that as tea, sugar, and flour were to be had in the neighbourhood, there would be no excuse for those who were not prepared.

It is however certain, that nothing of affluence or luxury is to be remarked, either in the dwellings or manner of living, among the priests in this part of the country. The poverty of their flocks must render their income both low and uncertain; and the extent of their parishes obliges them to make frequent journeys over bog and mountain, at all hours of the day and night, exposed to the changes of this most changeable climate, besides the contagion of many a fatal disease. In fact, although my experience will by no means justify the representations which have been held out, and which I had myself, at one time, been led to believe, of their being a most laborious, zealous, self-denying body of men; yet, I will readily acknowledge them to be (some gross instances of drunkenness excepted), of decent, moral character; ignorant and bigotted indeed, but apparently bent rather on preserving inviolate the pale of their own communion, than on bringing over any large accession of converts from the outposts of heresy.

A.

LETTER XVI.

MARCH.

YOUR observations on the priesthood of the Roman catholic church are strikingly just, and many of them illustrated by circumstances of daily occurrence in this country. They laid claim to a higher degree of personal importance than the ministers of any other religion, when they made the validity of the services and sacraments of their church dependent upon the character of the officiating priest. But they overshot their mark: and, as their morals were not equal to such high pretensions, the votaries of superstition, while they obey their religious mandates with slavish fear, yet speak of them with a want of respect almost amounting to contempt. And thus it is, that when ambition, ignorance, and superstition combine to give an undue preponderance to one scale, the common sense of mankind is thrown into the other, and sets the balance right again.

"Oh! the priest is in his cups," is a common

expression with them, and often unaccompanied by any extenuating sentence. "Sure we know very well that he wants to keep our children from school because he'd like to be the only one that can read and write, and then he'd have his own way entirely" was the observation of a poor tenant, when a dispute upon the school-house was the subject of conversation.

The magnitude of the dues of the church, and the severity with which they are exacted, is a topic on which they do not scruple to express their sentiments. The difficulty of paying these is still further increased, as no credit is generally allowed. The money must be collected to the utmost farthing before the service is performed. It is scarcely possible to blame the priest, who depends on these fees for his maintenance, and who is too well acquainted with the character of his flock to put any faith in their promises of future payment; yet, the consequences of such severity are sometimes very distressing. An instance of this has lately occurred on the borders of Cunnemarra.

The son of a man, who had once known better days, being on his death-bed, the priest of the parish was requested to administer the holy viaticum; but his last dues were unpaid, and he positively refused.

The anxious father spread the contents of his purse upon the table, and "Plaze your reverence, take what you will;"-but in vain-the priest was inexorable, and the poor young man died without the last important sacrament, indispensably necessary, as every true catholic believes, to the salvation of the parting soul.

Three years ago, when ribandism flourished in the county of Galway, these dues formed the subject of a clause in the petition of grievances; and to reduce them one half was reported to be the intention of the insurgents. They remain, however, in full force, even in the present times of distress.

A curious case occurred here some years since, in which the civil power, assumed by the Roman catholic clergyman over the property of his neighbour, rather exceeded that allowed to any individual by the law. A chapel, within a hundred yards of the house, was built by the late tenant, but without any grant of the ground. Of course, when the land returned into the hands of the feudal lord, the chapel became his property. It

was natural that he should wish to be relieved from the inconvenience of a catholic place of worship so close to his own door; yet, to deprive his

tenants of a chapel, which they had long been in the habit of attending, without any equivalent, was by no means his intention. He therefore offered to assist liberally in the erection of another chapel, in a more convenient situation; and, by a grant of land, to secure the possession of it to them for ever. These conciliatory offers were embraced with much apparent gratitude. Mass was still performed in the chapel on Sundays; but nothing was finally arranged, and much time was lost in fruitless negotiation. Meanwhile the chapel was converted to its intended purpose, a school-house; but, in order to obtain room, it was necessary to take down the rails of the altar, and the altar itself, which had been previously given by the proprietor to the catholic curate of the parish. It was not until all hope of their removal, by other hands, was at an end, that a catholic carpenter was employed to take them down; and it was not until some of the furniture of the school was in danger, that a lock was placed on the door for its security. Mass was, however, performed as usual; but after a few weeks a report was circulated that it was the intention of the priest to force open the door, instead of sending for the key on the ensuing Sunday. Constables were therefore ordered to be in