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With regard to the living of 600l. a-year, three-tenths of 600l. being 180l., the 6007. is at once reduced to 420l. Take from this 420l. one-sixth, or 70l., the sum will be further brought down to 350l. The 6d. in the pound for collection will make further deduction of 81. 158., so that the 6007. becomes 341l. 58. One might suppose that here the process of exhaustion upon the 600l. would be itself exhausted, but the fact is otherwise. Under the Church Temporalities Act, this living of 600l. will be further liable to a reduction of 24 per cent., which, amounting to 87. 10s., gives a further squeeze to the late 600l., and out it comes just 3327. 158. at last. Now suppose, said Sir R. Peel, that the incumbent of such a living should, with a view to a future provision for his family, insure his life, paying 40l. a-year for that purpose, and suppose he required a curate to assist him in the discharge of his duties, the stipend of that curate being 757. a-year,--what would the House say to the surplus emoluments of such a clergyman?

The gross amount of the tithes payable to parochial incumbents was shewn by Sir R. Peel to be 507,3671. In the first place, three-tenths of this sum, or 152,7007. being deducted, there remain but 354,6671. The 6d. in the pound for collection amounts to 8,8727., which further reduces the sum to 345,7951. Deduct again one-sixth for the change in the corn averages, which is 57,632l., and the amount of tithe payable to parochial incumbents will, under this process of exhaustion, be reduced from 507,3671. to 288,1637. To this sum of 288,1631., however, is to be added the value of glebes, which Lord Morpeth had estimated at 60,000l., but which Sir R. Peel said he believed might be taken to be as much as 76,7787., which, together with the ministers' money, which amounts to 12,8387., gives as the total provision for the parochial clergy, 377,7791.

After comparing this sum with the statements of Dr. Doyle, of Mr. Hume, of Mr. Ward, and of Lord Althorp,-Sir R. Peel triumphantly asked the majority of the House how they came to pledge themselves that there was, that there must be, a surplus.

We have left ourselves no room to notice the elaborate and striking description which Sir R. Peel gave of the actual condition of the protestant establishment in Ireland, with the view of further demonstrating the absurdity of talking about a surplus." Some features of it, however, are too remarkable to be passed over even in this hasty summary. He shewed that there are 1385 benefices in Ireland; that in 264 of these there are fewer than fifty protestants, and in the remainder, namely, 1121, more than fifty. Divide the amount of tithe (288,1637.) by this number (1121), and it appears that the average amount of tithe for each benefice throughout Ireland, with more than fifty protestants, will be only 2567. a-year. Again, there are 2405 parishes in Ireland, of which 860, according to Lord Morpeth, contain less than fifty pro-' testants, while the remainder, 1545, contain more. Even supposing these 860 parishes to be put into Lord Morpeth's spiritual schedule A, which his lord-' ship proposes, calling them facetiously "feeders of his reserve," still there will be on an average only 1881. a-year for each of the 1545 parishes saved,— notwithstanding all Lord Morpeth's feeding.

To sum up Sir R. Peel's description in a few words, there are 961 benefices in Ireland with more than 100 protestants in each, and 1165 with a church in each, some having two churches. There are in all 1383 churches in Ireland; so that if each of these were served by an incumbent with 2207. a-year, the funds necessary would be 304,260l., which is more than the amount of tithe.

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INCREASE OF PROTESTANTISM IN IRELAND.

(From Mr. Sergeant Jackson's Speech,—Thursday, July 23.)

'The report, such as it was, did contain some statements which demonstrated that a great improvement had taken place in the condition of the Protestant population of Ireland. Taking first the diocese of Ardfert, he found that in

the two periods mentioned in the report of 1831 and 1834 the state of the Protestant population in different parishes was as follows:

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The hon. and learned gentleman here stated that the spread of the Protestant religion in Ireland had been greatly impeded at the time of the first introduction of the reformed religion, by the appointment to benefices of men ignorant of the native language, and incapable fitly to discharge their important duties. A great change, however, had taken place in this respect, and the result had been, an increase of the Protestant population in the various dioceses through Ireland from 1831 to 1834. The hon. and learned gentleman here read the following statement of the Protestant population in various parishes in the dioceses of Kilmore, Meath, Armagh, Leighlin, and Tuam :

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With regard to the parish of Achil, he would mention the system of persecution which had been put in practice against a Protestant clergyman, who went there for the purpose of attending to the discharge of his spiritual duties. He established several schools in the parish, and spent upwards of 1,500l. in making improvements there, in founding a dispensary, and in providing the people with clothing. Yet he was denounced from the altar by the Roman Catholic priests; the children who went to his schools were attacked, and the clergyman himself was literally hunted out of the place. He would now let the house hear the language in which the Roman Catholic Archbishop spoke of these meritorious exertions on behalf of this amiable Protestant clergyman:

It is in that island (Achil) that the demon of fanaticism and religious rancour has fixed, as if his last resting place. Driven from the interior of the country, through the wise forbearance of its inhabitants, who are resolved at last to laugh at itinerant readers, and not to lend themselves to schemes of delusion, in order to prolong the lingering dominion of a falling establishment, that was so long the bane of the country, it takes up its citadel in the island of Achil, ere it utterly disappears from the land.' Good God! was it a proof of religious rancour to found schools for the education of the people where, none before existed? Was it the spirit of religious rancour' which induced this benevolent person to expend large sums of money in providing his destitute fellow creatures with food, clothing, and medicine, and furnishing them with the means of employment? Was not the hon. member for Middlesex warranted in saying, that he looked upon the present measure, not as all that was justly due, but only as an instalment of 3s. 4d. Here we had a prelate of the Roman Catholic church avowing the doctrine that the Protestant church was to be rooted out of the land."

DR. MURRAY.-DENS'S THEOLOGY.

DR. MURRAY, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, has published, in the Dublin Evening Post, the letter subjoined, addressed to Lord Melbourne:

"To the Right Hon. Viscount Melbourne, &c.

"MY LORD, I would hardly venture to claim one moment of that time which is so valuable to the public, if the subject on which I presume to address your lordship, though in a great degree personal to myself, did not acquire some importance by its reference to a measure of much public interest. It appears, my lord, that an attempt has been made to injure, through me, an institution of great value-I mean the commission which his Majesty's government has so wisely established for the purpose of promoting in Ireland a system of national education. With this view, if I can credit the public journals, a statement has been made in your lordship's house of parliament, attributing to me certain doctrines contained in a theological work of Dens, on the ground that I directed the publication of that work, and appointed it as a text-book for the conferences of the Catholic clergy. What was really said on that occasion I have no means of knowing, and, perhaps, have no right to inquire; but I distinctly aver, that those imputations, from whatever quarter they may have found their way into the newspapers, are wholly devoid of any foundation in fact. I do not entertain the doctrines thus attributed to me; my solemn oath attests the contrary. I did not direct the work of Dens to be published; it was undertaken by a respectable bookseller, as a speculation in trade, entirely at his own risk, as a work which comprises a large mass of very valuable matter, though containing, too, some obsolete opinions, wholly unconnected with any article of Catholic faith, and which opinions it was known that hardly any one at the present day would think of defending. Finally, I did not make the text-book for our theological conferences; for, on such occasions, we have no such book, if by this expression we are to understand the work of any writer whose opinions (when not already defined by the church, as articles of faith) the clergy are required, or in any manner whatever expected to maintain. In fact, our clergy are too well instructed to have the least notion of submitting to such a restriction. The questions proposed in conference are brought forward for the very purpose of being freely discussed on their own merits; and the decisions which, after due examination, are approved of, rest entirely not on the individual opinions of this writer, or of that, but on those arguments which seem best calculated to carry conviction to the mind. The opinions of Dens regarding the right of temporal states to compel their subjects, by confiscation and other punishments, to embrace religious doctrines of which their conscience could not approve, were unfortunately too prevalent throughout Europe at the time he lived; and I must add, nowhere more prevalent than where the reformation was established. And why are the Catholics of Ireland now forced, by this unprovoked taunt, to remember that those desolating opinions were but too deeply imbibed, and too cruelly acted on by their Protestant rulers, during those centuries of religious persecution, from which they are but just recovering, and the horrors of which they are desirous to forget? Blessed be God! those doctrines are now little more than the record of bygone intolerance. They are yielding everywhere to that better and more scriptural spirit of mutual forbearance which has grown up and is spreading through all Christian communities; and they seem to have found almost their last resting-place in the minds of those misguided, though otherwise (let me hope) respectable individuals, who lately exhibited such a miserable display of fanaticism in Exeter Hall, and a few (let me again hope,) very few fiery zealots, who have allowed themselves to be so far blinded by passion as to participate in their anti-social opinions. As to the Irish Catholics, their doctrine on this subject is thus solemnly attested :- 'I, A. B., swear that I do abjure, condemn, and detest, as unchristian and impious, VOL. VIII-August, 1835. 2 D

the principle that it is lawful to murder, destroy, or in anywise injure any person whatsoever, for or under the pretence of being a heretic.'

"I have the honour to be, with the most profound respect, my Lord, your Lordship's faithful humble servant, "D. MURRAY." Mountjoy-square, Dublin, July 2.

A PRACTICAL SPECIMEN OF ROMANIST TOLERATION.

1. A REFUGE FOR PROTESTANTS, IN THE PARISH OF KILMŒGUE, CO. KILDARE. In many parts of Ireland, protestants dare not declare themselves such but at the risk of much persecution, and oftentimes assassination. They have, therefore, been obliged, of late, to renounce their religion, or to emigrate. After very painful contemplation of the frequent adoption of one or other of these alternatives, the Rev. Arthur John Preston, incumbent of the parish of Kilmogue, in the county of Kildare, has, with the concurrence of the neighbouring landlords, established in his parish a colony of protestants, who flock to him from every direction. Seven years ago he found there a congregation of six persons; he now reports the census of protestants in his parish, five hundred and twenty, and these, individually, most respectable characters.

Considering the site peculiarly eligible, he has, within a few months, commenced building a village in the centre of the colony; the landlord (Sir Gerald Aylmer) giving an acre of land rent free, with each house leased for twentyone years, or for the lives of the Princess Victoria and Prince George of Cumberland. The houses are built two stories high. The tenants are obliged to meet full half the expense of the building; that is, walls, joists, doors, and window cases are found and fixed for them; but the slating, glazing, carpenters' and plasterers' work, they themselves must supply.

By this arrangement the funds are spared, and not merely paupers, but persons able and willing to help themselves, are protected. Many truly respectable candidates wait anxiously for this protected accommodation, and the work is rapidly proceeding through Mr. Preston's indefatigable exertions, aided by donations and subscriptions.

2.-EXTRACTS FROM MR. PRESTON'S LEtters.

(To be continued.)

Ir may not be amiss to give you, for the information of your English friends, some account of the sufferings which we have endured for the last three years in this parish.

Seven years ago, as I mentioned before, I had a congregation of but six persons. Every thing was under the influence of the priest; none dare dispute his sovereignty-in the very centre of a popish country, inhabited by demi-savages, and under the influence of the deadliest of despots, in the neighbourhood of the college of Maynooth and within but a few miles of the Jesuits' establishment of Clongarve's wood. I knew well I should earn for myself the hostility of the priest. I was prepared for it, and sorely I felt his iron hand. Many a time have I and my poor protestants been the subjects of his Sunday discourse,-held up by him to a fierce and cruel people in the most inviduous manner, the subjects of vituperation, the almost victims of assassination. Oh, if English protestants knew but the hundredth part of our sufferings, they would not forsake us. Would you believe, that on a Sunday three Roman catholic priests, with an immense mob at their back, came to the church door just as the service had concluded, and as the congregation were leaving the church, yelling in the most terrific manner, to the no small terror of the poor people, who had assembled there for the worship of their Maker? Would you believe that these same priests desired their flock not to deal with, to buy from, or sell to, any protestant? Would you believe that there were persons paid nine shillings a week each for standing in markets, and before the

doors of the shops, to prevent others who were disposed to sell their goods to protestants from so doing; and that, in consequence, starvation nearly ensued ? Had it not been for the prompt assistance of Government in sending a military and police force to escort provisions, bought privately in a distant market town, many would have absolutely died of hunger; as it was, two or three fainted from excess of weakness brought on by want of food.

I pledge myself to the truth of this, as of every other fact which I have stated; that, at the very time when our distress was at its height, the priests rode up to the poor people's doors, and asked them in the most insulting manner, "Had they plenty to eat?"-" Was the mutton done ?"—" How much longer will your provisions last?"-" We hope you are not hungry;" and such like expressions; thus adding insult to injuries, which they were instrumental in originating. But this is not all. Those who had the temerity to go any distance for provisions, (and some went upwards of twenty miles for them,) were met on the roads, on their return, and their horses destroyed, cars broken, and provisions trampled under foot, and the owners obliged to betake themselves to flight. Believe me, your most obliged, A. J. PRESTON.

Rathernan Glebe, June 9th, 1835.

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM THE REV. P. WOODS, CHAPLAIN &c., TO THE ROMAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN.

"In the course of the year 1828, the Most Rev. Dr. Murray laid his commands on me to compile the Priests' Directory for the following year; a request which has since been annually repeated. Now, this Priests' Directory is neither more nor less than a clerical almanack, distinguishing Sundays and festivals from ordinary and week days, and announcing the mass and office for each day throughout the year; it also contains the names of the Catholic bishops throughout the British dominions, and some other information interesting to the clergy. But the calendar is only compiled by order of the Archbishop; and to prevent collision between charitable institutions, and for the greater convenience of the clergy, it is his Grace's wish that the arrangements of the charity sermons and the questions for discussion at the conference should also find a place in the Directory. These are the only authorized portions of that publication; and the printer or myself, or both, may prefix or append any matter we think convenient or useful. Mr. Coyne is not empowered or employed in any way by Dr. Murray to print or publish the Directorythat respectable and worthy individual has hitherto printed and published it in consequence of a private agreement between him and myself. When I was named to compile the Directory, the questions for discussion for Dublin only were prepared by me : every other diocese had its own matter for conference. By a subsequent arrangement, the bishops of the province of Leinster, four in number, agreed to have the same matter discussed, and the same order observed in discussion at their respective conferences. The person who furnished the questions before me was understood to have followed the order. of Antoine; my education at Maynooth gave me a bias in favour of the treatises most familiar to me, and I adopted that of Bailly. The provisional bishops, however, judged it expedient to have a fixed order, and gave the preference to that of Dens. When the time for the publication of the Directory next following this arrangement was at hand, Dr. Murray announced to me that we were to discuss the three treatises on Human Acts, Sins, and Conscience, in the successive conferences of the following year, and that the questions were to be taken in the order of Dens. Some of the clergy had been previously complaining that they did not know whence the questions were taken, and to obviate this difficulty, as well as to avoid being taunted with having set down, for discussion, matter which the priests might consider useless, light, or trifling, I honestly gave in crotchets, at the head of the ques

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