if she is still considered a fit subject by the superiors, she is admitted to Profession, when she receives the black veil, and takes the vows."

All this will be better understood by my readers, on perusal of the following extracts from the Rules and Constitutions of the Presentation order :

1 In some orders the time of probation is even longer. In the congregation of the Sœurs de la Charité, it is five years.

2 Ceremonies of Religious Reception and Profession. See Appendix IV.