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ofthe
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LIFE, TIMES, AND CORRESPONDENCE

OP

THE RIGHT EEV. DR. DOYLE,

BISHOP OF KILDARE AND LEIGH UN.

BY

: AVILLIAM JOHN FITZPATRICK, J.P.,
AUTHOR OF "THB LIFE, TIMES, AND CONTEMPORARIES OP LORD CLONCURRY," "LADY MORGAIS ;
HBR CAREER, LIThRAItV AND PERSONAL," &C.

VOL, I,

DUBLIN :
JAMES DUFFY, 7, WELLINGTON-QUAY,
AND
LONDON: 22, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1861.

PREFACE.

It has often been regi-etted that no life of the illustrious
" J.K.L.," written with full advantage of access to his private
papers, and illustrated by his correspondence, should exist.
Ireland has been reproached for permitting this debt to his
memory to remain for a quarter of a century unpaid. But the
apathy in Dr. Doyle's case is by no means exceptional. Other
great and good men who toiled for national regeneration, have
met with similar ingratitude. In most countries the apotheosis
of genius and worth does not fully take place until after death ;
but impulsive Ireland too often deifies its great men in their
hfetime, and, when they can no longer work, consigns them
simultaneously to the grave and to oblivion. Exceptions could of
course be cited, but the rule unfortunately remains on record to
reproach us. Lord Monteagle, in adverting to the unembalmed
state of Da. Doyle's memory, thus eloquently alludes to the
growth of this ungenerous apathy: "Your observation is quite
true respecting the rapid growth of forgetfulness in Ireland,
which, like the ivy that covers our ancient monuments, concealing
their architectural beauty, hides also the virtuous actions of
many of our best men. The noble and distinguished men who
laboured with Grattan in forming our constitution are all for
gotten ; Grattan himself but slightly remembered ; Plunket is
almost unknown ; and, in passing through Waterford the other
day, I was unable to find even a tablet bearing the honoured
name of Newport. This is very sad ; for the want of a feeling
of active and enduring gratitude deprives us of those moral ex
amples which would raise and dignify our country, and would
exalt and improve the present generation."
Mr. O'Eegan of the Lish bar, writing in 1817, bemoans that
" of a country so renowned for a continued succession of illus
trious men, fewer monuments are preserved in Ireland than in
any other nation. The patriotism of literature, which elevates
the character of a people, has devoted little of its labours to this

IV PEEFACB.
department  What records have we of those who
flourished for the last fifty years, the most memorable period of
our history ? Where then — in what archives are deposited the
monuments of om- illustrious dead ? Where are to be found any
traces of Anthony Malone, of Lord Perry, or of our late Demos
thenes—Lord Avonmore ? Where are their works, their words,
and actions preserved ? They are nearly gone ! A Flood with
aU his Pindaric fire, a Burgh whose tongue was persuasion-; and
the long roll of great names, are nearly now no more — Oinnes hi
ignotis periere mortihus."
During the interval — approaching to half-a-century — which
has since elapsed, something has been done — but unhappily too
little — to correct the evil. Thirteen years ago the late Thomas
Davis in regretting reproachfully that the Catholic Bishop Doyle
and the Protestant Bishop Berldey should have no memoirs, re
marked that " until lately — with the exception of Ware's and
Harris's notices of our eminent churchmen and authors, and
Ej'an's dull and dispiriting ' Worthies,' and some fugitive sketches
in old periodicals — we had nothing of biography to turn to in the
absence of a history." " Besides its right to precedence as a
study," he continues, " biography may claim, above history, a
more concentfative interest, and almost an equal influence in
teaching philosophy by example. Of all the prose writings of the
ancients the most popular have been Plutarch's Lives and the
autobiography of the Jew, Flavius Josephus. And the great
modern masters of fiction have rightly regarded this deep human
interest in a single life as the prime source of attraction in the
drama and in romance."
Davis bemoaned that of the early Fathers and Missionaries of
the Irish Church — a numerous and glorious host — we have no
popular histories, and that our accounts of the great Irishmen of
the middle and subsequent ages were few and most unsatisfactory.
" The influence on the young mind of Ireland of such books,"
he adds, " would be incalculably great. Boys who read of their
own will, as most Irish boys do, read intently. They build and
plant with Eobinson Crusoe ; they plot and re-plot with Baron
Trenck ; they are edified and instructed with Sandford and Mer
ton ; they are loyalists with Falkland, and patriots with Lord

PBEFACE. V
Edward. The writer of books popular among boys may calculate
on revolutionizing a country at the outside in thirty years."
Davis also indicated the tendency whicli such books would possess
to teach Ireland self-respect and self-reliance: "But it would
have another efl'ect. It would save our men — our speakers and
writers — from the constantly recurring disgrace of quoting foreign
names as .illustrative of patriotism, acquirement, or virtue. It
would furnish them with accounts of Irish worthies as honest as
Aristides, as pure as Scipio, as wise as Fabius, as brave as Caesar,
as eloquent as Tully. It would save them the labour and the
seeming pedantry of flying for ever to Greece and Eome for their
examples and instances. This second advantage would be hardly
inferior to the first. It would create Irish synonymes for every
virtue and every endowment."
" From generation to generation," he indignantly concluded,
" the weeds and briars of negligence, fed on the damps aud dark
ness of night, have been suffered to rankle about the graves of
our great predecessors. Let a general clearance be proclaimed,
and let all the eai-nest and honest among the living join in justifi
cation of all the brave and good among the dead."
The thinkers of all creeds and parties hold the same views.
Monsignor Meagher writes : "Alas ! how unjust has not Catholic
Ireland shown herself to the memory of her great men. How
pecuharly ungrateful to the noble ecclesiastics that have shed
their lights of genius and piety over her sufferings 
Since the revival of learning in the West, it does not appear that
contemporaneous biography has enriched its stores by the addi
tion of more than one or two solitary volumes worth remem
bering, compiled to record the acts and elucidate the character
of Irish ecclesiastics. We know but little that is satisfactory
of our churchmen who preceded the invention of the press, and
less, if possible, of those who have flourished subsequently. The
ravages of time and the fury of persecution may furnish some
thing like apology for the little that we know of the former ; but
for forgetfulness of the latter we have nothing to plead save in
gratitude or sloth."
The man has not yet lived who toiled with more activity, disr
interestedness, and success to promote civil and rehgious liberty.

VI PKEFACE.
and national amelioration generally than De. Doyle ; and after
the instances of apathy of which the reader has just been re
minded, it is hardly surprising that the Prelate's many gifted
friends should have allowed a quarter of a century to pass away
without making any effort to perpetuate his fame, and place Upon
record, in a fitting manner, the valuable services conferred by him
on their country and religion. Every year that has elapsed since
the Bishop's demise has tended to diminish the materials for con
structing his life-history. He left behind him men who, from
their high intellectual attainments and intimate knowledge of his
character, could have done justice to such a work ; but from
the survivors of this favoured few I was able to receive no more
satisfactory reason, as to why there had been no effort made to
embalm the memory of the illustrious dead, than that they had
neither courage nor leisure to undertake the laborious task of
doing full justice to a subject so important and exalted.
Finding that no one more competent was likely to become the
biographer of De. Doyle, observing that the available materials,
both oral and documental, were every year becoming less, I at
length determined, though not without dif&dence, to apply at once
the utmost of my ability and the entire of my leisure to the
task of chronicling his important career, of eliciting from his sur
viving friends such personal recollections as were calculated to
tlirow light upon it, and of collecting, for the first time, his volu
minous private correspondence. This duty necessitated so heavy
an amount of labour, study, and research, that were it not for the
frequently expressed encouragement to " go on and prosper" from
some of the most gifted and exalted among the admirers of De.
Doyle, I should probably, in a moment of exhaustion, bave relin
quished tbe task.
Many years ago I communicated the design I had formed to
the late Eight Eev. Dr. Haly, and received from him great help
and encouragement. I then put myself in communication with
the surviving correspondents of De. Doyle, and also with the
executors of his deceased friends. But death having been busy
among the fornier, delays and difficulties frequently intervened.
To trace the executors or representatives of such persons has
often cost me, in each case, half-a-dozen letters, to say nothino- of

PEEFAOE. Vll
oral inquiry ; and when at last discovered, a long correspondence
has not unfrequently preceded the actual attainment of the desired
papers. My next step was to elicit the personal recollections of those
who knew De. Doyle intimately, or who had long been attentive
observers of his life. I unlocked the various depositories of the
Bishop's confidence — an object which required personal inter
views, often not attainable under a journey of one hundred miles.
Those interviews I made it my business to obtain abundantly for
at least two years before I commenced weaving my materials into
shape. Of all such oral communications I made careful notes at
the time ; and during the six years which have elapsed since this
record was begun I am sadly reminded, on referring to it, that
many of my informants have passed into eternity. A selection
from this information, communicated with honest unreserve by
exclusive sources, I have found of use in lending an additional
zest, authenticity, and freshness to my narrative. It has served to
impart a life-like vividness and attitude to the principal figure, which
I trust cannot fail to render it recognized and welcomed by old,
admiring friends. This mode of biography gives not only a history
of De. Doyle's visible progress through the world and of his pub
lications, but a view of his mind in his letters and conversations.
De. Doyle's public life will be found, I trust, honestly and
accurately followed. I have not felt justified in using any portion
of the multifarious data in my reach without duly digesting it,
and verifying the facts by careful collation. The time necessarily
consumed in examining every column of the newspaper files in
which Dk. Doyle's letters, pastorals, sermons, and speeches ap
peared throughout a lengthened period, and the transcriptions
which perpetuaUy retarded my progress, will serve, I trust, as
an apology for the non-appearance of my work at a period closer
to the date of its original announcement.
I have endeavoured with earnestness, if not ability, to paint
De. Doyle's character in all its gi-and proportions, and to set it in
a frame-work of circumjacent history, without which the picture
could not be properly appreciated. The reader will thus be able
to see the difficulties he overcame, and the triumphs which he so
powerfully contributed, to achieve.

viii PEEFAOE.
My wish to arrange in perfect chronological sequence the
voluminous and sometimes confused mass of materials, and to
form, from the various sources at my command, a literary mosaic
calculated to please the public eye, demanded a constant steadi
ness of attention which, I hope, may not have caused me to make
any oversights regarding matters of greater importance, I am
fond of quotation ; and, whenever possible, I have made the
Bishop and his friends tell the tale. Some critics have already
decried this style of composition as " the paste-and- scissors sys
tem." But I need hardly remind them that it is far easier to
build a wall of lime and stone than to form a mosaic on the same
scale. In the former case you can hew the stone to your own
liking, but in the latter you must make the pieces, which have
been cut according to the caprice of others, fit artistically.
From strict chronological order in the arrangement of mate
rials I have sometimes, though rarely, deviated. Small scraps of
retrospective autobiographical matter, suggested by the thought of
the moment, are occasionally found scattered digressively through
his voluminous writings. These I have extracted, and, whenever
their presence has seemed well-timed, I have welded them into
the narrative.
The Life of De. Doyle is probably one of the last memoirs
illustrated by correspondence, after the manner of Boswell and
Lockhart, which the public will have the pleasure of reading.
For the last twenty years there have been few letters interchanged
such as one used to receive. The penny postage has multiplied
the number of notes five thousand fold, but quite put an end
to letter- writing. " When an epistle cost a shilling," observes a
writer, " people used to make it worth a guinea ; now that it costs-
a penny, it is seldom worth a cent."
In saying so much of my own labours I probably expose myself
to the charge of egotism ; but my object in doing so has been to
exonerate myself from the still more humiliating accusation of
presumption, in having undertaken to discharge a task which, ac^
cording to the opinion of some persons, should only be attempted
by a churchman. That the most intricate questions of ecclesias
tical polity are interwoven with the Life of Bishop Doyle I ani
aware. But I have yet to learn that they are beyond the power

PEEFAOE. IX
of a layman to grasp and unravel. Few wiU deny that in one
point of view, at least, such a work as the present would be dis
charged with more efficiency by a laic than a Priest. No Catholic
Clergyman could by possibility find leisure to devote a tithe of the
time to that laborious research and painstaking inquiry which I
have felt it my duty to bestow upon this book. Besides, it must
be remembered that De. Doyle's hfe being intensely political, it
is the province of a layman rather than of a Priest to trace and
describe it.
But there is another circumstance which tends to show that
a layman has some advantages over a Priest, in seeking the
public favour in a work of this character. " The Priest who
defends religion," says the Count le Maistre, " does his duty,
no doubt ; but, in frivolous «yes, he appears to defend his own
cause ; and, although his good faith be equal to our own, every
observer may have often perceived that the unbelieving mistrust
less the man of the world, and allow themselves to be approached
by him, not unfrequently, without the least repugnance."
I may further add, that, no doubt, in many estimations it will
be considered desirable that the historian should not be com
mitted to the jealousies, or to the circumscribed and technical
views which are apt to grow up in all professions.
Theological opinions catch very much the hue of the time ;
for twenty or thirty years after the French Eevolution Gallican
views shone prominently in the writings of Irish ecclesiastics,
and J. K. L. did not escape the tone of the day.
It, however, should not be inferred that Dr. Doyle, if now
living, would hold some of the views to which thirty or forty
years ago he gave expression. The Bishop in presenting to the
present Earl of Derby, on the 17th of January, 1831, a copy of his
letter on the formation of a National Literary Institute (published
only eighteen months previously), tells him to refer the work to
the period of its composition, " since when the situation of this
country, and the opinions, circumstances, and almost the charac
ters of many individuals have undergone a considerable change."
Again, in 1832, when asked, before Mr. Stanley's Tithe Com
mittee, by the present Lord Chief Justice Lefroy, had he not
expressed different opinions respecting the eilect of Emancipation

X PEEFAOE.
in 1825, he replied : " It might be so, but tempora mutantur
et nos mutamwr in illis."
I cannot conclude without publicly offering my acknowledg
ments to those who have aided this work. From the present
respected Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin I have received many
valuable letters addressed by statesmen and politicians to his
illustrious kinsman, De. Doyle. The Most Eev. Dr. CuUen has
kindly given me several letters addressed by De. Doyle to the
late Archbishop Murray. Dr. Howlett, grand-nephew of the
Bishop, has placed at my disposal a mass of interesting family
papers. From the Eight Hon. the Earl of Derby, the Eight
Hon. the Earl of EUesmere, the Eight Hon. the Earl of Damley,
the Hon. Henry Parnell, executor of the late Lord Congleton ;
the Lord Bishop of Saldes, the Very Eev. Dr. Donovan, Domestic
Prelate to the late Pope ; the Very Eev. and Ven. John Sinclair,
Archdeacon of Middlesex (executor of the late Eight Hon. Sir J.
Sinclair) ; the Very Eev. Monsignor Yore, V.G., the Very Eev.
Dr. Taylor, Peter Blake, Esq., J.P., executor of the late Right
Hon. A. E. Blake ; John D'Alton, Esq., the Eev. James Maher
(executor of the Eight Eev. Dr. Doyle) ; Henry Lambert, Esq.,
D.L., WUUam Stanley, Esq., and the late Eneas MacDonnell,
Esq., I have received numerous important documents. I may
also mention in the same category the Eight Eev. Bishop UUa-
thorne, the Very Eev. Monsignor Meagher, V.G., the Eev. Dr.
Esmonde, the Eev. Dr. Cahill, Eev. Dr. Furlong, James O'Grady,
Esq., LL.D., Michael Staunton, Esq., Eev. E. J. M'Ghee, Rev.
Dr. WUls, the nieces of Dr. Doyle, W. N. Hancock, Esq., LL.D.,
Rev. J. Delany, P.P., the Monks at TuUow, and se-reral Nuns
whose names I am not at liberty to mention.
General Sir T. Larcom had the kindness to make a search,
from 1819 to 1834, among the letters preserved in the Chief
Secretary's Ofiice, Dublin Castle. The Earl of Besborough, the
Earl of Donoughmore, and the Eight Hon. E. Cardwell, have been
equally courteous and painstaking. Mr. Sergeant BeUasis exa
mined the papers of the late John, Earl of Shrewsbury ; and I am
also indebted in a simUar way to the Most Eev. Archbishop
Leahy, his Eminence Cardinal Wiseman, the Eight Eev. Dr.
Delany, The Knight of Kerry, Lady HoUand, W. Smith O'Brien,

PEEFAOE. Xl
Esq., Sir Eichard Musgrave, the Eight Hon. Sir T. Wyse, G.
Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P. ; the executors of the late Lord
CUfden, of the late N. A. Vigors, Esq., M.P., of the late Eight
Hon. E. L. Shell, of the late Peter Purcell, Esq., and ofthe late
Pierce Mahony, Esq. Acknowledgment is also due to the late
Most Rev. Dr. Slattery, the Right Rev. Dr. Browne, Right Rev.
Dr. Whelan, Very Rev. Dean Meyler, Very Rev. P. Fogarty,
V.G., the Very Eev. E. B. O'Brien, D.D., the Ven. Archdeacon
Hamilton, the Very Eev. T. O'ConneU, P.P., Eev. Dr. Magee,
Eev. P. Brennan, P.P., &c.
The political correspondence embraced in the second volume
will be found of a more important character than that which
illustrates the first. Although many revelations are made, it will,
I trust, be found that no private feelings have been unnecessarily
wounded and no honorable confidence betrayed.
And now a word in reference to the illustrations. The por
trait has been executed by the first lithographers in the kingdom,
from a painting for which De. Doyle sat during several successive
days in 1830. The frontispiece of the second volume lias been
suggested by Hogan's splendid piece of statuary in the Cathedral
at Carlow. The female figure plunged in patient melancholy
personifies Ireland; the Bishop, in a posture expressive of tender
ness and emotion, stands by the drooping figure of his country,
and pleads her cause before Heaven and the empire. Of the
adjuncts which have been introduced by the artist, it wiU probably
suffice to say that the ruins in the distance are those of St.
Bridget's Chapel and the Eound Tower of Kildare; while the
more modei-n edifice is designed to convey an idea of the Cathe
dral at Carlow, wherein the reUcs of J. K. L. repose.
WILLIAM JOHN FITZPATEICK.

Kilmacud Manor, Siillorgan, Co. Duhliii,
10th April, 1861.

Vol,

Vol,

EERATA.

12,

for osteatim.

read ostiatim.

21,

„ quis studat oral.

„ queB studet oret.

62,

„ malis.

„ maluB.

114,

„ comwntus.

„ comecutus.

127,

„ tomo,

„ terno.

206,

„ Vegelantius,

„ Vigilantius.

206,

„ mages.

„ magis.

272,

„ animam erisnmt.

„ animum current.

296,

„ Wellesley (17 lines from bottom),

„ Farnham.

364,

„ pew.

„ vu.

4,51,

„ " decendum anima,"

„ " dicendum animce

3,

„ ** hopes ill" (11 lines from bottom),

„ " fears for."

144,

„ equam annimum^

„ (Bquum animum.

76, 16th line from the top, dele now living.

THE

LIFE, TIMES, AND CORRESPONDENCE
OF THE
RIGHT EEY. DR. DOYLE.

CJIAPTEE I.
Early history and genealogy of the Doyles — Plantations and confiscations —
The Confederation of Kilkenny — The Penal Code — Treaty of Limerick —
Parentage and birth of Dr. Doyle — His future fame foretold — The Re
bellion of '98 — ,A narro-w escape — The school at Koss — Regulars and
Seculars — The old Convent at Grautsto-wn — Doyle's noviciate and pro
fession — His visit to Cork — The University of Coirabra — Another narrow
escape — How to arrest the spread of infidelity.
Old genealogists trace to DubhghaUl, king of Ulster in the tenth
century, the origin of the name of Doyle.* This sept was distin
guished for a -vigorous and consistent hostility to the Danes ; and
two of its scions are recorded to have faUen at Dublin and Clon
tarf, in struggling to expel the invaders. That the sept of Dubh
ghaUl had, from an early period, claims upon the gratitude of the
native Irish may be inferred fi-om the fact, that the first bridge
erected in Dublin received the title of Droich DubhghaiU, or the
Bridge of Doyle. t After the Anglo-Norpian invasion the name of
DubhghaUl ceased to be heard, and successively became modern
ized to that of DoUe, 0 'Doyle, and Doyle. Amalgamating with
the hardy race of O'Byrne and O'Toole, we find the descendants
of DubhghaUl establishing themselves in the barony of Arklow
and county of Wicklow.t Beneath the black banner of the warlike
chieftains of Imaile and their stanch kinsmen and aUies the
O'Byrnes, the Doyles, with battle-axe and spear, continued for a
considerable period to make sorties from their stronghold by the
Ovoca, and to harass most grievously the EngUsh settlers in
Dublin. Sometimes the garrison of the English Pale would mus-
* See Appendix I,
t M'Firbis' Genealogical MSS.; O'Cleiigh's Pedigrees; Gilbert's Dublin; An
nals of the Four Masters.
X Letter from John O'Donovan, Esq., LL.D,, 18th June, 1857.

2 THE PENAL CODE.
ter all their resources, and with hot haste and vengeance carry
desolation, by fire and sword, into the fastnesses of the indomi
table Irishry of Wicklow.
As the sept of O'Doyle multipUed, its members spread them
selves through the neighbouring counties, and from an early date
we find them intermarrying with some of the old famUies of the
county of Wexford.* At the Eeformation, the Doyles made a
strong stand against the temptations and encroachments of Pro
testantism ; and they may be said to have been an opulent and
influential stock untU the hoof of the Penal Code scattered and
crushed them. The Eight Eev. Dr. Doyle, in the defence of his
"Vindication of the Ci-vU and EeUgious Principles of CathoUcism"
alludes to this circumstance whUe replying to a sUIy taunt from the
Eev. Dr. Phelan : " J. K. L. is taunted as if he desired the tithes
for himself, or is jeered on account of his poverty. He assures
his opponent, that if, with the apostle, be might not know how to
abound, he knows at least how to stifl'er want, to which his habits
of life (thanks to God) have inured him ; and if he has not inhe
rited from his ancestors more property than most of the clergy of
the EstabUshment, it was owing to the operation of the penal
laws, so late as in the life-time of his father ; for even then these
laws were sending some of the best blood of Ireland to join — as
Swift weU expressed it — the ranks of the coal-porters. Many of
us can say with Francis I., after the defeat at Pa-via, 'We have
lost aU but our honour,' or feel with Juvenal, ' Nil foedius habet
paupertas quam quod homines ridiculos facet/' "
The branch of the famUy from which the late Eight Eev. Dr.
Doyle descends has been for several centuries resident in the
county Wexford. The "Inquisitions in Lagenia"f (a.d. 1627) find
that Eichard O'Doyle was seised of the lands of KUdaise, KnockU-
dufiie, and Garrysinnot, in the county of Wexford, containing 373
acres, which he held in free soccage, by royal letters patent. From
the Eecords of the Eolls,+ preserved by the Ulster King-at-Arms,
we learn that on 16th February, 1621, "John Doyle, Gentleman,"
held "the towns and lands of BaUyteige, Shanballymore, Laragh,
ShanvaUynlaragh, and Keelogs," in the county of Wexford; and
other e-vidence might be adduced to show that the famUy were
respectable and wealthy until a despotic law wrested their posses
sions from them. Some traces of their ancient local influence and
fame may stUl be found preserved in Doyle's-Cross, near Lady's
Island, in the county of Wexford.
* In the Annals of the Four Masters, p. 225, the O'Doyles are mentioned among
" the numerous and powerful clans who had large possessions In Wexford."
t Taken in the reign of Charles I.
i Vols, for Wexford, pp. 271, 474.

FORFEITED ESTATES. 3
When the Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholics of
Kilkenny was formed, to resist the encroachments of the Long
Parliament and to pass a wise and -vigorous code of laws for the
government of Ireland, we find James Doyle of Carrig* zealously
working at the national council board. Peers, Bishops, and Com
moners sat in the same Chamber.
From the reign of Elizabeth, the system of " plantation" in
Ireland, for the avowed purpose of excluding the old inhabitants,
and introducing the new religion, had been a favomite scheme -with
EngUsh monarchs.t James the First's passion for plantations is
proverbial. In 1616, he appointed a pliant commission to scruti
nize the titles of land in Ireland. " Advantage was taken," ob
serves Mr. Plowden, " of the most trivial flaws and minute infor-
maUties. In Connaught immense estates were declared forfeited
to the crown. Perjury, fraud, and the most infamous acts of de
ceit were successfuUy practised by the most rapacious adventm-ers
and informers : and Leland, who gives an accurate detail of these
enormities, refers to authentic proofs of the most iniquitous prac
tices, of hardened cruelty, of vUe persecution, and scandalous
subornation, employed to despoU the fair and unoffending pro
prietor of his inheritance."!
To this ingenious expedient for extirpating the Catholic abo
riginal inhabitants, and substituting in their stead an English
Protestant proprietary, various members of the Doyle sept fell
¦victims. The Book of Survey and Distribution, a valuable MS.
record, now preserved in the Custom House, Dublin, tells the
tale of their do-wnfaU. To make citations from the many volumes
which constitute that work would be tedious ; a few references,
however, to the volume for Wexford may not be uninteresting.
In the barony of Gorey, for example, the patrimonial estates of
Forchest and Gurtins,§ belonging to " William Doyle, LP." (i. e.
Irish Papist), were handed over to an English adventurer named
Eobert ThornhiU. Doyle's Park, in the same barony, held by a
junior member of the family, was confiscated in favour of Mr.
ThornhiU also ; whUe the valuable estate of Daniel Doyle in the
same county, numbering 602 acres, was graciously bestowed on
one Peter Courthroy and his friend John Quinn.
When the ban of the state lay upon mass-houses, and the
* King James's Irish Army List, p, 745,
t Plowden's'History of Ireland, vol, i. pp, 322, 348,
J The reader is referred to Appendix IL, where some interesting additional
details respecting this unscrupulous system, and tbe men who organized it, will be
found. § Forchest contained 225a. Ib, ; and Gurtins 351a, 2b, A letter from Wexford
(30th July, 1857) says: "There are none of the Thornhills now in the county.
The Marquis of Ely has for some time possessed the property they held,"

4 " BRIGADIER DOVLE.
gibbet forbade the existence of a Priest, the Doyles with singular
devotion gave several of its members to the Irish Church.*
The searching severity of the Penal Laws drove hundreds of
Irish families to conform to Protestantism ; but the Doyles stood
their ground firmly. The list of attainders in 1642, as preserved
in the Queen's Bench office, enumerates three members of the
sept of O'Doyle who lost their valuable landed possessions in
Wicklow. James Doyle of Grange in the county Meath, and
Elizabeth Doyle of DubUn, incurred at the same time a similar
penalty. But this and other persecutions, so far from cooling their
patriot spirit and devotion to CathoUcism, would seem to have had
rather the contrary effect ; for, among another batch attainted in
1691, o-wing to having espoused the cause of James II. , we find
Captain Doyle, of Lord Westmeath's infantry, as weU as three
other members of the sept — aU natives of and seated iu the
county of Wicklow.
That branch of the famUy which emigrated at an early period
to Wexford, and from which the subject of these pages claims de
scent, was not less distinguished for its patriotism. Among the
Catholic gentry of Wexford who were outlawed in 1691, for
opposing the usurpation of WiUiam IIL, we find James Doyle of
OUarden, and Nicholas Doyle of BaUinastragh. Three others of
this name, seated in Meath, KUdare and Dublin, were likewise
attainted in 1691.
The patriotism of the Doylea was not marked by attainders
exclusively. When Sarsfield, in 1691, was engaged in recruiting
the Irish army, he despatched from Limerick a famous Eapparee '
or guerUla Captain, commonly known as "Brigadier Doyle," with
commissions to raise men and horses for King James. Doyle,
though attended by a few foUowers only, succeeded in penetrating :,
the enemy's Unes as far as Borris, county Carlow, where he seized!
in the night twenty-two horses of the WiUiamite dragoons. The
decision of an Orange court-martial brought Doyle's career to a
close, and his head, long after, might be seen bleaching, with
others, on the walls of KUkenny.t
As soon as the Treaty of Limerick was ratified. Dr. Doppmg, i
Protestant Bishop of Meath, preached the doctrine from the pulpit |
of Christ Church, DubUn, that faith ought not to be kept with |
Papists or Jacobites. In 1692, the Treaty was accordingly vio
lated by Act of ParUament, and chains feU thick and fast upon the
Catholics of Ireland. Acts to prevent the further growth of Popery '
• See D'Alton's History of the County Dublin, pp. 640, 718, &c ; Gilbert's Hist.
Dub,, i 288, &c,
t Information supplied by J, C, O'Callaghan, Esq,

THE PENAL LAWS RELAXED. 5
were rife during Anne's reign. The oppressions of the Penal Code
were unprecedentedly severe and teUing ; but an indomitable spii-it
of Jacobitism continued to animate the sept of Doyle. Thus, in
1707, a privateer manned by Irish and Scotch Jacobites sailed
from France, and landed on the Wexford coast, fuU of fire and
vengeance. Thady Doyle a Wexford Jacobite led the van, and
pointed out the houses of the Protestants and the Catholics — ^in
order that the former might be plundered and the latter spared.*
Throughout the long, dark night of persecution which ensued,
the immediate ancestors of Dr. Doyle humbly and inofl'ensively
pursued the uneven tenor of their way. Solely intent on their
daUy toU, rarely raisiug their heads to look in the face of those
who rode rough-shod over them ; sternly submitting to indignities
they durst not resent, and thanking Providence when aUowed to
toU unmolested — the poor, proscribed Catholics, with chains clank
ing at their heels, dragged on an unenviable existence. At length,
in 1778, the hea-vier shackles which oppressed them were un
locked, and they, to whom the blessings of civil and religious
liberty had been unknown, now, for the first time, breathed with
joy and fi-eedom.
But the remembrance of their persecutions was far from being
soon eflaced. " How often," wrote Dr. Doyle, in his Letters on
the State of Ireland, " how often have I perceived in a congrega
tion of some thousand persons how the very mention of the Penal
Code caused every eye to glisten and every ear to stand erect ;
the very trumpet of the last judgment, if sounded, would not pro
duce a more perfect stillness in any assemblage of Irish peasantry,
than a strong aUusion to the wrongs we sufier."
But to the more immediate object of our narrative.
One fine autumn day in the year 1786, a young and interest
ing-looking woman, in dense but homely weeds, and with eyes
red from weeping, was observed to wend her way along the
banks of the Barrow, and proceed towards New Eoss, which so
picturesquely overhangs it. She had evidently approached that
trying period of domestic Ufe when the terrors and joys of approach
ing maternity blend ; and it was whispered by the old crones of
the town that she had just been deprived of a husband's protec
tion. Passing beneath the old groined archway of Bishopsgate,
the young widow disappeared from the pursuing scrutiny of some
idlers — but they quickened their pace, and arrived in time to see
her enter an obscure lodging-house in that portion of Eoss known
as " the Irish to-wn." It was subsequently noticed, with some
significant nods, that a messenger had been despatched to Priory-
street in quest of Dr. James Doyle, a weU-known and clever phy-
* Broadside communicated by J. C. O'Callaghan, Esq,

b BIRTH OF DR. DOYLE.
sician of Eoss. The Doctor was promptly in attendance, and,
with kindly soUcitude, remained beside his patient's bed until
niorning. At length a chUd was born — and christened James
Warren Doyle.
Old James Doyle, the Uttle stranger's father, who died some
weeks pre-viously, had been a respectable farmer, residing at
Donard, or as it was sometimes styled, Ballinvegga, within six
miles of Eoss, in the Enniscorthy direction. He is described by
his descendants as having been a man of eccentric and impulsive
tendencies, scrupulously upright, but generaUy wrongheaded.
Contrary to the ad-vice of many friends, he speculated largely ia
land, and his means, after a few years, became seriously crippled in
consequence. When fortune favoured his agricultural pursuits, he
proposed for, and was accepted by Miss Mary Downes,* a member
of a most respectable CathoUc famUy, stiU resident at Adamstown
in the county Wexford. By her he had five children — James, the
physician referred to above ; Peter, pastor of St. Martin's, Tin-
tern, and rural dean of Ferns ; Alicia, who married a fanner
named Pierce ; Catherine, -wife of the late Mr. Howlett of Eoss ;
and Thomas, who became a ship captain. Mrs. Doyle sank with
her husband's fortunes. She died ere time had sUvered her hair ;
and her husband, notwithstanding his rapid descent to poverty,
promptly paid that compliment to the happiness of first marriage
usuaUy implied by entering on a second. No mercenary motive
led to this alUance. Anne Warren of Loughnageera had scanty
means and Uttle beauty ; but as a young woman of -vigorous and
almost masculine strength of judgment, she had long been famous
in her famUy. Mr. Doyle's friends, unappreciating these mental
quaUties, censured him -without stint for contracting a marriage
which seemed so very unlikely to better his condition pecuniarUy ;
and to the day of Anne Doyle's death, they manifested but Uttle
cordiality towards her. Mrs. Doyle was a CathoUc, but had sprung
from a famUy of Quaker extraction. She brought her husband
four chUdren- — namely, Patrick, who became a barrister, and died
soon after his first and eminently successful debut at the bar ;
Mary, married to a farmer named DUlon; George, who died in
1815 ; and James Warren Doyle, the future Bishop, who, as
ah-eady shown, was born subsequent to his father's death.
Mrs. Doyle was poor, yet too proud to ask Dr. James Doyle
to abandon his daily professional practice and emolument in Eoss
to attend her gratuitously several mUes away. She accordingly
* The Downeses were an influential Catholic stock in the county Wexford, prior
to the civil war of 1641. The Book of the Forfeited Estates records that Garry-
withard, belonging to " James Downes, Irish Papist," was divided between Charles
Collins, Robert Leigh, and John Ohnor. Tbe Leigbs are still in possession of the
property.

PREDICTION OF HIS FUTURE GREATNESS. 7
proceeded on foot to Eoss, and had not long arrived at her desti
nation when Surgeon Doyle's professional assistance became
urgently necessary. The services clinicaUy rendered on this
occasion were made, in after life, the subject of some pardonable
boasting on the part of the worthy Doctor.
The days of James Doyle's infancy passed away in a mist,
and of his childhood there are few traits related characteristic or
remarkable. He was no infant prodigy, but one of nature's chil
dren. Nor do any -witnesses survive to describe the various fore-
warnings of gi-ace which marked him, like the youthful Timothy,
for the hierarchy of Christ. Beyond a general tradition that his
young days were iUumed by the rays of purity and piety, and that
they gave promise of the fuUer -virtues which adorned his more
mature Ufe, we have Uttle iUustrative evidence to adduce. That
he possessed, however, from a very tender age, a most observant
disposition, with a singularly retentive memory, we know on his
o-wn authority. In his evidence before parhament on the state of
the Irish poor, we find him (pp. 896-416) describing some local,
agricultural, and domestic customs of which he took personal cog
nizance between the ages of four and six years.
A somewhat remarkable prediction regarding Dr. Doyle's future
greatness was expressed, by an old deaf and dumb woman, before
he had attained his ninth year. The anecdote descriptive of it has
been recorded by the late Mrs. Howlett, the step-sister and by
many years the senior of Dr. Doyle. She o-wned a farm and a
mUl, both situated adjacent to Eoss. James Doyle passed a good
deal of his time at her house, and used to accompany her sons to
a neighbouring school. One day in harvest-time, whUe every one
was from home but Mrs. Howlett and her infant daughter Mary
(to whom, as Mrs. Coney, many letters in this memoir -will be
found addressed by Dr. Doyle), a knock came to the door of the
kitchen, in which Mrs. Howlett was engaged baking some wheaten
bread. She hurried to the door, and found a poor traveUing
woman sUently imploring shelter from a hea-vy shower which was
then faUing, amidst deafening peals of thunder. The good lady
led the poor dumb creature to the kitchen fire, made her take off
and dry her saturated cloak, and placed a comfortable meal of
potatoes and mUk before her. After a whUe the boys came in from
school, including the late Martin Howlett, whom his mother had
at this time intended for the priesthood. The deaf and dumb
woman looked sharply at the group. and made some signs, which
no one seeming to comprehend, she took up a large beUows and
with a piece of chalk, which she had in her pocket, wrote Ui Irish
"You intend that boy for a priest: he never wUl be one; but
that youth yonder," pointing to the future Bishop, " will become a

b THE BATTLE OF ROSS.
splendid ornament to the Church."* The old woman raised her
skinny hands above her head to signify that he would wear a
mitre; and bestowing a look of intense interest upon him, she
slowly left the house.
Nothing could equal the humiUation and chagrin of Uttle
Martin Howlett when informed, in a manner so deUberate and
impressive, that never would he reach the goal of his ambition.
He vowed vengeance upon the old woman as soon as she had left
the 'house, and, accompanied by his brothers, he pursued and over
took her. Giving full rein to the wanton wUdness in which boys
of that age and time were wont to indulge, he ducked her iu his
mother's mUl-pond. The woman's cap fell off, and the boys to their
astonishment discovered that she had no ears. The verification of
her prophecy, not only by Dr. Doyle's subsequent distinction but
in Martin Hewlett's abandonment of hi-s sacerdotal designs, was
to say the least a vei-y remarkable coincidence. He became first
a physician and finaUy a ship-owner, and died much lamented
upwards of half a century afterwards at Eoss. Mrs. Hewlett's
mysterious -visitor was, probably, one of those wandering Ulster
women so celebrated at that period in Ireland for their prophecies
and medical skiU.
Doyle was eleven years old when the insuiTeetion of 1798
burst forth. He found himself standing in the very citadel of its
strength, and with a chUd's dismay he watched its furious pro
gress. He saw New Eoss the theatre of one of the bloodiest and
most obstinately contested battles of that epoch. For ten hours,
in the heat of midsummer, the rebels fought like tigers. Twice
during the day they captured the town, and drove the royal army
in confusion before them. The streets and lanes ran with blood.
Flowing to a confluence, as some accounts almost incredibly
assert, it poured in a scarlet stream down the steep accUvity on
which the old to-svn stands, and mingled with a-n'ful contrast in the
crystal Barrow beneath ! Night closed upon the conflict, but it
only served for a short time to hide the wholesale bloodshed. In
cendiarism was at work, and fifty houses sent forth their sheet of
flame. Numbers of persons perished within them. The deafen
ing thunder of artUlery, the clangor of arms, the roaring confla
gration, the groans of the dying, and the shrieks of terrified
women and chUdren, completed the horror of a scene which left
* The woman can hardly bave been much inferior to the Sybil, if, as has been
alleged, she employed the following Irish characters in her prophecy :
Ir njjAri leAc T^sAttc bo 6eAt)Aiti be
?1t) n-5Af»run ro ; nf b)Ai6 re n^ i-AgAttc
Coi6ce : Acc ao c-o5;\riAc ub cAllij-bjAld
Se 'flA ofiij&ib bo'i; CAslAjr.

A NARROW ESCAPE. 9
more than one brain crazed for life. A relative of Doyle's fell
at the Battle of Oulart about the same time.
Young Doyle had a narrow escape of his life. Accompanied by
his friend and neighbour, Martin Doyle, now the respected Pastor
of Graignamana, they incautiously sauntered along the banks of the
Barrow while the district continued to be still disturbed. A sud
den but irregular discharge of musketry aroused the boys to a
sense of their danger ; and in less time than we take to write it, a
hot conflict between the royal troops and the insurgent peasantry
was raging. Martin Doyle dragged the future Bishop, who was by
some years his junior, into a clump of furze, and there anxiously
awaited the cessation of hostilities. Dr. Doyle, many long years
after, in a conversation with his staunch friend. Father Martin,
referred to this incident of their young days. " The only beating
I ever got," he said, "was from you, while both of us lay con
cealed in the furze bush." " You deserved it, my Lord," was the
reply. " Nothing would do you but to be popping up your little
black head after every volley, to see if the battle was over. I at
last lost all patience, and belaboured you unmercifully with a hazel
switch. You lay pretty quiet after — Deo gratias !¦ — for had our
hiding-place been observed, we should, in all human probability,
have been piked or bayoneted."
Mr. Doyle's vocation for the priesthood may be said to have
been discernible from the day he received confirmation from the
hands of good Bishop Caulfield. Previous to the age of seven his
temperament was froUcsome and exuberant ; but he now exhibited
daily e-vidence of a thoughtful disposition, mixed but rarely in the
society of other boys, and bore the impress of that divine hand
which had set him apart for the sanctuary. Unostentatiously
pious, filially reverent, and gifted with a flow of uncultured talent,
he arrested the attention and commanded the respect of all who
knew him. Though poor and humble, an air of unconsciously
borne dignity guided his gait, and favourably distinguished him
from those among whom he moved. He cultivated few friend
ships — but an intimacy once formed by his heart and hand, it re
mained ever after in-vulnerably bound.
To his mother he was indebted for his earlier instruction. He
subsequently attended Mr. Grace's seminary, near Eathnarogue,
where both Catholic and Protestant sat and studied side by side.
Dr. Doyle, in his Sixth Letter on the State of Ireland, aUudes to
the good-humoured polemical badinage that occasionaUy found ex
pression among the boys at Eathnarogue. The Catholic students
would not unfrequently address some puritanical-looldng youth
with the appeUation of " Father Which," aUuding to the obsolete
expression retained in the Anglican version of the Lord's Prayer, ¦

10 SCHOOLS AND SOHOOJiMASTEES.
" and retained, no doubt," adds Dr. Doyle playfully, " as a relic
of antiquity, to show that the English Church has not yet aban
doned entirely the worship of relics, or all veneration for olden
times."* In the year 1800, Doyle bade adieu for ever to the ink-
spattered and well-notched desks of Mr. Grace's school ; and aa
his heart by this time had begun to manifest marked evidences of
a religious tendency, his mother fanned the flame by placing him
at a seminary then recently established in New Eoss by Father
John Crane, a zealous and learned member of the Order of St.
Augustine. " Doyle was my junior and some classes below me,"
observed Dr. Phelan, late Poor Law Commissioner, in a conversa
tion with the author. "He was not a very quick boy at this
period ; but his wonderful studiousness and assiduity have left
a marked impression ou my mind after the lapse of near seventy
years. We used to walk three or four miles to school every
day, satchels on back — and of course I knew him well. He had
no fancy for any plays or games. He was a reserved and not
very sociable boy."t But in his intercourse with Father Crane
he did not want for warmth of feeling. For this most amiable and
paternal preceptor Doyle became at once filled with an affection
that grew with his growth and" increased year by year afterwards,
* " Letters on the State of Ireland, addressed by J. K, L, to a Friend in Eng.
land;" Dublin, 1825, p, 149,
t Tlie foregoing pages bad been printed off when we received the above and fur
ther details from Dr, Phelan, who knew Dr, Doyle almost from his cradle. For
several years after the r laxation of the Penal Laws it was not easy to find persons
willing and able to undertake the instruction of Cathohc youths, Dr, Phelan's
father, however, wbo resided at Clonleigh, near Ross, succeeded in prevailing upon a
schoolmaster named MacDonell to settle there, and instruct the children of the
neighbourhood. But tbe unpleasant fact soon became evident that the pedagogue
was fonder of alcohol than arithmetic, and preferred, as a general rule, grog to geo
graphy. Mr, MacDonell was sent about his business, and a schoolmistress was en-
gaped in the person of Anne M'airen Doyle, the widowed mother of the future
J, K. L, Dr, Phelan, who received his earlier education from Mrs, Doyle, describes
her as a person of respectable information, talent, and acquiremetits. This fact serves
to corroborate an opinion often advanced by physiologists — namely, that gifted men
are indebted for their intellectual superiority rather to the maternal than to the pa
ternal blood,
Mrs, Doyle conducted tbe school for several years, and gave very general satis
faction, A little child in petticoats, of which she seemed devotedly fond, accom
panied ber to Clonleigh, and remained there during the period of her sojourn. It
must be confessed, on the authority of Dr, Phelan, that Doyle, between the ages of
three and five, was by no means an interesting child, " He was the noisiest creature
I ever knew," observes Dr. Phelan. " He would often scamper upon the common at
Clonleigh, bellowing like a bull, and with no clothes on him but his shirt. The
common immediately adjoined tbe school. house. He was at this time about five
years of age," This wild exuberance of feeling soon gave place to that wonderful
sobriety which dignified bim during bis entire after life. " He attentively received
his mother's instructions," says Dr, Phelan, " and was soon sufficiently advanced to
• accompany me every day to the old college school at Ross,"

FATHER crane's SCHOOL. 11
until death at last saddened its intensity. Letters will appear in
this memoir iUustrative of the sincere respect and love that he
bore his old preceptor. Writing to the late Very Eev. Dr. Gibbons,
on the 17th October, 1823, Dr. Doyle says, " There is no person
now Uving, with the exception of one brother, to whom I have
been so long alUed by affection and friendship, or to whom I am
under more weighty obUgations."
The Very Eev. Dr. Furlong, O.S.A., acted as usher in Father
Crane's academy at this period. In a letter to the author, he
says : " The school was commenced by the Eev. John Crane,
shortly after the EebeUion of 1798. Considering how short a
period had then elapsed since it ceased to be a felony for Catholics
to educate youth, and considering the prostrate condition of the
country, and especially the county Wexford, at that period, the
school was pretty vigorously conducted, and proved of great ad
vantage to Eoss and its neighbourhood. At the present day,
however, Mr. Crane's school would not be looked up to as one of
the first class." This seminary was in connexion with, and stood
immediately adjacent to a convent of Augustinian friars, of which
Father Crane was Prior. "In the year 1802," remarks Dr.
Furlong, "Dr. Doyle was placed under my tutorage, and I in
structed him for three months in the classics. I left the school
in 1803, and in the foUowing year it was reUnquished. At that
period I observed that he had talent, and saw he was able to im
prove himself : but I did not discover those extraordinary mental
powers which in after Ufe he made manifest to the world." He
was at this time sixteen years of age, and body as well as mmd
seem to have been a long way from maturity. His piety, however,
grew like the oak, soUd and gradual. Those who remember the
taU, sUght figure of Dr. Doyle, wiU, perhaps, be surprised to hear
that Dr. Furlong describes him to have been, in 1802, remarkably
short in stature for his years.
To CathoUcs it is weU known that there are two classes of
clergy— the secular or missionary priesthood, and the regular, or
those who pursue a monastic Ufe. Mr. Doyle, from an early age,
vsdth the sanction of his spiritual director, had decided upon en
tering holy orders ; but it was at that more advanced stage of
existence, when thought intensifies and the inteUect matures, that
for reasons which -wiU presently be mentioned he viewed some por
tion of the secular discipUne with distaste, and, contrary to general
expectation, determined to discharge the duties of his intended
calling -within the more Umited sphere of action which a cloister
presents. This wish and resolution to pass his days in conventual
obscurity are curious, as contrasting -with the thoroughly public
career both as a Bishop and a poUtician which circumstances

12 "a degradation" denounced.
subsequently led him to adopt. In his " Essay on the Catholic
Claims," Dr. Doyle aUudes to the motives which induced him to
prefer the cloister to the mission. " Indeed, as a clergyman,"
he writes, " I feel sensibly the evils which arise from a kind of
eleemosynary support — it was one of the motives which disposed
me, at an early period, to prefer a coUegiate to a missionary hfe;
and to the present hour it is one which deeply weighs upon my
mind — it is one of the many misfortunes of my native land, which
often cause me in sUence and soUtude to wish I were banished from
her shores, and restored to that exile in which I spent my youth!"
Though gifted with much humUity, Dr. Doyle could never di
vest himself of a certain amount of manly pride and spirit, which,
-without lowering him in the sight of heaven, vastly tended to in
crease the general respect in which he was held on earth; There
were even some practices existing among branches of the conven
tual clergy, which, at the outset of his career, fiUed him -with hu
miUation, and occasionaUy with terror, lest his high and lofty spirit
should at any time be obUged to bend to them. In one of Dr.
Doyle's communications with Bishop O'Connor, which wiU be fully
referred to hereafter, we find him pronouncing as a " degradation"
the then, as now, rare system of friars begging osteatim for their
support. He considered the practice calculated to diminish the
respect due to the priestly character, and that it should be either
greatly modified or altogether discontinued. After Mr. Doyle's
ordination in 1809, some of the Augustinian brethren who kne-w
his repugnance to the osteatim system, would occasionaUy ex
claim in joke : " Ah ! Doyle, we'U see you some of these days
obliged to go off, bare-footed, with a bag on your back, and com
pelled to beg your subsistence from door to door." " Never !"
he would indignantly reply — " Never !" adding, however, after a
momentaiy pause, " of course, if commanded I must cheerfuUy
take up that as weU as other crosses, but I sincerely hope I shaU
never be compeUed to contribute to so great a lowering of the
priestly character." The " Discalceated" or Bare-footed Hermits
of St. Augustine are now rarely met with.
In 1804, Father Crane found it expedient to discontinue the
school, of which Doyle had been a daUy attendant for upwards of
two years. He was now an orphan, and lodged -with a Mrs.
Whelan, at Clonleigh, within a few miles of Eoss. His mother,
Anne Warren Doyle,* had died after a short Ulness, on 28th Sep
tember, 1804. James Doyle was strongly attached to her, and
justly. She was in a great degree to him what Monica was to
* Mrs. Doyle would seem to have been of the same family as Billy Warren, a
distinguished musical composer, pronounced in Moore's Memoirs (pp. 27, 39, &c,)
to be a near relative of Dr. Doyle's.

YOUNG DOVLE's NOVICIATE. 13
Augustine, and we may attribute to the early instruction which
she caused to be imparted to his tender muid, the germ of that
breadth of brain and strength of piety which in after life surprised
the world.
The Convent of the 'Hermits of St. Augustine was most pic
turesquely situated on the side of a hill, overlooking the junction
of the Nore and the Barrow. It consisted of four clergymen,
including the Prior, Father John Crane. Charity and phUanthropy
characterised the Uves of these good men ; and in such high vene
ration was the Eev. Mr. Crane held by the people, that to this day
they constantly visit his grave in the old abbey-yard, and carry
home pieces of its consecrated clay. It occasionally happens, as
wiU be seen at a subsequent stage of this narrative, that the secular
clergy, and even sometimes bishops, are not exempt from a Uttle
professional jealousy whenever their smaU incomes exhibit a dimi
nution in consequence of the adjacent presence of regular or con
ventual priests. No such feeUng, however, existed among the
parochial priesthood of the diocess of Ferns. According to a state
ment fm-nished by the then Bishop of Ferns, Dr. Caulfield, ,to
government, and printed among the Castlereagh Papers (iv. 157),
the prelate, after enumerating the friars within his jurisdiction on
29th November, 1800, -wrote : " They are supported by the chari
table contributions of the people ; they are employed in preaching,
catechizing, and instructuig the people, attending the sick, and
assisting the parochial clergy occasionaUy in the administration of
"sacraments." With such an edifying example constantly before
his eyes, Doyle's reUgious feelings daily strengthened.
" In January, 1805," observes the Very Eev. Dr. Furlong,
"he entered his noviciate, which always embraces the term of
twelve months. At the Convent of Grantstown this period of his
life was passed. I saw him twice that year, but only en passant,
as a visit to a novice must necessarily be."
Tie Convent and chapel of Grantstown was an old, unpre
tending, thatched edifice, furnishing an instance of the modest and
gradual but earnest efforts made by CathoUc Ireland in the last
century to assert its ancient faith. Another chapel of the order,
situated at CaUan, was built of mud ; and the roof falling in one
day during Mass, the congregation had to support it with their
hands and shoulders untU Father Grace, a venerable old friar,
completed the holy sacrifice. The Convent at Grantstown is ap
proached by a long avenue, lined on either side by stately trees.
It stands adjacent to the sea-shore, within some miles of Carne-
sore Point, which forms the junction of the east and southern
coast of Ireland. The extreme retirement of the locality led to its
selection for the training of novices. Here young Doyle, through-

14 constitutions of the order.
out the year of his no-viciate, read, studied, and prayed. No events
of interest chequered its progress. Within, there seemed to exist
a perpetual retreat : silence, save when matins or the toU of
the convent bell disturbed it, pervaded the holy place. Without,
soothing quietude, broken only by the shriek of the sea-guU or the
buzzing of a bee in quest of honey, reigned supreme . Had there
been any one to watch the movements of Doyle and of the master
of no-vices — without whom he durst never leave the cloister — many
a day might the slight figure of the one, and the burly physique of
the other have been seen wending their way along the retired sea
coast — the master's eyes rivetted on the sweUuig canvas of some
passing merchantman, while Doyle's pored over the black-letter
page of TertulUan or Augustine.
The no-viciate is designedly the most trying period of a friar's
life. Every legitimate means are employed to try his obedience,
and test whether a genuine vocation has moved him. He dare not
pass the convent bounds without the close surveUlance of the
master of novices. His cell is subject to be visited by the superior
at aU hours of the day and night. At midnight, especiaUy in con
tinental convents, the no-vices are frequently summoned fi-om their
beds to repeat in Latin the Seven Penitential Psalms. The day
is passed according to the constitutions of the order, as compUed
in the year 1287. At five o'clock each novice rises. Morning
prayer, matins. Mass, and meditation consume the forenoon^
This is foUowed by a careful study of the rule of St. Augustine, a
smaU volume in the Latin tongue, which it is usual to commit as
far as possible to memory. It is read aloud during dinner, and its
salutary truths constantly instiUed into the minds of the novices.
Moral theology is rarely read ; but the works of Augustine, and of
his devout admirer, Berti, receive much attention. Should leisure
and other circumstances permit (which is not often the case),
novices are aUowed to study rhetoric or logic, and occasionaUy, as
a relaxation, the works of Butler, ChaUoner, Hay, or Eeeves. To
Doyle this , indulgence was freely extended, and he gathered to
himself abundant fruit as he read. At eventide, the solenm toU
of the convent beU proclaims that a dead sUence is to be observed.
If any no-vice intentionaUy breaks it, remains up in his ceU after
bed-time, or otherwise infringes discipline, he is sentenced to
Imeel, with clasped hands, in the refectory ,whUst the other EeU
gious breakfast or dine.
The site of the old Augustinian Convent at Grantstown was
selected in consequence of its proximity to Clonmines, where the
majestic ruins of a monastery of the Eremites of St. Augustine
still exist. They are situated in a fertUe vaUey, with a gradually
rising ground in the rere, and an extensive estuary of the sea in

J.1MES DOYLE PROFESSED. 15
front, which is navigable for yachts to the very walls. There are
persons still living, who may remember the young novice praying
and reading in that picturesque ruin known as the Cowboys'
Chapel. In this shaded retreat many a rich thought grew in the
student's mind, and many a pious aspiration ascended from the
same source to God. Throughout his entire after-life he found
daily confirmation of the truth of the word, " It is good for a man
when he hath borne the yoke frora his youth."
Ha-ving passed without wincing through the ordeal of the
noviciate, Doyle was pronounced by his Provincial and Prior suffi
ciently weU prepared to take the three solemn vows of the order — ¦
namely, voluntary poverty, obedience, and chastity. Accordingly,
in January, 1806, the profession of James Doyle was, with more
than ordinary impressiveness, celebrated. He made his solemn
vows as an humble son of Augustine in the little thatched chapel
at Grantstown, in presence of the Prior, Father WilUam Doyle,
and several other Eeligious.
The despotic law which rendered it an indictable offence for
Catholics to educate their youth had been, since 1782, obliterated
from the statute book ; and although not a few college-gates lay
invitingly open at home. Doyle, after due consideration, decided
upon proceeding to Portugal, -with a view to prosecute his studies
at Coimbra, the ancient capital and chief ecclesiastical city of that
country. His expectations of the varied learning to be gathered
at a foreign university were not disappointed. In after-life he
always avowed himself favourable to continental education. On
his memorable parliamentary examination he was asked whether he
thought it desirable that, by the provisions of an act, Irish ecclesi
astics should be compeUed to study at home. We transcribe Dr.
Doyle's reply to this and other queries in order that the reader
may gather, from the truest source, the chief reasons which induced
him to prefer a continental to a domestic collegiate education : "I
think it is very advantageous to young ecclesiastics to travel
abroad, and to spend some time at universities. I am of opinion
that men's -minds are much enlarged, and their feelings much im
proved by residing in foreign countries for some time, and by com
paring tlieir institutions with our own. TravelUng holds out many
advantages which naturaUy fiow into the mind by communication
with mankind. I think it would therefore be a great injury to the
Catholic Church that men who might have studied abroad should
be excluded from any office : at the same time, I beg to remark
that there is no class of men who could be possibly employed at
home, in our Church, who would be so much attached to this
country and its institutions as those who have lived abroad. I

16 continental EDUCATION.
myself never would have loved the British constitution so much as
I do, had I not been acquainted with the forms of government
which prevail in the countries where I have resided. It is by
comparison with other institutions that the exceUence of our own
is best known."
The foregoing reply was expressed by Dr. Doyle in the course
of that elaborate examination before a committee of the House of
Coinmons in 1825,* which the reader will find more fuUy noticed
in the seventeenth chapter of these memoirs.
The following remarks, applicable to the present period of our
narrative, were addressed, during a separate examination, to the
Lord President of the Peers :
" Q. Are those who are educated on the Continent on burses
better educated than those who are educated at home ?" "A. I
think the education at home is as good as can be had at most of
the continental colleges ; but our Irish students who receive an
education at the universities abroad are better educated than they
can be educated at home."
' " Q. You make a distinction between the coUeges and univer
sities; have the goodness to state the ground of that distinction?"
"A. At the coUeges on the Continent there is generally at each a
course of studies, and by attending to those studies a young man
may get a certificate, and be rendered fit to serve in the Church in
Ireland. Now, besides this course of studies, which is found
within the coUege at home, there are public haUs at the university,
where lectures are given, where public examinations are held,
where public exhibitions are performed, where degrees are given
to those who have most distinguished themselves, and where, of
course, there is that emulation and excitement of genius which
tend to improve the mind and to increase the knowledge of men.
For instance, I studied at Coimbra in Portugal, but in the college
in which I Uved there were several students educated who never
attended the university ; some few others, as well as myself, did
attend the university; and hence there was a difference in the
education." " Q. In what do you apprehend the superiority to consist, of
an education at the foreign universities over any domestic educa
tion which can now be procured in Ireland ?" " A, On tbe Con
tinent they have men of more extensive learning to teach in their
universities than we can find in our colleges at home ; there are
greater rewards held forth ; genius is better cultivated ; and for
* The evidence taken before the Select Committee of the Houses of Lords and
Commous on the State of Ireland, (London, Murray, 1825, pp. 393-573,)

LETTER FROM COIMBRA. 17
these reasons I have found that a person receives greater infor
mation, and improves his talent more by studying at a university
than at any private coUeges." Such were the reasons which
appear to have determined Mr. Doyle to prosecute his studies for
the sacred ministry abroad.
With the blessing and warm wishes of his old preceptor.
Father Crane, Doyle proceeded, accompanied by three other stu
dents, to Cork, in the spring of 1806, intending to take shipping
from thence to Mondego Bay. The names of his companions
were Clayton, Hanlon, and M'Dermott. They had never before
seen the city of Cork, and they occupied the interval between
arrival and departure in going about sight-seeing and visiting the
public institutions. From Cove to the Groves of Blarney, from
the Mardyke to Spike Island, no point of attraction within Cork or
its -vici-nity remained unexplored. Doyle, though the youngest,
held aloof from their society, and spent the entire of the two days
at the Augustinian Convent in Bruns-wick-street, poring over the
eight folio tomes of St. Augustine. This trait, so indicative of
piety and mental soUdity, furnishes an insight into the character
of the man. To the motto of St. Augustine and of the Augus
tinian order — " ToUe, lege!" — he seems to have given a Uteral
interpretation not less rare than commendable. Ha-ving arrived at
Lisbon, the four Irish students, in obedience alike to the dictates
of etiquette and inclination, caUed to pay their respects to the
Prior of the gorgeous Augustinian Convent of that city, and
received from the good man the graga, or three days' hospitality,
which it is usual to extend on such occasions. They then pro
ceeded to the CoUege de Gratja in Coimbra.
Of Mr. Doyle's letters at this period we have been able to dis
cover one only. It is addressed to the late Mrs. Crosbie of
Wexford. We fail to recognise in it the -vigour of his later writ
ings, but the gentlemanly courtesy and true Christian amiabUity
of tone — the tendency to commit his impressions to writing — the
allusion to the beautiful Inez and Camoens' poetry, are aU more
or less characteristic of the gifted writer :
, " Coimbra, July ye 2d, 1 806,
" Dear Madam — You'U excuse the Uberty I take in -writing to
you, as I have the misfortune (I may caU it so) of being so slightly
acquainted with you ; but if there is a fault, you must blame your
own goodness. After various vrindings of Pro-vidence since I had
the honour of conversing with you, I am now settled in a CoUege
in the celebrated city of Coimbra. I need not describe the situa
tion of tbe city ; as regards the CoUege, it is a most beautiful
buUding, standing near the river, with a large garden of six acres

18 THE COLLEGE DE GRA9A.
which ascends to the top of a hiU, where there is a splendid hotise,.
commanding a prospect of the whole city ; and out of my -window
I can view the grove ori the banks of the Mondego, where the
beautiful Inez, so celebrated in Camoens' poetry, was murdered.!
His works being translated into EngUsh, I make no doubt but you
have read them. There is a University here, where there are
2,200 students, and more than twenty particular CoUeges, Coim
bra is, in fact, a great place of learning, which causes the inha
bitants to caU it a new Athens.
" There Ukewise belongs to this CoUege a beautiful country-
house, one mile distant, where the students go every Thursday, l
went there last week, and was charmed with the beauties of it.
Whole groves of lemon and orange trees environ it, -with, I be
lieve, every other sort of fruit-trees that the earth ever produced.
I scarce tasted of any, except the oranges, which the physicians
say are wholesome. You'U excuse so long a letter from me, dear
madam ; and among your many favours to me, pray be kiud
enough to give my compliments to Mr. Crosbie, and like-wise to
the good Mrs. Heron. Mr. Ealph and his wife (as I suppose he
has one before now) I saluted in my letter to the Eev. Peter Doyle
from Lisbon ; and wUl conclude by assuring you that I am, and
ever wiU be, " Your most obliged and humble servant," James Doyle.
" P.S. — If at any future time you would do me the honour of
writing to me (as I am certain at any time I would be improved,
laying aside the satisfaction I would feel in reading your letter),
you may direct to Sen", Fr, lago Doyle, no Collegia de Oraga,
Coimbra," The Augustinian CoUege de Graqa in Coimbra was annexed to
the great AUna Mater of that city, and went by the name of "the
little University." As Dr. Doyle observed in his parliamentary
examination, only few among the students of the former possessed
sufficient learning and industry to enter the larger estabUshmentj
In it, everything was on a great scale, and it required a thoroughly
comprehensive mind to grasp its course of studv. Doyle, after
some close application and tough brain-work, at length qualified
himseK to enter and pass through the great University of Coimbra.
Bishop O'Connor, O.S.A., observes : " He was deemed so talented
by the academic heads, that he was admitted to the rare privUege
of enjoying the fuU gratuitous range of the large University, while
belonging to the graga or minor one."
A generous ambition fiUed him, and bright historical examples
inflamed his patriotic and reUgious ardour. Some of Ireland's

HIS EDUCATION AT COIMBRA. 19
most distinguished di-vines had not only formed their minds and
received then- education in Portugal, but afterwards became pro-
minentiy connected with Coimbra. Archbishop Talbot of DubUn,
the vigorous wielder of pen and crozier, studied here, and con
tinued spiritual ad-viser to the Infanta, both before and after her
marriage -with Charles II. Dominick O'Daly of Kerry, the
historian of Catholic persecution in the reigns of James and
EUzabeth, founded an Irish CoUege at Lisbon and a house for
Irish students at Coimbra. Ha-ving acted as Confessor to the
Queen, and Ambassador to France, he died Bishop Elect of
Coimbra. Father Luke Wadding read laboriously at Coimbra,
and ha-ving mastered the Portuguese language, preached with sur
passing eloquence fi-om the pulpits of that city. He wrote as
many books as would fiU an ordinary private Ubrary. He reUeved
the oppressions of Ireland by supplying the Supreme CouncU of
Kilkenny with funds and men. Consulted by the See of Eome
on nearly every question of importance, we find the regulation of
the entire Irish Church consigned to his management. Wadding
refused a Cardinal's hat, and died crowned by the humble skuU-
cap of his order. It may weU be supposed that such locaUy sug
gestive examples of Irish worth fanned the fiame of our student's
sanctified ambition.
The Eev. Mr. M'Dermott, his old friend and feUow-student,
¦writes : "Doyle's education when a boy, and on his arrival at
Coimbra, was defective, which gave me an opportunity for indulg
ing personal vanity, as I prepared him and two young Portuguese
for matriculation in Greek, and I was caUed ' the professor,' and
was vain, not knowing that a Uttle learning was dangerous. Doyle,
at this period, though unacquainted with the languages and
science, was regarded by our leamed Eector, Joaghim GarvaUo,
and by our masters of rhetoric and phUosophy, Teicero and Pinto,
as a youth of great inteUectual promise." In answer to a query
desiring to know whether Doyle had vmtten any theme of striking
power, our correspondent obseives : " The alumni of Coimbra
wrote monthly dissertations. Doyle, , for some time after his
arrival, was not sufficiently advanced in his education to write a
thesis. After a time he made good progress, although our studies
were perpetuaUy interrupted by the din of arms and the passing. of
troops. Nicholas Clayton and I were his class-feUows at this
period. The former kept the head of th,e class."
The most authentic accounts concur in stating that our student
arrived at Coimbra quite a rough diamond, scantUy informed in
classics and science, but with a mind teeming with fertiUty. We
have heard one who knew him weU say that, had Dr. Doyle passed
through an elaborate early education, his mUid would probably

20 HIS COLLEGE FRIENDS.
have never so suddenly or so luxuriantly expanded. Of this there
can be Uttle doubt. It is a fact well known to physiologists, that
the memory and mind are often seriously injured by pressing on
both too hardly and continuously in early Ufe. Many a time have
the materials of a reaUy able man been irrevocably crushed by
overtasking his brain in chUdhood, and terrifying him with the rod.
Of this great function of our nature. Sir H. HoUand, in his " Men
tal Physiology," observes that " its powers are only gradually
developed, and that if forced into premature exercise, they are
impaired by the effort. We are bound to refrain from goading it
by constant and laborious efforts in early Ufe, and before the instru
ment is strengthened to its work, or it decays under our hands."
"Coimbra," continues Mr. M'Dermott, "is the most celebrated
University on the Continent, and even in science rivals Trinity at
home. It is most difficult to obtain a degree there. The course
is fifteen years. It has faculties of arts, theology, canon and civil
law, and medicine, and some of the most eminent surgeons ema
nate from it. The examinations are fearfuUy severe. The Friars
received Doyle gratuitously. Hanlon was rather indolent, never
distinguished himself, and died some years after on the mission in
Tipperary. Clayton was a first-rate man, extremely dUigent and
accurate. At thirty years of age he was offered a bishopric in
partibus, which he declined."
To the premature dissolution of this gifted friend of his youth
Dr. Doyle feeUngly aUudes in a letter to Bishop O'Connor, dated
6th October, 1822 : " I have shared most cordially in the regret
which we all have felt at the death of our dear friend in Galway.
His loss to the Church in that province is very great — ^to the order
it is irreparable ; for in Ireland it did not possess a more efficient
member, or one whose -views, zeal, piety, and talents were better
calculated to restore to it its fijrmer lustre. We know not the
ways of God, but we know they are -wise and beneficent, and
whether He causeth death or giveth Ufe, it is for the good of those
whom He predestined to be the co-heirs of his Son. I have now
lost two of my three CoUege friends, both near and dear to my
heart — both cut off in the prime of Ufe — both -victims to a sudden
disease ; but the reflections which crowd upon me are not to be
obtruded upon you."
Doyle cultivated few friendships at the University. With one
Portuguese, however, he formed an intimacy which remained ever
afterwards cemented strongly. In his " Seventh Letter on the
State of Ireland," Dr. Doyle aUudes to "one of my earUest and
most intimate friends, a Portuguese Priest, now a missionary on
the Coromandel coast." His name was Misquita. The Bishop,
on the 25th July, 1830, thus records his death : " My dear friend

WHAT HE DID IN THE CHOIR. 21
Misquita died on Good Friday, in sentiments of exalted piety.
The gentleman at whose house he departed has written to me all
the particulars of his sickness and death. My poor friend intended
to be with me about this time, and to return afterwards to Por
tugal, but Pro-vidence was pleased to call him in the midst of his
labours." There are few records or traditions to throw any further Ught
on the first year of Doyle's coUege Ufe at Coimbra. His feUow-
student, Mr. M'Dermott, in reply to queries, observes : " The depth
of his conversation was often relieved by the most fascinating play
fulness. Many a time have I enjoyed it as we sauntered along the
banks of the Mondego, and amused ourselves with the students on
the bridge which connects the town with Santa Clara, so beauti
fuUy situated among handsome gardens. The students were Ught-
hearted, and it was difficult for a blundering tourist to pass by
without a shout of laughter from them. Doyle manifested no
peculiar devotional feelings or aspfrations in prayer. He was an
ordinary observer of his Christian duties, and was much of opinion
that quis studat orat. Our ' games ' were mostly of a sedentary
character— backgammon, draughts, and chess." Doyle probably
felt -with old Eobert Burton, that " chess was a wholesome exer
cise of the mind."
For sacred poetry he formed a strong predUection at this
period. In a letter, dated 14th November, 1822, addressed to his
correspondent "Hannah," we find — "I hope to have the plea
sure to hear you both play and sing the Stabat Mater. I beUeve
I told you that this has been a favourite devotion -with me since I
was a boy in CoUege, when the community sang it every Friday
night. Our present Pope has always esteemed it a choice devo
tion in aU his trials and persecutions ; and it is beautifully expres
sive not only of the sorrows and sufferings of our Mother who is
in heaven, but also of the Church, and of ourselves in our miseries
here on earth."
Dr. Doyle does not say that his o-wn voice contributed to swell
the Stabat Mater in the chapel of the CoUege de Graga. Few
possessed a finer appreciation of the beauties of music than Dr.
Doyle ; but, Uke Dr. Johnson and many other distinguished men,
he could never turn the simplest air himself. A Dean in the
Catholic Church, not remarkable for his musical proficiency, how
ever highly gifted in other respects, bemoaned this deprivation in
a conversation with Dr. Doyle: "I find it a serious inconvenience,"
said the Dean, " ha-ving so often to celebrate High Mass and
Benediction." " My dear sir," repUed the Bishop, " I have a
feUow-feeUng for you. When I was a boy in CoUege, they got up
a singing class. Because I had some aptitude in other respects.

22 THE BOOKS HE READ.
and Uked to hear good music, they imagined tbat I could materially
aid the vocalists ; but they soon found out their mistake. I was
at last sent behind the organ to blow the beUows ; and this is the
sum total of aU the musical aid it was in my power to give."
From a communication of the Eev. J. C  , an alumnus of
Coimbra, we catch an interesting gUmpse of that conventual life in
which Doyle was now a daUy participator : " Twelve of the Friars
belonging to the Convent and CoUege, de Graga," he writes,
"fiUed professors' chairs in the great University during the day.
If I mistake not. Dr. Doyle's master was Patricio, afterwards
Cardinal Archbishop of Evora and Patriarch of Lisbon. The
Augustinian Convent at Coimbra was a splendid and almost luxu
rious estabUshment. The very fragments alone of their daUy ban
quet supported between thirty and forty respectable famUies. As
regularly as clockwork, these numerous famiUes, numbering not
less than two hundred persons, daUy sent for and received their ^
share of the Friars' sumptuous repast. The supply was never
known to faU, but lasted to infiyiitum, Uke the miraculous loaves
and fishes." In 1834, the splendid Convent de Graga at Coimbra,
with Santa Clara and the various other conventual estabhshments
of men, were suppressed by Don Pedro.
The year 1807 found Doyle more than ordinarUy studious.
" There was a class "of books," says Mr. M'Dermott,* " which he
loved to pore over — Montesquieu's ' Esprit des Lois,' Condillac
(the great metaphysical inquirer), the Justinian Code, and others
of that character. We had a fine library of old books, but not
equal to that of the Benedictine Convent in the same town."
" WhUe others," observed the late Eev. Mr. Clayton in a con
versation -with the Bishop of Saldes — "whUe others were indo
lently lounging or dozing, during the enervating heats of a Portu
guese summer, I have seen Doyle reading and studying at the
rate of eight hours a-day." The stirring events and the poUtical
schemes and discussions of the time weaned Doyle, to some
extent, from this laborious course of study. "Doyle," writes Mr.
M'Dermott, "now mixed more with the extern students, and with
Portuguese society^including the Fidalgos — than Clayton and
myself. Speaking the language with thorough fluency, he con
versed freely with them on the chief local topics of the day,
including the Inquisition,! which, however, since De Pombal's
time had been very innocuous."
The perilous and insidiously expressed opinions of Voltaue
* While these pages were passing through tbe press, the unwelcome news has
reached us ofthe death of poor Father Austin M'Dermott. _ He died on the 29th ol
August, 1860, at the Augustinian Convent, Galway, to which he had been for many
years attached.
t See Appendix III,

• SMITTEN BY TEMPTATION. 23
and Eousseau swept furiously at this period across the Continent,
overturning the faith of some, and shaking the long-cherished
views of many. When we know that the evil hurricane raged in
fuUest force round the rock of Peter, it is not surprising that it
should have penetrated the college cloisters and halls of the Uni
versity of Coimbra. The shock was, for a moment, awful. Many
were shaken! but comparatively few feU. Among the lay students
of the University the damage occasioned by the heUish hurricane
was of -wider and graver extent. Doyle stood in the midst of
a vast concourse of infidels. He breathed contagion, and was
smitten. SpeciaUy gifted with a reasoning and philosophic mind —
full of the metaphysical lore and theories of the day, he probably
felt that, if a man is furnished by his Maker with a sound, -vigo
rous, and discriminating judgment, he must either exercise that
glorious endowment or abandon himseK to mental sloth. Be this
as it may, Doyle resolved to test searchingly the arguments so
zealously put forward by the disciples of Voltaire.
Whether Doyle was right or wrong in thus imperilling the
existence of his faith, we shaU not now discuss. He probably
gloried in the strength of his own judgment, and reposed too much
confidence in its dictates. " Those who love the danger shall
perish therein," and it cannot be denied that Doyle was for a
time completely staggered by the weU-put points of the infidel
orators and writers. Fortunately, however, the violence of the
temptation did not last long. WhUe he enumerated in detaU the
arguments on the side of infideUty, it was, no doubt, fierce and
potent ; but ere he had smnmoned to the aid of his tottering con
viction one-half of those which constitute the bulwark of a Chris
tian's faith, the tempest had ceased, and all was calm as before.
Touching this critical period of his career. Dr. Doyle, eighteen
years after, makes an interesting reference in his " Second Letter
on the State of Ireland." Through Ufe he appears to have espe
ciaUy taken the holy father Augustine as his guide and model.
There is no portion of the saint's Confessions finer than his
account of the errors of Manicheism into which he temporarily
feU — a sect which held that the light of reason sufficed to dis
cover to us the truth, without faith or the use of authority. Dr.
Doyle, however, had, in the foUowing confession, a better mo
tive than his own humiUation, which, Possidius assures us, was
Augustine's main design in composing the work referred to.
The episode preaches a solid moral. We find that Dr. Doyle
was not a CathoUc from prejudice or the chances of birth, but
from the profoundest conviction of _the truth of his creed. He
did not take for granted that its tenets were correct, but tested
their legitimacy by rigid inquiry and unsparing analysis. Confi-

24 " MAGNA EST VERITAS, •
dent that CathoUcism was the work of Jesus Christ, he calmly
and joyously resumed his studies.
" I had scarcely finished my classical studies," he writes,
" and had entered CoUege, when I found myself surrounded by
the disciples or admirers of D'Alembert, Eousseau, and Voltaire ;
I frequently traversed in company with them the halls of the In
quisition, and discussed, in the area of the Holy Office, those
arguments or sophisms for the suppression of which this awful
tribunal was ostensibly employed. At that time the ardour of
youth, the genius of the place, the spuit of the time, as weU as
the example of my companions, prompted me to inquire into
all things, and to deUberate whether I should take my station
amongst the infidels, or remain attached to Christianity. I re
coUect, and always with fear and trembling, the danger to which
I exposed the gifts of faith and Christian moraUty which I had
received from a bounteous God ; and since I became a man, and
was enabled to think Uke a man, I have not ceased to give thanks
to the Father of mercies, who did not deUver me over to the
pride and presiimption of my own heart. But even then, when
ail things which could have influence on a youthful mind combined
to induce me to shake off the yoke of Christ, I was arrested by
the majesty of religion ; her innate dignity, her grandeur and
solemnity, as well as her sweet infiuence upon the heart, fiUed
me with awe and veneration. I found her presiding in every
place, glorified by her votaries, and respected or feared by her
enemies. I looked into antiquity, and found her worshipped by
Moses ; and not only by Moses, but that Numa and Plato, tiiough
in darkness and error, were amongst the most ardent of her vota
ries.' I read attentively the history of the ancient phUosophers
as weU as law-givers, and discovered that aU of them paid their
homage to her as to the best emanation of the one, supreme, in
visible, and omnipotent God. I concluded that reUgion sprung
from the Author of our being, and that it conducted man to his
last end. I examined the systems of reUgion prevaiUng in the
east ; I read the Koran with attention ; I perused the Jewish
History, and the History of Christ, of his Disciples, and of his
Church,* with an intense interest, and I did not hesitate to con
tinue attached to the reUgion of our Eedeemer, as alone worthy of
God ; and being a Christian, I could not fail to be a CathoUc.
Since then my habits of life and profession have rendered me
famUiar at least with the doctrines and ordinances of divine re-
* Dr. Doyle might have added the holy Scriptures to this list. In a Letter on
Bible Societies, published in 1824, the Bishop mentions that " he has read the
Bible every day for upwards of twenty years, and devoted many an hour to the
study of it."

ET PIUEVALEBIT." 25
velation, and I have often exclaimed with Augustine : ' Oh, beauty,
ever ancient and ever new, too late have I known thee, too late
have I loved thee !' "
The spreading heresy was resisted -with -vigour and effect.
Fervent prayers were offered up from hundreds of altars for its
overthrow. Spiritual retreats were ordained, and skilfully con
ducted by the ecclesiastics of Coimbra. Silence and meditation,
which form a prominent feature in that devotional observance,
brought many an erring mind to its senses.*
During the year 1825, when several hundred priests were
assembled in retreat at Maynooth, Dr. Doyle addressed them in a
sermon of great condensed power. He impressed on his hearers,
in conclusion, that their own minds and hearts should silently
preach more eloquent and touching truths than any which it
might be in the lecturer's power to inculcate. " This procedure,"
he went on to say, "was attended -with very beneficial effects at
the university in which I spent my youth. I well remember the
sombre hue of mourning which clothed the chapel, the solitary
lamp, the long and gloomy aisle, the sepulchral silence, the ear
nest piety of the kneeling penitents. The conductor of the retreat
would ascend the massive pulpit, wrap himself for a few moments
in mental prayer, and then enunciate a solitary text — ' Verbum
caro factum est,' for example. He made no comment, but left his
auditory in silence to digest the great truth. The effect was grand.
Prepared for the effect by prayer and thought, evei-y mind, thus
thrown on its own resources, created its own pious offspring,
fondly dwelt upon it, and profited."
Doyle, when at Coimbra, did not merely trust to the power of
a spiritual retreat to think rightly. As already seen, he had fully
satisfied his own doubts by a due course of thought and research
withiu the CoUege Ubrary. From that moment he became a tho
roughly convinced Christian ; and, being a Christian, he could not
faU to be a CathoUc. Many years after, in his " Essay on the
Catholic Claims," addressed to the Earl of Liverpool, he thus ex
pressed his views :
* The religious scepticism which sprung up, like an unwholesome fungus, at
this period, assumed so wide and alarming a character, that many zealous writers
on the side of Christianity pubhshed books gravely controverting the infidel
scribes. Among other works of this class, advertised in the London Courier of
1808, is "A New Argument to prove the Existence of God." Even the Irish Col
lege at Paris, long revered as the nursery of so much sanctity and learning, was
visited by the prevalent virus of opinion. The author of the " Reminiscences of an
Emigrant Milesian" (ii. 238) records : " I entered the Institution of the Abbe Mac-
Dermott (the Irish College) in 1794. Religion had not yet been tolerated in its
ancient rights. Voltaire and Rousseau were more read by myself and my fellow-
students than sacred history. Of this fact Abbe MacDermott was aware, but he
could not help it, or control us. All he could do was to impose the observauce of
morahty and propriety of conduct,"

26 INVASION OF PORTUGAL.
" He who addresses your Lordship is a Eoman CathoUc ; he
is one in the inmost conviction of his soul. Had he assisted
with the apostles at Thabor, and, waking, seen the glory of the
Lord — had he been stricken from heaven Uke Paul on the way to
Damascus, his fafth migbt -have ^been more vivid and enlarged,
but his rational con-viction of the truth of his reUgion could
scarcely be more fuU and composed. During the greater part of
his life he has freely exercised his judgment ; his opportunities of
inquiry have been many ; his mind, if not strong or acute, has
been diUgently cultivated; and no theorem in mathematics, if due
aUowance be made for abstract science, has been to him more
clearly proved — the distinction between vice and virtue is not to
him better ascertained, than that the reUgion which he professes
is the same that was preached by the apostles and founded by
Christ."

CHAPTEE II.
The French Invasion of Portugal — Doyle shoulders his musket — Battles of
Caldas, Rolica, and Vimiero — Doyle acts as interpreter, and goes on the
diplomatic service — Convention of Cintra — The Court of Braganza
makes seductive proposals to Doyle — He rejects them and retm-ns to
Ireland — The regular Clergy persecuted by their own Bishops — Monastic
luxury in Portugal — State of Ireland fifty years ago — James Doyle or
dained Priest — Refused faculties by Bishop Ryan — The Augustinian Con
vent at New Ross — Domestic nomination — The Professor perpetrates
poetry — Bishop Delany — Dean Staunton — Rev. Andrew Fitzgerald — An
amusing interview — Mr. Doyle appointed to a chair in Carlow College —
His first acquaintance with the students — An unexpected incident —
Splendour of the rhetoric class — Death of his brother Patrick — Letters —
Rev. Dr, Slattery — Doyle's reputation daily increases — Letters.
In November, 1807, Spain and Portugal were invaded by Napo
leon Buonaparte, whose passion for extending his dominions by
the most unscrupulous acts of usurpation had been steadUy swel
ling since the triumphs of Marengo and AusterUtz. A national
appeal to Great Britain for aid to resist this new act of aggression
was made, and acceded to. In July, 1808, Sir Arthur WeUesley
resigned his office of Chief Secretary for Ireland, and proceeded
at the head of a goodly army to the Peninsula.
The French invasion of Portugal had been accompUshed with
the utmost secrecy and despatch. General Junot penetrated
the country through a mountainous district hitherto regarded as
almost impregnable, and his advance on llisbon had been only
reported to the famUy of Braganza a few hours previous to the
actual arrival of the enemy. The Prince Eegent and suite, panic-

DOYLE BECOMES A VOLUNTEER. 27
stricken, fled to BrazU, and as the royal fleet cleared the mouth of
the Tagus it was hotly pursued by Junot's sheUs and round shot.
Shedding no bloody and xajoling with a subtle diplomacy
those whose influence it was worth securing, Junot at once re
moved the royal arms of Portugal, raised those of France, sup
pressed the CouncU of the Eegency, to which the Prince had
delegated his sovereign authority, assumed the reins of govern
ment, fiUed all the lucrative offices with Frenchmen, and skilfuUy
sealed the harbours against any hostUe entrance from -without.
Having estabUshed head-quarters at Lisbon, the French General,
with plausible promises of protection and protestations of amity,
insidiously spread over the land two vast wings of his army.
Strangely fascinated, or paralyzed by dismay, the people, without
a struggle, crouched beneath them.
Elaborate Unes of communication were estabUshed from Lis
bon to Elvas, and from Almeida to Coimbra. Vessels of war,
refitted and armed under the auspices of Junot, frowned along the
coast, and tended to increase the general awe.
At length a successful Spanish insurrection, and the appear
ance of two EngUsh fleets at different points, excited the hopes
of the Portuguese. The iirst blow was struck at Oporto. The
French General Quesnel and his staff were taken prisoners. The
spirit of uisurrection rapidly ran, like an ignited train of gun
powder, along the banks of the Douro, untU at last reaching
Coimbra — the focus of hostUity to French rule — it asserted itself
with an explosion that shook the land. At this point the French
posts were overpowered, and a Junta was formed whose efforts
spread the fiame to Condeixa, Pombal, and Leira. " All ages
and conditions," writes the Eev. Mr. M'Dermott,* "were sum
moned to arms. A refusal would be considered as treason. The
ecclesiastics of tbe University, especiaUy the students, were en
rolled. Doyle displayed much loyalty, was drilled, shouldered his
musket, and went on guard. I was sent, -with Lord Burghersh,
now the Earl of Westmorland, to Guarda, Viseu, &c., and to a
fortress the name of which I cannot recall. We had an escort of
native cavafry, and our mission was to ascertain the dispositions
of the Portuguese peasantry and gentry. Much satisfactory infor
mation was obtauied and transmitted to Lord Castlereagh, and
afterwards to Sfr Arthur WeUesley when he landed at Cape
Mondego.-|- I was sent as I was considered to know the language
weU, and was of more active habits than Doyle, although by some
years my juiiior. We returned to Coimbra, and thence I accom-
* Letter to the author, 30th November, 1856.
t Napier (vol, i, pp, 157, 190) mentions that one of the Coirabra students having,
with great boldness and address, at the head of a band, compelled the hostile

28 BATTLES OP ROLICA AND VIMIERO.
panied Lord Burghersh to Lefra, where we met the British
head-quarters. I was then introduced to my feUow-countryman
Sfr Arthur, who was very affable. I slept two nights almost
under the same tent with the great General. I continued a sort
of nondescript, with the rank of Captain, an orderly, and well
mounted, and as interpreter between the English and Portuguese
armies. I was present at the battles of Caldas, Eolica, and
Vimiero. Before and during the bloody engagement at EoUca,
where the French lost 1,500 men, I was entrenched behind a
strong windmiU, baU-proof, employed in giving spfritual assistance
to a number of soldiers, who, knowing that I was in priest's
orders, sought my aid. But at Vimiero (on the 21st of August,
1808) I was greatly exposed to the fire of the enemy, as I was
obUged to keep going to and fro with orders and despatches to
the Portuguese General. I almost forgot to say that I brought
General Anstruther' s* di-vision, then returning from Sweden, up to
within a comparatively short distance of Vimiero. They were in
time to take thefr position in the field, and contributed to the
success of that great day. Anstruther estabUshed his sharp
shooters and artiUery in an old churchyard, and they kept up a
deadly fire from behind tombstones and mausoleums. How awful!
to see them deaUng destruction around from the very chamber and
bed of death ! Junot, Duke D'Abrantes, commanded in person.
The whole of the French force in Portugal, numbering 14,000
men, was employed, and not more than half of the EngUsh army.
Junot left thirteen pieces of cannon behind him, twenty-three
ammunition waggons, with shells and stores of aU kinds. We
took an immense number of officers prisoners, and 3,000 French
corpses strewed the field that day. I did not see WeUesley or
Burghersh after Vimiero. The hardship of the bivouac and
battle-field did not agree with my health. I got the ague twice
after the Convention of Cintra, and was received, helpless from
illness, into the Convent of Alcobaco. I graduaUy recovered, was
very glad to return my sword, and resume my long-interrupted
studies. Although a volunteer, I assure you I was a most un-
willing one, as I had no natural taste for a miUtary life. The
cfrcumstances, however, in which I was placed were pecuUar,
and I believe Doyle, myself, and other students discharged our
garrison of Fort Figueras, at the mouth of the Mondego, to surrender. Sir Arthur
was enabled to land his troops there, and fill the fortress with English marines.
? " He (Sir Arthur) directed fast sailing vessels to look out for Anstruther,''
(Napier, i, 189.) Sir Arthur Wellesley, on the 20th August, announces the good
news to Lord Castlereagh : " Anstruther is on shore, and I expect him in camp
every moment." Next day Sir Arthur informs his lordship that much praise is due
to General Anstruther for the gallant defence of his position. The House of Lords,
in returning thanks to Sir Arthur Wellesley, pronounced Vimiero "a signal victory,
honourable and glorious to the British arms,"

LORD WESTMORLAND TO THE AUTHOR. 29
duties with zeal and integrity, while the performance of these duties
continued incumbent upon us. I am greatly attached to Portugal,
its history, and its cause. That country is distinguished for con
ferring lasting benefits on mankind, and has produced great men
in the arts of war, peace, navigation, Uterature, and the fine arts.
In consequence of the Portuguese language not being much
studied, the history of that fine nation is almost unknown."
On the 17th January, 1857, we had the honour of receiving
a letter fi-om the late General the Earl of Westmorland, which
forms an interesting supplement to the foregoing portion of our
reverend friend's epistolary reminiscences :
" I certainly have not forgotten Mr. M'Dermott," writes the
Earl of Westmorland, " and I am deUghted to learn fr-om your
letter that he has survived the long period since we were together
on our journey through the Portuguese pro-vinces, and I sincerely
hope he is in aU health and prosperity. It is perfectly true that
he went with me, then Lord Burghersh, to Guarda, Viseu, &c.,
and I suppose he means Calorica, adjacent to the fortress of
Almeida ; and he returned with me to join the army under Sir A.
Wellesley at Lefra on the 10th of August, 1808, from whence he
continued with the troops on thefr advance towards EoUca and
Vimiero, but as he left me at that time to join one of the advanced
corps, I cannot remember how far he accompanied the army. The
cfrcumstances which led to my being joined by Mr. M'Dermott
were these : Sfr A. WeUesley deputed me, whUe on board ship in
Mondego Bay, to proceed through Coimbra and the central Por
tuguese pro-vinces, aU of which were in insurrection against the
French, and report to him the troops which were coUected and the
general state of armament of the country. I proceeded imme
diately to Coimbra, and found there the greatest enthusiasm on
the part of the whole population for thefr Prince, and the students
of the University had formed themselves into a corps, which was
joined to the regular troops, and were in garrison in the town,
ready for any service which could be required of them. Amongst
the leaders of these students was Mr. M'Dermott, and Mr., after
wards Bishop Doyle. Those young men, with several Portuguese,
offered to accompany me as an escort to the pro-vinces, and I
gratefuUy accepted thefr patriotic proposal. They rode with me
to Viseu, where Mr. M'Dermott wiU be able to give you an ac
count of our dinner, or rather our supper, with the Bishop, and
next day proceeded to Calorica and Guarda, where I found General
BarceUor and a corps of eight or ten thousand men, who had been
joined by a Spanish brigade under the Marquis of VaUaderas.
Soon after I arrived, a report was received by the General tbat the
French force under General Loison was advancing upon Guaida,

30 DOYLE LABOURS TO EXPEL THE FRENCH.
and he requested me to remain -with him to give him what assist
ance I was able towards combining the movements of his troops
-with the British army. I therefore remained tiU it was ascertained
that the corps under Loison had taken another dfrection ; I then
returned to report to Sir Arthur WeUesley the state of aU the
troops I had seen, and the arrangement that I had made — that the
force under General BarceUor, with aU the troops he could coUect
from the northern provinces, should march Upon Abrantes, and
from thence operate along the Tagus by Santarem upon Lisbon,
thus forming the left of the British army in its advance upon the
capital." The true value of the valorous spfrit displayed by the loyal
Portuguese against the French may be inferred from the great
precautions General Junot adopted to prevent an outbreak. " The
harbours were sealed against the English," writes Napier, " a
great and rich tract was enclosed by posts, and rendered so per-
¦vious to the troops, that any insurrection could be reached by a
few marches, and immediately crushed."
Mr. Doyle executed his part in a thoroughly con amore spirit.
He materiaUy served the national cause, not only by the exercise
of his wisdom, tact, and foresight, but by the inspiriting influence
of his voice and example. He flung aside his books of theology,
substituted a uniform for the student's gown, grasped his sword,
and exhorted the apathetic to action. With a conscience as pure,
a purpose as holy, and a heart as dauntless as the Boroihme of
his fatherland, he proceeded to labour for the expulsion of the
invader.* This course he had openly declared his intention of adopting
from the moment that the French army, gUttering with the bright
but terrible prestige of Napoleon's name, showed its impregnable
front in Portugal. Mr. Doyle was not dismayed by the proclama
tion of the Duke D'Abrantes, dated from his head-quarters at
Lisbon : " Every city, and town, or -viUage which shaU take up
arms against my force, and whose inhabitants shaU fire upon the
French, shaU be deUvered up to pUlage, and totaUy destroyed, and
the inhabitants put to the sword. Every individual taken in arma
shall be instantly shot."
Dr. Doyle was always of opinion that a Priest should, in cer
tain cases, administer to the temporal as weU as the spiritua,!
wants of his flock and feUow-men, and that, like the Apostle Paul,
he ought to exercise his rights as a citizen. Nearly twenty years
after the event referred to, we find Dr. Doyle thus laying do-wn the
• Besides bearing arms in support of tbe national cause, Dr, Doyle informed the
Very Rev, Dr, Yore, in 1821, tbat during his residence in Portugal he had been en
gaged on tbe diplomatic service.

HE ACTS AS INTERPRETER. 31
poUtical duties of a clergyman. It wiU be remembered that Ire
land's mUd and long-disregarded petitions for Emancipation had
at this time begun to give place to a more defiant and organized
demand : " There are times," writes the Bishop, " and circum
stances, when a Priest is justified — nay, when he is obUged to
mix with his feUow-countrymen, and to suspend his clerical func
tions whUst he discharges those of a member of society. I myself
have once been placed in such cfrcumstances, and devoted many a
laborious hour to the ser-vice of a people engaged in the defence of
their rights and liberties. The clerical profession exalts and
strengthens the natural obUgation we are all under of labouring
for our country's weKare, and the priests and the prophets of the
old law have not only announced and administered the decrees of
heaven, but have aided by thefr counsel and thefr conduct the
society to which Providence had attached them."
It was doubtiess to this eventful period of his life that Dr.
Doyle once casuaUy aUuded in a conversation -with Michael Staun
ton, Esq., now -filling an important pubUc office, then editor of
Tloe Morning Register: " When I first paid a -visit to Dr. Doyle,"
remarks Mr. Staunton,* " he expressed surprise at my youthful
appearance, ha-ving been kno-wn to him as the editor of a news
paper for many years before. I said it was my destiuy to begin
life very early, and to have found it necessary to undertake duties
at twenty which usuaUy devolve upon others of far more advanced
years. ' The most important duties of my Ufe,' said he, ' I dis
charged at twenty, and I have not gathered a new idea since.' "
After the signal defeat of the French at Vimiero, General
KeUerman submitted to the Commander-in-chief, Sir Hew Dal-
rymple, a proposition to suspend hostiUties, with a -view to effect
a treaty for the evacuation of Portugal by the French.
A party weU acquainted with the facts he refers to writes :
" Colonel Murray was despatched by Sfr Hew to Lisbon with the
articles of convention, fuUy empowered to fr-ame and ratify a final
treaty with the French Generals. Colonel Murray proceeded to
Lisbon in H.M.S. Hibernia of 100 guns. He was accompanied
on this important mission by Mr. Doyle, who, there can be no
doubt, was consulted on the occasion. He had gi-eat local kiiow-
ledge, and acquaintance -with Portuguese poUtics. Mr. Clayton
was also of the party. Independent of other services, he and
Doyle proved useful as iuterpreters. On the 30th of August, 1808,
the so-caUed Convention of Cintra, after much negociation and
correspondence, was concluded at Lisbon. With some the con
vention proved unpopular, while others rejoiced at the fulfilment of
a treaty which ridded the land at once from a ruthless invader."
* Letter to the author, 20tb May, 1855.

32 GOES WITH THE ARTICLES OP CONVENTION TO LISBON.
It is not surprising that an intense feeUng of antagonism and
aversion should have existed against the French. In the Earl of
Westmorland's* " Early Campaigns of the Duke of WeUington"
there are several instances related of French brutality. Among
the cases cited occur the foUowing : A general officer in entering
Leira met a young woman with a ehUd at her breast. With a
single thrust of his sword he pierced the two bodies. Again,
when the EngUsh advanced guard arrived there, it found in one of
the- Convents the dead bodies of several Monks who had been
kiUed by the French soldiers, some of whom had dipped their
hands in the blood of the victims, and smeared the walls of the
Convent with it.
After the French defeat at Vimiero, Doyle, as we have seen,
accompanied Colonel Murray with the articles of convention to
Lisbon. This city has always been the seat of Portuguese royalty
and government, and on the ratification of the armistice, a council
of regency was promptly re-estabUshed there. Almost the only
case of desertion to the French interest during Don Juan's ab
sence had been that of Principal Castro, who accepted the office
of Minister of Worship under Junot. The new govemment com
prised men not less remarkable for poUtical judgment and expe
rience than for their tried fidelity to the House of Braganza. Don
Juan VI. continued to remain at Brazil, but maintained a constant
correspondence -with the CouncU of Eegency at Lisbon.
It has been truly said of Dr. Doyle, that there never was a man
who from present political premises could draw such accurate poh
tical conclusions, and that, had he devoted his attention exclusively
to statesmanship, he might have equaUed in eminence Pitt or
Fox. The gi-owth of his mind, though not matured at this period,
was yet sufficiently advanced to strike most forcibly those who
came into inteUectual contact with him. " Some years after Dr.
Doyle's return to Ii-eland," -writes the Eev. James Crane, in a
letter dated Eoss, 19th January, 1857, " I succeeded him at
Coimbra, and heard from the Ups of my masters. Lino and Chry-
sostimo, who had been his fellow-students, expressions of great
regard and admfration for the talents of Dr. Doyle, whom they
frequently designated grande rapar, or splendid young man."
* The following is, we believe, one of the last notes written by the late Lord
Westmorland : " I am happy to have learnt from you so good an account of Mr.
M-Derraott, and I beg you will thank him for his message. I now remember that
he advanced with the army to Rolica and Vimiero, which you so justly call ' the
glorious day.' I beg your acceptance of a copy of the ' Early Campaigns of the
Duke of Wellington,' " A few years ago, some friends of the late Father M'Dermott
applied for the Peninsular medal, in acknowledgment of the services to which
Lord Westmorland alludes ; but the request was refused, on the grounds that Mr,
M'Dermott's name did not appear in the Duke of Welhngton's despatches.

HE REJECTS COURT FAVOURS. 88
There can be no doubt, that Doyle's great talents and devotion to
the Prince were well known to the Eoyal Junta, and that during
his sojourn at Lisbon he had confidential interviews with the
members of that important body. It has been confidently stated
that proposals, which in any other case would have dazzled and
seduced, were more than once tendered to the young and gifted
student. Far from boasting of such tributes of respect in after
years however, Dr. Doyle, with the dignity of true humiUty, rarely
alluded to this epoch in his early life. Once only we find it re
ferred to pubUcly. It occurs in his pastoral of the 22nd of June,
1823, and when he felt that his exhortations to a people smarting
from wrong, and wUd with discontent, would derive additional im
pressiveness fi-om the avowal of this fact. " Dearest brethren,"
writes the Bishop, " our great interest for your welfare in these
appaUing times has dictated tfiese sentiments, and we deserve to
be beard by you vrith attention. We are no hirelings, ' who feed
ourselves, and leave the flock to starve.' We can ' caU you to
witness, that we have not desired the sUver, nor the gold, nor the
clothes of any of you.' We have at an early period of our life
rejected the favours of the great, and fled even from the smUes of
a court, that we might, in our native land, from which we had be
come an exUe to procure an education, labour in the most humble
department of the sacred ministry ; and since we have been
amongst you, ' we have not made our Ufe more precious than our
soul, provided we could finish our course, and the ministry of the
word which has been transmitted to us from the Lord Jesus.'
We do not glory in these things, but we offer them as arguments
of the purity of om- intentions and the sincerity of our love for you,
in-viting you by our example, as weU as by our words, to suffer
patiently for the sake of Christ, and to remain in allegiance to
your king, as we ourselves have done when imprisonment in a
foreign country,* and aU manner of distress, as well as the most
aUuring prospects, tempted our fideUty." Doyle's sojourn in
Portugal is the only period of his early life that found him in the
neighbourhood of " a court."
The Eev. Nicholas Clayton, who accompanied Dr. Doyle with
Colonel Murray to Lisbon, was the only one of the four Irish
students at Coimbra who had ample opportunities of becoming
acquainted with the communications between Doyle and the Por
tuguese govemment. Father Clayton died soon after Dr. Doyle's
* " After the French occupied Coirabra, Doyle, Clayton, Hanlon, and myself were
made prisoners, watched narrowly, and obliged to appear once a-week before the
Cnrregidnr, but the authorities somewhat relaxed their surveillanc after we had
made a few appearances." — Rev. Mr. M'Dermott to the author, 30/A of November,
1856. 3

34 THE IRISH FRIARS PERSECUTED.
elevation to the Episcopacy. A cherished friend of the latter
remarks : "I remember, when spending some time at Old Derrig
(the Bishop's residence near Carlow), I ascertained that during
his stay in Portugal he could have done what he pleased with the
government, and often refused riches and honours to a fabulous
amount. These facts were then proved to me by a young clergy
man named M'DonneU, on whom the holy Bishop la-vished aU the
kindness and fondness of a parent, and who died about the year
1824." In a confidential conversation, about the same time, with
the pious and accompUshed lady who, under the name of Mariana,
¦wUl be a famiUar acquaintance of the reader's ere this narrative
terminates. Dr. Doyle said : " My dear chUd, as to wealth, it has
not, and never had, any attraction for me. -Were it otherwise, I
could have commanded ingots of gold in Portugal."
The temptation was strong, but Doyle's principles proved
stronger. He did not forget the vow of voluntary poverty which,
after deep thought and preparation, he made two years before in
the little Convent of Grantsto-wn. Fondly and reverently clinging
to the vocation of his youth, he tore himself away from the
dazzUng dignities, the smUes and glitter of a court, and with an
amount of heroic fortitude rarely witnessed, turned his steps low^
Uly homeward, to labour " in the most humble department of the
sacred ministry." The Irish Friars, at this period, were slighted
to such an extent by even the Prelates and Priests of their own
reUgion, that the Holy See was obUged formaUy to interfere.*
Doyle, however, felt -with St. Augustine, that "the caresses of
this world are more dangerous than its persecutions ;"t and, Uke
St. Cyprian, he abandoned fame and fortune to take his station,
for the love of Christ, among the reproached of men. Ireland
stiU lay bound in penal chains. Altogether, a more uninriting
place for a CathoUc of talent and spfrit to reside in could not be
named. Orange fanaticism hunted or sneered him down. Eather
' Official letter from Cardinal Litta to Archbishop Troy, 14th October, 1815,
We quote a passage : " The severe treatment imposed upon the regulars of Ireland
by the Bishops is still the cause of complaint and outcry. It has been alleged that
the regular cUrgy in some diocesses in Ireland have been prevented by the Bishops
from the celebration of Mass, preaching the gospel, and exercising their other func
tions In their respective chapels, under pain of suspension ; also from collecting,
either at their chapel doors or in the towns and country, whereby they are deprived
of the necessaries of life. Some Bishops are also said to prevent the regulars, under
the same penalty, from building or repairing their chapels and convents, or admitting
young men to their noviciate and profession ; nor will they allow those who are
devoted to the care of souls to receive their due emolument. Finally, it has been
laid before us that the regulars are very much despised and maligned by the secular
clergy of Ireland, and that the Bishops with great difficulty promote them, or give
them faculties to hear tbe confessions of the faithful."
t Ep, 231, n, 6. See St. Augustine's letter to Count Darius accompanying a
volume of his Confessions.

HE RETURNS TO IRELAND. 35
than remain in a land where the chains of slavery clanked at their
heels and the brand of poUtical outlawry marked thefr brow,
several CathoUcs of independent feeUng fled from their native
land, became voluntary exiles on a foreign shore, or sought under
other governments that office and dignity from which unjust laws
excluded them at home.*
For years, a subtle and malevolent ingenuity had daUy devised,
and circulated through a partizan press and a prostituted pulpit,
the most damaging slanders against the suffering Church of Ire
land. Wily appeals to the prejudices and passions of the bigoted
and narrow-minded enkindled a persecuting spirit of hostiUty and
distrust which can hardly be considered even yet whoUy extinct.
" The foUowers of Christ," exclaimed Doyle on one occasion,
" are the children of sorrow ; this world which rejoices is not our
home ; our chaUce is one of affliction, and we must await the
period when He who mixed it for us -wiU return to change it
into a cup of deUghts, and bestow upon us that everlasting joy
which no man can take away."
We have seen how the young no-vice of St. Austin tore himself
from the seductions of the Court of Braganza, in order that he
might enter the sacred ministry of Christ. This he could easily
have done in Portugal, where the order of which he was about to
become a reUgious had many splendid conventual establishments.
He loved Portugal and its cause weU, but he loved Ireland
better. He loved his princely preceptors, but he thought his
old friends the poor Friars of Eoss, in their crumbling Convent,
entitled to a stronger feeUng of affection and respect. The full
value of that austere resolution which led him to select Eoss, or
the thatched Convent at Grantstown, in preference to Alcobaco or
Santa Cruz, cannot be adequately estimated without weighing in
the opposite scale the luxurious attractions of the latter estabhsh
ments. The Monastery of Alcobaco was the Esourial of Portugal.
It possessed a feudal grandeur with a royal pomp which attracted
the admfration of many and the notice of aU. If sinners in search
* Mr. Hugh O'Connor, one of the most opulent merchants of Dublin, mentioned
in his examination before Parliament in 1825, that as he found Ireland an unplea
sant place of residence, in consequence of the existing civil disabilities, he fully in
tended to leave it, " Q. Does the unpleasantness of the residence arise to you from
the disabilities under which you labour or from the party feeling to which religious
differences have given rise ? A. I take it that the civil disabilities create that party
feeling, Q. Which is the inconvenience which you peculiarly suffer ; is it tbe poli
tical disability or the inconvenience of party feeling } J. 1 never sought for any
place : it is from social intercourse being poisoned, Q. Do you think that there are
other Catholics disposed to take the same step as you yourself are inclined to do ?
A. It is natural to suppose there are j I have heard many say they would leave Ire
land. Q. Do you think that any proportion of Irish capital will be transferred to
other countries in case the Catholic disabilities are continued ? A. I should think
there would ; I have myself some capital in France,"

36 FOREIGN MONASTIC LUXURY.
of repentance had taken refuge within its halls, Alcobaco had been
also the resort of kings in quest of pleasure. Its revenue exceeded
that of the Portuguese Monastery of Mafra, which had an income
of £24,000. The library of Alcobaco contauied 50,000 of the
best and rarest volumes of every age and nation, with a mass of
valuable MSS. — a fact in itself sufficient to disprove the charge of
hostiUty to Uterary pursuits with which Monks have so often been
branded. Among these books were many pleasant souvenirs given
by Pitt, Lord Strathmore, Canning, and other eminent statesmen,
"in memoriam magnificentissimi hospitii" which they received
from the Monks. A recent number of that influential CathoUc or
gan. The Dublin Review, observes : " Let us endeavour to conjure
up before the eye that almost fabulous pile of conventual buUd
ings crowning the hill, with its countless belfries and its square,
massive towers, out of the centre of which, Uke the sun breaking
from amidst fantastic clouds, rose in magnificence the mighty
dome, the best-proportioned and Ughtest in Europe. What an
imposing sight must it not have presented to the vaUey below !
Adomed with innumerable statues were the corridors and gaUeries
surrounding the immense quadrangidar court, out of which opened
no fewer than eight hundred and sixty-six apartments. The
fathers and lay brethren, together with the subordinate retainers
of the Monastery, amounted to four hundred. We must, how
ever, regret that the munificence of John V., which was so lavishly
expended on the construction and embelUshments of the monastic
kitchen, bore too e-vident a testimony that, -with the increase of
wealth the humble fare befitting a reUgious house had, in the
course of time, been somewhat too much forgotten. This noble
haU, one hundred feet long, with its finely groined waUs sixty feet
in height, furnished with every contrivance to carry out extended
culinary operations, had obtained quite a European celebrity. It
bas been described as ' the most distinguished temple of gluttony
in Europe.' How much more do the genuine foUowers of monastic
discipline now rejoice in their present lowly and straitened condi
tion than in the recoUection of the luxury that once surrounded
them in this palace of perverted monasticism !" So far The Dub
lin Review, Through the centre of this vast haU flowed a crystal
stream, spangled by every sort of rich and delicate fish. Veni
son, with every rarity of the season, loaded the broad shelves
and covered the long tables in endless profusion. The banqiieting
haU, removed by a long succession of galleries from the leviathan
larder, was a sumptuous saloon, adorned by choice pictures,
covered with a rich Turkey carpet, and iUumed by a profusion of
wax tapers in sockets of massive sUver. Ewers and basins of the
same metal, fiUed with traffic creams and generous wine, abounded.

IRELAND FIFTY YEARS AGO. 37
whUe gorgeous velvet hangings and embroidered linen increased,
if possible, the monastic luxury.* What a contrast did the splen
dours of Alcobaco and Santa Cruz present to the mud walls of
CaUan Convent, or the thatched rafters of Grantstown Chapel !
In 1834, the various conventual temples of Portugal were
suppressed by Don Pedro, and thefr property annexed to the do
main of the state. Tbere is now no oasis in the vast monastic
waste. The moan of the night-vrind sweeps through the spacious
cloisters, and the bat and the owl hold sway within the unroofed
basUicas. One of the richest estates feU into the hands of a
Portuguese money-lender in London. A letter of Dr. Doyle's,
dated 1822, records the opinion, that " to suppress or secularize
most of the convents of men in Portugal would be a good work." '
Although dazzled by the monastic splendours of Portugal, it
may weU be supposed that Mr. Doyle was far from being attracted
by them. With a -view to enter the humblest department of the
sacred ministry he turned his steps homeward, and arrived in
Ireland at the close of the year 1808. The state of Ireland at
this period may be gathered from a few remarks of his own : "I
have read," he writes, " of the persecutions by Nero, Domitian,
Genseric, and Attila, as weU as of the barbarities of the sixteenth
century. I have compared them with those inflicted on my own
country, and I protest to God that the latter, in my opinion, have
exceeded in duration, extent, and intensity, aU that has ever been
endured by mankind for justice sake. These CathoUcs are now
emerging from this persecution, and — Uke the Trojans who had
escaped with thefr household gods to the shores of the Adriatic,
or the Jews after returning from the captivity — they are employed
with one hand in defending themselves against the aggressions of
thefr implacable enemies, and with the other cleansing the holy
places, rebuUding the sanctuary, making new vessels for the sacri
fice and worshipping most devoutly at thefr half-raised altars.
The recoUection of thefr past sufferings is far from being effaced.
The comparative freedom which they enjoy is a relaxation of pres
sure, rather than a rightful possession. As religionists they are
suffered to exist, and the law restrains the persecutor, but perse
cutes them of itself. They are obUged to sweat and toU for those
very ministers of another reUgion who contributed to forge thefr
chains. Their hay and com, thefr fleece and lambs, -with the roots
on which they feed, they are stUl compeUed to offer at an altar
which they deem profane. They still are bound to rebuild and
* See The Dublin Review, No. xciii. Vide also the description by General Cock-
burn, in his " Voyage," vol, ii. chap. 8, of " The Palace and Monastery at Mafra."
The same writer, in describing the Capuchin Convent near Palermo, says, " No
woman is allowed to enter."

38 THE CONVENT AT ROSS.
ornament thefr own former parish church and spire, that they may
stand in the midst of them as records of the right of conquest, or
of the triumph . of law over equity and the pubUc good. They
stiU have to attend the baUiff when he caUs, with the warrant of
the church-wardens, to coUect thefr last shiUing (if one should
happen to remain), that the empty church may have a stove, the
clerk a surplice, the communion-table elements to be sanctified,
though perhaps there be no one to partake of them 
Such is thefr condition ; whUst some half-thatched cabin or unfur
nished house coUects them on Sundays to render thanks to God
for even these blessings, and to teU their woes to heaven !"
Such, or worse, was the condition of Ireland in 1808, when our
student bade adieu for ever to the attractions of the Continent,
and embraced the uninviting duties of an Irish priest.
"In December, 1808," writes the Eev. Mr. M'Dermott,
" Doyle, Clayton, and myself arrived in Cork from Portugal,
accompanied by several transports having a large number of
troops on board." Doyle shortly afterwards proceeded to Eoss,
and was received with much joy and affection by his old* preceptor
Father John Crane.
For nine subsequent months Doyle rarely stirred outside the
Convent bounds. The utmost quietude and simpUcity character
ized this retreat, and the transition was sudden and striking.
After the storm of poUtics and the clangor of arms, some retire
ment and meditation was desirable. Eoss Convent, too, was en
deared to him by many interesting associations, personal and
historical. So far back as the reign of Edward HI. an Augusti
nian Monastery flourished almost on the site of the present buUd
ing, and continued to diffuse around its boons and blessings until
Henry VIII. seized the property of the Friars, and necessitated
them to appeal for the first time to the generosity of the Irish
heart — a fund so inexhaustible that for 300 years they were ena
bled to uphold the Institute, to keep the lamp of faith buming
throughout the long night of oppression, to promote reUgion,
and to preach charity and patience to the persecuted flocks of
Wexford. Mr. Doyle longed to emulate the many good hermits of
St. Augustine, who had studied on the same spot, and laboured on
the same ground, before him. The young student looked forward
with anxiety to his ordination, and in preparation for that great
event he devoted much time to prayer, thought, and study.
The Very Eev. Dr. Furlong writes : " Dr. Doyle and I met in
1809 for the first time since his no-viciate. He resided at Eoss ;
I at a Convent twelve mUes distant, being professed during his
absence. No student can be ordained tUl he reaches the fuU
canonical age — namely, twenty-three years and a day. Dr.

JAMES DOYLE ORDAINED. 39
Doyle knew that he was born in 'September, 1786, but did not
know the day of the month. To make sure he fixed the 1st of
October, 1809 (Eosary Sunday) for his ordination ; and on that
day he and I were ordained together in Enniscorthy by the Eight
Eev. Dr. Eyan, Coadjutor Bishop of Fems."
The ordination ceremony is highly impressive, and lasts for
several hours. At the close of a solemn preUminary address,
the officiating Bishop pronounces an anathema against any stu
dent who leaves the chapel when once the holy mysteries of ordi
nation have commenced. He warns any person present who
may not feel the vocation strong vrithin him, to withdraw ere it be
too late ; and it has occasionaUy happened that some students,
distrustful of thefr own strength of soul, do retfre at the eleventh
hour, robed in the vestments of the sacred caUing upon which
they were about to enter. Should the number of students re
ceiving ordination be large, they remain in rows at the foot of the
altar, and thefr acquiescence to the administered vows of perpe
tual chastity and obedience is expressed by one simultaneous step
forward. They then throw themselves upon thefr faces, and con
tinue to remain prosti-ate while the choir recites the Litany of
Saints. Bishop Eyan, who was assisted by his Archdeacon, per
formed the solemn ceremonial on the present occasion with great
impressiveness. To the young Priests who knelt at his feet he
addressed a touching exhortation, fervently praying that they
might be fiUed -with the Holy Ghost {Acts, U. 1, 11) and inspfred
-with knowledge and zeal to preach Christ's gospel to aU men.
"In about six weeks after," proceeds Dr. Furlong, "Doyle
and I, with some others, were collected together in Eoss to read
theology, under the Very Eev. PhUip Crane, then our Provincial.
Dr. Doyle was appointed to teach logic, and displayed some
acumen. Soon after J was sent to CaUan, but returned again on
the 27th of March, 1810. From this date untU the November
foUowing, Dr. Doyle and I Uved under the same roof, and it was
only at this period I had a true opportunity of forming a judgment
of his mental faculties, or of the dispositions of his heart. The
powers of his mind requfre no comment. In regard to his heart,
I am convinced his friendship was most sincere, his gratitude
steadfast, not in the least impafred by time, and any one who
placed a confidence in him, pro-vided the confidence was encou
raged by Dr. Doyle, might have calculated on his most ardent and
most zealous support. I am rejoiced to have an opportunity of
making this remark, because a person who was not tolerably
intimate -with him, a person who only knew him by halves, might
not easily come to this conclusion." In answer to a query or two,
Dr. Furlong further observes : " After breakfast, from 10 till 4

40 REFUSED FACULTIES.
o'clock, he gave his attention to the study of logic and dogmatic
theology, and the evening he usuaUy passed -with his step-sister,
Mrs. Howlett, who resided in the town. Of Locke he was parti
cularly fond, and many were the differences of opinion between
us as to its value, aim, and tendency. His piety was most edify
ing. In aU my Ufe I never saw a man devote equal thought and
time in preparing to approach the Holy Eucharis-t."
Mr. Doyle every morning subjected the students to a very
elaborate examination in theology. One of them, the present
Bishop of Saldes, teUs me that Mr. Doyle had prepared over
night for this purpose a series of erudite and ingenious notes,
written on a long, narrow sUp of paper, roUed around his left fore
finger like a scroU, and held fast by pressure from the thumb.
According as the examination progressed, our professor would
graduaUy elongate his string of notes, to the infinite discomfiture
of some indifferently read young men.
The Very Eev. Dr. Furlong's letter proceeds : " In November,
1810, James Doyle and I were sent to Enniscorthy to the Coad
jutor Bishop, Dr. Eyan, to be examined for faculties. He did
not examine us, and decUned to give us faculties. Dr. Doyle
returned to Eoss ; I went to Wexford, and we never Uved in the
same house afterwards."
The Bishop's refusal to grant faculties to two young Priests of
spotless rectitude, and gifted with more than ordinary talent, wiU,
doubtless, surprise some readers. Dr. Eyan was not exempt from
certain sacerdotal prejudices and jealousies which are happUy
becoming extinct -with the progi-ess of UberaUty and enUghtened
¦views. He entertained an undisguised feeling of dislike towards
the Eegulars in general, and for those of his own diocess in parti
cular. Haughty to every one, he was markedly so towards Friars,
and some of them to this day look back with a chiU to the uni
formly ungracious manner of Bishop Eyan. When Bishop Caul-
field's infirmities rendered a Coadjutor necessary, the clergy as
sembled to nominate one ; but differences of opinion prevaUed to
such an extent among them that Archbishop Troy, of Dublin,
who was then weU nigh regarded as the Pope of Ireland, seeing
no likeUhood of unanimity, conditionally nominated to the office
Dr. Eyan, Parish Priest of Clontarf, near Dublin. A native of
Wexford, brother to a banker, erudite and upright, the clergy of
the diocess, with some few exceptions, considered that in the per
son of Dr. Eyan they would have a respectable and leamed pre
late. He died in 1819, a few weeks pre-vious to the consecration
of the man to whom, in a whimsical mood, he had refused priest's
faculties a few years before. Dr. Eyan, however, could not pre-
¦sent him from saying Mass. It was formerly a custom to leave

DOYLE ON A COMMITTEE. 41
upon the altar written announcements of things lost and found,
which the Priest invariably read out for the congregation. One
day after Mass, in 1810, Mr. Doyle uttered a scathing denuncia
tion of this practice, and its desuetude dated from that day.
In 1806, a fever hospital and dispensary was founded in Eoss
by a gentleman named Haughton. The act of foundation required
that those estabhshments should be managed by a committee con
sisting of twelve CathoUcs and twelve Protestants. Of this board
Mr. Doyle was a zealous and efficient member. In his examuia-
tion on the state of the Irish poor, he strongly urged that a legal
system of rehef should be administered in each parish or district
by trusted and competent men elected every year. He inferred,
from experience, that they would use great disciimination and
economy in the expenditure of the funds. Eeferring to his own
labours on the Haughton committee, Dr. Doyle said : "I have
been in the habit of giving charity in Ireland as every person has,
and I never used the same discrimination, and never took the
same pains to ascertain the merits of a claim — I never informed
myself so weU about the good or e-vU that might result from what
I gave, as I did when acting as a member of that committee ; and
this remark appUes to aU the other members also. Then there is
another advantage which it would be proper to notice as resulting
from the composition of that committee. They agreed by a bye-
law to breakfast together every Monday moming ; they met and
discussed thefr proceedings, and the consequence was, that at aU
times, and even when Ireland was exceedingly disturbed, great
harmony prevaUed among the different reUgionists in that town,
and I think this was mainly owing to the Protestants and Catho
Ucs meeting every week, and acting together for a charitable pur
pose." Mr. Doyle had been rather careless of his apparel whUe an
ecclesiastical student. He now became more particiUar. Writing
to his old friend Mrs. Crosbie at this period, he goes on to say,
after some preamble : "I must teU you, then, that I want a suit
of clothes, and as, at present, I have not an abundance of money,
I choose rather to become a debtor of yours than of any of these ,
Eoss gentlemen ; so I therefore request of you to send by bearer,
cloth from 26s. to 30s. per yard, cassimere for a waistcoat, and
some strong dark cord for a smaU-clothes. I shaU remit you the
amount in fifteen days."
Mr. Doyle's daily routine was most simple and unostentatious.
On some few occasions we find him entering into the humble fes-
ti-vities of the peasantry. We have heard one old woman in Eoss
recaU vrith pride the cfrcumstance that, forty-four years pre-riously,
her wedding was honoured by the presence of the subsequentiy

42 DOMESTIC NOMINATION.
iUustrious "J.K.L.," who blessed it and graced it as he alone could
do. In 1812, while stUl resident at Eoss, Doyle experienced his
first temptation to participate, as a public letter-writer, in the
stirring politics of the day. One morning he emerged from his
cell, armed with a document of formidable dimensions, bearing
the signature of " Clericus," and addressed to the editor of The
Freeman's Journal. The subject was one which excited great
discussion at the time — domestic nomination. By this principle
Bishops would receive thefr appointment and investiture from a
Dean and Chapter at home. Much difference of opinion regard
ing its poUcy prevailed. Doyle had some hopes that his letter
would have the effect of cementing the divided parties, and ex
pressed his views with force, learning, and ingenuity. Prerious
to posting it, however, he requested that Mr. O'Connor, one of
his brother EeUgious, would act as literary censor, whUe he read
the document aloud. Mr. O'Connor, having listened attentively
to it, said : " Your letter is, no doubt, able ; but it seems to me
that it will rather tend to provoke further discussion than to allay
it. There are two parties at present most intemperately jarring.
Would not the force and novelty of your -news be likely to create
a third ?" Doyle entertained a high opinion-of his friend's judg
ment, and, at this period of his life at least, he distrusted the
strength of his own. To the Friar's remarks he merely repUed,
" True," and tore the document into a hundred fragments.
The reader is referred to the appendix of this work, from
which he wiU perceive that the controversy on the question of
domestic nomination was not very edifying, and that Doyle and
his friend exercised much discretion in forbearing to prolong it.
The fer-vid eloquence of Doyle on a subject so exciting would only
have added fuel to a flame which, according to Matthew O'Conor,
threatened to consume Cathohcity in Ireland. The principle for
which he contended was afterwards conceded by Leo XH., but, in
the Concordat of 1829, it again ceased to be operative.
Mr. Doyle's step-brother, the Eev. Peter Doyle, P.P. of Tin-
tern, having broken his leg in hurrying to administer the last
sacraments to a death-bed penitent, in 1812, Father James Doyle
temporarUy deserted his cloister to discharge the active duties of
a Missionary Priest during the good pastor's indisposition. After
three months' experience, our Friar was not sorry to get back
again to his quiet Convent. But he was not left in" uninterrupted
seclusion. On famUy differences and difficulties Mr. Doyle was
perpetuaUy consulted. Writing confidentially to a mercantUe lady
of Wexford, an old friend of his, who had experienced annoyance
from some of her relatives, he says : " They are a dangerous, self-
interested family, and widely expanded in your neighbourhood.

TRIES HIS HAND AT POETRY. 43
They can serve you or injure you without your suspecting it ; and
although they wiU never be your sincere friends, strive, when
there is not an interest to the contrary, to keep up appearances
with them." By his family he was constantly consulted on every
move, mai-riage, or " miff." Writuig to Mrs. Coney, he says :
" I wish there had been no attempt at renewing a friendship which
can never be sincere."
The Provincial of the Augustinian Eegulars merely possesses
the power to grant such faculties as enable Friars to officiate
within their order. To hear the confessions of lay persons, per
mission must come either from the Bishop of the diocess or his
Vicar-General. This latter office was fiUed by the Parish Priest
of Eoss, Father Thomas Doyle, who discerning in James Doyle
an inteUect of no ordinary capacity, and weU knowing that Dr.
Eyan's refusal was merely the gratiflcation of a senseless preju
dice, at once presented his namesake with the desfred Ucence.
Mr. Doyle's reputation as an enUghtened spiritual dfrector soon
spread far and near.
Moore, in the autobiographical sketch of his Ufe, re-vives the
old remark, that it would be difficult to name any eminent pubUc
man, unless Mr. Pitt, who had not, at some time, tried his hand
at verse. Dr. Doyle was no exception to this rule. In 1811, he
threw off an amusing Hudibrastic poem in aUusion to some local
occurrences with which the students of Eoss were alone famUiar ;
and when, in the summer of 1812, they were about to depart to
their appointed convents after completing their studies, Mr. Doyle
composed the foUo-wing fareweU lines, to the air of " Bannow's
Banks," at the earnest soUcitation of the warm-hearted no-rices.
The little CoUege stood on a picturesque hill overhanging the
river Barrow. " The number of students," writes the Bishop of
Saldes, "was few. The people of Eoss were most kind and at
tentive to us, and at our departure we entertained many of them
at dinner in the College, among whom were several most respect
able Protestants of the town and neighbourhood. Although there
is a convi-rial aUusion in the lines. Dr. Doyle was himself the
most temperate of men, even mixing water with a glass of wine ;
but he was, at the same time, most hospitable, and always wished
his guests to enjoy themselves -without reserve."
" The drooping sun concealed his rays behind the cultured hiU,
The lengthening shade forsooii the flood, or faded from the riU ;
The blue smoke curling from the cot seemed lingering to the view,
As if in Nature's silent hour 'twould hear our last adieu.
" The tuneful bird now pensive sat, or smoothed its languid wing —
Its notes no longer closed the day, nor would the milkmaid sing ;
The blooming meadow turned to gray, and lost its lovelier hue,
When we, by Nature's self, were forced to take our last adieu, ¦

44 HIS BBOTBER's ILLNESS,
" All human ties must break in time, new scenes old scenes replace,
Hands may be rent, but hearts cannot be torn apart by space.
Affection makes one sad farewell, and love springs up anew 
Love, the best passion of the heart, that sanctions our adieu 1
" With minds improved, -with grateful hearts, we leave the scene we love
Where social virtues fix their seat, descended from above ;
Where all that generous nature yields, and gentle wishes woo,
Lie round about our college hill, that hears our last adieu.
" Hail, College, hail ! thou blest abode, where innocence and mirth,
With frequent play and casual feast, made paradise on earth,
May'st thou each year send forth, like us, a fond and fervent few,
Who, when the hour of duty comes, will bid thy walls adieu.
" Ah ! Father bf our college days, and must we go and leave
Our boyhood's prop, our manhood's pride, our dream in life's last eve I
Parental fondness filled thy breast — let filial tears bedew
These cheeks, made cheerful long by thee, whom now we bid adieu.
" With feelings of fraternal love each heart responds for all,
We go, ' immortal souls to save,' obedient to our call ;
But ere we leave our college nest to cleave life's tempest through,
Do thou, our father and our friend, receive our last adieu."
There is a pensive tone in these Unes, which derived no sUght
stimulus from a famUy sorrow which pressed sUently and heavily
on Father Doyle's heart. In May, 1812, news reached him that
his favourite brother Patrick, who had only just been called to the
bar vrith great promise of success, was threatened by a compUca
tion of diseases. Father Doyle gathered together from his pinched
resources sufficient money to secure the professional attendance of
the eminent Dr. Percival and two other physicians. The Friar
could not leave Eoss, or the class of which he was the theological
instructor untU the July vacation, and with painful anxiety he
daily watched the post for some favourable account of his -brother's
health. Dr. Percival's bulletins were curt and cautious; and
Father Doyle eagerly avaUed himself of the first moment of vaca
tion to hurry to DubUn and to judge for himself. For weeks he
did not leave his brother's bedside. At length, on the 30th of
July, we find him announcing a favourable change to Mrs. Crosbie :
" I feel a pecuUar pleasure in being able to remove your appre
hensions for my poor brother. On Friday he was considered out
of danger, and has been recovering since, though very, very slowly.
On this day he and I drove out in a carriage to the Blackrock :
he was much fatigued, yet I hope it may be of use to him ; if so,
it -wiU be repeated daily. Nothing which money could procure
has been omitted. I have sent regular accounts of his situation
to Dr. Doyle at Eoss, who as regularly sent his opinion and ad
vice. I expect a fortnight wiU enable Pat to travel to Wexford
by easy stages. He would indeed be the greatest loss to me of

DEATH, AND CHARACTER. 45
anything on earth, for I never found in his breast a feeling dif
ferent from my own ; and I weU know that he would as vriUingly
share with me aU the advantages of Ufe as I have shared in his
bitter sufferings ; yet I could have borne the loss of him without
desponding, having been taught by experience that for happiness
we must depend almost entirely on ourselves."
The young barrister survived a year or two only from this
date. " For him," observes Dr. Howlett, " he entertained a most
extraordinary affection ; his grief at the loss of his brother was
most poignant; and no wonder — for vrith the most brUUant talents
were combined in him a meekness and amiabiUty of temper and
mannef, which was not possessed by any other member of the
famUy. As a student, he got from Trinity College the highest
honours that could be conferred, at that time, on a CathoUc —
rooms in the institution for his Ufe. He studied for the Bar, was
a cotemporary of Sfr Michael O'Loghlen, and was considered
much superior to Sfr Michael." Patrick Doyle, haring passed
¦with eclat through Alma Mater, was caUed to the Bar in the HUary
Term of 1811. The remembrance of his talents is retained to
this day by several of his distinguished feUow-students, Mr.
Commissioner PhiUips* among the number ; while the Eev. Dr.
Mortimer O'SuUivan, a prominent foe to everything "Eomish,"
has recorded in his ParUamentary eridence, that although Patrick
Doyle had left CoUege before him, his reputation as a very distin
guished scholar was frequently referred to in the University.
On James Doyle's removal, in 1813, from the confined clois
ters of Eoss Convent to the vride sphere of action which the
CoUege of Carlow opened to him, the whole destiny of his life
hinged. As pecuUar interest must attach to the latter establish
ment from Dr. Doyle's long connexion -with it, we -wUl here in
troduce some account of its origin, from the pen of Dr. Delany,
Bishop of KUdare, at the close of the last and beginning of the
present century. The document from which the detaUs are taken
was forwarded to government, and may be found in the fourth
volume of the Castlereagh Papers, p. 142. The Bishop's simple
statement renders stiU weaker the well-nigh threadbare calumny,
that Eoman CathoUc Priests have ever been, not only apathetic in
promoting, but downright hostUe to the spread of education. The
taunt which imputes to Priests the craven poUcy of seeking to
keep the mind of youth in a state of twiUght, has often found ex
pression, and occasionaUy credence. It is impossible to read
unmoved Dr. Delany's account of the struggles on the part of the
Prelate, Priests, and people, to erect, from their own scanty
• Since the above was written, poor Charles Phillips has paid the debt of nature.
He died, February, 1859. Mortimer O'Sullivan quickly followed him.

46 BISHOP DELANY.
resources, at a time of great national prostration, a large col
legiate establishment. The intrepid men who led that forlorn
hope deserved weU of their country.
The Penal Law which rendered it an indictable offence for
CathoUcs to instruct their youth,* had no sooner been effaced from
the statute book, than the Clergy of this smaU diocess indomi
tably toUed in the teeth of obstacles the most disheartening to
raise an ample CoUege, and organize within it an elaborate system
of education. They succeeded in completing their undertaking ;
but unforeseen difficulties soon threatened to overwhelm it. It is
painful to read the abject language of supplication for help which
the old Prelate, in the extremity of his distress, addresses to the
Irish government. He assures them that the small fees for dis
pensations in prohibited degrees of kindred, " together with the
interest arising from four government debentures, UteraUy con
stitutes the entfre established fund and sole permanent emolu
ment actually possessed by that poor, unprotected, alas ! and now
utterly forlorn institution. It is in such a rueful predicament at
the present crisis, as to enjoy Uttle more than the name of a bare
existence : 'tis true it is not actuaUy quite extinct, yet does it in
good earnest lie gasping, unless promptly succoured on the very
point of ineritable dissolution. Tender, therefore, as a parent
must be naturally supposed to feel for an expfring child (to waive
considerations here of a stiU superior nature), shaU the person to
whom this luckless establishment, deserving surely of a better
fate, chiefly owes its birth, fondly hope to obtain forgiveness in
presuming to approach on this occasion his majesty's ministers
with an humble and earnest supplication to look on it with an eye
of pity, and lend thefr aU-powerful support to prolong its exist
ence." Dr. Delany then proceeds to narrate that on the repeal
of the penal statute which opposed an insuperable bar to the erec
tion of CathoUc schools. Dr. Keefe and the Parish Priest of
Carlow instantaneously avaUed themselves of the auspicious mo
ment, and, on the strength of the scanty means of both, which did
not exceed £100, commenced the erection of the CoUege. Aided
by the Clergy and laity they completed thefr design, " and by
means of subscriptions," quaintly adds the Bishop, " universally
entered into everywhere throughout the local district, of from a
British sixpence and a shilling each up to a guinea and more,
indiriduaUy, in a few instances in each parish, combined vrith hat
coUections for brass also in every chapel, did they finaUy execute
* In tbe " Commons' Journal" for 1769, we find complaints made to Parliament,
not that the Catholics opposed the progress of education, but, on the contrary, "that
a great number of schools were dispersed in different parts of the kingdom, unilev
the tuition of Popish masters, contrary to the sertse of several Acts of Parliaraent,"

ESTABLISHMENT OF CARLOW COLLEGE. 47
the work — a large, handsome edifice 120 feet long;" and the
Bishop proceeds to give a minute description of this fine building.
" The Priests continued to bestow on it a guinea or half-a-guinea
each after the schools were opened, tiU it was reckoned to be fully
estabUshed, when these donations were whoUy withdrawn, and it
was left for several years back to stand on its own bottom, and
support itseK solely by the surplus profits resulting, after the ne
cessary expenditure, from a pension of twenty guineas paid by
clerical students." The enormous rise in the price of provisions,
fuel, and the oppressiveness of the window tax* at length gave a
mortal blow to the funds of this admirable institution. Moreover
" the Eoyal CoUege of Maynooth," for the gratuitous education of
the priesthood, was estabUshed in the interim, and the students
soon deserted Carlow for its more favoured sister. Dr. Delany
states that a farmer worth ilil5,000 " made instant application to
him to n9,me his son to a place in Maynooth !" The Bishop, in
conclusion, enumerates the salaries of the several professors, with
the other expenses of the estabUshment, which do not seem to
have been far short of £600 a-year, and once more implores " the
Ulustrious personages here addressed to give the College a share
of the bounty which they had afready extended to Maynooth.
On thefr eventual determination," emphaticaUy observes the
Bishop, "trembUngly hangs, at this decisive moment, the final
destiny of this tottering house, rapidly hastening, without a figure,
to the ground, unless they are pleased to extend a hand to sup
port it. May God in his mercy inspfre them to pronounce a
favourable sentence !"
The appeal proved unsuccessful. Nor is it to be regretted.
Thrown on their own resources, the Bishop and his Clergy worked
vrith indefatigable and efficient zeal to estabUsh on a firm basis
the CoUege of St. Patrick at Carlow. Providence blessed their
eifertions. In 1817 it was greatly enlarged, for the reception of
100 lay students, whose studies are chiefly directed to general
history, mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, poUtical
economy, the elements of law in general, and in particular the
laws and constitution of their country. The CoUege was, a few
years ago, incorporated by royal charter with the University
of London. In the ecclesiastical department there are professors
of theology and sacred Scriptures, of natural philosophy, moral
• The window tax was first introduced in Ireland by the Eight Hon. Isaac
Corry, who succeeded Sir John Parnell as Chancellor of the Exchequer. An epigram
of the day wittily refers to this official change :
" For the loss of Sir John we need not be sorry ;
His post's better filled by keen Isaac Corry,
Who the art of finance has now brought to its height.
For our taxes being heavy, he has laid them on liyht."

48 DEAN STAUNTON.
philosophy, rhetoric, and humanity. The CoUege stands in the
centre of a spacious and weU-planted park, which exhibits a de
lightful scene for recreation and retfrement.
Bishop Delany's eccentric style of composition has doubtless
struck the reader. UntU Dr. Doyle came to show them how to
wield a pen, the Prelates and Priests of Ireland, from the reign of
George II. , were, with one or two exceptions, singularly feeble as
writers. PenaUy prohibited from receiring instruction at home,
they sought at an early age the blessings of education at the Col
leges of St. Omers, Douay, or Louvaine in France, at Coimbra in
Portugal, or at Salamanca in Spain. UnpoUshed and unlettered
previous to entering the continental Universities, it may well be
supposed that, as they conversed almost exclusively in French,
Spanish, or Portuguese, during the long period which thefr full
coUege courses consumed, the young Irish ecclesiastic, on return
ing to the land of his birth, neither wrote or spoke the EngUsh
tongue with force or purity. To this rule Dr. Doyle was himself
no exception, untU he laboured with giant energy to overcome aU
obstacles. Several copies of his letters, written at the period of
his return, are before us, and the difficulty he found to find words
sufficiently expressive of his meaning is but too painfuUy evident.
The deficiency in the Irish Priesthood to which we have aUuded
was, however, in some degree compensated for by thefr. poUshed
continental gesture and suarity. This interesting characteristic
of the Irish Priest of the old school has been noticed by Lady
Morgan in her charming novel of " Florence MacCarthy," while
both Le Sage and Goldsmith have turned to good account their
sketches of that now almost extinct character, the Irish student
upon the Continent.
At the period of Mr. Doyle's removal to Carlow the presiden
tial chafr of the College was zealously fiUed by the Very Eev.
Dean Staunton. Father Andrew Fitzgerald, a Dominican Friar,
had instracted the students in divinity. Having for several years
given very general satisfaction by the zealous and efficient dis
charge of his duty, first as professor of humanity, and finally of
theology, Mr. Fitzgerald, one moming, in conversation -with Dr.
Staunton, delicately suggested the propriety of increasing some of
the academic salaries. Dr. Staunton happened to be lost in the
regions of thought ; the hint missed its mark, and the foUovring
day, when the President appeared less absent. Father Fitzgerald
returned to the charge. " The work is hard," he said, " and the
pay smaU. To diminish the former is impossible, bnt to in
crease the latter easy." Dr. Staunton expressed his opinion that
the limited state of thefr funds precluded the possibihty of ac
ceding to Mr. Fitzgerald's request, but promised to consult the
Bishop upon the subject.

MR. DOYLE SENT FOR TO ROSS. 49
The result of the conference may be inferred fi-om the fact
that a few mornings after, when Dr. Staunton was at breakfast, a
knock at his door and an excited announcement induced the good
man to abandon his meal, and hurry precipitately to take the
professor's place at the divinity class. The students had been
waiting an hour for their preceptor ; Mr. Fitzgerald was no where
to be found, and great consternation prevailed. Dr. Staunton
took a manual of theology, and tremulously endeavoured to acquit
himself of the professor's duty. " His fingers were aU thumbs,"
however ; he was a novice at the art, and far from discharged the
task to his own satisfaction. The good President returned to hia
room, and remained there exceedingly dejected for the rest of
the day.
Catechism in hand, he was vrith the class betimes next morn
ing. His downcast expression excited commiseration among the
students, and rarely before had their conduct been marked by
more exemplary docUity. The Dean hastUy thanked them for
thefr attention, sought his chamber, and did not indulge in his
accustomed walk that day. He was sitting at the fire, vrith his
head recUning pensively on his hand, when the sudden entrance
of Father Joice, a Franciscan friar and one of the curates of the
parish, induced him to look up from a volume of De La Hogue's
Theology, upon which his eyes had been mechanically fixed.
" I'U tell you what it is. Dean," said Mr. Joice, " you need not
fret so for Father Fitzgerald. CaU me a blockhead if I don't get
you, within twenty-four hours, an abler man than ever he was,
and perhaps at a lower salary." Dr. Staunton's eyes opened
wide. He thanked his risitor heartUy, shook him by the hand,
begged of him to lose no time about the matter, and, according to
some accounts, put behind the fire a letter he had been writing to
the absconded professor.
As postal communication was slow in those days. Father
Joice repafred personally to Eoss, and having been fortunate
enough to find Mr. Doyle at home, he at once opened the subject
of his mission, and succeeded, after encountering a sUght resist
ance, in bearing him off in triumph. The Augustinian and
Franciscan, after an exceedingly cold drive, arrived in Carlow, by
the Waterford coach, at the unseasonable hour of 2 o'clock in
the moming.
It has been said of Dr. Doyle that he seemed born for the
high office which he so long and so ably fiUed. There had always
been a majesty in his gait, and a lofty dignity in his tone, which,
though admired by many, were by some misunderstood. His
loftiness of demeanour was in a great degi-ee unconsciously borne,
4

50 HIS INTERVIE-W WITH THE DEAN.
and those who best knew him — ^his fellow-students and brother
clergy — entertained no doubt of this fact.
Mr. Doyle was at length shown into Dean Staunton's pre
sence-chamber. He had never before seen Mr. Doyle. He sur
veyed the lofty figure from top to toe, and after a momentary
scrutiny inqufred what he could teach. " Anything," repUed
Doyle sonorously, "from A, B, C, to the thfrd book of Canon
Law." An acquaintance ¦with the third book of Canon Law em
braces a stage of theological erudition rarely attained by the ordi
nary run of ecclesiastics. Dr. Staunton did not altogether hke
the confidence of the answer, nor the tendency to haughtiness
which stamped his risitor's mien. Long accustomed to the tuition
of youth, a rebuke flowed ¦with ease from the President's Ups.
" Pray, young man," he said, " can you teach and practise humi
lity ?" "I trust I have at least the humUity to feel," repUed
the Friar, " that the more I read the more I see how ignorant
I have been, and how Uttle can, at best, be known." Dr. Staunton
appeared strack by the reply. He rubbed his hands with satisfac
tion, and rang the beU for cake and vrine.
"You'll do," mused the Dean. "With respect to terms,"
he said, "there cau be, I conceive, no difficulty." " Sir," repUed
Doyle, " I am gratifled that you should consider me eligible for
the office ; but I am not in a position, at this moment, to give you
a decided answer." " What !" exclaimed the old Dean, starting,
and nervously surveying the lofty, unbending figure before him.
"My reply, sfr," responded Doyle, "springs not from pride, but
has been eUcited by a perfectly opposite feeUng. As an Augustinian
Friar, I have sworn obedience to my Father Prorincial. He Uves
at a considerable distance — in Cork. Whether he may or may
not permit me to leave my convent and accept a professor's chair
in the CoUege of Carlow is altogether a lottery. I have written
to the Provincial, but an answer cannot reach me before to
morrow. In the meantime, I thought it better to acknowledge
your summons personally and promptly. Whether I am at Uberty
to accept your proposal, twenty-four hours ¦wUl determine." " My
friend," said Dr. Staunton, " your Prorincial -wiU not, I am sure,
offer any objection. I have the pleasure of knowing the Eev.
Michael Sheehanj and -wiU write to him myself on the subject.
MeanwhUe I may consider that you have, conditionaUy, accepted
my proposal."
In order to render om- narrative of Dr. Doyle's Ufe as complete
as possible, it wUl now be necessary to go back a Uttle. Imme
diately on receiving the summons to Carlow, Doyle addressed a
note to his friend Father Daniel O'Connor, then attached to

THE AUGUSTINIAN PROVINCIAL. 51
the Augustinian Convent, Cork, requesting that he would apprize
the Provincial, Dr. Sheehan, of the invitation, and, if possible,
obtain permission to accept it. Doyle's letter, far from soUciting
the indulgence, merely desfr-ed to acquaint his Prorincial, as a
matter of courtesy and right, with the nature of the proposal. " I
am quite ready," he added, " to accept the humblest position in
the order that may be assigned me. Should the Prorincial's riews
prove in any way unfavourable, express from me at once the most
unquaUfied submission."
Father O'Connor obeyed his friend's -wishes to a certain extent
only. He proceeded to the Provincial's room, and announced the
desire felt for Doyle's assistance at Carlow College. "My dear
O'Connor," repUed the superior, " I fear it is impossible that we
can spare him. Our order is small, and death has thinned its
ranks of late. Most of those who stUl remain are of an age suf
ficiently advanced to make one apprehend that they cannot be -with
us beyond a few years more. It was my intention to have sent
for Mr. Doyle, and to station him in this Convent -with you.
Surely the secular clergy possess men well quaUfied to fiU the
chafr without looking into our Uttle order for one. Write to Mr.
Doyle, and inform him of my decision." ^
Mr. O'Connor respectfully remonstrated with the Prorincial.
"You have Uttle idea, Eev. Father," he said, "ofthe inteUectual
power of that man. There is a mine of unwrought and untouched
resources within his head. I, who have just returned from Eoss,
where we have been under one roof for four years, weU know it.
Depend upon it, Mr. Doyle's splendid talents are intended for
noble purposes, and requfre to be exercised ; they would be lost
here. Let him go to Carlow, where a -wide field lies open before
him, and rest assured that the honour and credit he wiU confer
upon our order, whUe occupying the chair of theology at Carlow,
wiU prove of greater benefit to us than any serrices he could pos
sibly render here."
The Pro-vincial, yielding to Mr. O'Connor's adrice, revoked
his decision, and Doyle had an acquiescent answer by return of
post. Dr. Doyle never forgot his friend's kind interference on the
occasion. On what trifling cfrcumstances the most important events
sometimes hinge. Had Mr. O'Connor, meekly yielding to a
sense of blind obedience, neglected to remonstrate respectfuUy
with the Provincial, Mr. Doyle would doubtless have been sum
moned to Cork, and possibly assigned an obscure position in the
ascetic Convent of his order. Eesiding in retirement, aloof from
the cares of the world, and that exciting clash of political opinion
which so strongly characterized the time, his days would have

52 WHAT THE STUDENTS THOUGHT OF HIM.
passed over in sUent prayer, and in the unostentatious discharge
of his reUgious duties. Nothing would have been heard of him
at his death beyond a few ephemeral expressions of personal
regard from his brethren whom he had edified, or perhaps a burst
of lamentation from those whom he had sUently led from sin to
¦vfrtue, in the closet or confessional. And so he would have been
given to the earth, and his stone would record nought save that he
had Uved. CathoUc Ireland would not only have been deprived
of one of her brightest ornaments and examples, but her wrongs
would probably stUl remain unredressed.
We may observe that the Uttle CoUege at Eoss did not long
survive Mr. Doyle's retirement from it. In 1816 it ceased to exist.
There are some amusing and characteristic anecdotes related
of Dr. Doyle's first acquaintance with the Carlow students. His
working dress was, to say the least, eccentric, and he had no
sooner appeared in it than a general titter ran through the aca
demic ranks. A hat, originaUy black, but somewhat faded from
long exposure to the weather, reposed upon the back of his classic
head ; a pafr of brogues encased his feet ; jet black garments
clothed his Umbs and body ; and a loose frieze coat, thrown care
lessly across his back in the manner of a mantle, completed the
attire. Mr. Doyle's frame displayed this odd-looking dress to the
best advantage. His hands and feet were long, his person gaunt,
his neck thin, his shoulders narrow, his countenance austere, and,
to those who did not know him, repeUant. Wrapt in thought and
his mantie of frieze, he slowly paced the avenues of Carlow CoUege
park. The students laughed heartily at the new professor, and
thinking the whole affafr a right good joke, gave Uttle or no atten
tion to thefr studies that day.
The new professor, meanwhile, gave notice to the students to
prepare themselves -with as much diUgence for an examination as
though they were about to undertake jurisdiction. The students
indulged in renewed laughter, and declared that the man must be
demented to attempt so daring a display of theological power.
" He wiU only make a fool of himself," said they, " we have more
theology in our Uttle fingers than ever he or any other Friar had
in his brain."
The beU at last rang, and as Doyle quietiy took his seat in the
middle of the class-room, vrith a massive volume of theology spread
open upon one knee, his pocket-handkerchief resting on the other,
and a snuff-box in his hand, the ebulUtion of merriment afready
aUuded to rang undisguisedly through the apartment. Doyle raised
not his head ; but having hastUy swept the room from right to left
¦with his eyes, -without seeming to do so, resumed, with imperturb
able gravity, the perusal of the volume.

I

^i^4*,t^•

HE EXAMINES THE CLASS. 63
It was time to face this mutiny. Suddenly Dr. Doyle raised
his head and his voice, and commenced the examination. There
was something so authoritative in his manner that aU levity was
forgotten, and every student present stood mute and paralysed.
The shock was wonderful ; and mouths that had preriously curled
upwards now drooped -with dismay. Doyle began his examination
at the bottom, then suddenly started to the top, skipped over
twenty heads, aUghted in the middle, ran to the right, then to the
left, and finaUy to the top again, taking every student completely
by sm-prise. His progress through the ponderous tome was
equaUy iiTegiUar, as he knew the Fathers and it altogether by
heart. The students faUed to acquit themselves satisfactoi-Uy, and
fiung thefr eyes to the ground in humiliation. Some, it is true,
answered accurately ; but when called upon to support thefr riews
by references to the Fathers and the Sacred Scriptures, they com
pletely broke down. The professor uttered a few words of reproof
and adrice, but with such earnestness and force, that several of
the young men, instead of avaUing themselves of thefr hours of
recreation, passed the entfr-e day in study, and when the time for
examination again arrived, thefr conduct was found more than
enough to counterbalance the inattention of the prerious moming.
In the com-se of a few days, an unexpected incident occurred.
Father Andrew Fitzgerald returned to Carlow, and, with a rather
crestfallen appearance, presented himself at Dean Staunton's room.
It there transpired that Mr. Fitzgerald had engaged, ¦with three
other learned Dominicans, Drs. Harold, Eyan, and Magennis, to
open an extensive educational establishment at Bloomfield House,
near Bootersto-wn ; but finding, at the eleventh hour, that the
attendant outlay would considerably exceed thefr original calcula
tion, the good Dominicans abandoned the project as inexpedient.
Mr. Fitzgerald's uniform demeanoiu- had endeared him not
less to the students than to the President, and his return was
haUed by the latter with mingled feeUngs of pleasure and regret.
Dr. Staunton felt himseK placed in an awkward position. He bad
completed arrangements with Mr. Doyle, whUe to close the Col
lege gates against Mr. Fitzgerald's return would prove an ungra
cious and unpopular act. Dr. Staunton sent for Mr. Doyle, and,
tremulous as before, explained the very embarrassing posture of
affafrs. "My dear sir," said Doyle, " don't bestow a thought on
the matter. My box is not yet unpacked, and I ¦will return to
Eoss by the evening coach." " No, Mr. Doyle," replied the Pre
sident, " you shaU not go. I have sent for you, brought you a
long way, and engaged you. I have long projected a rhetoric class.
Eemain here at least one year and teach that class, should you
succeed in forming it. Mr. Fitzgerald returns to his old work in
the morning."

54 HIS LECTURE ON RHETORIC.
The new rhetoric class was to be composed only of such stu
dents as should voluntarily join it. It being the natural tendency
of most youths to apply themselves as Uttle as possible to study,
it was Mr. Doyle's poUcy to bind them by the ties of fascination
to his new class. We fear it is not very easy to 'convey any ade
quate idea of the comprehensiveness, briUiancy, and attractiveness
of the introductory lecture which he addressed to the students.
Having noticed and exposed some Egyptian fables attributing to a
wrong quarter the first invention of oratory, the lecturer traced its
origin and progress from the time of Pittheus and the siege of
Troy ; and reverentiaUy pausing to offer a tribute of respect and
admiration to the mighty merits of Homer, he proceeded to foUow
the Une of Pagan orators vrith elaborate chronological precision,
expounding then- value and detaUing their various characteristics
of perfection. The names of Corax, Tisius, Pericles, Empedocles,
Demetrius, Gorgias, Prodicus, Alciadamus, Antiphon, Polycrates,
Aristotle, Longinus, Isocrates, and Cleon, feU from his Ups in
wealthy profusion ; and haring closed and crowned the Une of
Grecian rhetoricians with the great name of Demosthenes, Mr.
Doyle unfolded the beauties of that briUiant consteUation, of
which Dionysius of Halicamassus may be regarded as the chief.
Passing to the Eoman orators, he traced the true rigour of thefr
growth from the siUy decree of the Senate, by which aU rheto
ricians were ordered out of Eome ; but the Athenian phUosophers,
Diogenes and Critolaus, protested ¦with such eloquence against the
enactment, that every educated mind in Eome became fiUed vrith
a buming desire to study and practise the fascinations of rhetoric,
" among whom," added Mr. Doyle, " the name of Marcus TuUius
Cicero wUl shine resplendent to the crack of doom itself." From
the decUne of the Eoman empire and the introduction of Chris
tianity, the lecturer traced the formation of a new and pure species
of eloquence, as exhibited in the writings of the Latin fathers of
the Church, Lactantius and Minutius FeUx. He particularly ad
verted to his holy father in reUgion, St. Augustine, and dwelt
with much eloquence on the oratorical achievements of that great
and good man at Hippo, Caesarea, and elsewhere. He thus went
on, passing in reriew before him the rhetoricians of every cUme
and age downwards, analyzing their powers and developing their
beauties, until he came to Bossuet, MassiUon, and Bourdaloue, to
Pitt and Fox, and finally to the then leading orators of Ireland,
Grattan, Curran, and O'ConneU. " And now, gentiemen," he
said, "I hope I have fired your ambition. No doubt there are,
as there ought to be, many of you who desfre to influence the pas
sions, captivate the wiU, and convince the understanding, as those
remarkable men I have named, have influenced, captivated, and

A STROKE OF DIPLOMACY. 55
convinced. Many of you possess vrithin your reach this invaluable
element of power, and you have only to stretch rigorously to ob
tain it." The students were completely bewitched by the lan
guage of the new professor, and, with a buoyant enthusiasm, they
flocked to his standard in numbers.
The inaugurative lecture, of which we have feebly endeavoured
to convey an outUne, consumed five hours in the deUvery. The
students never expected to hear anything like it again, and when,
on the following morning, they heard thefr master deliver a second
address, if possible surpassing the other in beauty and rigour, but
of a perfectly distinct character, their intense feeling of wonder
and admfration may be guessed. " We thought he had exhausted
himself the day before," observes one of Dr. Doyle's pupUs, "but
we soon found out our mistake, for, during the subsequent six
years which he remained at Carlow, he frequently addressed us
vrith hardly less learning and eloquence."
Mr. Doyle devoted a portion of his second day's address to the
subject of pulpit oratory. In conclusion, he reminded his hearers
of the objects of clerical eloquence, which have been thus sum
marized : "To inform the understanding, even of the inapprehen-
sive ; to arouse the slumbering conscience, to regulate the moral
feeUngs, to unlock the fron grasp of avarice, and expand the Uberal
palm to deeds of charity; to humble the toweling insolence of
pride, and disarm the upUfted hand of oppression and revenge ; to
infuse the spirit of benevolence into the heart of unfeeUng ob
duracy, and to breathe the love of peace into the bosoms of the
turbulent." The professor of rhetoric having apparently concluded for that
day, his pupUs were about to retire, when he called them back.
" It is necessary," he said, " to give a character and reputation to
our young class. For this purpose we should endeavour to sur
round the forthcoming pubUc examination ¦with some eclat. I
would therefore suggest that each of you make yourself master of
some particular chapter, in which it shall be my care that you be
chiefly examined. Some extraneous questions may be put by the
examiners, but trust to me that it shall not be long ere I bring you
back to those parts with which you wUl be best acquainted. I
wiU therefore submit to you some memoranda on the subject which
I have prepared." Mr. Doyle read aloud the names of various
alumni of the class, each in connexion with some particular chap
ter of "Blafr's Ehetoric." "In regard to this arrangement,"
continued the diplomatic professor, "I do not impose secrecy upon
you. It is perfectly optional ¦with you to avow or conceal it; but
T would beg to suggest to you, that to pursue the former course
idly could serve no good or useful purpose, whUe the latter is ob-

56

THE THESIS.

riously the interest of every rhetorician who has a reputation to
earn and maintain. You are, no doubt, as anxious as I am to see
this young and struggUng class estabUshed on a basis of popularity
and stabiUty from which it can never afterwards be shaken."
This ingenious suggestion worked its way. The students
read, studied, and eventually answered at the academus Uke so
many Ciceros. A halo seemed to surround Carlow CoUege from
that day ; and men, stUl Uring, who witnessed and heard those
celebrated examinations, speak of the young men who figured on
that occasion as persons singularly inspfred. The secret was kept
frfriolably. "It did not transpire for nearly thirty years after,"
writes one of the most distinguished of Mr. Doyle's pupils, " and
I beUeve I was, myself, the first to avow it then."
Besides the studies usual to a rhetoric class, Mr. Doyle pre
scribed an interesting thesis to the students. He felt that they
would be much more Ukely to enter, eon amore, into an existmg
topic of discussion than one of an historical character, and he ac
cordingly selected "an Address of Congratulation to Louis XVHI.
on his restoration to the throne of his ancestors." That fi-om the
pen of WiUiam Kinsella, afterwards Bishop of Ossory, was un
questionably the best ; but a distinguished Parish Priest of the
diocess of Kildare, stUl Uving, haring supported his very able
thesis by some singularly clever answering, he carried off the
premium. WiUiam Clowry, subsequentiy an eminent preacher
and polemic writer, and Edward Nolan, the successor to Dr.
Doyle in the see of Kildare, also particularly distinguished them
selves on this occasion.
A letter, dated 10th August, 1857, from one of the last of
Bishop Doyle's diocessan Priests, the Eev. J. Delany of BalUna-
kiU, observes : " He taught rhetoric for the next six months ; the
class-book was Blafr. His acquaintance vrith Longinus, Quin-
tiUian, and above aU, with the fugitive and fragmentary poetry of
his native country — ' the Exile of Erin,' &c. (Carolan, Drennan,
Eeynolds, &c.) — the beauties of which he pointed out and dwelt
upon vrith singular pathos, astonished and charmed his hsteners ;
all this coming from one, who in his efforts to master and excel
in the language of another country (Portugal) had nearly for
gotten his own, and whose pronunciation at this time was so
uncouth and barbaric, as frequently to extort bursts of laughter
from his class." Doyle, no doubt, when repeating vrith rapture
some euphonious English sentences, was involuntarUy foUowing
the pronunciation of Teicero, his old master of rhetoric at
Coimbra. Dr. Doyle's constitution was never a strong one, although he
generaUy contrived to accomplish the work of a dozen ordinary

UNREMITTING TOIL. 57
men ; and even at this early period, when he might be supposed
to possess all the elasticity and rigour of youth, we find fi-om the
foUowing letters that he suffered from frequent and serious attacks
of deUcacy. One of his first letters to his relatives in Wexford,
dated 17th January, 1814, after asking several questions, which
show his anxiety for thefr welfare, says : " From this place there
is nothing which could interest you. My health is tolerably good,
but I feel great apprehensions about the approaching Lent. My
stomach and head were considerably affected last Christmas, and
that was one of the causes which prevented me from going to see
you in Wexford. Since our studies have been resumed I feel
greatly better, so that labour seems necessary for me, and I can
assm-e you I have quite enough of it. From five o'clock in the
moming untU ten at night I have not an hour to spare, unless
about one after dinner."
This short period of relaxation was usually occupied by Mr.
Doyle in a walk along the picturesque banks of the Barrow, in
company vrith his feUow professors, Michael Slattery and John
England, both respectively distinguished in after Ufe as Arch
bishop of Cashel, and Bishop of Charleston.
The raUy fi-om compUcated Ulness which Patrick Doyle made
in 1812, owing, doubtless, to the exertions of his brother the
Friar, was devoted to an energetic attempt to perfect his legal
studies. In 1813 he acted as junior counsel in a suit before
Judge Fletcher. The case was caUed on earlier than had been
expected. The senior counsel was absent ; Judge Fletcher in
vited Mr. Doyle to proceed. Mr. Doyle diffidently hesitated ; the
attorney in the case informed the court that CounseUor M'NaUy
could not possibly be in attendance before an hour. The Judge
got impatient, and desired Mr. Doyle to open the case. The
young advocate, after a nervous cough or two, did so. By degrees
he warmed to the subject — a marked sensation was produced.
His pleading was rapid, ornate, and convincing. He swept aU
before him : the jury decided in his cUent's favour vrithout lea^ving
the box. Young Doyle had one or two other triumphs. But
unhappUy the excited flush of ambition on his manly cheek gave
place, ere long, to the hectic tinge of pulmonary consumption.
The cruel disease hurried him before it, and buried him fri an
early grave.
This melancholy event is referred to in the foUowing letter,
addressed to Mary Howlett, afterwards Mrs. Coney. Through
her, nearly aU bis family correspondence was carried on. He
entertained a strong esteem for this lady ; generaUy reserved to
others, to her he unbosomed his confidence freely. The entire
of this voluminous correspondence has been placed at our disposal.

68 A SEVERE BEREAVEMENT. " Carlow, 17th February, 1814,
" My DEAR Mary — As I always felt a pleasure in writing to
you, you may readUy suppose that it was only the continual
agitation of my mind, since I came to Carlow, which could have
prevented me from giving you some account of my Ufe, and in
quiring about your own happiness; but now " when remedies are
passed the griefs are ended." I am indeed more easy at present
than I have been for a long time, and find that reason and rehgion
have enabled me, in some measure, to think with composure of a
loss which to me is frreparable, and not less so perhaps to many
of those friends to whom I have been constantly attached.
"It is useless to teU you the particulars of poor Patrick's
iUness and death ; the great frost and snow prevented me from
witnessing either, and he had expfred on the day before I reached
Dublin. Nothing was omitted that could be done for him, but
no skill or medicine ,could remove the fatal disease. The dense
masses of snow which blocked up the roads, rendered it impossible
to remove his remains to Eoss as he would have ¦wished, and as
I intended ; but that is a matter of no importance, and he had
too much sense to set a value upon it. He died a holy death ;
and I have every reason to hope that he would not now exchange
his situation for what it was. The great prospects which were
opening to him in the way of his profession, are only an additional
cause of regret ; but I will say no more of him.
" I feel happy in my present situation ; the state of my health
alone gives me uneasiness. I hear occasionaUy from Peter; I
beUeve of all my friends it is he who thinks oftenest of me. I must
go down in summer to settle some affafrs of Patrick's, otherwise
I did not intend risiting the county Wexford untU the recol
lection of him would be worn away. I purpose to spend a week
between your house and Piercestown, another between Mary
DUlon and Eoss, and the rest of the vacation at some watering
place." The "Peter" alhided to in the foregoing was Dr. Doyle's
half-brother, the Parish Priest of St. Martin's, Tintern.
In 1814, Carlow sustained a double bereavement in the death
of Bishop Delany and Dean Staunton. The episcopal throne of
KUdare, and the presidential chafr of the CoUege, were thus
rendered vacant. The Eev. Andi-ew Fitzgerald succeeded to the
latter, and Mr. Doyle was at last appointed Professor of Theology
in his room. The foUo^wing letter, addressed to Dr. Howlett,
aUudes to these cfrcumstances : "Carlow, 1st October, 1814.
"My dear Martin — I have thought of writing to you, I
beUeve, every day since I left Eoss, but was so engaged, or rather

DOCTOR SLATTERY. 69
in so unsettled a state of mind, that I am glad to have deferred
doing so untu now. The death of my old friends caused an entfre
revolution in the ecclesiastical concerns of this town. I had a
great deal of difficulty in keeping myself clear of party spirit,
which, on more than one occasion, ran very high. I succeeded,
however, entfrely to my satisfaction ; and though the utmost disin
terestedness governed my conduct, I was put into the very situa
tion which my most sanguine ¦wishes would have pointed out. In
addition to other advantages, I have got a new suite of rooms fitted
up for me in the very best style, so that in every respect my for
tune is prosperous. We have had many pubhc dinners, &c., since
my arrival, which obUged me to regale very often on claret ; but I
have entertained you long enough ¦with my own affairs. I had
almost forgotten to teU you that I had been very Ul for some days,
and was obUged, for the first time in my Ufe, to lose a guinea by
your profession. George* is about engaging in some commercial
pursuit ; Tom,^f Peter,t and myself, are making up about ^100 for
him ; my share of it is vrith Tom. I ¦wUl be of any further use in
my power to him, and my earnest -wishes for his success, you may
be sure, wUl not be wanting. Were it not for George and his
business, I could furnish myself vrith a horse now, which would
be of infinite service to me; if I surrive the ¦winter I shaU get one.
With aU my other labours, which are great, I have been obUged
to preach a good deal — this, however, is professional business;
besides the discharge of duty, there is an accession of character
on such occasions which, to a person Uke me, is of more real value
than bank-notes. Adieu. "J. Doyle."
Dr. Slattery, the late Archbishop of Cashel, competed with
Dr. Doyle for the chair of theology on this occasion. Dr. Slattery
had graduated in Trinity CoUege, and was regarded as one of the
most leamed men in the Lish Church. The preference, however,
was given to Mr. Doyle, whose sensitive heart felt so pained lest
Dr. Slattery should have experienced any humUiation by the rejec
tion, that he at once yearned towards him with an intensity of
affection that death alone terminated. They were bosom friends
ever after, and when Dr. Doyle became a Bishop, he frequently
took Dr. Slattery with him on his risitations. Dr. Doyle testified
his kindness of disposition towards Dr. Slattery in a more remark
able manner. On the death of the Most Eev. Dr. Everard, in
1821, the archiepiscopal see of Cashel became vacant. Dr. Doyle
at once exerted his influence in endeavouring to have the name
of Dr. Slattery marked " dignissimus" among the candidates sub-
• His youngest brother. t Captain Doyle, % Rev, Peter Doyle.

60

LETTER TO HIS NIECE.

mitted to the judgment of the Holy See. His exertions, however,
proved unsuccessful, and Dr. Laphen, P.P. of Thurles, received
the preference. But Dr. Doyle's friendship for Dr. Slattery did
not terminate here. In 1833 he was nominated President of
Maynooth CoUege, on Dr. Doyle's earnest recommendation ; and
in the foUowing year the archbishopric of Cashel became agam
vacant. Dr. Doyle's former exertions in favour of Dr. Slattery
were remembered. He was unanimously declared "dignissimus ;"
and most worthy for the sacred office Dr. Slattery indeed proved
himself by the piety and ability -with which he discharged for
twenty-three years the duties incidental to it.
The winter of 1814 found our professor of theology in " good
health, -with a good fireside, plenty of labour, plenty of money, and
a good name :" " Carlow CoUege, 4th November, 1814.
"My DEAR Mary — I find the longer a correspondence is in
terrupted, the more difficult it is to resume it. My situation m
Ufe, my riews, my pursuits, my acquaintances, are so different
from yours, and so Uttle kno-wn to you, that I can scarcely find a
subject for a letter when I wish to write, unless I were to fiU it
-with expressions of esteem for you, and interest in your welfare ;
but this would be useless at present.
" You might expect that I would be offering you adrice, and
so I should if it were necessary, but in your own family you have
enough to consult, and my only vrish is that you should always act
in concert with your hushand and mother, and at aU times prefer
thefr vrishes and opinions to your own. A thousand things occur
in your town and country, and yet you stand so much on ceremony
vrith me, that you would not write me a single word unless I had
formaUy requested of you to do so.
"As to myself, I have Uttle to say ; if good health, and a good
fireside, plenty of labour, plenty of money, and a good name, be
advantages, I enjoy them to the fuUest extent. I feel contented,
and except when a recoUection of poor Pat disturbs my mind, I
might say that none of my family can be more happy. Proridence
has been particularly kind to me. I strive to thank God every
day, and as I pray for you as weU as for myself, I hope you will
do the same for me in your turn.
"I had promised to spend the Christmas vacation at KUkenny,
-with Dr. Marum, but as he is about to be consecrated Bishop of
Ossory, he may be so occupied that I would not wish to intrude
on him."

CHAPTEE III.
How to preach — Death of another brother — Letters — Mr, Doyle held in
awe — Students on the rack of examination — Robbery and murder  A
peace maker — Letters — Alarming illness of Mr. Doyle  Rev. Richard
Hayes — An amusing dispute — Rumour of Mr. Doyle's appointraent to the
bishopric of Ferns — Letters — Claude's retort answered — An unfortunate
bargain — Correspondence with the Rev, R, J, M'Ghee — Dr, Corcoran fore
sees the future bishop in Mr, Doyle — Electioneering excitement — Letters —
Death of a third brother — The See of Kildare vacant — Appointment of
Mr, Doyle — Remarkable circumstances attending it — Correspondence
with Csesar Colclougb and Sir H, Parnell — A rebuff — Letter from Dr.
Troy — An amusing interview with Dr. Curtis — The Veto.
MooRE records an anecdote of a dirine well known for being a
seccatore in his preaching, who having been caught one day in a
shower going to church, was complaining to a friend of being very
wet. " WeU," said the friend, " only get up in the pulpit, and
you'U be dry enough." Father  , an Irish Priest, was pro
nounced by one of his parishioners to be a most moving preacher,
for the moment he got into the pulpit, at the conclusion of Mass,
every one left the chapel. These and similar satu-es would seem
to have reached the ears of Dr. Doyle, and he constantly laboured
to remove the obstacles to impressive preaching, which had unhap
pUy become too general. As a professor his zeal was of the most
ardent kind. He earnestly desfred that the young Priests of his
class should be not only learned theologians, but also practicaUy
conversant vrith every branch of knowledge, which could not fail
to render them au fait for the exigencies of the future mission.
Effective preaching he regarded as an indispensable condition of
success in the Irish missioner. He was indeed averse to theatri
cal elocution, and, except on rare occasions, to elaborate compo
sition; for, in a country cfrcumstanced as Ireland — where the
Priest, supported by the voluntary system, depends for subsist
ence on the beneficence of his flock — he saw that the number of
the Priests should of necessity be limited, and if the Priest spent
a large portion of his time in the composition of his sermons, he
could not discharge the other various and onerous duties which
devolved upon him. Dr. Doyle's great object as professor was so
to mould the minds of his pupUs that extemporaneous preaching —
a Uttle prerious thought being, of course, supposed — should at all
times come easy to them. " Spontaneous effusions," he said,
" which come naturaUy and warm from the heart, stamped vrith
the immediate impress of the genuine feeUngs of the speaker,
seldom faU to excite by sympathy the emotions of the audience,
and, reaching the heart, cause corresponding chords to ribrate."

62 DEATH OF HIS BROTHER GEORGE.
The tracts in use at Carlow and Maynooth are, for the most
part, the works of continental dirines, and therefore certain points
of special discipline are not referred to at aU, or, if referred to,
treated in a manner not adapted to Ireland. "Hence," vyrites
one of his pupUs — " Hence Dr. Doyle's indefatigable labour and
constant annotations — his continuous commentary upon every
page of the class-book ; as a supplement of defective information
it is of essential importance to the young Priest."
Our professor had not ceased to bemoan the premature death
of Patrick Doyle, when George, his last surriring brother, be
came stricken by mortal iUness. A letter addressed to the late
Dr. Howlett of Eoss refers to this affliction :
" Carlow College, 9th April, 1815.
" My dear Martin — I seldom felt greater difficulty in writing
to any person than I do at present. I consider myself so much
indebted to you for your attention and kindness to George, that
my feeUngs are distressed when I endeavour to express them. It
is weU to have known misfortune in some degree, for it prepares
the mind and heart to sympathise with other men, whom, in better
cfrcumstances, we could look upon vrith indifference. You recol
lect the exclamation of old Dido, 'Haud ignara malis miseris
succurrere disco,' I allude to your sickness, &c. &c., coming from
India. I did not expect, when I heard from Mary of George's
extreme deUcacy, that he would Uve even until now ; yet she, I
perceive, entertains hopes of his recovery, although I think that is
not to be expected. I beg of you earnestly to let me know some
day in the week what you think of him, and how he is. I was
anxious for many reasons, which I mentioned in a letter to the
Captain, that George should go to Knockstovm. I suspect that
he did not show that letter to Mary as I desired. I shaU write to
her again on the same subject, if you let me know that he is in a
state capable of being removed. At the same time, my dear
Martin, you must aUow me to assure you that I feel much more
the inconvenience you must be at on his account than any expense
which would attend his stay in Eoss ; that to me could not be an
object of much consideration. As to going down to see him,
though my not doing so has given pain, perhaps offence, to Mary,
I do not mind it. If we suffered ourselves to be governed by the
feelings of women or of sick people, we would be no longer capable
of holding our place in society. My risit could not serve him. I
saw him once lately, and think it was for the last time. I have
proved my fiiendship for him in times and ways when it could be
useful. Moreover, it is a truth that, from five in the moming untU
ten at night, I cannot spare an hour with convenience, unless half-

LETTERS ON THAT EVENT. 63
an-hour after breakfast and a short period for rest in the evening,
when the fatigues of the day leave me unable, or rather unfit to
think or write on any subject. My health was never better,
thanks to God. A few days of relaxation in the country during
Easter week was of great use to my mind and body.
" Yours, vrith the most sincere affection and the utmost gra-
*^*''^^' "J.DOYLE."
Another letter on the same sad topic :
"Carlow College, llth April, 1815,
" My dear Martin — I had anticipated the account of poor
George's health ; I had no hopes of his final recovery. Again I
thank you vrith aU my heart and soul for your attention to him,
and feel particularly unhappy that he should feel a particular -wish
to see me. His anxiety on the subject would, I believe, determine
me to go down in any other cfrcumstances but those in which I
am placed, notwithstanding aU that I should suffer — for though I
can command my feeUngs on such occasions, the trial, I am con-
¦vinced, would injure me seriously. Our President went to DubUn
on yesterday about some law business, and I don't know when he
wUl return ; the whole estabUshment would suffer by my absence ,
even for a single day. I could not calculate the e-vUs to myself
and others that might result from any Ulness of mine, which I
should necessarUy anticipate if I were to go to Eoss for three
weeks. I did not recover the shock which I received when last
in DubUn ; poor Pat's death disabled me during a part of the last
year, and ought I not, under these cfrcumstances, to remain at
Carlow, where constant occupation excludes distressing reflec
tions ? Your own mind ¦wUl suggest to you what you should say
to him about my absence. I am totaUy ignorant of the particu
lars of his cfrcumstances. My dear friend, let him have every
attendance you think usefiil ; and when he dies let him be buried
Uke his neighbours : the clergy of the town can have an office for
him, and may dine at yom- house or at the inn. I wiU ¦write to
Captain Doyle, and request of him to interest himself in my place
upon the occasion ; and whatever money you or he may be obUged
to expend, I, of course, wUl repay. If you do not think it im
proper, I should be glad you would teU George that aU my affec
tion for him continues ; that it is a dread of distressing him and
myself, and a vrish to preserve my health (which, I fear, would
suffer from seeing him), more than the obUgation of remauiing
here, which prevents me from going dovm ; that I am satisfled of
your attention to him, and only wish that he would give to you a
statement of his Uttle affafrs, and then resign himself entfrely to
the proridence of God ; that he has lived long enough if he can

64 MR. DOYLE HELD IN AWE.
die weU ; that his days may have been shortened on account of
his sins ; that he should lament over them in the bitterness of his
soul, and hope, through the merits of Christ and the sacraments
of salvation, to pass to a world where there is not grief nor sad
ness, and where pain ¦wiU be no more ; that I wiU always remem
ber him in my prayers, and that the sacrifice of the altar shaU be
offered by my hands and soul to obtain the remission of his sins,
and of the punishment due to them, until it shaU please God that
he and I and aU our friends wUl meet, never more to be separated.
Adieu." The Professor's reputation as a profoundly wise and learned
ecclesiastic increased daily ; and although remarkably youthful in
appearance, a frequent expression of awe grew up in his imme
diate presence. Mr. Doyle's general deportment was not by any
means calculated to diminish this feeUng. Erect as a lath, grave
as a judge, reserved, digpified, and austere, he was feared by
some, beloved by those who knew him intimately, and reverenced
by aU. Of his apparel he had now become much more particular,
and the noon-day sun was not more spotless than his dress and
person. Any appearance of slovenliness in others, especially if
wearing the garb of clergymen, disgusted him exceedingly; and
he often communicated his views pretty strongly on this subject
to the theological students committed to his care. AUuding to
an influential ecclesiastic attached to the CoUege, whose long,
bony nails were perpetuaUy clogged ¦with black snuff, he said : " I
protest when that old gentieman comes to table, the state of his
hands almost turns my stomach."
As he discharged his various duties with the regularity of
clock-work, it may be supposed that any trip in the progress of
these methodical arrangements greatly annoyed him. "I never
wiU forget," writes one of Dr. Doyle's pupils, " the look of con
centrated scorn and reproach which he would throw on Father
Andrew Fitzgerald whenever he kept the class unnecessarily
waiting, or caused business to be temporarUy suspended."
His afr had, in the eyes of strangers, a good deal of the noli
me tang ere about it. "I di-ead to meet that man upon the coUege
walk," said Mr. F  of Carlow, in 1818, " his expression
always seems to say, ' Keep your distance, sfr.' "
As an examiner he was held in great awe, and many a student
who thought himself, in private, remarkably weU read, proved,
when once under the Professor's searching test, sadly deficient.
Some who had reaUy acqufred good information, occasionaUy
became so confused and embarrassed from the mere prestige and
presence of Dr. Doyle, that they broke down lamentably. Their
position when on the rack of examination, was well adapted to

THE VERDICT OF " GUILTY." 65
increase the painful embarrassment of a nervous man. Placed
in a pulpit, the observed of aU observers, many were the faltering
and ludicrous answers which found expression beneath its formal
canopy. " A really stupid student went into the pulpit," observes
the Eev. Mr. M  , "but, of course, he was quite dumbfoundered.
' Good God ! cannot you answer that simple question ?' (The
poor feUow could hardly teU whether he was on his head or his
heels !) Dr. Doyle put another, yet stiU no reply. ' Can you, at
least, teU how many sacraments there 'are ?' No answer. ' Why,
the man does not even know his catechism ; come down, sir.'
But the cream of the joke consisted in the quizzing which the
poor goose received from his companions. ' By Jove !' said one,
'you deserve a. premium for bothering Doyle. He tried to catch
you tripping, but you were too 'cute to be tripped by him. You
very dexterously contrived not to be inveigled into a wrong answer.'
By such quizzing as this, they absolutely succeeded in making the
simple student believe impUcitly that he had gone ¦with credit
through the examination."
A student ascended the pulpit with a very, self-satisfied expres
sion, but he suddenly lost his presence of mind, and was obliged
to come down again, wearing a remarkably meek aspect. " If you
had gone up as you came down," said the examiner, " you'd have
come do^wn as you went up !"
Any symptoms of self-sufficiency, or overweening confidence,
annoyed Mr. Doyle more than even the faltering accents of a help
less tunidity. Tendencies in this direction he rebuked caustically.
Theological students sometimes deliver sermons in presence of the
academic heads, who offer such critical observations at the conclu
sion of the discourse, as may seem calculated to improve the style
and stimulate the inteUectual strength of the future pulpit orator.
On the occasion to which we refer. Dr. Doyle acted as chief judge.
Some briUiant thoughts and weU-put points, sprinkled with a more
than average complement of " hems" and " haws," and not a few
awkward solecisms, found expression. The Professor did not in
terpret these " hems" as the indications of an interesting diffi
dence, but, on the contrary, detected the existence of some disin
genuousness, and a good deal of self-sufficiency. Several members
of the auditory expressed warm marks of approval, but Mr. Doyle
remained impassive as a statue. The speaker, encouraged by his
friends, sought to drive his points still further home by a succes
sion of thumps upon the reading desk. At length he concluded,
and aU eyes were turned in anxious inqufr-y towards Dr. Doyle.
" WeU," said the Eev. Mr.  , " whait verdict do you pro
nounce ?" " My verdict is GuUty, sir," repUed the Professor of
Theology. " Guilty !" exclaimed the Priest, with a look of dis-
5

66 LETTER TO HIS NIECE.
may, " of what ?" "Of robbery and murder !" proceeded Doyle
solemnly. " The whole sermon may be found in Bourdaloue,
and it has been murdered in the deUvery !"
Mr. Doyle was particularly fond of taking down the overween
ing vanity of young persons. Writing to Mrs. Crosbie at this
period, he speaks of the " vanity and want of good sense" of a
member of his famUy, and requests his correspondent " to take
opportunities rather of humbling than of raising her pride."
The examinations at Carlow during this and subsequent
periods were of a much more searching character than those of
many other coUeges. Dr. Doyle, writing to his nephew, '20th
October, 1814, says : " C  has left this ; at his examinations
he could not answer a single word ; so, if he were my brother, I
could not remove him from the Latin school ; he and some others
of a Uke description went to Kilkenny, where an examination is
merely a matter of form. I wrote by him to my friend there, and
hope he may succeed, though I would not adrise him to go."
The Eev. P. Brennan, who was Dean of Carlow CoUege at
this period, informs ms that Doyle's intense appUcation to study,
from the time of his arrival there in 1813 to his appointment as
Bishop, six years after, almost exceeds belief. Surrounded by
tomes of history, jurisprudence, theology, ethics, and metaphysics,
and nourished by such intellectual food, his fertile mind grew,
strengthened, and expanded. This course of study was relaxed
every Saturday, but not to indulge in recreation. On that day he
laboured unremittingly in the confessional. He not only acted
as spiritual director to the majority of the students, but also to
the laity. The Parish Priest, Father W. Fitzgerald, was a very
deUcate man, and Mr. Doyle assisted him vrith singular zeal and
efficiency. On every Sunday moming he preached in the paro
chial chapel, either on the gospel of the day or on such topics or
abuses as the times seemed to demand.
An interesting instance of mediation performed by Dr. Doyle
about this period transpires in the foUowing letter. He generously
undertook the office, though usuaUy a thankless one, and, as Gay
teUs us, always fraught with perU, especiaUy when a husband and
wife are the disputants : " Carlow College, 24th September, 1815.
" My very DEAR Mary — I am becoming almost unaccountable
to myself. There is no person in the county Wexford, or out of
it, I have thought of more frequently than of you. I intended a
hundred times at least to -write to you, and at length did vmte a
very long letter, sealed it, opened it again, and tore it. And why
this should have been ,the case I can scarcely teU. I beUeve, to be
candid, the reason I did not write was, that my letter should be

A PEACEMAKER. 67
fiUed by disagreeable topics. I feared that perhaps I should . hear
the same from you, and concluded that it were better to leave you
and myself to mind our own business, than to torment each other
vrith the affairs of others, however interesting. This silence, how
ever, could not continue always, for how could I deprive myself of
aU intercourse with you, for whom I entertain an old and a great
affection, and to whom I can communicate my thoughts vrith more
confidence than to many others ?
" WeU, to begin. I found our poor friends in that miserable
state which must result when distrust and jealousy, grown almost
to hatred, take the place of affection, and of that common feeling
which, Uke a bond, should connect the thoughts, and wishes, and
actions of a husband and wife. I endeavoured to remind him of
the duties which he owed to her — to respect, to cherish her, to
indulge even her errors, and look upon her faults with pity rather
than ¦with severity; but with her I was more free, in reminding her
how nature and the law of God and Jesus Christ subjected her to
her husband ; that he should be obeyed even when unreasonable ;
that when he spoke she should be silent ; that though she had a
right to the property of both, yet the administration of it entirely
belonged to him ; that she should labour when he wished, and
keep what company he pleased; that his opinion ought to regulate
the expenses of her house and of her dress — in a word, that she
was to have no interest but his, and that she should remedy his
faults more by prayer than by reasoning or disputing. All these
labours of mine were, I fear, of little use ; and need I tell you
that although only a few days in my native county, I was most
impatient to leave it. D  's family affairs are in the same state
they have always been. He treated me with the utmost affection,
and I was greatly distressed whUst he related to me the various
miseries of his Ufe. The state of his soul, and the poor prospect
of a reformation in that respect, is a constant source of uneasiness
to me. I enjoy the best health since I left the sea, where I have
been bathing for some weeks. I bought Peter's black mare for
£20, and ride out every day. We had a consecration here last
week, conducted in a style of great magnificence. Write to me
immediately, and let me know the state of your own affairs in the
first place, and of aU those for whom you know I am interested."
It is interesting to trace, at this early period, that generosity
of heart and unbounded charity to the indigent which formed,
when a Bishop, one of Dr. Doyle's fairest characteristics. How
he could afford to dispense gracious charities in 1816, without
injustice to himself, ¦wiU surprise many readers, when they leam
that the salary he enjoyed at first for his professional services

68 HIS SALARY.
amounted to £20 per annum only.* This sum was, at a later
period, increased to £25, as the coUege book at Carlow records.
" I owe some money to your husband, and did intend to pay him
sooner ; but, to be candid, I lent aU the money I could muster to
a famUy in great distress, who intended to pay me at Christmas,
but could not. I suppose I shall get it in the course of this year ;
but whether I do or not, John may calculate upon being reim
bursed about Easter, for I could not in decency ask money from
our President before then. Write to let me know that you' are
not annoyed vrith me for deferring this matter."
On the 5th of May, 1816, he writes : "I have long been ex
pecting a letter from you, and hoped you would have cheered me
during the late gloomy season with some accounts from home. I
am niuch disposed to be angry ¦with you ; but cui bono ? I have
not yet seen our countrywoman, Mrs. C  , though her husband
is an old acquaintance of mine, and they have risited us. You
may infer from this how Uttle we here interest ourselves about the
affairs of the world ; the less we interfere with them, the more
comfort we enjoy. We shall have a profession of two Nuns here
on to-morrow, and, in the foUowing week, an ordination of about
thirty persons. This is the trade in which we are engaged, and
you see it is fiourishing."
25th May, 1816 : " As an opportunity occurs of writing to
you, I avaU myself of it to let you know I am weU, and more mind
ful of my friends than even you, good-natured though you consider
yourself. This wUl be given to you by Mr. CuUen, a young lad of
whom I am very fond, chiefly on account of the simplicity and
innocence of his mind, and the good progress he is making in his
studies. He has been under my care during the last year, and ff
he caUs on you wiU, I am certain, get his dinner, which is some
times a very acceptable thing to a student. How often in my hfe,
when a scholar, would I consider a good dinner as Uttle short of a
special favour of Providence ! I shaU be here untU the 29th of
June, but am undetermined where I may go, having resolved not
to see the county Wexford sooner than August, if even then. You
may caU this iU-nature, and perhaps it is ; but there are many in
stances of such conduct, and that -wUl make it less surprising.
Were it not for the awkward appearance which my remaining here
would have, when aU the other professors are absent, I doubt whe
ther I would leave it during the vacation ; but then we must often
sacrifice our wishes to the opinions of the world, however unrea
sonable such opinions may seem."
* Bishop Delany, writing to Lord Castlereagh in 1800, tells him that the salaries
of three of the professors at Carlow were only 15 guineas each ! — See Castlereagh
Papers, iv. 147.

EXEMPTION FROM " CROSSES." 69
There is some adrice not unworthy of Bourdaloue in the fol
lowing letter of the same period :
" My DEAR Mary — I am indebted to you for your very kind
letter. You generaUy send me pleasing news, and even when it is
not so, you temper it with such reasonable reflections as take away
that bittemess which generaUy accompanies complaint. I can
almost say that all your views and conduct coincide vrith my
vrishes, and the success which attends your industry and economy
is aU that I anticipated.
" The inconstancy of friends wiU teach you to fix your thoughts
on God, who never changes or deceives ; at the same time, you
should make the most generous aUowances for the behariom- of
other people, which often appears blamable when in reality it is
not so. Necessity, famUy interests and connexions, change of cir
cumstances, produce changes in every indiridual ; and you have no
more right to expect consistency from mankind than to expect that
a young shrub wiU ever become a tree. In ourselves we can often
find also the causes why other people change towards us ; for
though self-love teUs us we are always consistent, the very reverse
is. generally the case. I rejoice exceedingly then, that, without
censuring others, you are enabled practicaUy to understand what
I long since told you, that you wUl be at ease in proportion as you
are humble and domestic, and happy, truly happy, in proportion
as you are reUgious — doing aU things for the fulfilment of God's
wUl. Of myself, I can only say I am weU, and might add happy,
if contentment, ease, a sufficiency of necessaries and comforts,
with the respect and affection of aU those above me, can render me
so ; indeed I frequently thank God for his innumerable favours to
me, and often fear that such an exemption fi-om trouble or crosses
as I enjoy is rather a mark of His displeasure than of His good
will ; but He may have many hardships in reserve for me, and if
He has, I hope, with His assistance, that I shaU bear with them."
The crosses at last come : "Carlow College, 24th September, 1816.
"After my return from DubUn, I had a week J;o recruit my
strength, and then a spfritual retreat commenced, at which I was
obUged to preach every second day ; immediately afterwards our
examinations for opening the different classes proceeded; aU these
things are troublesome and teasing, but happily I got through
them, and was going on with my business last week, when behold
I was seized vrith an inflammatory sweUing of the glands of my
neck, which created a fever in my blood, and kept me in a most
painM state, without sleep or food, for three or four days. By
repeated and violent appUcations of medicine, inside and exter-

70 HIS DANGEROUS ILLNESS.
nally, I succeeded in reducing the inflammation, but the frritation
was so great that some of the small blood-vessels in my stomach
burst, for which I am now under medical treatment. This Uhiess,
though short, has enfeebled me somewhat, and given me much
paia. I feel thankful to God for being recovered so soon, and am
greatly indebted to all my friends here for the extreme interest
they manifested about me."
The correspondence again flags, but by a rigorous effort it is
renewed. It is curious to observe that he who, when a Bishop,
became the most indefatigable vmter of his day — although UteraUy
overwhelmed -with duty — should have shrunk, when a professor,
from the comparatively insignificant task of writing a brief letter to
his relatives at homo : " Carlow College, Sth February, 1817.
" My dear Mary — I generaUy get angry with you and myself
at the same time — with you foi' not writing to me, and -with my
self for neglecting to write to my nearest and dearest friends.
How often have I thought of you within these last two months,
and yet could not command time or muster resolution enough to
enable me to send you a letter ! I have at length begun, and
intend in a few minutes (for I write very fast) to send you three
pages,' though it should all be nonsense  Now, as to
my own affairs. I am just as usual ; my health in general has
been tolerably good through the winter, although constantly ex
posed at that season to colds and sickness. I take exercise when
the weather is fine, Uve temperately, and driak nothing *but water.
" The poor here are greatly distressed, and all the exertions
made by the rich are inadequate to their reUef. However, as
potatoes are cheap and good, we have no great apprehension of any
serious want. I intended to have gone do-wn to Eoss at Christmas,
but many things concurred to prevent me, particularly the iUness
of a young lady here, who has been dying these two months of
consumption. She is stUl aUve, after suffering more than I sup
posed human nature was capable of bearing. I happened to be the
director of her conscience, and her famUy would be miserable if I
were absent from her even for one day ; I thought also that by
saying Mass for her, and giving her every other comfort and
assistance in my power, that I would be insuring her prayers for
me in heaven, where undoubtedly she is about to go, as she has
been blessed through her life with the most extraordinary graces,
and is only detained here on earth that her sufferings and gloiy
may be as perfect as her innocence." " Why," adds the Professor
in a postscript, " why did you not tell me of Hayes' great ser
mon? You know how interested I am in his success."

BISHOP Ryan's caprice. 71
Mr. Doyle aUudes to the late Eev. Eichard Hayes of the Fran
ciscan Convent, Wexford. He was a young priest of great pro
mise and learning, and became eventuaUy a highly distinguished
preacher. His gifts and acquirements were most varied ; as a
patriot, he was disinterested ; as a priest, zealous ; as a preacher,
powerful. In discharge of his memorable mission to Eome in oppo
sition to the Veto, he made not only many enemies, but, as " Bren-
nan's Ecclesiastical History" asserts, a sacrifice of his health and
Ufe on the altar of his country. " Father Hayes' features," writes
a Wexford correspondent, " were not comely; his figure was long
and thin. I remember well with what amusement I beheld, many
long years ago. Father Hayes and Dr. Doyle (then Father James
Doyle) walking up and down my dear mother's drawing-room, and
halting before the pier and chimney-glasses, and disputing as to
which was the plainer-looking man ! I merely mention this to show
how his master mind woiUd unbend, and amuse itself with trifles."
The reader must not infer fi-om this anecdote that Dr. Doyle's
features were cast in an ordinary or unprepossessing mould.
Hogan's splendid fuU-length statue of the Bishop in Carlow Cathe
dral, which is considered a striking Ukeness, presents a counte
nance of angeUc sweetness and inteUigence.
In 1817, the health of Dr. Eyan, Bishop of Ferns, became
much enfeebled, and at a meeting of his clergy to appoint a coad
jutor, a strong disposition existed among them to nominate Mr.
Doyle as dignissimus. Dr. Eyan's* eccentricities had not declined
vrith his health, however. His old prejudice against the Eegulars
once more found expression ; and, in deference to' wishes so in
fluential, the Eev. James Keatinge, a zealous curate of the diocess,
was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Fems. This cfrcumstance is
referred to in the foUowing : "Carlow College, 19th October, 1817.
" My DEAE Mary — I have been endeavouring to flnd a leisure
hour these last three weeks, of which I might avaU myself in order
to write you a long letter. I have found one at last, but scarcely
know what to say, as I have often told you there is the greatest
possible sameness in my Ufe ; it. runs on like a ri-vulet through a
level plain, unnoticed and undisturbed. The only news I have is
that I sold the little horse I had at your house, and bought another,
which after a few days I returned. Since then I am on foot, tra
veUing about like the Master whom I should imitate, and in a
* Dr. Ryan is occasionally referred to in Dr, Doyle's letters of this period. On
the 17th of February, 1818, he says : " I heard that Dr. Ryan had gone up to Dublin
lately. Poor man, he has again committed himself with his Enniscorthy friends in
a troublesome business. I wish he would mind his health and his diocess, and
nothing else,"

72 LETTER OF CONDOLENCE.
great measure becoming an humble Friar. I don't find my health
in the least degree impaired, as I take a long walk every day. I
intend to continue to do so until I get a horse, which- wiU not be
before next spring, for the shortness of the winter days, the bad
ness of the weather and the roads, would keep me within, unless I
kept a chaise and pair, and at present my finances are rather
straitened, and would not aUow me to indulge in a luxury of that
kind. Father Walsh from the Island was here last week. He
told me the clergy were to meet in Enniscorthy some day lately,
and that it was generaUy supposed a coadjutor would be elected for
Dr. Eyan. I suppose I shaU shortly hear the result, though I
don't feel much anxiety about it. I believe there is no one of the
many candidates spoken of more indifferent about the result than
myself; indeed, if I were to form a wish on the subject (which I
would not), it would be to be left in oblirion."
The difficulty experienced by Mr. Doyle in "finding a leisure
hour" may weU be understood, when, in addition to the arduous
duties of his professorship, we know that, as an enlightened spui-
tual dfrector, he was much consulted at this period, both in the
closet and the confessional. One of the most interesting portions
of the correspondence which has been placed at our disposal are
Dr. Doyle's letters to a lady who now presides as superioress in an
Irish educational convent. Born and reared in the bosom of a
zealous Protestant family, she grew up with riews strongly anta
gonistic to the ancient faith of Ireland ; but, influenced by a
thoughtful and observant disposition, these prejudices graduaUy
softened and melted away. She prayed much and fervently, and
having at last embraced the Catholic doctrine, committed her
conscience to the guidance of Father James Doyle. The foUowing
letter of condolence was written on the death of the lady's mother,
who had died in the same faith : "8th August, 1817,
" My dear H— — , I most sincerely condole with you on the
loss you have sustained : other trials of a more severe kind had
prepared you for this, which, being long apprehended, is on that
account even less severe. Had your mother's disease been of a
different kind, it would have been a comfort to you to have heard
her last sigh and received her last embrace ; but Proridence had
weaned you by degrees from all that was once valuable in her, and
left only a shadow, to be taken away by death. I consider your
absence at the time of her dissolution as one of the many favours
conferred on you by Almighty God ; for had you been at home and
present, you would have had to bear with the most riolent affiiction
in witnessing an agony which terrifies, but does not generaUy cause

BOSSUET AND CLAUDE. 73
pain. I vrish that now, when aU that is eventful in your life wUl
crowd upon your memory and imagination, that you would seek for
Ught and grace from the Father of orphans, ' who keepeth Israel,
who leadeth Joseph Uke a sheep,' and not suffer your mind to be
depressed and agitated, 'whereas you Imow that He has care of
you.' It is forbidden us to grieve for the dead Uke others who
have no hope, ' whereas if Christ died, he too hath arisen from the
dead, and those who have slept, and we who are left, wiU be taken
to meet Him in the air, and so wUl be always with the Lord.'
These are the considerations which St. Paul proposes for our con
solation, desiring us to be satisfied, ' whereas we, too, shall be
with the Lord.' "
In 1817, Carlow College underwent considerable enlargement,
for the reception of one hundred lay students. Mr. Doyle took a
warm interest in the alterations, and may be said to have mainly
dfrected them. Writing to a friend in the foUowing year, he says :
" I wish that D  would send that youngest son of his to the
coUege school here. It is undoubtedly the best school in Ireland ;
and that boy, who has grown up wUd, might even yet be formed
in it." Theological students are acquainted with a remarkable contro
versial discussion, at the house of the Countess de Eoye, between
Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, and Claude, a Huguenot dignitary.
Bossuet asserted that the principle of private judgment should, by
a kind of moral necessity, prevent a Protestant from making an act
of faith which would have for its object the divine inspiration of the
Sacred Scripture. Claude did not deny the assertion in direct
terms, but retorted that the Catholic was in the same situation,
because in forming such an act of faith, the motive on which he
should rest was the authority of his teacher, equaUy fallible as the
private judgment of the Protestant. The elucidation of this ques
tion embarrassed not only Bossuet and Claude, but many other
theologians since thefr time. In October, 1817, Mr. Doyle took
the difficulty in hand, and, from his theological chafr, gave an
analysis of acts of faith as supposed to be made by two children, a
Catholig and a Protestant, whilst under the dfrection of their
respective masters. The notes of this voluminous discourse have
been placed at our disposal, but we can only undertake to give a
summary of them. Mr. Doyle afffrmed that a Protestant might
make, as validly as a CathoUc, certaui acts of faith when first
taught the common creed, because the gift of faith is infused at
baptism, and only awaits a capacity in the subject, and some ex
ternal cause or occasion, in order to excite it. It is indifferent
what religion the master who teaches the Apostles' Creed may

74 Claude's retort answered.
profess : the pupU, if baptised, is the elect of God and a chUd of
the CathoUc Church untU he renounce her communion by wiffuUy
embracing error. Haring expounded the principle of private judg
ment as maintained in the Protestant Church, Mr. Doyle supposed
the case of a Catholic and Protestant b»y-who had been baptised,
and brought to a church for instruction. When they have leamed
the creed, they are desired to beUeve firmly in their minds that the
articles are revealed by God, and necessary to be beUeved in order
to obtain salvation. Mr. Doyle affirmed that both could do so.
The gift infused at baptism is now put into active operation, and
the Catholic boy becomes a beliering Christian, haring hitherto
been, according to the hypothesis, in a state of chUdhood. The
Protestant boy is in the same state, for he neither has, as yet,
learned any other principles of reUgion than those contained in the
common creed ; and if the reUgious principles hitherto learned by
them be the same, how can they be different ? Both have been
baptised — no matter whether by Paul or ApoUo, as it is Christ
who infuses the gift of faith. The next question is — in what
does the difference consist between the Catholic and Protestant as
regards the acts of faith which they may form afterwards ? Dr.
Doyle showed that, so long as they agreed in the articles which
were the objects of their acts of faith, there was no difference be
tween them ; but in a Uttle time the respective masters leave the
articles of the creed, and proceed to teach additional articles, about
which they are not agreed. The Catholic preceptor says, "You
are to believe that Christ is reaUy present in the Eucharist." The
Protestant master says, " You are to beUeve firmly that Christ is
figuratively present," &c. Even as yet there is no difference be
tween the two boys in their mode of beUef, though there is in the
object of it : both believe in the Church and that what she teaches
is true ; but both perceive that the Eoman CathoUc and Protestant
Churches differ in opinion as to what the Holy CathoUc Church
teaches regarding the mode of Christ's presence in the Eucharist.
The next question is — what are these boys to do, and then where
do they begin to differ ? They are both permitted to ascertain by
inquiry whether the Eoman or the AngUcan Church is the Holy
Catholic Church mentioned in the creed. The Catholic pupil is
supposed to retui-n from the search perfectly satisfied : the master
says, " You were allowed to inquire where the true Church was,
that your obedience to her commands might be reasonable ; but
now reason has discharged her office. Ha-ving long since pro
fessed to believe the Holy CathoUc Church, you have now only to
learn what it teaches, and to beUeve it on her authority. To doubt
that authority is to doubt one of the articles of the creed." The
Protestant pupil, equally sincere with regard to the object of his

THE PROFESSOR UNHORSED. 75
pursuit, is supposed also to return conrinced that the "Eeformed"
•is the Holy CathoUc Church. Assuming such to be the fact, and
that he proceed to beUeve the spiritual presence — not because his
private judgment approves of it, but because the Protestant Church
(which, through invincible error, he takes to be the Holy Catholic
Church) teaches it, he is stUl a good Christian ; and should he die
in that erroneous faith, but free from actual sin, he would go to
heaven — his greatest misfortune being, that should he faU into
mortal sin, he could not, by virtue of any sacrament, obtain its
remission, there being no vaUd absolution outside the CathoUc
Church. But should the Protestant retui-n from his inqufry and
exercise his private judgment as his master dfrected him to do, not
only to ascertain whether the Eeformed Church was the Holy
CathoUc Church, but also to determine where the articles of the
creed, or the mode of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, was or
was not agreeable to God's word, then he renounces the first prin
ciple on which he set out — namely, his beUef in the Holy CathoUc
Church — and attaches himseK to the second principle of private
judgment which his master gave him, and by so doing becomes a
heretic, or chooser of faith, for the first time. Mr. Doyle, at the
close of his discourse, mentioned that, in treating the subject, he
differed -with reluctance from De la Hogue, the celebrated professor
of theology at Maynooth, who had failed to point out what the
Protestant could do, and where the precise point was when he
diverged from the great principle of the CathoUc Church and took
up that of his own sect. It would also appear that De la Hogue,
throughout his treatise on the subject, did not say what use of
private judgment is aUowed to the CathoUc.
In May, 1817, we find the professor fairly unhorsed by Father
• Peter Doyle. The crosses, of which in a former letter to his niece
he declared himself completely free, were not slow in overtaking
him : "I know not how much time I may spend with you next
summer, but whatever it may be, I am glad you have got a car,
as I have no horse at present. My bargains with Peter have
always been unfortunate, but the last I made vrith him was particu
larly so. I gave him £10 for a mare, and sold her two days after
for £3 8s. 3^., after ha-ving been at considerable expense by her.
I don't know whether I shaU buy another, as I have so many
caUs for money, and I cannot bear to be in debt. You seem to
enjoy more prosperity than any of the famUy, and there is no one
of them more worthy of it."
The Eev. Eobert J. M'Ghee, a distinguished Protestant pole
mic and advocate of the Bible Societies, haring been engaged, in
the autumn of 1817, on a work entitled "The Bible, the Eights of
Conscience, and the Established Church Vindicated," appUed, as

76 CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. m'GHEE.
he says, to the " Professors of the Popish Colleges of Maynooth
and Carlow," for a statement of the Cathohc doctrine in regard to-
reading the Scriptures. Mr. Doyle promptly acceded to the re
quest, and at page 67 of Mr. M'Ghee's book the document aUuded
to may be found. It would seem that, soon after the Council of
Trent, a regulation was made at Eome, that lay persons should
not read the Bible Jn the vulgar tongue without the permission of
their pastors. " This," proceeds Mr. Doyle, " is the only prohi
bition relative to the reading of the Scriptures extant. It was
made at a period when many ignorant persons supposed them
selves capable of forming a creed from the Bible, and when it was
read more for Utigation than for edification's sake. This rule
was never universaUy published or observed ; and here, as in
France, no permission was ever requfred, in rirtue of any Church
law, for any person to read the Scriptures. Hence we have had
repeated editions of the Douay Bible ; and copies of it are found in
numberless CathoUc families, where it is read without any per
mission being obtained or sought for. Instead of prohibiting the
reading of the Scriptures, we encourage the reUgious and sensible
persons of our communion to read them frequently — haring pre
riously invoked the direction of the Holy Ghost, for which purpose
a form of prayer is prefixed to our Bibles. We do not recommend
the indiscriminate use of them ; for example, we do not desire
that the Word of God should become the school-book of chUdren."
The writer quoted, as. an exposition of the authentic Catholic
doctrine on the subject, a brief of Pius VI. to the Archbishop of
Florence, approring of his translation of the Bible into Italian,
and observing that a vast number of bad books which grossly at
tacked the Catholic religion had been circulated to the great de-'
straction of souls ; that the Archbishop had done wisely in pub- •
Ushing the Sacred Writings in the language of his counti-y,
suitable to the capacity of aU — especiaUy when he had added ex
planatory notes, which, being taken from the Holy Fathers, pre
cluded aU danger of- abuse. Mr. Doyle in conclusion observed,
that should Mr. M'Ghee or any of his friends desire information
in regard to any of the tenets of the CathoUc. Church, he would
feel most happy to afford it.
The document to which we refer haring reached Mr. M'Ghee,
he -wrote to his rev. correspondent for permission to pubUsh it.
The application in the first instance had been private, and Mr.
Doyle does not seem to have intended his answer for the pubUc
eye. However, he very poUtely gave consent, as follows : " Eev.
Sfr — In reply to your kind letter, apprising me of your intention
to publish a decision of mine on a case submitted to me relative
to the reading of the Holy Scriptm-es, permit me to say that

bishop corcoran's proposals. 77
you are at Uberty to make any use you please of what I wrote
on the subject. I only apprehend that, from writing it in haste,
and not at aU supposing it would ever appear in print, it may
want that cleamess and accuracy of expression, so much to be
desfred on questions about which such a diversity of opinion
seems to prevail. If it should require any verbal alterations
which would not affect the sense, in order to fit it for your pub
Ucation, you have my permission to make them."
The Eev. Mr. M'Ghee, in announcing to Mr. Doyle his inten
tion of pubUshiag the document of which we have given an out
Une, advanced another polemic remark or two, which eUcited
some further frank expressions of opinion from Mr. Doyle. This
voluminous letter is now printed for the ffrst time, and may be
found in the appendix. The Eev. E. J. M'Ghee in acceding to
our appUcation for the use of it, remarks that he has " written so
often and so strongly against the Church of Eome, that it affords
him pleasure to have an opportunity of showing any personal
kindness to a Eoman CathoUc."
Instead of sitting down to peel apples and crack nuts, Mr,
Doyle, on AU-HaUows' Eve, 1817, retired to his room and threw
off the elaborate letter to which we aUude. Dr. M'Ghee regards
Dr. Doyle as the ablest ecclesiastic which the CathoUc Church
has produced. MeanwhUe the professor's correspondence with Mary Coney
is resumed. We catch a gUmpse, through his mysterious and
rather hazy hints, of a wish expressed by the aged Bishop
Corcoran that Father James Doyle should share the episcopal
burthen vrith him ; but this is entfrely e^itre nous :
"It was only on yesterday I received your long-expected letter.
I had almost despaired of hearing any more from you, and was
preparing my mind for a separation from one of my dearest friends.
Your own recovery and your mother's gratify me beyond what I
can express, and aU the news you send me is in itself more than
a compensation for a negUgence of six months.
"Though long it is since I wrote, I have not a particle of news
which could interest you. My friends here are all unknown to
you, and though I may feel an interest in what concerns them,
you could not feel any. I am beginning to feel very much at home
in the county Carlow, and it is not impossible that I may spend
my life among them. The Bishop has made me the most flatter
ing offers, even lately, if I would engage not to leave the CoUege,
and in a great measure I agreed to remain. I don't mean to
insinuate that you might be preparing the Grecian couch ; nothing
is further from his intention or mine ; but, my dear Mary, my in
terest and character requfre that you should not mention these

78 A MITRE GOING A-BEGGING.
things. I say so, as I know you are a little prone to boastmg
occasionaUy, and no person is at all times under the govemment
of thefr good sense. Our Bishop is in a very deUcate state of
health." Some predestinarians imagined that Dr. Corcoran would have
died during this year; and when his health gave symptoms of frre-
vocably breaking, nods triumphant and significant were freely in
terchanged among those who had predicted his decline. The idea
originated in the following incident : the Eev, Dr. Murphy of
KUcock was considered by far the most competent Priest to fiU
the See of KUdare, vacant by the death of Dr. Delany. The buUs
were sent to him from Eome, but he decUned the proffered dignity.
It was customary at that day to follow up the presentation of the
buUs by UteraUy offering the mitre to the Priest's acceptance.
Brother Serenus, a monk from TuUow, caUed upon Dr. Murphy to
elicit a final declaration of his intention. Dr. Murphy handed
Serenus the briUiant mitre of Dr. Delany, saying, "All is not gold
that gutters. I decUne to accept this responsibiUty. Go to Father
Michael Corcoran of Kildare, the second name on the Ust, and see
whether he wUl take it." Serenus received the mitre reverentiaUy,
and proceeded to Ballyrone, where he met the worthy Parish Priest
of I&ldare. For thfrty years he had unostentatiously discharged
the duties of a simple country pastor. Pious and cautious — clas
sically learned, but not poUshed — professionaUy au fait, without
much theological erudition, Father Michael Corcoran was merely
selected and elected in default of a more eligible candidate. The
See was now for several months vacant, and Serenus implored of
the good pastor not to throw new difficulties in the way of the
unanimous v^dsh of the diocess. Father Corcoran was far advanced
in years, and seemed rather despondent as to the length of time
he should pass in this world. " WeU," he said, after a few mo
ments' reflection, "I shaU take the mitre for three years, when the
greatest ecclesiastic that ever graced KUdare vriU relieve me of the
responsibiUty." Father Corcoran mentioned no name, but he
doubtless aUuded to Dr. Doyle, who had now been nine months
at Carlow CoUege. Father Corcoran had remarked his promising
talents ; and the foresight evinced by the old Priest in his obser
vation to Serenus was singularly verified. Dr. Corcoran was buried
beneath the flags of TuUow Chapel within four years of his accept
ance of the mitre ; and the gifted dirine, whose life we are chroni-
cUng, succeeded to it with an acclamation never before witnessed
in the case of so young a man. These detaUs were communicated
to us by Brother Serenus, shortly before his death.
In 1818, we find some electioneering excitement penetrating
the austere seclusion of our theologian's closet. Carlow was

the carlow election. 79
about to be contested by three candidates,. aU of whom had pub
Ushed plausible and ingenious addresses, and enjoyed the advan
tages of great local influence, with a weU-organised and energetic
band of supporters. Mr. Doyle passed the rival claims of these
gentlemen in review before him, and undertook tbe task of guiding
popular opinion to a just decision regarding thefr merits. The
following extracts are transcribed from a paper in the autograph
of Dr. Doyle. It is the first document in our portfoUo by which
the writer's abUity as a poUtician can be gauged :
" We are aU sensible of the necessity of returning such mem
bers to ParUament as are most Ukely to promote the best interests
of the country at large, and of our county and town in particular.
Of the three candidates who at present claim our suffrages, two only
can be returned — one must be rejected. Let us examine their
respective merits in order to come to a just determination." Ee
ferring to Henry Braen, who had represented Carlow since 1812,
Mr. Doyle went on to say : " One of them is a resident amongst
us ; he expends a large fortune — if not in the employment of the
tradesman and the labourer, in the promotion of the arts and in
dustry, or in administering to the reUef of the widow and the
orphan — yet he spends it at the table or on the turf, and thus,
whUe ministering to his o-wn pleasures, serves, in some measure,
the country where he dwells. I admit that we are Uttle interested
in his private habits, nor should the situation of his ragged ten
antry have great influence on our votes, if he possessed the quaU
ties which one should requfr-e in a representative. His residence
in Ireland (which seems to be the only claim put forward on his
behalf by his friends) may be a good reason why he ought to rank
high upon a grand jury, or take the chafr at a pubUc assembly, if
he were in the habit of attending either ; but it seems to be no
reason why we should select him to promote the interests of our
country in ParUament. I would anxiously inquire of this gentle
man what good has he effected, what evU has he prevented, what
useful or honourable vote has he given in his place, for the last six
years ? Has he advocated the liberties of the subject, or opposed
the suspension of the charter of our freedom ? Has he detailed the
sufferings of L-eland ? has he refuted the calumnies of her ene
mies ? has he ever attempted to promote her interests, or ever
used his parUamentary interest for the benefit of our town or
county ? No ! What are his claims, then ? They are of a most
secret nature indeed. We should search the back benches of the
treasury retainers to discover them, if they exist. Such a man is
not fit to be our representative."
Dr. Doyle then proceeds to refer to Colonel Sir Ulysses Burgh,
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, afterwards Lord Downes, and

80 ANALYSIS OP THE CANDIDATES.
for some time an aid-.de-camp to George IV. Sir Ulysses had
married, in 1815, Maria, only daughter of Walter Bagenal, M.P.
for Carlow county. This gentleman, who died in 1814, was the
last male of the ancient and influential Carlow sept of Bagenal.
Beauchamp Bagenal was a prominent leader of the Volunteers of
1782 :
" Another is a gentleman just returned from the Continent — a
miUtary man, bred in a profession hostile, by its nature, to the
principles of our constitution, but yet the descendant of a respecta
ble and Uberal family — connected also -with a Bagenal, a name which
should ever be dear to this country — professing also sentiments
which entitle him to some confidence, but upon tbe whole destitute
of solid claims. Some of his family connexions should excite our
suspicion ; Sneyd and Foster are his kinsfolk — the Duke of Wel
lington is his patron and friend. No Eoman CathoUc should
support him tUl Mr. Braen's exclusion is ascertained, and Mr.
Latouche's return placed beyond the reach of doubt.
" The only person whose claims remain to be considered is
the son of Darid Latouche, a man who was held forth by Henry
Grattan, when he presented the Protestant petition in support of
the CathoUc claims, as representing the commercial and landed
interest of Ireland, and whose name did more to remove the pre
judices of the English people, and promote the real interests of
this country, than has ever been effected by the rivals of his son.
This candidate is also the brother of a man whose merits are re
corded in the hearts of aU who knew him — humane, generous,
charitable, patriotic, the best of landlords, the best of friends, the
zealous defender of the rights of Ireland, and the protector of her
chUdren in the worst of times ; who never sought for power or
patronage at the expense of principle, and scorned whatever would
imply a compromise of the honour or interests of his country.
Eobert Latouche is the brother of this man, and in fact the repre
sentative of his property, in a poUtical sense at least ; but he has
his ovm claims, independent of those mentioned. His private
¦rirtuSs are known to you aU ; his public spirit is recorded in those
votes which, in union vrith the other members of his family, and
not as the slave of a party, he has given in the House of Commons.
Search its debates, and you^iU find that on every great question
since his return he has stood by the rights of the people, protested
against those votes which sanctioned the partition of kingdoms,
and the distribution of men to princes, like the spoU of a piUaged
city to a Ucentious soldiery. He has endeavoured to preserve un
touched Magna Charta, the palladium of your liberties; he has
laboured to procure the emancipation of his CathoUc countrymen,
to free you from galling taxes, to promote the best interests of his

RUMOURS OF PROMOTION. 81
native land — these are the pledges of his future conduct, these are
his claims on your unqualified support !"
Eapid rumours, 'gathering as they roUed, disposed of Mr.
Doyle in several ways during this year. By some he was nomi
nated to the CathoUc rectorship of more than one important parish.
On Christmas Day he writes to Mai-y Coney : " I should have no
objection to the parish of Wexford, if it were not incumbered with
too hea'vy a pension. As to Peter's, I would not like it for many
reasons which are quite unnecessary to mention to you. I feel
the greatest possible indifference about those things. People may
treat about me, and dispose of me, but they shaU not do it unknown
to myself; and perhaps their riews and mine differ very widely.
This is a subject upon which I could talk to you, but do not Uke
to commit it to paper.
"I had just returned from the Convent when I received your
letter. I said Mass at twelve o'clock last night for the nuns,
and again at two this morning. I also gave Benediction. This,
'with the extreme labour of our examinations and confessions, has
nearly exhausted aU my strength for some days past. I hope to
recruit it in Kilkenny, where I am going on Monday, to spend a
week -with the good Bishop of Ossory. You need not speak of my
visit there. Indeed I wish you to mention my name as seldom as
possible, for many persons in your country are as anxious and as
busy about me as though I were a man of consequence. I re
coUect what you said of K  's story. You may Usten to these
things, but attach Uttle weight to them. That man has more
depth in his speculations than aU the P  s in the barony of
Forth." IU health again oppresses the Professor of Theology. On the
17th February, 1818, he writes : " I avaU myself of the present
opportunity to let you know that I am stUl alive and weU, though
tormented vrith a cold for the last fortnight. I spent some time
very agreeably in KUkenny, and since my return I have not heard
(unless by accident) from the County Wexford. I suppose that
there have been no changes of importance amongst you, or you
would have informed me of them ; for, bad a correspondent as you
are, I beUeve you are the best amongst my friends. This cold has
stupffied me. My spirits are much depressed ; but I think a letter
from you would be of great use to me, so do not delay writing."
The Professor's " cold" became graduaUy worse, and we find
him during the succeeding month in an exceedingly delicate state
of health, but nevertheless preaching the panegyric of the Apostle
of Ireland, and discharging the duties of President of Carlow
College, in the absence pf Dr. Fitzgerald, who was sojourning at
MaUow for the benefit of its air and waters. There are some pas-
6

82 DEATH OF HIS HALF-BROTHER.
sages in a letter to his niece, dated 19th March, 1818, which con
trast curiously vrith the Ufe of untfring actirity and corroding care
in which, as a Bishop and a Patriot, he afterwards became so
ardently involved :
" I shaU (g. w.) see you aU in summer, for I have given up
every idea of going to France in the vacation. The Ul-health of
this President of ours will now encumber me vrith additional care
and trouble, and I need not teU you that I don't reUsh either. If
he should die, he has appointed me his executor, and they would
endeavour to induce me to succeed him ; but I am resolved not,
unless for a few months, untU some other person could be pro
cured. I should not Uve in his situation above two years at the
farthest ; but then I hope he may not die, and whether he does
or not, don't you say a syUable, even about his iUness, to any
person. Adieu, my dearest Mary ! write to me very shortly ; I
would prefer even a disagreeable apology to your sUence."
MaUow did its duty, and Dr. Andrew Fitzgerald surrived until
the year 1843.
Mr. Doyle's feeUngs received a considerable shock by the
sudden death, in October, 1818, of James Doyle, M.D., of Eoss.
This physician, who enjoyed considerable local fame, had studied
in France when the opinions of Voltaire and Eousseau fatally
agitated it, and he returned to Ireland with sentiments not far
akin from infideUty. Many were the earnest admonitions ad
dressed to him by his half-brother, during the peritfd of his
sojourn at the Augustinian Convent in Eoss ; but the old man's
riews seemed inextricably fixed. There is reason to hope, how
ever, that they had undergone some change for the better when
death struck him down, whUe ascending his own stafrcase, on the
5th of October, 1818, aged sixty-three. His Ubrary and surgical
instruments he bequeathed to the Haughton Fever Hospital.
The late Very Eev. Dr. Prendergast, P.P. of Bagnalstown,.
from the first day he had seen our Professor entertained a high
opinion of his talents, and frequently lavished upon him very com
pUmentary marks of attention. Dr. Prendergast was an accom
pUshed divine for the times in which he Uved, and he is said to
have tvrice refused the Bishopric of KUdare. The foUowing note,
addressed to Dr. Prendergast, belongs to the present stage of our
narrative :
" Eev, Dear Sir — Kindness received often renders persons
intrusive. I fear you wiU' say it is the case with me, when I take
the liberty of introducing to you Joseph BarUer, a lay-brother of
the order of La Trappe. He has been sent from France to this
country, by his Superior, to soUcit some aid towards the reparation

DEATH OF BISHOP CORCORAN. 83
of an old monastery in La Vendee ; he has with him a bundle of
documents to prove his mission — of which, indeed, I have no
doubt. I know you are partial to religious institutions when they
are such as they profess and ought to be, and on that account I
hope you wiU treat this poor lay-brother with the same kindness
you show to another Friar of much less merit, but who is most
sincerely your obedient and humble servant, ,, j j-. „_ >>
In the spring of 1819, Dr. Corcoran, Bishop of Kildare and
LeighUn, died, after a prolonged illness. The Eev. Dr. Prender
gast consented to act as Vicar- capitular, but gave it to be under
stood that he would not accept the episcopal responsibility. He
convened a meeting of the Clergy to appoint a successor to Dr.
Corcoran, and in the discharge of his duty presided. He im
pressed upon the Clergy the great importance and solemnity of
the selection they were about to make. He told them to look
around vridely ; if they were not thoroughly satisfied with a Priest
of thefr own diocess, to search the next, and if not there, further
still. "Nay, gentlemen," said he, " I wUl go further. Do not
confine your inquiry to the secular Clergy. Pass the ranks of the
reUgious orders in review before you, and pray to God to guide
your judgment."
The assembled Clergy approved of the Vicar's suggestion.
They received the Holy Eucharist, retired to the chapel, and
forthwith sought and obtained from the Holy Ghost that aid,
which enabled them to select, with confidence, one of the most
distinguished CathoUc Prelates since the days of Bossuet.
On Tuesday, 23rd March, 1819, the Most Eev. Dr. Murray
and other Bishops having presided at the month's mind, or solemn
office for the repose of Dr. Corcoran's soul, were waited upon in
TuUow Chapel, at the conclusion of the ceremony, by a deputation
of clergymen, who intimated that Father James Doyle, of the
Order of St. Augustine, had been the object of thefr choice. To
these cfrcumstances Monsignore Meagher, in an unpubUshed MS.
before us, thus eloquently and touchingly refers : "To your
etemal honour, venerable fathers, be it remembered, how, spurn
ing every consideration which a worldly prudence might suggest,
and ardent only for the honour and welfare of the house of God,
you overlooked, in your adnuration of Dr. Doyle's transcendent
merits, the worth and long-tried serrices of your native pastors.
Long be it told — for the edification of the people of God, and for
imitation by aU upon whom the fearful responsibUity of proriding
worthy pastors may devolve — that the moment you had assembled
to fiU the vacancy, the very men among you whose claims of pre
ferment were strongest, came forward to exhort you that you

84 MR. DOYLE ELECTED BISHOP.
would not allow any recoUections of themselves to impede your
preference of the man whose exceUence surpassed thefr own.
And --you, at a time when no fixed laws regulated the order of
such transactions, with warm consent registered your suffrages in
his favour ; and by an election which, to use the language of the
canons, might be termed quasi inspiratione, advanced to the
dignity of your chief, a man, all stranger as he was, whose only
title was the superiority of his worth. And great was your joy,
venerable fathers, when you learned that, impeUed by the same
motives, every Prelate of our pro-vince, not only sanctioned your
choice, but had already, -with one voice, anticipated yom- wishes ;
and singular was the deUght expressed by the great Pontiff, Pius
vn. of holy memory, when made acquainted -with the unanimity,
piety, and disinterested zeal that regulated these acts."
Mr. Doyle was pacing in the coUege park, reading his breriary,
when some of the priests came forward s.ndlordshipped him. It
was the first he had heard of the recent decision, and he coloured
deeply, as goodnatured congratulations came from those around.
" There is not much cause for congratulation," he said, "never
theless, if it is God's wiU that I should accept this awful respon
sibUity, then God's wiU be done." On the foUo-wing day, he
informs his friends in Wexford of the change about to take place :
" My Dear Mary — Though it is a long time since I wrote
to you, I can expect you vrill easily forgive the omission when I
assure you, that all the time which was not occupied in the neces
sary discharge of my duties, was engaged in taking exercise, or
managing the business of others which charity or some other
sense of duty obUged me to undertake. [Here he adverts to a
private matter.] But I should rather wish to pass over in sUence
this disagreeable subject, and congratulate you on your being
likely to have a Bishop shortly in the famUy. I perceive it -wiU
give you pleasure, though it wiU give me pain, for the apparent
advantages of it are few and transitory, whUe the labours and
dangers of it are great and permanent. I have, indeed, more
reason to hope for the dirine assistance in the discharge of the
duties which are Ukely to be imposed upon me than many othets,
for the concurrence of the Prelates, Clergy, and people, in their
approbation of the choice that has been made, is a sign that it was
directed by Proridence."
He at once felt and discharged aU the responsibilities of the
episcopacy. In May, 1819, whUe Bishop elect, we find him writing to a
clergyman in the hope of effecting a reconciliation between him
and another party who had threatened a law-suit ; " which," he

LETTER TO C^ISAE COLCLOUGH. 85
adds, "whatever might be the issue, could not fail of exposing us
and our ministry to censure. I know that Mr. G  is at
present disposed to compromise, and as we should be foremoet in
making sacrifices which tend to promote peace and good-wiU, I
request that you wUl meet me on Wednesday morning next at
Mr. Maher's of KUrush, that we may concert together the means
of promoting the object which the Vicar- capitular and, I hope,
each of us are anxious to attain."
As an iUustration of the earnest sense of pubhc duty vrith
which Dr. Doyle became animated from the moment he was
Bishop elect, we subjoin a few letters. In May, 1819, we find
him in communication vrith Sir Henry Parnell, M.P. for the
Queen's County. The substance of his correspondence with that
statesman may be gathered from the following, addressed to
the late Csesar Colclougb of Tintern Abbey, M.P. :
" Carlow, 10th May, 1819,
" Sir — The notice given by Sfr H. ParneU of his intention to
biing into the Commons a bill, to place Eoman CathoUc houses of
worship on the same footing as those of Protestant Dissenters,
has induced me to address you. I am unacquainted vrith the
pririleges granted to the Dissenters in this respect ; but from my
knowledge of the inconveniences under which we labour, I have
written to Sfr Henry, and suggested to him the serrice he would
render us, by including in his biU school-houses and dweUings
for our Clergy. I also mentioned the special advantages we would
derive from the introduction of a clause enabling the Eoman Ca
thoUc Bishop here, or the President and Professors of this
CoUege for the time being, to receive donations or legacies to a
certain extent, in trust for this estabUshment. I remarked that
our CoUege had been buUt by subscription, and contained each
year, since the commencement of the French Eevolution, about
one hundred students ; that it had suppUed every part of the
kingdom vrith a considerable number of Priests, singularly emi
nent for their good morals, peaceable demeanour, and zeal in the
di^harge of thefr duties ; and that, although it seemed to be en
titled to tbe protection of the laws, it has suffered more from the
operation of the Penal Code than any other establishment in the
kingdom, as many weU-disposed persons have been deterred from
giving donations or learing legacies to it, through an apprehension
of thefr falling into the hands of men who might not observe
the trast which should be reposed in them — or what was stUl
more dreaded, lest the legacies might faU to the Commissioners
of Charitable Bequests, on the plea of their being left for what is
caUed parish purposes. Fully satisfied of your disposition to

86 THE CATHOLIC QUESTION DEFEATED.
render to us every serrice in your power, I am induced to request,
that if Sir H. Parnell should deem it proper to introduce the
clause aUuded to into his bUl, you would give it your active sup
port. I also represented the inconvenience felt by the Cathohc
Clergy, on thefr appointment to parishes, from the want of decent
residences, being often obUged to Uve ,in cabins, or lodge with
farmers, where they were necessitated to associate with and con
tract the habits of the lowest orders of the people ; whUst the
parishioners, not unfrequentiy, had to incur the expense of pre
paring dwellings for each successive Priest — all which could be
obriated by permitting us by law to buUd parochial houses, which
could not be alienated or bequeathed by the incumbent. Your
testimony in favour of an establishment which in reaUty is so
useful to the country would, I am confident, have considerable
weight. You wiU, I hope, excuse the Uberty I have thus taken,
as, since the death of our late Bishop, there is no other person
who could with so much propriety attend on the present occasion
to our interests ; and probably the present biU is the only one
which wUl be introduced for some time on this matter,
" We heard the fate of Mr. Grattan's motipn with a mixed feel
ing of pleasm-e and regret ; we are truly grateful to our friends ;
we hope the lights of the age, and a more correct knowledge of
the religion which we profess, will increase thefr number. I don't
know anything arising from the Penal Code so mortifying as the
imputation of our being capable of entertaining designs hostUe to
a constitution we revere, and to which our interests and our reU
gion aUke oblige us to be faithful."
The Catholic question had just been brought before Parlia
ment, for the last time, by Henry Grattan. On the 3rd of May,
1819, he presented eight petitions fi-om CathoUcs and five from
Protestants in favour of that measure. He made his last appeal
on behalf of the oppressed body ; but the bUl, if passed, would
have been encumbered by " securities" unpalatable to some Ca
tholics. He moved for a committee, but the intolerants gained
the rictory by a majority of two !
Dr. Doyle addressed Sfr Henry ParneU to the effect of which
the reader has been put in possession, and received the foUowing
reply : " London, 20th May, 1819.
" Sir — I have had the honour of receiving your letter, respect
ing the circumstances which you have so much reason to complain
of, concerning Catholic schools and charities.
" I have for the present postponed proceeding with the biU
of which I gave notice. But I think it is very desirable that you
should send me a petition to be presented to the House of Com-

COMMISSIONERS OP BEQUESTS. 87
mons, reciting the matters contained in your letter. The signa
tures of the heads of the CoUege, and of a few respectable
CathoUc inhabitants of Carlow and its neighbourhood, would be
quite sufficient.
" This proceeding would give me grounds to act upon, and
enable me to overcome the disUke the House of Commons feels
to enter upon the details of the CathoUc question. I should be
glad to have so good an opportunity of giring a notice of my in
tention to bring in a bUl early next session to remove several of
the minor grievances. You had no occasion to make any apology
for communicating your wishes to me upon the subject of your
letter, as I consider it a pubhc duty to attend to all such valuable
suggestions." Dr. Doyle replied, that he would feel most anxious to prepare
and send forward the petition recommended ; but as aU the Catho
Uc Bishops were equaUy concerned in the chief grievance referred
to, he could not -with propriety petition ParUament unless in con
cert -with them. The particular grievance under which Carlow
CoUege laboured was only a circumstance arising fi-om the general
law, and probably would not be deemed worthy of attention un
less joined with something of general importance. " However,"
he adds, " I hope I may be able to procure one or more petitions
ofthe description you recommend, by the next session."
And so he did. From a passage in his examination before
Parliament in 1825, we gather, that he lost no time in sounding
and organizing the Bishops for an earnest, prompt, and unanimous
demand on the question of CathoUc bequests. The foUovring is an
extract from that examination :
" A few years ago, petitions were presented to ParUament from
the Eoman Catholic Bishops, complaining of the state of the law
vrith regard to CathoUc charities ; what are at present the feeUngs
and opinions of the CathoUc Bishops -with respect to the powers
that are possessed by CathoUcs to endow Catholic charitable insti
tutions ?
" The impression upon the minds of the Catholic Bishops and
clergy, and even laity, is, that every donation or foundation of that
kind would be Uable to Utigation ; and that unless the instrument
whereby it would be conveyed were drawn up in a very careful
way, the Commissioners of Charitable Bequests in Ireland would
be entitled, as no doubt they would be incUned, to seize upon it ;
and therefore the doubtful state of the law upon that subject is one
cause, and I may say a chief one, why our places of worship and
our religious estabUshments, which might be very useful to the
country, are left destitute of those means which they would other
wise acquu-e. It was a feeUng of this kind that induced the

oo EPISCOPAL FRIARS.
Bishops to send forward the petition which has been now men
tioned, and I myself was among those who signed it ; and the same
feeling stiU continues, though in some degree mitigated."
It was not for several years after that the Commission of Cha
ritable Bequests was placed on a more satisfactory footing. The
board, as at present constituted, includes not a few Eoman Catho
lics, amongst whom may be named Lord Bellew, Bishop Denrir,
Chief Baron Pigott, Baron Hughes, Mr. Ennis, M.P., and Dean
Meyler. Their eleventh report states, that the amount of the trust
funds vested in them, on 31st December, 1855, was £205,969,
Dr. Doyle's election to the See of KUdare was somewhat
remarkable. That a man belonging by birth and education to
another diocess — known only for a very few years to that of Kil
dare — of no very concUiatory or sociable manners, unless among
his intimate friends — belonging to the ranks of a conventual com
munity, against which, as we have shown, much senseless preju
dice existed in those days — that a man thus circumstanced should
have been unanimously selected as Bishop by the Clergy of KUdare
and LeighUn, is certainly a fact of singular significancy.
It would seem, moreover, that the authorities at Eome were
not very favourable to the appointment of Friars to the episcopal
dignity. Sir J. C. Hippesley, an EngUsh diplomatist, wbo resided
for many years at Eome, and was singularly intimate with the
highest ecclesiastical personages there, in a letter to Lord Castle
reagh (Ui. 86) says : " At Eome, I had repeated conferences with
the Pope's ministers on this subject of Bishops-Friars— the records
of Propaganda itself proving the etemal squabbles and annoyance
resulting from Friars, when employed in the episcopacy or on
foreign mission. Cardinal AntoneUi, who was at the head of Pro
paganda, concuired with me entfrely on this point, and assm-ed me
that no Friar should in future be appointed to the episcopacy in
Ireland." That our Friar should have been elected at home, and
appointed at Eome in the teeth of so many circumstances adverse
to his nomination, is, as we have said, a fact worth nating.
In compliance with a time-honoured custom, the names of two
other candidates, somewhat less worthy in the estimation of the
clergy for the episcopal dignity, were forwarded to Eome. Mr,
Doyle's name was marked dignissimus, and those of the Very Eev.
Drs. Prendergast and Aylmer dignior and dignus.
The three names haring arrived in Eome, considerable grati
fication was felt and expressed by the Augustinian community
there at the result of the election in Carlow.* Thefr Prior, the
late Very Eev. John Eice, had been educated almost within the
* Two Augustinian Friars had already officiated as Bishops in this diocess.
" \Yare's Bishops," p, 19, records the appointment of Robert de Aketon to the

LETTER TO MR. RICE. 89
A
shadow of the Vatican, and he was known to possess considerable
influence with Cardinals Litta, ^BEonsalri, and other members ofthe
Papal court. The late Dr. KeUy, Bishop of Eichmond, and sub
sequently of Waterford, was one of those who had received thefr
appointment as Prelates on Father Eice's recommendation. In
1835, he was appointed by the Pope Assistant- General of the
Augustinian Order for Germany, and for aU other countries outside
of Italy. The good Friar was exceedingly. deUghted when he
found the name of a brother heading the list of candidates for the
See of Kildare, and he at once addressed a very affectionate letter
of congratulation to Dr. Doyle, upon a fact so significant of his
learning and worth. Mr. Eice concluded with an earnest assur
ance, that no exertion should be spared on his part, to induce the
Sacred Congregation to select Mr. Doyle in preference to his two
competitors. The reply is characteristic and remarkable :
"Very Eev. dear Sir — I am very sensible of the warm ex
pressions of esteem which your letter conveys, but you have
greatly distressed me by the mode in which that affection has been
displayed. Whether I may be elected Bishop of Kildare, or des
tined to spend and end my days in privacy, is a matter of perfect
indifference to me. I am ready to accept of any responsibUity
which the Church in its wisdom may think me fitted to bear ; but
if I thought for a moment, that my elevation to the mitre was attri
butable to any frregular influence or exertions among my friends,
I would resist to my last breath that burden, which should be
' dreaded by even the shoulders of an angel.' Nothing under
heaven could induce me to grasp a crozier on such terms. Do,
therefore, I pray you, relinquish the kindly-meant but most mis
taken interference of which you adrise me. Commit the entire
matter to the paternal care of Him whom I so unworthily serve ;
leave my election or rejection altogether in the hands of his HoU
ness and the Sacred Congregation. If Proridence sees that my
elevation to the episcopal dignity would conduce to the welfare of
His Church and of my own soul. He, no doubt, wiU guide and
direct the successor of Peter to a fitting decision,"
" A fitting decision" was at last made, as the foUo^wing letter
from Archbishop Troy announced : " Dubhn. 1st September, 1819.
" My dear Sir — I hasten, with pleasure, to inform you that,
on the 8th ult., his Holiness confirmed the election of the Sacred
Bishopric of Kildare in 1366 ; and Ossinger's " Bibliotheca Augustiniana,'' p. 303,
that of Marcus Forstall iu 1672,

90 THE SIMULTANEOUS REClOMMENDATION.
Congregation in your favour to the See of Kildare, and thereby
not only gratified the ¦wishes of your prorincial Prelates and
diocesan clergy, but likevrise, I trust, advanced the interests of
reUgion, by promoting a person of your exemplary conduct. Dr.
Curtis was appointed to Armagh at the same time. We may ex
pect the official documents or buUs for both in about a fortnight.
They wiU regulate the time for the consecration of each. Mean
time, accept my congratulations, and be assured of the respectful
esteem with which I have the honour to remain,
" Your Lordship's faithful servant, " ^ J, T, Troy,"
It was necessary to procure a Uttle money to support our new
Prelate in his dignity, and on the foUowing day we find him writ
ing to Father Peter Doyle for " one hundred of the money you
intend to lend me,"
In the course of Dr. Doyle's examination before a Committee
of the House of Commons in 1825, the circumstances attending
his election to the See of Kildare transpired. Haring been asked
whether the Bishops were nominated in Ireland by the chapter or
by the inferior clergy, he replied that "in no case have they been
nominated or appointed by the chapter alone, but that in some
instances they have been elected by chapters, and then recom
mended to the Pope by the Metropolitan and Suffragan Bishops of
the prorince in which the vacancy existed. In other cases," he
added, " they have been elected by aU the serring clergy of the
vacant diocess, and the person so elected has afterwards been re
commended by the Bishops ; for instance, I was recommended to
the See of Eome by the Parish Priests of the diocess in which I
live, and by the Metropolitan and all his Suffragans."
"Q. Do you mean the recommendation of the MetropoUtan
and aU the Suffragans foUowed the recommendation by the Parish
Priests ? A. They happened in my case to be, as it were, simul
taneous ; the MetropoUtan and Suffragans resolved to recommend
me to the Pope, and this resolution they adopted and signed ; but
knowing that the clergy were about to assemble to elect a person,
they kept the matter secret till such election did take place ; the
clergy assembled, and they also elected me ; thefr instrument of
election was placed in the hands of the Metropolitan, he trans
mitted it to Eome, with that of himself and Suffragans, and the
appointment followed."
TravelUng was slow in those days. The buUs for Dr. Doyle's
consecration were not expected to arrive before Octo'ber or Novem
ber, and during this interval of anxiety and suspense. Dr. Doyle
had many opportunities for reflecting on the extremely onerous

THE PAPAL ASSENT. 91
duties of a Bishop's life. The more he dwelt upon the subject the
less reason he felt to rejoice in the dignity ; but he was a man of
firm nerve, and resolved to cari^ his cross manfully. The Spirit
of Truth in the sacred CouncU of Trent declares, that the episcopal
office is a burden to be dreaded even by an angel ; and St. Ber
nard, in his " Treatise on Bishops," expresses himself not less
strongly. All this Dr. Doyle felt; but "he submitted to a yoke
which, had he rejected, he feared might oppose the will of Hea
ven." These were his own words in 1825. One of his brother
professors having, a few months prior to the consecration, informed
Dr. Doyle that the episcopal soutane and cope were being made
for him, he exclaimed, " Would that it were my shroud they were
preparing !"
Dr. Doyle continued to discharge the duties of a professor of
theology for some time after he became Bishop elect. It was a
labour of love, and whenever he thought of abandoning it for ever
a sigh of regret escaped him. The farewell address of the students
and his reply vriU be found No. 6 in the Appendix. Dr. Doyle's
election having received the Papal assent on the 8th of September,
a competent new professor was sought for. The foUowing letters
are addressed to the Very Eev. Mr. O'Connor, O.S.A., now the
respected Bishop of Saldes. The Eev. Dr. M'Swiney who is aUuded
to became a distinguished divine, and was eventuaUy appointed
President of the Irish CoUege at Paris : " Carlow, 8th October, 1819.
" My dear O'Connor — The chair which I have hitherto occu
pied here being now vacant, our President is obUged to look out
for a proper person to fiU it. Mr. W. M'Swiney of your city, and
formerly employed at the seminary there, has been recommended
to him. We know nothing of his character unless from a friend
of his own, who might be disposed to overrate his talents and
other quaUfications. I know how competent you are to judge of
him, and am certain you vrill teU me what you think of him.
Talents, learning, and piety are necessary for a person who would
fiU the situation to which he aspires. I hope to hear from you as
soon as you possibly can write, as we vrill be obliged to agree with
him, or procure some other, in a very short time.
" The election to the See of Kildare has been confirmed by his
HoUness, and the buUs are expected in about eight days. They
wUl regulate the time of the consecration, of which you wiU hear."
" Carlow, 26th October, 1819.
" I have not leisure to write you a long letter to thank you for
the last you sent me by the Eev. Mr. M'Swiney, who answers the
very favourable character you gave me of him.

92 INTERVIEW -WITH DR. CURTIS.
" This is chiefly to inform you, that Sunday, the 14th of
November next, is appointed by Dr. Troy for the consecration,
and I hope you wiU grace it with your presence. I could not tell
you how happy I vrill be at seeing you here, I suppose no other
of jour famUy would think of undertaking so long a joumey for
such a purpose ; but if they did, they know how much pleasure
thefr attendance would afford to,
" Dear O'Connor, yours and thefr faithful, humble servant,
"J. DOYLB,"
By the same post, we find Dr, Doyle sending a simUar inrita-
tion to aU his relatives in Wexford.
As introductory to the foUowing anecdote, it may be mentioned.
that the buUs for the consecration of Drs. Curtis and Doyle had
just been conveyed from Eome by the Eev. J. Harrigan, O.S.D.
The consecration of both Prelates took place in November, 1819.
Dr. Curtis had been for forty years an eminent Professor of Theo
logy in the University of Salamanca, and in his class were, at the
same time, six Irish students, especiaUy distinguished for piety,
talent, and learning. A high Spanish dignitary haring risited the
coUege in 1790, was particularly struck by the demeanour of the
Irish students, and broke out in a fervent prediction as to then-
future distinction in the Church. The prophecy was fulflUed.
From 1809 until 1816, the Sees of Cashel, Dublin, Tuam, Ossory,
^ Ardagh, and Clogher, were successively fiUed by the Eev. Messrs.
' Everard, Murray, KeUy, Marum, Magaurin, and Kernan. And
last of aU came, in 1819, the "Professor," Dr, Curtis, himself.
Some ecclesiastical arrangements demanded Dr. Doyle's pre
sence in DubUn a fortnight or three weeks prerious to his conse
cration. He proceeded to North Cumberland- street, the residence
of Dr. Murray, Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin. Dr. Murray
happened to be particularly engaged when Dr. Doyle caUed, and
the latter was requested by the servant to take a seat in an ante
room untu his Grace should be at readiness to receive him. On
entering the apartment. Dr. Doyle found another risitor in the
person of a very aged and venerable-looking Priest. They had not
previously been introduced, but the old man advanced as the
Bishop elect of KUdare entered, and bowed with much continental
politesse. His manners were so easy, that Dr. Doyle at once feU
into familiar conversation with him. " They sometimes do strange
things at Eome," said the old Priest. " Why, yes," repUed the
¦young Bishop elect ; "it occasionaUy happens so. What last?"*
* A rescript from Rome, a short time previous, had filled nearly all the Irish pre
lates with terror. It emanated from Monsignor, afterwards Cardinal Quarautotti,
who had the chief management of ecclesiastical affairs at Rome during the im
prisonment of Pius VII. by Napoleon. The rescript granted a veto to the Enghsh

QUARANTOTTl's RESCRIPT. 93
"In nominating an old man with one foot in the grave, and a
beardless boy. Bishops," said the old Priest, who was no other
than Dr. Patrick Curtis, Archbishop elect of Armagh, and Primate
of aU Ireland. " Ah !" repUed Dr. Doyle, aptly quoting from
Psalms ciii. and cxlvUi., " God wUl not permit so good a man as
you are to perish on the threshold of a grand primatial career.
' Your youth shall be renewed Uke the eagle's.' You in Armagh,
and I in KUdare, are about to assume a sacred duty; and as it
seems the wUl of Heaven to have it so, we may offer our hope and
prayer that both may have the prudence to act upon the counsel of
the Eoyal Psalmist, ' Let the old with the younger praise the
name of the Lord : for His name alone is exalted."
Dr. Doyle, though unacquainted vrith the appearance of Dr.
Curtis, was perfectiy weU aware of the good man's antecedents.

CHAPTEE IV.
The Consecration— -The Banquet — Uluminatioris and general jubilee — Station
dinners — Keforms effected by Dr. Doyle — Remonstrances — Statutes of the
diocess — Conferences revived— The Synod of 1614 — Correspondence with
the Vicars — Rev. Dr. Prendergast — More reforms — His labours to educate
the people — Ribbonmen — His first public controversy — Letters — Lord
Maryboro' — Pastoral on the Lent of 1820 — Use of the discipline and hair
shirt — Inactivity of previous Bishops — A bon mof— Confirmation ne
glected — Dr. Doyle pulls up a mass of arrears.
The Eev. Mr. O'Connor, now Bishop of Saldes, in obedience to
the kind inritation of his former preceptor, proceeded to Carlow
College on the evening prior to the consecration. Dr. Doyle's
servant informed him that his master was at prayer, and Mr.
O'Connor was about to retire from the door, when the Bishop
elect, recognizing his friend's voice, caUed upon him from the head
ofthe stafrs to come up. "I am deUghted to see you," he said;
" you find me just concluding a ten days' retreat in preparation for
the solemn event of to-morrow." Dr. Doyle appeared a good
deal exhausted, from excessive thought, fasting, and anxiety.
The consecration took place, ¦with more than ordinary solem
nity, in the old parish chapel of Carlow, on Sunday, the 14th of
November, 1819. The venerable Archbishop Troy officiated, as-
government in the appointment of Catholic Bishops ; but his Holiness having been
remonstrated with on the subject, he annulled Quarantotti's somewhat officious act.
Dr. Doyle's answer to " Laicus," in The Dubliri Evening Post of the 21st of March,
1822, refers to this incident: " Quarautotti was not a faithful Interpreter of the will
of the Pope ; his information on our discipline was very slender, and the Irish pre
lates were not at a loss as to the reception they were bound to give his mandate."

94 DR. DOYLE's CONSECRATION.
sisted by the Most Eev. Dr. Murray, the Most Eev. Dr. Everard,
Archbishop of Cashel ; the Eight Eev. Dr. Marum, of Ossory, and
the Eight Eev. Dr. Walsh. Dr. Doyle was consecrated with strict
attention to the order of the Latin rite for that purpose.»»*An altar
was prepared for the Bishop elect, containing, besides a crucifix,
candlesticks, missal, and pontifical, two smaU loaves and two
miniature casks of vrine, richly set in gold and silverj(|o signify
that the new Bishop should be hospitable to aU!) The assistant
Bishops wore rochets, surpUces, amices, stoles, copes, and white
mitres. Dr. Doyle appeared in the robes of a Presbyter. The
injunction of his Holiness haring been read, the elect was sworn
to be faithful to the Holy See ; after which his solemn examination
commenced, as commanded by the Fathers of the Church, and
recommended by the apostle, who says, " Be not hasty in conse
crating a man." The Fathers teach that he who is chosen for the
rank of a Bishop must be most dUigently examined, " with all
Christian tenderness," concerning the Trinity, and interrogated
upon the different titles and morals befitting episcopal government.
With this view Dr. Troy, advancing, said — " Wilt thou, both in
words and by example, teach the flock for whom thou art about to
be ordained in that which thou understandest from Holy Scrip
ture? A, I will. Q. Wilt thou reverently entertain, teach, and
keep the traditions of the orthodox Fathers and the authoritative
enactments of the Apostolic Chair? A. I wUl. Q. Wilt thou
uniformly render to Peter, the blessed apostle, to whom was given
by God the power of binding and loosening, and to His Vicar, PiuS
VIL, and to his successors, being Bishops of Eome, faith, subjec
tion, and obedience, according as the canons enjoin? A. I wUl.
Q. WUt thou, vrith God's assistance, preserve chastity and so
briety, and teach them ? ,4.1 wiU. Q. WUt thou for evermore
continue a bondsman in the affairs of God, and estranged from the
employments of earth, and from base lucre, as far as human infir
mity wiU permit? A. I wUl. Q. Wilt thou, for the namesake
of the Lord, be kind of access and pitiful to the poor, to the
stranger, and to all that are in need ? A. I wUl. — All these and
aU other graces may the Lord confer upon thee, and may He guard
and strengthen thee in all goodness. A. Amen."
The Bishop elect haring been interrogated on the different
articles of Catholic doctrine, the Trinity, and the Nicene Creed,
was conducted by the assistant Bishops to Dr. Troy, whose hand
he reverently kissed. Dr. Troy then proceeded ¦with the Pontifical
Mass until he reached the gradual, when the elect was conducted
to his altar, stripped of the cope by acolytes, and dressed with the
sandals, pectoral cross, flowing stole, tunic, dalmatic, chausible,
and maniple. The consecrating Prelate, addressing Dr. Doyle,

THE BANQUET. 95
said : " It is a Bishop's office to judge, to intei-pret Scripture, to
consecrate, to ordain, to make oblation, to baptise, and to con
firm." And addressing the assembled clergy, he said : " My
dearest brethren, let us pray that in providence, for the good of
the Church, the beneficent God may afford a plenteousness of
His grace to this elect, through Christ our Lord." Here all the
Bishops and Clergy knelt down. Dr. Doyle placed himself pros
trate on his face, whUe the Litany of Saints was recited by the
choir. Dr. Troy then took the Book of the Gospels, and silently
placed it on the neck and shoulders of Dr. Doyle, who remained
for some time ui that position, to show that he undertook its
duties, and was wilUng to bear the yoke and labours which it en
joins; the Bishops then touched his head, and the Archbishop
prayed that he might receive the Holy Ghost, and that the " Lord
would spiU forth upon him His mighty worth in benediction."
This was foUowed by the grand Preface, and the hymn Ve7ii
Creator ; which being ended. Dr. Troy, mitred, proceeded to
anoint vrith the sacramental chrism the elect, who knelt at his feet.
The ceremony of blessing the crozier and episcopal riag followed.
Touching the former. Dr. Troy said : " Eeceive the staff of the
pastoral office, that thou mayest, in the correction of rice, temper
punishment with mercy, and hold judgment without anger ; that
in cherishing vfrtue thou mayest console the affections of thy
hearers, but in calmess of mind not surrender the severity of re
proof." And " Eeceive this ring, by which is signified the pledge
of affiance, to this end, that thou mayest guard without dishonour
the house of God, which is the holy Church, bearing the ornament
of unpoUuted faith." The Mass ha^ving been resumed, the conse-
crator and consecrated partook of the same chaUce. The mitre
was then blessed, and placed on the head of the new Bishop, to be
worn as a helmet of defence and salvation, " to the end that, hav
ing his forehead decorated and his head safely guarded by the
power of both Testaments, he may appear terrible to the adver
saries of the truth, and, by the grace God wiU bestow, may prove
a vaUant champion against them." The interesting ceremonial
lasted for five hours. The congregation was large, and included
many Protestants.
In the afternoon, a splendid entertainment, stUl remembered as
"the consecration dinner," was given in the College. "Dr.
Doyle," observes the Eev. Mr. Delany, " sat at the head of the
table, and prefaced a large number of toasts with an eloquence,
tact, and grace that surprised us. His manners assumed an ease
and poUsh that had not before struck us. He seemed as though
he had been brought up at a court, and not in cloisters or study
halls." Archbishop Troy, rapidly descending into the vale of years.

96 DR. LANIGAN. — THE LEVEE.
was present. Dr. Doyle pronounced a briUiant eulogium upon
him, and concluded by saying that, "through good report and eril
report, he toUed for his rehgion and his country ; he preached the
law of God when he was almost left alone ; and when destruction
was faUing upon his flock, he stood like Aaron between the living
and the dead — 'he prayed for the people, and the plague ceased.'"
Besides the Prelates, there were many members of the priest
hood and of the CathoUc literati present. Amongst the latter. Dr.
Lanigan, ex-professor in the University of Pavia, the subsequently
famous ecclesiastical historian, occupied a seat of honour. From
a speech of Dr. Doyle's, the company leamed for the first time, that
Dr. Lanigan had been for several years engaged upon an ecclesias
tical history of Ireland. " I have seen the manuscript of the work,"
added Dr. Doyle ; "its research, comprehensiveness, and value
are beyond praise, and I anxiously anticipate its appearance."
And in a controversy ¦ft^ith the Eev. Dr. Phelan, five years after
wards, he implores of him "to cast his eye over the valuable work
of Dr. Lanigan — a work which, for extensive knowledge, deep re
search, and accurate criticism, surpasses, in my opinion, aU that
has ever been produced by the Established Church collectively ui
Ireland, Usher's labours alone excepted."
Dr. Doyle was eminently respected, and great joy pervaded
Carlow and its ricinity. The unusual youth of the new Bishop
no doubt fanned the enthusiasm. A great part of the tovm and
the entfre of the CoUege were iUuminated that night. The coUe-
gians had previously formed themselves into an amateur band, and
the dawn of the foUovring moming was gladdened by instrumental
music and the peaUng of joy-bells. That the subject of aU this
jubUee arose to his new and onerous labour vrith very different
feelings, we have good reason to beUeve.
He held a levee at the CoUege on Monday, the 15th of No
vember, It consisted of Bishops, Priests, the neighbouring
gentry, and various of his lay friends and relatives. Many of the
Parish Priests of the extensive diocess had never before seen him,
and they made no attempt to conceal thefr astonishment at be
holding, in the person of their Bishop, so young a looking man.
For a century prerious, it was ^customary in the Irish Cathohc
Church to appoint only very experienced, and consequently very
aged men to a Bishopric. Certain good-humoured members of
the Priesthood present at the episcopal levee were seen to laugh
clandestinely, as the contrast forcibly presented itself. One of Dr.
Doyle's pupils, who happened to be in the room, and who had per
sonal experience of his rigid sense of discipline, obserring those
chuckles, said drUy, "Take care, my fine fellows, that the young
Prelate does not make you laugh at the wrong side of your mouth."

PRIESTS HUNTING. 97
As already mentioned, the Clergy of Kildare and Leighlin had
long been accustomed to aged Bishops, who, through infirmity or
inactirity, had permitted a relaxation of discipline graduaUy to
grow. Many of the Parish Priests speculated in farming, and
made money by it ; others attended races ; and not a few hunted.
They ejaculated " Tally Ho !" as often as " Dominus vobiscum."
Thefr solemn black cloth and long clerical boots formed an un
pleasant contrast to the gay scarlet coats and white "tops" of
thefr lay companions. As moral and upright men they were un
impeachable ; but in many instances an absence of reUgious zeal
existed, which no one discerned with greater promptness, and de
plored ¦with deeper sorrow, than Dr. Doyle. His long residence at
Carlow CoUege, in the heart of the diocess, had furnished him
vrith favourable opportunities for observing how ecclesiastical mat
ters stood around, and as duty firmly indicated the young Bishop's
path, his courage, upon being presented with the Papal bull, almost
failed. A momentary exercise of his Christian and philosophic
mind, however, conrinced him that the interests of reUgion would
be promoted by his elevation to the vacant see. He placed the
mitre firmly upon his brow, and grasping the pastoral staff, began
the herculean labour of reforming the habits of men who had grown
old in their profession, and whose daily routine had long become to
them a second nature. Those who were really acquainted with
Dr. Doyle's amiable disposition, knew the struggle which it often
cost him to assume, in the stem discharge of his duty, the terrors
of an angry and authoritative judge. " With half a glance," says
one who knew him well, " he could read a man's very soul, and
no one coidd assume a look so fuU of scathing reproach and in
dignation. But then Dr. Doyle felt for the infirmities of human
nature, and I have known him, when it may have been necessary
to admiuister a stem rebuke, so overcome by the natural tender
ness of his heart, that the hot tears would gush from his eyes."
It was and is customary in some country parts of Ireland,
where places of CathoUc worship are comparatively few, and the
smaU farmers and labourers necessarUy much occupied, for the
clergy to give " stations," at Christmas and Easter, in the houses
of such respectable CathoUc parishioners as reside at some dis
tance from the chapel. Lest the word " station" should not be
generaUy inteUigible, we may observe that the pastors — anxious to
give their flocks every facUity to avail themselves of the sacraments
of Eucharist and Penance, which, if neglected beyond twelve
months, exposes the transgressor to excommunication — officiate
at such places as we have described in the capacity of confessors,
and dispensers of the mysteries and blessings of the Mass. The
author has often seen not less than one hundred peasant men, and
7

98 " station" dinners.
women coUected on such occasions, and it is an edifying spectacle
to observe the expression of true contrition which not^unusuaUy
pervades the rude countenances of the assemblage. On Christmas
Day and Easter Sunday, in the various chapels of the diocess,
the Priest reads aloud after Mass a list of the various houses
wherein stations ¦wUl be held for the foUowing month or six
weeks. When every person's confession has been heard at the
station. Mass is celebrated, and the Bread of Life administered to
those whose true sorrow for past sin, and determination to amend,
have rendered fit for absolution. As the Priest cannot officiate
at the altar, nor penitents approach the Communion, unless pre
riously fasting, breakfast is prorided at the farmers' houses, as
soon as the duties of the forenoon have been discharged ; and at
this the better order of the communicants attend. The Irish
people are so hospitable that formerly they detained the Priest,
with a cfrcle of friends, to dinner; and as refusal to partake of the
good cheer would have offended the worthy caterers, the clergy
were often obUged to do ample justice to the meats and drinks
prorided. Such entertainments were often attended with great
expense, and as a spirit of rivalry had grown up among the hosts
and hostesses, it was easy to perceive that those social meefiugs
had no beneficial tendency. Apart from other considerations. Dr.
Doyle felt that it lowered the dignity and solemnity of the Sacra
ment of Penance for the repentant sinner to associate conririally
vrith the dispensers of the sacred mysteries of God. This was one
of the first abuses which the new Bishop resolved to suppress vrith
a firm hand.
From appearing at places of pubUc amusement or resort he
prohibited the clergy altogether. Hunting and horse-racing came
under this mandate ; but at a subsequent period he so far relaxed
it that the Pastor was permitted to attend a race in his own parish,
vrith a riew to the preservation of order among such of his flock as
were present. The secret statutes of the diocess, written in Latin,
add: "Let them not be present at pubUc entertainments of the
laity, unless some work of charity or some function of moment
may require it ; and when present under such cfrcumstances, let
them remember the words of the Apostle — ' Be thou an example
of the beUevers in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in
purity ;' nor let them delay there longer than is necessary."
That the Priests' vestments and altar-cloths should always be
scrapulously clean and neat, Dr. Doyle rigidly desfred; and having
found that this order was apatheticaUy disregarded on some few
occasions, he tore the chasuble, as vriU be seen, into a hundred
ribbons. Inattention to minute liturgical detaU had graduaUy
spread ; but Dr. Doyle exacted the most punctilious observance

CONFERENCES DISPERSED BY FORCE. 99
of this great stimulus to reUgion. The fuU clerical uniform, too,
which had faUen into disuse, he promptly restored. The Very
Eev. Dr. Husenbeth, in his recently published Life of Monsignor
WeedaU, mentions (pp. 30, 31) that CathoUc Priests, half a
centm-y ago, " almost aU wore brown. The Eev. Joseph Ber-
rington was the first to appear in a black coat, and he was blamed
for needlessly exposing the clergy to insult and persecution. No
splendid ceremonial was as yet attempted in Catholic Chapels.
In those who are famUiar with our grand Church serrices in those
days, it vriU excite a smUe and an exclamation of astonishment to
be told that, at the first attempt to get up Benediction at Oscott,
they could procure no better incense than a littie resin, which
WeedaU, being sacristan, scraped out of some broken knife-handles
in the kitchen ! Little can Catholics who Uve in those days con
ceive of the state of things, even in the times which are here re
corded, when we could hardly walk abroad without insult, when we
said Mass chiefly in garret chapels, and were occasionaUy hooted,
and had stones thrown after us, as it has happened even to the
present writer."
Impressed with the warnings of the Scriptures, which proclaim
that " the lips of Priests should keep knowledge, and that they
should requfre the law fi-om his mouth," Dr. Doyle lost no oppor
tunity of increasing among his clergy the stores of ecclesiastical
leaming. Conferences of the clergy — that important pUlar of
ecclesiastical discipUne — had completely fallen away since 1798,
when a party of armed yeomanry dispersed a conference at Mount-
rath. The intruders felt persuaded that the Priests were engaged
in plotting the downfaU of the constitution, and bore off in triumph
the various breriaries and theological catechisms of the assembled
clergy. Since that day no attempt had been made to rerive con
ferences in the diocess of KUdare and LeighUn until Dr. Doyle
took the matter in hand, conjointly with many other arrears of
discipUne and duty. He never failed, when possible, to attend
these conferences* in person, and to elucidate, by the teeming
treasures of his erudition and experience, every abstruse subject
proposed for the consideration of the clergy. In addition to the
vast advantages of which conferences, as an aid and stimulus to
the theologian, were productive. Dr. Doyle, in conformity with the
riews of Benedict XIV., ordained that every priest should have in
his possession some work of moral theology, in which he might
" very frequently, and, if possible, every day read attentively one
little chapter at least ; that being aided by this continual study he
may be the better able to direct the consciences of the flock com-
* See Appendix No. Vll, for some particulars regarding conferences.

100 REFORMS EFFECTED.
mitted to him, for whose souls he is to render an account to the
Lord in the day of judgment."
But of all the regulations which subsist to eridence his soUci
tude for securing and perpetuating to his people the blessings of a
sanctified Priesthood, the rerival of those holy exercises, of which
we shaU have occasion to speak fuUy hereafter, is perhaps the
most important. We allude to spfritual retreats. It is not pos
sible to imagine any practice so well calculated to preserve and
augment in the priestly bosom that sacred flame of charity which
should pervade every power of their being, and inspire as weU as
sanctify every movement of Christ's ministers, as a practice which,
at regular stated intervals, withdraws them from the turmoU of
aU earthly things to commune with God in silence, soUtude, and
prayer — to put the solemn question to their souls, how they have
executed their awful commission — to rekindle within thefr hearts
the graces they have secured by the imposition of hands, and at
the foot of the cross to implore mercy on themselves, on their
flocks, and on mankind.
Knowing that " reformation cometh from the house of God,"
and that they who are first in dignity should be Ukewise first in
virtue, he left no means unemployed for preserving his clergy from
the sUghtest contact of anything which could possibly diminish the
veneration of the people, or detract, in however small a degree,
from the success of thefr pious and respective cares. From him
no man found tolerance while a charge could be substantiated
against him of any practice or act which might sully the immacu
late lustre that should ever brighten round the anointed chUdren
of the sanctuary. From every Priest he demanded indiridual
attention to, and rigorous fulfilment of aU the various and difficult,
and not unfrequently painful offices of thefr duty to the people.
Dr. Doyle's constantly avowed desire that every Pastor should be
a slave to his vocation, was received by the Priesthood with siu-
gular meekness ; for, as we have heard some among them express
it, could any one murmur at the regulations of a Pontiff who was
ever ready himself to share the burden with his Priests, and fore
most to toil at every labour to which he made it obUgatory upon
others to attend ? CaUed to the episcopacy when the storm which
had so long agitated reUgion was subsiding into calm, he saw no
necessity for the further continuance of any impediment to the
restoration of many -wise and holy regulations, which rehgion, ever
anxious for the sanctification of her ministers, had derised in days
of primitive purity and fervour ; and therefore, with his eye fixed
steadUy upon the canons of the universal Church, he laboured by
every means withui his reach to faciUtate their observance, in sub
stitution for the local customs of a less perfect discipline, which

. THE COUNCIL OF 1614. 101
the disasters of bygone days had sanctioned. Having already re
ferred to some of these customs, there is no need to recapitulate
them, but an idea of the source from whence they sprang may be
formed by mentioning one cfrcumstance very little known, ^illus
trative of the sadly relaxed discipline which, in times of persecu
tion, received episcopal toleration. In 1614, when the inhuman
Chichester scourged the land, the Bishop of Kildare, with the
other Prelates of the prorince, assembled at Kilkenny, and in a
CouncU whose sessions continued from the 24th to the 27th of
June, a code of rules for diocesan government and discipline was
pubUshed. Opening ¦with a synodical address, which, while replete
¦with zealous pastoral soUcitude, betrays, in language of thrilling
eloquence, the alarm of the prelates at the perils that threatened
every moment to hurry them to prison, exUe, or the scaffold, this
Uttle volume fumishes a painfully interesting insight into the con
dition and religious practices of our CathoUc forefathers. The
first act of the Synod professes obedience to the Holy See, and
submission to the various ordinances of the Council of Trent ; but
it deplores that, from the calamitous character of the times, it
would be most hazardous to reduce every one of them to practice.
The CouncU of 1614 seemed to regard the existence of a church
or chapel as a luxury top great to hope for. As it was impossible
that the Holy Sacrament could repose in a consecrated place with
a Ught burning before it, as the canons prescribed, two particles
only — or if possible one— were, by order of the CouncU, ordered
to be preserved for Viaticum at the Priest's residence, lest it might
be impossible to celebrate Mass without delay. The baptismal
font was also to be kept at the Clergymen's lodgings. The
CouncU further ordained that not only the most becoming locali
ties for celebrating Mass should be selected, but dUigent precau
tions used, by suspending sheets over and around the rade altar-
stone, lest dust should mingle vrith the consecrated elements, or
sudden gusts of wind displace any sacred particles. One candle
at least should be kept buming during the Holy Sacrifice. But
perhaps the most startUng canon was one aUowing laymen, in
cases of necessity, to cai-ry the Blessed Sacrament to dying per
sons. " The recipients, if priests," observes the statutes of 1614,
" can administer it to themselves in the ordinary way, but if lay
men they are not to touch the sacred Host with their hands, but
may, after an act of sincere contrition, reverently lift it into thefr
mouths vrith the tongue !" Many ofthe statutes of 1614 the archi
episcopal Church of DubUn, vrith its suffragans, Kildare, Ferns,
and Ossory, re-enacted for nearly two centuries. . The above con
stitutions had been of course long relinquished, but traces of re-

102 NEW REGULATIONS LAID DOWN.
laxed discipUne in many minor detaUs continued to exist for some
years after Dr. Doyle's elevation to the episcopacy.
During Dr. Doyle's examination before ParUament in 1825, he
was asked whether the number of Priests existing in his diocess
were sufficient to enable them to give a sermon after Mass. "The
Priests in my diocess," he repUed, " are so strictly bound by the
statutes of the diocess itself to give reUgious instruction, that, un
less in a case of difficulty almost extreme, they cannot avoid giring
such instruction ; but yet, in general, it is given by them at great
personal inconvenience, for many of them have to celebrate two
Masses upon each Sunday, one of them at so late an hour as eleven
or twelve o'clock. The Priest who thus celebrates two Masses is
obliged to fast until the labour is ended, and often to ride some
mUes between one chapel and another. Haring this heavy labour
to perform, then, he is not often able, particularly if he be an old
man or of a delicate constitution, to give so much instruction in
public as I would wish. However, he must read either the epistle
or the gospel of the day, or both, and give a short exposition of
them ; or if not of them, of a chapter of the common catechism,
where the Christian duties are briefly laid down."
Dr. Doyle was one of those men whom God, in these latter
days, would seem to have raised up with a riew to restore much of
the bright and original beauty of the CathoUc Church. It is a fact
weU known to the student of ecclesiastical history, that the sun of
piety went down, and the glory of the land became crashed out,
and a night of whirlwinds, and desolation, and dismay, such as
never elsewhere scourged the sins, or tried the fortitude of a Chris
tian people, succeeded. We need not dweU upon the ravages com
mitted by barbarism and anarchy against everything sacred, the
maUce of wholesale innovation, and aU the distraction of discord
and the fury of sanguinary persecution, which fiUed to the brim
three centuries of woe. Nothing did this hurricane of death respect
or spare of aU that reUgion venerated. Her shrines were demo
lished, her altars overturned, and the stones of the sanctuary scat
tered. The dying echoes of these storms were stiU murmuring,
and the marks of their ravages strewed around, notwithstanding
the comparative tranquiUity of sixty years, and the gentle efforts of
successive Bishops to repair the ruin that had been wrought, when
it pleased God to summon the iUustrious man whose life we are
chronicUng to the pastoral care of the ancient diocess of KUdare
and Leighlin, and to lend his powerful aid to the episcopacy of that
day in thefr noble projects for the restoration of the Irish Church
to its pristine splendour.
Dr. Doyle was a young man, and had not, Uke some of his

LETTER TO HIS VICAR. 103
clergy, personal experience of the penal times to which we have
referred. Had he felt in his own person the chUl of that perse-
secuting period, it is possible that some of his regulations would
not have been so stringent ; but the ice once broken, it became a
source of general satisfaction that rules so dignified should be en
acted and observed. Some old Priests, and even not a few of the
junior clergy, who had traditionaUy imbibed the prejudices of an
obsolete time, uttered a piteous remonstrance on the first promul
gation of Dr. Doyle's reformatory arrangements. This mainly
found expression through the Eural Deans or Vicars of the diocess,
who were charged to enforce the rules ; and Dr. Doyle replied to
the remonstrances through the same medium. His Lordship's
correspondence with tbe late Very Eev. John Dunne, P.P. of
Portarlington, a trusted and influential Vicar, has been placed at
our disposal. As explanatory of a passage in the foUowing letter,
it may be mentioned that Dr. Doyle had enumerated a class of sins
which he denied to an ordinary Priest the power of absolring, and
ordained that persons guilty of such offences could only be shrived
by the episcopal hand, or by some Vicar to whom its authority
might be speciaUy delegated. " Carlow, 25th December, 1819.
" Very Eev. and dear Sir — After vrishing you many returns
of this holy time, and that each may bring vrith it to you an in
crease of grace and sanctity, I have to acknowledge the receipt of
your very kind letter. Nothing could gratify me more than the
freedom ¦with which you communicate your anxiety respecting the
regulations which the good of the diocess, and yom- own merits,
have requfred that you should be appointed to enforce.
" When I pubUshed these regulations, I anticipated that their
observance would be attended with some inconvenience to a few,
for there is no change which does not produce inconvenience ; nay,
I expected more — that a few would feel discontented, and whisper
thefr discontent to others ; but knowing the zeal and piety of the
great body of the clergy, I hoped (and indeed my hopes have not
been disappointed) that they woiUd cheerfuUy conform to regula
tions which are only transcripts of the Gospel or of the laws of the
Church. I studiously avoided every innovation, and omitted many
things which I wished to insert, lest our cfrcumstances were not
fitted for what otherwise would be desirable.
" I could wish sincerely you had noticed what regulations
' would render many sufferers on account of the few.' 1 should
hope rather that there will be no sufferer, as nothing is prohibited
but what is bad, or which has, at least, a tendency to evU, nothing
enjoined but the laws of God and the Church ; and if that be the

104 THE NEV? STATUTES ;
case, as I conceive it is, the ill-disposed alone ¦wUl suffer, lex posiia
est non justo, sed injusto. What man with an ecclesiastical spfrit
wUl think it a grievance to instruct in the plain and simple manner
prescribed ? to observe decency in offering the Sacrifice ? to admi
nister the sacraments as the Church has ordained? to avoid
simony, as it is declared by the organ of the Holy Ghost? to
preserve the decency and decorum of a gentleman and a Priest, by
abstaining from an excess of social freedom on the days when he
is employed in bringing sinners to repentance ? Or ¦wiU a Priest
suffer by avoiding those places, those occasions, those occupations
which the Church, ten thousand times, has declared to be incom
patible with our profession ?
"As to reservations,* their being restored in some degree to
what they were when our predecessors enacted them may cause
some inconvenience, but that I have endeavoured to render as light
as possible by vesting the fuUest jurisdiction in you and the other
Vicars. The study of an hour wUl make the observance of those
reservations easy to aU who sincerely wish to have discipline pre
served or restored. But should there be any individual who feels
himself aggrieved by any of them, let him state this grievance to
me, and I shaU be most happy to relax any particular regulation
in his regard.
" The diocess, my dear sir, has a right to your serrices, and in
rendering them to it you must be prepared to meet vrith trials and
crosses ; but haring the law of God and the Church before. you as
a guide, you wiU by patience and perseverance surmount every
obstacle. We must be prepared to serve God through good report
and evU report, and whUst we endeavour to be aU to all, we must
not seek to please men, lest we would cease to be the servants of
Christ. I could vrish to bear alone all the trouble and anxiety
annexed to an office which Proridence has imposed on me (I fear)
on account of my sins, but it is impossible for me to discharge
its various duties without your assistance and that of your col
leagues. Let us have but one spirit as we have but one end —
soothe the discontented, reprove the disaffected, identify yourself
with the laws intrusted to you, preach to the young and to the old
obedience to the constituted authority, and in a little time these
things which now excite your apprehension wUl have disappeared.
" With the exception of two days next week, I shaU not be
* The reserved cases are eleven in number, and comprise — 1. Murder; 2, Wilful
procuring of abortion ; 3, Cr, cl, ; 4. Perjury; 3. Formal heresy; 6. Apostacy; 7.
Communication in divine things with heretics ; 8, Clandestine marriage, and in this
reservation are comprehended the contracting parties, the minister, and the wit
nesses ; 9. Solicitation to base crimes ; 10. The offence of a Priest who may be
present in theatres, or who, either publicly or privately, has been engaged in dances
with females ; 11, Burning, — Statuta Diocoesana.

THEIR SUCCESS. 105
from home tUl February next (g. w.), and wiU be ti-uly gratified at
seeing you here, and assuring you in person how sincerely I am
" Your faithful and humble servant in Christ,
" ^ J. Doyle."
The ¦wisdom of head and steadiness of hand ¦with which Dr.
Doyle derised and enforced his reformatory regulations triumphed.
The Bishop's prognostications were fulfiUed, and peevish remon
strances soon gave place to expressions of approbation and respect.
We bave also had access to the papers of the late Very Eev,
Dr. Prendergast, another worthy and trusted Vicar of the Bishop's.
The foUowing document, translated from the Latin, throws addi
tional light on his state of mind and feeUng during the first round
of episcopal duty :
" We, Fr. James Doyle, by the grace of God and the ApostoUc
See, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, to aU witnessing these
presents, eternal health in the Lord.
" The first burden of episcopal duty, to be dreaded by the shoul
ders of an angel, presses upon ours, in every respect, so unworthy
to support it. We have brought all our care and anxious soUci
tude, that this truly fertUe field of the Church should be so culti
vated by us, that it may yield both good and plentiful fruit.
Turning, therefore, our heart to the Lord, and taught by Him not
to rely on our own counsel, but rather to seek assistance from our
feUow-labourers, we have resolved to choose those eminent for
their leaming, spotless character, and standing, to assist us in the
good work. As Moses, by God's command, selected the elders
from Israel to govem and judge the people, whUst only the more
weighty matters might be referred to him, in like manner we wU-
lingly appoint, for awhUe, you, the Eev. Father M. Prendergast,
in whose learning and piety, zeal and prudence, we have much
confidence, as our Eural Dean and Vicar. We also create, ordain,
and constitute you Master of Theological Conferences, and, be
sides, give you jurisdiction over the clergy and people in the
parishes commonly called St. MuUin'a, Graigue, Burris, Dun-
leckny, LeighUn, MyshaU, and Clonegal, that you would hear each
and every of thefr complaints, and adjust their disputes ; that you
scrutinize the manner and honesty of life of the clergy, and look
after aU other things haring reference to the good of reUgion and
the ecclesiastical state ; and that you would, when necessary, offer
adrice or rebuke in those matters ordained, or immediately and
faithfuUy lay them before us. We exhort and command aU in the
Lord that they would dutifuUy receive your judgment — or rather
ours produced by you— as if proceeding from him who watches
that he may render an account of their souls. We pray that you

106 MARRIAGE AND BAPTISM.
may thus perform your important duty by an unfeigned charity,
that the love of your neighbour and the hatred of ¦rice, the desire
of peace and the study of what is right, may be committed to you
in everything. And if there be aught else, of right, to be granted
to you, we again confirm it. From our heart we pray the God of
peace and justice to assist you. — Given at Carlow, this 12th day
December, in the year of our Lord 1819 (nineteen)."
A few of the older Parish Priests haring died soon after Dr.
Doyle became Bishop, he found that thefr parishes would, if re
spectively dirided, admit of a more active and salutary exercise of
clerical administration, while possessing sufficient emolument, and
Dr. Doyle dirided them accordingly. Certain ecclesiastical fees,
hitherto optional in amount, he regulated by a fixed table. The
govemment having long desfred to pension the Cathohc clergy,
Dr. Doyle was examined before ParUament touching the sources
and amount of their incomes. " By what authority," said Lord
Binning, " are the fees upon the ceremonies of marriage and bap
tism regulated? A, Chiefly by usage, but they are sometimes
defined by a statute made by the Bishop. For instance, in the
diocess in which I reside, I found those contributions existing
generaUy, but there was no uniform rule whereby they could be
regulated, and I deemed it better for the poor, and also I thought
I should best consult the character and interest of the clergy by
reducing them in some degree to rule ; I therefore regulated what
they should be in most cases, and the manner in which they should
be coUected. And in order also to prevent anything like harsh
treatment of the poor by the clergy, I prohibited, under pain of
suspension, any clergyman from vrithholding his ministry from any
person, rich or poor, on account of dues or emoluments, so that
the office of the Priest must first be discharged, and then the indi
ridual gives what is prescribed by usage or by the letter of the
statute." The Bishop was asked whether the amount of payment
in his diocess was uniform : " There is a kind of scale," he repUed,
"because the poor man pays nothing, the man in better cfrcum
stances pays something, and the man whose condition is stUl more
improved gives a little more." And when under examination in
the House of Lords ten days later, a peer asked Dr. Doyle whether
the rule be laid dovm was general in other diocesses. His reply
was a quaUfied negative. " Q. Would you apply it in any case
where the person was able to pay? A, Yes, I would, even there,
because I think that money ought not to be a subject of dispute
between the Priest and his parishioners at aU. If a man be not
generous enough to give a contiibution to a Priest who labours for
him, and has devoted his time and his talents to his serrice, I

FEES FIXED. 107
should rather go without it, and live in peace : and that is the dis
position I wish to impress upon the clergy under my care."*
A custom had long prevailed of raising contributions after the
marriage ceremony, which Dr. Doyle now commanded should be
fi-ee and spontaneous. From the statutes we perceive that the
Bishop limited the dues to be paid by " those who with great labour
and industry procure a subsistence," to 2s. 6d. for baptism, 20s. for
solemnising matrimony, and 5s. for a marriage licence. " From
those who appear to be in impoverished circumstances let nothing
be exacted, but if they offer aught, it may be received. So far we
have proceeded in defining the sum of the dues which may be
exacted, but we do not, however, place Umits to the munificence or
piety of those who, of thefr own accord, wish to offer more." And
again, instead of the old custom of collecting dues at stations,
the Bishop earnestly exhorted the clergy to depute fi-om each vU
lage one or two men of integrity, whose business it would be,
after the feasts of Epiphany and our Lord's Ascension in each
year, to coUect the ordinary sums. But whenever this system
seemed impracticable, the Bishop permitted that, as soon as
the Priest had given thanks after Mass, he might inrite the
congregation to offer thefr accustomed dues on the altar. —
" But," he added, " neither while the coUections are being made,
nor before nor after, let any individual be reproached or put to
shame on account of the nonpayment of dues, lest our holy reU
gion, or its mysteries, or its ministers, be deprived of suitable
reverence ; lest the faithful, especially those who are poor, be
compeUed to blush, or lest they altogether desert from the sacra
ment of reconciliation, or approach without suitable dispositions
the Body of the Lord." And again : " Let him beware that he do
not afflict with shame those who are labom-ing under poverty or
oppressed with misery, by exacting money from them, lest the
gospel seem to be sold, or Christ brought into reproach."
Dr. Doyle desired, at a later period, that there should be a
complete cessation of the ancient custom of coUecting com at the
houses of the faithful. " That custom, in these times and in this
country, where CathoUcs Uve intermixed ¦srith those who are not
Catholics, brings no smaU offence to many. We therefore ear
nestly desfre that it may be substituted by another more suitable
to the manner of this kingdom. Meantime we exhort in the Lord
aU the clergy, as weU regulars as seculars, that they should pro
cure such gains, not by themselves, but by some honest and decent
servant deputed by them to this work."
The Society of Eibbonmen had, a few years preriously, first
* The Examination of Dr, Dnyle before the Select Committees of the Houses of
Lords and Commons, London : Murray, 1825, pp, 329, 560.

108 RIBBON SOCIETIES.
sprang into ritaUty. OriginaUy formed fri the west of Ireland, it
graduaUy worked its secret way and influence until the confines of
Dr. Doyle's diocess were struck by it. Some acts of riolence on
person and property haring been committed, the Bishop devoted
several pages of his fiLrst Pastoral to an eloquent denunciation of
the objects of the society. He concluded with a most argumenta
tive dissuasive, which, though erudite and logical, was clothed in
a simphcity of language that rendered it thoroughly intelhgible to
the masses. The appeal thus terminated : " Beloved brethren,
we teU you in truth and sincerity that these associations are op
posed to aU your interests, both temporal and eternal; that the
oath which unites them is Ulegal, sacrilegious, and unjust ; that if
observed, it would be a bond of iniquity ; and that though it would
be a crime to take it, it would be a stiU greater crime to observe it
by word or deed ; and hence we conjure you, by aU that is dear to
you, your famUy, your character, your country, and your reUgion,
to avoid all connexion with these deluded men, and if any of you
have been ensnared by them, to abandon thefr society, to repent
for the sins you committed in joining them, and, like Paul, ' you
wiU obtain mercy, because it was through ignorance you did eril,'
But if there should be found amongst you any person who, disre
garding these our salutary instractions and adrice, and who would
stiU continue to set at defiance the laws of God and the country,
who would stiU continue to expose our good name to disgrace, our
reUgion to obloquy, and these diocesses, with thefr peaceable inha
bitants, to terror and taxation, let such persons take notice, and
we hereby solemnly warn and admonish them, that we shaU, in
case they continue obstinate, resort to the severest chastisements
which the power vested in us from above enables us to inffict."
Kno'wing the importance of reUgious confraternities as an auxi-
Uary in promoting a wide-spread spirit of moraUty, Dr. Doyle,
early in 1820, laid down a programme of action for these exceUent
societies, and shortly after formally inaugurated them. "As in
heaven," he said, " there are many mansions, so amongst the ser
vants of God destined to occupy them there are some more perfect
than others, ' for the just man may be stiU more justified.' " Dr.
Doyle recommended the union of many persons in confraternities,
where mutual example, joint prayers, and frequenting of the sacra
ments at stated times, would assist aU in the great work of thefr
sanctification. The united prayers of reUgious congregations had
often averted the anger of God from an offending people, and pro
cured from Him signal marks of His bounty, Dr, Doyle inferred
the advantage of such societies from the fact related in the Book
of Genesis, "that if five just men could have been found" in a
certain city, " it would have been spared ;" and in the Book of

RELIGIOUS CONFRATERNITIES, 109
Numbers, where we are told that, " for the sake of Moses alone,
the whole of the chUdren of Israel were preserved from destruc
tion," The Bishop required that persons desirous of entering the
confraternity must have lived piously for a considerable time pre
rious to their reception, made a general confession of thefr sins,
and approached the communion at least once a month for an entire
year prerious to their reception. When thus prepared, they were
to be received by the Bishop at his risitation. The members were
to assist the Parish Priest at aU times in instructing the ignorant,
teaching catechism, reading aloud books of piety, preparing chil
dren for their first communion, and assisting sick persons to die in
the Lord. If any member were found to frequent wakes, ale
houses, and idle company, he should be forthwith excluded from
the society. Haring explained the extent of the indulgences
granted to exemplary members of the confraternities. Dr. Doyle
continued : "Indulgences are not a remission of sin, but of the
temporal punishment which may be due to it, granted by the
Church, either partiaUy or in as plenary or fuU a manner as she
can ; and this kind of remission, first made by St. Paul to the in
cestuous Corinthian, by St. Cyprian and other Bishops in the times
of persecution, has always, in various forms, been granted by the
Church in favour of such penitents, and such only as laboured by
their contrition and works of piety to atone, as far as they were
able, for their sins. Indulgences are not granted to favour the
indolent, but to support the weak — not to relax piety or insure
forgiveness, but to aid our exertions and strengthen our hope."
Dr. Doyle observed that the formation, increase, and good de
meanour of these societies would be to him not only a source of
consolation, but also a criterion of the piety of the faithful in the
several parishes of his diocess, and of the zeal and merit of their
respective Pastors. He then laid down twelve rules for the estab
Ushment and organization of Book Societies. "These rules," con
cluded his Lordship, " are to be ¦written iu large characters,
framed, and hung up in a conspicuous place in the chapel or
sacristy, where aU the members can have access to them." The
ParUamentary Committee of 1825 asked Dr. Doyle whether any
efforts had been made by him to convey moral and reUgious in
struction. This eUcited from the Bishop a reply of which the fol-
lovring is a part : "I have estabUshed in every parish within the
two diocesses of which I have the care parochial Ubraries, which I
have had stocked with books of reUgious and moral instraction ex
clusively. Those books are given out to heads of famUies upon
their paying a penny a-week or a fortnight for the use of them :
they are given to the poor gratis. When a man has read one of
those books he retums it to the librarian upon the Sunday ; he then

110 THE GOOD SEED TAKES ROOT.
gets another, and thus every class of people in the diocess are in
structed in thefr moral, social, and reUgious duties."
This project proved eminentiy successful. Fed with inteUec
tual food, the minds of the peasantry expanded. The Bishop in
fused a new tone and vigour into them. The apothegm " Imow-
ledge is power" was never more clearly iUustrated. Gatheriag
wisdom, the reflective portion of the people shunned sin as the
worst species of foUy. Dance-houses, wakes, and other midnight
orgies almost entirely ceased to scandaUze pious persons. Tem
perance societies sprung up, and a healthy spirit of moraUty gra
duaUy spread.
The education of the poor was one of the most earnest wishes
implanted in Dr. Doyle's breast. In January, 1820, he pubUshed
a letter, from which we cuU a few extracts, in The Carlow Post.
It is addressed to the Eev. Mr. Shea, in reply to a letter from that
Priest requesting to be dfrected as to the line of conduct he should
pursue in regard to some schools proposed to be estabUshed in his
parish, and to which Mr. Grant had promised to contribute J6200
a-year, prorided the subscriptions reached to an equal sum : " I
have always considered the education ofthe poor," he writes, "as
an essential means of bettering thefr condition, and of promoting '
the peace of society and security of the state. I have long wished
that it should become a national concern, and that the government
would extend to it that patronage and support which it now seems
anxious to bestow. But in a reUgious point of view, which is our
principal concern, the advantages of education are incalculable. It
enables the poor man to form a just estimate of the riches of God's
mercy, and to pay to him the homage of profound adoration and •
reasonable obedience, which does not often enter into the unim
proved mind. It also makes him competent, in a certain degree,
to render an account, when necessary, ' of the hope that is in
him.' The peasantry of this country also are found to abound in
talent, and it is no smaU advantage to afford them an opportunity
of cultivating it. Literature might become, in some measure, here,
as it is in Scotland, the staple manufacture of the country, and
add not only to her fame, as hitherto, but even to her improve
ment and wealth. It seems to me to promote aU the social
rirtues, and on this score alone it deserves our entire support.
The poor man who receives a religious education is generaUy
obedient to the laws, and looks to the ranks and orders of society
as an ark projected by the finger of God for the preservation ofthe
species. When pressed by want he does not become turbulent
nor disaffected, but rests satisfied with the dispensations of Prori
dence. An educated man wiU not spend the fruits of his industry
in the ale-house or tavern, but return home to enjoy the society of

EDUCATION OF THE POOR. Ill
his Uttie family, to improve thefr minds by the lessons of his own
experience, and to anticipate for them the profits and honours
which others of thefr rank have attained. Much, indeed, of the
miseries of our country could be traced to the ignorance of our peo
ple. Those reUgious feuds and dissensions which have hitherto
been the reproach of Ireland have frequently arisen from it, and
vriU probably be continued untU the mass of the people are en
lightened." Dr. Doyle then went on to sanction the co-operation of Mr.
Shea vrith the schools, " in such manner as is consistent vrith the
faith and discipUne of that Chm-ch of which you are a minister.
The only education not an evil in itself, and which can promote
the advantages I have stated, appears to me to be that which re
gards both the mind and heart, by uniting the reUgious vrith the
Uterary improvement of the people. To give to a chUd a Uterary
education, and send him forth when grown up to learn the princi
ples of his reUgion, amidst the bustle of the world and the tumult
of his passions, would be only to increase his capacity for doing
evU vrithout subjecting him to any effectual restraint, or furnish
ing him ¦with any sufficient incitement to good ; for if those per
sons who have been taught their religion from their infancy — who
revere its maxims, obey its laws, submit their reason to the belief
of its mysteries, and derive from it an habitual fear and love of
future punishments and rewards, find it difficult to restrain theu-
passions during the fervour of youth, what shall we suppose to be
the state of those who are destitute of reUgious education ?" Dr.
Doyle proceeded to observe that " the first and most essential sti
pulation to make was, that the Priest should be aUowed to risit
these schools as often as he should deem necessary, in order to
ascertain that the reUgious education of the children is attended
to." Next, that the master must be a Eoman CathoUc ; and,
" vrith regard to the books of instruction to be used, you ¦wiU
adhere strictly to the estabUshed usage of our Church. Therefore
declare expUcitly to the gentlemen concerned that no books shaU
be introduced for the use of the CathoUc chUdren which are not
approved by thefr Pastors. . . , If any books of a doubtful
nature should be introduced hereafter send a copy of them to me,
and be regulated by the opinion which I wUl give you." Dr. Doyle
prohibited aU reading of the Scriptures vrithout note or comment
by the children, but told Mr. Shea that he might agree to have
a lesson or lessons of the Douay Bible read each day for the
Catholic chUdren by the master who teaches them thefr catechism.
Dr. Doyle explained the doctrine of the Church on this point,
which is nearly identical in substance ¦with the letter to Mr.
M'Ghee, printed in the Appendix to this work. He thus con-

112 HIS FIRST PUBLIC CONTROVERSY.
eluded : "If unhappily, from some cause which I cannot foresee,
your offers of co-operation should be shghted, you wiU use aU the
influence you possess to prevent your parishioners from contri
buting to the estabUshment of schools from which religious in
struction would be excluded. In flne, you wiU on this occasion,
as at aU times, endeavour if possible to have peace with aU men."
The phUantrophic, phUosophic, and thoroughly Christian tone
of this letter ought, one would think, to have protected the vyriter
from animadversion. The reverse, however, was the fact. The
Eev. Mr. CaldweU, a Protestant clergyman, flung into the columns
of the local newspaper an ilUberal and discourteous missive. Dr,
Doyle's reply formed his debut as a pubUc controvertist. We see
in the foUovring the first glitter of the sword emerging fi-om its
scabbard : "I had hoped tbat my letter would not give offence to
any one, and that the opinions expressed in it would not caU forth
strictures, even from those who are fond of disputing. I have been
disappointed, and as I am ' a debtor aUke to the vrise and to the
unwise,' I shall explain, even for Mr. CaldweU, these passages
which are noticed by him in your paper of to-day." And this he
did. " But why, let me ask, in the name of peace, does Mr.
CaldweU bring forward a note of the Ehemish Testament, pub
Ushed in 1633, to disturb the repose of the nineteenth century?
Does he not know how that edition of the Testament was never
approved of at Eome, and that last year, when it was first brought
into notice in this country, it was formaUy disclaimed by the Ca
thoUc laity and clergy ? Does he not know it was ¦written in bad
times, when Protestants were bumed in Eome and Eoman Catho
Ucs in London ? And why does he charge us with the ciril laws
of CathoUc states, and pass unnoticed our own statute de combu-
rendo Heretico, or for buming heretics, which was repealed
during the last parliament only ?
" I have thus briefly disposed of these minor subjects, that I
might devote the greater part of my present letter to that which
seems principaUy to occupy the mind of Mr. CaldweU, in common
vrith aU those who have thro-wn off the ' sweet yoke' of authority
in matters of reUgion. He thinks it unreasonable that every per
son, of whatever age, sex, or condition, should not have free access
to ' God's own word,' without notes explanatory of the passages
which are hard to be understood, or authority to determine the
meaning of what is doubtful. Certainly it would be better there
should be no notes, than notes which teach error, as it would be
better to have no authority than the authority of ' vain babblers,
who desire to be teachers, understanding neither the things they
say, nor whereof they affirm.' But our Church sanctions neither
notes nor books which contain errors, and the authority she exer-

INTERPRETATION OP THE BIBLE. 118
cises is not assumed nor usurped, for it is given to her pastors
by Christ, who sent his apostles and thefr successors even to the
end of the world, with ' all power to rule the Church of God.' . .
" Are not the common and statute laws of these realms the
title by which we hold our properties and enjoy personal security ?
Are they not also our inaUenable inheritance ? And yet, who wUl
affirm that any of us is exempt from the authority of our sovereign
or his government, and who wiU fold over the volumes of our
statutes, or search into the dictums of our judges to ascertain his
rights when they are disputed — and if he did, who would attend
to the sense he would assign to them ? No ; every subject must
pay obedience to the constituted authorities, and when his rights
are questioned he must go to the judges for the time being, and
abide by their decision as to the meaning of the law which regu
lates his estate ; and if this were not the case, we would possess
no poUtical or ciril Uberty — no security for our persons or proper
ties. Thus, without the law, our natural rights would degenerate
into anarchy, whUst thefr regulation produces ciril Uberty; and so
¦with regard to the Scriptures. Wherever Christians use them
vrithout a due deference for the authority of the Church in the in
terpretation of them, a spiritual anarchy results similar to the con
fusion which is apparent in a revolutionary state. What, for
example, can be more analogous to our radical and Spencean
poUticians than our Seekers and sectaries, down to the foUowers
of the late Johanna Southcotte ? Not so with the chUdren of the
Church, who have thefr faith deflned by the authority appointed
by Christ ; they can read the Scriptures for their edification, with
notes which vriU assist them in understanding the difficult parts.
There are frideed some parts of the Scripture which the Church,
after the example of the Synagogue, would not give into the hands
of youth, such as passages in the Uves of the patriarchs, some of
the prophecies of Ezekiah, and the Canticle of Canticles. Her
reverence for it also, and her anxiety to preserve it from abuse,
would induce her to keep it out of the hands of chUdren, either in
or out of school. In a word, her discipUne is not founded on an
anxiety to domineer over the faithful, but to keep them from
temptation ; it is not hostUe to the spirit of Christianity, but it is
a prudent exercise of the authority vested in her by Christ ; it is
not opposed to institutions founded on the necessities of mankind
and the vriU of aU nations, but is conformable to them, and to the
principles of our own constitution, the happy model of ci-ril and
poUtical perfection."
The Bishop was so straitened for time, that he intrusted the
further defence of his letter to Dr. Donovan, Professor of Ehetoric
in Maynooth CoUege :

114 LETTER TO REV. DR. DONOVAN.
" Carlow, 13th February, 1820.
" My dear Friend — It is almost five o'clock, and yet I must
reply to your long-wished-for letter before I dine, as I leave this on
to-morrow morning for a few days, and vrish rather to send you a
short answer without delay than a long one after the lapse of a
week, I must notice regularly the several interesting topics you
write on, but by way of preface let me beg that if you must obtrude
your good manners where your friendship should appear, you wiU
in future write Lordship but once in each page. I am traly happy
at your appointment. I congratulate the CoUege, Dr. Crotty, and
yourself on it, I am satisfied that I myself wiU derive much
advantage from it, in the improvement of the young men of this
diocess who wiU attend your lectures on eloquence. Pray, labour
quietly and strenuously to correct the bad taste which has long
prevaUed with many of your house in that necessary branch of
knowledge. " The defence of my letter could not faU into better hands
than yours, for, if we might compare smaU things to great, I
could say to you, as Paul to Junius, ' Consuntus es meam doctri'
nam propositum institutionem ;' and hence you could explain my
mind when it could not be ascertained otherwise. I did require as
an essential condition that the CathoUc catechism should be
taught in the school, and that the master who would teach it
should alone read the Douay Testament for the chUdren, This
concession I shaU continue to make cheerfully,
" I am glad you approve of my diocesan regulations ; some of
them were misunderstood in the county KUdare ; others proved
an inconvenience to a few — hence a feeUng of displeasm-e, which,
however, is rapidly subsiding there. The meeting you wish for
¦wiU be holden, I obtained last year from the commissioners an
exemption for our Convent in Carlow from taxes,"
And on the 28rd of March, 1820, Dr, Doyle writes : " I re
ceived your letter in due time, but could scarcely find leisure to
reply to it tUl now. Our controversy here is stiU going on, Mr,
CaldweU has engaged the assistance of one of the FeUows of
T,C.D, as an auxUiary, and between them they have written a
very riralent letter, which from the pressure of business could
not be replied to as yet; but when our pubUcation appears it
wiU insure a triumph,"
Dr, Doyle had indeed little leisure for controversy. In addi
tion to other episcopal anxieties and labours he surveyed the
numerous chapels of the diocess, and found them, with some few
exceptions, in a state of wretched and often degrading disrepafr.
As a preliminary to correcting this evU, he opened a correspon-

MR. WELLESLEY POLE. 115
dence with most of the landlords on the subject. We select one
letter from Mr. W. W. Pole, afterwards Lord Maryborough, bro
ther of the Duke of WelUngton. He is chiefly remembered in
connexion with a circular letter issued by him, when Irish Secre
tary, to evei-y sheriff and magistrate throughout Ireland, requiring
them to arrest aU persons connected, either actively or passively,
in electing CathoUc delegates. The foUovring note, dated the 7tli
AprU, 1820, records an example worthy of imitation :
" Mr. WeUesley Pole presents his compliments to the Eoman
CathoUc Bishop of KUdare, and in reply to his communication re
specting the chapel at BaUyfin, begs to observe that it stands on
Mr. WeUesley Pole's estate rent free, and that the Priest has also
a few acres of land for which he does not pay rent. It has always
been Mr. WeUesley Pole's practice to give every possible indul
gence to his Eoman CathoUc tenants, and he has never made any
distinction between them and his Protestant tenantry. Under
these circumstances he does not think it desirable to make any
change. If the chapel of BaUyfin is to be put into repafr, Mr.
WeUesley Pole has no objection to subscribing for that purpose."
Some weeks in advance of the gloomy season of Lent, which
had now set in. Dr. Doyle pubUshed a Pastoral upon its obser
vances and design : "The rirtues of penance and mortification," he
said, " which Christians are especiaUy obUged to practise in Lent,
have at aU times been necessary to reconcUe the sinner with his
offended God. ' Be converted to me,' saith the Lord to the sin
ners of Israel, ' ¦with aU your heart, in fasting, and in weeping,
and in mourning ;' and ' who knoweth,' adds the Prophet, ' but
he wiU return and forgive.' (Joel, ii. 12.)" Dr. Doyle reminded
his flock that this salutary practice is equaUy necessary to pre
serve the innocence ofthe saints, and procure for them the graces
of which they are in need. Moses fasted and prayed for forty
days, that he might deserve to be a mediator between God and
his people, and to receive the tables of the law. EUas did so,
and was favoured by the special protection of heaven. Darid and
the other prophets used to " clothe themselves in sackcloth," and
" humble thefr souls by fasting." The Baptist, who was more
than a prophet, was clothed vrith camel's hafr, wore a girdle about
his loins, and lived on locusts and vrild honey. The Son of God
himself, when he came to atone for the sins ofthe world, and "to
give us au example that we might walk in his footsteps," retfred to
a desert and fasted forty days — nay, he commenced his heavenly
mission by saying to his foUowers, "Eepent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand." {Matt. iv. 17.) " His gospel, my beloved bre
thren, is founded on penance, and his doctrine and his example

116 PENANCE AND MORTIFICATION.
enforce nothing more frequently — nothing more earnestly than
self-denial and mortification. To be his foUowers, as we profess
to be, we must, like St. Paul, ' mortify the flesh with its rices and
concupiscences' — ' we must chastise the body and bring it in sub
jection to the spirit,' for ' if we live according to the flesh we wiU
die ; but if by the spirit we mortify the deeds of the flesh, we wiU
live' — in a word, ' we must be crucified to the world, and the
world cracified to us.' {Gal. yi. 14.)"
This able and leamed exposition of the practice and origin of
penitential exercises, of which we have given a mere idea, was
attended with very beneficial effects. We have seen it stated that
persons of the diocess, not of the CathoUc Church, who had pre
riously smiled contemptuously whenever the word " Lent" was
named in their hearing, now became penetrated with a sense of its
necessity, and reverently perused Dr. Doyle's instructions upon
the subject. The table of fasts and abstinences in " The Book of
Common Prayer," which they had so long been in the habit of
passing over as an obsolete absurdity, was now carefuUy studied
and not unfi-equently observed. By producing copious Scriptural
authorities for every assertion advanced. Dr. Doyle, in this as in
many other instances, completely disarmed criticism, and struck
down prejudice from the root.
The Lenten regulations to be observed throughout the diocess
of Kildare and Leighlin in 1820 would now-a-days be regarded as
exceedingly rigid. But the Bishop made an exception in the case
of "sick or convalescent persons, those who Uve chiefly by alms,
and servants who cannot conveniently go fasting."
Dr. Doyle, to the fuUest extent, practised what he preached.
A venerable member of the Augustinian Order, who resided for
years under the same roof with him, assures us that he is confi
dent Dr. Doyle used "the discipUne" at some periods. The
use of the discipUne and hair shirt, however, is not among the
rules of the order. So far from being obUgatory, severe bodUy
chastisement is forbidden, unless the spfritual adriser of the
Priest who desfres to use it gives consent. If he seems of a deU
cate constitution permission is ¦withheld. But so riolent is the
reUgious zeal of some that they often greatly exceed the Ucense
which may have been yielded to thefr extreme piety. Our in
formant has occasionaUy known some Friars to lacerate themselves
and bleed profusely ; and when the reader learns that the lash of
the discipline is sometimes fm-nished with sharp particles of tin,
it wUl faU to surprise that effects so serious should too often occur.
The same gifted dignitary assures us, that at some convents he has
seen a sackcloth girth studded vrith sharp fragments of ¦wire.
Friars who are actively engaged upon the mission do not often

BISHOP DELANY AND HIS JOKES. 117
resort to this terrible indulgence of an ascetic zeal ; but it is per
fectly canonical and usual to impose it as a penance whenever the
constitutions of the order may have been culpably riolated. The
usual period for the performance of solitary self-chastisement is on
Friday afternoons, but especiaUy on Good Friday.
Early in 1820 the Bishop commenced the arduous duties of a
general risitation of his extensive diocess. He administered con
firmation to thousands, and held various conferences with his
clergy. It had long been the custom with Irish Bishops, when a
parish became vacant to appoint a Pastor by the mere formula of
a letter inducting them into the benefice. But Dr. Doyle, as
soon as he became Bishop, revived a practice earnestly inculcated
by the Council of Trent, which consisted in making the new
Parish Priest repeat a solemn profession of faith, together with an
oath binding himself to observe the canons of the Church and the
statutes of the diocess.
If Dr. Doyle had not an Augean stable to cleanse, he had a
well-nigh insurmountable arrear of hard work to master. Various
cfrcumstances had combined to render the rule of his predecessors
inactive. The Eight Eev. Dr. Keeffe, who died in 1787, had
passed through the close of that dreary night of persecution, when
a CathoUc Priest dare hardly raise bis head in public, or cele
brate Mass unless by stealth. The Eev. Daniel Delany, P.P. of
TuUow, succeeded him, and became a Prelate of great piety. But
his energies were almost exclusively directed to the grand scheme
of estabUshing, on a firm basis, the CathoUc College of Carlow.
He altogether neglected to hold conferences with his clergy, and
procrastinated to such an extent that years roUed over without any
attempt to administer, ¦with regularity, the sacrament of confirma
tion. Dr. Delany at length determined upon turning over a new
leaf. He sometimes pubUshed a long Ust of parishes wherein he
intended to hold risitations for the forthcoming year ; but when
the advertised time arrived it invariably found the Bishop either
confined to his room by gout, or perhaps on a visit with the
patriot Peer, Cloncurry, or the Eight Eev. Dr. Moylan of Cork.
Bishop Delany was noted for his fund of wit and anecdote, and
when a Professor, with the Eev. Alban Butler, at Douay, it was
said of him that no one else had ever succeeded in making the
solemn biographer of the saints laugh.* Dr. Moylan idolized
Dr. Delany, and the Bishop of KUdare was often for three months
on a risit with his Eight Eev. brother of Cork.
* Some of his hon mots have been preserved with a reverence to which they are
hardly entitled. The officers of the Scotch or Scots Greys, who happened to be
quartered in the neighbourhood, were once invited by tbe Bishop to raeet some of
the aged Professors from Maynooth at dinner. "Gentlemen," he said, addressing
the old Priests, " allow me to introduce the Irish Greys to the Scotch Greys."

118 RELAXED DISCIPLINE.
To Dr. Delany the diocess is indebted for the foundation of
two exceUent monastic schools in TuUow and Mountrath. Both
localities were intensely anti-Catholic, and abounded in profes
sional proselytizers. In estabUshing these seminaries Dr. Delany
has been said to have attained the key 'of the Protestant position
in the diocess. But although a most energetic promoter of secu
lar and ecclesiastical education, he was somewhat dUatory in per
forming the various arduous duties of episcopal Ufe, Passion
ately fond of the society of inteUectual and sincere friends, he
often forgot, in the fascination of their presence, to execute some
long-advertised risitation. He at last became quite infirm, and as
few Priests of that day could be found able and wilUng to grasp a
crozier, it may be supposed that the aid of a Coadjutor Bishop
was not always practicable. Even the serrices of a Vicar-General
were unknovra to the diocess during the administration of Dr.
Delany. We have afready seen "how, on the death of this prelate in
1814, the clergy, ha-ving assembled to postulate for a successor,
pronounced as dignissimus the Eev. Dr. Murphy, a clergyman of
great abiUty, but who, upon being presented with the Papal buUs,
declined to accept the responsibiUty. Old Father Michael Cor
coran, P.P. of KUdare, was accordingly selected in default of
better. Weakened by repeated attacks of illness, he could not
muster sufficient energy to be more than casuaUy useful. The
discipUne of the diocess became stUl more relaxed under the ad
ministration of this pious but inactive prelate ; and Dr. Doyle, who
resided in Carlow during the four years of its duration, saw vrith
pain the imperfections we have noticed. When we know Dr.
Doyle's rigid sense of duty, his strength of mind and courageous-
ness of resolution in accepting the government of the diocess may
be duly estimated.
One of the first parishes in which Dr. Doyle had decided upon
holding conffrmation was PortarUngton, then containing a popula
tion of 9,000 Catholics. For nearly twenty years there had been no
confirmation administered here. Upon arriving at the old chapel
on the appointed day. Dr. Doyle found a large concourse of people
assembled outside, while within its waUs there was not room for a
pin to drop.
The Parish Priest had long been blind and infirm, and did not
appear ; the curate, therefore, took his place. " Where are the
chUdren ?" said Dr. Doyle. " Good God ! can these persons
stand in need of confirmation ?" The Priest's affirmative brought
a tear into the Bishop's eye. He surveyed the surging sea of heads
around him, white as the foam of the ocean. There were few pre
sent under sixty years of age, and some had reached four-score.

THE FIRST CONFIRMATION. 119
The expression of devotion in the countenances of the poor people
severely tested our prelate's sensibUity. He knew that their ex
clusion from the Ught of the Holy Ghost had not been through
their own fault, and he stiuggled hard to suppress the emotions
which fiUed him.
" Some of these old people can hardly know thefr catechism,"
said Dr. Doyle, " and I fear I would not be justified in confirming
them." " My Lord," repUed the curate, " you must only take for
granted, on my assurance, that thefr faith is sound. I am well
acquainted with thefr religious sentiments." Dr. Doyle turned to •
an old woman, not less than eighty, and asked her if she knew the
Aposties' Creed and Salve Regina. She replied in the affirmative,
and repeated them with such accuracy and devotion, that tb©
Bishop seemed quite pleased, and forthwith prepared for a general
admiiustration of the sacrament. Eighteen hundred people were
confirmed that day. Dr. Doyle, at the close, preached a touching
exhortation, and announced that, in a few months, he would hold
a visitation at Emo, a riUage belonging to the same parish. So
great were the numbers in attendance, that no church could hold
them. At the Priest's request, Lord Portarlington threw open
Emo Park for the occasion, and, beneath a monster marquee. Dr.
Doyle administered confirmation on that day to thirteen hundi-ed
persons. From the then curate of PortarUngton we have gathered these
detaUs. The scene may be regarded as a random sample of wbat
widely took place elsewhere. Dr. Doyle's labours continued un
ceasing. He had to puU up an overwhelming accumulation of
neglected duty,' and he laboured more in a few years than half-a-
dozen prelates of ordinary zeal could accomplish in a Ufetime.
" James," he said, long afterwards, to the Eev. Mr. Delany, "you
know not what I suffered in mind. My brain was bursting with
the myriad dictates of duty which crowded into it."

CHAPTEE V.
The Spiritual Retreat — Letter to Father Peter — Sir H, Parnell  The fiist
Visitation — Letters — " Where the carcase is, there the vultures will l)e
also" — Poverty of an Irish Catholic Bishopric — An accident — Cases of
conscience — Dr, Anglade and Dr, Doyle — More reforms effected  How
to manage an agricultural P,P  Correspondence with the Vicars  His
system of Church government — Dr. Doyle and the Jesuits — Letters to
his kinsfolk — The Bishop at the shrine of St, Bridget — Extracts from
his great Pastoral for 1821.
Spiritual retreats had, since the Eeformation, fallen iato disuse
in Ireland, and although a few attempts had been made at May
nooth, fi-om 1795, to restore that invaluable piece of ecclesiastical
discipUne, yet no rigorous effort to work it out, on a comprehensive
scale, took place until Dr. Doyle, in July, 1820, appUed his shoul
der to the wheel. One thousand Priests, and nearly every prelate
in Ireland, assembled at Carlow by his inritation. He conducted
the retreat unaided, and preached three times each day for a week.
" These sermons," says the Eev. Mr. Delany, " were of an extraor
dinarily impressive character. We never heard anything to equal
them before or since. The duties of the ecclesiastical state were
never so eloquently and so effectively expounded. His frequent
appUcation and exposition of the most fritricate texts of Scripture
amazed and deUghted us : we thought he was inspired. I saw the
venerable Archbishop Troy weep like a child, and raise his hands
in thanksgiving. At the conclusion of the retreat he wept again,
and kissed his coadjutor with more than a brother's affection."
" Nearly forty years have elapsed," observes another Priest,
" but my recollection of all that Dr. Doyle said and did upon that
occasion is fresh and vivid. He labom-ed like a giant, and with
the zeal of an apostle. There he stood, like some commanding
archangel, raising and depressing the thousand hearts which hung
fondly on his words. I can never forget that tall, majestic figure
pointing the way to heaven with an arm which seemed as though
it could have vrielded thunderbolts — nor the lofty serenity of coun
tenance, so eloquent of reproach one minute and so radiant of
hope the next. It seemed as if by an act of his wUl a ton-ent
of grace miraculously descended from heaven, and, by the same
mediating agency, was dispensed around. It was a glorious spec
tacle in its aspect and results. The fruit was of no ephemeral
growth or continuance, but celestially enduring. To this day I
profit by a recoUection of that salutary retreat."
A trifling accident occurred in one of Dr. Doyle's most impas
sioned appeals, which, as it iUustrates the violent zeal which
moved him, may perhaps be recorded here. He preached from

HOW HE CONDUCTED THE RETREAT. 1'21
the altar, and in expatiating upon the crime of sacerdotal levity,
he pointed to the tabernacle with tears in his eyes and an expres
sion ofthe most poignant reproach : " The Lamb that is outraged,"
he exclaimed, " reposes meekly here ;" and forgetting that he
stood so near the tabernacle, the Bishop fliing back his arm, to
indicate the spot, with a force that crushed in the gilded door of
the sanctum.
" For the ten days that the retreat lasted," observes the Eev.
Dr. O'ConneU, " Dr. Doyle knew no rest. His soul was on fire
in the sacred cause. He was determmed to reform widely. His
falcon eye sparkled with zeal. The powers of his inteUect were
ajppUed to the good work with teUing effect. At the close of one
of his most impassioned exhortations, he knelt down on a prie
dieu immediately before me. The rigorous worldngs of his mind,
and the intense earnestness of purpose within, affected even the
outward man. Big drops of perspfration stood upon his neck, and
his rochet was almost saturated."
Dr. Doyle aUudes to this retreat in the foUowing letter to his
half-brother. Father Peter Doyle. It was chiefly written to ac
knowledge a suggestion made to erect a new church in Carlow.
The underUning of tbe words "in stone" are according to the
original, and would seem to convey a presentiment of the im
perishable writuigs which afterwards immortaUzed him :
" Carlow, 15th July, 1820.
" My dear Sir — I this moment arrived here, after an absence
of a fortnight in the county KUdare and Queen's County. I had
long settled my plan of building on the site you mention : that is
the only monument in stone I intend to leave after me. I am
now going to prepare for our two retreats ; the first begins on
Monday. Drs. Troy, Hamill, Blake — all the most respectable
clergy of Dublin, some from Meath, and aU our own Priests,
attend this week. I am left alone to instruct, but trust in God
who is the strength of the weak. When these are ended I must
go to each of our five conferences, and confirm in a few parishes,
and then, about the middle of August, wiU go to you, if I Uve, and
am able to travel. I had a letter from Sir H. Parnell ; he thinks
our general question will not come on this session, and we directed
him to present our petition only in the event of that faiUng, so
both must stand over tiU next year. He has, at my suggestion,
interfered vrith the govemment respecting the Education Society,
as mention of their bible sytem could not be made in ParUament
without prejudicing our cause: he has hopes that ouii riews will
be met. Mr. England of Cork, and KeUy, professor at Kilkenny,
are appointed to two sees in America."

122 WHAT HE FELT ON HIS FIRST VISITATION.
Although Dr. Doyle laboured in the rineyard of his diocess
with a reUgious zeal which St. Paul hai-dly surpassed, he also
discharged, like St. Paul, his duty as a poUtician. Sir H. Parnell,
afterwards Lord Congleton, who resolutely opposed the Union in
the Irish ParUament, and acqufred for himself, by this and other
serrices, a name historicaUy dear to Ireland, writes :
" Emo Park, Slst March, 1820,
" My Lord — Haring closed my election with so triumphant a
majority, I lose no time in returning your Lordship my warmest
thanks for the very powerful support you gave, by expressing, so
warmly and so decidedly, your opinions to your clergy.
"I shaU never forget the serrices which they have rendered,
by resisting with such promptness, unanimity, and effect the
outcry which was raised against me, on account of the new elec
tion law. — I have, &c.
" H. Parnell."
" We wiU not disguise from you," observed Dr. Doyle, on the
completion of his first general risitation, "that if we have found
consolation in the zeal of many of those who share vrith us the
pastoral soUcitude; if, in many places, the piety manifested by
you have filled our hearts with gratitude to heaven ; if your de
voted attachment to that faith which, once delivered to the saints,
has been preserved to us by a special Providence, fiUed us with
the liveUest hope of your future improvement in vfrtue^yet God
did not permit that our joy should be fuU. The many wants of
the numerous people whom He has confided to us, the small
number of our fellow-labourers, which the want of a competent
support does not permit us to increase ; the pubhc scandals of
which we have occasionaUy heard ; the distress of the poor which
we have witnessed ; the weight of our own ministry, and the
number and extent of the duties imposed on us, have often filled
our hearts vrith bittemess, and caused us to appear before you
with fear and trembling. Yet our confidence has not abated ; we
have no reUance on ourselves, but trusting in Him who has pro
mised to be ' with us to the end,' we hope, that for the sake of
our fathers, he wUl pour out of his spfrit upon us, and preserve
to this ancient and once Ulustrious portion of his inheritance, that
piety and fideUty which have hitherto distinguished it."
Onerously occupied as the Bishop constantly was, he contrived,
nevertheless, to find time for a full and frequent correspondence
with his old friends. Of this, much has tmfortunately perished
with the indiriduals to whom it was addressed. Among those
who had sought Mr. Doyle's spiritual guidance when Professor of
Theology, was a young and interesting girl named N  . Stimu-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH A NUN. 123
lated by the warmth of his piety, her reUgious ardour became
gradually more and more decided, and she at last entered, as a
norice, the Presentation Convent of Carlow. Here she remained
for a year, winning the love and respect of her pious associates.
At the expiration of that period. Miss N  proceeded to one of
the branch convents in Cork, and Dr. Doyle took leave of her
with a parent's regret. His letters to the young nun have been
preserved. The true Christian philosophy of the foUowing is
very characteristic of its writer. " Carlow, 30th November, 1820.
" My dear Mary — Though I have not written to you since
your departure from Carlow, I have not ceased to feel the liveUest
interest for whatever regarded your welfare, and was frequently
gratified by the pleasing accounts I receive from your sisters bere,
as also from the worthy patron of your destined residence, of the
happiness you enjoy, and of the satisfaction you afford to those
with whom you Uve ; indeed, I anticipated as much, knowing that
nature had favoured you vrith an equanimity and meekness of dis
position, which, when improved by the dirine grace, fits a per
son better than any other qualities for a conventual Ufe. These
dispositions, however, are a gift from that ' Father of lights from
whom every good gift descends,' and should be a source of un
ceasing thanksgi^ving on your part. You ought also to bear in
mind, constantly, that nature may produce in you many works
which might seem to be the fruit of grace, and therefore that your
virtue may be less perfect than it appears, whUst others, who have
to combat ¦with unruly passions, are often more pleasing in the
sight of God than in that of men ; and Ukewise, that if we have
received much either from nature or grace, much also ¦wUl be re
quired of us. Indeed I do hope most confidentiy that you will
be a faithful servant in the house of God — knowing and loving
bim in aU things; for that, as Moses has said, 'is the whole man,'
which means, that he has no other object in Ufe than to know
that the Lord is in all things, and aU things in him — that he is to
be loved in aU things, and nothing to be loved but for his sake.
It is this fideUty which supplants self, and makes not ' us to Uve,
but Christ to Uve in us,' and haring begun to Uve by this new Ufe,
we can increase in love, untU it enUvens all our thoughts, words,
and actions ; by degrees it becomes inflamed, consumes whatever
is earthly in us, and the dissolution of our frame foUows, for it has
discharged the purposes of its creation, and our spfrit goes to be
imited to ' the God of the spirits of aU flesh,' to be lost in him
who fills the world. And then there is a new heaven and a new
earth ; tbe veil is removed and we see God as he is, and in him
we see all things, for 'he containeth all things in himself;' we see

124 POVERTY NO INJURY TO A CONVENT.
no darkness, for ' God is Ught, and in him there is no darkness.'
We are always young, for we Uve in him ' who created the ages,'
and who is 'the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,' and who
' renews our youth like that of the eagle.' We are always happy,
because we possess him who is infinitely perfect, who inebriated us
¦with the fulness of His house, and makes us to drink of the tor
rent of His delights. But I find I have been almost treating you
to a sermon : so difficult it is to lay aside old habits, that haring
often spoken with you on spiritual things, they naturaUy occur
when conversing vrith you in writing. This is the only apology
I wiU offer you, except that haring nothing of a more interesting
nature to fiU my letter, I thought you would prefer a subject you
are weU acquainted with to a blank sheet.
"Your brother's health continues delicate; should he surrive
the winter and spring, 'tis probable the summer may restore him,
which I would earnestly wish, if it were the vriU of God ; for be
sides the great expectations I have formed of his future labours in
the ministry, I have long entertained for him a very particular
esteem ; but should he be removed, we have reason to hope that
he only goes before us to a better world. I would not mention
what regards him in this manner to you, if I were not assured
that you can receive all the dispositions of divine Proridence, not
only with resignation (for that is but a smaU degree of vfrtue), but
with joy, for the 'just rejoice and are delighted with joy' at the
works of God, and you, I hope, can imitate them at an humble
distance. " The sisters at the convent are weU, and remember you with
affection ; thefr union, and piety, and good works, I hope, are in
creasing ; I only fear sometimes that they are too comfortable, as
privations are the best property of a convent, and therefore I am
glad you are to be placed in a new one, which .cannot abound
except with sources of merit.
"If I knew your sisters in Cork I should salute them byname.
I beg, through you, to be recommended to their prayers. Pray re
member me very affectionately to my good friend the Eev. Mr.
O'Connor, who, I hope, for your sake, continues his attention to
you ; indeed I am confident he does, as you are united by a simi
larity of dispositions, as weU as by the profession of the same
mode of Ufe. If you see his Lordship, Dr. Murphy, present my
best respects to him in the most acceptable way you can, and pray
always, dear Mary, for him who with esteem and affection remains
your humble servant in Christ, "* J. Doyle."
Dr, Doyle aUudes in the foregoing letter to the Presentation

BEEFSTEAKS AND BISHOPRICS. 1'/!)
Convent in Carlow. Whenever the ceremonial of professmg a nun
took place at this establishment, a very hospitable breakfast was
generaUy prepared, to which the friends of the new sister, and
many students from the College adjacent, had been in the habit of
contributing to do justice. Dr. Doyle, as soon as he became
Bishop, expressed himself averse to the students partaking of any
hospitaUty prorided by the good ladies on such occasions. Anxious
to uphold conventual discipUne to the uttermost, he issued no for
mal prohibition of the custom, but made no disguise of his riews.
At the profession of a nun, shortly after his consecration. Dr.
Doyle was pacing the hall to and fro reading his Breviary, when
about a dozen students began to drop in. The savoury effluvia of
some weU-dressed beefsteaks diffused itself throughout the hall,
and a dozen Ups were smacked as the nostrils above them inhaled
the grateful odour. Dr. Doyle watched the passing throng with a
stern aspect, and at length inqufred, " Pray, how many more of
you are coming?" "Only two, my Lord," was the reply.
"Where the carcase is," continued the Bishop, in his most sar
castic tone, "there tbe vultures wUl be also." Thenceforward,
whenever the profession of a nun took place, he generaUy ad
dressed the students vrith, "Gentlemen, as soon as the ceremonies
have concluded, you wiU please retfre to ' your refectory.' "
Our young prelate soon found that the course of an Irish
CathoUc Bishop is not the road to riches. It was evidently not a
bishopric of this character for which, as Mr. Thackeray reminds us,
a clergyman paid £5,000 in ready money down. Writing to his
niece on the 23rd of October, Dr. Doyle says : " On my return
here this morning, I found your welcome letter, and hasten to
reply to it, as I set off to-morrow to the county KUdare for some
days. My Ufe is one of perpetual motion, or at least unceasing
actirity, and I expect little or no rest at this side of the grave ;
but the ¦wiU of God must be done, and whatever it requfres from
us we should yield vrith a good grace. You are singularly fortu
nate in not suffering more from the depression of the times. Will
it surprise you that I am very much affected by them, so as to be
poorer than I have been since I came to Carlow, and though I am
a strict economist, I can scarcely avoid increasing my debts. I
have but one boy and two maids ; they use or waste more than I
can afford, so, contrary to my intention, I have been obliged to
write to Mrs. DUlon to send me Uttle Mary to take care of what I
cannot attend to myself, and in order that I may be able to dis
miss one of my maids. I dare say she wUl give me a preference,
and that you wUl be deprived of her assistance ; but I know you
wUl not feel that a grievance if you think I or the little girl may be
served by it, though, as to her part, I verily believe it would be

126 CASES OF CONSCIENCE.
better for her to be under your protection than mine." Little
Mary was a relation of the Bishop's.
Dr. Doyle's " Ufe of perpetual motion" was occasionaUy
marked by some awkward trips and contre-temps. In December,
1820, as we gather from another letter to his niece, he met with
an accident which had weU-nigh been attended with fatal conse
quences : " I hasten to remove your anxiety about my arm, which
has been improving rapidly since Tuesday last. The inflammation
has entfrely left it, the sweUing has greatiy decreased, and not
more than half-an-inch of the wound is unhealed. The doctor
says I may safely say Mass on Christmas-day. I heard of poor
Father Mm-phy's death, and regretted it most sincerely, as his
worth was not unknown even here ; but it is happy for him to have
gone to receive the reward of his labours. I beUeve your nuns
there are destined to suffer in every way ; but poverty is no injury
to a convent. I was a good deal affected at the account you give
me of your late alarming iUness, and most sincerely do I thank the
Almighty God, ' who bringeth down to death, and leadeth back
therefrom,' for having restored you to your famUy and friends.
You wUl, I am confident, feel grateful for His protection; and
though life is but a burden, and the dissolution of om- bodies only
a preparation for a glorious resurrection, yet it may be useful to
you to continue longer here, as I have no doubt you wUl make
your time avaUable for the best purposes — doing the wiU of God,
opening your purse to the poor, to tbe indigent, to the widow and
the orphan. My dear Mary, don't ever suppose that I am angry
or displeased vrith you. I don't recoUect that I have ever been
so, and I know you too weU to change my opinion of you now."
Dr. Doyle had by this time acqufred the reputation of a great
casuist. Spiritual dfrectors, and even Bishops, constantly con
sulted him on cases of conscience which had been submitted to
them. The Most Eev. Dr. Leahy tells us that there are preserved,
in the archiepiscopal archives at Cashel, several opinions of Dr.
Doyle on matters of conscience. Archbishops Laphen and Slat
tery would seem to have occasionaUy sought his adrice, although
a prelate of a perfectly distinct prorince. Sir Eobert Peel once
said that it was impossible to understand canon law properly -with
out an extensive acquaintance with ciril law. Dr. Doyle was a
master of both. Writing to the Eev. Dr. Donovan, professor of
rhetoric in Maynooth, at this period, he observes : " Pray, let me
know what opinion yom- professors of moral theology teach with
regard to the obligation of bankrupts and those who compound, in
case they afterwards acqufre property ? I fear they differ from me
on those important points." Dr. Donovan's reply eUcited the fol-
lovring letter from the Bishop :

LETTER TO DR. DONOVAN. 127
" My dear Friend— I find, as I suspected, that Mr. Anglade's
opioion is opposed to mine on the subject of bankruptcy. I long
since considered all the reasons stated by you in support of his
opinion, vrith some others, but they could never induce me to come
to the conclusion he teaches. I beUeve he has mistaken the spirit
of our laws from the general tenor of them, particularly 'with re-
gai-d to 'prescription' and 'Umitation.' I infer there is no code in
Europe which is so tender of disturbing natural rights, so that
when it interferes with those rights, it does so just as far as is
necessary for the promotion of industry, but no farther ; as the
natural obUgation of giving to every man his own, even to an
equaUty, is the principle which our bankrupt laws Umit — the ne
cessity of acquitting the conscience of the bankrupt, as weU as of
securing him from an action, must be clearly ascertained before we
can be entitied to uifringe on the natural principle. The right of
the creditor is fixed and certain, resting on a law of nature, and it
rests -with the advocate of the debtor to prove that the surrender of
this right to the extent mentioned is necessary; this must be
clearly and unequivocally proved before the certain right can be
disturbed. We might apply to the case of the creditor when we
discuss the necessity of freeing the conscience of the debtor —
' Milior est conditio possidentis.' Now it may be that industry is
sufficiently protected, even in this mercantUe country, by refusing
an action to the creditor against the. bankrupt, for thus the latter
may support his famUy in their ordinary way, keep in his hands
what capital he wants, may speculate as far as is prudent, and, as
the law supposes every man to be honest, if he be so, he vrill exert
additional energy in his endeavours to indemnify those who suf
fered by his misfortunes. That this is the spirit of the banki-upt
laws we may infer by analogy from the statute of Umitations,
which refuses an action after a certain term of years, if a debt has
not been demanded within them. And here no person ever
thought the debtor was acquitted in foro in tomo. Further, our
laws permit an action to be taken against a man possessed of pro
perty who had avaUed himself more than once of the bankrupt
laws, thus showing that they would Umit the natural principle as
Uttie as possible, for where a second bankruptcy begets even a
suspicion of fraud or neglect in the subject, the laws withdraw
from him even the protection which the Umitation act affords, and
wiU not even protect his industry by refusing an action to the
prejudice of natural equity.
" Judge BaUy has declared somewhere — and though I have
searched some of my law books I could not find it — "that though
the laws in question secure the debtor from a prison, no honest
man vrill think himself discharged from the obligation of paying

128 HIS LOVE OF JUSTICE.
his debts when he comes to have it in his power.' Do we not
see this principle of equity, so accordant ¦with the good feelings of
men, induce the hefrs of tenants for Ufe to discharge the debts
contracted by thefr parents, which they certaitUy are not bound to
discharge ; and are we to limit this principle beyond what we can
prove to be necessary ? Now it is a serious matter to teach in
your house an opinion dfrectly opposed to all the canonists and aU
the divines of Europe. I have never read one upon the subject of
Mr. Anglade's opinion, and I could enumerate I don't know how
many who teach the contrary. I thought of copying for you our
doctrine as taught at Coimbra, with the reasons on which it rests ;
but as Mr. A. admits the world to be against him I thiak it
useless to quote authorities. What he thinks with regard to
compositions is just as much opposed to my opinion as the other.
I must have this matter submitted to the consideration of the
board, or if necessary transmitted to Eome. I would much
rather, however, that Mr. A. would re-consider it, and you may
recommend that to him without mentioning my intentions as
stated to you. I hope to be in Clongowes about the 16th of
AprU — might you not see me there ? I wiU be nearer to you the
foUovring week, but scarcely hope to have an hour to spend vrith
you. This legal question has taken up all my space, and more
time than I could spare. When we meet we shaU make up for
aU our omissions. Give my best compUments to Dr. Crotty, and
to each of the Professors, " * J. Doyle."
The foregoing letter affords an interesting eridence of that
passionate love for justice which blazed in the heart of Dr. Doyle,
until quenched by death. His hatred of injustice was strong to
loathing, and innumerable are the records in which both senti
ments have found vigorous and eloquent expression. " When
I consider," he writes in his fourth letter " On the State of
Lreland," " that justice, whether in a nation or in an individual,
is a fixed disposition of the vriU to give to every man his due,
even to the last farthing, to distribute impartiaUy the honours and
emoluments, as weU as the burthens of the state ; to apportion
punishment to crime, and rewards to ¦rirtuous actions, without
distinction or exception of persons — when I consider this great
principle, emanating from Him who is the fountain of all justice,
existing before the gospel, with the gospel, and to last to eternity;
when I riew it thus, and compare it with what is caUed by its
name in Ireland, a thiiU of horror pervades my blood, because we
are all hastening to Him who will judge us in justice, and weigh
all our actions in the scale ofthe sanctuary,"

DR. ANGLADE — AGRICULTURAL PARISH PRIESTS. 129
The Eev. Dr. Francis Anglade, who figures so prominently in
Dr. Doyle's letter to Dr. Donovan, was a highly distinguished
FeUow of Sorbonne, and fiUed, for many years, the chairs of
Moral Theology and PhUosophy at Maynooth. He may be said to
have been the last of the eminent men who, after the revolution
had overturned the universities of France, emigrated to Ireland,
in order to assist in preparing for the National Catholic CoUege,
then recentiy founded, a course of ecclesiastical study and dis
cipUne suited to the circumstances of the country and time. He
died, AprU, 1834, a few weeks prerious to the death of Dr. Doyle.
His death, Uke his Ufe, was full of piety, and both will be long
remembered in Maynooth. The above theological point was not
the only one in which Drs. Doyle and Anglade disagreed. The
reader wUl find, in our narrative of the events of June, 1824, a
fact iUustrative of this assertion.
We have afready enumerated some of the regulations which
Dr. Doyle introduced, on being entrusted with the ecclesiastical
government of KUdare and LeighUn. Others remain to be
noticed. He entirely prohibited every Priest from bequeathing
to friends or relatives any property which they might have ac
quired by their office. He has been known to forbid the cele
bration of a " month's memory" for a wealthy Priest who had
riolated the statutes of the diocess in this particular. His regu
lation was, that aU property realized by the altar should finaPy
go to ecclesiastical or charitable purposes.
Dr. Doyle strictly Umited the Parish Priests of his diocess to
fourteen acres of land. Several of them had preriously farmed
ten times that amount of ground. A clergyman, who shall be
nameless, had long taken his place among the agriculturists of
the County  . As a man of integrity and rectitude he was
blameless. He contrived to discharge some amount of duty ; but
he gave a considerable portion of his time to ¦secular pursuits.
Dr. Doyle waited upon the Pastor, and unequivocaUy apprised
him of his determination. " You must give up the farm," he
said. " My lord," repUed the Priest, " when this occupation
does not interfere, to any serious extent, with my duties, surely
it is innocent." "It is impossible," repUed the Bishop, "that
you can both serve the altar and drive the plough. Was it for
this you received the imposition of hands ? Both priest and
farmer you cannot be. You cannot serve both God and mammon.
Choose between them. I give you a week to consider. Vos Pres-
byteri in populo Dei et ex vobis pendet anima illorum,"
The Bishop was punctuaUy with the Priest at the end of seven
days. The latter had an imperfect knowledge of Dr. Doyle's
decision of character. He did not think that his lordship had
9

130 ANECDOTES " GRAVE AND GAY."
been quite serious, and gave the matter very Uttie thought during
the interim. Dr. Doyle, accompanied by a young clergymaij, en
tered the incumbent's parlour : " WeU, Sfr," he began, "what is
your determination ? Lest you may have decided adversely to my
riews, I have brought a zealous person vrith me, whom I shall ap
point to discharge the duties for which you were ordained !" The
Parish Priest could hardly believe his senses ; but perceiving that
a crisis was at hand, and that no time should be lost, renounced
from that moment all connexion with the farm. He subsequentiy
became one ofthe most zealous and efficient Priests in the diocess.
The Eev. Daniel  was another Priest who had evinced a
passion for agricultural pursuits. Though not, by any means, a
bad sort of man, he was much more a pastor of sheep than of
souls. His brother acted as his coadjutor in the parish. When
requested by Dr. Doyle to abandon the farm. Father Dan is said
to have repUed, pointing to his Curate, " Sure if I look after the
temporals, the spirituals are fuUy attended to by Father Tom !"
The admonition which Dr. Doyle addressed to him was most
impressive. He reminded him that it hath pleased the mysterious
proridence of God to leave the eternal destinies of men dependent,
in a great measure, on the exertions of their fellow-men ; that the
Almighty selected men to be, under Him, the guardians and
sariours of then- kind, so that St. Paul fears not to style them the
a^istants and coadjutors of God ! " What a glorious dignity !" he
added. " It elevates the Pastor to the highest office which man
or angel can fiU, for it associates him in the same great object
which brought the Messiah from his throne to the gibbet of the
cross ; it makes him the co-partner with God in the most exalted
of aU his dirine works — the salvation of man. ' The Ups of the
Priest,' says Malachy, ' shaU keep knowledge, and they shaU seek
the law at his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of
hosts !' What does St. Chrysostom say ? — ' When Christ comes
to judge the liring and the dead, the Pastor must give an account,
as it were by name, for every indiridual confided to his care.'
Oh ! what a tremendous responsibUity, and how utterly uncon
scious you seem of its solemnity and weight."
Dr, Doyle was asked by the Parliamentary Committee who
examined him, in 1825, how many parishes were in his diocess,
and how the appointment to each was arranged ? To the first
query he repUed, " Forty -two," and to the last — " When a parish
becomes vacant, if it be a place where we wish a man of expe
rience, and information, and pious habits of hfe to reside, and that
we have not a person of this description amongst the curates, we
take him from some other parish where he has shovm himself to
be possessed of those qualities, and we appoint him to the vacant

A REFRACTORY PASTOR. 131
liring ;, but if it be a parish where a person not speciaUy gifted is
suitable, we take from amongst the curates some man who has
laboured for several years, and whose morals have been good, and
who has a capacity for giring instruction in public, and place him
there. But if a curate should at any time have been immoral, or
not be capable of preaching, we leave him in the rank of curate all
his Ufetime." Q. "You mentioned that, in fiUing up vacancies in
parishes, the bishops selected those of their diocess whom they
thought the most deserving ; do you mean to say they never go
out of the diocess to select ?" A. " They have a power of doing
so, but I have not known any case wherein they have exercised that
power ; I should not consider myself at Uberty to go out of the
diocess where I Uve, because the clergymen officiating -within the
diocess consider, and I also consider, that they have a right to
such Urings as may happen to become vacant ; so that to bring in
a stranger, and exclude them, would in my mind be unjust."
Dr. Doyle was asked the rather siUy question, whether any
efforts had been made by him to convey moral and reUgious in
straction to his Eoman CathoUc brethren. " I have not ceased,"
he replied, " during the few years I have been Bishop, to promote
education of every kind, but particularly of a religious kind ; for
this purpose I have fi-equently required of the clergy to seek to
raise contributions amongst the people, for the purpose of building
schools and assisting to pay schoolmasters, where the peasantry
were not able to pay them for educating their chUdren. I have
sometimes, upon the death of a Parish Priest, kept the parish
vacant for some time, and have taken into my own hands what of
the dues could be spared after supporting the assistant-Priest, and
appUed those sums for the buUding of schools."
Dr. Doyle found the large ecclesiastical flock of his diocess,
¦with one or two exceptions, meek and docUe. One clergyman
gave him great trouble, however. He petulantly disregarded all
discipUne, and acted exactly as the caprice of the moment moved
him. He was old enough, he said, to be the Bishop's father, and
could not understand the high tone of dictation which he assumed.
In vain Dr, Doyle reminded him of the exhortation of the martyr
Ignatius, as far back as the second age of the Church : " It is
incumbent on you not to conduct yourselves towards your Bishop
with lerity or arrogance on account of his youthfulness." The
Bishop was at length constrained to consult his ricars, how best
to grapple with this wayward spirit. The Very Eev. John Dunne
suggested, that to eUcit from him a ¦written apologetic explanation
might soften the harsh aspect of matters. The Priest's reply
would seem to have been characteristically flippant, as may be in
ferred from the foUowing letter.

132 DR. DOYLE TO HIS VICAR. "Carlow, 22nd March, 1821.
" My DEAR Sir — Poor Mr.  's defence is what I appre
hended it would be — very defective. His faults, in this instance,
are the effects of his temper more than of the malice of his heart,
but his conduct is not the less, on that account, an outrage on
the gospel. I am at a loss how to manage him ; he is unfitted
by nature for any office which has charge of souls. I have con
sulted two of our ricars here on his case ; I expect to be in
Dublin on Sunday next, and wiU talk to Drs. Troy and Murray
about it on Monday, and when I have the benefit of thefr adrice,
I would be glad, if it were not too inconvenient for you, to see
you at James'-street Chapel-house on Tuesday, at twelve o'clock,
that we may devise what ought to be said or done on the subject.
A decision on a matter of this sort is of much importance ; to see
and know these things, and not to punish them, would make me
an accompUce in the evil ; to punish them as they deserve,
weakens essentigdly the pastoral authority throughout the entfre
diocess, and gives a pretext to the e^ril-minded to malign the
Priests and insult reUgion. May God forgive those who bring
such e'vU upon His Church !
" I see from the tenor of your remarks upon the poor singing-
master's business, that you are uneasy lest I would be too credu
lous, and hence be too often imposed on by knaves. Probably
you are very right, but I -wish I could furnish you with a Ust of all
I disbeUeve, of aU the communications I commit to the flames
without any notice, of aU the prevarications I eUcit, and you would
begin to think that every knave does not succeed vrith me. But
indeed, my dear friend, whUst conscious rectitude compels you to
feel indignation at the misrepresentation of an unworthy indiridual,.
you may be assured that such indiriduals are a sort of necessary
e-vU, to bring to Ught real and substantial wrongs which would
otherwise be buried in sUence, and which are often redressed, to
the great advantage of the Pastor and the flock ; for a Priest has
no greater enemy to his temporal and spiritual good than a Bishop
who suffers him to proceed in doing -wrong ; and as far as you and
I are concerned, pray do not doubt the sincerity vrith which I
have often expressed my entfre confidence in your prudence, and
piety, and justice."
Dr. Doyle went to Dublui at this period, on very particular
business, as the reader -wUl presently see. Besides preaching at
St. James' and other churches, he had to take a leading part in
the deUberations of the Prelates and Clergy, on the subject of a
CathoUc Eelief BiU then before ParUament. On 30th March,
1821, Dr. Doyle writes to the Vicar : " Circumstanced as we are
at present, I must defer doing anything in Mr.  's busmess,

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE JESUITS. 133
until we meet at the distribution of Holy OUs. Should you see
him, you may inform him of what I think on the subject, and
perhaps an alteration might occur to him or you, which would
spare him and me the pain which even a temporary suspension
from his office would give to us both."
The Jesuits of Clongowes Wood College were surprised at
this period to receive a letter from Dr. Doyle, forbidding them,
under pain of incurring his displeasure, to hear the confessions
of any person who did not come prorided with a letter of permis
sion from the pastor of his own parish. Every flock contains
«6me black sheep which require skUfiU management on the
pastor's part ; and Dr. Doyle probably thought, that if absolution
were withheld from certain indiriduals by the Priest of thefr own
parish, until a marked reformation of Ufe should be observable,
they might, by hypocritical Up-promises, but -without any sub
stantial amendment, induce the Jesuits to regard and pronounce
them in a state of grace — a proceeding possibly tending to lessen
the just authority of thefr own pastors over them. The Jesuits,
moreover, had obtained the reputation of being very lenient spiri
tual directors, Dr, Doyle, owing to ha-ving received theological
instraction mainly from continental professors, had adopted some
strong opinions in favour of what is technicaUy caUed "rigorism."
The GalUcan Church, although claiming pecuUar ecclesiastical
Uberties, was notorious for its rigid sense of discipline. Indeed
to such an extent was it carried, that one of the French univer
sities taught, at no remote period, that the sacraments should be
refused to every person who did not hear High Mass and a sermon
on every Sunday and hohday.
The Eev. Dr. Kenny and his brethren at Clongowes expressed
themselves much piqued at the receipt of Dr. Doyle's mandate.
Dr. Kenny was one of the astutest theologians of his day. " His
rectUinear forehead is strongly indented," wrote SheU, " satire
sits upon his thin Ups, and a Urid hue is spread over a quadran
gular face, the sunken cheeks of which exhibit the united effects of
monastic abstinence and profound meditation." " I should like
to know," said Dr. Kenny, "to what canon Dr. Doyle can refer
me, in justification of this capricious mandate." " My Lord,"
wrote Dr. Kenny, "I wUl accept no such conditions. I have not
hitherto heard many penitents — I shaU hear fewer for the time to
come." The Order of Jesuits had more than once tasted the
bitters of ecclesiastical as weU as ciril despotism, and they ima
gined that the present act was an attempt to revive the former in
a mUder form. It is not to be denied that the secular clergy
had regarded their arrival and settlement in the diocess vrith an
eye of jealousy, and the Bishop may have imbibed, unconsciously,
the atmosphere of prejudice by which he was surrounded.

134 THE BISHOP AT ST. BRIDGET'S SHRINE.
The Eev. Dr. Esmonde, S.J., undertook to remonstrate vrith
Dr. Doyle on the subject. " Few know him better than I do,"
said Dr. Esmonde. " Though generaUy beUeved to be headsfrong,
the fact is that when proper evidence is adduced no one modifies
his opinion -with more candom- or humUity." He retired to his
room, and addressed the Bishop by letter. " I beg leave, in the
first place," he wrote, "in compUance with the instructions of
our Superior, Dr. Kenny, to resign into your Lordship's hands the
faculties by which the Jesuits at Clongowes have officiated as
Priests, since the year 1819." Dr. Esmonde enumerated some
reasons in support of the behef that Dr. Doyle's order was un-
canonical, and concluded with a passage from Benedict XIV.,
which pronounced as non-obUgatory a prohibition of this character.
"And now, my Lord," proceeded the Jesuit, " I hope that you vriU
not quote the NeapoUtan Church historian to me. I am aware he
was much read in Portugal when your Lordship was prosecuting
your studies there ; but his authority has now deservedly sunk.
Do not let your reason be influenced by the brother-in-law of the
Portuguese minister Pombal, who aimed the first blow at the
Society of Jesus. There is, at all events, one thing certain,"
added Dr. Esmonde. "In case my arguments may have induced
your Lordship to modify your views, no one need fear that you
wiU feel that pain which is sure to pierce Uttle minds when avow
ing an altered opinion." The Bishop repUed in a few days.
" My dear Eev. Friend — Since I received your letter I have read
it more than once, and the result has been a conriction that you
are in the right. I have written to Dr. Kenny on the subject, but
lest there should be any misapprehension, I hereby annul my late
order." This reply was worthy of Dr. Doyle. He used to say
that Fenelon never appeared so gi-eat as when retracting his un
founded opinions in the Cathedral of Cambray.
When on one of his risitations, about this time. Dr. Doyle
risited the Protestant Cathedral of KUdare, vrithin which is en
closed an altar or shrine appertaining to St. Bridget. He flung
himself on his knees before it, and poured forth a volume of
prayer. A Priest who accompanied him was a little surprised
to see his Bishop praying in a Protestant church, and as soon as
he had risen said, " WeU, my Lord, are you much the better of
that ?" Dr. Doyle's reply has not been preserved, but we find in
the foUowing letter to his niece some allusion to the cfrcumstance :
" Carlow, 5th February, 1821.
Since I wrote to you last I have been in KUdare to celebrate
the festival of our holy Patroness St. Bridget, the monuments of
whose eminent sanctity are still preserved there, not only in the

TROUBLESOME KINSWOMEN. 135
ruins of her ancient monastery, but in the traditions and hearts of
the faithful. I felt myself inspfred with more than usual devotion
at risiting her shrine, imploring her protection, and recommending
myself, the clergy, and people to her intercession -with God.
There is no comfort Uke that which reUgion affords, at least to
those who have laboured to separate themselves from the world. I
wish that you who are engaged with it may always ' use it as if you
used it not,' knowing ' that the figure of this world passeth away.'
Many thanks for the servant, who, being elderly, very reUgious,
and a total stranger to Carlow, is Ukely to answer me very weU.
She can get through aU the business of my house unaided, and
can easUy do so untU my fortune increases, and the caUs on
it diminish, which vriU probably be a very distant period. But I
have no great inclination for expense, and stUl less for hoarding-
money." A kinswoman of the Bishop's — no very great favourite
with him — is next aUuded to : "So the wrath of our friend has
evaporated ! I should not Uke to have encountered her as you
did — not that I heed her siUy conduct, but I am distressed at wit
nessing ebuUitions of rage and foUy, and afflicted when I see a
stubborn and ignorant pride break down aU the bounds of decorum,
sense, and charity. I have labom-ed unceasingly to correct that
woman, chiefly for her soul's sake, but I was never able even to
stem the torrent of her passion. Such people never see more than
one side of a question, and make no aUowance for those with
whom they happen to disagree." He had another kinswoman,
now descending in the vale of years, whose disposition may be
gathered from the foUo-wing pregnant passages : " She possesses
many very exceUent quaUties. I hope that whatever time the
Almighty may allow her to remain on earth wiU be weU employed.
Her Ufe has been fiUed -with strife and contention, and she ought
often to 'go over her years in the bitterness of her soul.' TeU her
to read frequentiy the table of sins, and then reflect on her past life,
and with God's grace she will discover many things in it to excite
her fears and sorrow, and although she may hope to have obtained
pardon afready, she should pray to God ' to wash her stUl more
fi-om her iniquities, and to cleanse her from her sins.' My prayers
are unceasingly employed for you aU,. as yours, I hope, are for me.
Our affection for one another would be worse than useless if it were
not enlivened by the charity of God. His hand should unite us
here, and be the centre of our union hereafter, if by our o-wn
maUce we are not doomed to an eternal separation from him."
Shortly prerious to the Lent of 1821, Dr. Doyle saluted
vrith " health and benediction" the laity of his diocesses. He
observed that a few months only had elapsed since he completed
his first general risitation, and being unable to enjoy any rest

136 • HIS PASTORAL FOR 1821.
from the sleepless soUcitude he felt for their eternal interests, he
employed a portion of the time that he was absent from them in
preparing such instructions as a more intimate knowledge of their
situation, wants, and dispositions than he heretofore possessed
ena,bled him to make. In urging his flock to repentance, he ex
plained that this sorrow should not consist in outward show ; it
must penetrate the heart — for, as tbat is the seat of passion,
" whence eril thoughts, adulteries, and murders proceed," so it
should be the seat of that repentance by which alone these crimes
can be effaced. It is not, however, in the power of the sinner to
repent as he ought, unless induced to do so by the grace of God ;
but as the Lord is rich in mercy, he generaUy bestows, even upon
his enemies, those graces by which they are enabled to caU on
him in the language of the Prophet, "Convert us to thee, 0
Lord, and we wUl be converted." The Bishop then went on to
say that great should be their gratitude to that Father of mercy
who had selected them before the foundation of the world to be
holy and without stain in his sight ; that he so loved them as to
give up for thefr redemption his only Son, who not only washed
us from our sins in his own blood, but when we had crucified him
again to ourselves — by making our bodies, which are his members,
the slaves of vricked passions — prepared for us the venerable sacra
ment of reconciUation, wherein he cleanses us anew from our iniqui
ties. A most elaborate exposition of this sacrament foUowed. If he
inculcated its advantages and recommended constant recourse to
it, he also pointed out the danger to which some persons expose
themselves, who, abusing the Dirine goodness, pervert the remedy
intended for thefr cure. Such persons, like Esau, may seek with
tears for the blessing of their Father, and wUl not receive it ; or,
Uke Antiochus, may cry in vain for mercy — " They wUl call to
me, saith the Lord, and I vriU not hear, and I vrill laugh at thefr
destruction." But if Dr. Doyle found it his duty to fulminate
terrors one minute, the natural tenderness of his heart immedi
ately led him to reUeve the effect, the next, by holding out hope
to the penitent sinner. " Hasten to return to your God ; he is a
patient Master who does not reject the contrition of his servant —
an indulgent Father, ' who receives with gladness the chUd who
had been lost and retums, wbo had been dead and is brought to
Ufe ;' only cast yourselves at the feet of his minister, confess to
him your sins vrith a troubled heart and a firm purpose of amend
ment, and whilst he absolves you here on earth, the record of
your guilt wUl be blotted out in heaven. This sacrament is
another tree of hfe planted in the land of bamshment ; its root is
bitter, but its fruit is sweet. If it be said of some sins that they
wiU not be forgiven, it is not on account of their enormity, as no

BISHOP KINSELLA's ADVICE. 137
-maUce of man can equal the mercy and power of God, but because,
as St. Augustine observes, they exclude by their nature that hu
mUity which induces the sinner to sue for pardon. We would
not, however, attain the object which we have proposed to our
selves," the Bishop went on, " by treating thus generaUy of this
sacrament, if we did not also descend to a particular exposition of
the different parts of which it is composed." But for this we
must refer the reader to the Pastoral itself. In the course of the
exposition Dr. Doyle said that our sorrow for sin should be gi-eat
in proportion to our guUt — -" greater indeed than sorrow of any
other kind." It may be said that he expressed himself too
stiongly in this passage. Man is naturaUy prone to evU, and
an unconsciously formed apathy, most difficult to shake off tho
roughly, too often conceals fr-om his heart the enormity of sin,
and the outrage it constitutes in the sight of God. To reflect on
his tiansgressions when approaching the sacrament of penance,
and feel but one pang of regret for haring committed them, vrith
a firm purpose of amendment, and a resolution to satisfy his in
jured neighbour, and faithfuUy to perform the penance imj)osed,
is, according to most theologians, sufficient to secure the conso
lations of this sacrament. A genuine gush of contrition is
aUowed to be of rare occurrence. That deadness to the enormity
of sin which often clouds human perception generaUy proves a
source of greater affliction to the penitent than most other consi
derations. Conscious of the existence of this wretched apathy,
yet unable to shake it off, a person, in extreme trouble, once
sought the counsel of Dr. KinseUa, whose name wUl be found of
frequent occurrence in this memofr: " I have spent two days,"
he said, " vainly trying to arouse in my breast the tumult of
heartfelt contrition." Dr. KinseUa surveyed the care-worn peni
tent. "You are truly sorry," he said "that you are not sorry."
"Heaven knows that I am," was the reply. "WeU, the feeUng
you allude to goes a considerable way in satisfying God. He who
is cold ought not on that account to keep fi-om the fire." The
man went away comforted, and ever after an easy flow of contri
tion soothed and sanctified his confessions.
" This sensible sorrow," Dr. Doyle went on, " which is so
much to be desfred, may weU be excited by looking at aU our
offences together ; but though this general riew is salutary, it is
just and almost necessary that we should reflect on each of them
separately, consider with fear and trembUng thefr special malice,
and detest them with that holy hatred which the Holy Ghost in
spires. Thus we wUl imitate Darid in thinking over aU his years
hi the bitterness of his soul, and insure to ourselves that pardon
which is promised to the impious man who does penance for all

138 GOOD EFFECTS OP DR. DOYLE's EXHORTATIONS.
his iniquities. {Ez. xriii. 28.)" Dr. Doyle dwelt on the danger
of continuing attached to some favourite vice, though every other
should be abandoned ; he pronounced confession to be the very
citadel of Christianity, which its enemies have never ceased to
assail ; he urged children to frequent it from an early age, when
the admonitions of the Priest would be calculated to make a deep
impression on their tender minds ; and bemoaned the bUndness of
those who undergo the rigours of penance vrithout tasting of its
fruits — convert, by their own weakness or maUce, the bread of Ufe
into a stone — and receive, in place of pardon, the sentepce of thefr
condemnation. Dr. Doyle's able exposition of this sacrament, which fiUed thirty
closely printed pages, accompUshed the most beneficial effects.
Many of the peasantry, although, as a body, generaUy impressed
vrith strong devotional feeUngs, had too long been in the habit of
going to confession at Christmas and Easter, in accordance with
estabUshed custom, and who considered that, in merely enumerat
ing thefr sins, they fulfiUed the obUgation. Dr. Doyle's luminous
and voluminous exposition threw a bright and a broad Ught on the
subject. Couched in simple but forcible language, it riveted the
attention of the thousands who heard it read from the altar or the
pulpit. Many of them stood, for the first time in thefr Uves,
deeply impressed with the awful solemnity of the sacrament of
reconcUiation ; they trembled lest they should have profaned it on
prerious occasions, and mentaUy vowed that, then and there, they
would begin to approach it vrith the dispositions which thefr
Bishop had so impressively laid down.
The next point to which the Bishop directed thefr attention
was the obUgation they were under of receiving the holy com
munion ; but he treated this great subject so austerely and compre
hensively,, that we feel the difficulty and deUcacy of attempting to
epitomize his brUUant exposition.
The Bishop, in conclusion, deemed it adrisable to admonish
his flock regarding iUegal associations which had sprung up in the
diocess. " The progress of this baneful system has been weak
and slow ; but as the spfrit of -wickedness is persevering, so also
should our efforts be to counteract it ; and as it stUl presses on the
borders of these diocesses, we -wiU expose to you anew its defor
mity and danger, and repeat our most earnest exhortations that
you may continue to repel it with the horror it deserves." He
zealously inculcated obedience to the laws, and left no argument
unemployed which could have the sUghtest effect in arresting the
Eibbon confederacy. Dr. Doyle had known several instances of
generosity among landed proprietors and employers, but a more
enlarged experience convinced him, afterwards, that such instances

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 139
were unhappily rare, 'in reperusmg this Pastoral several years
after. Dr. Doyle passed his pen in condemnation through the fol-
lowmg paragraph: "Where is the landlord amongst you who is an
oppressor? Where is the employer who is not humane ? When
have you been sick, and they have not reUeved you ? When have
you been naked, and they have not covered you ? When have
you been hungry, and they have not fed you ? When have you
been houseless, and they have not sheUered you ? And if you
could point out exceptions, are they not rare as the stars that fall
from heavQp ?" This memorable Pastoral, includuig an appendix,
occupied sixty-eight closely printed pages.

CHAPTEE VI.
Gradual relaxation of the Penal Code, and the influences which led to it —
Suppression of the Catholic Committee and the Catholic Board — Des
pondent apathy of the Catholic body — Death of Grattan — Plunket's
Relief Bill of 1821— Interesting correspondence between Dr, Doyle and
Sir H. Parnell— The Resolutions of the Catholic Diocesses of Dublin,
Limerick, Clonfert, Waterford, and Ossory— Conflicting views— R. L,
Sheil— Hostility of Dr, Milner — Uneasy mitres — Correspondence with
Lords Donoughmore and Holland — Sydney Smith — Lords Grenville and
Eldon— The Duke of York — The Protestant Prelates reject the Catholic
Bill from the Lords  Dr, Bathurst an exception — The Catholic Primate
Curtis appointed to his See through the influence of the British Crown —
His letter to Lord Castlereagh,
On the 3rd of October, 1691, the memorable Treaty of Limerick
was signed. By that instrament the "faith and honour" of the
EngUsh crown were pledged, that the properties and Uberties of
the CathoUc people should receive equal legal protection as those
of Protestant subjects. The deUberate riolation of this treaty by
Act of ParUament is weU known. To a few of the penal laws we
have afready referred. The tardy progress of their relaxation and
the influences which led to it shall now claim our attention.
From 1759, when Messrs. O'Conor, Curry, and Wyse craved,
for the first time, in the name of thefr oppressed CathoUc country
men, a boon of reUef, however small, we find no more encouraging
response returned than a haughty refusal or the sUence of con
tempt. In 1775, America demanded justice from England, but
the appUcation was decUned. A hundred thousand swords started
from^ thefr scabbards at the refusal. Lord CornwaUis, alarmed,
withdrew; and having successively taken up position at Eoxburgh,
Winter HiU, and Boston, was at last dislodged by a spirited bom
bardment, and compeUed to seek safety on the waves of the
Atlantic. It was now too late to eonciUate. The last remnant of

140 RELAXATION OF THE PENAL CODE IN 1778 AND 1782.
the British arms, after a gallant resistance, surrendered to Wash
ington on the banks of the Chesapeake.
Fatal experience preached a lesson to Great Britain. She
would seem to have seen, at last, the wise poUcy of concUiation.
Many high Protestant famUies, fi-om a long indulgence in extrava
gance, had tumbled, with their prestige, to the ground. Incum
bered estates sapped the strength of the land, and a pauper aristo
cracy daUy multiplied ; while, on the other hand, CathoUcs of high
descent, driven by the Penal Laws to embark in business, amassed
large fortunes, and as their importance grew in proportion to their
opulence. Popish petitions were now, for the first time, Ustened to
with respect. The Penal Code was so far relaxed in 1778, that
Cathohcs became entitled to exercise almost the same power and
control over thefr property as Protestants. They might now take
leases for 999 years, and enjoy estates left or transferred to them
by wiU or otherwise ; but " the law was not to extend to Protest
ants becoming Papists, or educating thefr chUdren in the Popish
rehgion." The CathoUcs gratefuUy thanked the legislature for
this act of grace, and petitioned for a further instalment of the
debt of "justice to Ireland." " In 1782," said O'ConneU, " Eng
land stood alone in a contest with the greatest power in the
world — the combined fieets of her enemies rode triumphant and
unopposed in the British Channel. Accordingly the Penal Code
was once again relaxed — concUiated Ireland poured 20,000 sea
men and active landsmen into the British navy, enabled Eodney
to pursue the French fleet to the West Indies, crushed the naval
power of the enemy, and saved not only the colonies, but also the
honour of the British crown." " Ireland is in strength," ex
claimed Grattan on the 22nd of February, 1782. " She has
acqufred that strength by the weakness of Britain, for Ireland was
saved when America was lost. When England conquered, Ireland
was coerced ; when she was defeated, Ireland was reUeved !"
CathoUcs might now open schools and educate thefr youth, and
freehold property for Uves became accessible to them. Ten years
foUowed of great and increasing prosperity to Ireland, " but they
were years of prosperity and power ia England," remarked O'Con
neU, " and there was no occasion to concUiate or court the Catho
Ucs of Ireland. Accordingly, no further advance was made in
thefr emancipation." John Keogh, the old CathoUc leader, in his
account of the delegation of 1793, writes ; " In 1791, twelve
CathoUc citizens obtained an audience of the secretary to the vice
regal govemment, and presented to him a Ust of a part, and but a
part, of the Penal Laws, entreating the interest and protection of
government while they sought a removal of any one, though it
should be the very smaUest of our grievances. The secretary dis-

ENERGETIC BIGOTS — APATHETIC CATHOLICS. 141
missed them without an answer. EepeUed in this quarter, we
prepared a brief but most humble petition to the legislature ; but
four milUons of subjects could not get one member of parUament
to present thefr petition to the House."
The language used by those who rejected the Catholic petition
in 1793 is not unworthy of notice : " Sfr James Cotter conceived
a strong objection to that expression in the petition which appealed
to the justice of ParUament. It was thus impUed that some of
thefr rights were withheld." Sfr Boyle Eoche let loose a torrent
of Billingsgate. He pronounced those who had signed the petition
to be " the rabble of the tovm, who came forward in a barefaced,
impudent manner to dictate to ParUament, and that it ought to be
rejected with indignation." Mr. Ogle said : " I never in my Ufe
was so much deUghted as at the present moment. I glory in the
principles which gentiemen have spoken. This vrill be a glorious
night for the Protestants of Ireland." Mr. Brovme, T.C.D., de
clared that he never had seen a Eoman Catholic untU he was
sixteen years old, and that he then looked upon him as a pheno
menon. Sfr John de Blaquiere opposed the petition, declaring he
would " not cherish hopes which he hoped never would be rea
Uzed," but mentioned incidentaUy, as a curious fact, tbat in the
parish where he himself resided there were 15,000 Eoman Catho
lics, and himself the only Protestant ! It is curious to find the
subsequentiy Uberal Sfr Jonah Barrington saying that the Eoman
CathoUcs must never dare to expect such a concession as emanci
pation. The higher order of CathoUcs sensitively shrank fi-om par
ticipating in any appeal for redress, lest the very clanking of
then- chains should arouse those who had forged them to renewed
vigUance and actirity. Accustomed to capricious persecution,
they trembled lest the recent relaxation of the Penal Code should
be suddenly repealed, plunging them stUl deeper uito the dark sea
of oppression. The CathoUc clergy not only held aloof, but de
precated any attempt to disturb the general apathy. It seemed
but yesterday since the terrors of the gibbet had risen before
them, and grimly forbade any exercise of thefr ministry. Long
accustomed to celebrate and dispense the sacred mysteries by
stealth, they submitted without a murmur to the scourge of the
oppressor. Humbled and uiert they bowed before him, and
sUentiy thanked heaven that his lashes feU fewer than erst they
had done. Conscious that the brand of outlawry stiU marked
thefr brow, and feeUng as though their very existence was now,
through some stretch of forbearance, connived at, they rarely
showed themselves even in the pubUc street. A painfully inte
restuig instance of this fact has been cited by the Eight Hon.

142 BLOWS AND BOONS.
Thomas Wyse. " The pastor of one of the largest parishes in
one of the principal towns in Ireland, had never been seen in the
pubUc promenade. For forty years he had Uved in the utmost
seclusion from Protestant eyes, shielding himself from persecution
under his sUence and obscurity. After the concessions of 1793,
a friend induced him, for the first time, to risit the rest of the
tovm. He appeared amongst his feUow-citizens as an intruder,
and shrunk back to his retreat the moment he was aUowed.
Seldom did he appear on the walk afterwards, and it was always
with the averted eyes and faltering step of a slave."
In 1792, John Keogh, Wolfe Tone, Thomas BraughaU, and
other zealous leaders of the CathoUc cause, had so organised the
popular masses, that a petition appeared, sigiled by three mUUons
of names, praying for some share of the elective franchise, and
that the legal professions might be opened to CathoUcs. It was
not until after considerable delay and difficulty that one member
could be induced to move that this petition might be laid upon the
table. The opponents of ciril and reUgious Uberty were promptiy
on thefr feet. Mr. Latouche declared that the memorial should
be spurned from the House ; and other honourable members
having intemperately co-operated in expressing this sentiment,
the northem Presbyterians earnestly remonstrated against con
duct so narrow-minded and exasperating. It was this protest
that Sfr Boyle Eoche caUed upon the House "to toss over the
bar and kick into the lobby." Two hundred and three votes
defeated the Irish CathoUc petition of 4792. The British crown
was then at peace, but ere the year had closed matters assumed a
different aspect. The power and prestige of the young French
Eepublic spread rapidly through Europe. The Presbyterians of
the north, and ardent Cathohcs Uke Macnerin, became fiUed vrith
the revolutionary spfrit of the time. The heavy ordnance at
Gemappe, as it mowed down the Austrians, was heard at St.
James's. The CathoUc leaders, warmed into actirity, organised a
system of delegation. Writs were issued to the electoral body.
Every county and town of Ireland sent forth its member retumed
by the popular voice ; and in December, 1792, a convention, re
presenting the entfre Catholic population, commenced its sittings,
with aU the forms of a legislative assembly. Hostilities were now
declared by France against England. Once more the poUcy of
conciUating CathoUc Ireland appears to have been appreciated ;
and early in 1793 that legislature, which had a few months pre
riously expeUed the CathoUc petition with indignation, now intro
duced and carried two biUs, opening to CathoUcs the grand-jury
box, the outer bar, the magisterial bench, the mUitary mess-room,
and the poUing-booth.

RECALL OF LORD FITZWILLIAM. 143
The poUcy of the minister was now to detach CathoUc wealth
and inteUigence from the revolutionary pai-ty ; and his scheme
succeeded. The CathoUc aristocracy and influential mercantUe
classes united with the more moderate party ; and that which
would otherwise have been a revolution, became eventuaUy a
bloody chaos. ConciUation continued to be the policy for some
time. In 1793, a deputation from the Catholic body was tvrice
closeted with the mimster, and graciously received. ' But the
Duke of York's successes in HoUand, in 1793, and the memorable
naval rictories obtained by England over her GaUic enemy the
year foUovring, did not favour the continuance of this amicable
demeanour. Among other hostUe moves, the CathoUc Convention
was suppressed. In 1794, a strong seditious spirit sprung up.
The Duke of Portland and his Whig friends, during the July of
that year, entered into a coaUtion with Mr. Pitt, on condition that
the entfre management of Ireland should be committed to his
Grace ; and great was the bound of CathoUc joy when the British
Cabinet announced its determination of at once bringing forward
the question of Emancipation.
Ll January, 1795, the benevolent riceroy. Lord FitzwiUiam,
amidst the hearty plaudits of the people, laid do-wn the basis of a
vride and Uberal administrative poUcy. Mr. Grattan had just
brought forward the EeUef BUl, when, in a moment of ministerial
caprice, the good riceroy was recaUed. Mr. Pitt raised his arm,
and with one stroke dashed the cup from five mUUons of expectant
Ups. Lord FitzwUUam besought the govemment to pause in its
course, and cautioned them, vrith warmth, against igniting a flame
which might spread into a general conflagration. His remon
strances went for nought ; England possessed ample resources at
this period ; the ministerial poUcy was now to goad Ireland into
revolt, with the ulterior object of snatching from her grasp, when
prostrate from exhaustion and loss of blood, that ParUamentary
Independence which in 1782 she had achieved. The maddening
poUcy pursued by the Camden admimstration, and the effect of it,
is weU kno-wn.
On the first night of Chief Secretary Pelham's appearance in
the House, Grattan, though vrith great misgivings, introduced the
CathoUc question. Mr. Pelham started to his feet, and declared
that " what the CathoUcs sought was incompatible with the exist
ence of a Constitution ; and that he would plant his foot against
any further concession, and never consent to recede one inch."
No wonder that the heart of the CathoUc body should have
sank within it. Thefr hopes hung Uke wet osiers. A partial re
belUon at last burst forth, and was extinguished in blood. The
CathoUcs became once more the dupes of their rulers. Finding it

144 PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS EQUALLY DUPED.
impossible to bolster up the fatal principle of a legislative Union
with the sophistry of hfred pampUeteers, the Government at last
proposed a temptfrig compromise : Agree to the Union, and Eman
cipation was thefrs ! Every available influence was set in motion to
favour this delusion. Borough proprietors, members of Parliament,
landlords, high officials — even the Catholic prelacy — were urged
to promote the ministerial object. The newspapers were daily
fiUed with resolutions, some in advocacy, others in utter condem
nation of the Union. It was a great struggle between political
vfrtue and foresight on the one hand, and profiigacy and stupidity
on the other. Bribery, intimidation, and corruption, accompUshed
much, but cajolery effected more. Many honest men were induced
to lend thefr support to the Union, with the distinct understanding
that a thorough act of Emancipation, and a radical alteration of
the tithe system, would immediately succeed it. Several men
who, through a mistaken feeUng, had lent their aid to tbe Govern
ment in 1800, detailed, in after Ufe, the circumstances under
which they had been duped. The Knight of Kerry, at the Tralee
hustings, in 1818, declared that "he had been induced to vote
for the Union by the solemn pledge of the British Cabinet to
attend to the rights and happiness of the Irish people. Lord
ComwaUis had shovm him a distinct promise, written and signed
by Mr. Pitt, in which it was expressly and unconditionally stated
that the Union should be foUowed by a total and unquaUfied
Emancipation of the CathoUcs of Ireland, and by an entire and
radical alteration of the tithe system, by substituting a different
prorision for the EstabUshed clergy."
Protestants and Catholics seem to have been equally deceived
by Mr. Pitt. If Emancipation was promised to the latter, the
former received an assurance that the Union would render Eman
cipation impossible. George IH. participated in this impression,
and in his pubUshed correspondence vrith Pitt, teUs him that he
consented to the Union, under the conriction that it would " shut
the door" for ever against the CathoUc claims.
Consummately cajoled, the CathoUc body permitted the Union
to pass into a law, without offering that resistance which would
otherwise have utterly swamped it. When too late, they saw and
bemoaned their creduUty. 'The govemment haring achieved thefr
object, cast aside the scaling ladder by whose aid they had grasped
it. A few members of the Cabinet would, no doubt, occasionaUy
lead the CathoUc body to beUeve that the frothy promise of Eman
cipation was not forgotten. Lord Eedesdale, writing to Lord
Eldon, in May, 1802, says : " Lord ComwaUis and Lord Castle
reagh are both pledged, as they say, to the Catholics." Lord
CornwaUis died soon after, and Lord Castiereagh, with charac-

THE CATHOLIC COMMITTEE AND BOARD SUPPRESSED. 145
teristic unscrupulosity, began from that moment to shuffle on the
CathoUc question. In 1810, on Mr. Grattan's motion in its
favour, he daringly denied that any pledges had been given by
him or Lord ComwaUis.
A few CathoUc barristers co-operated in estabUshing a " Ca
thoUc Committee," but they were immediately tampered with by
the Crown, and secretly pensioned. Other men, less corruptible,
flung themselves into the gap thus made in their ranks, and led
on the forlorn hope. The career of the CathoUc Committee was
short and ricketty. The barristers haring been seduced from
thefr adhesion, this association, thus deprived of legal adrice and
guidance, incautiously branched into a species of delegation, which
subjected it to the penalties of Lord Clare's Convention Act. A
proclamation annihilated the Committee in one day ; Lord Fingal
and other CathoUc delegates were placed under arrest.
With hopes and spfrits crushed, the CathoUcs rapidly sunk
into a state of miserable supineness. O'ConneU at last aroused
them from thefr slumber, and vrith the scattered materials of
the shattered Committee the Catholic Board was now formed.
Wearied fi-om long watching, and impatient for liberty, a large
segment of the CathoUc party, headed by Mr. SheU, declared their
vriUingness to give the Govemment a Veto in the appointment of
Bishops, in return for the blessings of Emancipation. A warm
controversy arose. The vetoists seceded, and the Catholic body
became weakened by disunion. O'ConneU, however, toUed with
imtiring energy, and at last succeeded in breathing strength and
spirit into its all but paralysed Umbs. But on the 3rd of January,
1814, all the powers of tbe Govemment were again let loose upon
it, and the issue of the struggle may be guessed. The CathoUc
Board expfred in gloom, and for years after no attempt was made
to resuscitate it. It had received a mortal stab from the Viceroy,
Lord Whitworth. " Every one," remarks Mr. Wyse, " seemed to
have retumed to a state of inertia, from which there existed Uttle
hope of effectuaUy rousing them in future. The attempt had been
made, and faUed ; the experiment was discouraging ; the country
seemed once more consigned over to irredeemable apathy."
An aggregate meeting was occasionally h'eld, with a rievr to
stimulate the actirity of.some parUamentary friends of the Catho
Ucs. On the 6th of June, 1815, O'ConneU bitterly bemoaned that
thefr old champion, Grattan, should have recently declined, on
several occasions, to bring forward and discuss the Catholic ques
tion. " We are doomed by Mr. Grattan," said O'ConneU, " to
another year of slavery, and also without the poor pleasure of
rattUng our chains in the hearing of our oppressors." From
Grattan's Life by his son, it appears tbat the great statesman
10

146 -WILLIAM CONYNGHAM PLUNKET.
had not hastily arrived at this conclusion. He consulted the
friends of the CathoUcs in England. "I own I am in di-ead,"
said WUberforce, " under all the cfrcumstances of the time and
case — -with reason or -without it — we should divide far weaker than
in the last session, and consequently should lose gi-ound instead
of obtaining any benefit."
. The Cathohcs and thefr friends had rarely before been fiUed
with intenser despondency. Thefr cause appeared retrograding,
instead of advancing. Henry Grattan, in the meantime, died,
and the country became bathed in silent tears ; but WilUam
Conyngham Plunket promptly flung himself into the saddle of
the great leader, and fought with earnestness for the CathoUc
cause. Having, by a rare amount of persuasive eloquence and logic,
cleared away many obstacles, and won a wide circle of adherents
to his standard, Mr. Plunket at length, in the spring of 1821,
felt the pulse of the nation, and decided on bringing forward a
biU for Catholic relief. Although subject to such securities aS
would tend to calm the scruples and the fears of Protestants,
many exemplary divines of the Catholic Church could see no sub
stantial objection to the bUl, if slightly modified in certain clauses.
Amongst this moderate party, Dr. Doyle stood foremost. For
ten years he had anxiously watched the furtive efforts made by
his co-religionists to enUst the sympathies of the legislature.
Ha-ving hoped against hope for many a day, he began at last to
riew the cause with feelings akin to a settied despair.
Dr. Doyle received the news -with joy. He glanced his pene
trating eye over Mr. Plunket's biU, found that " the securities"
had more sound than substance in them, and instead of indig
nantly rejecting these clauses altogether, as others did, he exerted
his inteUect and influence to modify and smooth them.
To judge the events of past times by the tone and posture of
the present would be unjustifiable, faUacious, and absurd. Dr.
Doyle guided his onerous course through a tryiug and persecuting
period, which requfred no ordinary amount of tact. In justice to
him, we have deemed it right to take a retrospective glance at
the position of Irish affairs long anterior to 1821, in order that
the good Bishop's memory, and his conduct at that juncture, may
be protected from the flippant expression of hastUy formed opinion,
in which some persons of our own time might, in the absence of
such eridence, be apt to indulge. A great man's course must, to
a considerable extent, be shaped according to the spuit and cfr
cumstance of the time in which he lives ; and there are probably
few so unreasonable as to drag Dr. Doyle from an obsolete period,
deposit him in the present, and judge his policy as though it were

DR. DOYLE's LETTERS TO SIR H. PARNELL. 147
at this very moment being exercised. Were history to pronounce
sentence upon conduct and character according to this fashion, its
pages would mislead instead of instructing us.
, In January, 1821, the Catholic Prelates prepared an humble
memorial and statement of their grievances, which they entrusted
to the care of Sir Henry Parnell for presentation to the Legislature.
Dr. Doyle, on the 26th of February, 1821, writes : " My dear Sir
Henry — I have just returned from Dublin, where I saw the prelates
who signed the petition now in your hands. They are not without
hope tbat a biU of reUef in some shape or other will pass this
session, in which case they rely on you to have a clause intro
duced enacting the subject-matter of their prayer. Should then-
hopes, however, not be reaUzed, they beg you may proceed as you
intend ; but if the bUl you would introduce be considered a private
one, and, therefore, attended with the usual expense of about
s6500, they request that you may communicate with me previous
to bringing it forward, as it might prove a serious inconvenience
to them to incur such an expense."
In March foUowing, Mr. Plunket brought forward his Ca
thoUc EeUef BUl. Omng to the wonderful tact of that eminent
lawyer, the biU was received with greater favour than many zealous
fiiends to the CathoUc cause had anticipated. Although Dr. Doyle
had not as yet seen the document, its substance and bearings were
weU known to him.
The following letter is the first of a large and valuable coUec
tion which has been kindly placed at our disposal by the late
Lord Congleton's Uterary executor, the Hon. Henry Parnell :
" Carlow, 12th March, 1821.
" My DEAE Sir Henry — There can be no doubt but it is
more prudent to exclude the objects of oitr petition fi-om Mr.
Plunket's biU, than to endanger, in any degree, the success of
it, and this idea had occurred to ourselves, fi-om the time we be
came acquainted with the mode of proceeding adopted by our
friends. Whatever may be the fate of the measure, we are fuUy
satisfied that you wUl not omit any favourable opportunity of
attending to our interests ; and we do expect, as our views with
regard to education are kno-mi in the House, and not disapproved
of, that some assistance will be given to us in the course of tbe
session- We coUected from the reports of the debate on Mr.
Fitzgerald's motion that Mr. Grant intended to introduce some
measure with regard to education ; and if so, no occasion could be
more favourable to our views, if he thought proper to sanction
them. I could not convey to you an idea of the satisfaction which
the late decision of the House of Commons gave here to all parties.

148 THE CATHOLIC BILLS OF 1821.
I have been speaking with some of the most respectable persons in
this country, who were hitherto opposed to every concession, and
who seem now perfectly satisfied with emancipation on the terms
aUuded to by Mr. Plunket. Our people met here yesterday to
request the support of our representatives on the second reading
of the biU. On being consulted about it, I recommended them to
do so, but could take no part in the proceedings myself untU I
should receive the copy of the biU which you were so kind as to
promise to send me, and which I am anxiously expecting. I send
you by this post an extract from some ' Pastoral Instructions' of
mine, lately published here, which contain a brief but exact ex
position of our doctrine on the subjects of oaths and allegiance, that
in case any misrepresentation on these subjects should be made
in the course of the approaching debate, you might, if you thought
proper, refer to, our doctrine as pubUshed by a Eoman Cathohc
Prelate, Nothing can exceed the anxiety felt here on this subject
of Emancipation ; but whatever may be the issue of the present
effort, there is no doubt but our friends have done us ample
justice, and sUenced, I hope for ever, that obloquy and clamour
which have done us more injury than power and argument com-
bined,-I remam, &c., ,, ^ j_ ^^^^„
Some days later we find Sir Henry ParneU enclosing to Dr.
Doyle copies of Mr. Plunket's bUls, vrith a frank expression of
personal opinion in inference to them. Sir Henry implored of
the Irish Prelates not to aUow petty objections, merely affecting a
matter of discipline, to encumber, and flnaUy overturn, so glorious
an act of grace as CathoUc Emancipation.
We shaU endeavour to condense Mr. Plunket's bUls, which,
Uke most other legal documents, were immensely long-winded and
fuU of repetitions. The first was a thorough Eehef BiU, giring
fuU eligibUity, with the oath of allegiance so modified as to satisfy
CathoUc scruples, generally. The second, entitled "A.BUI to
regulate the intercourse between persons in holy orders with the
See of Eome," contained the securities. It went on to declare :
" Whereas it is expedient that such precautions should be taken
-with respect to persons to be appointed to exercise the functions of
Bishop or Dean in the Eoman CathoUc Church, as that no person
shaU assume any part of such functions whose loyalty and peace
able conduct shall not have been previously ascertained, to the
satisfaction of his Majesty." This was to have been decided by a
board, consisting of CathoUc Bishops (to be nominated by thefr
own body), two privy councUlors, and the Secretary of State as
president ; "no Commissioner to receive or be entitled to any
salary, reward, fee^ or gratuity for his attendance." The second

THE BISHOPS DELIBERATE. 149
recital consisted of an oath to be taken by clergymen, decla
ratory that they vriU never concur iu the appointment of any
Catholic Bishop, Dean, or Vicar ApostoUc, but such as they con
scientiously deemed to be of unimpeachable loyalty and peaceable
conduct. "And I do swear," it continued, " that I wiU not have
any correspondence or communication with the See of Eome,
tending, directly or indfrectly, to overthrow or disturb the Protest
ant government, or the Protestant Church of Great Britain and
Ireland as by law estabUshed ; and that I wiU not communicate
with the See of Eome, or with any other foreign ecclesiastical
authority, on any matter which may interfere with the civU duty
and aUegiance which is due to his Majesty from aU his subjects."
For the ostensible purpose of aUaying the fears of anti-CathoUc
prejudice, it was enacted that all buUs and rescripts from Eome
should be submitted to the Board of Commissioners. For the
non-observance of these requfrements penalties were prescribed.
Dr. Doyle proceeded to DubUn with aU the documents he
could procure referring to the biUs then before ParUament, and
submitted them to the late Most Eev. Archbishops Troy and
Murray. Dr. Keatinge, Bishop of Ferns ; Dr. HamiU, Vicar-
General of DubUn ; and a large attendance of minor clergy, were
Ukewise present at this interesting conference. AU were regarded
as divines of great piety, learning, and judgment. Aided by Dr.
Doyle's penetrative tact, they carefuUy examined Mr. Plunket's
bUls ; and, after a conference of two days, at length arrived at the
conclusion which we find embodied in the foUowing resolutions,
passed at a " meeting of the CathoUc Prelates and Clergy of the
Archdiocess of Dublfri," on the 26th of March, 1821 :
" That they have read, vrith unmingled satisfaction, a biU, now
in progress through ParUament, purporting to proride for the re
moval of the disquaUfications under which his Majesty's Eoman
CathoUc subjects now labour ; and that they deem it a duty to
declare that the oath of supremacy, as therein modified, may be
taken by any Eoman Catholic -without riolating, in the sUghtest
degree, the principles of his reUgion.
" That haring read another biU, in progress likewise through
Parliament, and purporting to regulate the intercourse of persons
in Holy Orders professing the Eoman CathoUc religion, they con
sider it an act of justice to the Uberal framers of that biU, to de
clare thefr conriction that they were guided in the framing of it
by no unkindly feeUng towards tbe Eoman CathoUc Clergy —
although it appears to them that were the said bUl to be enacted,
in its present shape, into a law, it would press upon thefr order,
and upon the essential exercise of the Eoman Catholic ministry,
with great, unnecessary, and injurious severity.

150 THE EESOLUTIONS ;
" That the Eoman CathoUc clergy, haring solemnly abjured
all foreign authority or jurisdiction in civU matters within this
realm — haring, moreover, sworn aUegiance to his Majesty, and
proved thefr loyalty by a series of conduct which has been marked
at different times with the approbation of his Majesty's govem
ment — they submit it to the candour of every unprejudiced man,
whether it be just that thefr confidential communications with the
spiritual head of their Church, on matters purely reUgious, should
be laid open before persons of a different creed.
" That they read with the deepest concern the clause which
purports to vest in the Crown an unlimited negative in the appoint
ment of their Bishops. They humbly conceive that the assump
tion of such a right by persons of one religious persuasion to the
nomination of the ministers of another has ever been considered as
impeding the free exercise of religion, and invading the rights of
conscience ; and that on this principle is founded that wise clause,
contained in the biU first mentioned, which prorides that ' no
person professing the Roman Catholic religion shall exercise any
right of presentation to any ecclesiastical benefice tvhatsoever of
the Established Church.'
" That the Most Eev. Dr. Troy be requested to make known
to the Earl of Donoughmore and the Eight Hon. W. C. Plunket
their conscientious uneasiness, as declared in their resolutions,
and to communicate to them their most earnest prayer, that they
will employ their powerful talents and influence in the Houses of
which they are respectively members, to obtain fi'om the justice
and magnanimity of Parliament such modifications of the aforesaid
biU, as shall not aUow it to aggrieve the consciences of his Ma
jesty's Eoman CathoUc subjects."
The meeting then adjourned until the foUowing Wednesday,
and Archbishop Troy haring vacated the chair. Dr. Doyle was,
with acclamation, called thereto.
From the diocess of Limerick resolutions appeared, couched
in language of a far less conciUatory character. It was resolved
by Bishop Tuohy and his clergy — " That one of the biUs lately
introduced by Mr. Plunket contains clauses to which no Catholic
clergyman can conscientiously agree. That those clauses are un
necessary, vexatious, dangerous, and ultimately subversive of the
Eoman CathoUc reUgion in Ireland."
A meeting of the clergy of the archdiocess of Tuam was also
held, and the clergy there declared — " That these bills contain
clauses which are a manifest violation of the religious liberties of
the subject, whoUy incompatible with the safety and integrity of
our faith and discipUne, and if enforced by pains and penalties,
must be considered a religious persecution." The view taken by

CONFLICTING VIEWS. 151
Dr. Marum, Eoman CathoUc Bishop of Ossory, perfectly concurred
¦with that expressed by Dr. Doyle and the Archbishops of Dublin.
Dr. Marum and his clergy, at a meeting held in the CathoUc
church of St. James, KiUcenuy, endorsed every Une of the resolu
tions drawn up by Dr. Doyle.
The resolutions of the CathoUc Bishop of Clonfert and of his
clergy, both secular and regular, took their tone Ukewise from the
pubUshed sentiments of the province of Dublin. " They congra
tulated thefr feUow-countrymen on the near approach of that
auspicious day, when a discerning and benevolent Legislature,
moved by the due consideration of the peaceable dispositions and
loyal conduct of his Majesty's Eoman Catholic subjects, have
resolved to communicate to them the blessings of our happy con
stitution ; and it was their unanimous opinion that the oath of
supremacy, as now amended, may be conscientiously taken by any
Eoman CathoUc." The resolutions of the diocess of Clonfert then
proceeded to condemn, in temperate language, those clauses which
Dr. Doyle and his coUeagues of the prorince of DubUn had afready
indicated as objectionable.
On the 29th of March, the CathoUc clergy of Waterford and
Lismore assembled, and passed several uncompromising resolu
tions ; whUe, as a set-off to it, an important meeting of the clergy
of DubUn was held. Archbishop Troy in the chair, and passed
flome concUiatory and weU-reasoned riews. Of these The Dublin
Eveniyig Post of the day thus speaks : " They express thefr gra
titude for the Eelief BUl in its amended form, to which they see
no objection ; and with regard to the Security BiU, they state thefr
objections to some of its prorisions, and point out, at the same
time, an easy mode of obriating the scruples of the conscientious,
whUe it leaves the strength of the securities undiminished."
MeanwhUe the laity of Dublin were neither silent nor inactive.
At a meeting at Darcy's Hotel, Eichard Lalor SheU deUvered a
very eloquent speech, which, as it happens to have been overlooked
by Mr. M'CuUagh m his " Memofrs of SheU," and by Mr. M'Nerin
in his " Collection of SheU's Speeches," we wiU lay under con
tribution, as expressive of no smaU segment of pubUc opinion in
Ireland at the time of which we vwite :
" The CathoUc BiU has passed the House of Commons. The
mere statement of the fact bears with it more than any comment
could convey. It is an epoch in the history of Ireland, and it
may be regarded as the day of her great poUtical regeneration.
It is indeed a proof that the measure has been carried in the
pubUc opinion, that it has received the impartial assent of the
British people, and that whatever temporary obstractions it may
encounter, they must be speedily sui-mounted, through the opera-

152 SHEIL's SPEECH.
tion ot the common conviction of the nation's mind, that this
gigantic Umb of the empfre should be unshackled and set free.
You have not yet entered the constitution, but its gates have been
thrown open amidst the acclamations of the empire, and they stand
expanded before you. How great a debt do you owe to those
who, with the thunder of their eloquence, have burst ponderous
bars asunder, and flung them round on their unyielding hinges,
rusted as they were by inveterate prejudices, tiU at last they
have disclosed the great temple to the reception of a long excluded
people ? There are languages without a word for gratitude — if you
do not express that cordial and enthusiastic sentiment upon such an
event as this, a foreigner would be justifled in imagining that you
were -without a phrase for the best and most pure of the human
heart. But I perceive no hesitation in this assembly in the dis
charge of this noble and pleasurable duty. I need not enforce
the obligations which you owe to Mackintosh, Newport, Canning,
and WUberforce who, in the comprehensiveness of his phUan
thropy, has at last embraced that injured people whose quaUties he
so tenderly appreciates, and whose name he cannot breathe without
a sigh. These are our benefactors, and these men we are come
to thank. But there is one person the eminence of whose ser
rices rises beyond aU the other elevated names by which he is
surrounded. It is to Mr. Plunket that we are most peculiarly in
debted. He has borne away the suffrages of the empfre, and, by
a single bound of his vigorous mind, has reached a point of glory
to which others, by the toU of years and with great talents, have
not been able to attain. His masterly sldll, his frresistible reason
ing, his impassioned and cordial eloquence, have united the House
of Commons in one acclamation in his praise. While he asserted
the Uberties, he added to the Uterary renown of Ireland. . . .
It is far beyond the present generation that the advantages of this
liberating measure wUl be felt. It opens prospects fuU of prospe
rity and peace, and gives a glorious insight into future time. Let
us not blast those prospects — let it not be said that we have
marred the freedom of Ireland. We have long asked for liberty,
and it is now offered to us ; Ireland has long stretched out her
supplicating hand for the precious chalice that seemed to mock
her favoured Up — it is now presented to her ; and wUl she, in a
paroxysm of her delfrium, dash it to the earth ? This is the very
crisis of our fate, and it is tbe duty of every man to stand up iu
the rindication of his country ; we have done so — and not I trust
in vain." Dr. Doyle, writing to the late Eev. John Dunne on ricariate
business, 30th March, 1821, says : " Since I saw you I was de
puted by Dr. MuiTay to go ,to London ; but on yesterday his

LETTER TO SIR H. PAfiNELL. 153
Grace Dr. Troy received some communications from England,
which induced us to change our intentions." The foUowing con
fidential letter to Sir Henry ParneU, written on the same day,
is much more communicative. It is dated from the late Arch
bishop Murray's house :
" Duiilin, 41 Cumberland-street, 30th March, 1821,
"My dear Sir Henry — I wished ere this to acknowledge
your kindness in sending me copies of the several biUs relating to
our affairs now before Parliament, as also the honour you did me
by communicating the decision of the House of Commons on the
second reading ; but I thought it better not to write than to with
hold from you my sentiments on the second bUl, and these I did
not vrish to express unless in concert with my coUeagues. You
have seen our resolutions. We wished to couch them in concUi
atory language, and yet not to disguise our sentiments. In this
country they have given pretty general satisfaction ; but unhappily
in some of the prorinces a harsher spirit has appeared. Dr.
Milner is labouring agaiust us in London, assisted by Mr. Hayes,
and if they should find auxiUaries in this country, our cause is not
only lost this session, but probably vrill make no progress for
several years to come. A petition, very numerously signed by
the clergy, was adopted here at our meeting, founded on our
resolutions, but vrith an additional clause offering as a security
to Government that the Secretary of State should have the power
of excluding, as expressed in the biU, prorided he were obUged
by law to assign a specific cause for so doing, and a prorision
made whereby the justice of such cause so assigned could be
legaUy tried, and, if proved false, that the appointment should be
proceeded with, without further let or hindrance. This petition
was confided to Dr. Murray and to me, that we might take it to
London, and have it presented by Lord Donoughmore ; but since
the petition was entrusted to us we have seen so many symptoms
of disunion in our body, that we did not think it adrisable to sug
gest anything else to our friends, lest our conduct might be faulted
by some of our brethren. Should the bUl finaUy pass the Com
mons, a meetmg of the CathoUc Prelates wiU be held here before
it can have made much progress in ihe Lords, and something de
finitive on our side vrill be arranged. If such a meeting takes
place, thefr tone wUl be conciUatory ; but as to an arrangement
which would give the cro-wn influence in the appointment of
Bishops, I am confident we wUl not agree to it. I have troubled
you too long with our affairs, in which you have been so generous
as to take a deeper interest than almost any other. We feel our
many obUgations to you, and hope we will ever be sensible of
them.-Ihave,&c. "* J. Doyle."

154

HOSTILITY OF BISHOP MILNER.

Dr. Doyle speaks of the hostiUty of Bishop Milner. The En
gUsh CathoUc Hierarchy possessed eight Vicars- ApostoUc at this
period. Seven of that number signed in favour of the Emancipa
tion BUl of 1821. Dr. MUner not only withheld his signature,
but took an adverse part. The conduct of this eminent Dirine on
the present and prerious occasions exhibits the very difficult cha
racter of the times in which he and Dr. Doyle were cast. Dr.
Mihier some years before had been riolently assaUed by O'ConneU
as a Vetoist, and censured as such by the Irish CathoUc Board.
In 1821, Dr. MUner branded Mr. Plunket's bUls as vetoistic, not
withstanding Mr. Plunket's declaration that the friends of the
Catholic claims had abandoned the old veto propositions.
Dr. Doyle in the foregoing letter, also aUudes to the riolent
hostUity of the Eev. Eichard Hayes. A long petition was pre
sented by Mr. Hume to the House of Commons from this distin
guished Priest. It is dated " 4, Chapter House Court, St. Paul's,
London, 15th of March, 1821." One paragraph wiU serve to con
vey an idea of its tone. " He, therefore, on his own behalf, and
on that of his brother CathoUcs, most fervently prays your Honor
able House to reject said BiU, intituled, ' A BUl to provide for
the removal of the disquaUfications under which his Majesty's
Eoman CathoUc subjects now labour,' as nugatory for the attain
ment of its professed object, calculated to introduce equivocation,
mental reservation, and perjury, in the awful act of swearing;
and, instead, as it proposes, of putting an end to reUgious jea
lousies, tending to excite division in the CathoUc body, and to
exasperate thefr religious and conscientious feelings to such a
pitch as might unfortunately endanger the public peace and tran
quUUty of the country." The Eev. Eichard Hayes had proceeded,
a short time previous, to Eome, as a delegate of the Irish CathoUcs,
in order to oppose the Veto which seemed so imminent fi-om 1799,
when the Prelates had unqualifiedly agi-eed to it, but afterwards
retracted their sanction. Mr. Hayes writes : " On the 9th of
January 1816, I obtained another audience of the Pope, for nearly
an hour, during which I urged every argument against this ob
noxious innovation. His Holiness seemed much alarmed for the
state of the Irish Catholics, %nd expressed an apprehension that
they would be subjected to new persecutions if he did not yield, in
some measure, to the desires of the British government on this
head." This paragraph was extensively pubUshed, and when Dr.
Doyle saw that the Pope was afraid he should have to concede the
obnoxious Veto, the Bishop may have felt, that in tolerating what
was merely a faint approach to the Veto, he was saving the Irish
Church from a much hearier incubus, which the Sovereign Pontiff,
by his own admission, might be obliged, ere long, to sanction.

REV. R. H.^YBS EXPELLED FROM EOME. 155
Cardinal Wiseman, in his " EecoUections of the last Four Popes,"
writes (p. 139) : " For three hundred years there had not existed
such friendly relations between tbe Holy See and the Cro-wn of
Great Britain as under Pius VII." His minister. Cardinal (Con-
salvi, professed a most conciliatory poUcy. Some account of the
Eescript from Eome, in 1814, conceding to the British Government
an absolute and unquaUfied veto, will be found ante, p. 93. The
manner in which Mr. Hayes was uniformly received in Eome was
not calculated to diminish the fears of the Anti- Vetoists. He -was
expeUed from the Eternal City by order of the ecclesiastical
authorities ; and, in a pubUshed letter fi-om the Pope, his offi-
ciousness was condemned in painfully severe terms.
It would be difficult to imagine a period of more intense ex
citement than the crisis we are describing. Discord rent society
and severed the bonds of friendship ; disunion weakened the
power of the Church and of the people. In DubUn, as we have
seen, meetings were held cordiaUy thanking the Legislature for the
proffered reUef ; vvhile in Cork and Limerick, the measure received
the most riolent denunciation. On 3rd AprU, an aggi-egate meet
ing was held at a chapel in Cork. Some able speeches were de
livered, but, according to The Southern Reporter of the day, when
a distinguished orator " moved to thank Mr. Plunket. Sir John
Newport, Sfr Henry Parnell, and the other friends of Catholic
freedom, an amendment was proposed, that there should be a
round of groans given for these personages, which was carried
-vrith a burst of sound that shook the altai- and the edifice." On
the other hand, a most furious, skilfuUy organized, and fatal
assault on Eoman Catholicism, and the bUl to set it poUticaUy
free, was warmly foUowed up by the Protestant clergy and people
of England. " Your petitioners," observed the Parsons, ' ' consider
it their bounden duty to repeat their most serious apprehensions
of the dangers which vrill accrue to the civil and reUgious interests
of the Protestant part of the community, should the proposed
measures terminate in the repeal of those statutes to which, under
Almighty God, the Protestant Church of these realms has been
fridebted for the mild ascendancy it has hitherto maintained."
They further declared : "It is not consistent with sound policy
to remove the legal restrictions imposed on the Eoman CathoUcs
by the wisdom of our ancestors, as such removal would mate
rially affect the sense and spirit of the oath of supremacy, unless
it could be shown that a change had taken place in the tenets
of Popery, or unless it were manifestly impossible for the com
plainants to offer such securities, as should render thefr prin
ciples consistent with the establishment of a Protestant Church
and State."

156

MORE HOSTILITY — A DILEMMA.

The above may be regarded as a mere random specimen of the
myriad throng of petitions which pressed forward in hostUity. A
glance at the proceeduigs in the Lords, on the 15th of April, wiU
serve to convey an idea of the number of influential appeals of this
character, which shook and finaUy upset the Uberal intentions of
the legislature.
It may truly be said, that Dr. Doyle and his brother Bishops
m DubUn, who were exerting their influence to have aU the
clauses of the biU so modified as to aUay the scruples of the con
scientious, had a most difficult card to play. Beckoned onward
by the sweet words of SheU on the one hand, and chiUed by such
grim prognostications as we have recorded, on the other, their
mitres cro-wned uneasy brains by day, and their pUlows supported
restiess heads by night. As students of ecclesiastical history they
could not but be aware, that the Church has always endeavoured
so far to accommodate its discipUne to the spuit and cfrcumstances
of the time, as not to infringe the dogmatic or moral law. " We
have the option of modifying one part of our discipline," they no
doubt soUloquised, " or consign our poor countrymen and co-reU-
gionists, perhaps for ever, to poUtical slavery and degradation.
The gates of the constitution at last Ue open before them. ShaU
we erect a barricade to intercept thefr progress through ?"
Nearly every one of that long series of CathoUc diocessan reso
lutions, to which we have afready referred, concluded with a decla
ration, that as the correspondence of the Irish Catholic Church
with Eome was of a purely spiritual nature, and frequently involv
ing inriolable secrecy, it was hm-tful to propose, and vain to ex
pect, that the Church would submit it to any lay tribunal. We
shaU presently see, that an important element of that feeling of
irritation which this and other clauses of the biU engendered, was
based upon a misapprehension.
The Dublin Evening Post was at this time, and for long
before, the accredited organ of the Irish CathoUcs. Its always
weU-informed London Correspondent, in a letter, dated the 31st
of March, observes, after praising the DubUn resolutions for thefr
moderation and candour, that several alterations in the biU " are
spoken of as Ukely to be adopted by the Lords, in order to meet
the wishes so temperately and constitutionally expressed in the
DubUn resolutions. The Irish members friendly to the Catholics
are making every effort, by private communications with the lead
ing managers of the bUl, to have the oath to be taken by the Priests
whoUy omitted. It is said there -wUl be only one commission for
both countries, of which two wiU be Irish CathoUc Bishops, and
two EngUsh CathoUc Bishops. The provisions about the inter
course with the See of Eome appear not to have been correctly

THE BILLS MODIFIED. 157
understood in DubUn, as no writings, relating wholly to matters
of conscience or requiring secrecy, are to be disclosed. The
'general opinion is, that the Lords are but Uttle disposed to place
any value in the ecclesiastical securities."
Touching these " securities," Mr. Plunket observed, on the
16th March, 1821, that in some of the provisions of his biU he was
proriding theoretical remedies for theoretical dangers. Although
there was no practical e-vU to be guarded against, there was yet
that sort of apprehension upon which the Protestant mind had a
right to be satisfied. The object of the oath for CathoUc clergy
men was to satisfy the state, that their intercom-se with the See
of Eome would be confined to ecclesiastical matters. At this
period, some very unfounded opinions existed among many Pro
testants, respecting the disposition and power of the Pope. They
imagined that his Holiness was perpetuaUy intriguing to depose
monarchs and undermine civil institutions.
Many wise inteUects were of opinion, that the so-caUed "secu
rities" in the reUef bUl of 1821, would very soon have become a
dead-letter. We cannot forget the threatened suppression of all con
ventual communities in Ireland, which, with other loud-soufiding
" securities," introduced to aUay the first fever of disappointed
intolerance, were Unked by Sfr Eobert Peel to the Emancipation
BiU of 1829. It is the law of Great Britain and Ireland, at this
moment, that Jesuits and members of other reUgious orders may
be banished from the kingdom, and that " it is expedient to make
prorision for thefr gradual suppression and final prohibition" vrith
in these realms.*
Dr. Doyle's correspondent, the Eev. Sydney Smith, showed,
Ul his own happy but eccentric manner, the foUy of attaching
any importance to the commission: "Can my Lord Bathurst be
ignorant — can any man who has the sUghtest knowledge of Ireland
be ignorant, that the portmanteau which sets out evei-y quarter for
* See the 28th and 29th sections of the Emancipation Act of 1829, It goes on to
say : " Every Jesuit, and every member of any other religious order, community, or
society of the Church of Rome, bound by monastic or religious vows, who at the time
of the commencement of this act shall be within the United Kingdom, shall, within
six calendar raonths after the commencement of this act, deliver to the Clerk of the
Peace of the county or place where such persons shall reside, or to his deputy, a
notice or statement in the form, and containing the particulars required to be set
forth in the schedule to this act annexed," The act then provides that this is to be
enrolled and registered in the records of tbe county, and a copy sent to the Lord
Lieutenant's Secretary ; and any person faihng to do this is tp be liable to a fine of
fifty pounds a-month for his neglect. " Sec, 29. And be it further enacted. That if any
Jesuit, or member of any such rehgious order, community, or sociely, as aforesaid,
shall, after the commencement of this act, come into this realm, he shall be deemed
and taken to be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being thereof lawfully convicted,
shall be sentenced and ordered to be banished from the United Kingdom for the
term of his natural hfe."

158 REV. SYDNEY SMITH.
Eome, and returns from it, is a heap of ecclesiastical matters,
which have no more to do with the safety of the country than they
have to do -with the safety of the moon ; and which, but for the
respect to indiridual feeUngs, might all be pubUshed at Charing-
cross ? Mrs. Flanagan, intimidated by stomach complaints, wants
a dispensation for eating fiesh. CorneUus O'Bowel has intermar
ried by accident with his grandmother, and finding that she is really
his grandmother, his conscience is uneasy. Three or four schools,
full of Uttie boys, have been cursed for going to hear a Methodist
preacher. Bargains for shirts and toe-naUs of deceased saints —
surplices and trencher-caps blessed by the Pope. These are the
fruits of the double aUegiance — the objects of our incredible fear,
and the cause of our incredible folly. There is not a syUable
which goes to or comes from the Court of Eome, which, by the
judicious expenditure of sixpence in the year, would not be open
to the examination of every member of the Cabinet."
As some of Dr. Doyle's replies to the queries put to him by
the Parliamentary Committee, in 1825, throw light upon his
poUcy and acts in 1821, we subjoin them. "Dr. Doyle was asked
if it would be possible that any arrangement could be made,
enabUng the Crown to examine the Bulls and Eescripts sent from
the Court of Eome to Ireland. " I know," repUed Dr. Doyle,
"that in 1821, when a BiU, regulating this matter, was uitro-
duced into Parliament, some strong objections were raised to it in
Ireland. At that time I had very Uttle experience in those things ;
however, the opinion which I did entertain then was, that the sub
jection of this correspondence to a Board was not a matter to be
objected to ; because I thought if things were arranged amicably
between the CathoUcs of Ireland and the British Government, that
one of the Bishops in Ireland, probably — or if not, a Nuncio sent
from Eome — would be placed in Ireland or in London, authorised
to transact the routine business which is carried on between the
Court of Eome and us ; and therefore I thought that this bill
would be a dead-letter ; but if the Government should entertain
any jealousy whatever ofthe correspondence which passes between
Eome and us, I, for my part, and I can only speak as an indiridual,
might have no objection whatever, that all the letters and com
munications which should pass between the Court of Eome and me,
should be subjected to the inspection of any ecclesiastics whom
the Govemment might think proper to name."
Q. "Do you mean ecclesiastics of the Eoman CathoUc reU
gion?" — A. "I assure the Committee, I should not care who were
to compose the Board : if they were all laymen — if they were all
Secretaries of State. I have never received any communication

LETTERS FROM LORDS HOLLAND AND DONOUGHMORE. 169
from Eome, nor ever wiU receive any, which I would hesitate to
exhibit upon any of the public places of London, so that, upon
that matter, I, as an individual, feel perfectly indifferent : however,
I do not say that the other Catholic Prelates think as I do about
it." Dr. Doyle added on this occasion that no arguments, however
plausible, or proposed compromise, however tempting, could by
possibility induce him to concede a regular veto to the Crown.
The London correspondent of the Dublin Evening Post was
weU informed in saying, that the objectionable clauses in the bUl
of 1821 would probably be much softened by the Lords. Dr.
Doyle spared no pains, by the exercise of his influence oraUy, and
in confidential personal correspondence, to effect an essential
modification in the provisions of the bill. Lord Donoughmore,
who had charge of it in the Lords, writes : "I can venture to
assure you, that the friends of the measure expect to be enabled to
make such important amendments in the bUl, as to relieve this act
of gi-ace from some of those provisions which seem at present to
press upon that most justly respected class of men — and against
whom no just ground of suspicion could have ever existed at any
time — the Eoman CathoUc Clergy."
Lord HoUand says : " Accept my best thanks for your valuable
communication. Such concUiatory resolutions are very Ukely to pro
mote the great cause of justice and reUgious Uberty, on this side of
the water ; and if in the interval, which elapses between this and
the second reading in the House of Lords, more instances of a
disposition to accommodate any difference in the detaU of the
measure should occur, I should not be surprised at more than one
doubtful vote befrig reconcUed to the biU. The enemies of all
concession, or rather of any act of justice at aU, are active in their
endeavours to represent the Irish CathoUcs as dissatisfied vrith
every part of the biU."
We -wiU now resume Dr. Doyle's correspondence vrith Sir
Henry ParneU. The high opinion entertained, even thus early, of
the young Bishop, by his episcopal brethren, is eridenced in the
fact of constituting him their organ of communication. Several
meetings of the Peers who were fiiendly to the CathoUc claims,
had been held at the Marquis of Lansdowne's residence, for the
purpose of considering how far it was practicable to modify the
clauses. Their deUberations had good effect.
The biU was now "amended," but it received stiU further
modification. It is remarkable that every alteration suggested by
Dr. Doyle, in the foUowing letter, was forthwith made in the bill
by Lord GrenvUle :

160

DR. DOYLE TO SIR H. PARNELL.

"Carlow, 6th April, 1821.
" My dear Sir Henry— I have again to express my most
grateful acknowledgments to you for the copy of 'the biU as
amended,' and your two letters which accompanied it. The omis
sion of the oath as contemplated by Lord GrenvUle, and the
change wrought by cfrcumstances in his Lordship's mind are no
doubt of great importance, but the object or advantage of the
amendment relatmg to the commissioners we do not clearly per-
ceive._ Whether there be one or two boards does not seem to us
material, but we are very apprehensive that the ecclesiastical mem
bers of that which is mtended should be selected from the English
CathoUc clergy, would be Ukely to excite jealousy and distrust in
this country, as our people have but Uttie confidence in thefr
brethren of England, and the attendance of Irish Prelates in Lon
don as Commissioners would be difficult, if not impracticable. Tbe
amendment suggested with regard to the person to be appointed
to the office of Bishop or Dean would, I am confident, if substan
tiaUy adopted, satisfy those of our body whose opinions have
most weight in the country; but the differences on other mat
ters to which I aUuded in my last are by no means lessened
sfrice I wrote you. The scruples of some of the Prelates and
Clergy vrith- regard to the oath of aUegiance cannot, I fear, be re
moved whUe the disclaimer of the Pope's authority is confined to
matters ' of reUgious belief,' as they think that this expression
goes to disclaim his authority on some matters of a reUgious
nature, which could not be correctly understood as included in the
words ' religious beUef.' If, therefore, Lord GrenriUe would be
so condescending as to substitute for ' in matters of reUgious be
Uef,' the words 'in religious concerns,' or 'in matters of a reUgious
nature,' such change would go far to satisfy the scruples of many
weU-meaning persons. I beg also to say that the admission of the
Pope's authority which is found in the preamble is excluded by the
terms of the oath ; for as by the laws of this realm the King is
the head of the Church, and that his authority as supreme ordi
nary is mixed up with and united to that of his Bishops in the
Ecclesiastical Courts, and as these courts decide not only on mat
ters of discipUne, but also on heresy, blasphemy, &c., hence it has
been inferred that by the terms of the oath we admit the authority
of the King and his Court, iu matters even of religious beUef, to
tbe exclusion of that of the Pope ; whereas we can disclaim the
latter only as far as the ciril or temporal authority of his Majesty
or that 0^ his Courts is concerned.
" We, who approved of the oath, understood differently, and
were of opinion, that as the authority bf the Pope in matters of
reUgious belief was freely admitted in the preamble, the oath

THE CATHOLIC BILL PASSES THE COMMONS. 161
should be interpreted by it, so that by swearing to pay to his
Majesty and to his courts the obedience which is due to them by
aU his subjects, we did not thereby infringe on the authority of the
Pope, so far as it was before admitted.
" We are stiU decidedly of opinion that our reasoning is just,
and I feel pain at troubling you with such a dry discussion, but
yet hope that, haring done so much for us, you wiU not be un
wUUng to represent these causes of disunion, however frivolous
they may appear, to Lord GrenriUe, and beg of his Lordship, for
the sake of peace, to derise in his wisdom some amendment,
either in the preamble or in the oath, or in both, which wiU extend
the disclaimer of the Pope's authority to reUgious concerns, or to
matters of a reUgious nature, and Umit our promise of obedience
to his Majesty and his courts to the ciril or temporal effects of
his or thefr authority. [Here some further modifications are sug
gested, which, unless the bUl were reprinted in extenso, would be
uninteUigible.] If Lord GrenriUe should think proper to attend to
these suggestions, it is almost certain his biU would satisfy those
who now appear to be so dissatisfied with it.
"It is useless for me to apologize for giving you so much
trouble. The gi-eat interests at stake, and your o-wn goodness,
must plead for me. — I am, &c., " ^ J Doyle "
The amendments suggested by Dr. Doyle were aU made in
the bUl.
On the day that he despatched this letter to Sfr Henry ParneU,
he presided at a meeting of his clergy in Carlow, with a riew to
promote the Catholic cause. Dr. Doyle having vacated the chair,
the Very Eev. Dr. Prendergast, V.G., was called thereto, when
the foUo-wing resolution passed unanimously : " That the warmest
thanks of this^ meeting are due, and are hereby given, to our
worthy prelate, for his promptitude in assembling the clergy on this
momentous occasion, for his dignified conduct in the chafr, and
for his zealous efforts on all occasions in the cause of religion."
AU this whUe Dr. Doyle's labours in the confessional, in the
pulpit, and in tbe various duties of a zealous episcopate, were
almost unceasing. He had just passed through an extraordinarUy
rigorous Lent, the unflinching leader of a long band of austere
penitents, and the effects of his self-denial were but too painfully
erident. Mentally torn with anxieties, beckoned onward by one
influential party, and perplexed by a sudden whirlwind of antago
nism from another, the young Bishop's health at last gave way,
and for several days he remained grievously stricken by illness.
The CathoUc Claims BUl, after much opposition, passed the
Commons on the 2nd of April. The numbers for the third read-
11

162 THE PROTESTANT BISHOPS TURN THE SCALE.
ing, on a dirision of the House, were 216 ; against it, 197 — majo
rity, 19. The biU was carried up to the Lords by Sir John
Newport, where the Earl of Donoughmore moved the first read
ing. His Lordship proposed that the bUl should be printed, and
read a second time on the following Tuesday. Lord ChanceUor
Eldon said that his opinion remained unaltered respecting the
proposed end of the biU. He should resist it on the second
reading, " on account of the danger -with which it threatened the
state;" and so he did. Perhaps in the entire annals of intolerance
there is not upon record a more able and elaborate diatribe agaiust
CathoUcism and its principles than this oration of Lord Eldon's.
The attack was foUowed up on the 17th of AprU with rigour and
asperity by the hefr to the throne and by the Bishops of London,
Oxford, Chester, and St. Darid's. The Bishop of London de
clared that he was " unwilling to concede a poUtical power which
might endanger the Protestant estabUshment. The CathoUc
Church had always aimed at universal dominion. CathoUcs ought
to be excluded from aU pubUc trust and authority." The Earl of
Liverpool opposed the bill on every ground. In the first place it
far from gave satisfaction to the Catholics themselves. Lord
Eldon asserted that the BiU, in point of fact, contained no secu
rities whatever, QSut it may be said to have been the Bishops
who turned the scale.N One iUustrious exception deserves to be
recorded. Dr. Bathurst, Bishop of Norwich, a personal friend of
Dr. Doyle's, had long given a zealous and consistent support to
the CathoUc claims. As Prelates cannot vote by proxy, he left a
sick bed at the present conjuncture to perform what he considered
a sacred duty.
Ere a report had reached Dublin of the proceedings in the
Lords, Dr. Doyle addressed the foUowing letter to Sfr H. PameU.
"Coming events cast thefr shadows before," and our Bishop's
ever active foresight saw but too plainly the probable result :
" Carlow, 19th April, 1821.
" My DEAR Sir Henry — I have been prevented by iUness
from replying to your letters of the 10th and 14th instant, and the
faUure of the bUl in the House of Lords (for we have no hope of
its success) might render it unnecessary for me to trouble you at
present, but that I vrish to put you in possession of the substance
of our proceedings in DubUn, which cannot weU be collected from
the petition we forwarded to Lord Donoughmore.
" We continued om- deUberations for four days, but were not
able to procure the unanimous assent of the meeting to a clause
proposed to be inserted in the petition — i, e., offering to the
Government to agree to any arrangement which the Legislature
might deem necessary to secure the loyalty of the Irish Prelates,

DEFEAT OF THE CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL. 163
provided such arrangement were sanctioned by the head of our
Church. In these circumstances, if the clause were inserted,
some Prelates would refuse thefr signatures, protest against the
petition, and the consequence would be meetings of the second
order of our clergy and of the^common people, where aU the pre
judices and passions of the most riolent amongst them would pre
vaU. We preferred, then, to adopt the petition, which you must '
have seen, and to preserve peace and some degree of unanimity
amongst ourselves.
" It was left to the discretion of Lord Donoughmore to pre
sent or -withhold our petition prerious to the second reading of the
biU ; and Dr. Troy no doubt communicated to him confidentiaUy
the true state of our cfrcumstances. We have to regret the pre
judices which stiU exist on both sides. Time, which has done so
much, may continue to operate in our favour, though it often hap
pens that a favourable moment once neglected does not return.
" We are fuUy conrinced that if tbe Legislature wUl ever
emancipate the CathoUcs, it must do so against the wishes and
clamours of many indiriduals. I need not say how sensible we
are of Lord GrenviUe's condescension, in attending to the sugges
tions you were so kind as to convey to him. Hoping that your
efforts to serve us wiU be more successful at another time, I
'^^^'^'^¦' "* J. Doyle."
CathoUc hope for redress had never burned more dimly than
when the fate of the EeUef BUl became known in Ireland. Al
though Dr. Doyle weU knew that Emancipation was the cause of
truth and justice, and that the apothegm, magna est Veritas et
prevalebit, might be appUed to it, he had, nevertheless, serious
misgirings lest the favourable opportunity, now lost, might not
return for a very considerable period. But, although Ireland
groaned for eight years longer in penal chains, it can hardly be
any source of regret, as matters have since turned out, that the
Catholic biUs did not pass m 1821. That the •" securities" ac
companying them would have become as dead a letter as the
clauses of the Ecclesiastical Tities BUl of 1851, or other appa
rently restrictive enactments to which we have afready referred, is
more than probable ; but, nevertheless, aU friends to the stern
fridependence of the Chmch must rejoice that even a dead and
powerless burthen does not now press upon it. We have no
doubt that the dissentient Prelates at the Synod of 1821 over-
. rated, in their zeal for reUgion, the dangers vrith which they
imagmed it was threatened. But even assuming that the main
clause in question did not become a dead-letter— i. e., a board to
satisfy itself of the loyalty of the indiridual about to be raised to

164 THE VETO IN EXISTENCE " SUB ROSA."
a bishopric — it could hardly, if conducted as stipulated, damage
the stabiUty of the Irish Church, much less lead to its utter sub
version, as many of the pubUshed resolutions at the time pre
dicted. Mr. Matthew O'Conor, an influential CathoUc gentleman,
author of "The MUitary Memofrs of the Irish Nation," pubUcly
asserted, in 1815, that the obnoxious Veto was then rirtuaUy, but
sub rosa, in existence, and that no CathoUc Prelate had, for some
years, been appointed in Ireland without the acquiescence of the
British Crown. This sweeping assertion was, we believe, contra
dicted by the late Most Eev. Dr. Murray ; but it is Ukely, never
theless, that there may have been some instances which furnished
grounds for an impression so fixed, and for an aUegation so con
fident. That the late venerated Primate, Dr. Curtis, received his
nomination to the Archbishopric of Armagh, in a great degree,
through the influence of the British Govemment, was formerly
whispered, but is now openly acknowledged. Dr. Curtis fiUed the
office of President in the CoUege of Salamanca when the Duke
of WeUington, then Sfr Arthur WeUesley, was prosecuting the
Peninsular campaign, and some friendly aid and attention which
the good Priest showed him at that critical period, led to the for
mation of a friendship which ever afterwards continued. Dr.
Curtis had been the theological preceptor of Dr. Murray, and
other eminent divines ; and on the demise of Dr. O'EeiUy in
1819, the CathoUc Bishops, well knovring that a more practical
Christian or a better theologian did not exist, unanimously postu
lated for him, with one exception, Pius VIL, finding that no
canonical impediment stood in the way, signed the buUs for the
consecration of Dr. Curtis. An older prelate had not been ap
pointed since St. Malachy O'Morchafr ruled the Archdiocess of
Armagh. When Dr. Curtis assumed the primatial reins of govern
ment, his age was seventy-three ; and for twelve subsequent years
he fiUed the See of Armagh. His conduct was such, throughout
that period, as frequently to eUcit, both from the Church and the
laity, the warmest expressions of veneration. Patriotic vrithout
disaffection, but never a noisy patriot. Dr. Curtis was always
prominent in preaching the necessity and extoUing the blessings
of ciril and reUgious Uberty, whUe his venerable appearance and
remarkable fascination of manner conciUated aU. He and Dr.
Doyle were the first prelates to join the CathoUc Association ;
Dr. Curtis cordiaUy co-operated vrith it, as his interesting com
munication to that body on the 7th of November, 1824, shows ;
and his patriotic letters to the Duke of WeUington and to Lord
Anglesey, in 1828, and the singularly good effect of them, are
probably in the recoUection of most readers.

DE. CURTIS RECOMMENDED BY THE CROWN. 165
In the recentiy pubUshed thfrd series of the Castiereagh
Papers, we flnd the foUowing letter, reveaUng that the election
of this exceUent man to the CathoUc primacy was mainly through
the influence of the British Crown.- Dr. Curtis, writing from
Archbishop Murray's house to Lord Castlereagh, on the 22nd of
September, 1819, goes on to say :
" In obedience to the dictates of duty and gratitude, I have
the honour of informing your Lordship that I have just now re
ceived, fi-om Eome, the authentic advice of my appointment by
his HoUness to the Eoman CathoUc See of Armagh, and that the
Papal brief for that purpose wiU be transmitted to me as soon as
it can possibly be expedited. My consecration and instalment to
that charge wUl, in consequence, be then performed in the parish
Chapel of Drogheda, unless Government should think proper, in
the mean time, to order the contrary — which I have no reason to
think wiU be the case, as I should never have acquiesced in the
election made of me by our Prelates, had not Government pre
riously vouchsafed to grant its consent, and even approbation, to
that measure, adding, by such condescension, a powerful stimulus
to my afready fixed resolution, to employ every exertion and in
fluence in my power for promoting peace, concord, and a spirit of
conciUation, rather than controversy, among all classes of people ;
and to impress on thefr minds a practical conriction of the impos
sibUity of thefr being good Christians without having and showing
a real love and respect for our august Sovereign and his govern
ment, with a due, efficient obedience to the laws. Permit me,
my Lord, to retm-n your lordship my unfeigned thanks for the
kind vrish you were pleased to express of seeing my promotion
sanctioned."* From aU this it may fafrly be inferred that those
who, in 1821, conscientiously shuddered at the thought of a board
of CathoUc Bishops and the Secretary of State satisfying them
selves of the loyalty of the episcopal candidate, aUowed thefr fears
to overrate the danger of such a proceeding. We, of course, are
not favourable to this principle of election, but in justice to Dr.
Doyle and the other Prelates, now no more, who considered, in
1821, that a modification of the proposed vetoistic clause could
not impafr the strength of the CathoUc EeUgion, or the principles
* The courtly tone of Dr, Curtis was in a great degree the result of habit.
"Formed in a court," observes the newspaper, in recording his death, " his manners
displayed all that affability and extreme courtesy for which he was remarkable,"
Dr. Curtis was much attached to the Court of Spain, and acted for many years as
Chaplain to the Royal Family. The same record proceeds : " In the performance
of the important duties of Archbishop his career was marked by all the virtues tbat
adorn the episcopal character. His decision, emanating from a strong and per
spicuous mind, gave general satisfaction to his clergy, while the laity had to lament
that the exercUe of his benevolence was only restrained by his hmited income."

166 LABOURS TO PROMOTE EDUCATION.
of the Prelate so nominated, it is right to adduce such eridence as
tends to justify or explain thefr conduct, at a crisis when interests
the most precious and dear may be said to have depended upon
the poUcy they should pursue.

CHAPTEE VII.
The Bishop's renewed activity — Education of the people — Letter to Sir H.
Parnell — ^Bishop O'Keeffe's grave — The boarding-house at Bray — Letters
to Father Peter Doyle — The address to the Marquis Wellesley, and his
reply — The Catholic Bishops traduced — A paper war with Messrs. Hay
and Finn — Domestic nomination — Remarkable Letter from the Duke of
"Wellington on the death of Archbishop Everard — The Duke offers a Pro
testant Bishopric to Dr, Curtis — Dr. Doyle's acquaintance and corres
pondence with Mariana — Visit of George IV. to Ireland — The cock
fight — Letters — Removal to Old Derrig — Tithes — Orangemen and Rib
bonmen — Dr. Doyle's Pastoral against Secret Societies — Letter of thanks
from Major Warburton — The Viceroy insulted.
The patriot heart of Dr. Doyle became fiUed with gloom when the
defeat of the CathoUc question was announced ; but he knew his
duty to God and to the country too weU to permit these feeUngs
to merge into a despondent inactirity. No sooner, therefore, had
the news been communicated by Sfr Henry ParneU, than we find
Dr. Doyle addressing the following letter to him on another sub
ject near and dear to his heart — the education of the Irish people.
The want of education he considered the source of aUnost aU thefr
crimes, and he regarded a sound system of popular instruction as
the basis of that prosperity which he ardently longed to see them
sharing. In endeavouring to establish the great desideratum, he
toiled like a giant. But anxious as Dr. Doyle felt for the diffusion
of knowledge, he was not less zealously opposed to the foUy or
maUce of those who would set this great moral engine in motion
vrithout guards and checks to control and regulate it. As already
seen, he steadUy disapproved of converttug the Bible, vrithout note
or comment, iuto a school-book. Apart from graver considera
tions, he felt that an irreverent famUiarity vrith Holy Writ might
lead to its degradation. It also cannot be forgotten that facts are
recorded in the history of an exceedingly carnal people, which, to
quote SheU's words, " it can answer no useful purpose to bring
vrithin the cognizance of chUdhood, and from which modesty
should instinctively turn away."
The Bishop was deeply anxious to see a sound and wise sys
tem of popular education introduced through the bounty of the
crovm. He indfrectly pressed the subject unceasingly on the
attention of the Legislature, and his labours in this direction had

LETTERS TO SIR H. PARNELL. 1G7
no doubt great effect in weakening the strength of that hoary-
headed slander, which had attributed to his Church the base pohcy
of seeking to keep her foUowers in a state of mental twUight :
" Next to the blessing of redemption," obsei-ved Dr. Doyle, " and
the graces consequent upon it, there is no gift bestowed by God
equal in value to a good education. Other advantages are enjoyed
by the body — this belongs entirely to the spirit. Whatever is
great, or good, or glorious in the works of men is the fruit of edu
cated minds. Wars, conquests, commerce, aU the arts of industry
and peace, all the refinements of Ufe, aU the social and domestic
virtues, aU the refinements and delicacies of mutual intercourse ;
in a word, whatever is estimable amongst men owes its origin, in
crease, and perfection, to the exercise of those faculties whose
improvement is the object of education. EeUgion herself loses
haff her beauty and influence when not attended or assisted by
education; and her power, splendour, and majesty are never so
exalted as when cultivated genius and refined taste become her
heralds or her handmaids. Education draws forth the mind, im
proves its faculties, increases its resources, and, by exercise,
strengthens and augments its powers. I consider it, therefore, of
inestimable value; but, Uke gold, which is the instrument of human
happiness, it is, and always must be, unequally distributed amongst
men. Some vriU always be unable or unwiUing to acquire it,
others wUl expend it prodigally or pervert it to the worst ends,
whUst the bulk of mankind -wiU always be more or less excluded
from its possession,"
On the 22nd of AprU, 1821, Dr. Doyle communicated his
riews fuUy to Sfr Henry ParneU :
" My dear Sir Henry — I had leamed by the pubhc papers,
prerious to the receipt of your letter, the painful though not unex
pected issue of the biU. The account produced here a deep gloom ;
few persons speak of it, and the CathoUcs and Protestants seem
equaUy disappointed. I fear the riolent parties wiU resume thefr
former acrimony, which, during the discussions in ParUament,
seemed to have somewhat subsided, and which, had the biU been
carried, we would never again -witness.
"What you mention of the Lords, the personal friends of the
King, as also your opinion respecting the addresses, I shaU have
communicated -without any delay to some of the leading CathoUcs,
but I think, in the present depressed state of the pubUc mind, it
would be very difficult to convene meetings, and stUl more diffi
cult to sUence those riolent CathoUcs who affect to think we
have nothing to hope for. Should the King come to Ireland, I am
very confident the expressions of loyalty and attachment from the

168 PICTUEE OF THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN IRELAND.
CathoUc body would be strong, general, and sincere ; but some
thing new and striking must occur to excite thefr feeUngs.
" With regard to the petition, it is left by us entfrely to your
discretion to present it at this time or not. We are so often
charged -with a wish to acquire establishments in the countiy, that
I fear lest this unfounded imputation might prevaU over the rea
sons we urge, and the necessities under which we and the poor of
our communion labour. We were of opinion, and you seemed to
think, that if certain clauses could be annexed to some other bUl,
embracing the objects of our petition, that it would be the least
objectionable mode of effecting the good we have in view. . . .
"I have no documents before me, nor are there at present any
in existence to show, -with any degree of exactness, the state of
education amongst the CathoUcs. I have just written to DubUn,
desiring that a statement of it in that tovm be sent you. In the
counties of Carlow, KUdare, and the Queen's County, very nearly
aU the Eoman CathoUc children attend school during the summer
and autumn, are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, but then-
masters, in many instances, are extremely ignorant, their school-
houses are mere huts, where the chUdren are pUed on each other,
and the sexes promiscuously jumbled together. From the want of
space, the Lancasterian plan, or that of Bell, cannot be introduced ;
and if there were space, we have not funds to buy forms, books, or
to pay a master capable of instructing. In the winter months the
children do not attend, generaUy from want of clothing, fire, and a
dry school-house. In the toivns of the counties referred to, the
schools are better and more regularly attended, but the poor are
usually very much neglected ; and as in the schools estabUshed or
assisted by the Kildare-street Society, tbe principle adopted in
them of using the Bible as a school-book, and the master, who is
generally a Protestant, undertakiog to expound it, is sufficient to
exclude CathoUcs — hence there is nothing left to assist the poor,
unless where benevolent individuals contribute to proride them
with education. Of these three counties, I may safely say that
nine-tenths of the farmers' chUdren, and aU those of the better
classes, receive education of a very imperfect kind, and imparted
in a very defective way, by men, in most instances, incompetent to
teach. The chUdren of the poor in the country are entirely ne
glected; in the tovms, many of them are left in absolute ignorance ;
others obtain some little knowledge of reading, and writing, and
arithmetic ; and I suppose, from a rough estimate made by myself
last summer during my risitation, there may be between 12,000
and 15,000 Eoman Catholic chUdren in the three counties just
mentioned who attend school during the summer months. These
counties, I presume, might present an average riew of the state of

PRELATES IN DAYS OF'PERSECUTION. 169
Eoman Catholic education throughout Leinster and Munster, ex
cepting the great towns of DubUn, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick ;
but in Connaught (which I risited chiefiy to ascertain the state of
the peasantry) they are buried in destitution, filth, ignorance, and
misery. I beUeve. that in the north, below Drogheda, thefr state
is not much better. — Ever affectionately yours, " * J. Doyle."
Shortly after Dr. Doyle's elevation to the See of KUdare,
he found the grave of one of his predecessors in a state of great
and culpable neglect. The young Prelate having by this time
practically tasted and tested the bitters of episcopal rule, resolved
that the memory of one who had passed vrith consummate prudence
and piety through times of great gloom and difficulty should be
properly perpetuated. Dr. Doyle found the flat stone over Bishop
O'Keeffe's grave broken in two pieces, and aU record of the good
man's name effaced. He speedily erected a new monument to his
memory, with an inscription in Latin of which the foUowing is a
translation :
" Here is entombed J. L. F. O'Keeffe, who most piously go
verned the diocesses of KUdare and LeighUn for forty-six years.
In addition to the many other serrices rendered by him to reUgion,
he founded the CoUege of Carlow for the education of Priests. He
died a happy death, the 29th of July, 1787, being more than
eighty years of age. Lest the shiine of so distinguished a prede
cessor should fall into obUrion, this monument was erected to his
memory by J. K. L. in 1821. Amen."
Dr. O'Keeffe had assumed the pastoral charge of his diocess in
1741, when the Penal Laws were in the zenith of thefr strength,
and the mysteries of the CathoUc Church had necessarUy to be
dispensed in dripping caverns or mountain fastnesses. A CathoUc
Priest or Prelate, if recognized, ran some risk of befrig gibbeted.
One Bishop, who returned from exile at the perU of his Ufe in
Queen Anne's reign, hired as a common shepherd on the uplands
of MagiUigan. This spfrit of persecution and oppression lasted to
a much later period than is generally supposed. The present
venerable Bishop of Eaphoe, Dr. M'Gettigan, remembers gomg
with his father to hear Mass at the side of a mountain in mid-
-winter, with the impending cUff protecting the worshippers from
the mclemency of the weather, and when they were obhged to
have two men stationed at the top of the hUl watching, lest the
Puritans should eome down and wreak thefr vengeance upon
them. ^
As the wonderful zeal and extent of Dr. Doyle's labours had
debUitated his constitution, some relaxation became absolutely
essential. In accordance, therefore, with'the advice of an experi-

170 THE BISHOP IN A BOARDING HOUSE.
enced physician, he proceeded, in the autumn of 1821, to a plea
sant and salubrious watering-place, A letter to the author, dated
the 10th of August, 1857, from the Eev, Dr, WUls, M.E.I.A.,
author of the " Lives of Distinguished Irishmen," contains an in
teresting reference to Dr. Doyle at this period :
" My acquaintance with the Eight Eev. Dr. Doyle was brief,
though intimate and friendly whUe it lasted, and my recollection
amounts to no more than a kindly impression left by very attiac-
tive manners by which aU were conciUated, and highly inteUectual
conversation on a great variety of topics, in which there was the
most entfre freedom from any tinge of dogmatism or narrowness of
opinion. It was very soon after he had been made a Bishop that
he came to spend a summer month in Bray, at a boarding-house
at which I was staying. We were aU of a Church different from
his, and of pohtical opinions also more or less opposed ; yet this
rather trying test of character and temper did not in the least
degree prevent the most kindly, cordial, and free intercourse with
every one who possessed the good taste and information to join in
the conversation in which he took a lead. He seemed to have a
natural love of female society, and his conversation and manner
were pleasing to accompUshed and cultivated women. AU were
sorry when he left the house and society, to which he had contoi-
buted much of its best attractions, I never saw him after. .He
gave me a most kind inritation to risit him in Carlow, of which
circumstances belonging to my own course in Ufe made it impos
sible for me to avaU myself, but which I often have recoUected
with regret. Men of his mould are not many, and one would not
-wiUingly miss one of so smaU a class."
There were a few women of whose inteUect Dr. Doyle had a
high opinion, but it must be confessed that, as regards the gene-
raUty of the sex, he far from shared the riews which Bentham,
Godvrin, and Condorcet have laboured so strongly to inculcate.
The reader is referred to p. 62, where Dr. Doyle is found saying,
that if we suffered ourselves to be govemed by the feeUngs of wo
men, we would no longer be capable of holding our place in society..
Dr. Doyle soon returned to Carlow, and applied himself with
renewed actirity to the extirpation of the Eibbon confederacy,
which had shortly prerious shown itself vrithin his jurisdiction.
He likewise found time to correspond vrith his famUy and friends.
The foUowuig is addressed to Father Peter Doyle :
" Carlow, 3rd January, 1822.
" My DEAE SiE — I received your last letter shortiy after my
return from DubUn, and I only reply to it on the eve of my gofrig
there again. Our new Viceroy has caused it to be intimated to us

LETTERS TO FATHER PETER DOYLE. 171
that addresses, such as ai-e presented to the Kfrig, would be ac
ceptable to his ExceUency, and should be received and answered
in the same distinguished way. We could not (if we were so in
cUned) avoid going forward after this mtimation. Our friends are
of opinion we ought gladly estabUsh ourselves in the high situa
tion to which his Majesty raised us, and that our cultivating a
good understanding vrith the Govemment may serve the interests
of reUgion. I hope this may be the case, and though I don't like
the parade of attending every new Viceroy on his arrival (which
must now be done as a matter of course), yet I am glad that we
are thus considered. I must be again in DubUn on the 27th in
stant, and remam tiU early in February. All my time is thus
consumed, but when I am employed in one way God does not re
qufre of me to be otherwise engaged. My busmess at that time
is to preach two sermons — one in pubUc, to which I have been
compeUed by Dr. Murray and the governesses of a House of Ee-
fuge, to whom I am under several obUgations, so I could not re
fuse them ; the other sermon is for the profession of two nuns.
When last in DubUn I drew up a memorial, which Dr. Troy and
Lord FingaU presented to government, respecting the education of
the poor. We know not what result it wUl have untU the next
session of parUament. AU these affairs are of course entirely con
fined to a few, and you wiU keep them secret. I thought this
time to write some instructions for the people, but had not leisure ;
that, and the Bible Society, and the EstabUshed Church would
have given me ample employment, but I had not an hour to spare.
I wish and pray for you many happy returns of this auspicious
time, and an increase of every blessing."
On the foUovring day he writes to acknowledge another letter
from Father Peter : " Thanks to God, I was never better in
health, and vrish earnestly you were here vrith me, as I do sin
cerely think you would become Uke me in that respect. I wrote
you yesterday, and gave you some account of myself and of my in
tended risit to Dublin to see our new Lord Lieutenant. Had you
been more patient you would have heard from the newspapers that
I was weU, as of course they will notice our risit to the Castle.
I send you £34 6s. S^d, the balance of my account."
" The deputation of the CathoUc Prelates who attended vrith
the address," observes a paper of the day, "were received by the
Lord Lieutenant in his closet, and treated with marked atten
tion." The address went on to say, that the Prelates, partici
pating in the universal gladness diffused through Ireland by Lord
WeUesley's arrival, to administer the King's government in his
native land, begged leave to offer their sincere congratulations.
" They trust that thefr past conduct has conveyed to your Ex-

172 THE ADDRESS TO THE VICEROY.
ceUenoy a much better assurance than words can afford of their
affectionate loyalty to their Sovereign, and stea'dy obedience to
those in authority under him. They deeply deplore those atroci
ties which have lately outraged aU reUgion in some parts of the
country. They feel it thefr duty now, and at aU times, as minis
ters of the gospel, to resist the spirit of insubordination, to incul
cate submission to the laws, and to preach peace and good wUl
amongst men.
" With these sentiments, they most earnestly beseech the
Almighty God, who hath given to your ExceUency those great
endowments by which you have been afready enabled to render
such mighty serrices to the State, so to direct and govern aU your
undertakings, that they may invariably conduce to the pubUc good,
that you may see Irishmen of aU denominations united in the
bonds of aUegiance, Christian charity, and peace. So may your
ExceUency's public career continue prosperous, and your private
hours be blessed with unfading happiness,"
The Marquis WeUesley retumed the foUovring answer: "I
receive your congratulations with the cordiaUty and respect due to
your character, conduct, and sacred functions. The propriety of
your past demeanour attracted the condescending notice of our
most gracious Sovereign. Venerating his royal example, and obe
dient to his Majesty's instructions, I receive you here, with a full
confidence in your principles of affectionate loyalty towards your
King, and of steady obedience to the laws of the realm. The
outrages committed in some districts of the country are abhorrent
to the spfrit and doctrine of every denomination of the Christian
faith. Never did a period of tune exist when the active exercise
of your precepts and example was more necessary, to teach the
people that dutiful obedience to the law is inculcated by thefr
reUgion, and is essential to thefr present happiness and welfare.
That your success may be equal to your honest zeal in the ac
compUshment of this salutary task, is my suicere vrish and humble
but earnest prayer. In me you wUl find a fixed disposition to ad
minister the law to aU his Majesty's faithful subjects of Ireland
with a firm, but even and temperate hand. On the part of our
Sovereign, and of the United Empfre, I claim from aU those sub
jects submission to lawful authority, as the first foundation of
peace, concord, and social union."
Mr. Edward Hay, an able historian of the rebelUon of '98, and
for many years a very active person in Irish CathoUc affafrs, but
whose overpowering fluency in letter-writmg* involved him more
• Of Mr Hay, Curran once caustically said : " He is a learned pig, who would
run you down at any distance, and «runt you to death with the weight of his corres-
pondence."

ARCHBISHOP TROY SLANDERED. 173
than once in difficulties, even -with his own pai-ty, pubUshed in
The Dublin Evening Post of the 26th and 29th of January, 1822,
several columns .expressive of his opinion on various ecclesiastical
matters, but more especially on the much vexed question of Do
mestic Nomination. Mr. Hay contended that the election of
Bishops should rest vrith Deans and Chapters exclusively. He
warmly denounced episcopal interference in any poUtical affafrs
whatever; and he set his face against Catholic Prelates having
any communication, dfrect or indfrect, with the Castle. This
point was obriously leveUed at the recent deputations to George
IV. and to the Viceroy. He cited extracts from various letters
both -written to and by him, to show his consistent zeal in the
CathoUc cause, and the high estimation in which his rigUance and
prudence had been uniformly held. He strongly censured those
prelates who, in 1799, had sanctioned the Veto ,' and he trembled
lest the opinions of Archbishops Everard and Murray should have
been influenced by the vrily and plausible statements of Mr. Cooke,
under-secretary for Ireland at the time of the Union, and who,
it was said, had been recently closeted vrith thefr Lordships.
FinaUy, Mr. Hay, aUudiug to Dr. Doyle, insinuated that a mem
ber of the episcopal body had, in an Irish edition of an EngUsh
work by Dr. Milner, so emasculated it, as to teU against the princi
ple of Domestic Nomfriation by Dean and Chapter. It subsequently
appeared, however, by a letter from the pubUsher, that no omis
sions had been made without the fuU concurrence of Dr. MUner.
About this period a nephew of Dr. Troy, the CathoUc Arch
bishop of DubUn, received a lucrative appointment in the revenue.
Mob orators were not diffident in commg foi-ward to accuse the
venerable father of the" Irish prelacy, now in his eighty-thfrd year,
of mtriguing vrith the Castle. The report was eagerly caught up
and cfrculated. That Dr. Troy attended the Castle levees, with
several other members of the episcopacy, could not be denied; but
that the good man had ever unduly lent his frifluence to -the
Government, was a base and baseless calumny. In 1798, he
ordered a pastoral— dissuasive from treasonable practices, to be
read from the altar of every chapel m his diocess ; and ui this
sense, but no other, Dr. Troy may have been " a Castie Bishop "
The visit of George IV. to Ireland, in 1821, was regarded as the
precursor of great poUtical blessmgs. He was the first monarch
who had visited L-eland fri an avowed spfrit of conciUation ; and
when the CathoUc body caUed to mind that he was the fiiend and
companion of Fox Mofra, and WeUesley, and the rii-tual husband
ot a Eoman CathoUc lady, thefr weU-nigh extinguished hopes
suddenly brightened again. The CathoUc Bishops, fricluding Dr
iroy, having waited upon the Kmg, and read an address expressive

174 A PAPER WAR WITH MR. HAY.
of hope and loyalty, were received by his Majesty in a manner
singularly gracious, and, as they thought, most favourably ominous.
Dr. Doyle obserring that the conduct and motives of the venerable
Archbishop and his brother Prelates had been misconstrued, felt
himself impeUed by a double sense of duty to rindicate thefr pro
ceedings. Dr. Doyle had himself joined in the deputation to the
throne, and it was of course important that conduct dictated by
the purest motives should not be misrepresented or nusunder-
stood. Dr. Doyle in after Ufe was never a risitor at the Irish
court, except on one or two public occasions, when he considered
that the interests of the country would be promoted by his pre
sence there.
As introductory to the foUowing it may be mentioned, that in
the struggle for Emancipation or in any popular effort for the re
dress of minor grievances, the CathoUc aristocracy, with perhaps
one iUustrious exception, were always the most lethargic in lend
ing the sanction of thefr countenance or the aid of thefr influence.'
Dr. Doyle's reply to Mr. Hay appeared in the Dublin Evening
Post of the day : " Why have men in power mistaken the cause
of our miseries and the means that would remedy them ? Is it
that they did not inquire, or that it was not their intention to better
the condition of the country ? This may have been the case with
some, others may have been intent on upholding a foreign ascend
ancy, others, again, only anxious to forward some specific object ;
but there have been great and good men at th^ head of affafrs in
Ireland, who were prevented from promoting her interests only
because they were deceived by misrepresentations and misled by
a faction. Had the CathoUc Prelates free access to the present
Government, they, better than any others, could create there a just
confidence in a loyal people — could expose their wants, suggest
the means of relieving them, and unmask the designs of those
men who have no love of country, and who calumniate only that
thev may oppress with impunity."
'[Mr. Hay had quoted Burke against " CathoUc Bishops med
dling with the Castle."]
" Would Burke regret to see honest men interfere as mediators
between an angry government and an afflicted people — to see some
kind of an aristocracy filUng that chasm which separates the head
of the state from the great mass of its members ? No ; he loved
Ireland too much, and he knew better than any other man the ne
cessity of different classes in society. He knew there was Uttle
or no sympathy between the aristocracy and the people of this
country, and that -without it, or some substitute for it, Ireland
could not be free or happy.
" From the days of Constantine to the present there has been

THE BISHOPS UNJUSTLY SUSPECTED OF DECEIT. 175
no monarch in a Christian state to whom the Prelates of the
Church have not had access ; nor were they all 'larks at the
mercy of hawks !' Look to tiie Justinian Code— to the capitu
laries of Charlemagne and of his successors— the laws of Britain
prerious and subsequent to the Conquest— these were partly
framed by Prelates, or passed with thefr concurrence, and they
were these laws which humanized mankind and prepared the way
for the perfection of society.
*' But I would pass over the numberless Prelates whose wisdom
and piety, Uke an segis, protected alternately the throne and
people, and I would refer only to an Ambrose, an Augustme, a
Borromeo, or De Sales, and ask confidentiy— did thefr connexion
with thefr respective governments serve or injure the interests of
reUgion and of the state ? But CathoUc Prelates, if admitted to
the Castle, vriU become its dupes. How, then— have churchmen
changed their natm-e ? have they lost the prudence of the serpent,
and retained only the simpUcity of the dove ? . . . , I am
clearly of opinion there is not one CathoUc Prelate in Ireland who,
through ambition or personal consideration, would be anxious ever
to hold communication with the Government, But these motives
are now imputed to them, and a clamour is sought to be raised
which has its origin in prejudice, shortsightedness, or in those
leveUing principles, which, aiming at Uberty, destroy that order
which produces it,"
Mr. Hay declared that according to report a conclave, simUar
to that which sanctioned the Veto in 1799, was contemplated on
the approaching meeting of the Trustees of Maynooth CoUege.
J. K. L. goes on to say : " "Why put forth a report with an eril
meaning attached to it, and create a prejudice against -vfrtuous
men, at a time when thefr character and influence is of the utmost
consequence to the peace of the country ? Is every great interest
of ours to be sacrificed at the shrine of Dean and Chapter ? Is
the last stay upon the passions of a deluded and exasperated
peasantry to be weakened at this moment, because, forsooth, a
report prevaUs ? This is not wisdom, nor is there any justice in
it. There is no conclave to be held ; there is no scheme on foot ;
there is no plan for the subversion of the rights of the second
order of the Clergy to be derised or matured. Is it not strange
that the Prelates are the only persons suspected of a design to
cfrcumvent and betiay thefr o-wn brethren? Are they, who are best
acquainted with the rirtues of thefr own Clergy, the only men who
would traffic on their rights ? And are those of the second order
so insensible to what regards themselves, and, as Mr. Hay sup
poses, the essential interests of reUgion, as to remain sUent and
unmoved at this would-be awful crisis ? Strange infatuation !

176 DOMESTIC NOMINATION.
Many efforts have been made for years past to detach the Clergy
from thefr Prelates; but 'they are of the seed of those men
who saved Israel,' and they cannot be seduced from the right
^^J  But, a report prevaUs, and a dead witness is
cited to prove that ' the See of Eome was favourable to domestic
nomination by Dean and Chapter, and that the delegates of the
Irish Bishops opposed it.' Who can refute this report— who
can interrogate a dead man ? Is it thus the multitude is to be
deluded, and grave characters viUfied? . . , , Mr. Hay
does not spare the dead ; he iUustrates the admfrable quaUties of
his domestic plan, by references to the Uves of two deceased
Prelates, and a host of Uring ones. The piety of our fathers
watered the graves of the dead -with tbe tears of the vrillow, or
protected them with the shade of the cypress. But some of their
children have not inherited thefr sentiments. The late Bishop of
Waterford was a bad writer, and not highly gifted with common
sense ; but he might be left to rest in peace. Dr. Eyan stUl less
deserved to be censured. And why refer to Uring Prelates ?
Those named are supposed to be fit for the situation which they
fiU; and if thefr election reflect any credit on the Clergy who
were concerned in it, the Prelates are entitled at least to an
equal share, and this is known to the writer even better than to
Mr. Hay.
" Those who are most interested in the future mode of electing
Bishops in Ireland are weU aware that the manner of settUng it
does not depend on the Prelates, but chiefly on the See of Eome.
Mr. Hay, who has afready opened a correspondence with that
court, and convinced them, no doubt, that he is a better judge of
this subject than any other individual whatsoever, on account of
his superior information, can stUl continue to favour them with his
Ughts ; so may the CathoUc Board ; so may you, Mr. Editor ; and
so can every indiridual in the British dominions who is disposed
to take the trouble of doing so. Why, then, clamour against the
Prelates, as if they alone were not to be permitted to exercise their
discretion on a matter which concerns them more than all others,
as the heads of a Church which the Dirine Spfrit subjected to
their rule, and the depositaries of a sacred trust committed to
them, Uke the flre of the Temple to the prophet at the time of the
captirity ?"
J. K. L. proceeds to unfold these long-cherished riews on the
subject of domestic nomfriation which he was induced, in 1812,
to suppress (see p. 42, ante) : "But it is a species of impiety,
almost, to hesitate as to the propriety of recommending election
by Dean and Chapter. The writer of these few lines beUeves he
has read and thought more on the subject than nine-tenths of

DEAN AND CHAPTER LIABLE TO CORRUPTION. 177
those who talk and write on it, and yet freely confesses, that
though he would cheerfully sanction it as a means of settling our
Church discipUne, yet he doubts very much whether it be the best
mode of providing Bishops for vacant sees. Indeed he is confi
dent that it is not, unless it be greatly tempered and controUed by
the authority of the MetropoUtan and Suffragans. It is a matter
ascertained, being recorded in the acts of councUs, decrees of
Popes, and history of the Church, that the mode of electing
Bishops has varied as much, or even more than any other point of
disciplme. OriginaUy they were appointed by the Apostles and
their immediate successors, without any reference to Priests or
people. The four great Patriarchs had afterwards a discretionary
power to appoint Bishops within their respective jurisdictions —
subject, however, to the control of the Pope, untU the great
schisms ; and this power is stUl retained in the East with some
modifications." From Dr. Doyle's riews, which were unfolded at considerable
further length, we gather that he was not favourable to the elec
tion of Bishops by Dean and Chapter. In the middle and subse
quent ages of the Church there was no mode of election so gene
ral, nor any in which the guUt of simony and the exertion of
undue influence had more frequently occurred. The history of
the aboUtion of the Pragmatic Sanction, and the estabUshment of
the Concordat between Francis I. and Leo X. in France, furnish
instances of the e-rils attending elections by Dean and Chapter,
which wUl always cause a wise man to hesitate long before he
approves of a mode of election so Uable to abuse : " The num
berless buUs issued by different Popes to the several chapters
having a right to election in Germany, up to the present time,
furnish, in thefr detaUs, abundant proofs that the inconveniences
attending this mode of election are not confined to any age or
counfry, but grow out of the system ; whUst, .on the other hand,
there are few instances on record of an unworthy Prelate having
been chosen by the concurrent votes of the Bishops of any pro
rince. To quote elections that have taken place in this country
as a proof of the advantages of vesting this right in Deans and
Chapters, is not a good argument, for our Chapters hitherto have
had no right even of postulation — they can only recommend, and
they know that ff they elect an unworthy person, the Bishops of
the prorince -wUl not concur with them, and therefore their recom
mendation would not be likely to succeed." Dr. Doyle proceeded :
" A stronger reason is found in the very nature of a corporation,
which always degenerates. Have we any pubUc body in this
country which contmued pure ? Is the ParUament so ? Is it the
same as in the reign of Anne or the first Georges ? Are corpora-
12

178 THE IRISH BISHOPS AND LOUIS XVIII.
tions of to-wns so ? Look to Dublin or Armagh. Are the Chapters
of cathedrals or coUegiate churches so ? But we should not unveU
the sanctuary. No ; there is no corporation which has continued
pure, and the Chapters in this country would not be less Uable to
infirmity than other bodies similarly constituted. If riches did
not corrupt them, it is to be feared that influence would, and in
fluence of the worst description — local influence, Every;itman
aspfring to the office of Bishop would pay his court to the elec
tors ; his friends would be equaUy active ; the great men of the
parish would be engaged; favours would be conferred and re
tumed ; simony would prevaU to a great extent in time, and if
the clergy of a diocess were over-relaxed, or a majority of them,
how would the election of a man disposed to overlook the faults of
others be prevented ?....! would add some observations
on the e-vUs necessaaily attending aU popular elections, however
narrow the basis, but I think it more advisable to omit them —
* incedo per ignes suppositos cineri dolosce.' "
Mr. Hay and Mr. Moore, M.P., were of opinion that the in
terference of the Irish Catholic Bishops with the King of France,
in January, 1818, for the purpose of recovering thefr coUegiate
establishments in that country, was to be lamented. " And by
whom is it to be lamented ? By those French infidels, or by their
abettors, who for five-and-twenty years added the plunder of these
establishments to the robbery and devestation of everything sacred
and valuable in Europe. They had some cause to lament an in
terference which went to rescue from them k remnant of the pro
perty of our ancestors, consecrated to the upholding of the faith in
this country during the times of persecution. But for an Irish
man and a CathoUc to lament it — that indeed is surprising. Did
those famiUes who inherit a right to present to burses in these
coUeges complain of it ? Did they lament it ? Quite the re
verse — they rejoiced at it ; they knew, and every person informed
on the subject knows, that the greater part of these foundations
was purely ecclesiastical, and that the guardianship of the entfre
was vested by the acts of foundation in the Irish Bishops, or in
the Archbishop of Paris ; that its exclusive destination, vrith a few
trivial exceptions, was for the support of missionaries for this
country, to be ordained and employed, according to the necessities
of this Church, by the Irish Bishops. And yet their interference
with regard to these establishments is to be lamented ! What in
fatuation ! The CathoUc Bishops are obliged to proride mission
aries, but are not to interfere with the colleges where these are to
be maintained and educated ; they are to govem the Church, but
they are not entitled to settle those rules or that discipUne by
which that Church is to be governed. No ; an Oza can lay his hand

DR. DOYLE OPENLY ASSAILED. 179
to the ark, but they are not to touch it ! A Core, Dathan, or Abfran
may caU in question their authority, and seek to usurp it, but they
are not to be avenged ! How strange, and how preposterous, and
how impious it is, to seek to set aside the Prelates of the Churcb
from the management of their own affairs, or to misrepresent them
in the discharge of thefr exclusive duties ! There is, however, a
fund of good sense in the country, which wiU always shield these
unobtiusive men from the attacks of the siUy or malevolent ; nor
wiU they be deterred from discharging the duties which Proridence
has imposed on them by clamour or misrepresentation."
When it is remembered that aU Dr. Doyle's celebrated letters,
under the famous signature of " J. K. L.," appeared for the first
time in The Dublin Evening Post, the concluding sentence of the
first is curious : " Excuse the length of this letter, Mr. Editor ;
it is the first with which I have ever troubled you, and I hope it
may be also the last."
Poor Mr. Hay was altogether unprepared for a reply so ample,
conclusive, and influential. He was determined "to die game,"
however, and therefore promptly responded with " a logical re
tort." " I beg leave," he wrote, "to suggest to your serious con
sideration whether it be just or equitable you should admit an
anonymous writer to your columns in reply to a publication with a
real signature. When a flctitious and hidden character is put in
competition vrith an open and a real one, the worst passions of the
human heart are thus excited, which are apt to verify the maxim,
Suppressio veri et suggestio falsi."
The late Mr. Thomas Finn of Carlow, a noted piece of heavy
Uterary ai-tiUery, now came to the rescue. He had formerly been
a newspaper editor, and could throw off letters and leaders by the
yard. With an old grudge at heart against Dr. Doyle, and an
insatiable desfre to flgure in print, it may be supposed that he did
not let the present opportunity pass without presenting the pubUc
with a fluent and ffippant eridence of both. Accordingly, under
the specious pretence of vindicatuig the rights of the second order
ofthe clergy, Mr. Ffrm, behind the pseudonyme of "Laicus," dis
charged four mortal columns of brerier at J.K.L. Garnished
with a smattering of theology, a sprig of logic, and a few waifs and
strays of canon law, bis letter passed muster with some of the
laity as a leamed and able, document. Beneath the analyzing pen
of J.K.L. , however, it soon feU to pieces.
By the 7th of March, Mr. Hay had recovered his self-posses
sion and wonted epistolary power. Encouraged by the undaunted
aplomb of Laicus, he repUed at unprecedented length to Dr. Doyle.
Amongst other digressive observations, he entered an fridignant

180 DR. DOYLE's REPLY.
protest against the continuance of any intimacy between Arch
bishop Troy and the Castle.
J.K.L.'s answer is dated the llth of March. It occupies
several columns of the newspaper, and goes on to say :
" I troubled you before with reluctance — I do it now -with
pain. The chief object of my former letter was to vindicate the
character of men who, as it appeared to me, were undeservedly
traduced ; at present I only seek to rescue my own opinions from
misrepresentation, and to counteract, as far as in my power, the
eril effects which Mr. Hay's letter, and another signed 'Laicus,'
might, if left unnoticed, produce in the pubUc mind 
Your correspondent states confidently that a union of ci-ril and
ecclesiastical power has always proved anything but a blessing to
the governed ; and, as a proof, he quotes Abb6 Vertot's ' History
of the Eevolutions in Sweden,' and the separation of these powers
in CathoUc countries after the experience of centuries. I have
read Gibbon's ' DecUne and FaU,' and Volney's ' Euins of Em
pfres,' with the same feelings as ' Vertot's History.' It is Uke
' Fox's Martyrs,' a mere romance. His ' History of the Eevolu
tion of Portugal' is a tissue, of falsehood, as I had the best oppor
tunity of knowing. His book on the Eoman commonwealth is
alone, of aU his works, worthy of perusal ; and unless tbe autho
rity of Gregoire, Abbe de Pradt, and TaUeyrand, is adduced to
support him, I am of opinion that Prelates wiU suffer but Uttle
from his testimony in the judgment of men of learning 
" The history of Magna Charta is quoted to prove that Pre
lates are the enemies of liberty, and never promote the interests of
mankind. I blush at this misrepresentation, and hope sincerely it
was not wUful. And yet it is difficult to suppose so ; for of aU
the proofs furnished by history of the protection afforded to the
Uberties of mankind by the CathoUc Prelates, there is scarcely one
more Ulustoious than that recorded in the history of Magna Charta.
" The tyranny and folly of King John had persecuted the
nobUity and clergy ; of the latter tbere were only three Prelates
whom he did not compel to quit the kingdom. Bishop Langton
produced the ancient Charter of British Eights; he conspired with
the fom-teen Barons to re-assert it. Almost the entire of the
clergy who had returned from abroad and the nobiUty concurred
with them, and, with the motto of ' God and the Church' upon
thefr banners, they proceeded to compel the sUly despot to sign
that charter, of which the first and principal articles secure the
rights and immunities of the Church. The Prelates who are said
to support John in his opposition did not support him. They
stood by him as faithful counsellors, to induce him to preserve his

ARCHBISHOP TROY.

181

crown and save his country from bloodshed, and to act as his am
bassadors in conducting the treaty with those who were opposed
to him. It is thus ' that CathoUc Prelates have opposed Uberty,
and faUed to promote the happiness of mankind !' The present,
it is said, is ' an age of Ught and improvement, and the human
mind cannot retrograde.' This is frue, though there is much false
hght and a vast deal of superficial learning abroad ; but yet there
is, I hope, a sufficient stock of true wisdom remaining to bring
men back to sound principles, and to those landmarks placed by
thefr fathers, which they should never have removed."
J.K.L. then proceeded to refer to the calumnies on Dr. Troy,
who, fuU of years and virtues, sank, a few months later, into the
grave. Through Ufe he dispensed large sums in charity, and at
his death he had nothing to bequeath but his blessing. Moore's
Diary contrasts " the two Archbishops who died lately — him of
Armagh, whose income was £20,000 a-year, and who left £130,000
behind him, and Troy, the Eoman Catholic Archbishop of DubUn,
whose annual income was £800, and who died worth about a ten-
penny." Dr. Doyle writes : " The father of this venerable body
may stiU continue to be taunted, as he descends into the vale of
years, laden with merits and foUowed by the blessings of the Lish
Chm-ch, but the voice of calumny wiU not distm-b him. He wiU
find abundant consolation in the love and respect of his faithful
people— in the consciousness of his own integrity — in the recoUec
tion of the labom-s that he underwent and the good that he
effected. He often resorted to the seat of power to save those
who would reproach him. He was not popular for a time with
those of his flock who were infatuated; but he has afready received
the homage due to his rirtue from the most distinguished of the
dead and of the Uving who thought eril of him, and ff he looked to
any other judge of his actions but the Lord, he would find amongst
men aU the rirtuous and wise to applaud him. His iate^ity was
never tempted by fear or favour, because it was known to be incor
ruptible." J.K.L., having given his lay adversaries some rigorous lashes
of sarcasm, resumed the discussion on Domestic Nomination. Pay
ing them off in thefr own coin, he went on to say : " But as your
correspondent is a lover of antiquity, and gives us an extract from
Pope HUarius to Ulustrate ' his principles and secure his footmg,'
another on the same subject from Pope Celestme, one of the pre
decessors of HUarius, and whom your correspondent also quotes
cannot be unacceptable to him. ' The people,' says that Pope'
ought to be dfrected, not foUowed ; and it is our duty, when they
are Ignorant of what they should or should not do, to adrise them
and not to agi-ee with them.'— Ep. 5 ad Epis : Apul, et Calab '

182 AN ALTERNATE FEIEND AND FOE.
" If the people of this country should vrish at present to rerive
the ancient mode of electing Bishops at general assemblages of
Priests and people, the Prelates would advise them to abandon
such impracticable riews, as Uttle adapted to the age we Uve in as
the ancient law of Tanistry or Gavel-kind is to the present state
of inheritance and of property in Ireland."
J. K. L. complained that there had been a want of good faith
in commenting on his letter. He did not wish to have Chapters
aboUshed ; but as these bodies were liable to be corrupted, he wished
to have them tempered and controUed by the rights of the Metro
politan and Suffragans. He was anxious to preserve the obvious
advantages of the right of election by Deans and Chapters ; but
he desfred to have it guarded, lest it should degenerate.
On the 30th of March, Mr. Finn, under his pseudonyme of
"Laicus," was once more in the field at the head, or rather at
the foot of six mortal columns. He conducted the assault with
rigour and ability ; but the tone of his lucubration gave offence to
many of his co-religionists. After various logical retorts, and in
genious shuffies, "Laicus" concluded: " 'I cry you mercy,' Mr.
Editor, for the unreasonable length of this letter, and I leave your
author in peaceable possession of all he may have gained by re
sorting to personality rather than to argument." Mr. Finn, who
resided at Carlow, had private differences with Dr. Doyle on the
subject of a charitable bequest. He, moreover, had imbibed an
early prejudice against Dr. Doyle, as the anecdote, p. 64, ante,
shows. It may surprise some persons that Dr. Doyle should have
stooped to notice his lucubrations. But Mr. Finn was a writer of
considerable power, and Dr. Doyle feared that dangers might arise
if such diatribes were permitted to riot unrefuted. The article en
titled " The Painter Cut," for publishing which Watty Cox was
hearily fined, imprisoned, and pilloried, was written by Mr. Finn.
Throughout the rest of Dr. Doyle's life, this very eccentric genius
was almost perpetuaUy before the pubUc, belauding him one day
and rilUfying him the next. We shaU have occasion to recur to
Mr. Finn again ; but, meanwhile, as an illustration of his un
certain humour, we may observe that he proposed the foUowing
very creditable resolution at the Carlow meeting, October Sth,
1826 : " That the Eight Eev. Dr. Doyle doth pre-eminently merit
our gratitude and veneration. His numerous valuable publica
tions, the fruits of deep research, persevering industry, and power
ful talents, have deprived our adversaries of every pretext to retain
us in bondage for religion's sake."
Mr. James O'Grady, LL.D., having read Mr. Finn's ingenious
effusion, and the long lucubrations of Mr. Hay, on the same sub
ject, suggested to Dr. Doyle the expediency of finally answering

LETTER FROM THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 183
them, but the Bishop laughed at the. idea of wasting further time
upon either the one or the other, and declared that Ufe was too
short to be employed in fighting shadows. Dr. O'Grady, accord
ingly, drew up a conclusive reply, signed " Verax Laicus," and
sent it to the newspaper office for insertion. Mr. Hay chanced to
hear of it, and beUering Dr. Doyle to be the writer, repaired to
Old Derrig to beg he would withdraw a document which referred
to him in no very affable language.
The Most Eev. Dr. Everard, Archbishop of Cashel, died about
this time. The names of several candidates were mentioned for
the vacant See. Dr. Doyle warmly exerted himself in favour of
his old friend Dr. Slattery, as the reader wiU perceive on referring
back to p. 59 — but these efforts were not then successful. We
have since obtained access to the papers of the late Catholic
Primate Curtis, which disclose, among other interesting matters,
the very pecuUar infiuences that led to the defeat of Dr. Doyle's
exertions. The following letter is now pubUshed for the first
time. Had it reached our hands at an earUer period, it would
have appeared in the preceding chapter.
[Confidential.'] " London, 10th April, 1821.
" My dear Sir — I have just heard that Dr. Everard, the
titular Archbishop of Cashel, is dead, and that he is lamented by
aU who had the honor of his acquaintance, and the welfare and
happiness of their country at heart. At this important crisis it is
very desirable, that the gentleman selected to succeed to Dr.
Everard should have those moderate principles and temper which
distinguished bis predecessor — the general prevalence of which
among the clergy of the Eoman CathoUc persuasion has been so
advantageous and honorable to their reputation. I therefore take
the Uberty of an old friend to draw your attention to this import
ant point, and to entreat you to exert your powerful influence, that
the gentleman selected to succeed to Dr. Everard may be one
Ukely, by the moderation of his principles and temper, to give
general satisfaction. I hope that you are in good health ; and that
you -wUl beUeve me always your most faithful servant, "Wellington."
The Eev. Eobert Laffan soon after received his appointment
to the CathoUc Archbishopric of Cashel. The policy and career
of this pious prelate was moderate and undistinguished.
A remarkable intimacy existed between the Duke of WelUngton
and Dr. Curtis. The Duke once offered him an EngUsh Protest
ant Bishopric, with £6,000 per annum. Dr. Curtis replied that

184 ANECDOTE OF PRIMATE CURTIS.
if it were six milUon, instead of six thousand, he would not change
his religion. The Duke seemed quite unprepared for such a reply.
"As if £6000 a-year," said Dr. Curtis, as he told the anecdote,
" would prove any attraction to an old man with one foot in the
grave, and without a single tie to bind him to this world." This
honorable repugnance to apostacy contrasts favorably with Dr.
Coke's proposal to Lord Liverpool to desert the Methodist Con
gregation, of which he was pastor, if appointed Lord Bishop of
Calcutta. See the WUberforce Correspondence (ii. 256).
We shaU now transcribe the first of a valuable series of letters
from Dr. Doyle to Mariana, which have been kindly placed at our
disposal by that lady. Beloved and respected by aU, she has fiUed
the office, for twenty-two years, of Eeverend Mother, or Superior
ess, in an extensive conventual community and educational estab
lishment. The favourite cbUd of a Protestant Banker, she was
brought up in strong AngUcan tenets ; but the prejudices which
had been imbibed with her mother's mUk, at last gave way to
views of considerable liberality. "Even when a child," she writes,
" the inconsistencies ofthe Protestant Catechism set me thinking.
I found that the accusations from the Protestant pulpit were abso
lutely falsified by the conduct of my CathoUc friends, and this was
the happy foundation of aU that arose afterwards." Soon after
this decisive change in her opinions, Mariana was introduced to
Dr. Doyle by Bishop Marum, at an evening party in Eutland
Square. Mariana was so struck by Dr. Doyle's inteUectual con
versation, that she sat next him the whole evening, fondly but re
verently listening to the words which flowed in euphonious diction
from his Ups ; and when he at last stood up to bid the host good
night, he complained, in his own playful way, that she had made
him lose his game of whist. Mariana's ingenuousness pleased
him. " I amused him exceedingly," she writes, " by declaring
that I never again could make a new friendship." " Of course,"
said J.K.L., " you -wiU keep that resolution, haring arrived at the
wise and experienced age of twenty-two." Mariana's acquaintance
with Dr. Doyle graduaUy ripened into a strong feeling of friend
ship. Every conversation with him attracted her stiU closer to
the Church of which he was so bright an ornament, until, at last,
the fair young convert's devotion reached its zenith, in a determi
nation to abandon for ever a happy home, and join the Sisters of
Charity. Of much personal attractiveness, and gifted vrith a
naturaUy sparkling disposition, her accompUshments and talents
were of the most varied and fascinating character. With a nerve
of fron, Mariana tore herseff from the adulation of those who had
long courted her society, and in May, 1822, entered the chilling
noviciate of the Order of Charity. In reference to this interesting

THE SISTER OF CHARITY. 185
vocation, some of Griffin's beautiful lines might, not inappUcably,
be quoted :
" She once was a lady of honor and wealth —
Bright glowed in her features the roses of health,
Her vesture was blended of silk and of gold,
And her motion shook perfume from every fold.
Joy revelled around her, love shone at her side,
And gay was her smile as the glance of a bride;
And light was her step, in the mirth-sounding hall.
When she heard of the daughters of Vincent de Paul,
" She felt in her spirit the summons of grace,
That called her to live for her suffering race ;
Aud heedless of pleasure, of comfort, of home,
Rose quickly, like Mary, and answered, ' I come !'
She put from her person the trappings of pride.
And passed from her home with the joy of a bride,
Nor wept at the threshold as onward she moved,
For her heart was on fire in the cause it approved."
Dr. Doyle did not permit the iaclemency of the harsh winter
of 1822, or any other obstacle, to interrupt the course of his bien
nial risitations, of which a great part had formerly to be performed
on foot. Tbe Bishop's zeal in the cause of reUgion at this period
weU nigh proved fatal, as the sequel shows :
"Carlow, 13th February, 1822.
" My dear Friend — Since my arrival here on Friday last, I
have been laid up with an inflammation, produced by the excessive
cold I experienced travelling for several successive days in an open
carriage. I had upwards of flfty ounces of blood taken from
my arm at two bleedings, which, with some care, has quite
restored me, thanks to God ; and I am now enabled to acknow
ledge the receipt of your kind letter. I could wish that the Sis
ters of Charity had extended that admfrable vfrtue from which
they so justly take their name, to thefr friends in tbe country, and
exercised it even in my regard, for a more undeserving subject they
could scarcely find, or one who, when stricken by iUness, requires
more the soothing care of reUgion to preserve him calm and tran
quU, and united to the Source of charity in time of trial, however
momentary and light. But they are better employed, and I would
be weU satisfied with one of their intended oUves, that she might
learn, with me, some of the inconveniences of the state she might
be desfrous of embracing.
" I had a letter from my fiiend, relating to the subject of our
conversation. Put it away from your mind, that it may not help
to agitate a heart already too susceptible of emotion. Do, my
dear Mariana, ' look to the author and finisher of your faith,'
who underwent the cross for your sake, and labour calmly but per-

186 DR. DOYLe's CORRESPONDENCE
severingly to seduce your thoughts from the consideration of
these Uttle crosses, and to direct them to heaven and to the bliss
which is prepared for those who love the Lord — and, indeed, not
so much to that bliss as to Him who bestows it, ' for what,' savs
David, ' is there for me in heaven but Him, and what but Him do
I desfre upon the earth ?' I think you are right to hasten to the
accomplishment of your designs, for suspense and preparation, to
a mind like yours, would be very wastiug ; and the grace of God,
which is bestowed according to the measure of the gift of Christ,
accommodates itself to the natural dispositions of those to whom
it is given. In you, therefore, it might be impatient of delay, for
the soul is often inspired with a disposition to ran to the embraces
of Christ, like that which He felt in coming to be clothed with our
infirmities, and which the Prophet iUustrates by a fine compa
rison — ' He exulted Uke a giant to run his course : from the
highest heavens is his forthcoming.' The dispositions of each- of
your friends seem to be regulated for you by dirine Proridence,
' who, extending strongly from end to end, disposes aU things
sweetly,' and when He has ripened the harvest, the reaper should
put in his sickle. You should not be an obstacle to yourself ; the
cares of your mind and the troubles of your heart wUl subside gra
duaUy; and should they not, they ought to be braved, for the king
dom of heaven is taken by violence, and the riolent bear it away.
But I don't recommend a war with the affections — above all,
where a female is concerned. She should be soft and gentle, and
disengage herself slowly and by degrees from her friends. Where,
my dear Mary, could you find anything to fill your heart, which is
so large — anything to satisfy it, whose affections are so strong ?
No; gratification would enlarge your desfres, but not satisfy them;
you could not concentrate them in the bosoms of your present or
future friends; they would stUl agitate you— for ',a soul,' says St.
Bernard, ' capable of enjoying God is not fiUed with anything less
than God;' and St. Augustine exclaims, ' Thou hast made, 0
Lord, for thyself, and our heart is restless tiU it rests in thee.' "
Meanwhile a younger sister of Mariana's, attracted by her ex
ample, embraced the Catholic faith, and commenced her noviciate
in the Presentation Convent, Kilkenny : " Carlow, 3rd April, 1822.
" My dear Friend — I this moming received your very esti
mable letter. I feared that my last short and pithy note on the
subject of my health had discouraged you from writing. If I did
not expect to see you shortly, I would probably remind you about
this time of your engagement to write to me occasionaUy ; but you
continue faithful to- your promises, and ' those who are faithful in
small things'  you know the rest 

WITH " MARIANA." 187
" I hope your visit to your sister, in the Convent at KUkenny,
wUl not be attended with that paiti you apprehend. These things
are more alarming at a distance than when approached, for then
they are stripped of the cfrcumstances with which the fancy
clothes them ; and should it be necessary to caU in the aid of
reUgion to extricate oneself, the struggle is easy and the victory
consoling. To love aU things only for God is a duty — the first
duty, not only of a Chiistian, but of every reasonable being; and
' he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me' is the sword which cuts the knot which the world, or an
affection not circumcised by the knife of the Gospel, hath tied. I
confess that if I did not recur to observation, and to what is said
by all, I could not find anything within myself to give me a just
idea of those weak and useless affections which interfere with the
love of Christ ; they are perhaps the only misery of human nature
from which I have been greatly exempted, though I do hope the
Almighty has not bereft me of strong affection. Do not think,
however, that I cannot sympathize with you. I do, indeed ; but
am very confident you wUl yet laugh at your past weakness. I
vrish, my dear Mariana, you had often applied yom- acute and intel
Ugent mind to tbe phUosophy of our reUgion. I admire it only less
than its heavenly Origin, and the unction of its love or grace. The
whole frame and system of it is opposed, not only to the reputed
wisdom of the world and its rices, but also to the folly of self-
sufficient ignorance and youthful presumption. ' Know,' says
Christ, ' that if the world hate you, it hated me before you,' and
no wonder, for, ' as the heavens are raised above the earth, so are
my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.'
Fashionable youths are fiUed with passion, foUy, nonsense — with
the gabbling of pamphleteers ; they worship sensuaUty, and esteem
fine clothes, and drawing-rooms, and dogs, and horses, and aU that
is contemptible in nature ; and they know not the thoughts nor the
ways of infinite intelligence. Eternity, and justice, and judgment,
and chastity are unknown to them. They bring God down from
heaven, as Paul says, to accommodate his thoughts to thefrs, and
his ways to the ways of a perverse and besotted generation. But
he wiU reject not only their folly, but even the prudence of the
prudent and the wisdom of the wise, that no flesh may glory in his
sight. Why you were impressed -with the feelings of these men is
because you are Uke all of us — a chUd of Adam, fuU of corruption
Uke thefr own, which catches infection from them as touchwood
catches fire ; and therefore to be 'a new creature in Christ Jesus,'
and to avoid the judgment which will come upon aU the world, it
is especiaUy necessary for you 'to sell all thou hast, and give it to
the poor, and follow Christ.'"

188 ANECDOTE — QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
Dr. Doyle had recently seen much of the foUy and foppery of
the fashionable world. The visit of George IV., in 1821, had
attracted to Dublin myriads of sporting squireens and sprigs of
nobiUty. The heir-apparent to a peerage amused the Bishop by
the earnestness and exactness with which he detailed the progress
and upshot of a cock-fight : " but the attention of the company,"
observes Mariana, " was riveted on J. K. L., who, by casual,
questions, drew the youth out so completely, as to develop the
extraordinary frivoUty of one who reaUy seemed to have some
inteUect, and had possessed every means of cultivating it." This
young nobleman, after haring exhausted himself by his energetic
description of the ornithological combat, was in the act of retiring
to dress for dinner, when Dr. Doyle called him back to say: "You
have forgotten to teU us the precise length of the rictor cock's
tail." Tbe young noble's eyes sparkled with renovated excite
ment, and was beginning to enter into an elaborate description, of
the appendage, when the loud laughter of the auditory showed
him in \^at Ught his lecture was riewed. A person present who
did not catch the joke, asked the Bishop afterwards what interest
HE could possibly take in the length of the cock's tail. " None,"
he repUed, " but I wished to see how far the inordinate passion of
that fine young man had gone for trifling and sUly amusement."
[" The remaining portion of this letter," writes Mariana, " an
swers three questions : 1st. Why should persons whose conduct I
despise, make any impression on me when they sneer at religion ?
2nd. Is it trae that aU fasts are aboUshed in Portugal ? 3rd. Is
it not hard to beUeve that all out of the Church wiU be lost ?"]
" The abstinence, not the fast, has been remitted, not abo
Ushed, in Portugal, for the purpose of keeping in the country the
vast sums hitherto expended in purchasing fish from the English.
This regtUation has existed in Spain for forty years from the same
cause, and is occasionaUy extended to other countries. .
" To suppress some of the convents in Portugal is a good
work, but, Uke as in France and Italy at present, a new generation
of persons, truly reUgious, wiU spring up, and in a few years
convents wiU be re-established. A few years in the life of the
Church is not Uke so many in the life of a man. ' Without faith
it is impossible to please God,' and ' whosoever does not obey the
gospel wiU suffer punishment in heU for ever,' for there is no
name given to men to be saved but that of Christ. Moral rirtues
find thefr reward in peace of mind and temporal blessings ; they
often indfrectly merit the gift of faith and conversion, as in the
case of CorneUus ; and they exempt from many punishments even
in heU to which wicked men are doomed ; but they can never
justify, for faith, and grace, and the observance of the laws of the

SOUND ADVICE. 189
gospel are necessary. ' Whosoever offends in one is guUty of all.'
Your taste is too refined to be pleased with some ceremonies as
you see them ; they often exciCB disgust ; but what offends you or
me edifies others, and reUgion is for the multitude — aye, and for
the multitude not in Ireland, but throughout the earth, where the
majority of men must be governed by the senses, especiaUy in
warm cUmates, where no reUgion could at aU subsist without cere
monies. Adieu, my dear friend, my paper is out ; my time is
also expended, for I am very busy ; but my patience is not tres
passed on, and my affection for you is most sincere."
The foUowing letter was written a few days prior to Mariana's
retirement from the world. That a hard straggle raged between
duty on the one hand, and the dictates of nature on the other,
may be gathered.
It is said that the great difficulty a man finds is how to begin
a letter, and with a woman how and when to finish it. Dr. Doyle
would seem to have been no exception to the remark.
"Carlow, 16th May, 1822.
" My dear Friend — I received your letter on Tuesday mom
ing, and though, for my own gratiflcation and yours, I vrished to
reply to it vrithout any delay, yet I have been so hurried until
this moment, that I was obliged to trespass on your indulgence.
And even now, when I have at last snatched a moment to devote to
you, my mind is so distracted with the trifles which diride its at
tention and weaken its energies, that I scarcely know what to say.
" I vrish it might serve to keep you from sorrowing, to think
that I, whom you suppose to be gifted with more fortitude than
yom-self, am thus frequently incapable of exertion, and appear to
myself Uke some wreck cast upon a beach, useless to its o-wner,
and impossible to repair. We would and should despond in the
conflict we labour to maintain against ourselves and the enemies
of our rirtue, if we were not comforted by Him ' who Uves vrithin-
us,' and who permits us to be cast down, but not so as to perish,
rendering us perfect by reason of our infirmity ; and in these
circumstances, I know of nothing which serves so much to restore
us to a better mode of thought and new exertion, as an abandon
ment of ourselves to Him, vrith an anxious desire of getting
through this desert of Ufe, of passing the ocean of immortaUty
which separates us from the just, and arriring at the rest of the
saints, and the possession of God, and of aU the glory that encom
passes Him. There is a confidence and strength arising from the
attachment of the soul to Christ in His glory that surpasses all
understanding, and gives, like the fruit of the Apocalypse, a fore
taste of the torrent of pleasure which inebriates the saints ; and

190 HE REMOVES TO OLD DERRIG.
whUst this feeUng prevails, the trifles which disturb us are disre
garded. If you, my dear Mariana, in this short period of your
distress, seek to leave the earth, *nd endeavom- to ascend into
heaven by your thoughts and desfres, you may feel the attentions
and disquietudes of your friends, but you wiU not be agitated— lUie
the vessel at anchor, which is tossed by the wave, but not driven
from her station. Your fears are always disproportioned to the
difficulties you apprehend. Were you to remove anticipations and
deal only with the eril of the day, you would suffer less, and seek
to elude the thoughts which annoy you, by substituting for them
the consolations which the spirit whispers to the heart. At chess,
and I suppose you are a proficient at play, is it not by shifting and
address you secure the rictory, and why be less dexterous in de-
cei-ving and outwitting yom- invisible opponents ? . . . The
heart should never be fuUy dUated except to God : so the spouse
in the Canticles desires the soul to place him ' as a seal upon her
heart ; and that nothing should enter or rest there but his image,'
Why then do you talk of gratitude, my dear chUd ? You are too
grateful; I wish, and wish sincerely, you were less so to aU
human creatures — that your feelings of gratitude were directed
only to God, who is ' a jealous God,' and your esteem or respect
given to your fiiends, with so much of your affection as would not
diride your heart ; but you are young . . . , Believe me,
my dear Mariana, with the most tender sentiments of esteem and
affection, your most humble servant in Christ, " * J. Doyle."
" P.S. — I have faithfuUy disposed of your compUments, and
Miss G  desfres me to say everything I could collect to express
her friendship and affection for you. How I wish to see you both
saints !"
The latter allusion has reference to the convert lady spoken of
(p. 72, ante), who had become a nun at the same time as her
friend Mariana. Both are stUl U-ving, venerable for thefr years and
rirtues. Writing to his niece on the 25th of May, 1822, the
Bishop says : " Miss G  and another friend of mine enter the
Convent of the Sisters of Charity this day. . You see I am laying
the foundation of an estabUshment which I hope Proridence may
enable me to complete." And He did so. The Diocess of Kil
dare and Leighlin is studded with convents of the hoUest and
most useful character.
Dr. Doyle had resided in Carlow since his consecration, but,
in the summer of 1822, he removed to the house and grounds
known as Old Dei-rig, in the parish of KUleshin, Queen's County.
This change of residence to another county might convey the im-

HE SUFFERS FEOM THE TITHE LAW. 191
pression, to one not acquainted with the locality, that Dr. Doyle
had removed to an inconvenient distance fi-om the seat of his
labours. Old Derrig, however, stands in a picturesque neighbour
hood, within one Irish mile from the town of Carlow. An old,
stone-roofed chapel and the remains of a round tower exist in its
ricinity, as weU as various ruins, which seem to be the foundations
of the pubUc buUdings of an ancient town. The Bishop, in a let
ter to his niece, dated the 25th of May, 1822, refers, among other
matters, to the new purchase : "I had heard of Mr. Eedmond's
death, and lamented it most sincerely as a public loss. How un
certain is this world, and what little sincerity it affords to those
who even enjoy its comforts. His wUl shows him to have been a
most exceUent father, friend, husband, and Christian. May the
Lord repay him mercy for the mercy he has shovsm, and glory for
his attachment to our holy faith ! I am learing Carlow next
month, haring taken a house and thirteen acres of land a mUe and
a-half distant from it, in the beautiful country that Ues beyond the
river. The house, avenue, and garden are fine, and -wiU enable
me to indulge that love of solitude which has grown -with me from
my youth."The oppressiveness of the Tithe Law at this period is eri
denced by the foUowing cfrcumstances. In 1825, Dr. Doyle was
asked by his noble interlocutors in the House of Lords what
arrangement would render tithes less objectionable, considering
that they were to be paid by a people chiefly engaged in tillage.
He repUed : " I think if the present Tithe Composition BiU were
universaUy adopted, or a compulsory clause inserted, and the tithe
leried by an acreable tax, that it would excite infinitely less dis
content than exists at present. I may state one cause of that
opinion to your Lordships. I hold myself about a dozen acres of
land, which I employ in rearing a little hay for my horses, and
feeding two or three cows for my household. I have one field of
about three acres which ran to moss, and my steward told me it
was necessary, for the purpose of rendering it useful, that it should
be broken up. I hesitated long to do so, because I should thereby
subject myself to a heavy tithe. If the matter were regulated by
tax, that apprehension would not prevaU in my mind, and I would
not hesitate to improve my farm. I wiU mention another instance.
I was walking with a farmer in one of his meadows which he had
neglected to mow. I asked him why so much grass was left upon
the surface. He stated that he left it there for his cattle to eat in
the winter, for that if he had cut it and saved it for them, he
would have been obliged to pay tithe."
We cannot wonder that the joumals of the day should contain
reiterated accounts of the popular excitement occasioned in Carlow

192 HE CHECKS THE SPREAD OF INSURRECTION.
and elsewhere by this. Jaw, and the unrelenting despotism with
which it was enforced. Few viewed the tithe system with feelings
of stronger aversion than Dr. Doyle. " May our hatred of tithes
be as lasting as our love of justice," he exclaimed on one occasion.
But strong and deep-rooted as was this feeling within his breast,
he kne-wHhe duties of a Christian Bishop too well to remain impas
sive whUe the people showed symptoms of an incUnation to resist,
vrith physical force, that despotic impost. The late Mr. Dunn of
BalUnakUl, when undergoing his Parhamentary examination, in
1824, was asked : Q. " Has not Dr. Doyle's effort to check the
progress of insurrection been perfectly successful in the diocess
over which he is the CathoUc Bishop?" A. "I attribute much
of our state of tranquiUity and altogether putting down that insur
rectionary spfrit to his perseverijQg exertions." Q. " When it
began to show itself in one part of his diocess, how did he act ?"
A, " He met it at once," Q. " Did he do more than publish
the address of which the Committee have heard?" A. "Yes:
he made a special risitation of his diocess, and pubUcly exhorted
the people — which has had the happiest effect."
Mountrath had long been periodically stained by Orange tumult
and bloodshed ; but, the sufferers were invariably on the popular
side. The Parish Priest's house had been attacked, and shots
fired at his person. The frritation of the people had gradually
merged into an insurrectionary spirit, which was soon attested by
many daring acts of outrage, both on person and property. The
Defender or Eibbon Society may be regarded as the parent of
that inflammatory feeUng which, in 1822, disturbed Dr. Doyle's
Diocess. The Bishop's impressive address to such of his flock as
had become the dupes of the Eibbon Leaders is now before us.
He not only vigorously grapples with thefr motives, arguments,
and prejudices, but, Uke a skifful and inqufring physician, probes
to the very root of the disease, unfolding the secret thoughts of
the infatuated peasantry, and analysing the influences which
formed them. Dr. Doyle thus displayed another instance of his
acute knowledge of human natm-e, of the dispositions of his
countrymen, and of the existing state of Ireland. His task was
one of no ordinary difficulty ; he had to work upon the ignorant
minds of a class of persons whose reason seemed to have been sur
rendered to fatuity. Hoping against hope, and vrith a calmness
and patience worthy of the exalted Christianity which he pos
sessed, he explained, in detail, the nature and tendency of the
system — its foUy and injustice — and its opposition to aU laws,
human and dirine. "Many persons thought," observes the late
Thomas Kennedy, " that his charitable exertion would be unavail
ing, and that the pearls of his philosophy were destined to be

"fear god; HONOUR the king." 198
regarded with a swinish inattention by the multitude to whom
they were offered ; but the result was othervrise, and the dis
tinguished Prelate had the satisfaction of seeing the baneful
system not only checked in its progress, but fOT a considerable
time almost eradicated from the soil."
The address, from which we make the foUowing extracts, was
read from the altar, at each of the pubUc Masses, in every parish
which Dr. Doyle considered had become seditiously infected. " It
is an unquestionable fact," writes Sheil, " that many an insurgent
congregation is tamed into submission to their destiny, by the
voice of peace and warning that issues from the altar."
Dr. Doyle commenced by addressing himself to those who may
have been seduced into "the vUe and vricked conspiracy which has
been latety detected in DubUn^ and is known to have extended
itself into some parishes of this diocess. But before we do so,
' we take you to vritness this day that we are clear from the blood
of you all, whereas for three years we have not ceased night and
day, with tears, admonishing every one of you' to desist from these
iUegal associations, which have always augmented the erils of our
country, and now tend to bring disgrace upon our holy reUgion."
Dr, Doyle proceeded to lay down the principles of the Catholic
Church on the subject of ciril duties. Christ paid tribute to tbe
state, and caused St. Petei' to do the same. To Caesar, though a
Pagan and the conqueror of his country, he declared that tribute
should be paid. He who could obtain from his Father legions of
angels to defend him, suffered himseff to be conducted Uke a cri
minal to the tribunal of PUate, whose power, he averred, was given
him from above. "He underwent the cross, despising shame,"
that he " might be obedient unto death," not only to the vriU of
his Father, but also to the laws of his country, however unjustly
administered in his regard. Peter, whom he made the depositary
of his doctrine and power, foUowed his example. " Be you sub
ject to every human creature for God's sake, whether it be to the
king, as excelling, or to the govemors, as sent by him for the
punishment of eril-doers, for so is the vriU of God" (1 Pet. U.
14) ; and again, "Fear God ; honour the king." He unites these
two obUgations because one cannot subsist without the other — for
if the king, or he who bears the sword, " be the minister of God,
an avenger to execute wrath upon him who doeth eril" {Rom. xni.
4), how can God be feared or served if his minister be disobeyed ?
Dr. Doyle declared that the design into which some of his flock
had entered — of subverting the state, and overthro-wing the go
vernment established by Dirine permission — was opposed to the
maxims and example of our Eedeemer and of his Apostles, and to
the uniform doctrine of the CathoUc Church. 13

194 the king's visit to Ireland.
Before we examine the remainder of this exceUent exhortation,
it may be observed that the royal risit to Ireland m 1821 had
been regarded as a harbinger of great poUtical blessmgs. The
entire demeanour of the King duruig the period of his sojourn was
unmistakably calculated to promote this impression ; and when
the time of his departure arrived, he could not avoid expressmg, in
the most deUberate manner, the indeUbly favourable impression
which the conduct of the faithful and long oppressed Irish people
had made upon him. He recommended that all sectarian jea
lousies and ancient rivafries should be laid aside, and a cordial
and earnest amalgamation of both parties effected. The royal
letter went on to say: "The testimonies of dutiful and affectionate
attachment which his Majesty has received from all classes and
descriptions of his Irish subjects, have made the deepest impres
sion on his mind ; and he looks forward to the time when he shaU
revisit them vrith the strongest feeUngs of satisfaction. His
Majesty trusts that in the mean time not only the spirit of loyal
union, which now so generaUy exists, wiU remain unabated and
unimpafred, but that every cause of frritation vriU be avoided and
discountenanced, mutual forbearance and good-wiU observed and
encouraged, and security be thus afforded for the conthiuance of
that concord amongst themselves, which is not less essential to
his Majesty's happiness than to their own. His Majesty weU
knows the generosity and warmth of heart which distinguish the
character of his faithful people of Ireland; and he leaves them
with a heart full of affection towards them, and with the confident
and gratifying persuasion, that this parting admonition and in
junction of their Sovereign wiU not be given in vain,"
In PeUew's " Life of Lord Sidmouth" (vol, iu., p. 380), we
find his Lordship writing to ChanceUor Manners, and saying : "It
is most affecting to compare Ireland as it now appears, with its ap
pearance in the month of August. Not that the seeds which have
since put forth did not then exist; not that they could be deadened
by the royal risit : but stUl the contiast that is presented to the
eye and observation of the world is most painful and humiUating,
We who -witnessed and partook of the exaltation of the summer,
must deeply feel the abominations and disgrace of the winter,"
But to return to the Bishop's pastoral. He pointed out the
pecuUar unfitness of the period his flock had chosen, to form a
dark and bloody conspiracy against aU tbat was estabUshed by the
vriU of God, in a country which should be more dear to them than
Ufe. " Our gracious Sovereign had just risited us Uke a common
father, quelling the tumult of the passions, aUaying the spirit of
party and dissension, and dispensing, among every class -of his
people, the blessings of peace and good vriU." ¦ An Irishman, re-

dr. Doyle's address to the ribbonmen. 196
nowned for his wisdom and justice, had been appointed to the
government of his native country, for the avowed pui-pose of dis
pensing the laws impartially to aU, and derising remedies for the
many erils under which it laboured. He who had been the stre
nuous and powerful advocate of the rights of CathoUcs, was now
placed in a situation where he could directly view thefr merits and
sufferings, and bear, before the Legislature, a high testimony to
the truth and justice of their claims. " SbaU Ireland, my dear
but infatuated brethren, be always doomed to suffer, and to suffer
through the blindness or maUce of her own, chUdren ?"
The Bishop reriewed the motives which influenced them to
profane the name of God, by caUing on Him to attest their wicked
purpose. These were : then- distiess, thefr hatred of Orangemen,
their love of reUgion, thefr faith fri prophecies, and their hope of
seeing Ireland free. He invited his flock to examine, dispas
sionately, each of these motives. Their distress, he admitted, was
great ; but, strange to say, though he had conversed vrith many
individuals who were once engaged in iUegal associations, he had
not known one who was impeUed by want to join them. " And
now let me ask you, how are your wants to be remedied and your
distress removed by these associations ? Is it by the breaking of
canals, by the destroying of cattle, by burning houses, corn, and
hay, and estabUshing a reign of terror throughout tbe country, that
you are to obtain employment ? Is it by rendering the farmer in
secure in the possession of his property that you wUl induce him
to increase his tiUage ? Is it by injuriag canals and boats that
you are to encourage trade ? Is it by being leagued against the
gentry that you will prevail on them to improve thefr houses and
demesnes ? Is it by causing a heavy police estabUshment to be
quartered throughout the country, to be paid by taxes eoUected
from the holders of land, that you will enable them to give you
employment ? No — your proceedings are only calculated to impel
gentlemen to fly fi-om the country, to convert their lands to pas
ture, and to place an armed force to protect thefr cattle, and to
treat you, if necessary, -with the utmost rigour. Your conspiracies,
therefore, are calculated not to reUeve, but to augment your dis
tress an hundred fold."
The Orangemen might be fooUsh and wicked, but if they be
fools, they deserved the compassion of his flock ; if vricked, they
were obUged to seek their conversion by prayer and forbearance.
" If they be your enemies, your Eedeemer teaches you how you
are to treat them, saying, ' Love your enemies, do good to them
that hate you, pray for those who persecute and calumniate you.'
And his apostle desires you not to return e-vU for e-vU, but to ' over
come eril by good.' These men, who are hateful in your eyes.

196 PASTORINl's PROPHECIES.
are our brethren in Christ ; they are each of them as dear to him
as the apple of his eye ; they have aU been baptized in his blood.
If they be your enemies by a misfortune common to you and
them, they are stiU the chUdren of your Father who is in hea
ven,' " The Bishop added : " Your unlawful proceedings are the
best means you could devise to increase thefr number and extend
thefr influence," And touching the alleged motive of " love of
reUgion," he said : " Ah, my dear brethren, how frequentiy is the
sacred name of religion abused, and how many crimes and profa
nations are committed in her name ? Could reUgion be weighed
in a scale, there would not be found one ounce of pure reUgion
amongst aU those who have freely entered into your associations ?
For how can iniquity abide vrith justice, Ught with darkness, or
Christ vrith Belial? It was by meekness, humility, patience,
suffering, and unbounded charity, that Christ, ' the author and
finisher of our faith,' founded his reUgion ; by these and such like
vfrtues it was propagated by his foUowers to the end of the earth ;
by these our holy Apostle St. Patrick, whose name you profane,
and whose religion you cause to be blasphemed, planted the faith
in this island, which was once an Island of Saints, but which you
would convert into a den of thieves. Can religion be served by
conspfracies ? Can it be propagated, like the superstition- of Ma
homet, by fire and sword ? Does she requfre for her support the
aid of those who neglect aU her duties, disobey and despise her
pastors, who riolate aU her commands, and indulge in her name
aU the vices which she condemns ?"
No inconsiderable stimulant to the turbulently ilUberal spfrit
which prevaUed among the masses, was the repubUcation and cfr
culation of a curious old work entitled "Pastorini," which ambi
guously prophesied the dovmfall of the creed of Luther, in or
about the year 1822. The Bishop proceeds : " Your faith in
prophecies — this, dearest brethren, is a subject which we find it
difficult to treat vrith becoming seriousness ; and yet it is one
which has produced among you the most deplorable effects, I
have been credibly informed, that during the course of the last
year, when great numbers of you, yielding to our remonstrance
and those of our clergy, had vrithdrawn yourselves from these
mischievous associations, you were prevailed on to return to them,
excited by some absurd stories caUed 'prophecies,' and which
were disseminated amongst you by designing and vricked men.
There have been, to our own knowledge, instances of persons
neglecting thefr domestic concerns, and abandoning their famiUes
to misery and want, through a vain hope, grounded on somesup-
posed prophecy, ' that mighty changes were just approaching !'
For more than half a century it was predicted that George IV.

HE ANALYSES THE REBELLIOUS SCHEME. 197
would not reign, and his very appearance amongst you was scarcely
sufficient to dispel the illusion. Such excessive creduUty on your
parts, and such a superstitious attachment to fables, a thousand
times belied, is a melancholy proof of the facility with which you
may be seduced by knaves. Our Church, dearest brethren, ap
proves of no prophecies, unless such as are recorded in tbe ca
nonical Scriptures ; and though the gift of prophecy, Uke that of
miracles, has not entfrely ceased in the Church, she has never
lent the sanction of her name or approbation to vulgar reports or
traditionary tales,"
Dr, Doyle and other eminent Catholic divines have been
taunted by polemics vrith holding the opinion, that " the end
sanctifies the means" — with what justice we shall see.
"But your object is to make your country free and happy.
We wiU not reason with you on the end which you propose to
yourselves, which, even if it were laudable, could not justify the
employment of unlawful means, ' as e-ril,' says an apostle, ' is not
to be done that good may happen ;' but we vriU consider for a mo
ment your design itself, and the persons employed to carry it into
execution, tbat if possible the absurdity as weU as the wickedness
of it may become palpable to you. And first, who are those who
would undertake to subvert the laws and constitution of this coun
try ? Persons vrithout money, without education, without arms,
vrithout counsel, vrithout discipline, without a leader; kept together
by a bond of iniquity, which it is a duty to riolate and a crime to
observe; men destitute of reUgion and abandoned to the most
frightful passions, haring blasphemy in their mouths and their
hands filled with rapine, and oftentimes with blood. Can such as
these regenerate a country and make her free and happy ? No,
dearest brethren ; left even to themselves they would destroy each
other, but opposed to a regular force, they would scatter like a
flock of sheep upon a mountain when the thunder-storm affrights
them. The year 1798 is within the recollection of us aU; at that
fatal period, Protestant, and CathoUc, and Dissenter of every class
and description, not even excepting the army, combined to over
throw the Govemment. You -witnessed their faUure, the scenes
which then occurred, and many of you experienced thefr fatal
consequences. If, then, such was the result of an extensive con
spfracy, comprising persons of all religions, of wealth and affiuence,
of intelUgence, connected abroad, organised at home, and under
taken at a period when a revolutionary spirit pervaded Europe, and
England was engaged, almost single-handed, vrith a most formi
dable enemy, what success could possibly attend the efforts of the
rile and contemptible conspfracy we now hear of?"
Most of the ministerial newspaperS reviewed this Pastoral iij

198 IMMENSE SUCCESS OF DR. DOYLE's PASTORAL.
terms of respect and admiration. One journal, instead of applaud
ing the good Bishop's apostolic labour, enumerated many acts of
barbarity into which the misguided people had been led, and, more
ingeniously than ingenuously, turned into bitter ridicule that por
tion of the Pastoral which addressed them as " dearly beloved in
Christ Jesus." The sensation produced by the Bishop's weU-
timed document was general, salutary, and intense. The Dublin
Evening Post, a few days later, thus reports progress : " We
scarcely recoUect an instance, in our long experience at the pubUc
press, of a document creating such a sensation — such a good sen
sation — as this Pastoral Address. Thousands of copies have
afready been circulated. Yesterday morning an edition was ready
for the pubUc, and hundreds of copies sold in the course of the
day, although the address appeared in two moming papers of the
same day. It will be copied, we beUeve, into every one of the
country papers, and we expect to see it in the Government
prints." Three hundred thousand copies of this address, written, as
O'ConneU said, " with the affection of a parent and the talent of a
phUosopher," were soon after printed and distributed at the ex
pense of the Government. It was also translated into the verna
cular language of Ireland by Mr. Scurry. O'ConneU, at the
Catholic Association, on the 14th of June, 1824, reminded his
auditory of the good effect produced by Dr. Doyle's Pastoral to
the Eibbonmen. " That address," he said, " spoke with such
persuasive eloquence and sincerity of intention, and appealed so
successfully, through the force of feeling and truth, to the reason,
prejudices, and passions of the peasantry, that it did more to
induce patience and tranquiUity amongst them than twenty Insur
rection Acts in full operation. No man could tell where the dis
turbance would have ended had not the spring of insurrection been
stemmed at its source. And why did Dr. Doyle write that ad
dress ? Was it to get place, or title, or pension ? No ! they had
no value for such a man. He offered it as a gem of unbought
loyalty from a Christian Prelate, whose only earthly reward was in
seeing his countrymen good subjects and good Christians."
From the many private letters to the same effect which reached
Dr. Doyle, we select one from a not uninfluential person in his
day, the late Major Warburton :
" My friend Mr. Duan haviag informed me of his intention of
risiting you, I avaU myself of the opportunity it has afforded me
to express my hopes that you -wiU not again pass through this
county without indulging me with the pleasure of your company.
I have always entertained the highest respect for your character
and talents, but your late Pastoral Address, though it was such as

TERGIVERSATION OF ARCHBISHOP MAGEE. 199
I should have expected from you, has inspired me with veneration
for your truly Christian vfrtues. The pious instruction it contains
must tend to dissipate those prejudices which ignorance and bigo
try have fomented, and which too long have dirided and distracted
this Ul-fated land. I hope I shall Uve to see the day when aU
reUgious distinctions shall cease to exist — when the only contention
between Protestant and Eoman CathoUc shall be who shall exceed
the other in acts of mutual benevolence. This, I think, is rapidly
approaching. The late occurrence at the theatre wiU, I trust,
hasten its completion." Major Warburton aUudes to the bottle
which had been flung at the hberal Lord Lieutenant.

CHAPTEE VIII.
Archbishop Magee's charge — " A Church without a religion, and a religion
without a Church" — Reply of J. K, L, to Dr, Magee — Sensation pro
duced — Lord Wellesley anxiously watches the combat — Sir Harcourt
Lees and the Dublin Corporation to the rescue — Rumour of Dr, Doyle's
appointment to the Primatial chair — An inritation to Old Derrig — Letter
from J, E, Devereux and the Editor of The Times — Letters to Nuns —
Dr. Doyle and the Monks — The Kildare-street system of education —
Breach of faith — The Lord Primate and the Duke of Leinster retire —
Formation of the National Society — The Right Hon, C. Grant, now Lord
Glenelg — Mr, Goulbourne — Important Letter and enclosure to Sir H.
Parnell on the subject of education.
The letters of J. K. L., in 1822, to the Most Eev. Dr. Magee,
although bearing unmistakable eridence of hasty writing, are
more clearly and pleasurably remembered by the bulk of Dr.
Doyle's admfrers, than many other documents from the same
source which exhibit a loftier range of thought and a purer style
of composition. Dr. WilUam Magee, when a FeUow of Trinity CoUege, DubUn,
had been generaUy regarded as a man of enlarged and liberal
principles. He was the bosom friend from youth of WilUam
Conyngham Plunket, the great champion of CathoUc Emancipa
tion; and when Lord Wellesley assumed the govemment of
Ireland on a new and liberal scale of poUcy, Mr. Plunket and Dr.
Magee were amongst the first selected by the Viceroy for aiding
in the development of his wise and tolerant views. Dr. Magee,
however, was no sooner instaUed on the archiepiscopal throne
than he flung off the mask of moderation, and hastUy assumed all
the attributes and characteristics of an iUiberal polemic. One of
his first labours was the organization of a wide-spread proselytizing

200 THE BARBED ANTITHESIS,
crusade, which in many instances enkindled feelings of riolent
sectarian rancour and antagonism. This movement his Grace
designated " the Second Eeformation."
CathoUc spirit was so prostrate at the period of which we
write, that Dr. Doyle's castigation of the Arch-Prelate upon his
throne was considered by many to evince an almost incredible
amount of daring. The loud and uncompromising voice of the
Catholic Association* had not as yet resounded through the land,
awakening the CathoUc body from their apathy, and arresting the
attention of the long indifferent minister. Dr, Doyle's spirited
retort was almost unprecedented, arid the then organ of the Catho
lic party which gave it insertion did not do so vrithout an indirect
editorial apology and qualification.
Almost for centuries the Catholic Church of Ireland had sub
mitted, without a murmm-, to malevolent misrepresentation. Dr.
Doyle was the precursor of a new Une of poUcy and action. He
felt that silence under persecution was not always to be observed,
and that plausible slander should be conclusively refuted. Some
of the purest truths of his Church might eventually become ob
scured beneath the mass of controversial rubbish which its enemies
daUy flung upon them ; and to hurl it off was no ordinary duty.
Dr. Doyle knew, furthermore, that constant lashings of water might
eventuaUy undermine a rock, and that " the sUent slave would be
converted into a beast of burden." The Sampsonian determination
and power with which Dr. Doyle grasped the leading piUar of the
Irish Church EstabUshment, and shook it in the very citadel of
its strength, awakened a vride-spread murmur of applause, although
many members even of his own party could not disguise their
feeUng of alarm at what they considered an act of great temerity.
Archbishop Magee held his primary risitation at St. Patrick's
Cathedral on the 24th of October, 1822, and deUvered on that
occasion a charge of very considerable eloquence. A short extract
wiU serve to convey an idea of its tone and tendency : " We, my
reverend brethren, are placed in a station in which we are hemmed
in by two opposite descriptions of professing Christians — the one
possessing a Church, without what we can call a religion ; and
the other possessing a religion, without what ive can call a
Church — the one so blindly enslaved to a supposed infaUible
ecclesiastical authority, as not to seek in the Word of God a rea
son for the faith they profess ; the other sO confldent ui the infaUi-
* The first meeting was held a year later in a back drawing-room in Cap^el-
street, O'ConneU could with difficulty muster the attendance of six persons.
-When the Association had at last grown into importance. Dr. Magee thus antithe
tically referred to it in his Parliamentary evidence: " It is the misfortune of the
present day that the Roman Catholics have now raade their religion theur politics,
and their pohtios their religion."

" THE SLOUGH OF A SLAVISH SUPERSTITION." 201
biUty of thefr indiridual judgment, as to the reasons of thefr faith,
that they deem it their duty to resist all authority in matters of
reUgion. We, my brethren, are to keep clear of both extremes,
and holding the Scriptures as our great charter, whilst we main
tain the liberty vrith which Christ has made us free, we are to
submit ourselves to the authority to which he has made us subject.
From this spfrit of tempered fi-eedom and qualified submission
sprung the glorious work of the Eeformation, by which the Church
of these countries, having thrown off the slough of a slavish super
stition, burst forth into the purified form of Christian renovation,"
A more just and sensible appUcation of episcopal animadversion
foUowed. Dr. Magee admonished his clergy for past frregulari-
ties, and exhorted them to discharge the duties of their office hence
forward with zeal and efficiency. As a body he eulogized them
warmly. He t-wice declared that by every prerious Archbishop of
Dublin " the discipUne of the diocess had been totaUy neglected."
Among other matters, it transpired that " the clandestine admis
sion of unlicensed persons to the discharge of clerical duties" was
of not unfrequent occurrence. After another antithetical cut at
the CathoUc body, the charge concluded with a reference to the
much vexed Tithe question. He implored of the Protestant clergy
never to surrender their inaUenable rights. The antithesis had
been from the days of his youth a favourite figure of speech with
Dr, Magee, and it involved him more than once in a dUemma.
So far back as 1796, Mr. Swift, of Trinity CoUege, Dublin, sati
rized the FeUows in a poem caUed " The Monks of Trinity,"
which had some smart Unes. "In one," says Thomas Moore,
where Magee was styled a ' learned antithesis,' he seems to have
prefigured the sort of scrape in which this ambitious Priest got in
volved, some years after, by the use of that same figure of rhe
toric." The unlucky paragraph which we have quoted, not only dre-w
down upon Dr. Magee the anger of the CathoUc body, but eUcited'
a steadily organised assault from the dissenters. A hornet's nest
had faUen before the Prelate's path, but he kicked it aside with
sovereign scorn ; and in tbe second edition of the Charge, which
was speedUy caUed for, he boasted <tf ha-ving consistently reite
rated every expression to which exception had been taken by
" Eomanists" and Sectaries. One sUght change was certainly
made, but the poison of the arrow stiU remained. " The tram
mels" were substituted for "the slough of a slarish superstition."
Haring pubUcly apostacised from the Uberal piinciples to which
his episcopal promotion was mainly attributed. Dr. Magee flung
aside the symbolical olive-branch of peace with one hand, while
with the other, Uke the incendiary of Ephesus, he applied his.

202 DR. Doyle's reply to dr. magee.
torch of discord to a mass of inflammable matter, which soon blazed
forth -with fatal fury. The Dissenters on the one side, and the pole-
micaUy disposed CathoUcs on the other made, common cause to
gether, and daUy poured forth rials of wrath on the narrow-
minded churchman's head. Stimulated by an example so in
fluential as the Archbishop of DubUn, the worst prejudices and
passions of Protestantism became, in their turn, enkindled. Ca
thoUcism was subjected to a new and elaborate train of insult ;
and it is matter of history that some of its very altars were
clandestinely desecrated, in 1822, by calves' heads, and other
gross symbols of sacrilegious ridicule. Dr. Magee, haring sent a
poisoned arrow, in the shape of a barbed antithesis, to rankle iu
the heart of his country, calmly contemplated, from his lofty
throne, the pain and tumult which resulted from it. As the effect
became more marked, his demeanour was thought to assume rather
an air of scornful triumph, and so far from endeavouring to aUay
the fever around him, as a Christian Bishop might be expected to
have done, he sent forth "authorised versions" of his inflamma
tory charge, vrith a dehberate reiteration of aU the UUberal riews
and offensive phraseology of the original. The Charge having
been, in the first instance, given forth with the zeal of an ex
tempore sermon, the Archbishop had it stiU in his power to retrace
his steps with dignity, by explaining what may have been liable to
misconstruction, and softening what was offensive ; but his Grace's
fron -wiU could brook no compromise, and he resolved to stand his
ground defiantly.
Within a very few days after this contentious Prelate's Charge,
Dr. Doyle, though sadly straitened for leisure, had answered his
Grace in a letter written currente calamo, which he forwarded
to the editor of a liberal print for insertion ; but some delay arose
in pubUshing it, and Dr. Magee's Charge had been for more than
a fortnight working its unwholesome influence ere J. K. L. was
suffered to enter the Usts with him, and scatter it to the winds.
In this letter Dr. Doyle recorded his first protest against the
Tithes. He reminded Dr. Magee that £1,300,000, or one-
thfrteenth of aU the arable land in the kingdom, with a tenth of
the produce of the remainder, leried chiefiy off the industry of a
wi-etched peasantry, was too great an income for the ministers of
between two and three hundred thousand people !
J. K. L. began temperately, but gradually warmed. " In the
Eeport of your Grace's charge to the Clergy of your Archdiocess,
as pubUshed in the newspapers, there are many passages better
calculated to give offence than to produce conriction ; and whUst
your Grace ' exhorted, reproved, and besought' those who heard
you, there seemed to be some want of patience as weU as a defi-

ANGLICAN RIGHT TO CHURCH PROPERTY DISPUTED. 203
ciency of doctrine in your mind and manner  It
must have been a painful avowal to your Grace — the acknowledg
ment, that in this country, so famed for its love of justice, ' there
should be found many who deem it no riolation of tbat cardinal
rirtue, to infringe or evade the laws which are designed to protect
the property of the Church.' The reason is, my Lord, that in
this country the nature of your Church property is understood by
aU, and is considered as different from every other in it. Your
property is not held by deed nor conveyance, for it was transferred
by law from those who held it by these titles. It is not held by
prescription, from time immemorial ; for all know when and
how you became possessed of it, what your title was, what the
good faith by which you held it, and what the term of your
possession. You do not hold it by right of conquest — for meek
churchmen vriU not found their right on blood, nor exclaim with
the Scotch Barons of thefr domains, ' By these swords we won
them, and -with these swords we -wiU maintain them.' You were
not put in possession of them by any treaty, for you were never
a party to any treaty, and no treaty executed by you is on re
cord. You hold, my Lord, by the law, and by the law alone —
not by the Dirine law, for that ceased, as far as regards tithes,
vrith the Commonwealth of the Jews — not by the law of the
Church, for you have no connexion whatever with the Church
which once possessed them in this country. You satisfy none of
the obUgations which she incurred on receiring them ; you dis
charge none of the duties which her ministers were bound in
justice to perform for them, and with them. You possess your
property only by rirtue of the ciril law, and that law is penal —
and highly penal. It is much more penal than the laws which
enforce the payment of taxes to the State, whereas the State
defends the subject against foreign enemies, and protects bim
from pubUc and private wrongs, thus giring him an equivalent for
what he pays. But what, my Lord, does the Establishment give
the peasant in return for his tithe ? Yet Judge Blackstone
teacheth, and aU aUow, that the Legislature, in enacting laws of
tribute, neither binds, nor intends to bind, the conscience of the
subject; and hence no man hesitates to withhold his taxes until
caUed upon for payment; and there are many in England and
here who would not hesitate to evade and infringe the laws of
tribute, could they do so with impunity- — but with how much a
better plea can the ragged peasant evade or infringe that law
which takes from him the produce of his field, the fruits of his
industry, and gives him nothing in return.
" Do not accuse, my Lord, of iojustice, men who think on
this subject differently from your Grace; as you will neversueceed

204 REPROACHES MET BY REPROACHES.
in conrincing your countrymen that they are conscientiously-
bound to pay for what they don't receive — as there is not a
peasant in Ireland who does not know, as well as Ulpian, that
commutative justice requires ' an equivalent to be given for what
is received.' "
J.K.L. regretted to heai- from such high authority as Dr.
Magee tbat, " at the present day, those whom your Grace con
siders 'the national clergy are in a state Uttle short of persecu
tion.' I know the nature of persecution so weU, that I shudder at
the thought of its being revived in this country against any set of
men, and more especiaUy against the clergy of the EstabUshed
Church, many of whom, in my opinion, deserve even the praises
bestowed upon them all by your Grace ; but hitherto, I must con
fess, I considered them, in a temporal point of riew, the most
happy, if not the only happy class of persons in Ireland. Their
dignitaries aU in splendour, amassing wealth almost beyond calcu
lation ; the parochial clergy enjoying sinecures, that otium cum
dignitate which the Eoman philosopher prefeiTed to the dignity of
a consul, or even to the power and privUeges of a dictator. But
how much are we deceived, and how true it is, ' that no inan Uves
contented vrith his lot !' "
Dr. Doyle knew a good deal about Dr. Brovm, the first Pro
testant Archbishop of DubUn. He was originally a member of the
Augustinian order, like Dr. Doyle ; but, unlUce him, his life would
seem to have been not sans reproche. Dr. Magee had recom
mended a steady perseverance in inculcating Protestant principles
and laws; and in discouraging those tenets caUed New Lights,
" we must," said he, " show ourselves the soldiers and servants of
Christ, and prove ourselves the genuine ministers of that Catholic
and Apostolic Church that has handed its power down to us from
ages far removed, freed as we are from those errors with which
our predecessors have been obscured."
Dr, Doyle retorted — "Would it not be vriser to abstain from
such reproaches than to run the risk of haring the shame of your
own sect revealed ? And when enthroned in the midst of that
venerable pUe, hung aU round with awful recoUections, and about
to charge the New Lights with irregularities, why did you not
recoUect that the first of your Grace's predecessors there was a
New Light — an apostate and a lewd monk, the rile sycophant of
CromweU, the most mfamous of aU Henry VIII,'s secretaries of
state, and the rilest pander to his lust and craelty ?
" As an Archbishop of the EstabUshed Church, I would beg
leave to ask you, my Lord, who are you, and where did you come
from ? From what heaven have you faUen ? What earth pro
duced you ? Turn over the records of your Church, teU us the

ATTACK UPON " THE NEW LIGHTS," 205
names of the Bishops who preceded you ; show us how they were
connected with the Apostles, or -with those who received the faith
from them. Produce your claim to that title of ' apostolic,'
which you so ostentatiously put forth, but to which your Grace
has as good a claim as to the Dukedom of Leeds ! The New
Light, with aU his imputed irregularities, is as much apostoUc as
your Grace, for he professes to foUow the doctriae of the apostles,
and unquestionably adheres to thefr practice in zeal and poverty
as closely as your Grace."
J. K. L., retaUating with the Archbishop's own words, ex
pressed a desfre to know why those "whom Christ has freed"
should be subjected to the yoke of Dr. Magee's church authority.
" Have they not the same right by which your Grace is Bishop in
the EstabUshed Church to judge of the. Word of God, if they be
men of sound judgment, as no doubt they are, for otherwise the
charity of Svrift had prorided them with an asylum ? Why then
does yom- Grace rebuke them, or seek to captivate thefr under
standing to the obedience of tbe faith of your Church — a Church
which wisely disclaims infaUibUity, and whose creed has been com
posed in part of the ti-aditions of men, and compUed from time to
time by lay persons and ecclesiastics, whose very names are a
reproach to all with whom they are connected?" Dr. Doyle argued,
" that by Dr. Magee's intolerant attack upon the New. Lights he
yielded up the fundamental principle of the Protestant Church :
" There is no declamation nor high colouring of words which
can veU that wound which is ever gaping in the side of your
EstabUshment, Uke the novi homines, the new men amongst the
Eomans. Her origin vriU ever be inqufred after, and every claim
to apostolicity for her, however put forth ' in the loftiness of
speech,' wUl fall to the earth weak and unsupported,
" The Arians were connected with the apostoUc times ; they
had the support of Kings and Emperors ; they, too, had the cathe
drals and thrones of those who went before them ; they had the
Word of God ; and there were many of them men of the soundest
judgment. But they were New Lights, like your Grace's prede
cessors, and, like your Grace, they said they were apostoUc, but
they were not beUeved, Macedonius, Nestorius, Eutychius, Arius,
Vegelantius, and the Iconoclasts, claimed a similar connexion vrith
the aposties, whilst they taught many of the heresies which are,
now held by men whom I would not name ; they also had churches
and an establishment ; they censured the irregularities of New
Lights ; but they were not apostolic. Luther, my Lord, to whom
your Grace is greatly indebted — for it is from the Confession of
Augsburg, the fruit of his mind, though written by Melancthon,
that your articles are principaUy formed — he would not assume the

206

THE CONFLICT CONTINUES.

title of apostolic, but he claimed to be an apostle. Perhaps it is
from him your Grace's Church derives her title ! If so, he too
was a New Light — not indeed an ordinary one, but a comet whose
maUgnant influence consumed the nations ! Cranmer, and Lati
mer, and Eidley, and Coverdale, and Peter Martyr, and Bucer,
and Zuinglius, and Henry, and Somerset, and EUzabeth, and
CecU, and Burnet, and TiUotson, and Taylor, and Hoadly— these,
my Lord, are the apostles, the fathers, and the supporters of your
Church — these are the men, with a host of apostates, in whom
your Grace glories, and of whom I can only say, ' non invidio qui
dem miror mages,' But if they have reconstructed your Church
on ' the foundations of the prophets and apostles,' the Manichean
system must be trae, and the evil principle has prevaUed over the
good one !"
A close and brUUant controversial argument followed. Eeferring
to Dr. Magee's attack on the Eoman CathoUc Church, J. K. L.
said : " Shall she always have to complain, with her Founder, by
the mouths of his Prophets, ' They hated me without cause,' and
' I have reared up sons and they have despised me ?' Could your
Grace not find a reUef for your pleasing picture of the EstabUsh
ment, unless in the prostrate figure of the Mother Church ?
Could not your genius invent, or fancy supply some other contrast
by which to exhibit the beauty of your own system, than that
afforded by the misrepresentation of another and a better? Could
you not form an antithesis -without uttering a calumny? Your
Grace is reported to have said ' that the Eoman Catholics had a
Church without a religion ;' but Isaias saith of that Church, ' that
every arm that is raised against her wUl not prosper ; and against
every tongue that contendeth vrith her she shaU obtain her cause,
for this is the inheritance of her children.' "
Dr. Doyle's Church had been taunted as "unscriptural."
" Let me inform your Grace that there is more of Scripture proof
adduced by any one of our approved dirines, than I have ever met
in many of those of the Church of England, though theology has
been my principal study for many years ; and I confidently teU
your Grace that there is no dogma of the CathoUc faith, nor no
discipline necessarily connected with it, which is not supported by
Scripture, or by tradition manifestly proved to be dirine and
apostoUc — farther, that this tradition is the foundation of your
own creed, and the only authority for many of your observances."
Dr. Magee declared that the Catholics had no reUgion. " My
Lord, pray, what is religion ? We define it, after St. Augustine, ' a
virtue or rule of love, which incUnes us to give due worship to the
Deity.' And how is the Deity to be worshipped ? The just have
always worshipped Him in spirit and in trath, by sacrifice and

DR. MAGEE REPLIES. 207
prayer, and the exercise of aU the virtues dfrected to His honour.
Do not Eoman Catholics offer to him sacrifice ? Yes, ' from the
rising of the sun to the going down thereof.' Do they not pray ?
Visit their temples and thefr houses. Are they not chaste? They
alone, on that head, seem to have attended to the example and
counsel of thefr Lord and his Apostles. Are they destitute of
faith ? No, for their faith is spoken of and fructifies throughout
the entire world. But why enumerate thefr vfrtues, or bear testi
mony to their devotion, whereas thefr very piety has become a re
proach to them, and they are said to make void the cross of
Christ, by the reUance they place on the good works which,
through his grace, they are enabled to perform. Such, my Lord, .
are the men of whom your grace is stated to have said, ' they had
no religion !' Did your grace but revolve in your mind the labour
of a Xavier, the apostoUc Ufe of a Borromeo, the zeal and piety of
a De Sales, the admfrable Ufe and heroic rirtues of our present
Pontiff, your Grace would have been humbled on your throne,
and, instead of reviling the reUgion of those men, you would have
descended to the place of the pubUcan, and prayed to the God of
the Temple that he would make you like to one of them." Dr.
Magee was truly made to feel " nemo nos impune lacessit."
This letter, although pubUshed in a newspaper, ran to volumi
nous length, and was immediately reprinted as a pamphlet by
Grace, of DubUn — not his Grace of DubUn. Many years after,
an impartial authority — The Gentleman's Magazine — thus ably
epitomised the contents : " Affecting the greatest humiUty, he
displayed extensive erudition, and iu a masterly letter, in which
aU the subtleties of dogmatic theology were clothed in the most
powerful and argumentative language, he took a reriew of the Ee
formation, tithes, pluraUties, the appropriation of Church property,
and finaUy denounced the Church itself as a usurpation, and the
Bishops as usurpers, maintaining that the apostoUcal right of
succession could never be transferred from the CathoUc Church to
the Protestant."
Dr. Doyle's clever and courageous retort at once brought the
high-flying Archbishop to his pen. A new edition of the charge,
vrith an explanatory note, appeared. The latter began — " The
members of the Eomish communion," and went on to defend the
propriety of the phrase " CathoUc" as appUed to the AngUcan
form of worship. In a prerious page he declared himself " a sin
cere Protestant, and gloried in giving utterance to those senti
ments which a Protestant Bishop should never compromise," and
the next found him labouring to prove that he was a Catholic.
The Protestants were not too well pleased to be addressed by
their Bishop as members of the then proscribed reUgion, whUe

208 DE. DO-YLE AGAIN IN THE FIELD.
the Catholics repudiated the claims of the Most Eeverend Doctor
to participate in the ancient faith of Ireland. Among other autho
rities which Dr. Magee cited to show that Protestantism was
nothing niore nor less than CathoUcism, the uncanonical name of
CromweU occupied a prominent position. The note contained a
few other iUustrations, but they were, of little interest and less
value. In The Evening Post of the 14th December, 1822, we find
him again addressing the " Lord Archbishop." Dr. Doyle pre
fixed as a motto the passage from St. Gregory (L. 20, Mor,,
cap. -vUi.) : " Sit amor, sed non moliens : sit rigor, sed non exas-
perans: sit pietas, sed non plusquam expediat parcens," "Your
Grace's charge, when first pubUshed, obUged me to address you.
I did so, not through any feeUng of hostUity to your Grace — for,
tUl then, I rejoiced -with the country at large that your reputed
talents had received the ample reward which they were supposed
to merit ; but for the purpose of repelling unfounded imputations
gratuitously cast by you on the reUgion which I profess. A news
paper, containing an explanatory note by your Grace of that
charge, was put into my hands this afternoon, and I sit down to
observe upon it with feelings much more subdued than I brought
before to the consideration of your text. I shaU therefore deal
with your Grace's apology — for such I deem it — ^in the spirit
which the motto prefixed to this letter impUes."
Dr. Magee complained in his note that Catholics, by their
acceptation of the word " CathoUc," exclude from the pale of the
Church of Christ aU those to whom they refuse a participation in
that name. But Dr. Doyle showed that Eoman Catholics held
substantiaUy the same opinion on the subject as every other deno
mination of Christians who have published any authentic profes
sion of faith : " We consider that whoever is baptized is incorpo
rated with Christ, and has ' no damnation in him,' and that ff he
retain the grace of that first adoption pure and unsuUied until
death, he enters heaven — no matter to what sect or denomination
of Christians, whUe on earth, he may have belonged." An elabo
rate expUcation of the well-known doctrine of inrincible ignorance
followed : " Whether such ignorance as I have described does ex
ist in this country is known to the great Searcher of hearts,
'whose eye seeth all things;' but it is undoubtedly hidden from
your Grace and from me, and until revealed unto us we should not
judge one another."
Dr, Doyle laid down the canon law of the' Eoman CathoUc
Church on the question of exclusive salvation, and he added that
there is hardly any Church of Christians, fi-om thg Indus to the
Pole, from Tonquin to Washington, which does not maintain this

EXCLUSIVE SALVATION — CRANMER. 209
doctrine "in one shape or other." The opinion of the Catholic
Church is not substantially different from that professed by the
Protestants of Germany in their profession of faith, presented to
Charles V. in 1535 ; from that of the Swiss Cantons in 1566 ;
from that of the Kirk of Scotland in 1647 ; and "from that of the
Church to which your Grace belongs, as may be seen in the 18tb
other articles."
Some observations of CromweU haring been laid under contri
bution by Dr. Magee, to show that Protestantism was synonymous
-with Catholicism, Cranmer who changed his faith according to
the caprice of Henry, and Somerset, and Mary, and made six for
mal professions of it, was next quoted. " To take Cranmer's de
finition of what was CathoUc is surely to rest it on a broken
reed," proceeded J. K. L. " 'That,' he said, 'was CathoUc which
was beUeved in the Church 1500 years ago.' The period to
which Cranmer referred, my Lord, counting back from his time,
was about a century after the death of the Eedeemer. But, per
mit me to ask, has the faith been obscured since ? Have ' the
corruptions, and the rubbish, and encrustations' prevaUed since
that period? Are we then to reject the Councils of Nice, of
Constantinople, of Ephesus, and of Chalcedon, which your Church
and mine, my Lord, venerate next after the four Gospels ? Are
we to discard the Uturgies of Clement, of James, of Basil, of
Chrysostom? Are we no longer to seek for testimonies of the true
doctiine in Ignatius, Clement, Justin, Ireneus, Origen, TertulUan,
the Cyrils — from Jerome, or Augustine ? To what straits are we
to reduce ourselves, or what has become of the Church ? Has
she existed, or did she faU, or what became of her with whom the
Lord promised to be all days, even to the end of the world ? I
may not obtain credit vrith your Grace, but I do declare before the
country, that it excites a feeUng of shame and pain within me, to
find myself obliged thus to represent to my readers the monstrous
opinions contained in your Grace's notes, or deducible from
them." Even in France this piece of polemical writing excited a
sensation. The Biographie UniverseUe says : " Le ton modeste
avec lequel I'auteur commence, la vaste erudition qu'il developpe
a mesure qu'il avance, la profondem- de ses vues, la force lo-
gique avec laqueUe il enlace ses antagonistes, la grandeur ma-
jestueuse du tableau que de moments en moments il colore de
teinter plus rivres font Ifre avec interet ce bei ecrit polemique."
The Dublin Evening Post, then under Protestant management,
thus comments on Dr. Doyle's second letter, which was also
soon after pubUshed as a separate pamphlet by Nolan of DubUn :
" We beg to lay before the Archbishop an able and dispassionate 14

210 THE viceroy's veedict.
reply to his notes. When we say that it is from the pen of
the Eight Eev. CathoUc Prelate who alone, we beUeve, shook
him from his propriety, and made him feel that the archiepis
copal throne, from which he launched his anathema against
the religion of nine-tenths of his countrymen, was not altogether
such a cushion of down, or such a seat of authority as his
conduct and demeanour would indicate — when we teU his Grace
that our correspondent is the Prelate to whom he aUudes in his
commentary, it -wUl be sufficient inducement to rivet his attention
on our columns. He vriU see, and we hope he wUl have the can
dour to acknowledge, that a profound scholar may write Uke a
polished gentleman — that a Prelate, although he does not 'Uft his
mitred front among peers and princes,' does not lack, as other
Prelates do, that decorum and decency of language which is vul
garly supposed to reside in the precincts of courts alone. He wiU
admit, we imagine, that leaming — and theological learning, too —
is not altogether confined to universities whose chief purpose it is
to instruct in di-vinity. . . , Though our correspondent, like
every man of a sound and comprehensive head, has no particular
taste for glitter or antithesis, yet his points, to use the jargon of
the CoUege, are quietly and cleverly put  He is
manifestly more than a match for Dr, Magee in learning, in judg
ment, and in taste. But he makes no puerile flourish about his
superiority. If he had this disposition, what an excellent opportu
nity would he not have in triumphing over the Archbishop of
Dublin for his very infelicitous, if not doting reference to the reU
gion of Cromwell, that compound of hypocrisy and crime."
By way of counterbalance to the antagonism whichjDr. Magee
had evoked, the then Orange Corporation of DubUn, passed a re
solution, pronouncing his Grace to be an oracle of theological vris-
dom. The Marquis WeUesley, then Viceroy of Ireland, watched
with considerable interest the contest between the prelates, and
at its conclusion was heard to declare, that " Magee manifestly
got the worst of it." When we remember what manner of man
Dr. Magee was, we find a tolerably satisfactory reason for the
pecuUar enjoyment with which Protestants as weU as CathoUcs
surveyed his discomfiture. SheU has drawn the Archbishop's
portrait, which, aUowing for the proverbial exaggeration of a very
fertile mind, -wiU convey to the reader some idea of his Grace's
idiosyncracy and bearing : "It was the extravagance of sacer
dotal pride that displayed itself in flashes of wUdness, which broke
every moment from his eyes. The latter were by no means desti
tute of intelUgence ; but, bright as they were vrith thought, stiU
the expression of arrogance predominated over that of acuteness,
and every look and gesture indicated a self-sufficiency cairied to

RUMOUE OF DE. DOYLE's PEOMOTION AS PEIMATB. 211
an excess almost amounting to the delirium of conceit. Every
thing about him denoted flippancy and pertness. A Ught ecclesi
astical hat was perked with such a nicety and afriness upon the
apex of his head, that it studiously, and of maUce prepense, left
room for his haughty forehead to display itself. The powder with
which his hafr was lightly sprinkled was fresh and deUcate, while
a slender queue depended gracefuUy between his shoulders, and
even this petty appendage exhibited a coxcombical incUnation.
His neckcloth was knotted with precision, and assisted by its
stiffness in upholding him in that neatness of bearing which he
carefuUy observed. A jerkin which fitted his well-turned person
with an admfrable adaptation, was closely buttoned to the top, and
gave his figure a spruce and compact air. In trotting along, he
was busily engaged in watching the passengers, and observing
what quantity of deference he received from them; and though
obriously an object of joke rather than respect, he imagined that
every eye was fixed upon him in veneration."
Some of the arguments of J. K. L., in reply to Dr. Magee's
denial of the apostoUc origin of the Eoman Catholic Church, were
probably in Tom Moore's mind, when he penned the foUowing
characteristic tribute to the worth and CathoUcism of Dr. Doyle.
"If St. Basil, St. Ambrose, and a few more such flowers of the
Church, had been able to borrow the magic nightcaps of thefr
contemporaries the seven sleepers, and were now, after a nap of
about fifteen centuries, just opening thefr eyes in the tovm of
Carlow, they would find in the person of Dr. Doyle, the leamed
Bishop of KUdare and LeighUn, not only an Irishman whose ac
quaintance even they might be proud to make, but a feUow-Catho-
Uc, every iota of whose creed would be found to correspond exactly
with their own."
It is interesting to know that the Catholic Primate Curtis,
who received his appointment through the influence of the British
Govemment (p. 165, ante), foUowed Dr. Doyle's example with
spfrit and alacrity. Dr. Curtis, in a voluminous pubUc letter,
pronounced Dr. Magee's charge to be " inflammatory and con
tumeUous," and indignantly caUed upon him to retract or repair
the injury he had done to the entire CathoUc body. Dr. Doyle
had a high respect for Dr. Curtis. Writing to his niece Mary at
this period. Dr. Doyle aUudes to a ramour which- had nomiaated*
hfrn Coadjutor Primate of AU Ireland : " You heard I was going
to Armagh ; that see is fiUed by one of the worthiest men in the
Church, whom I hope God may stiU preserve for many years, and
it would be very unseemly to give him the Bishop of Kildare as
Coadjutor. My translation from this see has often been spoken, of,
and generaUy vrithout cause ; it is not Ukely ever to happen; as, if

212 THE EEV. SIR HARCOURT LEES.
I be able to do any good, there are few situations in the kingdom
where more opportunities of doing it are afforded ; and I wUl never
seek any translation from it, unless to a better world, or to some
retfrement, where I can take care of my own soul, and not be
concei-ned for those of others. I hope you may take a drive to
see my new residence, when I am likely to be found at home.
I shall, dndeed, be often abroad untU the month after next, and
vrinter is not favourable to the country; but when that passes,
and the trees and flowers bloom anew. Old Derrig would deUght
you." As soon as the clerical partisans of Dr. Magee had recovered
from thefr astonishment, at courage so unusual as that e-vinced in
the missive of J. K. L., they were neither slow nor diffident in
coming to his Grace's rescue. Several extremely intemperate
retorts were speedily displayed in the windows of the evangehcal
bookseUers. The Eev. Sfr Harcourt Lees led the van. His ad
vertisement we have cuUed from one of the newspapers of the
day : " Theological Extracts, selected from a late Letter written
by a Popish Prelate to his Grace the Archbishop of DubUn, -with
observations on the same. And a weU merited, and equaUy well
appUed Uterary flageUation to the titular shoulders of this mUd and
humble Minister of the Gospel ; vrith a complete exposure of his
friend the Pope, and the entfre body of holy impostors. This
smaU Pamphlet is adapted to the understanding, and principally
intended for the conversion of the more bigoted and ignorant
Eoman CathoUcs of Ireland. To be continued as leisure may
occasionaUy present itseff. By the Eev. Sfr Harcourt Lees, Bart."
The Eev. Baronet haring been assured by his Archbishop that
the " Church of Eome" had no religion, and was a worse than
Pagan community, no doubt considered that any epithets of
contumely which he could possibly apply to it would be far too
good for a body so contemptible and corrupt. The Archbishop's
tone was not slow in being caught up by churchmen of less
talent, but of equal bigotry — and it was not difficult to foresee that
the evU consequences of his uncharitable Primary Charge were
only commencing.
The Eev. Sfr Harcourt Lees appears to have been a plain
-spoken man. The titular Prelate, he declared, was guilty of
"maUgnancy, of blasphemy, and of treason," because he had the
presumption to question the orthodoxy of Dr, Magee, And in
the teeth of evidence notoriously subversive of his assumption,
Sfr Harcourt advanced the opinion that it was the object of Dr,
Doyle "to irritate the lower orders in this superstitious country
into acts of outrage against the Government."
This Uterary Thersites then pronounced "the titular Bishop"

JAMES EDWARD DEVEREUX.

213

to be "an impostor and a fool;" and relative to the Catholic
creed, he observed that it "runs a smaU chance of finding an easy
entrance through some of the back posterns into heU." The
pamphlet touchingly concluded -with a declaration that Dr. Doyle,
contrary to his intention and desire^ had absolutely accompUshed
the apotheosis of Dr. Magee. It is a singular fact that the Eev.
Sfr Harcourt, at a subsequent period, expressed himseK in very un
equivocal terms of respect for Dr. Doyle — a fact which only serves
to prove that men never waste powder and shot unless when the
game is more than worth the ammunition.
Sir Harcourt was a rare character. Soon after, at a pubUc
baU m Dublin, the Marquis WeUesley, when seated on his throne,
shot his fine and indignant eye into the soul of Sfr Harcourt.
The parson, "vrith a half waggish and half malevolent aspect,"
writes Mr. SheU, "blending the grin of an ostler with the_ acri
mony of a divine, encountered the lofty look, and gave him to
understand that a man of his theological mettle was not to be sub
jugated by a frown."
Dr. Doyle, m " the Defence" of his " Vindication," pub
Ushed under the signature of "J.K.L." thus amusingly refers
to the lucubration of Sfr Harcourt Lees : " Dr. Doyle is, no
doubt, a titular bishop ; and haring looked into Johnson for the
meaning of this word, I find by an example there quoted, that St.
Augustine and the holy Valerius, his predecessor, were titular
Bishops also. Dr. Doyle venerates St. Augustine as a sort of
patriarch of his famUy, and is not,, I am confident, at all displeased
to hold his see by the same tenure as a Prelate whom he calls his
holy Father ; he has a title, however, and possession ; and these,
by a common law of the Church, give a right to the exercise of
spfritual jurisdiction. He asks no more ! he is perfectly satisfied
that Drs. Lindsay and Elrington should enjoy the temporaUties
of KUdare and LeighUn, whUst he is permitted in peace to exer
cise his spfritual rights ; let them coUect the fieeces, whUst he
superintends the flock. I beUeve it is the author of the ' Complete
Exposure' who caUs Dr. Doyle the titular, tolerated Bishop — he
fears such an accumidation of epithets may oppress him, but pro
rided they do not annex persecuted, or obUge posterity to add it
to his name, he wiU be satisfied to bear them,"
A copy of Dr, Doyle's admfrable dissuasive address to the
Eibbonmen, and also one of his rejoinders to Dr, Magee, haring
faUen into the hands of James Edward Devereux, the famous
CathoUc Delegate of 1793, he placed them at the disposal of Dr.
Stoddart, who, as Editor of The Times for sixteen years, enjoyed
no small celebrity and infiuence. From literary cfrcles Stoddart
received the sobriquet of Dr. Slop. In 1816, he was offered, by

214 THE EDITOR OF " THE TIMES.'
the proprietors of The Times, £800 a year additional, if he would
consent to give up some chamber practice which he enjoyed, and
remain in the office from six in the evening to the hour of publi
cation. Stoddart died about thirty years ago, a judge in the
Ionian Islands, with a salary of £3,000 per annum. Thomas
Barnes was a parliamentary reporter on The Times during the
period that Dr. Stoddart conducted it. " 20th December, '22.
" Eight Eev. my dear Loed — I sent the Evening Post, con
taining the Bishop of KUdare' s admfrable Pastoral Address, to
my friend Dr. Stoddart of The Times, vrith a request that he
would notice that pubUcation. This he has done, and in retum-
ing me my paper he writes as foUows :
" ' Dear Sir — I herewith send two copies of my Journal, one
of which you -wiU do me a favour by forwarding to Bishop Doyle,
and if you have the means of communicating to him the expression
of my sincere respect, I beg that you wUl do so,' He goes on :
' I have only detained your copy of The Dublin Evening Post
untu a fit opportunity should occur for performing the task, which
I have attempted to execute in the paper of this day. I regret to
see that if you have a Doyle in Ireland you have also a Hayes,
and I hope that the latter vriU be as much discountenanced as I
think the former ought to be held up to admiration. If the world
would agree to let such men as Friar Hayes and Sir Harcourt
Lees rave to themselves, we should soon see that spirit of Chris
tian charity prevail, which is the only bond of peace to nations as
weU as to indiriduals.'
" All the papers here have spoken with the same praise of this
Pastoral. So much for St. Bridget's yeUow-beUy* Prelate. How
ever his modesty may be offensively titUlated by aU this, I must
admit that as a Catholic, an Irishman, and a Wexford man, my
pride is quite swoUen into insolence on the subject.
" You vrill properly appreciate the manly independence of my
friend Dr. Stoddart, which would not suffer him to pass by the
imputation thrown upon our Church by Dr. Magee without re
probation, and without marking his utter contempt for such UUbe
rality, by drawing a paraUel between the Archbishop's absurd
bigotry and the Friar's -vulgar -vfrulence. I have the honour to
be, vrith respect, veneration, and gratitude, my Lord, &c.,
"J. E. Deveeeux."
" P.S. — Dr, Stoddart leUs me that for a long time back he
has been pestered with letters from Sfr H. Lees, not one of which
he ever answered."
* An absurd epithet, sometimes applied to natives of the county of -Wexford.

A "JOUENEY THROUGH THE DESERT." 215
WhUe the contest with Dr. Magee stiU raged, we find the
good Bishop of KUdare, although his hands were pretty full,
maintaining, uninterrupted, that courteous, unreserved, and more
than kind correspondence with his friends, which it often cost him
at least half of his scanty period of repose to discharge. Dr.
Doyle's unremitting attendance in the confessional and the pulpit,
during this Advent, was almost sufficient in itseff to exhaust the
energies of his deUcate constitution. The foUo-wing letters are
addressed to the young convert lady, H. G  , who had a short
time prerious entered her noriciate. Doubts and scruples agitated
and distressed her.
" My dear Friend — In perusing your long and acceptable
letter, I felt much anxiety, imtU I discovered that your journey in
the desert was reUeved by a portion of manna, after the thirst and
fatigue you had experienced on your entrance and as you advanced.
These ricissitudes are frequently, as you know, the secret dispen
sations of a vrise Father, who by his presence fiUs the heart with
confidence, making us exclaim vrith David, ' I have said in my
abundance I never wiU be moved ;' and then, tuming his face from
us, obUges us to confess that ' we are troubled;' but though these
changes of the soul are produced by God to prove our virtue, to
purify our heart, and estabUsh in it, as on a rock, a strong and
Uvely faith, and the purest charity, yet they are very often entirely,
or in part, the effects of our own habits, and the fruits of our own
natm-al dispositions. I think what you lately underwent, partook
more of the latter than of the former, and that this disposition to
doubt your own riews, and to indulge your natural timidity, which
you have been always subject to, tended to produce them, I
should not trouble you vrith these remarks, but that you wiU
again, in aU probabUity, be subject to the same trials, and you
should use every precaution to proride yourseff with means of
support. Amongst the many things you have heard me say, I
hope you do not forget that I must have mentioned, a reUgious
state does not requfre any prerious sanctity, though it would be
well to possess it ; and that you could not have a more useless nor
perhaps dangerous occupation, than thinking on what your mode
of Ufe requfres of you, WhUst St, Paul laboured for his sanctifi
cation, he teUs us, that he looked not to the past, but extended
himseff to what was to come ; and this was solely to put on Jesus
Christ, to love him vrith that ardent charity which ' many waters
could not extinguish or rivers bear down.' I know your dispo
sitions weU enough to be alarmed for your peace, as weU as to
doubt of your advancement, if you spend the time in searching
your heart, which you ought to spend in purifying it from earthly

216 CORRESPONDENCE WITH H. G.
affections, and in the enjoyment of heavenly contemplation, or in
waiting, like Teresa or Magdalen de Pazzi, under the segis of
faith, untu the Lord would be pleased to cast an eye of compassion
on you. My dear child, don't you know it is self-love which often
keeps the mind searching into its own defects, weighing its own
sins, conjecturing what may be its future lot ? This is good for
some, but with you, and vrith many others, it is a waste of time,
an estrangement from God, a return to seff, and the greatest
obstacle to that abandonment to the vriU of, heaven, which is the
fi-uit and the exercise of tbe most disinterested love. Eestrict
your deUberations on yourself to the short examinations which
your rule prescribes, or rather to a part of the time aUotted to
them, and to the space you employ in the examination which is
a part of your preparation for confession ; but let your whole life,
as far is as possible, be an exercise of the love of God. From this
attention to his presence, meekness, silence, modesty, obedience,
mortification, and the other rirtues wUl flow ; and though the .
practice of these, severaUy, will lead to charity, it is much better
they should be the fruit of it, than the means of arriving at it ;
and if I be so earnest in this recommendation, the reason is, that
I am satisfled you can flnd no resource so good in your distress of
mind, nor nothing which can serve so effectuaUy to allay your
alarms." " Carlow, 14th November, 1822.
"My dear Child — I have waited tiU now to reply to your
long and much welcomed letter, that I might congratulate you
on your escape from the desert, and on the advantages I am
confident you have derived from your sojourn there even for a
few days. I put aU the saints of heaven in requisition on yes
terday, and besought them to obtain for you the fervour of cha
rity ; without it, there is nothing truly good— with it, aU things
are sweet. May God replenish your heart with it, that from its
abundance you may be unceasing in your prayers for me, who,
like the sluggard, am always willing, and yet will not ! How
much am I not indebted even to the stitcher of the case you
sent me, and stiU more to the good lady who bestowed it. If
Paul said those were approved by God who washed the feet of
the saints, may we not hope that when benevolence operates in
a different way, it vriU also merit a blessing ? As soon as I hear
from you, I shaU inform you when M. G  may expect the music,
aU of which I shall procure for her ; for what is there I would not
do tq gratify so good, so amiable a friend, even were you, whose
wishes are all commands, uninterested. I have not seen your
sister M. B^  for some time, though she caUed here lately, and
it is vain for you to wish for an intimacy between us. I am too

" splendour" of his ROOMS. 217
much removed, too repulsive, and our pursuits in Ufe are too dif
ferent to admit of it ; but I esteem her exceedingly for her own
sake, and stUl more because you are so greatly attached to her.
People without affection are not true foUowers of our Lord, who
loved Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary, and folded the blessed
apostle in his bosom ! I have got the carpeting you took so much
trouble about, and aU I have to regret now is an appearance of
splendour about my rooms ; they are stiU plain, though certainly
not so much as I wish them, but yet I leave my Mr. D  to be
doing vrith aU about me as he pleases. Pray remember me to
M  . TeU her I have forgiven aU her faults from the exceed
ing goodness of my heart, and for the sake of her sister, whose
profession I expect so soon to attend. 1 trust yours vriU not take
place before I see you, for though I have long since resigned you
to the care of God and the works of charity, I stUl feel something
of that affection which an aged father experiences when he reflects
on his dearest chUd who is now happy, but removed to a distance
from him — he wishes to see her once more before he dies. Adieu,
my ever dear H  ! Pray unceasingly for your sincere and affec
tionate friend, " ^ J. Doyle."
A note to his niece :
" I wished to send Mr. M'Donald down to see you ; as to my
seff, I am, as it were, naUed to the diocess. I believe if one-half
of you were aU dead, I could not go to bid your remains a last
farewell. The two children you mention are, I fear, in a danger
ous way ; but I never lament the death of a chUd, though I may
feel for the parents to whom nature has proridently rendered them
dear. ... If I could afford it, I should give this poor family
some money to assist them in building a house ; but the change of
my residence has rendered me very poor, and I am incumbered
stiU with my old house at £40 a-year ; but I should not complain.
Proridence has been too kind to me through Iffe ; indeed I never
feel the want of money on my own account."
In November, 1822, Dr. Doyle, at the request of a pious com
munity of poor laymen residing at TuUow, permitted Brother
Serenus, a person of tried prudence and integrity, to visit other
countries for tbe purpose of coUecting donations to enable the
monks to increase the sphere of their zealous educational labours.
For sixteen years they had devoted thefr time to the literary and
moral instruction of the poor : they now projected a boarding-
school for the middle class of society. No school of this sort
then existed in Ii-eland, and Dr. Doyle readUy gave his assent.
" The seminary you project," said the Bishop, "may in time
grow into a prosperous school, for the Irish, from time immemo-

218 APPEAL ON BEHALF O'P THE MONKS.
rial, have had a predilection for educatuig thefr chUdren in monas
tic institutions." Seven of the Bishop's grand-nephews were
subsequently educated at TuUow.
Dr. Doyle gave Brother Serenus a circular letter in French,
with which he made a successful tour through France ; and the
jom-nal of his adventures now before us (including a risit to Charles
X., who gave him 2,050 francs) is highly amusing.
From Dr. Doyle's EngUsh circular we cuU a paragraph or two :
" The members of this community who are not occupied with
the instruction of the poor, derive their support from the labour of
their hands, being employed in the tiUage of land or in mechanical
trades. Hitherto they have inhabited a wretched tenement, too
small for the exercise of thefr industry, and so unhealthful as to
occasion frequent iUness to many of them, and to obUge some to
¦withdraw altogether from the institution,
" To remedy these inconveniences, a spot of land has been
obtained by them in perpetuity, and a buUding commenced on it,
which, if completed, would afford them a wholesome residence,
supply them vrith sufficient room for carrying on thefr trades con
veniently, and enable them to remove their free school from a
smaU and crowded apartment, now hired for that purpose, to a large
and commodious one, where it might be conducted with advan
tage, " They are not, however, possessed of any portion of the means
necessary for accomplishing this most desfrable object. The nu
merous charitable institutions supported by voluntary donations
in this country, and the universal distress now prevaUing through
out it, deter them from making application for assistance at home.
" Urged, therefore, by their own distress, and impressed with
a Uvely confidence in the generosity of a people to whose charity
no nation or indiridual ever appealed in vain, these poor brethren
state to them thefr wants, and soUcit any aid, however slender.
They seek for it only that they may be enabled to continue their
industrious pursuits, and to promote amongst the rising generation
of the numerous poor in their town and neighbourhood, that lite
rary, moral, and reUgious instruction, as well as that mutual
charity which is so useful to society, and so acceptable to Almighty
God." Dr. Doyle's official signature to this document was supported
by that of the Protestant Eector and magistracy of TuUow, all of
whom bore eridence to the highly meritorious conduct of the poor
monks. In 1825, the present prosperous CoUegiate Seminary of
St. Patrick, at TuUow, was formaUy founded under the auspices of
Dr. Doyle.
Writing to the Very Eev. Mr. O'Connor, now Bishop of

LETTER TO MISS N  . 219
Saldes, Dr. Doyle, haring feelingly adverted to the premature
death of Father Clayton, his feUow-student at Coimbra, goes on
to say : "I suppose my friend Miss N  is likely to fall vrith
the leaf. I -wish she were near you to receive consolation from
you, for the most perfect in her state requfre some alleriation of
the weight that presses on them. She no doubt is going in peace,
and I am comforted by thinking I wUl have in her a powerful in
tercessor with God, whom she has ever served with a clean heart.
I did vrish very much to see her, but want of time and a thousand
other causes prevented me. We shall meet, however, hereafter."
Dr. Doyle was of opinion that this young nun (p. 123, ante)
could hardly surrive the year 1822, but his calculations proved as
false as those not unfrequently made and expressed by doctors of
another class. Miss N  stUl Uves, and works, and prays in
the South Presentation Convent, Cork ; and although full of
years, there is not a more zealous labourer in God's vineyard.
" Carlow, 13th December, 1822.
" My DEAE Sister — So many of those who were endeared to
me by the strongest ties have been called, from time to time, to a
better world, that I now feel much less than formerly at hearing
of the departure of my fiiends. I should, therefore, have been
resigned had I heard that our common Father had called you
to His own presence, but to know from yourself that your stay
amongst us is prolonged, gave me the most Uvely satisfaction.
The just can be stUl more justified, and the holy rendered still
more holy ; and I trust in God, that His mercy has restored your
health only for the purpose of promoting His serrice here, and in
creasing your own happiness hereafter. If your recovery be not
yet complete, it -wiU be rendered so by degrees, whereas your
mind is happy, and permitted to enjoy the blessings of a religious
state in an entire abstraction from what might corrupt you, and in
the practice of every good work. That peace and equanimity -with
which heaven has gifted you -wUl not, I hope, be disturbed, whilst
you continue to enjoy the parental attention of your good supe
rioress, and of the estimable D  , to whom I beg my most
respectful compUments, as weU as to each of your community,
hoping you wUl beg of them to continue thefr prayers even for me,
who do not deserve so much goodness from them. I have not
ceased, my dear child, to commend you to God, at the only time
when my petitions can be acceptable ; I am confident you vnll not
fail to make the best return in your power.
" During your iUness I often wished to go and see you ; the
distance and want of leisure prevented me, as well as some other
causes ; but I do not lay aside the hope of yet assuring you, in

220 KILDARE-PLACE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.
person, with how much sincerity and affection I remain your
devoted and most humble servant in Christ, "*J. Doyle."
It is very deUghtful to observe the strong and virid veneration
with which the surriring friends of Dr. Doyle hail his memory.
" I felt much affected," says Miss N  in her first note to us,
" on reading tbe aUusions to me, which you transcribed from one
of the letters of my best fiiend — my beloved spfritual father and
guide. What could speak better the goodness of his heart, his
zeal for the salvation of souls, his pure, disinterested friendship,
his unbounded chai-ity ? . . . The very memory of his great
kindness overpowers me at this remote time." " His memory,"
writes another, " has been a joy to me throughout a long, diffi
cult, and suffering career."
The Kildare-place system of education for the poor, had
latterly given great dissatisfaction to the CathoUc body. By one
of their fundamental rales, they had pledged themselves to impart
the benefits of instruction to all Christians, vrithout interfering
with the reUgious tenets of any. That perverse spirit, however,
which had afready riolated treaties by Act of Parliament, now, for
the hundredth time, broke faith with the confiding CathoUcs. The
Society distributed thousands of Bibles among the schools, and
ordered that the Sacred Volume, without note or comment, should
be daily read aloud by the pupUs. This proceeding, being hostUe to
the reUgious principles of the CathoUc Church, induced the natural
and spfritual pastors of the children to -withdraw them altogether
from those seminaries. Thus the poor CathoUc, for whom the
Legislature designed its benefaction, ceased to derive benefit from
a grant given for the general purposes of education. The Lord
Primate and many other enUghtened Protestants, indignant at this
breach of faith, vrithdrew from the society. The Duke of Leinster,
who had acted as president, resigned his office. There were few
Protestants so blind as not to see that the Old Testament, how
ever venerable for its antiquity, and estimable for its truths, was
not exactly suited to the raw and undeveloped inteUect of a school
boy. But the CathoUc objection to its use as a school-book
would seem to have been stUl deeper rooted. With the Ught of
tradition shut out, and the authorised interpretation of that Church
with whom Christ promised to be aU days suppressed, the ex
plorers of the holy page may well be said to have been groping
in the dark. The CathoUc clergy shuddered to behold weak
minds distorting legitimate meanings, and wresting inferences
according to individual fancy and caprice. The brightest inteUects
that ever shone upon Christendom, have declared thefr inabiUty to^

THE IRISH NATIONAL SOCIETY. 221
fathom many important portions of the Sacred Volume. " Though
I had been conversant in these Epistles," writes John Locke, " as
weU as in other parts of the Sacred Scripture, yet I found that I
understood them not." " Can any man deny," observes the eru
dite Lessing, "that there are but few passages in the New Testa
ment from which aU readers deduce the same meaning ?" In
many instances the CathoUc chUdren were withdi-awn altogether
from the schools of the KUdare-street Society, although no other
field for popular education existed ; but it frequently happened
that the pastors, hoping daily that some change might be made
in compliance vrith thefr -wishes, allowed the children to remain,
and vrith anxious soUcitude successfuUy laboured to preserve their
faith intact. The Protestant Archbishop Magee, in his parlia
mentary eridence, alluded, with some chagrin, to the exertions of
the CathoUc Priesthood in protecting the faith of the children.
His Grace declared, that they receive "peremptory dfrections
from thefr Priests to take care and guard thefr minds against
Protestant perversion, to beware of the heretics in every shape,
and to close thefr ears against thefr teaching in any matter touch
ing religion, as they would against the teaching of Satan !"
In 1821, the first attempt was made by a body of liberal Pro
testants and influential CathoUcs to establish, for the education of
the Irish poor, a better system than that existing under the
auspices of the KUdare-place Society. Soon after this event, Dr.
Doyle thus vraites to Sir Henry PameU, M.P. " I attended a
meeting of the Committee of the Irish National Society for the
education of our poor, when it was agreed on to request that you
would renew the conferences with Mr. Grant, relative to obtaining
a parUamentary grant, which had been interrupted by the death of
your lamented brother. This society wUl accompUsh a vast deal
of good in the way of education, if they obtain the expected boon ;
othervrise they can do but little — nor can they do that Uttie long."
The Irish National Society received a serious blow, soon after,
in the removal from office of the Eight Hon. Charles Grant, a
man of Uberal and progressive riews. He was succeeded by Mr.
Goulboume, whose public principles were of a perfectly opposite
character. The Eight Hon. Charles Grant, haring fiUed the high
offices of Chief Secretary for Ireland, President of the Boards of
Trade and Control, Treasurer of the Navy, and Secretary of State,
was created, in 1885, Lord Glenelg. A letter from his Lordship
to the editor of this work, dated, London, 4th April, 1857, ob
serves : "I am not aware tbat I have any letters of Dr. Doyle's
in my possession. Highly as I esteemed and honoured him, I
cannot recaU that I ever had any written communications -with
him. I do not recollect that any parliamentary grant was made

222 LETTER TO SIR H. PARNELL.
for the National Society. There was, indeed, for two or three
years whUe I was in Ireland, the sum of £3,000 annually given
by the Government to be distributed for education in Ireland, in
discriminately, among all denominations, but this, I suppose, can
scarcely be the sort of grant to which you allude."
The cause of the decUne and fall of the National Society may
be gathered, in a few words, from an unpubUshed letter in the
autograph of Dr. Doyle. " It is hardly necessary to state that
the hopes of the CathoUc Prelates were disappointed ; the Society,
thus formed, could not obtain any countenance — any support;
there were placed at its head a number of men, Protestants and
CathoUcs, who were sincere in their proposals to educate the
poor of Ireland without religious distinction, and who stipulated
honestly, vrith the pubUc and with each other, to avoid all inter
ference with the reUgion of the people. But, they were men who
had no parUamentary interest, who had no influence at Court,
whose hands had never been filled with public spoils, who had not
feasted sumptuously every day upon the fruits of injustice : they
were therefore contemptible, and thefr prayer or appUcation was
despised." In January, 1823, Dr. Doyle came to DubUn to attend a
synodical meeting of the Prelates. The subject of popular educa
tion ceased not to engross his thoughts ; and of this we have
ample eridence in the foUowing earnest communication to Sir
Henry PameU. "2, Lower Gardiner-street, Dublin, 15th January, 1823.
" Dear Sir Henry — I send you herewith the papers relating
to the education of the poor, which I mentioned to you in our late
conversation. " Though the education of the middle and lower classes of so
ciety is a subject worthy of your most attentive consideration, yet
the detached parts of the system, which are in operation in this
country for promoting that object, may have escaped your notice
or recollection ; and it is on that account I beg leave to mention
here that the plan for educating the poor of Ireland, of which
I enclose an outline, was originaUy i-avm up by your ever-to-
be-lamented relative, Mr. W. ParneU, and I beUeve approved of,
through his influence, by Mr. Secretary Grant, previous to the late
change in the Irish Administration. The death of Mr. ParneU,
and the removal of Mr. Grant put an end to whatever hope was
then entertained of procuring for the Irish National Society the
countenance of Govemment. The 'Thoughts on tbe Education
of the Poor,' which I send you in manuscript, were presented by
Lord FingaU and Dr, Troy, at a subsequent period of Lord
Talbot's Administration, and immediately previous to his departure

HE PROTESTS AGAINST THE KILDARE-PLACE SCHOOLS, 228
from this country, Mr. Secretary Goulbourne perhaps never saw
them, or if he did, thought proper to leave them unnoticed ; and,
from the observations he was reported to have made in the House
of Commons — during the debate which occurred on the vote of
granting a certain sum to the Kildare-street Society being pro
posed by him^ — I am inclined to think that he was not aware of
the tine state of these matters.
" At the meetings of the KUdare-street Society, held in this
city last year, a report was adopted by them, wherein it is stated
that the Society was makuig considerable progress, and had met
with the support and co-operation of the Eoman Catholic Clergy.
This eUcited the letters from the Eoman Catholic Prelates and
Priests of Ireland which compose the principal part of the ' Eeport'
herewith sent, and to which a paper is annexed. These docu
ments vriU show you the Ught in which this Kildare-street Society
is regarded by the entfre Catholic body.
" In the latter part of the manuscript paper, or ' Thoughts
on the Education of the Poor,' you wiU also find what relates to
the fund placed at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant, to enable
his ExceUency to give assistance for the buUding of schools by
subscription ; and of the trath of what is there set forth there
occurred a practical iUustration in the case of a school patronized
by Lord CUfden, in the to-wn of Graig, county Kilkenny, diocess
of LeighUn, on the subject of which I am informed that his son
was soUcited to move for an inquiry in the House of Commons,
I thought it necessary to trouble you with the present detaU, that
you might the better understand this somewhat complicated sub
ject ; and should you deem it worthy of attention, it can do no
harm to be possessed of at least some correct information with re
gard to it. As to my ovm opinion, I have already expressed it
to you in part. It is the same as that found in the enclosed
'Thoughts on Education;' and from my knowledge of this country,
and of the state of society in it, I am fuUy satisfied that if the pre
sent plan for the education of the poor be persevered in, it wiU
be quite impossible to estabUsh harmony or mutual confidence
amongst the different reUgionists, especiaUy of the lower orders.
" The present parUamentary grants for the education of the
poor are fully sufficient for thefr object, if weU administered and
made avaUable for the purposes intended by the Legislature ; but
as they are now employed, they serve to generate discord, heart
burnings, and almost a civU war in every -vUlage, God knows
what sacrifices I have made, and almost every CathoUc Prelate in
the kingdom, to allay passions excited by persons who, vrith pro
bably the best intentions, are labouring to educate the poor ac
cording to a system opposed to thefr conscience. We even over-

224 DESIRES EDUCATIONAL REFORM.
look what we can never approve, rather than offend or cause frri
tation, hoping that the Government would adopt a wiser course,
and not through any want of abiUty to defeat the system of the
KUdare-street System — for, by an address not longer than this
letter, I could induce the Catholic poor of the diocesses of Kildare
and LeighUn to withdraw aU their chUdren from the schools
of the Society, unless, indeed, I were to except such as would
be entfrely ruined in thefr temporal interests by doing so —
and even of these the greater number would prefer any sacrifice
rather than what they would consider an abandonment of thefr re
Ugious principles.
" It is to me unaccountable why a Government, which ought to
look only to the peace and happiness of the people, should not
seek to educate the poor without interfering with thefr faith,
whereas every reUgion professed in Ireland inculcate alike the du
ties which make men good subjects ; and if there be que system
of reUgion which more than another seems to favour that passive
obedience which aU governments Uke, surely that is the Eoman
¦CathoUc. " If , in your intercourse -with persons in authority here, you
thought proper to talk over this subject, and were pleased to re
commend to them some alteration in the system of education now
pursued, which would render it acceptable to the people, I have
no doubt you would render a serrice to themselves, and, what is
of infinitely more importance in your eyes, promote further the
interests of this iU-fated country, to which you have devoted for so
many years, and so disinterestedly, the great talents with which
Almighty God has gifted you. — I have, &c. " * J. Doyle."
Dr. Doyle does not teU Sfr Henry Parnell that the " Thoughts"
he enclosed to him were from his own pen ; but it may be remem
bered that the Bishop, in his letter to Father Peter Doyle, dated
the 3rd of January, 1822, makes no disguise of the authorship.
[MS. inclosed in Dr. Doyle's letter to Sir H, Parnell.]
" Thoughts submitted to the Eight Hon. Charles Grant on the
education of the poor of Ireland, by Lord FingaU, and by Dr.
Troy, for himseff and four other E. C. Prelates now in town.
" It is respectfully submitted to the consideration of his Majesty's
Government, that the want of an early religious education is one of
the principal causes why the peasantry of this country are easUy
induced to take rash and unlawful oaths, to combine for bad pur
poses, and commit those excesses which for centuries past, as

THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION. 225
well as at present, have disgraced thefr country, disturbed its
peace, and prevented its prosperity.
" That a vast majority of the poor children of Ireland are
Eoman CathoUcs, one-half at least of whom are unprorided with
any kind of useful instruction in their youth, and that a great pro
portion of those who are sent to school profit Uttle thereby, owing
to the want of a good system of education, convenient school-
houses, and competent schoolmasters.
" That, at the present period, the Eoman Catholic poor are
totaUy unable to proride tbe necessary means of instruction for
thefr chUdren, and that, if not assisted by the Legislature more
effectuaUy than hitherto, education vriU advance but slowly amongst
them, if at all.
" That no beneficial aid can be rendered to the Eoman Catholic
poor in the way of education, if the distribution of it be regulated
in a manner adverse to thefr reUgious principles, or calculated
to excite the apprehensions or distrust of the parent or pastors
of the chUdren ; and hence ' The Kildare-street Society for the
Education of the Irish Poor' has not been enabled to fulfil, in thefr
regard, the intentions of the Legislature, in placing at thefr dis
posal a fund ' for the education of the poor, -without reUgious dis
tinction.' " That the fund now mentioned could be made avaUable for the
education of the Eoman CathoUc ehUdren, if the rules of the society
to which it is intrusted were so modified as to remove the distrust
which now prevaUs with regard to it ; and for this purpose the fol
lowing suggestions are most respectfuUy offered to be adopted by
the society, through the influence of his Majesty's Govemment :
" That the E. C. Archbishops residing in DubUn be of the
number of the vice-presidents of the society, and that the names
of six Parish Priests in the city, or of any other six persons sug
gested by Dr. Troy or his successor, and approved of by Govem
ment, be added to those of the committee ;*
" That any compilation from the Scriptures approved of by
Dr. Troy, be substituted in the place of the New Testament for
the use of the CathoUc children ;
" That no books be hereafter printed for the society to which
any three members of the committee would object, and that such
* These fair and conciliatory proposals were repulsed by the Kildare-place
Society in the following testy tone: "In reply, the committee conceive it requires
no argument to prove that the forced introduction of ten individuals upon the com
mittee of a voluntary association, and the abandonment of tbe only principle on
which the society could have been induced to undertake the great work in which
they are engaged, would not only infringe most materially on the present rules of
the society, but would, in its results, tend to the total destruction of the institu
tion." 15

226 THE SUGGESTIONS.
passages in the books hitherto printed as may appear objectionable
to three or more members of the committee, be omitted in future
editions of them.
" The reasons why the above modifications of the rules ofthe
society would be proposed are — first, that they do not seem to in
fringe materiaUy on its present rules, and are so consonant to its
principles of extending the blessings of education to aU, vrithout
interfering vrith the reUgions of any, that without them these
principles cannot be carried into effect ; next, that from a variety
of causes the CathoUcs of this country wiU always look vrith dis
trust to any system of education, derised and conducted exclusively
by persons professing a religion different from their own, nor can
a reasonable hope be entertained that they wiU cheerfully or gene
raUy avail themselves of its advantages, until it meets with the
cordial support and approbation of their pastors.
"Also, because the reading of the Sacred Scriptures in schools
by chUdren is opposed both to the principles and discipUne of the
CathoUc Church, inasmuch as she considers such practice as tend
ing to diminish the reverence which the professors of her faith
should entertain for the Word of God ; to unsettle their rehgious
belief, by gi-ving occasion to young and ignorant persons to form
en-oneous judgments on many passages of the Scriptures difficult
to be understood, and which have ever been interpreted in different
ways by divers persons, and not unfrequently to the great detri
ment of the most venerable institutions both in Church and State.
" The insufficiency of ' The Society' for the attainment of the
objects of the Legislature is stated for this reason, that the schools
receiring assistance from it are comparatively few in number ;
that in such of these few as are frequented by Eoman Catholic
chUdren, the rules of the society are evaded (to the no smaU pre
judice of that truth and sincerity which should never be departed
from, but, above aU, in institutions where youth is trained up), or,
if they be observed, the children are reluctantly permitted by thefr
parents and pastors to remain in such schools, to avoid giring
offence to the patron, or exciting his resentment."
Dr. Doyle went on to say, that ff the Government should not
deem it proper to induce the society to adopt the proposed modifi
cation of thefr rales, the assistance sought for might be given as
effectuaUy by confiding some fund to the trustees of Maynooth
CoUege, to be disposed of by them, and duly accounted for annuaUy
to Govemment. These trustees constituted an educational corpo
rate body. They possessed an accurate knowledge of the state of
the CathoUcs generaUy, and a peculiar faciUty of acquiring useful
and extensive information respecting aU matters connected with
the poor. Their integrity and zeal in fulfiUing the trust hitherto

CATHOLIC GRIEVANCES. 227
reposed in them, afforded a sufficient guarantee of what their
efforts would be in the event which Dr. Doyle had supposed.
The CathoUc Clergy had hitherto entertained strong hopes that
government would assist in proriding the poor -with a safe and
efficient means of education, and, under those circumstances, had
occasionaUy overlooked what they faUed to approve ; as no duty
could have been more painful than to withdraw children from o?ie
school, vrithout being able to receive them in another. " Their
caution, however, with regard to the reUgious principles of their
respective flocks, must increase if thefr hopes of other remedies
be frustrated." Dr. Doyle further observed, that, although another fund, dis
tinct from the above, existed, it had hitherto been almost inacces
sible to CathoUcs. This fund was principally applied for the
buUding of school-houses, of which a title should be had, and
vested in such trustees as the Commissioners, to whom it was
entiusted, approve. But the schools frequented by CathoUc poor
chUdren were generaUy cabins, lent by some farmer during plea
sure, and to which no title would be given.
We have seen the spfrit in which the foregoing fafr and con
ciUatory proposals were declined by the KUdare-place Society.
The memoriahsts could not but feel that this rejection added
insult to the prerious sense of wrong — and one almost marvels at
the good temper vrith which these and other grievances, whereof
we shall presently speak, were borne. Dr. Doyle may be said to
have been the only member of the Episcopacy who ventured to
raise his voice in accents of appeal or reclamation ; and, though
thanked by many for his conduct, he incurred not a few censures
from CathoUcs of the old school, for what they regarded as an
injudicious course. The young Prelate, however, was not to be
turned from his duty as a Priest and a patriot by such remarks ;
and he continued, as leism-e permitted, to furnish his parliamen
tary friends with a statement of the grievances under which his
Church and feUow-countrymen laboured. Early in May, 1828,
Dr. Doyle forwarded to Sir Henry ParneU a petition, for which
the Bishop succeeded in procuring the signatures of every member
of the episcopal bench, stating that they, in common with aU
other CathoUcs, still suffered great grievances under the Penal
Laws, but, trusting to the vrisdom and justice of the Legislature,
that it would take thefr condition into consideration, they now only
required the removal of some of the minor inconveniences to
which they were exposed. " Tbe law as it now stands, deprives
CathoUcs of the right of endowing Chapels, school-houses, or
residences for their Clergy, and to this privation may, in a great
degree, be attributed the many complaints which are made of the

228 parnell' s speech.
ignorant and miserable condition of the lower orders of Catholics.
AU grants of money made by -wUl or other instruments, for the
erection of Chapels or schools, are subject to forfeiture." "There
exists in Ireland," observed Sir H. ParneU, in the House of Com
mons, " a commission of charitable bequests, whose business it is
to discover aU gifts of money for charitable purposes ; and if they
find a gift for a CathoUc charity, they immediately bring it before
the courts of law, who are compelled to declare it to be for a
superstitious use, and to vest the grant in the hands of the Com
missioners, to be appUed to any Protestant charity they think
proper. The people were weU disposed to be religious people,
and to attend to the instructions of their Clergymen, but the state
of the law went to say that reUgion should be fettered, and its
extension and advantages forbidden to the lower orders. The
CathoUc Bishops were exceedingly anxious to promote the edu
cation of the poor, and many opulent CathoUcs would come forward
with Uberal assistance, were it not that thefr efforts were stopped
in the first instance by the impossibiUty of securing a title for a
school-house." In the rest of the speech of Sir H. ParneU, we trace the able
pen which had briefed him.

CHAPTEE IX.
Evidences of Dr, Doyle's rigid sense of discipline — His embarrassment In re
laxing it — His Address to the faithful — Remarkable letter, somewhat in
the form of a journal — Who stole the door ? — The fool's retort — Visit to
Clongowes — Prince Hohenlohe — Dr, Doyle's authentication of a mira
cle — .Interesting correspondence — Sceptical squibs and epigrams — Ur.
Doyle's medical controversy with Sir Philip Crampton, Dr, Cheyne, and
Baron Smith — Another miracle — Dr, Doyle's visit to Limerick — Letters —
A theatre converted into a Catholic Church — Dr. Doyle's sermon on Dr.
Troy's death, preached without a minute's preparation — Death of Pius
VII  Bishop Baines — Correspondence with Mr, Owen — Lord Clon
curry — Letters — Correspondence with Catharine — " The Hermit of Old
Derrig,"
Dr. Doyle, as the reader has ere this gathered, was no ordinary
discipUnarian, and he relaxed the rigom-s of Lent, in 1823, vrith
considerable reluctance. In his pastoral address for that year, the
Bishop confesses the painful feelings of embarrassment which fiUed
and distressed him while conceding this smaU indulgence. Ee-
laxed as his Lenten regulations were, in comparison vrith those of
an earUer date, they would, if introduced at the present day, be
riewed with feelings of dismay by such obedient sons of the
Church as know how to appreciate the pleasures of the table.

THE RIGOURS OF LENT RELAXED. 229
Dr. Doyle began by saying that the burden of duty, which
never ceased to press upon him, became always more urgent as
Lent approached, and the days of redemption drew nigh — " days
on which we may be freed, once more, from the bondage of sin and
¦ death, and restored to grace and favour:"
" Hearken, therefore, to us, dearly beloved, whilst we lay our
hearts open to you — ^whUst we sympathize with you in the suffer
ings which press upon you, and point out to you at least one of
the causes in which they originate, and the only remedy, perhaps,
by which they can be lightened or removed.
"But first let us announce to you the resolution we have come
to, after much deliberation, -with regard to abstinence from certain
meats during the Lent. It is, that the indulgence which you en
joyed last year should be continued during this. And why, dearly
beloved, have we resolved to inflict, as it were, a new wound on the
ancient and venerable usage of our holy Church — a Church that
is so dear to us that we would gladly sacriflce our lives to support
any, even the least important, of her institutions ? Is it that her
discipUne may be weakened, and yet her morality continue pure,
and her faith unimpaired ? No — this cannot happen, for our faith
is ' the city of our strength,' and moraUty and discipline are the
' waU and the outworks' which the Lord has placed for her de
fence. If there be a breach made in them the city is exposed ; if
they be cast down, that too -wUl be trodden under foot. Morality
has become relaxed only when discipline was disregarded ; and it
is only when that charity which loves discipUne, and purifies
morals shaU have waxed cold, that faith -wUl scarcely be found
upon the earth. We have had these considerations fuU before our
eyes, when, pressed Uke the Apostle by two things, we have
yielded as it were to the tears of the poor, and our hearts, pierced
vrith the cries of thefr distress, have surrendered to them the laws
of that kingdom of God, of which they are appointed the heirs,
and for whose sake almost exclusively it was estabUshed on the
earth. Pardon us then, dearest brethren, and pray that God may
pardon us if, moved by an excessive charity for the poor, we have
opened vrider the gate, and made broader the way which leads the
sinner to perdition. But no, dearly beloved; those of you who are
not poor, and who may avaU yourselves of the indulgence which
we so reluctantly grant, -wiU enter into our riews, and repafr by a
profusion of alms-deeds, as weU as by the exercise of penance and
of prayer, that inroad which your use of flesh-meat wUl make on
the venerable discipUne of our mother Church.
" You vri-U receive the stranger whom shame and poverty have
expelled from home. You vriU embrace the woe-worn widow who
stands shivering at your door. You wiU feed the orphan whom the

230 FEED THE ORPHAN — CLOTHE THE NAILED.
Lord has deprived of a parent and bereft of bread. You, who
yourselves have felt the throes of maternal affection, wUl remem
ber that you also have children who may yet be oi-phans, and you
wUl measure to the chUd of affiiction in the measure you would
have measured to your own. You vriU seek out, in the haunts of ¦
wretchedness where the extremity of misery often Ues concealed,
those who once were in affluence and blessed with every comfort,-
but who now sigh out their Uves with the partners of their misfor
tunes, wishing, with Job, that they had not seen the light, or
waiting -with impatience for the time of their dissolution. You
wUl seek them and you will find them, and enrich them -with
your alms. They indeed can make you no recompense, but it
wiU be made to you, dearly beloved, in the resurrection of the
just. Do not expel the aged and infirm from your door ; search
not into their names, their profession, or their merit — it is enough
that they are the children of God. Upbraid them not with vices
from which you yourselves are not exempt; but remove from them
the source of temptation, and let not your hard-heartedness excite
them to blaspheme the name or tbe providence of God, Give
food, and raiment, and employment, when you can, to the most
deserving of the poor — to the son who labours for the aged pa
rent — to the father who endeavours to support the character and
preserve the vfrtue of his daughter — to the poor labourer, who,
half despairing, and yet confiding in the care of heaven — having
his frame weakened, not by age but by hunger — his cheeks fur
rowed, not by years, but by cares — goes forth to spend the rem
nant of his strength and sweat, that he may prolong the existence
of the wife and children whom he left at home, a prey to famine.
Do these things, dearly beloved, in the holy time of Lent, and we
-wiU not have to regret the relaxation of discipline, but wUl have
rather to rejoice that our soUcitude for the poor has been the
occasion of reUef to them, and effected, through the^Dirine mercy,
the conversion ofthe rich."
Having thus laid open his riews as to the relaxation of Lenten
rigour, and the means of converting it into good, the Bishop pro
ceeded to detail the source of the e-vUs which pressed upon his
flock, and the only remedy by which they might be lightened
or removed. We gather, from Dr. Doyle's remarks, that a fa
mine scourged the land in 1823, and that a lamentable dearth of
employment existed. The conclusion of this pastoral, wherein the
Bishop exhorted his flock to hope, was eminently eloquent and
touching. In his "Eegulations," he exhorted the faithful to use
boUed meat on such days as they had an option of eating flesh,
that the poor might be more amply suppUed.
Throughout the succeeding forty days the good man exerted

THE BISHOP "at death's DOOR." 231
himself with untiring energy, preaching repentance to all, hearing
the confessions of those who at last hearkened to his voice, dis
pensing the mysteries of God this hour, and performing the cor
poral works of mercy to the famishing creatures who surrounded
him, the next.
A letter to his niece, dated 26th AprU, 1823, forms an inte
resting supplement to Dr. Doyle's Lenten pastoral for that year :
"I am sorry you abstained from meat, and I beg that you
may never attempt it again. I did so last Lent, and the conse
quence was, I was obUged to eat it in Holy Week, and am actu
ally at death's door with an inflammation of my liver. A succes
sion of leeches subdued the inflammation, and I am at present
taking large quantities of mercury. You need not talk of this, but
take warning from it, and be not rash, as I have been in some de
gree. Your mother's health must be very precarious. Give her
my affectionate compUments, and teU her she may outhve myself,
if that would be any comfort to her."
This zealous discharge of duty had barely ceased when the
labours of the biennial risitation were resumed. There has been
fortunately preserved a highly interesting letter from Dr. Doyle to
H. G  , which records, somewhat in the form of a journal, the
Bishop's progress on his apostoUc mission : "Alien, eth May, 1823.
" I am here placed in the centre of an immense bog, which
takes its name from a smaU hiU under whose declirity the Chapel
and house are buUt where I now write. What perhaps interests
me most in the wide and vast expanse of the Bog of AUen is,
that it afforded, for nearly two centuries, a place of refuge to the
apostoUc men who have gone before me in preaching the faith and
administering the sacraments to a people in every respect worthy
of such pastors. The haunts and retreats frequented by the
Bishops of KUdare in the times of persecution are stUl pointed out
by the aged inhabitants of these marshes vrith a sort of pride
mingled -with piety; and they say — " There he administered con
firmation ; here he held an assembly of the clergy ; on that hiU he
ordained some young Priests, whom he sent to France, to Spain,
or to Italy ; and we remember, or we heard, how he Uved in yon
der old waUs in common with the young Priests whom he prepared
for the mission. He sometimes left us with a staff in his hand,
and being absent months, we feared he would never return ; but be
always came back, untU he closed his days amongst us. Oh ! if
you saw him ; he was like St. Patrick himself.' What think you,
my dear fiiend, must be my reflections at hearing of the danger,
and labours, and -rirtues of these good men, and what a reproach
to my own sloth, and sensuality, and pride ! They of whom the

232 REMARKABLE LETTER DESCRIPTIVE
world was not worthy, and who went about in fens and morasses,
in nakedness, and thfrst, and hunger, and watching, and terror,
-wiU be witnesses against me for not using, to the best advantage,
the blessings which their merits have obtained from God for their
chUdren. Their spirit indeed seems to dwell here, and in those
remote and uncultivated districts there are found a purity and sim
pUcity of morals truly surprising. From five to six o'clock this
-morning the roads and fields were covered with poor people, young
and old, healthy and infirm, hurrying to see the Bishop, and assist
at his Mass, and hear his instructions. They thought he should
be like those saints whom they had seen or heard of to have gone
before him ; and I am sure that if his heart did not feel the sor
rows or the love which sent or filled the sacred heart of Jesus,
theirs suppUed the defect, and rendered to the aU-good Eedeemer
a homage every way acceptable to Him. I could observe them to
shed tears of the most tender devotion, and the stern countenance
of the rade countryman was melted down to the image of the meek
Lamb who came to take away the sins of the world. The few ob
stinate sinners lost thefr obstinacy, and would gladly yield up their
lives to be reconciled to thefr God ; the common disturbers of tbe
peace, the licentious or negligent Christian, and the women who
are sinners, were aU confounded in thefr anxiety to obtain pardon
and undergo penance. Such scenes, dearest, bring with them an
inexpressible pleasure ; they confound aU the -wise of this world,
and force us to glorify God for the abundance of the riches of his
grace ; no privation is felt, no labour is heavy, nothing worldly is
esteemed where one is encompassed with these blessings. I would
wish you to witness them, and carry home to the Convent the pic
ture of fervour and devotion which the Spirit of God pours forth
upon the rude and simple people ; but as you cannot be a witness
of it, render thanks to a good and gracious God who consoles us
with such abundant consolation in the midst of the rude trials to
which other things expose us, and who thus glorifies His own
name in this country of saints, where the vestiges of St. Bridget
are stUl traced, and the monuments of her piety as fresh as the
fruit of her intercession is sensible. May she render thanks to
God for us, and may we deserve a continuation of His mercy !
" On the day I left Carlow I was steeped in rain before I
reached Kildare. I set about my qld work, on the way, of com
posing a Litany in honour of St. Bridget, but I never could proceed
farther than a few petitions until the vrind or rain distracted my
attention ; then I looked to her round towers, commended myself
to her protection, and converted myseff from a maker of litanies
into a charioteer. These various occupations employed me tiU I
reached Kildare, where I found Eev. Mr. B  's family at din-i

OF HIS PROGRESS ON HIS VISITATION. 233
ner. They prepared a chop for me ; I feasted myseff with it, took
tea, and chatted with two or three clergymen, said my office, and
went to bed. I slept tiU five, and went to offer my devotions to
my dear patroness at the altar, and then set out to a meeting of
the Clergy at Eobertstown. Prayer and aU manner of devotion
was the principal subject of our conference, and I endeavoured to
instU into thefr minds aU the precious truths I knew, tbat they
might be the better enabled to assist souls in the way of perfec
tion. How much I like to talk on prayer, like a boy wbo has seen
a beautiful garden which he no longer frequents, but whose walks,
and arbours, and fruits he remembers with pleasure and surprise
mingled -with regret. Ah ! my dearest child, there is nothing in
heaven better than prayer, for it is a union with God, the ineffable,
and incomprehensible, and eternal Trath, who, absorbing aU the
soul within himself, imparts to it aU His own treasures. His Ught,
His Ufe, His pure wUl, and His unsearchable ways, His mysteries
of existence, of futurity, and love, swaUowing up not what is
human, but what is carnal, and overwhelming the soul with the
brightness of His divinity. One day in His presence is truly bet
ter than ten thousand years on earth ! There is nothing so good
as prayer ; it is the daUy bread, the bread of Ufe by which man
Uveth. Let us aim by it to a union with God, that, stretching
forward by our desfres, we may comprehend what He is — that,
weaned from ourselves and from the things that pass, we may ad
here to what is eternal and unchangeable ; and fiUed with bUss, not
in reasoning or perplexity, but in the ardour of desire, or the sweet
beginning of that silent enjoyment which should never be inter
rupted without pain, or resumed without thanksgi-ving and secure
tranquiUity. "When I had written the above, this good old man, my host,*
summoned me to take a cup of coffee. I should have preferred
conversing with you to the end of the sheet, but I have few occa
sions of practising obedience, so I avaUed myseff of the opportunity
offered, rendered more sweet by the mixture of coffee. Such gall
is not always infused into the cup which our superiors mingle ;
and if it were, it would not be Uke the chaUce of the Lord. 'This
superior of mine is quite an antique character ; he is past seventy
* [The late Rev, John Lawlor is the party alluded to. He was a very worthy
man, but somewhat uncouth and unlettered. A thief, on one occasion, stole the
door of Allen school-house, and Father Lawlor energetically denounced tbe perpe
trator from the altar, " Whoever committed that outrage," he said, " on the only
place of learning within miles, deserves to be waked in hell on the stolen door." On
another occasion, he found that a great portion of his congregation had fallen asleep
during a sermon. " I verily believe," he said, " that that poor fool over there
(pointing to a notorious simpleton) is the only man awake." " Your reverence,"
exclaimed the fool, " only I am a fool, I suppose I'd he asleep like the rest." — W, J,F,]

234 PORTRAIT OP FATHER LAWLOR.
years, of a robust, active, and athletic fi-ame, and rude and simple
in his manners, Uke those we read of in olden times. He has
spent nearly forty years in the ministry in this neighbourhood, and
has retained his first fervour and piety unimpafred. His books of
piety are UteraUy worn out with use, while the rest of his Ubrary
is eaten vrith the moths, or have been removed by some of his
literary friends, who supposed they did him no injury by depriring
him of what he seldom used. He counts himself the last of his
brethren, and discovers merit in every one except himseff. He
sometimes raUs at his people, who return him the compliment ;
but he never inflicts a wound which he does not run to bind up
and heal. I saw him to-day at Mass, the most humble and devout
of aU who sui-rounded him, kneeling amongst the children upon
the ground ! How cheerfuUy could I obey such a man tiU death
would separate us. We had at dinner, from Clongowes, our very
good friend Father N — — and one of his brethren. I expect to
spend a part of Sunday with them — the latter but not the better
part — and to learn, if possible, some of thefr salutary maxims.
How they do overcome eril by good ! They are always heaping
favours and attentions upon me, and you know how badly I repay
them. However, for the sake of Xarier, if for no' other cause, I
shaU be converted. I don't intend to send you this letter until to
morrow or next day, when I wiU flU up this page with a journal of
what may occur. TUl then, adieu. I go to commend myself to
the Vfrgin, to the Patroness of the Bishops of KUdare, and to all
the saints, and am weU assured that you are equaUy mindful of
me. May God bless you !
"Sunday Night. — To continue this — what shaU I call it ? — an
account of my mission in this remote district : I came yesterday
through a large part of the Bog of AUen, where a colony, chiefly
of Connaught people, have dug out habitations from the immense
cUffs of turf, where fire and water seem to be the only elements
given them for subsistence ; yet they are healthful, and seem to
be blessed vrith a numerous progeny. Supported by some inrisible
food, and clothed by the hand of nature, they are Uke the sparrow
and the bfrd of prey, fed by that Proridence which neglects
nothing it has made. A Uttle removed from the extremity of the
bog stands the to-wn of Prosperous, proclaiming by its appearance
the impropriety of its name, yet having an exceUent Chapel and
a most ingenious population, who surpass thefr neighbours in in
telUgence, and are not inferior to them in vfrtue. They are all
cotton-weavers, and for the last year or eighteen months have laid
aside thefr combinations, and regulated their temporal and spiri
tual concems by some written directions which I then gave them.
They were quite happy to see me, and the joy was reciprocal. I

VISITATION TO A HITHERTO UNFREQUENTED DISTRICT. 235
discoursed vrith them on the articles of the creed, and found them
highly edified by the new Ughts which seemed to be let in upon
them.- I felt myseff, more forcibly than ever in my Ufe before,
impressed by the attributes of God, and the nature of our redemp
tion, His charity to man, the price paid for our salvation, and the
ineffable dignity of a Christian soul, from which feeUng a strong
disposition to love and serve God easily flows — but alas in us so
frail it is only transient ; happy those that meditate on it day and
night, and place it as a sign before their eyes ! I came last night
to the house of Eev. Mr.  , a splendid mansion, bestowed on
him by Dean Digby of the EstabUshed Church. I slept weU, and
after Mass and breakfast, set out on my mission to a district
which no Bishop had risited perhaps for a century before. The
inhabitants had been rude, vrild, and untractable, but this good
little man had gone amongst them vrithout scrip, or coat, or
money in his purse, and formed them into a new people Uke the
primitive Christians. They devoured my dress with their eyes,
and my words seemed to melt thefr hearts ; they pressed about
me as if I were something of another cUme, and it was with diffi
culty I could separate myseff from them : this was outside the
chapel, where I told them a variety of stories about St. Patrick,
and St. Bridget, &c., and left them liUed with delight, and with a
faith so animated, that I have no doubt they would all cheerfully
go to martyrdom if caUed on. It is amongst them that the Son
of God loves to dweU, whilst he hides himself from the prudent
and the wise. It is no wonder that Abraham, the prophets, and
aU solitaries, who now fiU heaven, took up thefr abode amongst
the rustic population of the fens and deserts, where the world,
and its rices and concupiscences, are utterly unknovm. We, how
ever, must only endeavour to use it as if we used it not ; and how
difficult it is to do so, plainly appeared on my approach about two
o'clock to this superb mansion of the Jesuits 
"I officiated at vespers, and gave benediction. I felt some
throes of devotion, and a deep sense of my own miseries. I
vrished that I could deserve to be in heaven ; but he who gives
effect to the efforts of the wiU, left me where I generaUy am, low
and miserable, like the base earth of which he has formed me,
and to which I must return when the days of my bp,nishment end.
We proceeded from the church, after a short interval in the
Ubrary, to dinner. I retired very soon after -with my good friend
Eev. Mr. Kenny, who took tea with me, and chatted untU the
bell rung for night prayer, when he retired to his devotion, and
I to converse vrith my friend in Christ. The Eev. Mr. N  is
aU goodness and piety, and the whole family as happy as virtue
and temporal blessings combined can render them 

236 MELANCHOLY OPPRESSES HIM.
" I shaU close here, and probably will send you this letter to
morrow, as nothing new or interesting .is likely to occur ; there
wUl be a sameness in my Ufe and adventures, for the days that are
to come, which would not be interesting to you. I am growing
somewhat melancholy also, and if there be not some animation
infused into writing, even the warmth of friendship will soon cool
by it, and I don't like to trespass on your patience — for though
patience makes the soul perfect, I should rather some other per
son would exercise yours, than that it should be tried by your ever
affectionate, "* J. Doyle."
It is not surprising that Dr. Doyle should have entertained
that particular affection for the memory of St. Bridget, of which
we obtain gUmpses in the foregoing letter. She is mentioned by
Cogitosus as having " appointed" St. Conlaeth, the first Bishop
who ever ruled the diocess of KUdare, " but this," says Dr.
Lanigan, "must be understood relatively to his haring been chosen
in consequence of her recommendation." Be this as it may, the
Bishops of Kildare owe thefr existence to St. Bridget.
We now approach a period in Dr. Doyle's life which has been
much criticised by polemics. We allude to his Pastoral authenti
cating "a miracle wrought by the intercession of Prince Hohenlohe
and Dean of Bamberg, in the person of Miss Maria Lalor, who
received the use of speech after six years' privation of that faculty."
Some tributes to our Bishop's worth and learning, which appeared
in Protestant pubUcations shortly after his death, went out of their
way to notice, as an extraordinary fact, that a judgment of such
uniformly unerring accuracy should have borne testimony to the
" so-caUed mfracles" of Prince Hohenlohe. Be this as it may.
Dr. Doyle, having received striking eridence in corroboration, de
clared himself conrinced of the reality of the particular instance
now before us ; and as his Pastoral in attestation of it, published
in 1823, was marginaUy corrected by his own hand in 1830, we
have no reason to suppose that his views on this subject under
went any subsequent modiflcation.
Moses in the Old Testament {Ex. ix. 14 ; Num. xm. 29), and
Christ in the New {John, x. 37, 38 ; xiv. 12 ; xv. 24), constantly
appealed to miracles in attestation of thefr divine mission; and
we find {Mark, x^. 17 ; John, xiv. 12), that our Sariour ex
pressly promised to his disciples the pririlege of working them
for the same sacred end. The truth of the Church has been
Ulustrated by weU authenticated mfracles throughout different
ages ; and we cannot wonder that Dr. Doyle should have recog
nised, -with joy, what would seem to have been a renewed assur
ance of its apostoUc origin and mission. "We have not only been

PRINCE HOHENLOHE. 237
taught God's truth," writes Luther,* "but have seen it confirmed
for these fifteen hundred years back by manifest signs and mira
cles." "Let not Bellarmin think," observes a learned Protestant
divine,-|- " that I despise altogether the mfracles of Xarier, for it
may happen that such have been, and may stiU be wrought in
the Popish Church."
Whether the miraculous cures wrought through the agency of
his Highness the Dean of Bamberg, deserve to be classed with
the miracles of an earUer era in the history of the Church, we
shaU not now pause to discuss. It has been customary vrith re
Ugionists, not of the CathoUc persuasion, to decry them, but,
as the good Priest, unUke SS. Dominic,! Xaverius,§ and other
piUars of the Church, never vauntingly assumed to effect a cure
through his own merit or power, but solely by the agency of fer
vent and concentrated prayer to God, there can be nothing offen
sive to human pride in believing that the Father of mercies may
have been graciously pleased, on more than one occasion, to grant
the prayer of his humble petitioner. Unlike Ireneus|| and Tertul-
Uan,ir who sarcasticaUy reproached the schismatics against whom
they wrote for their inabiUty to work miracles, the Prince with
the utmost humiUty declared his own weakness, and always re
ferred to God the various flattering requests which continuaUy
pursued him.
Concentrated prayer, and the sacriflce of the Mass, constituted
the great lever of strength on which this holy ecclesiastic depended
for the attainment of the end in riew. " Where two or three are
assembled in my name, there," says Christ, "am I in the midst of
them;" and we are assured by the same sacred authority, " Ask
and you shaU receive, seek and you shaU find." As some dis
ciples of Conyers Middleton wUl not reUsh the word " mfracle,"
in connexion vrith certain wonderful cures effected in the nine
teenth century, we may, perhaps, remind them that to prayer all
things are possible of attainment. For what end do aU the world
pray, ff not to obtain temporal as well as spiritual necessities ?
Christ taught his foUowers the Lord's Prayer, to show them that
spuitual and corporal wants were alike to be sought at the throne
of mercy. Having been once encompassed with infirmity Himseff,
He knows how to compassionate human distress. Hence the
Church, from its earUest ages, has prescribed prayers for the sick,
in which her reUance on His promises is expressed, and if she did
not beUeve that cures are wrought by thefr efficacy, her worship
* Luther torn. 7, -Wittemb. fol. 210. § Du Halde's Recueil. Berault Ber-
¦f Whitakerus de Ecclesia, p, 353. castel's Hist, Ecc.
J Petrus Valis Cern. Hist., Butler's || Lib, ii, contra Hser, c, 31.
Saints, Aug, 4. 1 Lib, de Prsesor,

238 LETTER TO THE PRINCE.
would not be rehgion but mockery. The Church of England holds
these riews, and whenever any of her Bishops fall sick, prayers
are offered up for their recovery in all the churches of the diocess.
In June, 1823, a fafr member of Dr. Doyle's flock, named
Lalor, mfraculously recovered her use of speech, through the fer
vent prayers of his Highness the Eev. Alexander Prince Hohen
lohe, whose invaluable serrices the good Bishop had enUsted on
her behalf. The following correspondence teUs the tale. Dr,
' Doyle's letter is, we fear, but an indifferent translation from the
original, " Carlow, March 6th, 1823.
" Most Serene and Very Eev. Prince — The report of the
wonderful works which, through the prayers of your Highness,
God hath wrought in the midst of his people, has reached Ireland,
and especiaUy of that by which the arm of a certain nun in
England, afflicted with some miserable disease, had been instantly
and miraculously cured at a time when the most holy sacrifice of
the Mass was offered to God for her by your Highness.
" WhUst they, therefore, offer thanks to the Father of aU
Mercies, who in these lamentable times has raised up your High
ness, by whom to give new signs of salvation and proofs of the
faith, both to the true beUevers and to those who are without,
we also presume to implore your prayers and charity on behaff of
a young female of our diocess, whose father earnestly requested of
us that we would commend her to your prayers that she might be
cured by God.
" But that your Most Serene Highness may be fuUy acquainted
with what regards this young female, we have thought it fit to
make known to your Highness the following statement communi
cated to us by her father, a respectable and pious CathoUc.
" The daughter of this man, named Maria Lalor, was brought
up piously to about her eleventh year, and educated as became a
person of her age, untU, after a long iUness, which she bore pa
tiently, she was deprived of the use of speech. Nothing, indeed,
which could be hoped from medical aid had been left untried,
during the six years which have since elapsed, that her tongue
might again resume its functions ; but every effort has proved vain,
for neither has she yet articulated any sound, nor is she expected
ever to do so, unless that God, ' who maketh the tongues of the
little ones eloquent,' wUI be induced, through the prayers of your
Highness, to vouchsafe that her tongue be restored to its former
powers. ' ' It may not be irrelevant to state to your Highness that her
organs of sense continue perfect, and that she strictly adheres to
that piety of Ufe which she had preserved from her most tender

THE REPLY. 239
age. She makes, at the usual times, her sacramental confession,
by signs or -writing to a Priest, who has testified the same to us ;
she hears and receives -with reverence his admonitions and adrice ;
in a word, she so conducts herself in aU things as to appear to us,
short-sighted and unworthy as we are, to deserve that your most
Serene Highness would intercede with God for her.
" WhUst stating these things, I press with reverence the hands
of your Highness, and earnestly recommend to your prayers myself,
an humble sinner, vrith the flock committed to my care ; and
remain, of your Most Serene and Very Eeverend Highness, the
most obedient and most humble servant in Christ,
"Br. James Dq-yle, O.S.A.,
"Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin."
M. Sageten Brock, a notary, promptly acknowledged Dr.
Doyle's letter, and enclosed the foUowing document in the auto
graph of the Prince de Hohenlohe, addressed " To Miss Lalor,
and aU those who wUl spirituaUy unite in prayer :"
" On the 10th of June, at nine o'clock, I vriU, agreeably to
your request, offer my prayers for your recovery. Unite with
them at the same time, after having confessed and received the
Holy Communion, your ovm, together with that evangehcal
fervour, that fuU and entfre confidence which we owe to our Ee
deemer Jesus Christ. Excite in the recesses of your heart the
dirine -virtues of trae contrition, of an unbounded confidence that
you wUl be heard, and an immovable resolution of leading an exem
plary Ufe for the purpose of preserving yourseff in a state of grace.
Accept the assurance of my consideration."
The Prince's secretary, in a letter to Dr. Doyle, added, " This
instant, we have received an account from Verdelain, diocess of
Bordeaux, in France, stating, with the utmost joy, that a young
female, deprived of the use of speech for five years, had been
restored to it in the Church, on the day and hour appointed,
namely, the 14th of March. ' May God grant increase and perse
verance.' "
The foUowing letter is addressed to the late Very Eeverend
N. O'Connor : " Old Derrig, Carlow, 1st June, 1823.
" Very Eev. Dear Sir — When in Mountrath, I wrote, at the
request of Mr. Lalor, of Eosskelton, to the Prince De Hohenlohe,
soUciting his Highness's prayers, that, through their efficacy -with
Almighty God, Mr. Lalor's daughter might be restored to the use
of speech, of which she has, for some years, been deprived. On
this day I heard in reply ; and it is desfred, that Miss Lalor's
pious fnends do join her in a devotion in honour of the most Holy

240 THE miracle wrought.
Name of Jesus, and in honour of St. John Nepomucene, for nine
days preceding the 10th of June, on which day she is to confess
and receive the Holy Communion at Mass, to be celebrated at
the hour of nine o'clock, exciting in her soul the holy rirtues of
true repentance, with an unbounded confidence in God, through
the merits of our Blessed Eedeemer, as weU as a firm resolution
of spending her life in obedience to His commands, and in a holy
conformity to His Dirine wiU, all joined to a Uvely faith, and a
disinterested love of tbe Lord. Your friends here wUl co-operate
with- you; and without pubUshing the matter too much, you can
ensure the prayers of many holy souls, and you know how " they
do riolence to heaven." — Yours, most affectionately, " * J. Doyle.
" P. S. — As the meridian of Bamberg differs from that of Mary
borough by an hour and about twelve minutes, you can direct
the Mass to be celebrated for Miss Lalor at a Uttle before eight
o'clock on the 10th of June." "Maryborough, llth June, 1823.
" My Lord — In compliance -with your request, I send you a
statement of the facts relative to Miss Lalor.
" I am now in the house where she was first deprived of her
speech. She is at present in the eighteenth year of her age, and
as she is connected vrith most of the respectable Catholic famUies
in this country, and has had frequent intercourse with them, her
privation of speech, during six years and five months, is estabUshed
beyond contradiction. Her hearing and understanding remained
unimpafred, and she carried a tablet and pencU to write what she
could not communicate by signs.
" Medical aid was tried by Dr. Ferris of Athy, and Surgeon
Smith of Mountrath, but -without effect. The latter gentleman
resolved to have it submitted to the most eminent physicians in
DubUn, eight of whom were consulted by him, and the result was,
that no hopes could be entertained of her recovery. This decision
was imparted by Dr. Smith to her father, apart from Mrs. and
Miss Lalor ; all which circumstances the doctor recoUected on the
14th inst., when he saw Miss Lalor, heard her speak, and de
clared tbe cure to be mfraculous.
" I waited on Mr. Lalor, and communicated to him and to his
famUy aU that you desired. They observed it vrith every exact
ness; and on the morning of the 10th inst., having heard Miss
Lalor's confession by signs, and disposed her for receiving the
Holy Communion, I read to her again from your Lordship's letter
the directions of the Prince, namely, that she would excite -within
her a sincere repentance, a firm resolution of obejing God's com-

THE AUTHENTICATION. 241
mands, a Uvely faith, and unbounded confidence in his mercy, and
entfre conformity to his holy vriU, and a disinterested love of him.
"I had preriously requested the Clergy of this district to offer
up for Miss Lalor the holy Sacrifice of the Mass at twelve minutes
before eight o'clock in the morning of the 10th, keeping the matter
a secret from most others, as you had recommended ; however,
as it had transpfred somewhat, a considerable number coUected
in the chapel, when my two coadjutors, with myself, began Mass at
the hour appointed. I offered the holy Sacrifice in the name
of the Church. I besought the Lord to overlook my own unwor
thiness, and regard only Jesus Christ, the great High Priest and
Victim, who offers himseff in the Mass to His Eternal Father for
the Uring and the dead. I implored the Mother of God, of aU the
Angels and Saints, and particulai-ly of St. John Nepomucene.
I administered the Sacrament to the young lady, at the usual
time, when instantly she heard, as it were, a voice distinctly
saying to her, ' Mary, you are well' — when she exclaimed, ' 0
Lord, am I!' and, overwhelmed vrith devotion, fell prostrate on
her face. She continued in this posture for a considerable time,
whilst I hastened to conclude the Mass, but was interrupted in
my thanksgi-ring immediately after, by the mother of the chUd
pressing her to speak.
"When, at length, she was satisfied in pouring out her -soul
to the Lord, she took her mother by the hand, and said to her,
'Dear mother ;' upon which Mrs. Lalor called the clerk, and sent
for me, as I had retfred to avoid the interruption, and on coming
to where the young lady was, I found her speaking in an agree
able, clear, and distinct voice, such as neither she nor her mother
could recognise as her own.
" As she retm-ned home in the afternoon, the doors and win
dows in the streets through which she passed were crowded with
persons, gazing vrith wonder at this monument of the power and
goodness of Almighty God.
" Thus, my Lord, I have given you a simple statement of
facts, without adding to or distorting what I have seen and heard,
the truth of which their very notoriety places beyond aU doubt, and
which numberless witnesses, as weU as myseff, could attest by the
most solenm appeal to Heaven. I cannot forbear remarking to
your Lordship, how our Lord confirms now the doctrine of His
Church, and His ovm presence upon our altars, by the same mira
cles to which He refen-ed the disciples of John, saying, ' Go teU
John the dumb speaks,' &c., as a proof that He was the Son of
God, who came to save the world.
"I remain your Lordship's, &c.,
"N. O'Connor."
16

242 THE PASTORAL ON THE MIRACLE.
Dr. Doyle hastened to Eosskelton, to conrince himseff by per
sonal inquiry of this wondrous cure. He drew up a pastoral on
the subject, which was eagerly read, not only in the diocess to
which the Bishop speciaUy addressed it, but throughout the
United Kingdom and many parts of the Continent. The Council
of Trent (Sess. 25, dec. 2) ordains that it is the duty of Bishops
to pubUsh every weU-authenticated miracle which may take place
within thefr jurisdiction ; and in obedience to this mandate Dr.
Doyle joyously announced the wonderful cure of Miss Lalor :
"Dearest brethren," he said, "we announce to you with great
joy a splendid mfracle, which the Almighty God hath wrought
even in our o-wn days, and at the present time, and in the midst
of ourselves. We announce it to you vrith a heart filled with gra
titude to heaven, that you may unite with us in thanksgivings to
the ' Father of mercies and God of aU consolation, who consoles
us in every tribulation,' and who has now consoled us by restoring
miraculously Miss Maria Lalor to the perfect use of speech, of
which, for six years and five months, she had been totally de
prived ! Our gracious God, ' who causeth death and giveth Ufe,
who leadeth to the grave, and bringeth back therefrom,' has been
graciously pleased to have regard to the prayers and the faith of
His servants, and, looking to the sacrifice of our altars, and to the
merits of the blood which speaketh from them, better than the
blood of Abel, to loose, by His own presence and by His own power,
a tongue whose functions had been so long suspended. , . .
He who at the gate of Nairn put his hand to the bier, raised the
vridow's son to Ufe, and gave him to his mother, has now spoken
to the heart of a faithful servant, loosed the tongue which infirmity
had paralyzed, and restored a happy daughter to the embraces of
her parents. We ourselves have participated in thefr joy, on
conversing, ^ as we have lately done, vrith this favoured child of
heaven. Exult then, dearly beloved brethren, and rejoice that the
Almighty God has thus visited you His people, re-animating your
faith, enlivening your hope, and exalting your charity — consohng
your sorrows, reliering your distress, and heaUng your infu-mi-
ties — preparing in your sight a table against aU who afflict you,
and urging you, by these manifestations of His power and good
ness, to rely upon His proridence, 'whereas He has care of
you. Signs and wonders are not necessary at aU times, nor in aU
places ; yet they have never ceased in the Church of God, because
He is always in the midst of His people, and must fulfil His pro
mise to them — that ' whatever they ask the Father in His name
vriU be done for them.' But in our times it is meet that signs and
wonders should, in some degree, rerive, because error hath per
vaded the earth, and the very foundations of the faith have been

POLITICAL DESPONDENCY OF THE CATHOLICS. 213
assaUed. Hence it is just that the Lord should arise to judge, as
it were, his own cause. Therefore it is that ourselves have be
held him 'ruhng with a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and
-with anger poured out' — on one day chaining a persecutor to a rock,
on another dissolring the league of infidels, or by prodigies compel-
Ung his very enemies to exclaim, ' Surely the finger of God is here.'
At this time, and in this place, it is worthy of His providence
that the Ught of His countenance should be shed upon His faithful
people. We have long experienced the truth of His prediction to
those who were to walk in His footsteps and carry after them their
cross — -namely, ' that the world would rejoice, but that they would
be sad;' and the present period has added sorrow to our sorrow,
and pressure to our distress. Our religion is traduced, our rights
are withheld, our good name is maligned, our best actions are
misrepresented, crimes are imputed to us against which our very
nature revolts, our friends are sUenced, and our enemies insult us,
and glory in our humiUation. It is meet, therefore, and just, that
He for whose name and faith we suffer should cast upon us a look
of compassion, lest we faint in the way or be overcome by tempta
tion — that He should comfort His people, and renew to them, by
risible signs, an assurance that He wa,tches over them — that a
hair of thefr heads wUl not perish — and that, possessing thefr
souls in patience, they may expect His return ' to -wipe away
every tear from thefr cheek, and fiU them with that joy which no
one can take away.' "
A settled despondency fiUed the CathoUcs and their friends at
this period. The Cabinet was occupied by men pledged to resist
Emancipation to the death. At no prerious time had the de
meanour of the ascendant party been more intolerant, or tbe flow
of calumny fuUer. To this painful state of things Dr. Doyle refers.
He concluded -with a renewal of the admonitions to which he had
afready given expression, on the occasion of his risitation. Above
all, he impressed upon his flock the necessity of peace and pa
tience, and to bear with many injuries rather than inflict one.
The Bishop, having expressed a charitable hope that the calumnies
which had been so profusely poured upon them wanted the malice
of design, continued — "In times when the minds of men are
deeply anxious and strongly agitated, they cannot divest them
selves of friendship or hatred, of fear and love ; and when these
passions prevail, they impart thefr ovm colours to the subjects of
deUberation and sway the judgment of the most enlightened mind.
We ourselves have our fears which are groundless, and our anti
pathies which are Ul-founded. We are often a prey to false
alarms, and impute to others thoughts which perhaps they never
once conceived. Yet we overlook our own mistakes — we pardon

244 LIES AND CALUMNIES.
our ovm errors — and why not, dearest brethren, mete to others as
we would measure to ourselves ? Is it not a rale of equity to do
so ? Is it not the law of the Gospel ? Time wiU restore the do
minion of truth, facts wUl disprove the strongest and foulest im
putations, patience wiU soften do-wn the anger of our opponents,
and charity -wUI sweeten even the bitterness of their gaU. They
wiU yet blush at the injuries they have done us, and finding no
justification for themselves in your reproaches they may yet re
lent — nay, they may forgive, and be numbered amongst your
fiiends. But the storm of passion must be first allayed. Who
has ever been converted tUl he ceased to hate ? Who has ever
repafred an injury whUst he was upbraided with injustice ? EecaU
to your minds, dearest brethren, the situation of those whose pro
ceedings you complain of, and see whether that ' charity which
thinketh not e-vU' may not excuse thefr errors and paUiate their
faults. Have they not imbibed -with thefr mothers' mUk prejudices
which nothing but education, ,of which many of them are destitute,
and a free intercourse with CathoUcs, could remove ? The nurse
told them you were a nation of idolaters, thefr pastors pointed you
out to them as foUowers of Anti-Christ, their books of instraction
represented you as the enemies of God, the laws proclaimed to
them that you were disaffected, and the courts of justice not un
frequently announced it in judgment. When the law and the
prophets were thus perverted to condemn you — when, from the
pulpit as in the nursery, you were denounced as heathens and
pubUcans — when the titles of property, the pride of conquest
and of ancestry, the laws of the empfre, the maxims of the vrise,
and the conduct of those placed in authority, proclaimed you as
impious or disaffected, how could you be estimated as ordinary
men — how could you be considered as reUgious Christians and
faithful subjects ?
" But you wiU ask me, are we then to suffer in sUence and
not rindicate our good name ? Far from it, brethren ; you should
uphold, by every lawful means, your own character and promote
your own interests. These interests are the interests of truth and
justice, and they must advance. The ways of their progress are
obrious, and nothing can retard them but your own imprudence.
" You have increased in property, in numbers, and in strength ;
these give you a moral weight which carries you forward with an
accelerated motion. Education has arrived to a state of exceUence
amongst those of you who are blessed -with the means of obtaining
it, and is united with a pure and sound morality. These wUl iUu-
minate and enUven and direct the movements of our body, that we
may act in concert, dissipate prejudice, make our merits manifest,
and attach to our cause the vfrtuous and inteUigent of every creed

SQUIBS AND CRACKERS. 245
and class. The progress of our reUgion, which is such as to excite
even our ovm surprise, wUl of itself make known our principles
and refute every calumny ; the piety and zeal of your priesthood,
the appearance of your places of worship, the multitudes who fre
quent them, thefr pious demeanour, their strict integrity, their
faithful attachment to the ever uniform creed of the saints, wiU
have — as they daUy have — an insensible but powerful effect : but
when aided by the exertions of your friends and the riolence of your
enemies, joined to your own wiUing obedience to the law, were a
Balaam to be found, they would compel him to exclaim, 'How
lovely are thy tabernacles, 0 Jacob, and thy tents, 0 Israel !'
These are the lawful and efficient means of mitigating the evils
you now endure, and a few of the grounds of your future hope.
These wUl plead for you in a language which wUl speak to the
imderstanding of the -wise, to the interests of legislators, and to
the hearts of men. Supported on these piUars, let your cause
rest. Do not, dearest brethren, justify intolerance by your own
imprudence ; do not verify the imputations of calumny by deriating
fi-om your usual course ; do not paralyse your own energies by
dissensions, and enable your opponents to rivet your chains anew.
A momentary cloud has overcast the legislature — a bad spirit has
breathed on thefr councUs. Some of those who lead in the senate
have adopted a false maxim, others have unwisely exalted an un
holy league over the King's subjects, and placed it perhaps too
near the throne. These men -wiU regret haring cast away prin
ciple, or acted on a bad one, and the coUective vrisdom of the
nation wiU yet penetrate this cloud which overhangs it, and, by a
new effort of its power and its justice, secure the throne; and fill
with gladness the hearts of the people."
Sceptical squibs, in prose and verse, increased the noise whi-ch
Dr. Doyle's pamphlet produced. It is impossible not to smUe at
some of these epigrams ; and we are assured that no one enjoyed
them more than Dr. Doyle himseff:
" The wonder-working Prince, they brag,
Has caused a woman's tongue to wag,
And laid the dumb fiend imder,
Now, had he but the power and will
To bid a woman's tongue lie still —
There were, indeed, the wonder."
Among the prosaic expressions of increduUty, that of "Mfracles
Mooted" figured prominently. The author accused Dr. Doyle of
ha-ving blasphemously laughed at some fanatical old ladies. " I
have never," said the Bishop, "ridiculed anything sacred; and
though I have frequently laughed for the last three months at what

246 ANOTHER MIRACLE.
I saw written on the subject of miracles, from 'Miracles Mooted'
to the ' Complete Exposure,' I feared too much the woe denounced
by the Lord against the scoffers, to laugh at the mfracles them
selves. But however I might have laughed or sighed — for I some
times indulge in either — I am quite certain I never wished eril to
any chUd of Adam, nor precipitated my judgment so as to impute
even to the worst of the admfrers of the works of Joshua, half the
cruelty which they imputed or appropriated to themselves. StUl
less did I feel resentment against those few who laughed at the
mfracles ; and if I became mad, as my correspondent supposes, I
have only to hope that, Uke Hamlet, there has been method in my
madness." The three ablest opponents whom Dr. Doyle encountered on
his promulgation of the recent mfraculous cures, were the late
Surgeon-General Sfr PhUip Crampton, Baron Smith, and Dr.
Cheyne. The Baron's pamphlet displayed the metaphysical leam
ing and keen subtlety for which that eminent judge was distin
guished, whUe the tracts of Crampton and Cheyne (the Podalirius
and Machaon of Dublin) embodied much curious medical lore,
which aimed to prove that the sudden recovery of the persons
mentioned by Dr. Doyle could be entirely accounted for on natu
ral principles. It behoved the doctors to come forward at such
a juncture, for they were beginning to feel themselves quite sup
planted by the potent Dean of Bamberg. Critics were not slow in
detecting in these pamphlets unmistakable traces of jealousy
blended with the argument.
Dr. Doyle promptly answered Crampton and Cheyne in a letter
which displayed a surprising amount of medical reading. Our
Bishop in the character of a medical writer was a circumstance so
novel, that his reply excited an unusual sensation. He concluded
vrith — " Physicians as you are, and physician as I am not, I
hereby chaUenge you to contradict one iota of what I have ad
vanced." Dr. Doyle was truly a man of most varied information.
He was capable of arguing with striking power on any given sub
ject. He had Blackstone almost by heart, and he was no stranger
to the pharmaccepia. The mfraculous recovery of Miss Lalor,
through the prayers of Prince Hohenlohe, was rapidly foUowed by
that of Miss Mary Stewart, a CarmeUte nun of Dublin, under not
less singular and startUng circumstances. FoUowing the example
set by Dr. Doyle, the late Archbishop Murray pubUshed an in
teresting narrative and attestation of it, which Dr. Doyle thus
notices : "I met at the hotel in Eoscrea, where I slept on Tues
day night. Dr. Murray's Pastoral on the cure of Miss Stewart,
with the affidarits annexed. I was greatly deUghted with the en
tire, and think they must greatly contribute to the glory of God."

LETTER TO LORD WELLESLEY. 247
These wonderful cures excited considerable attention and noise.
Dr. Doyle, in a letter addressed to the Marquis Wellesley, ob
serves : " To inquire into the nature of the sudden and extra
ordinary cures referred to, is not, my Lord, the object, nor any
portion of the object of this letter. Let physicians and men without
occupation employ themselves in discussing the force of nature,
and fixing the boundaries of her operations ; for my part, I mix
myseff with thp crowd — the simple and the poor, to whom Christ
came to preach, and whom He has appointed the heirs of His king
dom. I riew vrith them, rather than with the prudent and the
wise, the cures wrought by the Eedeemer, and by those who have
walked in his footsteps. If I see a woman healed of a grievous
distemper, when in the midst of the crowd she touches the hem
of His garment, I do not inqufre whether the force of imagination
or the power of her nerves might not have stopped the issue of
her blood. When the blind man's eye was touched vrith clay
made wet with spittle, and he desired to go and wash in the pool
of Siloe, and that I find him restored to sight, I do not seek
to ascertain by any chemical process the -vfrtue of the water in
which he washed, more than of the Jordan in which Naaman was
cleansed, to enable me to judge of the cause of the recovery ; I
attribute it to the prophet and to the Son of God. The persons
for whom and by whom miracles are wrought, the means employed
to produce them, the end and cfr-cumstances for which, and in
whieh they are presented to us, their number as weU as the sub
stance of them, contribute to determine my judgment of the cause
to which they are to be assigned — whether to natural means, to
the spfrit of darkness, or to the power of God."
The anti-CathoUc press of the day was not slow in overwhelm
ing vrith obloquy Prince Hohenlohe, Dr, Doyle, and Dr, Murray.
It also ridiculed the miraculous cures recently effected. Touching
this profane tone. Dr. Doyle observed, that he had heard the
evangeUsts teU how there were dirisions even about Christ him
self : some said He was good; others not, but that He seduced
the crowd ; and not a few supported that it was in Beelzebub He
cast out de-vUs. " I find, in after times, not only men who denied
¦ the existence of aU the mfracles recorded in the gospels, but others
who, admitting their existence, attributed them to causes such as
those to which the late miracles have been assigned. Celsus pre
tended they were produced by those secret speUs which Jesus
had leamed from the Egyptians. Porphirius and Julian attributed
thepi to magic. Hierocles opposed to them the prodigies per
formed by ApoUonius. The Talmudists would assign them aU
to a certain mode of pronouncing the word ' Jehovah.' "
Midsummer, 1823, found Dr. Doyle practically extending his

248 DR. DOYLE IN LIMERICK.
pious labours to Munster, to the imminent risk of his health.
The young Bishop's celebrity had now reached far and near, and
although quite "a Uon" in the estimation ofthe people, he had
not a Uon's courage, inasmuch as we find him wincing beneath the
intense staring to which the good folk of Limerick subjected him.
The foUowing letter is to H. G  :
" I thought when on my way to Limerick I should have had
time to note down whatever I observed as I passed through Mun
ster; but unless I did so whUst actuaUy traveUing, I could find no
other time sufficiently disengaged, and hence I cannot entertain
you -with a journal of my travels. I may, however, teU you that I
arrived here last night at ten o'clock, drenched with rain, as I have
been ajmost every day since I left home. The country I have left,
lying near the great Atlantic Ocean, is, even more than ours, sub
ject to incessant rains ; and when I saw in all dfrections the fruits
of the earth injured or destroyed, I often hoped that the risitation
of Proridence might not be so hea-vy elsewhere. There can
scarcely be a doubt but that these protracted rains are employed
by God for some special end ; and I greatiy fear the chastisement
wUl not be removed untU we are severely punished. May the
Lord grant us patience and a perfect conformity to His holy wiU !
About the end of next week I expect to have the pleasure of see
ing you aU. By that time I hope I shaU be nearly prepared to sit
dovm and coUect my thoughts, which are so Uable to be deranged
by those ever shifting scenes among which I Uve. SoUtude and
sUence, always agreeable, are more precious when they succeed to
bustle and confusion. I hope your love of both have increased in
your late retfrement, and that, though now unrestrained by rule,
you return to them in affection, and cherish them as the places
where the Holy Spirit breathes, or the Spouse speaks to the heart
of His weU-beloved.
" I cannot conclude vrithout giring you some account of Lime
rick. I arrived there about noon on Satm-day last, in company
with Mr. S — — and another gentleman, at whose house I spent the
prerious day. On Sunday we had the consecration of the Chapel,
the sermon, and all the other appendages of the festirity ; and of
aU who were present, no one felt happier to have the entire ended
than he who was the principal object of curiosity, as I fear there
was more of that than of devotion in the assembly. I spent Mon
day in exploring the city, in company with the Bishop, a venerable
old man, and some of the clergy ; and though it rained nearly the
entire day, we did not desist from our risits — such was my anxiety
to see everything worthy of notice in that town, famed as the last
hold of Irish independence, and the theatre of those briUiant

A THEATRE CONVERTED INTO A CHURCH. 249
achievements which reflect some little credit on our country. The
city is dirided into the new and old towns, and the latter into the
EngUsh and Irish towns. I was going to give you a description
of them, but to do so I should write several pages, and for this I
am not now disposed, even if I thought it a matter -with which you
would be improved or instracted. Let us leave it, therefore, and
when we meet I shaU, if you vrish, give you an account of it."
Dr. Doyle does not teU his correspondent that he preached the
consecration sermon of the New Church of St. Augustine at
Limerick. But in the records of the Augustinian Order we find
the fact chronicled. The sermon was a splendid effort of genius,
and procured for the community a coUection sufficient to Uquidate
the building debt. The same document from which we have
quoted mentions the fact, that the old Chapel having been too
small for the increasing population, it was long and anxiously
desfred by the good Friars that they might be able to remove to
a more fashionable part of the city, and erect a, new one. Their
funds unhappUy were low, but a fortuitous circumstance, at length,
enabled them to carry their desfre into effect. A handsome theatre
had recentiy been buUt, in consequence of the destruction by fire
of the old one, but the manager aUowing an arrear of rent to ac
cumulate, it was brought to the hammer in Dublin. The Prior
heard of the matter, proceeded to DubUn, and vrithin a week was
in possession of the theatre and properties, to the infinite dismay
of aU lovers of the drama. An architect was not long in altering
the theatee into a church, and in a few weeks it was ready for
consecration. Dr. Doyle's sermon upon this interesting occasion
is described as possessing a majesty of diction, vrith a subUmity
of aspfration, which well nigh etheriaUsed many a heart. His
sonorous intonations within the very waUs that had so often
echoed Jack Johnston's loud songs of lerity in " Love Laughs at
Locksmiths," and the stentorian appeals of Edmund Kean in the
profanities of " Macbeth," must have formed a contrast singularly
impressive in the minds of such old play-goers as were present on
that occasion.
The great success of Dr. Doyle's sermon in Limerick brought
him numerous inritations to perform a similar serrice. On the
Slst of July, 1823, we find him at Eoss preaching a funeral
oration over the corpse of Father PhUip Crane, a venerable and
distinguished member of the Augustinian Order. On Mr. Crane's
first return from Eome, he sojourned for some time at Dungarvan,
where he so won the affections of the people by his incessant
labours in the confessional, that, after his second retum, they
followed him to Eoss, a distance of forty miles, in order to obtain,

250 AN ORATION ON SHORT NOTICE.
through his ministry, that peace which God never faUs to impart
to the penitent sinner.
The year 1823 dealt death unsparingly in the CathoUc Church.
The duty of preaching the panegyrics of Pope Pius VII. and
Archbishop Troy, both of whom died during this year, also de
volved upon Dr. Doyle. He admfred the Pontiff as sincerely as
he loved the old Prelate of Dublin dearly. The task of preaching
Dr. Troy's eulogium was assigned to Dr. Doyle on very short
notice. Father Keogh, the great pulpit orator of that day, had
promised to preach, but took suddenly Ul about half an hour before
the appointed time. Dr. Doyle happened to be in DubUn, and
was soUcited to take the indisposed Priest's place. Bishop
Whelan, who was present, assmes us that Dr. Doyle did not re
tfre to make any preparation, but passed from the Priests, who
asked him, straightway to the pulpit of SS. Michael and John's,
smiling as he went. The oration was a masterpiece of eloquence
and impressiveness, strengthened by a considerable amount of scrip
tural citation.
A more agreeable duty devolved upon Dr, Doyle a few weeks
later. Instead of having to conduct a funereal proceeding, in pre
sence of the coffined remains of a venerable Prelate caUed away
from his labours, he had now to assist in inaugurating the briUiant
episcopal career of Dr, Baines, the accomphshed Enghsh Bishop,
Dr, Baines was consecrated in old Townsend-street Chapel,
In 1823, the celebrated EngUsh phUanthropist Eobert Owen
risited Ireland professionaUy. His riews were that men should
labour in thousands together, on the principle of the bee or the
ant. In endeavouring to realize this mighty scheme, Mr, Owen
expended haff his fortune at Manchester and New Lanark, The
result gave him cause to hope that his vast machinery and plan of
working might, vrith beneficial effects, be extended to Ireland,
She had long been a prey to poverty, oppressed with discontent,
and torn by party animosities. Unproductive waste land and a
superfluity of good soil existed in the country, Mr, Owen pro
duced his authorities for the statement, that 1,000 people, by
healthy and pleasant employment, when thefr powers and industry
were .properly combined and dfrected, could produce a most com
fortable Uring, in aU respects, for 3,000, It had been fashionable
vrith the general pubUc to regard Mr. Owen's undertaking as Uto
pian ; but among the names of many great thinkers who believed
,in its practicability, Lord Liverpool, the late and present Arch
bishops of Canterbury, Bentham, Maria Edgeworth, Godwin, Miss
Porter, Eoscoe, Clarkson, Eicardo, and we beUeve Lord Brougham,
might be mentioned. Fears were expressed in some quarters that
Mr. Owen's leriathan factories would open faciUties for immora-

MR. OWEN S VISIT TO DUBLIN. 251
Uty ; but haring carefuUy consulted the various reports of disin
terested commissions and writers on the subject, we find these
factories pronounced to be "admirable schools of moral discipline."
The eminent CathoUc theologian. Dr. Crotty, late Bishop of
Cloyne, would seem to have at first entertained this apprehension.
In Mr. Owen's autobiography is recorded an interview between
himself and Dr. Crotty, who, haring assembled a dozen Priests,
the question was debated for some hours, when Dr. Crotty at
length brought the discussion to a termination by saying : " Gen
tlemen, we are much indebted to Mr. Owen for the very fuU ex
planation which he has given us of his riews ; and I think we
may promise him that he shaU not be again opposed by us at his
public meetings." Mr. Owen held his first meeting in the Eotundo,
DubUn, 18th March, 1823. The Duke of Leinster, Archbishops
Troy and Murray, and Lords Meath and Cloncurry, were present.
" A stranger," said Mr. Owen, " possessing an experience of more
than thirty years practicaUy devoted to the subject, offers to assist
you vrith his time and his money ; and he offers this assistance
vrithout even the desfre of any return, except the satisfaction of
seeing or knowing that you are in the actual possession of the
happiness which it is his highest wish you should permanently
enjoy." Having spent several months in Ireland, labouring to organize
the projected revolution, Mr. Owen returned to England, learing
it mainly under the guidance of Lord Cloncmry, who, in one of his
letters to Mr. Owen, writes : " Our progress is slow. Deprarity,
and a determined spirit of vengeance, seem to have taken firm
root in the breasts of the despairing multitude. Our rulers think
of no other remedy than the sword and the halter. The whole re
venue of the country -wiU be swaUowed up to maintain a force
which, after all, is totaUy inadequate to the end in riew. , , .
You have zealous and grateful fiiends, but unless parUamentary or
private munificence of the British public assist us, nothing effectual
can be done, and ruin stares us in the face. When you were here,
the country was quiet for some mUes round Lyons. It is now
proclaimed to a short distance of my haU-door. I was in Con
naught since I saw you. There the miUtary were gi'ving out small
portions of potatoes to the starving multitude, at the same time the
bayonet ready to prevent a rush. All this in a country the powers
and faciUties of which you weU know. Our petition went on
as you dfrected. You, of course, have it before now. I trust it
may produce something ; but Goulbume vriU oppose. He prefers
giving £60,000 to convert our Papists, not one of whom is con
verted, and the money is divided amongst the saints and the
hypocrites. Not a penny is expended to educate the ignorant

252 DR. DOYLE TO ROBERT OWEN.
Papist unless he be first converted — not a penny to promote in
dustry or useful labour, in a country where each penny so ex
pended would repay tenfold."
The foUowing letter is addressed to Mr. Owen :
" 4, Somerset-st., Portman-square, 7th August, 1823.
" My dear Sir — You wiU have kno-wn how ready I was to
forward your -wishes, in joining the Duke of Leinster and Mr.
John Smith, for the purpose of presenting to his Majesty's govem
ment your plan for amehorating the situation of the poor in Ire
land; but finding that his Grace and Mr. Smith are both obUged
to leave town, I do not feel myself of sufficient caUbre or impor
tance to undertake single-handed that which, to have produced
any success, would have requfred our j'oint and combined efforts.
" That his Majesty's Govemment must be anxious to better
the condition of the poor in Ireland, and thereby tranquiUize the
country, it would be unjust to doubt ; but that they may not have
taken the same riew of the best mode of reUef as you have done,
is probable. In examining the proposed experiment of your plan,
I do confess it appears to me to bid fafr to produce the most
beneficial results, in affording employment, allaying animosities,
and producing obedience to the laws — whUst the only objections I
have ever heard against it are done away ; the first, the expense
of the estabhshment, which is removed by the good security given
for the regular payment of the interest of the loan, and the ulti
mate extinction of the debt in sixteen years ; the other, a pre
judice on account of supposed interference in reUgious opinions.
Here, as I underhand your plan, this is a misconception, as the
chUdren are aUowed to foUow the reUgious opinions of their
parents, and the only interference observed, is to inculcate a
charitable and kind feeling in the minds of the young people
towards those who may differ in opinion from them. Under all
these cfrcumstances, I am anxious that the trial should be made
in Ireland. But, alas, this is only the opinion of a very humble
indiridual, who is always most truly yours, " * J. DOYIE."
But Dr. Doyle was far from subscribing to all Mr. Owen's
views. In his fifth letter on the " State of Ireland," he says that,
" without adopting the opinions of Mr, Owen, on the capabiUty of
this country to support eighteen or twenty miUions of inhabitants,
I am inclined to the opinion that its present population is not at
aU excessive ; and that the Legislature might, in a single session,
pass such laws as would, in the course of very few years, render
the poor of Ireland, who now create so much anxie^ and alarm,
if not as comfortable as those of the same class in England, at

HIS ACQUAINTANCE WITH " CATHARINE." 253
least place them beyond the reach of want, and in a way of pro
moting their own comforts."
We have afready referred (p. 186, ante) to Dr. Doyle's acquain
tance with the Misses F  . The surriring sister, in a commu
nication before us, observes : " The letters which I enclose were
to my sister Catharine. She was a very superior, highly gifted,
and interesting person, whose only aversion, in 1822 and pai-t of
the foUowing year, was Dr. Doyle ! She was then in Italy, and
fancying that his Lordship had influenced me in resolving to enter
a convent, could scarcely pardon him. This suspicion was un
founded ; but as my resolve was taken in her absence, and as I
never wrote vrithout expressing my sentiments in his regard, she
assumed the fact ; and soon after, at a dinner-party in Paris,
hearing a French gentlemen say he had made a vow to walk every
inch of land between Paris and Carlow to see and speak vrith Dr.
Doyle, she replied, ' I would not walk the length of this room to
see him.' This was repeated to the Bishop, and he was much
amused, obserring to me, ' This foolish chUd has the same extra
vagant affection for you that you have for her ; but I wager vrith
you that you think too much of her,' adding, ' She and I wiU yet be
good fiiends.' On her return to Ireland, Dr. Doyle -wrote a most
kind inritation to her"and_ to me, to accompany some fiiends who
were coming on a risit to him, which we accordingly did; and
the first evening of thefr acquaintance he frankly said to me, ' I
have lost my wager ! Kate's mind is too fine for a woman.
What a compound of sanctity, of vrisdom, vrit, elegance, and
modesty! You are right, chUd, to have owned her superiority
over you, and over any woman I have ever knovm.' "
This fafr and accompUshed girl became, soon after, struck
down by a compUcation of painful and dangerous diseases. For
months she suffered torments the most excruciating with a forti
tude and resignation hardly surpassed by her martyred namesake,
Catharine of Alexandria. Dr. Doyle, in a letter to the elder sister,
on 2nd August, 1823, obseiwes : " Ha-ving been at Clongowes on
the 1st of August, I could not satisfy the wish expressed in your
letter of the 30th ult., respecting your dear sister ; but have no
doubt that the Almighty vsoU have regard to those prayers and sa
crifices which have been offered for her. He is the Lord, and His
wUl is good and perfect ; and nothing can prevent its fulfilment.
He is as much glorified in our infirmities as in our strength,
whether of mind or body, and His glory is, I trust, our only desire.
, , , In the house of God one goes one way and one another ;
and when so many duties are to be fulfilled, if aU the minds and
habits were cast in the same mould, there would be no harmony —
Uke as in a concert many sounds must be combined to produce an

254 LETTER TO CATHARINE.
agreeable effect, so it is in the various departments aUotted on
earth to the elect of God ; but under aU cfrcumstances conformity
to His wUI is requfred of us ; and charity, untried by suffering, is
not yet pure or perfect. . , , Employ your mind, when dis
engaged from your ordinary duties, in adoring the proridence of
God, and placing yourseff entfrely at his disposal. Not being able
to go into town this moming I wrote to H. G  to inform her
of your move, and to communicate your affectionate regards. I
know vrith what feeUngs she wiU read it — how much she wiU desfre
to embrace you, as her affection for you has always been great.
She is, I hope, very weU, and advancing in that rirtue which has
been the chief occupation of her life. When I think of you and
her, and my o-wn interest for you both, I am surprised, and bless
God, whose ways are not to be investigated. I hope to be iu
Dublin, at John's-street Chapel, on the Festival of St. Augustine.
I wUl be truly glad to see you. Should you be then in town, send
me a Une, that I may call on you,"
" I was present at the sermon preached by Dr, Doyle on St,
Augustine, 28th August, 1828," observes the lady to whom the
foregoing is addressed. " It was a magnificent exposition of the
doctrine of grace, and correspondence thereto, as exemplified in
the Ufe of that great father. The crowd was so excessive that
many were raised from thefr feet, and long unable to stand upon
the floor. It seemed to me that aU the Clergy of every order in
Dublin were present. Blocking up every window and doorway,
the crowd almost shut out the Ught of heaven,"
The foUowing letter is addressed to the suffering sister :
" Old Derrig.
" My dear Catharine — Since my return fi-om Dublin, I have
looked vrith considerable anxiety for some favourable account from
you, but the letter of my dear friend, your attendant — which I this
day received — was far from affording me satisfaction. It even re
qufred aU my Uttle store of resignation to restrain the pain of dis
appointment ; as I had flattered myseff, I know not why, that tbe
late attack — somewhat periodical as it seemed to be — having sub
sided, would have left you strength enough to raUy after I saw
you. But no ! I fear the disease is deep-rooted, and that the
frame, gradually debiUtated, has scarcely energy enough remaining
to restore itseff. How much I wish that I were seated by you,
and enabled to distract your thoughts by tuming them from the
seat of pain to some playful trifle, or to those substantial though
inrisible goods, which we can clothe in language when thefr image
on the soul is rendered dim by the pressure of our infirmities. A
venerable Saint on his way to martyrdom was conjured by his.

HE CONSOLES THE SICK. 255
deacon not to go without him, and he repUed " that a Ught combat
was suited to his inffrmity, but a riolent contest would enable the
minister after a few days to join him.' Could we take a moral
from these holy men vrithout presuming on any comparison ? I
would join the deacon in my wishes, and leave to you the place and
pre-eminence of the holy Pope. I would almost envy you the
happy pririlege of dying in peace, and wish you could assure me
that a few days only, even of a bitter conflict, would separate me
from that abode of bUss which is reserved for all who are faithful
tUl death, and of whom I hope you vriU be one.
" Your sufferings, my dear chUd, must terminate, either in
death which wiU introduce you to an immortal and happy life
through the divine mercy, or in a recovery, attended with such an
impression of this world and of the reUgion of our good God, as
-wUl enable you to vvalk blameless, hereafter, through ways which,
had you not been proved by sickness, might be too thickly set
with dangers for you to pass unhurt.
"If at present you — as I am sure you do — can rest with your
pains, seeking to support the pressure of sickness, to keep your
thoughts in heaven or on the cross, and to gratify at the same
time those about you, by seeming to share in thefr concern for
you and in aU that interests them, how much wiU you be reUeved
when pain exists no more, when sorrow and chagrin wiU cease,
and when aU tbe Uttle annoyances which Adam's chUdren cause
each other wiU be succeeded by undisturbed security and repose,
never to be troubled ? Ah ! but who wiU secure you so much
happiness ? Why, my dear Catharine, were you in the undisturbed
possession of it, you would not be in a place of atonement, nor in
that state of probation in which the soul is kept until purified by
the ordeal of temptation. Do you not now see many truths of God
which hitherto were much obscured — the hideous deformity of sin,
and the secrets of that suffering which, exempUfied in Christ, must
be found in aU who are caUed to participate in His glory ? I
think it is often impossible for the Lord, without violating the
economy which He has established for our sanctification, to exempt
those whom He loves from great trials and tribulations — even
those whom, Uke you. He may have especially prevented by His
graces ; for as often as He reveals the means by which He holds
intercourse vrith us mortals. He shows us that He conducts His
elect to heaven only by that way in which He first entered. The
Spouse in the Canticles is in a sort of exUe, going about through
the vUlages and streets seeking for her beloved, and inquiring of
every one whether they had seen him. When she finds him, she
attaches herself to him, whether he is exposed with her to the
buming sun, or she recUning on his bosom in the shade ; but this

256 WHAT DEATH IS.
possession and enjoyment is given only after anxiety, hope, and
patience were almost exhausted before the beloved of her soul ap
peared. How often are we thus alone, rejected, abandoned, almost
despafring ; bittemess, dryness, and disgust afflict us ; we seem
not only to be outcasts on earth, but despised also by Heaven ?
And did not the Lord help us in His hand, we should lose our
confidence, and blaspheme ; but He who abandoned not His only
Son on the cross, though He gave Him up to the will of His ene
mies, looks upon us even then -with complacency, and infuses
secretly into our souls His o-wn Ught and strength ; He descends
vrith us into the tomb of our corruption and infirmity, and raises
us up to hope, and by degrees to immortaUty. What is death,
then, to us, but the consummation of our labours — the removal of
that barrier which excludes us from our destined home ? It is not
an evil, but an instrument in the hands of God to crown our per
severance in His service. It is to be dreaded not on its own
account — for though it sometimes brings pain to the body, it is
only that pain which attends the striking off the fetters of a slave.
When death closes an impenitent life, it is the commencement of
misery^ — the consummation of distrast in the riches of Christ's
merits or of His Father's mercy, the beginning of woe and sepa
ration from the source of happiness ; but to us, my chUd, who
have kno-wn God, and received in our baptism a pledge of immor
tality, and in the remission of our sins an inexhaustible source of
gratitude and confidence, it should be an object of humble hope —
nay, even of love, as of something which the Lord uses to fulfil
His vrill, which is our sanctification.
"That spfrit which searches aU things, even the secrets of
God — secrets which pass between Him and our souls — has let us
know those things ; and what subject, my dear Catharine, could a
hermit more justly write on, to his own dear child, than that
which afready occupies her mind ; and what is there more grateful
to the heart than to commune with the thoughts and desires of
those we love ? I am here alone, soUtary as the owl or sparrow.
John has made tea for me, and I have let it grow cold. I vrish
that you with aU your pains were here to share it with me, and
hear me assure you of the sincere affection with which I am your
traly attached friend, and most humble servant in Christ,
" * J. Doyle.
"P.S. — TeU Mariana that I am weU, thanks to God, and
infinitely obliged for her letter, and that I hope to hear from you —
or, if not able to write, from her — how you are, and whether that
too good heart of yours is yet appeased. Had I supposed that
your good physicians in DubUn had not, ere now, done more for
it, I should myself have undertaken its cure, or obUged you to

THE RICHMOND VICEROY ALTY. '257
suffer it to be dissolved in this abode of peace. But perhaps you
may yet return, ff it please our good God. Adieu."
The word " hermit," which Dr. Doyle italicised in the fore
going letter, was in allusion to the title of " the Hermit of Old
Derrig," which Catharine had playfully bestowed on him,
" Carlow, 4th October, 1823,
" My dear Mariana — I have been absent for some days, and
did not receive your letter of the 1st of this month until after six
o'clock. How much and how sincerely I regret not haring been
able to assist, by celebrating the dirine mysteries, the efforts of
those holy people who are labouring for their distressed brethren.
I hope your dear sister has derived some advantage from tbe
prayers offered for her : if not, we must be content. I know nothing
which consoles me more than a saying of my holy father St. Au
gustine : ' Under a just God no one can be miserable, unless by
his own fault,' except another of St. Paul, 'that all things concur
to the good of the elect.' Distress, even when exti-eme, can only
deprive us of character, health, or Ufe, which are smaU sacrifices.
How many perish in battle, by sickness, and fire, and if ' our days
be few and eril,' on account of our sins, or for our future good,
why repine ? We can suffer in Him and by Him who comforts us
in every tribulation.
I am sorry you are not as cheerful as usual, but I am sure you
are not dejected ; be as happy as you can, and don't yield to adver
sity, but trust in God who has care of us."

CHAPTEE X.
How Ireland was governed forty years ago — Mr, Saurin,— Lord Chancellor
Manners — Picture of the Court of Common Pleas in the days of Lord
Norbury — Lord Wellesley assumes the reins of government — Mr, Goul
boume — The Bottle Riot — J, K L, awaiiens the Catholic body fi-om
their torpor — His Letter to the Lord Lieutenant — O'ConneU's eulogium
ou Dr. Doyle — Misrule, Unequal Laws, Political hate, Tithes, Eman
cipation, aud Divided Allegiance — Are the complaints of 6,000,000 to
be stifled? — Letter to Dr. Donovan — F, W, Conway — Dr, MacHale
and Dr, Doyle — Joins the Catholic Association — Letter from a Catholic
Delegate of 1793 to Dr, Doyle.
In 1809, during the riceroyalty of the good-natured, but politi
caUy weak Charles Lennox, Duke of Eichmond, tbe late Eight
Hon. WiUiam Saurin obtained a complete ascendancy in the
councU chamber of DubUn Castle ; and of every administrative 17

258 MR. SAURIN AND LORD MANNERS.
act in the government of Ireland, for many years subsequentiy,
Mr. Saurin may be regarded as the author. Viscount Whitworth
having fiUed vrith credit the office of minister plenipotentiary at
various foreign courts, was appointed, in 1813, to the Lord Lieu
tenancy of Ireland ; but he had now become old and lazy, and it
does not appear that he made any effort to dislodge Mr. Saurin's
usurpation by a resolute assertion of his o-wn authority. Mr.
Saurin had sprung from a Huguenot famUy, who emigrated from
Languedoc to escape persecution ; and he had imbibed, vrith his
mother's mUk, a lively horror of that Church to which Charles IX.
and Catherine de Medici belonged. He saw the CathoUcs of
Ireland, during his tenure of office, creeping to power, and with
the massacre of St. Bartholomew rankUng in his heart, he almost
daily drove them back vrith revengeful activity. Lord FingaU and
others haring assembled as CathoUc deleg;ates, with a riew to the
redress of grievances, in 1811, they were roughly arrested, and
not a few subjected to a harassing prosecution at the hands of Mr.
Saurin. Two years later, an ordinary newspaper article appeared
in the CathoUc organ of the day, reriewing the poUcy of the
Eichmond administration. Mr. Saurin prosecuted the pubUsher,
who was fined £1,000, and imprisoned for two years. When
Scully's memorable " Statement of the Penal Laws which aggrieve
the CathoUcs" appeared, Mr. Saurin sprang at Hugh Fitzpatrick
the publisher, and arraigned him vrith such riolence, that a severe
fine, and a severer dungeon, were the immediate consequences.
As quickly as O'ConneU would re-organize the CathoUc Board or
Committee, it was forthwith suppressed or dispersed by order of
Mr. Saurin. Orangeism was openly fostered under his regime ;
and the unhappy people smarted beneath the weight and craelty
of its aggressions.
In Lord Chancellor Manners, who entertained riolent ascen
dancy principles, and had received his office from Spencer Percival
in acknowledgment of them, Mr. Saurin found a zealous if not an
able coUeague. "DaUy," observes a writer, "the business of the
government of Ireland was done by the two legal functionaries of
kindred spirits, as they regularly walked do-wn every morning from
Stephen's-green to the Four Courts, and returned to their homes
after a risit to the Castle every evening, -with arms linked, and
solemn steps, and bended brows, setthng affafrs of State." AU
the administrative power of the State was reposed in sworn
Orangemen, Both the ChanceUor and Mr, Saurin enjoyed enor
mous patronage and emoluments.
Lord Manners had never distinguished himseff at the bar, but
his peculiar poUtics and close connexion with the noble house of
Eutland, smoothed whatever difficulties stood in the way of his

LORD NORBURY. 259
promotion to the bench. Early in the present century he was
created a Baron of the Exchequer in England ; but he had no
sooner attained that responsible office, than his judicial blunders
excited the derision of foes and the humiUation of his friends.
On the return of the Tories to power, in 1807, it was at once
resolved to get rid of the blundering Baron, by transplanting him
to a country for which they would seem to have felt no very high
respect. He was accordingly laid down easUy on the Irish wool
sack, and for twenty subsequent years he continued to bore the
bar on the one hand, and to oppress the country with the ebul
litions of his poUtical and sectarian bigotry on the other. " Man
ners," said Curran, " is ready for any mischief: in private he is
a pleasant, duU man." " He made the administration of justice
in the Irish Chancery," observed SheU, " the subject of Lord
Eedesdale's laughter, and of John Lord Eldon's tears." Lord
Manners venerated Mr. Saurin as a parent, while he loved him as
a brother. The attomeys of Dublin were not ignorant of this
fact. Mr. Saurin was inundated vrith Chancery practice, and the
emoluments which attended it almost exceed beUef. A few words
from Mr. Saurin invariably obtained a decision in his eUent's
favour. It is humUiating to think of the low state to which the ad
ministration of justice was reduced in the days of Norbury and
Manners. The former had earned the ermine as a riolent poUti
cal partisan ; and for the many years that he wore it, he also un
disguisedly wore his old prejudices and passions. With aU this,
he might have made some attempt to support the dignity and
grarity befitting the bench ; but Lord Norbury supremely scorned
aU forensic order or judicial decorum. Frequently the buUy, and
always the buffoon, he browbeat those who differed from him in
reUgion, and joked even in the act of sentencing culprits to the
drop. Long before Lord Norbury's usual hour for coming into
court, it was daUy crowded to excess by the laughter-loring portion
of the unemployed pubUc. The very outward man of the Chief
was enough to set what he caUed his "racket court" in a roar.
With cheeks red as Bacchus, and inflated like those of Eolus ;
with a waddle not unsuggestive of a corpulent drake. Lord Nor
bury, at eleven o'clock precisely, would enter the Common Pleas,
and bow histrionically to the assembled auditory. In less than
half an hour a deafening uproar, which continued uninterrapted
untu evening, fiUed the court.
The drollest prologue that had ever inaugurated a comedy was
nothing to his Lordship's charge. "FUnging his judicial robe half
aside," says SheU, "and sometimes casting off his -wig, he started
from his seat and threw off a -wUd harangue, in which neither law,

260 THE FOUNTAINS OF JUSTICE POISONED.
method, or argument could be discovered. It generaUy consisted
of narratives of his early Ufe which it was impossible to associate
vrith the subject; of jests from Joe MiUer mixed with jokes of his
own manufacture, and of sarcastic aUusions to any of the counsel
who had endeavoured to check him during the trial."
Lord Norbury was exceedingly careless of his papers, and a
curious letter from the Eight Hon. W. Saurin to him, secretly
counseUing the old judge to exert his influence at the Assizes in
checking the progress of the Catholic question, feU into the hands
of a newspaper editor, who, -without compunction, published it.
Mr., now Lord Brougham, noticed it in the House of Commons.
"Everyman," he said, "who had a due regard to the prerogative
of the Cro-wn, the pririleges of ParUament, and the purity of the
administration of justice, must see it could not be aUowed to pass
without some notice from that House. The letter of the Attorney-
General suggested tp Lord Norbury to exert the influence of his
official situation, whilst going on the circuit as judge, to mingle
himseff up with poUtical conversations, and more especiaUy to in
terfere -with the principles affecting the House of Commons, as
being connected vrith the return of Members to Parliament,"
It is unnecessary to reprint Mr. Saurin's extraordinary letter
here. It may be found in the second volume of " SheU's Sketches,"
p. 111. The fact so often whispered by the CathoUcs was at last
conclusively estabUshed, that poison had long been poured into
the very fountains of justice. After this letter, we are not sur
prised to learn, on the authority of SheU, that " it was his (Lord
Norbury's) habit to deUver orations to the Grand Jury upon the
Church and State on the home cfrcuit; and in reference to
J. K. L., he often poured out a tirade against ' MoU Doyle,' one
of the wUd personifications of agrarian insurrection."
Mr. Brougham foUowed up his advantage against Lord Nor
bury. He showed on eridence that the old Chief had faUen asleep
on the bench during a trial for murder. " I'U resign, in order to
demand satisfaction," said Lord Norbury. " That Scotch Broom
wants nothing so much as an Irish stick." Lord Norbury had
been a great fire-eater, and he more than once intimated to a
worrying counsel that he would not seek shelter behind the bench,
or merge the gentieman in the Chief Justice.
Mr. Saurin's prestige had begun to decUne even before his
unlucky letter met the pubUc eye. George IV., during his risit
to Ireland in 1821, saw and admitted the necessity of infusing a
more conciUatory poUcy into the Irish administration than had
prevaUed since the days of FitzwiUiam. The Marquis WeUesley,
himself an Irishman, and a staunch advocate of the Catholic
claims, was accordingly charged vrith the govemment of Ireland.

A PEERAGE AND THE BENCH REFUSED. 261
With the afr of a man who had no smaU administrative experience
he grasped the reins of govemment. His rule in India during
difficult times had excited universal approbation, and a not less
successful career in Ireland was predicted for him by those who
knew and appreciated his power. Twenty years after, we find
Lord WeUesley mentioning the foUowing- interesting facts to the
Countess of Blessington: "Bushe is one of the first men produced
by our country. When I went to Ireland in 1821, I found him
depressed by an- old Orangeman named Saurin, then Attorney-
General by titie, but who had really been Lord Lieutenant for
fifteen years. I removed Saurin, and appointed Bushe Lord
Chief Justice. Sam-in set up a newspaper to defame me. The
Evening Mail, which (notwithstanding the support of Lord Man
ners and the Orangemen) has not yet ruined or slain me."*
Mr. Saurin had worked so long under the Tory regime, that
some acknowledgment of his serrices was not unreasonably ex
pected from the King, the Viceroy, or the Premier. Mr. Curran
records that Lord WeUesley, in a conversation with Mr. Lamb in
1827, causticaUy said : "I think it right, before learing Ireland,
to prepare you for hearing it asserted by Mr. Saurin's friends that
he was an iU-treated man. Now, I offered him the office of Lord
Chief Justice of the King's Bench — that was not Ul-treating him.
I further offered him a peerage — that was not iU-treating him. In
truth, I had nothing else to offer Mr. Saurin except the Lord
Lieutenancy of Ireland. To that, however, there were two objec
tions: first, he had already held the office for fifteen years ; and
next, I — I was the Viceroy."
Mr. Saurin was not usuaUy a hot-tempered man. He was an
astute, black-letter la-wyer, methodical in his movements, and me-
thodistical in his gait, whose mouth, though it frequently uttered
sentiments of the most startUng UUberaUty, seemed formed by
nature to distU mUk and honey. When quietly dislodged from
his usurpation of power by Lord WeUesley, and graciously offered
a peerage and the chief seat in the King's Bench as a sop, Mr.
Saurin's usuaUy unruffled visage is said to have assumed an ex
pression of scathing indignation. In a moment of petulance and
foUy, he refused both the peerage and the bench ; and when too
late to retract, he would seem to have bitterly regretted his hasty
determination. " When he was first deprived of his office," -writes
SheU, "I watched him in the haU. The joyous alacrity of
Plunket [who succeeded him as Attomey- General] was less a
matter of comment than the resigned demeanour of his faUen rival.
. . . . As he bent his head over a huge brief, the pages of
* " Memoirs and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington," vol, in, p. 4,

262 MR. SECRETARY GOULBOURNE.
which he seemed to turn without a consciousness of their contents,
I heard him heave, at intervals, a low sigh. His figure was bent
and depressed as he walked back to the Com-t of Chancery, and
before he passed through the green curtains which diride it from
the haU, I have seen him pause and throw a look back at the
King's Bench. It was momentary, but too fuU of expression to
be casual, and seemed to unite in its despondency a deep sense of
the injury which he had sustained from his friends, and the more
painful injury which he had inflicted on himself."
Lord Liverpool and his coUeagues having, at the desfre of the
King, sanctioned the appointment of a Uberal and efficient riceroy,
they would seem to have endeavoured, as far as possible, to neu
tralize it. To quote Lord Sidmouth's words — " they essayed to
concUiate the confidence of Protestants as weU as Cathohcs," by
associating Mr, Secretary Goulbourne vrith the Marquis Wel
lesley, This gentleman was a member of the Orange Society, and
he wUl long be remembered with a chUl by every Irishman who
aimed to promote national ameUoration in his time. Lord Man
ners was retained in office ; but his mentor, Mr, Saurin, haring,
like Othello, lost his occupation, the ChanceUor became from that
day a comparatively innocuous personage. The Vice-Treasurer,
Sfr George HiU, and Mr. Gregory, the Under Secretary, both un
compromising upholders of the Protestant ascendancy, were like
wise retained to counterbalance, as far as possible, the concUiatory
advances of Lord WeUesley.
Among other stupid insults to the CathoUcs of Ireland which
had long been sanctioned by the ruling powers, that of dressing
King WiUiam's statue in College Green, and the midnight dis
order and outrage usuaUy attendant upon the ceremony, excited
in an especial degree the disgust of Lord WeUesley, one of whose
first official acts on assuming the government of Ireland was to
issue a proclamation forbidding this foUy. An attempt was made
to set the riceregal mandate at naught ; but Lord WeUesley sur
rounded the statue vrith troops, and triumphantly asserted his wUl.
The minority of the population, who had long enjoyed an unbridled
ascendancy, vowed vengeance on the Viceroy's head for this exer
cise of authority. If in pubUc he was savagely hooted by malcon
tents, few hearty cheers found expression from his admirers.
The CathoUcs had too long been accustomed to the clanking of
their chains and the aching of breaking hearts, to give expression
to much jubilation. Sunk in that apathy which long and syste
matic oppression had engendered, they gazed almost vacantly
around them, and, notwithstanding the good Viceroy's encoura
ging voice, thefr hearts drooped with despondency. From this
unhealthy prostration they were momentarily aroused by a base

THE BOTTLE-THROWING jRIOT. 263
attempt, on the part of then- old and sworn foes, to offer personal
violence to the Viceroy. Lord WeUesley, having visited the
theatre in state, was subjected to the grossest ebullitions of dis
respect from Orange partizans, who had posted themselves in
conspicuous parts of the house, in order the more effectually to
insult the Lord Lieutenant. An effort was soon made to follow
up verbal wounds with bodUy lacerations. A watchman's rattle
was flung at his ExceUency, together with a large quart bottle,
which completely crushed in the panel of the riceregal box. Had
the missile gone a few inches nearer the stage. Lord WeUesley's
useful Ufe would have prematurely closed. " The conduct of the
poUce," says a journal of the day, " savoured strongly of the Orange
spirit of the corporation. The miscreants who hooted, insulted,
and finaUy assaulted the Lord Lieutenant, performed their several
operations in the same gaUei-y in which the guardians of the peace
were posted. They were not seized, or even molested ; but Mr.
Johnson, the Lord Lieutenant's private secretary, rushed to the
gaUery, and, assisted by Mr. MUUcanand Sir J.NeriUe, succeeded
in securing five of the rioters. When the conduct of the poUce
became investigated, they pleaded thefr 'instructions,' which con
sisted of a single negative order — that ' they were not to interfere,
except in case of riolence being offered to the Lord Lieutenant.' "
" This," observes The Examiner of the day, a journal whoUy
uninfluenced by Irish poUtics — " This forms a most instructive
exposure of the faction who for years have influenced the legisla
tive and guided the executive power in Ireland — who have wal
lowed in and extended the vast field of corruption — who have in
trenched themselves in corporations, in sinecure places, in church
dignities and possessions — who have wielded aU the authority of
the law and the poUce, and by that means have erected an endless
series of petty despotisms throughout the island — who have been
ever rancorous, crael, and bloody towards the miserable sufferer
whom despafr has roused into resistance, as weU as towards all
who have advocated Eeform — who have created ' reigns of teiTor'
more horrible than those of Eobespierre and Marat — who have
produced and fostered hordes of spies and informers, and have
met every popular discontent vrith the bayonet and the gibbet —
vrith haff-hangings, banishings, and the torture of the lash — above
aU, they have done these things under the standard of loyalty, with
the cry of ' Church and King !' etemaUy yeUed forth, professing a
burning zeal in behaff of Protestantism, and a profound veneration
for aristocracy and everything legal and estabUshed. Hitherto
thefr success has been uninterrupted. But now, because they are
baulked of a piece of blackguard insult to nine-tenths of their
countrymen, they trample on the laws for which they affected

264 APATHY OF THE CATHOLICS IN 1823.
such scrupulous veneration, insult the throne to which th'ey pro
fessed such devotion, and assault the Viceroy whom the monarch
they had made a god of the year before had sent among them to
promote the conciliation he had promised."
This outrage, vrith the legal prosecutions which succeeded it,
eUcited a flicker of excitement from the CathoUc body ; but the
flame soon dropped again, and aU was vacancy and inertness as
before. In 1829, Eichard Lalor Sheil, whUe contrasting the
past apathy of the CathoUc party with thefr theu energy, thus
eloquently described what we have feebly outiined : " In 1823, an
entfre cessation of CathoUc meetings had taken place. There was
a total stagnation of pubUc feeUng, and I do not exaggerate when
I say that the CathoUc question was nearly forgotten. No angry
resolutions issued from ¦ pubUc bodies ; no exciting speeches
appeared in the papers ; the monster abuses of the Church Estab
lishment, the fi-ightful e-vUs of poUtical monopoly, the hideous
anomaly in the whole structure of our civU institutions, the unna
tural ascendancy of a handful of men over an immense and power
ful population — aU these, and the other just and legitimate causes
of pubUc exasperation, were graduaUy dropping out of the national
memory. The country was then in a state of comparative repose,
but it was a degrading and unwholesome tranquUUty. We sat
down Uke gaUey-slaves in a calm. A general stagnation diffused
itseff Over the national feeUngs. The pubUc pulse had stopped,
the circulation of all generous sentiment had been arrested, and
the country was palsied to the heart."
The national party, in 1823, lay as prostrate and motionless
as a dead body. An Orange press triumphantly bestrode it, and
continued, day after day, to heap rile calumnies on the Irish peo
ple, their religion, and thefr cause. All patriotic and CathoUc
spirit had fled ; and the people submitted, without a gi-oan, to the
scourge and contumely of the tormentor. Nothing short of a
miracle could resuscitate the Catholic body 7 and at last a mfracle
was wrought by the hand of Dr. Doyle. Emerging from that pri
vacy, in which, as he so often said, he always wished to Uve, the
Bishop advanced boldly into the pubUc arena, and there unflinch
ingly sustained the first shock of that antagonism to which his
isolated and daring position had exposed him. In the spring of
1823, Dr. Doyle generously undertook and triumphantly achieved,
"A Vindication of the Eeligious and Ciril Principles of the Irish
Catholics, in a Letter addressed to the Marquis WeUesley, by
J.K.L." But the book was more than a mere vindication. It
gave the first mortal stab to the Tithe system aud exposed pecu
lation generaUy. Since the days of Burke no pamphlet had ap
peared which excited a wider sensation. O'ConneU publicly moved

J.K.L. EOUSES THEM FROM THEIR TORPOR. 265
a resolution of thanks to the author : "Upon every point," he said,
" Dr. Doyle, in this pamphlet, had ably met and refuted their op
ponents ; and so eagerly was it read, and so high its character,
that (what was very unusual in Ireland) the first edition had met
such a sale as not to leave one unsold in the hands of the pubUsher ;
and such was the force and overpowering weight of its arguments,
that thefr opponents were reduced, as a last experiment to prevent
its cfrculation, or coming before the English eye, to proclaim it not
worth reading. The Essay upon Tithes was perhaps one of the
happiest compositions ever read, being in its nature novel, and in
its objects usefiil in demonstrating the weakness of the title to
Tithes, as derived from divine right. To the Catholics it was
matter of congratulation, that against a principle so pernicious and
oppressive in its bearings, and so much opposed to man's natural
rights in its practice, the arguments most calculated to shake its
holdings were furnished by a CathoUc Prelate. For seventeen
years the CathoUcs dared not raise thefr voices on the subject of
Tithes." O'ConneU in conclusion said that he would desfre no
better character from his country, than the approbation of such a
man as Dr. Doyle.
The Bishop commenced by saying: "Your personal charac
ter, the power vrith which you are vested, and the influence which
your judgment and authority must have upon the affafrs of this
country, are the reasons why I address your ExceUency." He
warmly eulogised the spirit of mutual forbearance which the Mar
quis endeavoured to inculcate. He recognised his disposition to
administer the laws impartiaUy, but he showed that then, as in
the days of Cicero, tyranny might remain though a tyrant were
removed, and that the spfr-it of bad laws can continue unabated
after the letter of them has been partiaUy effaced. "That the
erils produced by a long system of misrule could at once be re
medied, was not to be expected : to reform the courts of law — lo
purge the magistracy — to cleanse the various offices connected
vrith the revenue- — to estabUsh a regular system of poUce — to edu
cate the people — to promote pubUc moraUty— to aboUsh abuses
which created spies and promoted perjury, with aU the riciousness
consequent on nightly revellings and fraud ; 4hese measures, and
such as these, could not altogether and at once be carried into
effect; but thefr execution, whether slow or sudden, should ne
cessarily caU forth the approbation of the -wise and good, and could
never produce a clamour which would reach ^even the precincts of
your riceregal lodge." J. K. L. went on to notice the difficulties
which Lord WeUesley experienced in the execution of the great
trust committed to him, and the obloquy to which his personal and
pubhc rirtues were exposed ; and he endeavoured to console him

266 " THE VINDICATION."
with the reflection that he had suffered with an affiicted people, and
borne persecution for justice' sake. Dr. Doyle then proceeded to
offer some remarks " in rindication of the proscribed body to which
I belong, and of the insulted EeUgion which I profess." These
he considered pecuUarly called for at the present time, in order to
guard the smaU portion of the pubhc mind which stUl deUberated,
from being biassed by the profusion of reUgious frenzy or poUtical
hate that had latterly been poured out upon the Irish CathoUcs,
thefr reUgion, and poUtical principles. But before Dr. Doyle en
tered on this task he observed, that if the greater portion of what
he was about to submit should be connected with religious or ec
clesiastical subjects, and therefore, in the estimation of many,
unfit for the Viceroy's perusal, he would beg to remind them that
rehgion is tbe basis of society, and as such always important to a
statesman ; that it is the cause and the end of nearly aU the poU
tical laws which affect Ireland ; that its influence upon the state
of the country was daUy witnessed and felt by his ExceUency; and
that, as the representative of a King who was the head of a great
Church, he should not be indifferent about what concerns any re
Ugious body of his subjects — stiff less ought his ExceUency decUne
to hear the rindication of six milUons of his own countrymen, for
whom he had long and fruitlessly exerted his talents.
"The unequal state ofthe laws, my Lord, had created amongst
us many interests, whUst it destroyed others ; it raised one class
to a degree of eminence seldom attained' to even in a conquered
country, whUst it depressed another far below the condition of free
subjects — it reduced them to a certain degree of slavery. The
pri-vUeged class were few in number ; they acqufred immense
possessions, and amassed enormous wealth; they laboured un
ceasingly to secure both the protection and aid afforded them by
England, often purchased at too dear a price ; and in order to be
more independent of the mother country, they employed aU the
resources furnished by her, as weU by thefr own skUl and power
as by those of others, to reduce the nation with which they
struggled to a state of utter darkness, and the most abject want."
J. K. L. took a reriew of the Norman invasion and the leading
events throughout a period long subsequent. A Church was raised
upon the ruins of that which had been proscribed; "they fiUed it
-with thefr own progeny, and the sanctuary was invaded by the
same spfrit and the same men who had devastated the country.
The extravagance of the dominant race, the Ughts of the last cen
tury, and the humanity of the late king, mitigated those erils. The
oppressed were permitted to breathe, and straw, wherewith to
make their bricks, was given to them — not for thefr own sake, but
that they might become more valuable to their proprietors."

THE CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT. 267
He then reriewed the gradual relaxation of the Penal Laws,
which has been afready duly chronicled (pp. 139, 144 ante).
The succession of Viceroys was next noticed:
"Few of these governors were Uke your Excellency; and those
few were quickly removed. In general they gave themselves up to
be directed by the rapacious and heartless men who had Ungered
about the capital, and whose sole object was to emich themselves,
and to oppress and to degrade the struggUng people who had been
deserted by their lords. In this work of oppression they were
ably supported by the Corporations, but above aU by the Church.
This Church, my Lord, deserted by the Legislature, has since not
ceased to tremble for her existence. She fears that England is
not greatly interested for her, and that her natural protectors are
now weak or indifferent, or too far removed. She knows that her
wealth and possessions are immense, calculated to awaken the
jealousy of her friends, and excite the envy of her enemies. She
fears the Legislature would examine her title, and inquire whether
she holds by any other than thefr fi-ee gift; and knowing that she
does not answer the ends for which any Christian Church has
ever been erected, she apprehends that they might new-model her
constitution, or lay claim to some portion of her spoils. She
looks with extreme, and yet an idle jealousy to what she considers
a rival Church, but what in reaUty is no Church, in her acceptation
of the term ; and she exerts aU her energies and larishes her
wealth, to oppose the freedom of the Irish people, or the equaU-
zation of the laws, thinking that if the reign of British justice
prevaUed in Ireland, her utUity might be questioned, and her in
come and possessions proportioned to the serrices she renders to
reUgion and to the state."
J.K.L. examined the huge monopoly and arrogant demeanour
of the ascendancy.
"WhUst this faction was thus arrayed in hostiUty to the mea
sures of yom- Excellency, they omitted no opportunity of insulting
and misrepresenting the prostrate race whom they were accustomed
to oppress. Their printing offices (of which they retained the old
and erected new ones) teemed with daUy and periodical pubUcations,
aU tending to connect the disturbances in the South vrith tbe
CathoUc people, with thefr religion, and with then- poUcy ; hoping,
if they could not succeed in their efforts to remove your Excel
lency, that they would at least mar your efforts for the pubUc
good. They laboured with the most unhallowed zeal, and the
most persevering industry, to excite the fears of the timid, to
¦ arouse the indignation of the people, and, if possible, to produce
an insurrection against tbe govemment and laws; they branded
the CathoUc body as abettors of treason, as the enemies of the

268 CALUMNY REFUTED.
constitution, as hostile to every mental and moral improvement ;
and then- religion they represented (when they aUowed them to
have one) as a degrading superstition, unfit to be tolerated amongst
Christian men.
"If the population of a district in -which, untU within a few
years past, the laws made it felony to educate them, were ignorant,
this was imputed to thefr faith. If a ferocious or rindictive spfrit
appeared amongst rade tribes who had been enslaved by the laws
of centuries, this was said to be the fruit of their creed ; and if
men, writhing under wrongs and oppression, struggled against the
chains which bound them, thefr savage and senseless efforts for
reUef were construed into acts dictated by their reUgious profes
sion. Look to the North, said the calumniators, where the people
are Protestant, and see them employed in industry and the works
of peace ; turn to the South, and \iew the scenes of blood and de
vastation, but do not investigate the cause. No ; it is obrious —
the population is CathoUc. They feared the Legislature would have
time to reflect that the North was inhabited by a race of freemen,
who enjoyed aU the blessings of the Constitution, whUst the South
was the refuge of slaves who had never tasted the sweets of Uberty,
and had, until of late, groaned beneath a bondage more cruel than
that of Pharaoh. Thus, my Lord, has this -vUe and maUgnant
press — supported, conducted, and patronized by the churchmen,
the placemen, and the whole train of corruptionists, even by those
on whom your ExceUency was compeUed to bestow your favours
and your sinUes — maUgned, insulted, and calumniated the CathoUc
people." Drs, Doyle and Murray haring been loaded vrith opprobrium
by the same party for promulgating some of the mfraculous cures
v\Tought through the prayers of Prince Hohenlohe, J.K.L. en
tered into an able rindication of thefr conduct. " They exhorted
their own brethren to thanksgiving ; they dfrected their thoughts
to a better world; they besought them to bear -with injuries rather
than inflict them, and to give glory to God, and to God alone.
Why then, my Lord, have they been rebuked, assailed, rejiled ?
Why has thefr reUgion been abused and insulted ? Why have the
most sinister and maUgnant riews been attributed to them ? Why
has the degraded scribe dipped his pen in gaU to give vent to the
feeUngs of the party for which he -wrote and toiled ? Why has the
ermine been aU but stained, and one of the princes of the people
almost unrobed on the bench, that Irish CathoUcs and their reU
gion might be scoffed at ? Are they alone unfit ' to abound in
their own sense ?' Are they alone not to be permitted to exercise
thefr own judgment ? Is it not only their faith, but even their
piety, however harmless, which is to be converted into a crime ?

THE GEEATNESS OF CATHOLICITY. 269
But, my Lord, they suffer all this because they are a people strug
ghng, by legal means, to obtain their birthright, against a faction
who would Uve by wrong and fatten on the ritals of thefr country."
Some persons may wonder that Dr. Doyle should have deigned
to notice the stream of ribaldry and slander which flowed without
interraption from the Orange press of the time ; but, as he very
truly said, odious and degrading names and imputations, when
frequently repeated, affix contempt to the party against whom they
are leveUed, and often lower him, too, even in his own estimation.
An elaborate vindication foUowed, in which his frresistible force of
learning, and logical rapidity of argument received, if possible, an
additional impetus from the lash of sarcasm which J. K. L. ever and
anon -wielded. With manly tone and striking language he gloried
in the Church — though politicaUy oppressed — of which he was a
dignitary :
" It was the creed, my Lord, of a Charlemagne, and of a St,
Louis, of an Affred and an Edward, of the monarchs of the feudal
times, as weU as of the emperors of Greece and Eome ; it was
beUeved at Venice and at Genoa, in Lucca and the Helvetic nations,
in the days of their freedom and greatness ; all the barons of the
middle ages, aU the free cities of later times, professed the religion
we now profess. You weU know, my Lord, that the charter of
British freedom, and the common law of England, have then-
origin and source in CathoUc times. Who framed the fi-ee consti
tutions of the Spanish Goths ? Who preserved science and Utera
ture during the long night of the middle ages ? Who imported
Uterature from Constantinople, and opened for her an asylum at
Eome, Florence, Padua, Paris, and Oxford ? Who poUshed Europe
by art, and refined her by legislation ? Who discovered the new
world, and opened a passage to another ? Who were the masters
of architecture, of painting, and of music ? Who invented the
compass, and the art of printing ? Who were the poets, the his
torians, the jurists, the men of deep research and profound litera
ture? Who have exalted human nature, and made man appear
again Uttle less than the angels ? . Were they not almost ex
clusively the professors of our creed ? Were they who created and
possessed fi-eedom under every shape and form unfit for her enjoy
ment ? Were men, deemed even now the Ughts of the world and
the benefactors of the human race, the deluded rictims of a slarish
superstition ? But what is there in our creed which renders us
unfit for freedom ? Is it the doctrine of passive obedience ? No,
for the obedience we yield to authority is not blind, but reasonable ;
our reUgion does not create despotism ; it supports every estab
lished constitution which is not opposed to the laws of nature,
unless it be altered by those who are entitled to change it ? In

270 DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE.
Poland it supported an elective monarch ; in France an hereditary
sovereign ; in Spain an absolute or constitutional king indifferenUy ;
in England, when the houses of York and Lancaster contended, it
declared that he who was king de facto was entitled to the obe
dience of the people. During the reign of the Tudors, there was
a faithful adherance of the CathoUcs to their prince, under trials
the most severe and gaUing, because the constitution requfred it ;
the same was exhibited by them to the ungrateful race of Stuart ;
but since the expulsion of James (fooUshly caUed an abdication),
have they not adopted vrith the nation at large the doctrine of the
Eevolution — ' that the crown is held in trust for the benefit of the
people, and that should the monarch riolate his compact, the sub
ject is freed from the bond of his aUegiance.' Has there been any
form of government ever derised by man, to which the reUgion of
CathoUcs has not been accommodated ? Is there any obUgation,
either to a prince or to a constitution, which it does not enforce ?"
Dr. Doyle met the various objections to Catholic Emanci
pation, " What, my Lord ! is the aUegiance of the man dirided
who gives to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what
belongs to God ? Is the aUegiance of the Priest dirided who
yields submission to his Bishop and his King ? — of the son who
obeys his parent and his prince ? And yet these duties are not
more distinct than those which we owe our sovereign and our
spiritual head. Is there any man in society who has not distinct
duties to discharge ?" If the Church desired that on Fridays her
chUdren should abstain from flesh meat, it did not foUow that
they were thereby controUed from obeying the King when he
summoned them to war. He continued :
" To me, my Lord, who am tolerably weU acquainted with the
obedience I owe the Pope, and the aUegiance I owe my Sovereign,
there is nothing more fulsome, more tasteless, and absurd, than the
grave discussions I am sometimes induced to read, or forced to
hear, about the dirided aUegiance of CathoUcs, and all the plausible
nonsense which foUows it, and of the essential Protestantism of
the constitution. The essence of the constitution is, my Lord, to
make aU who Uve under it fi-ee and happy ; and the hoary bigot,
or the selfish monopoUst, who would exclude us from it on ac
count of our reUgion, neither understands that reUgion nor the
law of nature, which has been written, not vrith ink, but with the
finger of the liring God, on the fleshy tablets of our hearts. Such
a one does not, cannot understand the heart-burnings of a high-
minded man who is unjustly excluded from his rights, nor that
first fruit of the law of self-preservation which makes us love our
country, reject whatever could diminish her glory or independence,
and labour to make her free and happy. When I am told that I

ARE THE COMPLAINTS OF 6,000,000 TO BE STIFLED ? 271
am unfit for freedom, on account of the reUgion which I profess —
when I have considered aU that has been said in support of so
heinous a proposition, I feel amazed and confounded, and ask, is
it possible that any man could suppose, that were I in posses
sion of the rights and privileges of a British subject that aU the
power on earth could induce me to forego them ; that I could be
influenced by any consideration to reject the first and clearest
principles of my reUgion, to hate my country, to subject her to
the sway of a stranger, to destroy my ovm happiness and that of
my kindred ? No, I conclude it is impossible that any rational
man could suppose that the CathoUcs, under equal laws, would
be less loyal, less faithful subjects than any others,"
J. K. L. haring disposed of divers charges against the CathoUc
Church, proceeded to reply to another fashionable accusation,
which attributed to it the design of overthrowing the EstabUshed
Church, and entering upon her possessions. Dr. Doyle's riews
were dexterously expressed. He was an uncompromising foe,
not to the Protestant Church, but to the Church EstabUshment,
CathoUcs in general respect the Church of England, on account
of the rock from which she has been hewn ; they prize her Uturgy
as only less perfect than that from which it has been extracted ;
they admire her translation of the Bible, -with aU its imperfections,
as a noble work ; they esteem her hierarchy as the image of the
trath, " for we CathoUcs give veneration to images on account of
what they represent ; but as to her EstabUshment in Ireland, it is
such, in the opinion of many Protestants as weU as Catholics, as
should not be suffered to exist in any civUized country, stUl less
in a nation employed almost exclusively in the tiUage of land,"
Elaborately, eruditely, and eloquently, J. K. L. proceeded to
trace the origin of tithes, and thefr first introduction into Ireland
by Henry II. and Paparo, under cfrcumstances in themselves suf
ficient to make that impost odious to the Irish people. He re
minded his readers that for the lucre of tithes, like Esau's mess
of pottage, national independence and the bfrthright of the people
were bartered away. " From that day the histoi-y of our misfor
tunes may be dated. They were not only the cause, but an efficient
one of the calamities which followed, and whilst they subsist—
peace or concord vriU not be estabUshed in Ireland." " But, my
Lord," he went on, " do these selfish men who impute crimes to
us, suppose that they can extinguish within us a sense of our
wrongs ? Do they imagine they can stifle the complaints of six
millions Of men ? Do they flatter themselves that a vote of Par
liament — a ParUament which is always deUberating, always re
ceiring new lights, always growing in wisdom — cannot be rerised,
and that when our appeal is deferred, we are to think no more of

272 ARE THE LAWS OP A DRACO ALWAYS TO, LAST ?
the prosecution of our claims ? - Can they prevent the ebbing of
the tide ? Can they stay the winds, or stop the progress of the
light ? As weU could they do so as prevent oppression from pro
ducing complaint, or injury from seeking redres's. We wUl never
cease, my Lord, whilst our tongues can move or our pens can
write, to keep aUve in the whole empfre, as weU as in our own
people, a sense of the wrongs we suffer, and to exhibit to an in
dignant world aU the privations we endure. Our fetters are too
gaUing, our chains are too closely riveted, our keepers are too un
feeling, for us to remain sUent, or permit them to enjoy repose.
" When we speak of tithes they may teU us we are the' aUies of
Captain Eock ; but we reject the imputation, and reply, that the
savage and the philosopher have the same sensibilities, and that
the language of pain which they utter can scarcely be distinguished
in its sound. Let only the grievance arising from tithe, like the
thousand evUs we suffer, be removed, and the savage wiU return to
his rock, an^ the philosopher -wUl retfre to his books. Let us not
be told it is the law ; we know it is, and it is of the law we com
plain. But are the laws of a Draco always to continue ? Are they
not only to be written in blood, but also, Uke those of the Medea
and Persians, never to be repealed?" Among other groundless
charges, that of intolerance and an obstinate opposition to the dif
fusion of knowledge, were next conclusively disposed of by J.K. L.
This letter to the Marquis WeUesley filled seventy-one closely
printed large octavo pages. We must declare our inabUity to
condense, within any reasonable compass, the mass of varied
matter which it embraced. . Many of the questions discussed have
since been settled ; and we -wUl be readily excused for not re
opening wounds now happily closed. While this valuable essay
was in process of composition. Dr. Doyle asked his old and gifted
friend, the Eev. Jeremiah Donovan, to hold his pen in readi
ness for the prompt defence of those positions on which critical
assault would be sure to press heariest. "I was glad," he writes,
"to hear from you this morning; but would infinitely rather have
seen and embraced you after your travels. Why did you not come
to see me ? ShaU I begin to doubt of your affection, or is it true
of you ccelum non animam mutant qui transmare erisrunt? With
respect to 'J.K. L.' you wUl find, I hope, that Coyne has not
excited an interest which vriU not be reaUzed — but, even now, I
must bespeak the friendly labours of 'Clericus' to defend what
may be unjustly assaUed. He can do it much better even than
' J. K. Jj.,' and I beg of him not to withhold his friendly succour.
I leave this to-morrow ; and when you come to preach for me on
Corpus Christi Day (if the Orangemen do not kiU me) I wiU
appoint the day to dine -with you."

DR. M4CHALE DEFENDS J. K. L. 273
" His ' Vindication,' " observes the late Frederick WilUam
Conway, "made a greater impression on the public mind, perhaps,
than any writing since the days of Swift. He was attacked on all
sides ; but he had ardent friends, and was himseff a host. His
active pen seldom rested until the victory was obtained."
Dr. Doyle's spirited pamphlet excited, indeed, a very consi
derable sensation, and assailants without stint soon* thronged for
ward. Dr. MacHale, afterwards Archbishop of Tuam, parried a
few of the passes which were made at J. K. L. " The interest
which has been excited by this publication," he wrote, " and the
hostiUty which it provoked, are no equivocal proof of its merits.
The novelty of an Irish CathoUc Bishop placing himseff in the
presence of the Viceroy, and pleading vrith respectful firmness the
cause of his injured countrymen, was calculated to excite surprise.
Surprise was soon succeeded by resentment, and those who were
hitherto in the habit of exclusively approaching the Lord Lieu
tenant, have felt and expressed thefr mortification that their
monopoly has been invaded. The respectful use of a pririlege,
which is extended to aU who feel themselves aggrieved, has been
characterised as an insolent intrusion  The Bishop
has been accused of warmth in his language. Yes, he has been
warm; and in his portrait of our unmerited sufferings, his language
rose to a tone of firm but respectful remonstrance. But if he was
eloquent and impassioned, his feelings were not pointed against
the Chief Governor, but against those who had accused him of
sedition and dragged him before his tribunal; and if, Uke the
apostle in presence of Festus, he exhibited the chains which he
wore, the persecutions we underwent, and the reUgion by which
we were sustained, the theme was suggested by the calumny of
his accusers ; and if he sought for redress, it was not by acting on
the frritated passions of the people, but with a high conscious
ness of the justice of his cause, and his rights as a Eoman citizen,
he sought protection from the fi-enzy of a persecuting multitude,
by throwing himself into the arms of the laws and appealing to
the majesty of Caesar."
The first meeting of the CathoUc Association — that subse
quentiy powerful moral engine — was held this year. Dr. Doyle
was the first Prelate in Ireland to join its ranks. " He threw
into the CathoUc Association," writes SheU, " all the influence of
his sacred authority; and having openly joined that body, increased
the reverence vrith which the people had preriously considered its
proceedings, and imparted to it something of a reUgious character.
The example which was given by Dr. Doyle was foUowed by other
dignitaries of the Church." Monsignor Meagher, in an unpub
Ushed MS. now before us, thus notices the same event : " At this
18

274 " FROG-BLOODED CATHOLIC BRITONS."
juncture arrived an accession of strength of overwhelming impor
tance, and from that hour no man doubted the results. Oh ! shaU
Ireland ever forget the day when he added his name to the Ust of
her patriots, and aU the Prelates of the land and aU the ministers
of faith foUowed in his train ! At once every district and hamlet
found in its Priest a leader, active to stimulate and cautious to re
strain," Dr, Doyle did not content himself with merely arousing the
CathoUcs of his own country to action. His patriotic labours ex
tended indfrectly to England also. We find among his papers
several letters conclusive of this fact. The foUovring is from the
great CathoUc delegate of 1793 : " London, Uth November, 1823.
" Eight Eev, and my dear Lord — Some anchorite of the
Thebaide was, if I recoUect right, ordered daily to water a planted
stick to exercise his patience. Your Lordship has prescribed to
me a task almost equaUy trying — that of stimulating into action
our worthy frog-blooded CathoUc Britons, However, I shaU try.
" The more I have conned over the admfrable production of
J. K. L., the more I see the necessity of its being made pubhc
here. After a few days I shaU again write to you on the subject,
as in the meantime I shaU ascertain whether I may not get some
person to print it here. This would be infinitely better than
sending the copies from Ireland, which are printed too close, and
not in the form liked here — for, however it may surprise you, it is
the fact that, in this as in articles of merchancfize, John BuU pre
fers the fold and manner he is used to,
" I vrish you would send me a copy of the letter to the Mar
quis of WeUesley, vrith whatever alterations you may have made ;
also, your Lordship's letter to Dr, Magee, with his charge, and
the address to the peasantry ; also, one of Father Hayes' numbers,
in which he points out the CathoUc authors from whom Dr, Magee
took the whole scheme of his book on the Atonement, The Ehap-
sodies [by Baron Smith] announced in The Evening Post as to
be sold at Longman's, are not to be had there, — I have the honour
to remain, my dear Lord, with sincere respect and affection,
"J, E, De-verbux,
" P,S,— TeU O'ConneU that I apprehend, that he \riU find
there is an Act of ParUament which permits Jews to purchase
ground and establish cemeteries. This, however, I am not posi
tively certain of."

CHAPTEE XI.
Dr, Doyle continues to enforce reformatory regulations with a firm hand —
He trenchantly rebukes careless Priests — Public admonitions  What was
found in the thatch at Snipe Lodge — Anecdotes — Reprimand administered
at a Conference — Amusing incident at Braganza — Affection of the
Priesthood for their Bishop — Dr, Doyle's eulogy on the Catholic Priest
hood as a body — Striking scene and dialogue — He forbids a month's
memory for a deceased Priest — Abuses suppressed — New statutes — Re
markable conversation — Evidences of the innate tenderness of his heart —
He pleads for a poor Priest before his angry Superior — Scene at Old
Derrig at five o'clock on a winter's morning — Dr. Dojle on the morality
of the Irish people — He reconciles differences — " Has not forty shillings
to spare" — Conducts a retreat at Maynooth — Letters to Mariana and
Catharine — Another miraculous cure — Surgeon Collis's remark, Uhat
Prince Hohenlohe ought to mind his own business — Letters — Mariana's
account of the Bishop's mode of liring at Old Derrig — He has a narrow
escape of being burned to death — The scandal-mongers, of Carlow — ^What
he said to the tithe proctor — Remarks addressed to Lord Wellesley on
tithes — Laughable tithe notice.
When Dr. Doyle assumed the government of the Diocess of Kil
dare and LeighUn, he found the Priests, vrith some few exceptions,
a zealous and thoroughly worthy body of men; and although seve
ral of them had contracted certain worldly manners and customs
which had tended to lower the dignity of the priestly character,
they were not, strictly speaking, open to reproach for haring me-
chanicaUy foUowed in the footsteps of their predecessors. Thefr
mode of living had become a second nature to them ; they remained
utterly blind to things which a stranger would at one glance detect
and condemn ; and although they seemed to lend thefr counte
nance and agency to a few abuses, we are conrinced that to many
the thought never occurred that the practices in question came
really under the category of abuses.
In a former chapter we have referred to some of the reforma
tory regulations which Dr. Doyle, on assuming the duties of his
office, laid do-wn. These he constantly continued to enforce with
a firm hand, and his reputation as a rigid discipUnarian soon
spread far and near, rendering him, among a certain narrow class,
more respected than beloved. Wherever he could lay his hand
upon them, he tore up abuses root and branch, while with the
other he sowed broadcast the seeds of a weU-organized perfection.
From the moment he became a Bishop, he felt that the words ad
dressed to the prophet were dfrected emphaticaUy to him : " Be
hold, this day have I set thee to root up, and to puU down, and to
destroy, and to build, and to plant." If, after rebuking a Priest
for culpable carelessness, Dr. Doyle again found the vestments or

276 he PROMOTES THE DECENCY OF GOD S ALTAR.
altar-cloths soUed or shabby, he tore them into ribbons, and the
Mass-book not unfrequently met the same fate. If he observed a
Parish Priest, through lariness or apathy, deferring year after year
to lay the foundation-stone of a new chapel, on a scale befitting the
increased requirements or importance of his flock, the Bishop has
himseff taken the initiative in tearing off the straw thatch which
covered the crumbling, old edifice ; and made such arrangements,
then and there, as led to the speedy erection of a suitable place of
worship for the parishioners. But Dr. Doyle was too just a man
to adopt this course hastUy or -without ample investigation into the
cfrcumstances of "the Priest or the parish. During his examina
tion in the Commons on the 25th of March, 1825, he was asked :
"Do you conceive that the present state of your chapels and the
insufficient accommodation which they afford impedes the efforts
of the Eoman CathoUc clergy in giring reUgious instruction to the
people ? A. Perhaps one of the greatest obstacles to the instruc
tion of the people in Ireland is the want of sufficient room in our
chapels ; but this is an e-ril which it is not in our power to remedy.
The pressure upon the peasantry is so great, from various causes,
that they have not the means of enlarging thefr chapels, still less
of buUding them anew, without making sacrifices which are pe'cu-
Uarly oppressive to them ; and I have myseff often ordered a chapel
to be enlarged, or said that otherwise I would not permit Mass to
be celebrated in it, and yet, upon the representation of the Priest
as to the distress and extreme poverty of the people, I have with-
dra-wn such orders, and suffered them to proceed as weU as they
could." Dr. Doyle's attention to the furtherance of everything con
nected with the decency, and ff possible the splendour of God's
altar, was indefatigable. He constantly endeavoured to promote
the veneration of the faithful for the grandeur of the Christian
sacrifice, and to elevate their souls by the majesty of divine wor
ship. In conducting the ceremonies of the Church, he himseff
set the example of attending* rigidly to the minutest Uturgical
detail. Some persons might erroneously imagine, that an impulse of
chagrin prompted so complete an annihUation as the reduction of
a Priest's vestments to shreds and ribbons ; but the Bishop, we
need not add, had a worthier motive. On his firsfrisitation to a
remote parish of KUdare, he was disgusted to find the sacerdotal
vestments soUed and threadbare, and deposited in a turf basket.
Dr, Doyle admonished the Priest, but without effect, for, on the
next risitation, matters appeared precisely in the same posture.
Tearing the chausible in two pieces, he told the Priest that if un
able to purchase a new one, which he greatiy doubted, at least to

REPRIMANDS — INCOME OF PARISH PRIESTS. 277
make up the price in halfpence and pence among his flock. The
old pastor's habits were irrevocably formed, and he remained so
utterly deaf to the young Prelate's wishes, that instead of doing
what had been prescribed, he got an old woman to re-unite the
pieces of the chausible, and in this condition he used it until
his death, which occurred soon after. The manner in which Dr.
Doyle dealt -with objectionable vestments on aU subsequent occa
sions precluded the possibUity of their again coming into use. He
not unfrequently consigned them to the flames of the sacristy fire.
These proceedings, though apparentiy harsh, are perfectly
canonical. No churchman could condemn them, however some
may disapprove of rebuking a Priest in presence of his flock and
feUow-clergy. When Dr. Doyle found that a private admonition,
once or tvrice given, failed to take effect, he repeated it before
many, as Scriptural authority justified him in doing. He rarely
pursued this course, however, unless in the case of Priests whose
parochial income ought to have rendered it an easy task to proride
every necessary article for the sacerdotal wardrobe. On one occa
sion he told an incorrigible Priest that the habUiments which
clothed his person in society were spotless, but that those in which
he communed -with the King of Heaven were disgraceful and de
grading. The Bishop haring, on another occasion, found that aU his pre
vious admonitions and menaces had been totaUy disregarded, he
came out of the sacristy and thus addressed the congregation: " I
regret there cannot be Mass to-day, I have repeatedly impressed
on your pastor the necessity and duty of proriding himseff -with
vestments befitting the dignity of the Holy Sacrifice, He has not
only neglected to do so, but he has thought fit to omit to caU on
you for that trifling aid which would at once have obtained the
amount needed ;" saying which, he destroyed the vestments which
had so long been a cause of general disedification.
There were few parochial Priests of the diocess with means so
straitened as rendered the purchase of a respectable suit of vest
ments difficult. Dr. Doyle, during his examination in the House
of Lords, was requested to fumish a general idea of their incomes.
" About five years ago," he repUed, " I required of each of the
Priests to give me a return of the amount of income which they
received. There were three parishes in the diocess where it was
stated at, I think, £500 ; two of these parishes since became
vacant, and I dirided them, or separated the unions which before
existed. There were fourteen parishes where the income exceeded
£200, and some few approached to £300, and I recoUect one
where the fricome was stated at £300, In the remaining parishes,
the sum stated to me varied from £100 to £200." From the

278 SNIPE LODGE — PRIESTS REBUKED.
Bishop's eridence in the Commons, it appeared that there were fom-
parishes where the Priest's income reached to £400.
When it is known that one of the Priests whose vestments
Dr. Doyle tore in pieces, because of thefr shabbiness, was able at
his death, in 1843, to bequeath £8,000 to the funds of Carlow
CoUege, few readers -wiU blame the Bishop for administering a
reproach so decisive.
Mr, T, F, Meagher in some of his interesting EecoUections of
Ireland, pubUshed in a New York journal, devotes a very amusing
chapter to this Priest, He thus concludes : "He put together a
large sum of money. His wiU broke it up, and distributed it
amongst the sweetest and noblest charities of the country. Two
months after his death, it was aU found in a tin box, under the
thatch, over the front door of Snipe Lodge," Father  would
seem not to have been impressed with the trath of the aphorism,
" Charity begins at home,"
Of public admonitions, several cases occurred. We have
afready mentioned that Dr, Doyle, when he assumed the govem
ment of the diocess, found many of the Priests attending races
and hunts. It was, we beUeve, on his first or second risitation
that a Parish Priest of St, MaUns, long since in his grave, came
out to say Mass with spurs on his boots. The Bishop repri
manded him in presence of the congregation, with an impressive
severity which is remembered by many vrith terror to this day.
Among others whom the Bishop very stemly rebuked for
habitual carelessness regarding vestments, was a very worthy
man, the late Eev. Dr. D  , who to the day of his death never
forgot Dr. Doyle's reproachful demeanour towards him. When
dying, in 1825, he would not even appoint, as executor, a Priest
in Dr. Doyle's diocess ; and he bequeathed his property to Eome,
for the estabUshment of a burse. The Bishop, some years before
his death, was occasionaUy heard to regret that in the unflinching
discharge of his duty he should have hurt the feeUngs of several
aged and pious men. He could never be said, however, to have
acted hastily or with frritation. Whatever he may have said or
done, was in conscientious obedience to the dictates of a rigid
sense of duty and discipline. His manner often wore an appear
ance of hastiness, when a perfectly opposite feeUng moved him,
as the foUowing anecdote wUl show.
On the occasion of a Conference which was held vrithin some
eight mUes of Carlow, Dr, Doyle reprimanded a Priest so tren
chantly, that a clergyman who was exceedingly intimate -with
the Bishop, and received the appointment of Vicar-General soon
after, ventured to remonstrate with his Lordship privately, " My
Lord," he said, " do you not think it was rather rash to chastise

ANECDOTES, 279
Father  so sharply in the presence of his brother Priests,
and for an offence of certainly no very grave character ? His
temper is excitable, and I would be apt to fear that such a rebuke
might drive bun refractory, -and dispose him to set your Lordship
aUogether at defiance," " WeU," repUed the Bishop, " if he
chose to act so, he would answer for it," "Of course," continued
the Priest, " but you know retahation is an impulse of human
nature, and men are not always under the control of thefr better
feeUngs." "You have no conception," said Dr. Doyle, "ofthe
amount of trouble which that man has cost me. I remonstrated
with him three times in private, and I warned him that if he did
not mend I should chastise him before many. I might have im
parted an additional stfrig to the rebuke by mentioning this in
stance of his obstinacy ; had I done -so, it would have exonerated
me from that appearance of hastiness and undue severity into
which my reverend hearers no doubt imagined I had been led ;
but what matters it," he added, " how people may speak or think
of me here, prorided that I discharge, unflinchingly, the duties of
the office which God has imposed on me. You think I said too
much ; but I have always been of opinion that when a Bishop
reprimands, it should be done in the most indeUble manner,
¦ Let him never chastise, unless when unavoidable ; but whenever
he does do so, let it be in such a way as wiU render the chastise
ment felt and remembered, A mild and faltering rebuke, which
enters at one ear and goes out at the other, is worse than nothing,"
Dr, Doyle endeavoured to imitate, as far as possible, the Master
whom he served. He was, no doubt, acquainted with the MS.
of PubUus LentuUus, stiU extant, which gives a minute contem
porary description of Christ's appearance and manner. One pas
sage we extract : "A man of stature somewhat tall and comely.
His eye grey, clear, and quick. In repro-ring he is terrible :
pleasant in conversation, mixed vrith grarity. Many have seen
him weep,"
An amusing anecdote or two might be told, iUustrative of the
buming force with which Dr, Doyle's rebukes rarely faUed to sear
thefr way into the bosoms of men who had long been fiUed with
indifference and seff-complacency, A very worthy Priest, but a
Uttie worldly in his tendencies, dined a few years ago, with several
other clergymen, at the hospitable table of Dr, Haly, the late
CathoUc Bishop of KUdare, A fuU-length picture of Dr. Doyle,
mitre-crovmed and -with crozier grasped, hangs over the chimney-
piece of the dining-room at Braganza. The Priest took his seat,
but he seemed fidgety and Ul-at-ease. The quick and kindly eye
of the host was at once attracted by his gestures. " I fear you're
not comfortable there," said the Bishop. " Indeed I am not, my

280 AFFECTION OF THE CLERGY FOR THEIR BISHOP.
Lord," was the candid reply ; "his eye is upon me, and I was
under it long enough ;" saying which he moved round to the
opposite side, and haring taken his seat with his back to the
picture, forgot his past sorrows in the' pleasures of the table.
It is, no doubt, unnecessary to add, that the pecuUar feeUng
of the Priest to whom we aUude is quite an exceptional case.
Nearly every Priest with whom we have conversed refers to Dr.
Doyle's memory in terms of strong veneration and love. " I could
speak of him for ever," writes Eev. Dr. CahUl ; " he could put on
the terrors of an angry judge, and then relapse into the playful
ness of a fond compaiuon." Canon Dunne, in a letter expressive
of pleasure that the author of this work should have selected such
a theme, observes : " The inteUigence has awakened -within me,
ff possible, a deeper and more ririd sensation of my associations
•with my exalted guide, than I agreeably yet gloomUy experience,
when I daily caU him to mind. The most endearing ties must
ever closely bind me vrith everything regarding his memory."
Canon Dunne expatiates on " his paternal regard, and my fiUal re
verence and love." The Eev. Dr. Donovan, formerly Professor
in Carlow CoUege, writes : " Every moment of my Ufe serves but
to exalt and endear his memory to my head and heart." The
Eev. Dr. Fogarty writes : "I knew him well ; I loved and admfred
his extraordinary zeal, his sound and soUd piety, and his love of
country. His teachings of my youth are impressed on my very
soul. His premature removal was an frreparable loss to Church
and State." The Parish Priest of Aries writes: "I was quite a
boy when Dr. Doyle honoured me by his notice, and for ten years
I lost not his regard." The Eev. Dr. Meagher aUudes " to the
noble simpUcity of his manners, the bright candour of aU his
thoughts, the goodness of his warm heart, the charity of his bene
volent soul." But such eridence might be cited- ad infinitum.
When the events of the year 1825 are described, the reader wUl
find a beautiful address to Dr. Doyle, from the entfre Clergy of
his diocess, expressive of respect, admiration, attachment, and
gratitude. The sincerity of their language was proved by present
ing Dr. Doyle, at the same time, with the splendid mansion and
demesne of Braganza, purchased for £2,500 fi-om the executors
of Sfr Dudley HUl.
It is pleasant to read Dr. Doyle's favourable opinion of the
priesthood as a body, as expressed by him in 1825 : " The mi
nisters of the CathoUc reUgion are inrited to thefr office by the
impulse of dirine grace ; but as the Almighty disposes all things
-wisely, he makes use of external objects to determine the wiU of
those who deUberate on entering the ministry. This ministry is
seen amongst us, encompassed by dangers and privations of no

Hie EULOGIUM ON THE PRIESTHOOD. 281
ordinary kind ; labour and toU are inseparable from it ; the neces
saries of Ufe which it offers, are to be obtained by soUciting con
tributions from men, a vast majority of whom are unable to bestow
them. When the youthful mind is deUberating on the choice of a
state of Ufe, the flesh lusteth against the spirit ; and if the person
in whom grace and nature are thus contending have worldly pros
pects before him, of even a moderate kind, he vriU generally be
deaf to the breathings of the spfrit, and prefer some secular pur
suit to the serrice of the Church. The ministers of this reUgion,
however, are in general weU stored with classical and scholastic
knowledge, less refined, perhaps, than persons who are unac
quainted with thefr vocations might desfre, but not deficient cer
tainly in those qualifications which the parochial Clergy of a young
nation (for such Ireland may be deemed) should possess. They are
energetic, active, laborious, shrewd, and inteUigent ; they are the
most moral class of persons, not only in this country, but, I think,
existing on the earth ; they are exact, or rather they are fiUed -with
zeal in the discharge of thefr- duties ; thefr office, thefr connexions,
thefr necessary habits of intercourse mix them up and identify them
-with the people ; they ai-e acquainted with, and take an interest
in the domestic concerns of almost every famUy ; they possess the
fuU and entfre confidence of thefr flocks ; they are always em
ployed ; there is nothing duU or quiescent about them. Such are
the ministers of the CathoUc religion in Ireland — a class of men
who either dfrect the general feeUngs of the people, or who, run
with the current in whatsoever dfrection it may flow."
Dr. Doyle speaks highly of the Priesthood as a body ; but it
was his lot to encounter a few exceptions which grievously
afflicted him. The Eev. Mr.  was an indolent and careless
pastor, who had received his appointment during a prerious epis
copal administration, characterised rather by its simple piety than
for rigour or sagacity. He had not only amassed some money in
rirtue of his office, but erected a very comfortable glebe-house;
and at his death, instead of bequeathing this property to the
Church, or to some charitable purpose or institution, as the sta
tutes of the diocess ordained, he let it get into the clutches of
some needy relatives, who scuffled and scrambled for it in a man
ner more rigorous than edifying. He had besides occasioned
some scandal by manffesting no disinclination to the use of alco
hol. At a Conference near Ossory, some Priests inqufred from
the Bishop on what day it would meet his Lordship's convenience
to hold a month's mind for the late Father  . " Such would
not serve either the living or the dead," exclaimed Dr. Doyle; "I
shaU never attend it — and what is more, gentlemen, I forbid you,
. under pain of my displeasure, to countenance any month's me-

282 - REMARKABLE SCENE.
mory for Mr.  . He has brought scandal on that Church of
which he was the unworthy minister. He first amassed and
finaUy scattered to the winds the money reaUzed from celebrating
and dispensing God's mysteries." " But, my Lord," interrupted
an old cleric, " you know a man can't Uve upon afr." " A man
can't Uve upon air," echoed the Bishop with a scathing sternness.
"What a learned apothegm for a venerable Priest to stand up and
utter at a theological conference ! Keep that vrisdom for the old
hags of the viUage ; but don't dare to teU your Bishop that a
man can't Uve upon air." " But, my Lord," remonstrated ano
ther, "it wiU be remarked upon if no month's memory takes
place." "That is precisely what I desfre," he exclaimed; "I
vrish to mark that man's grave with my reprobation." "I certainly
grant you, my Lord," proceeded the spokesman, " that Father 
was indolent ; but it was the man's nature, and he could not help
it. Your Lordship may remember that latterly he was even too
lazy to coUect his own dues." "Dues!" echoed the Bishop
loudly, " pray what is there due for negUgence ? His flock owe
him nothing : he neglected to break and feed them vrith the bread
of eternal Iffe. The labourer is worthy of his hfre, but the idler
deserves naught. We are not caUed by God to lead Uves of indo
lence. He himseff declares that the kingdom of God suffereth
violence, and the riolent bear it away. Once more I forbid the
month's mind ; but you may pray for him fervently in secret.
Eather let his memory be buried in obUrion, than perpetuated by
a pubhc ceremonial in his honour,"
This, and one or two other instances which might be cited,
determined the Bishop to frame an express statute for the pre
vention of clergymen dying intestate. In the sixth chapter of
that admfrable Uttie volume, which every pastor of the diocess is
obUged to possess, we find it decreed that "whenever a Priest
faUs into any. dangerous iUness, the Vicar-Foreign vrithin whose
deanery he Uves shall risit him, and piously minister every
spiritual aid to his sick brother in the Lord, He shaU inqufre
whether the sick man has made his wiU, as commanded in the
first chapter, and he shaU use the greatest diUgence, lest the
registry of baptisms and marriages, or the holy vessels, vestments,
coverings or ornaments of the altar, whether they belong to the
parish or the Priest, should faU into the hands of any layman.
He shaU put them into a safe place, and cany home along vrith
him the copy of these statutes." The latter injunction accounts
for the extieme scarcity of the book — a fact sufficiently erident,
when we remember that a noted Evangelical offered seven guineas
for a copy, at the sale of the Eev. P. Wood's effects, and faffed to
obtain it, even at that price.

REFORMS ENFORCED. 283
Dr. Doyle was, of course, a great advocate for Priests paying
prompt and frequent risits to the bed of sickness. A curate once
sought to extenuate his conduct for omitting to attend a sick
caU, by declaring that he had no horse. Dr. Doyle's rebuke has
somewhat of a ludicrous sound ; but it was accompanied by an
expression so fuU of reproach, that the Priest regarded it as any
thing but a laughing matter. " Horse, sfr !" exclaimed the
Bishop, " and a poor, dying soul at stake : you should have
mounted a cow ff no other mode of conveyance had presented
itseff." Dr, Doyle's pastoral instractions were especiaUy strin
gent as regards the rigUant administration of the sacraments,
"Nothing can excuse you from the discharge of this duty; nothing
can exempt you — not labour, not fatigue, nor watching, nor hunger,
nor thfrst, nor heat, nor cold ; you can have no just cause of delay,
when pressed on by an obligation so strict and so important,"
In inciilcating the necessity of comforting the sick, Dr, Doyle was
equaUy zealous. " At that awful hour which is, perhaps, to de
cide thefr etemal lot, the sinner — seeing that everything is disap
pearing from his eyes — that this world and the desfres thereof
have passed away — that he himseff is passing like a shadow — vriU
Usten vrith more attention to your pious exhortations; he vrill
yield to your sighs and your tears." Dr. Doyle practicaUy set the
example. If he fiUed the high office of Bishop of Kildare, he
also discharged the humble and laborious duties of Parish Priest
of Carlow, and vrith a more than human disregard of personal
safety often hurried in order to soothe the miseries of the dying.
Funeral entertainments and office dinners were customary in
those days. In 1810, Mr, Doyle, being then attached to the
Convent of his Order in Eoss, attended the office of a lady who had
died suddenly in Wexford, Disedified at the unseemly joriaUty
which characterised the entertainment, he left the table, and paus
ing before an adjoining room where the corpse had lain grimly
extended, he elevated his eyes to heaven, and with clasped hands
exclaimed: "Oh, Lord! pardon this unseemUness, You send
death to warn us, and we receive it vrith a mocking defiance,"
These and station dinners were among the first abuses which Dr.
Doyle, on succeeding to. the episcopaLchair of KUdare, uprooted.
The clergyman already referred to, who possessed Dr, Doyle's
entfre confidence and fnendship, ha-ving overheard a dialogue
among some Priests, which aimed to prove that they had faUen
into a great error in nominating to the mitre a man who had no
missionary experience, he repeated the substance of the conver
sation to Dr, Doyle. " They say I had not the necessary quaUfi
cations for an office too exalted, as the Spuit of Truth declares, for
even an angel of Ught. I am well aware of my own incompetence

284 DR. DOYLE's TENDERNESS OF HEART.
and worthlessness ; but if I possess one quaUfication more than
another, it is that I had, at no period, any interest in, or personal
experience of those errors which I am determined to uproot. It
is aU for the better that I had no missionary experience; for had
I, at any time, been a party to the abuses in connexion with it,
how could I, with unfaltering tone and steady consistency, Uft my
voice in denunciation of them ?"
Dr. Doyle's disposition was naturaUy of the most amiable and
kindly character, and it frequently cost him a severe struggle to
put on, in the conscientious discharge of his duty, an aspect of
severity. We possess the records of numberless touching traits
which show to perfection the innate tenderness of his heart.
Father John Crane, Prior of the Augustinian community at
 , a most good-natured and hospitable man, was led by an ex
cess of those quaUties to involve both himself and the Convent in
some pecuniary emban-assment, _ This cfrcumstance gave great
offence to the Very Eev. Dr. Gibbons, Provincial of the Order,
who resolved to risit Father Crane vrith a canonical censure in
consequence. Dr. Doyle did not forget the kindness he had re
ceived from Father Crane when a boy, and the foUovring letter
finds him pleading the Friar's cause before his angry Superior :
" Old Derrig, Carlow, 17th October, 1823.
" My dear and Eev. Father Pro-vincial — You wUl not deem
it foreign from my duty to write to you at the desfre of the Eev.
Mr, Crane, when I teU you that there is no person now U-ving, with
the exception of one brother, to whom I have been so long aUied
by affection and friendship, or to whom I am under more weighty
obUgations. "I had heard, when in  , how the young men appointed to
execute poor Father PhUip's will had acted frreverently and dis
respectfully towards Father John at the time of his greatest afflic
tion. I could not but consider such conduct on the part of young
 as unnatural, and I felt great disgust towards Inm ; for how
ever just his proceeding, the time and manner of it were highly
improper ; and as to the other executor, though I suppose he is
almost a saint, I know that he was always -wrong-headed, and that
his notions on right and wrong were generaUy such as could not
be acted upon in this world. To place Father John, with aU his
faults (for the goodness of his heart has often betrayed him into
faults), in the hands of such a pafr — ^the one an unnatural chUd,
the other an eccentric — was not the vrisest act of poor Father
PhUip's Ufe ; and if I had seen him prerious to his death, I would
have besought him on my knees not to appoint them his executors.
The customs of that house in  , my dear Father Prorincial,

he pleads for a priest. 285
are old, and perhaps unwise ; but yet, being estabUshed, some
remnant of them must be continued, or the Convent wiU lose many
friends, and what is of more value — its character in the public
estimation ; for you may depend on it that Father John, whilst he
Uves, wUl be its best support, though he were dunned by every
butcher and baker in the town. He has, moreover, the legal
titie of a fine property, and is it prudent to tempt him to seek, by
appUcation at Eome, to aUenate it, or to avail himself of the law
of the land ? Or is this the moment your pradence would select,
when he has been discarded by his brother from the administration
of his wUl, and insulted by two young fools, to change, in his
regard, that Ucense which he and almost every Friar in the king
dom has had for two centuries — to enjoy for Ufe what they were
permitted to acqufre. When in DubUn, Mr. F  showed me a
correspondence between himseff and you and Father John. I
regretted very sincerely the proceeding threatened to be taken by
the latter, and stiU more, that the moment of his anxiety and
affliction should have been selected to make arrangements for him,
and thus betray him by his feelings into what I must regret. But,
my dear sir, when you reflect on the character of Father John you
wiU, vrith me, overlook that, and take him back to your bosom,
for he is worthy of your utmost attachment. He is old and in
firm — he is incumbered with debt, but his property is more than
sufficient to pay aU demands upon it. Let his case stand before
you and your Definitory to judge of it, and aUow me, whom he has
long caUed his chUd, and who revere him as a father, to plead for
him before you. Let us leave Eome undisturbed ; let us not send
there the dissensions of our o-wn famUy ; let us have charity and
vrisdom enough to settle them ourselves.
"Let the rules for the govemment of the house in  which
your prudence has prescribed, and which I have read, remain, if
you please, as they are ; but let Father John, as he is excluded
fi-om everything which hia brother could control, be permitted to
enjoy undisturbed for Ufe whatever he can advance a just claim to,
that he may be enabled to pay off his debts, and supply himself
vrith those little comforts -without which he cannot now exist for
the short time he has to remain. I saw him buUding almost with
his own hands, and certainly by his own personal influence, the
house in the BowUng-green ; he let it for £20 a-year as a CoUege
to the Order, and of this £20 he gave £10 as his subscription.
He did more — he almost supported us whilst there. Why, then,
should this house be taken from bim in his present distress, and
the £50 rent due to him overlooked ? Yet on this point he pro
bably would concede something, ff his other claims were admitted.
[The Bishop here enumerated some accounts due by the late

286 HE SUGGESTS ARBITRATION,
Father PhiUp Crane, quite unconnected vrith the Convent, which
Father John had paid out of his own pocket. Dr. Doyle assured
the Provincial that he beUeved Father John's extravagance had
been much overrated ; and that, in his opinion, the present pecu
niary embarrassments were not owing to it, but rather to the recent
erection of the Convent and the repairs of the Chapel, which
amounted to near £1,500. The Bishop thus concluded :] " I
have tfred you, my dear sfr, but notlung can weary my own
patience when Father John is concerned, and therefore I have
trespassed on yours. I shaU be greatly gratified to leam your
decision on this subject, and remain, with affectionate regard to
aU vrith you, your most humble servant and brother in Christ,
" * J, Doyle,"
The appeal proved unsuccessful, and a new Prior was ap
pointed by Dr, Gibbons. On the 30th October, we find the Bishop
thus addressing his old fiiend, Dr, O'Connor : "I -wrote to Father
John when I received your letter, by the Provincial's command ;
and whUst I exhorted him most earnestly to an unquaUfied sub
mission, I may tell you that should his case go to Eome, I wiU
interest the Sacred Congregation in his favour ; but this, my in
tention, I have not made known to him as yet, hoping he may be
induced to submit vrithout appeal, I think you might vmte to
him as an old fiiend, and solicit his determination, or offer, on the
part of the Provincial, to leave .the decision to Drs, Keating or
KeUy, men who are disinterested,"
On the llth November, the Bishop writes : "I have just posted
a note to Mr. Crane, stating the Prorincial's determination, and
recommending a submission to his just authority. No person can
attach blame to you for discharging your duty faithfuUy and
temperately, as you do. May God prolong your Ufe and grace it
with every rirtue ! I vrish I could repay you the many kindnesses
you have always been doing to me. Please to give my affectionate
respects to the Prorincial and to each of our brethren vrith you."
Father John Crane died soon afterwards. Dr. Doyle writes : "I
sincerely condole -with you and my good friend the Prorincial, on
the departure of our worthy brother to, I trust, our eternal home.
His works have foUowed him, we may presume to hope, and my
suffrages wUl not be wanted to secure his repose."
Shortly before the death of Eichard Coyne, the weU known
publisher of the letters of J. K. L., we had an interriew with him,
and received some interesting reminiscences of Dr. Doyle. Mr.
Coyne, haring had particular business vrith the Bishop, left Dublin,
by the Carlow night coach, for Old Derrig, and arrived at his des
tination at 5 o'clock on a piercing cold, winter's moming. What

PURITY OF IRISH WOMEN. 287
was his astonishment to find Dr. Doyle not only up and dressed,
but surrounded by at least a dozen persons in the humbler ranks
of Ufe, aU rictims, apparently, to much mental inquietude. The
Bishop stood in the midst of them, his eyes suffused -with tears,
Ustening to their sad recitals, offering pecuniary relief to some,
expressing sympathy for those he was unable to assist, and consol
ing aU. Mr. Coyne at length obtained an interriew._ "Eichard,"
he said, when they had conversed for a few minute's, " as I cele
brate six o'clock Mass I must now retire, but do not fail to join
me at breakfast." Upon enquiring, Mr. Coyne ascertained that
the conduct he had on that moming accidentaUy witnessed, was
only a picture of Dr. Doyle's daUy Ufe.
There was another duty which the risitor arriving unexpectedly
at Old Derrig would not unfrequently find the good Bishop engaged
in performing. The foUowing extract from the Fifth Letter of
J.K.L. on the "State of Ireland" aUudes to it: "From what
has lately appeared in eridence before a Committee of the House
of Commons, I am incUned to think, that if in England the
poverty, and the habits of Ufe occasioned by it, were the same as
in Ireland, the iUicit intercourse of the sexes would be as exten
sive and unblushing as it is at Madras or Calcutta. But amongst
us this appetite is restrained, as weU by a natural decorum which
has characterized the women of this country, as by a strong and
reverential fear of God, constantiy kept aUve and strengthened by
the Priests.* But as love, Uke death, cequo pulsat pede pauperum
tdbernas regumque turres, when it once enters into our hamlets,
it seeks its object, not by degrading the person and tainting the
soul, but in that holy wedlock which our Eedeemer has sanctified,
and His apostle declared to be honourable in aU, vrithout distinc
tion of rich or poor. The clergy often dissuade it ; they calculate
* At a visitation of the Bishop of Ely, in July, 1858, the subject of the crowded
state of the dwelhngs of the poor was introduced tiy his Lordship, when the Rev, E.
Phipps observed that " the majority of the EngUsh poor were mothers before they
were married. He did not believe that this state of things arose altogether from
their cottage arrangements, for in Ireland the morality of the peasantry was infinitely
higher. In Ireland an institution was in full force, which, in the opinion of a vast
number of the most intelligent and unprejudiced people, was one great mejins of
maintaining that social purity for which Ireland was so remarkable. This institu
tion had existed, in fact and principle, in the Church of England, though it had
hitherto been suffered most culpably and grievously to fall into desuetude, from
which a vigorous and what would he, he believed, ultimately a successful eifort was
being made to recover it — he meant the blessed aud important practice of confes
sion."— W. J. F.
"The prostitution of great cities is mainly recruited from the rural districts; and
in country villages, by the deliberate choice of the woman, a sort of bundling ia the
rule of EngUsh life. Few young women are ignorant that the safest road to the
altar is so to contrive matters that the christening service comes In very unseemly
proximity to the marriage ceremony. This is rural life in England," — 7'Ae Saturday
Review, 6 th October, 1860,

288 HIS MEDIATION SUCCESSFUL.
for the young lover; they represent to him the difficulties and dis
tress which probably await himself and the object of his affections;
they recommend to him the necessity of restraining the ardour of
his attachment ; they even plead thefr own example. But how
often have I myseff yielded to the sighs of the vfrgin, or the tears
of the youth, and blessed the nuptials which I could no longer
prevent. Good God ! how Uttle are we, the CathoUc Clergy of
Ireland, known even to our friends, when one could represent us
in ParUament as encouraging the intermarriage of the poor for the
sake of 'base lucre!' — those poor who have nothing to bestow but
their prayers and affection, and with whom we gladly diride every
shiUing which Proridence places at our disposal."
The Bishop not only contrived to find time for comforting the
afflicted, and reconcUing the aUenated in propria persona, but
often worked his pen zealously for the same good end. Writing
to a kinswoman, he says : " It is most afflicting that M  and
J  should have disputes. When the Lord was pleased to
bless their industry, they ought not to become miserable by for
getting Him and quarreUing with one another. It would not be
easy to compose thefr differences, for both are attached to thefr
own opinions ; but what I should propose, were I present, is —
[here Dr. Doyle made some very judicious suggestions]. I am
fuUy satisfied that I have no partiaUty for one more than the other,
but this is precisely what I should recommend to two strangers,
circumstanced as they are, and which, ff yom- husband approve of
it, earnestly recommend to them in my name and your own. Beg
of them, for God's sake, to preserve thefr good name with the
pubUc, and peace between each other, lest the Almighty, who has
blessed them, should afflict them for not being thankful." A letter
written a few days later records the success of his mediation : "I
am sincerely glad of the reconciUation between J  and M  .
May the Lord in his mercy preserve them in peace."
Dr. Doyle was not content vrith being himseff a peacemaker —
he constantly impressed upon his clergy the duty of amicably ad
justing quarrels and .disputes. " Seat yourselves down like angels
of peace in the midst of the dissensions which may, through
human infirmity, occur between your people, and reconcUe, by the
sweetness of your manner, and the attractions of grace, hearts
which for a moment may have been aUenated from each other."
Unbounded charity to the poor was, like Fenelon, among Dr.
Doyle's most striking rirtues. " Give and it shall be given to
you," and " Whatever you give the poor you give to God," were
his mottoes. He gave -with such UberaUty that his means often
became seriously pinched. No wonder that the Bishop should
not have "forty shiUings, to spare." There never was a man

A BISHOP WITHOUT FORTY SHILLINGS. 289
more utterly negligent of enforcing payment of " the dues" to
which he was entitied. He constantly inculcated — " I seek not
yours but you — give me your souls, not your means." On the
20th of November, 1828, he writes :
" I cannot buy the horse, my dear Mary. I could not at this
time dispose of those I now have. I wUl not want a gig mare
tiU next summer ; but, above aU, I have not forty shiUings to spare,
and this last reason puts the matter completely out of sight. I
am too poor to purchase a good horse, and too proud, I suppose,
to accept of one as a present, so you must confide the care of
myseff and my stumbling mare to that Proridence which regulates
and preserves aU things, even to the hafrs of our head. I confi
dentiy hope that vrith the dirine assistance you wUl continue to
improve in health. I am confident you will improve in rirtue,
which is better than bodUy strength, and it is perfected in infir
mity. May God bless you, my dear Mary ; let me know from
time to time how you proceed. I have to answer a large pile of
letters before me from aU parts of the country. Had I leisure I
should fiU this sheet, though it were -with nonsense. Adieu !"
A portion of the " large pile of letters" no doubt remained for
some time unanswered, for soon after we find the Bishop caUed
upon to conduct a spiritual retreat for the students of Maynooth
CoUege. Its President, the late Very Eev. Laurence Eenehan,
a few weeks before his death, -writing to the author, refers in terms
of admfration to the nervous eloquence and masterly use of the
Scriptures which Dr. Doyle mamfested on this occasion. Dr.
Doyle's exposition of the Epistles of St. Paul was a masterpiece
of perspicuity and impressiveness, and the detaU of his medi
tations was not less striking.
The Bishop meanwhUe did not forget Mariana or her suffering
sister. Such letters as the foUowing he threw off -with great rapi
dity, and generaUy whUst in the act of conversing with a risitor.
He never read his letters over after writing them. Sometimes
words are written twice ; sometimes two words to express the
same meaning occur ; and occasionaUy words are altogether left
out. Letters written under such cfrcumstances cannot fafrly be
subjected to the ordeal of criticism :
" Saturday Night, 29th November, 1823.
" My DEAE Feiend — An opportunity ha-ving occurred of send
ing you the book, I avaU myself of it to condole vrith you on the
melancholy state of our dear Catharine, whose increased debUity
is but too much manffested in the few Unes which the over-goodness
of her heart compeUed her to write to me. Her letter and yours
fiUed me with sensations such perhaps as you feel yourseff, or at
19

290 " EVEN women" MAY BE JUST.
least bearing some resemblance to them — sadness, mixed with
hope, scarcely suppressed by religion, and the anticipation of what
may be far removed from us, but which will one day come if, Uke
her, we be faithful to the end. Her suffering is Ught and short ;
repose and security draw nigh ; but shaU we who remain go also
to meet Christ in the air — as St. Paul describes the passage of the
Christian — and be always with the Lord ? Perhaps we may ; but
blessed indeed are those who are cut off in the midst of thefr days,
before malice has corrupted thefr mind, and who bring -with them
a pure heart, filled with those youthful sensibilities which fit it pe
cuUarly for the workings of grace. I would almost fear to inter
rupt her intercourse with God by a prolongation of her Ufe — for the
separation from you and aU that is dear to her must one day be
made ; and even now it can be borne, though it almost severs the
marrow from the bone, and separates the Ufe from the spirit.
But surely this is the very pain which the Lord testifies that the
sword, not peace, which he came to send, would produce. His
ways, his time cannot be investigated ; but all his ways are justice
and truth. Let us, my chUd, bless his name, and not seek for
gratifications which he is pleased perhaps to interrupt. Let us
not embitter her chalice by mixing our grief with her sufferings,
but rather be of one mind with her — meek, gentle, and resigned,
leaving aU things to God, and resting in Him above aU, as we are
taught by A'Kempis (book iii., chap. 21), which I beg you may
read for her in my name.
" Since I saw you I received a letter'from Prince De Hohen
lohe. He was then at Vienna, and not disposed to retum to
Bamberg. I believe he is gone to Hungary, where he has accepted
of some church preferment, so that I do not know where I could
direct a letter to him. It is likely that we shaU shortly have a re
ply to the application written when you were here, and ff we do I
shall lose no time in informing you of it. The prayers of our con
gregations here will be offered on to-morrow for one of the Bishop's
friends (I need not say for his own dear chUd), and I am sure they
vriU .be composed of the petitions of many just men, and even wo
men, and they must be acceptable to God. I cannot Conclude
without addressing a Une to your dear patient :
"My DEAE Cathaeine — I almost regret your haring endea
voured to gratify me by writing even the assurance of your affec
tion, and giring me but too much proof of the state of suffering in
which it has pleased God you should continue. I cannot yet divest
myself of the hope of your recovery, for debiUty is not always a
necessary sign of dissolution ; but I seek to be satisfied, like your
seff, with the good vriU of Him who has numbered all our days,
and fixed the Umits beyond which we cannot pass. This perfect

MIEACULOUS recovery of CATHARINE. * 291
resignation, by composing the mind, assuages also the fever of the
blood, and contributes to restore the frame where remedy is yet
possible, I should not hesitate to pay you a visit, even now ; but
I know such visits bring with them more pain than pleasure, and
when unnecessary are not commendable ; they are the fruit of
affection, which, thanks to God, can best be indulged by placing
restiaint on the feelings. I commend you to God and to his holy
angels, to watch over you and to extinguish vrithin you everything
connected -with this world, that as you bear (unworthy as you are)
some of the marks of his suffering, you may in affection be cruci
fied to the world and the world to you — for thus no person, absent
or present, can be troublesome to you, but peace and mercy will
be upon you, as the Israel or elect of God. Too long, my child,
have you permitted your affections to light on creatures, and
though not suffered to attach themselves to anything, yet you have
felt how difficult it is to coUect them on the inrisible, and immor
tal, and only God. Leave us to His providence ; pray that pride
and passion may never prevail over us, and that when, like you, we
are oppressed -with sickness (perhaps our last), we may be found
disengaged fi-om all earthly things, and reposing only on God.
" I hope to see you in January with God's help, and if you
be better, to conduct you to our place of repose in Old Derrig.
Should the Lord ordain otherwise, you vriU remember your attached
friend and servant in Christ, " * T Doytf "
Prince Hohenlohe offered up his pious prayers as Dr. Doyle
had requested, and a rally of health, almost supematural, proniptly
ensued. Three of the first physicians in DubUn had been in con
stant attendance on the suffering girl, and held out to her anxious
family but slender hopes of recovery. One was the late distin
guished Dr. Abraham CoUes, "who honestly showed great joy and
surprise," writes the surriring sister, "and said, 'Eh! this is
some Hohenlohe business; that feUow ought to mind his own
affafrs.' "
This miraculous cure occurred on the 1st of January, 1824.
Mariana promptly reported progress to Dr. Doyle, who thus
repUed : " Old Derrig, Carlow, 3rd January, 1824.
" My dear Friend — I am sure your letter of yesterday excited
in me feelings simUar to those which dictated it, and amongst the
numerous friends of the enriable and dear child whom God has re
stored to them, there is no one can offer to her and you congratu
lations vrith a heart more fiUed -with gratitude to heaven than mine.
I intended to have had the pleasure of seeing Catharine on my next
.risit to Dublin, and since you wrote to me, a few days since, I

292 ' " THE LUXURY of A PIE OE FEICASSEE."
have had the most lively confidence in the proridence of God that
it would re-estabUsh her health ; and you may be sure I joined my
prayers, with aU the fervour I was capable of, to those which were
presented for her before the throne of mercy; nor shaU I be remiss
in returning thanks for a benefit conferred on one so truly dear to
me. I hope before the end of this week to see my dear chUd, and
tell her myseff how grateful I am to God for her recovery. I only
fear she wiU be oppressed by the kindness and curiosity of her
friends ; and though it might be to manifest the goodness of God,
she should be prudent in not trespassing on a frame which must
bear the traces of infirmity, and might become again feeble if not
treated vrith care, I expect to remove her for some time to Old
Derrig that she may breathe the afr of soUtude, and re-estabUsh
whatever is capable of improvement in her mind or person, under
the care of my holy guardian, St, Bridget, Should that Ul-natured
other child of mine accompany Catharine, her appetite would be
gratified, as the Hermit of this mansion has now a most excellent
cook, and probably she might forget in the luxury of a pie or fri
cassee those piques which are now more annoying than even a
naked table. At all events, if her friends do not insist on her flight
from the world, she would do weU to prepare for it by sojourning
for awhUe in this desert.
" But as I may stay in DubUn for eight or ten days, there wiU
be time enough to deUberate on these matters. In the mean
time let this happy girl spare from heaven and earth leisure to
peruse what foUows, whilst I beg you wiU beUeve me, &c.,
" * J. DoYLB."
" My DEAE Child — I could not express the feeUngs and
sentiments with which the account of your recovery has inspfred
me ; for though we are accustomed to adore God in all His works,
yet the place or person in whom His mercy is manifested, or His
presence rendered sensible, are calculated to fiU us -with awe.
The ground which adjoined the bush iUuminated by the glory of
an angel was rendered holy, and the traces of our Eedeemer's
footsteps have been consecrated by many a penitential sigh or tear
of love ; but the inanimate earth of the vsoldemess, or of Judea,
were not so holy as that clay of ours, which is sanctified by the
presence of our God ; and yet we are aU this — and you, almost
above us aU, to whose faith the Lord hath looked, and by His
presence made you whole. It were weU if the powerful influence
of His grace secured for ever, and from all defilement of sin, that
soul and body to which He has given so great a pledge of His pre
dilection, and that it become from henceforth and for ever a
holocaust of thanksgiring and praise^ for ' what is it, that He has

CEOSSES NECESSAEY TO WEAR OUT SIN. 293
been mindful of it ?' It must be something worthy of His care —
dear even to God who fills the world, and before whom the
seraphs veU thefr faces. 'How great is the glory of the Lord,
and how mighty the place of his possession,' says the prophet
Habacuc, We see it through a veU, but even so it is great and
nughty, surpassing aU things, and alone worthy of love and praise.
Yet you, dearest Catharine, have been His special abode, where
He has sho-wn his glory — His possession which He has sanctified,
and which I hope you never wUl profane !
"But I must stop to ask you how you are, and whether you
wiU not rescue yourself from the intrusion and caresses of your
fiiends, to recruit your strength and re-establish whatever is
decayed about you, in the seclusion of Old Derrig. You wiU
require some ease, and relaxation, and time for thanksgiving to
God, and for the perfect re-estabUshment of a frame, broken and
exhausted by pain and watching; for though aU your diseases
are removed, many effects of them perhaps remain — but however
you may be, where could you be more at ease than with your dear
fiiends, the Hermit, and St. Bridget of KUdare ?
" I shaU, I hope, surprise you some morning or evening, about
the end of the week, and tiU then remain your sincere and affec-
tionate friend, „ ^ j_ Dq^^^,-
On the foUovring day the Bishop addresses another fair friend,
and aUudes, at the close of his letter, to Catharine's cure.
" My DEAE Mary — The inteUigence of our poor friend's death
distressed me somewhat ; yet, when the Almighty was pleased to
prepare him for it by some years of a reUgious Ufe, we have less
reason to regret his loss. We are aU doomed to die, and if Ufe be
only given to employ it in preparing for removal to our home,
'whose foundations are eternal,' the sooner the preparation is
made and that we are summoned away, the better for us. I hope
you wUl begin this year, and pass through it, blameless in your
conduct, arid laying up for yourself a store, ' where thieves cannot
break in and steal !' If you do, as I have no doubt you -wiU, it
wiU be a blessing ; otherwise it would be better you should not see
it. Your poor mother is a bad subject for sickness, but she has
never been without a cross. Many of them are necessary to wear
out the sins of her youth; and I pray God that He may enable her
to bear them with resignation ff not -with joy. Your loss, alone,
would be insupportable to her, but God is faithful, and does not
suffer us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. I hope He
may leave you to support her old age, and close her Ufe in peace.
I have little doubt but a strict adherence to Dr. MiUs' prescription

294 GOOD ADVICE — A MATCHMAKEE.
wUl ensure to you tolerable health ; and ff it were entfrely good,
you would be more vain and worldly than you are ; so that what
gives you trouble in one way, frees you from those e-rils which are
not felt here, but wiU be lamented hereafter. ' The dispensations
of Proridence are aU vrise and good, and all things, even sickness,
' co-operate to the good of those who are caUed to be saints.' I
am, indeed, exceedingly rejoiced to have found always in you these
sentiments which are a mark of predestination ; and whUst you
continue to hate evU and do aU the good within your reach, perse
vering in prayer and patience, charitable always to the poor, you
wUl be under the special protection of heaven, and continue to- give
me more comfort than I usuaUy receive from those who should be
if possible more dear to me than you.
" I am told that the 15th of this month is set apart by the
good Prince de Hohenlohe for praying for us. Some nine days'
devotion in honour of the holy name of Jesus should precede the
^ay, and as many devout persons as possible should be inrited to
join in it. The hour for Mass and communion is a Uttle before
eight o'clock. On the 1st of this month, one of my most dear
and intimate friends in DubUn has been suddenly restored in
vfrtue of these devotions. She had been absolutely prepared for
death, and despafred of by aU who saw her. She was attended
by Drs. Crampton, CoUes, and Lee. She is now weU, thanks to
God. Her heart and lungs were entfrely diseased, and her arm
had been palsied from disease of the heart. In an instant she was
cured ! . . . .
" I am rejoiced to think that my friend John is the principal
hefr. I was thinking of proriding him vrith an amiable wffe in
this county ; but the recent accession to his means may lead him to
look for more fortune than she has, which at most does not exceed
£1500. " I should request of him or Eichard to come up to see me ;
but tiU now I have been harassed day and night vrith business, and
on Friday I leave this for DubUn and Maynooth, where I shaU be
unavoidably detained ten days or a fortnight. Give to all my
friends my affectionate compliments, and. wish them for me the
choicest graces of this holy time."
Mariana and her miraculously convalescent sister acceded to
the Bishop's kind inritation, and, accompanied by the late Eev.
Mr. M'D  , proceeded to Old Derrig. "It was a large, vrild,
and neglected, though picturesque place," -writes Mariana, " the
house scantUy furnished, except with old books, especiaUy Latin.
His visitors wanted nothing, because (as went his apology for this)
St. Paul said that Bishops should be hospitable. His own usual

THE BISHOP NEARLY BURNED IN HIS BED. 295
mode of Uring was as simple as possible ; his Uttle St. Bridget's
Chapel, in the garden, was a room about twelve feet long, and
about ten in breadth, vrith plain, whitewashed waUs, and there he
daUy said Mass, and there I have seen tears roU abundantly from
his eyes, after the Consecration in the Holy Sacrifice. But oh !
our evening conversations with a chosen few — the wonderful versa-
tUity of thought and language — the sudden, and yet connected
transitions from divine subjects to the most amusing trifles. We
would often have, in balf-an-hour, quotations from Job, David,
Augustin, Byron, Moore, Shakspeare, and Swift — in a word,
hours would seem moments in his company. One favorite exer
cise of his amazing inteUect, and clear reasoning powers, and tact
of persuasion, was to argue in favour of any proposition tUl aU his
hearers agreed that it was the most desfrable thing that could be ;
whereupon he would begin to argue against the conclusion, and
as he went, we would all go with bim, and end by restoring the
question to its original doubtful position."
This was one of the very rare occasions on which the Bishop en
tertained female guests at Old Derrig. He assembled a few friends
to meet them, and St. Paul's model Bishop could not have dis
pensed more kindly hospitaUty. A pleasant evening was passed.
Dr. Doyle at length retired to his chamber, and being greatly
fatigued, he went to bed, but did not like to go asleep until he
should have read some chapters ofthe " Imitation of Christ," by
Thomas a Kempis. WhUst engaged in this way, sleep weighed
dovm his eyeUds, his hand feU, the book dropped, and in doing
so overturned the candlestick. In a moment the bed-curtains
were one sheet of flame. The Eev. Mr. Maher ha-ring heard a
cry, rushed up stairs, and found the Bishop standing in the midst
of the fire, endeavouring to extinguish it. Mr. Maher puUed down
the flaming curtains of the bed, and flung them on the floor. The
Bishop, with that indomitable impulsiveness and contempt of aU
personal pain or inconvenience which formed a striking feature in
his character, rushed at the flaming mass, and although barefooted
and barelegged, stamped upon it vrith such rigour and promptitude
that the devouring element became extinguished; but the Bishop's
legs were burned sadly. It was not until long after, that he ceased
to experience great bodily pain from the burns. His hands, too,
were scorched and inflamed to such an extent, that it was found
impossible to vrithdraw the episcopal ring vrith a riew to proper
surgical treatment. As the bed had been inundated in attempting
to put out the frre, the kind curate led him to and placed him in
his ovm chamber and couch. " I charge you," said Dr. Doyle,
half jocosely, " to keep this matter private. The report would
soon spread through this censorious town that the Bishop had

296 WHAT HE SAID TO THE TITHE PROCTOR.
company, went to bed tipsy, and set his room on fire !" The good
Bishop, though he must have suffered a Uttie heU of agony, kept
up appearances unflinchingly, and zealously discharged next day as
much professional duty as though nothing had happened.
Dr. Doyle's remark to his curate was a shrewd one. Thomas
Furlong, writing in 1825, states : "Carlow is a thriring place, and
not an unpleasant spot for the passing residence of a mere idler.
It possesses its portion of old maids,, of tea-drinking devotees, of
scandal-mongers, gi-averlooking poUticians, clerical meddlers, and
professional gossips. These nuisances, however, affect a mere
sojourner but sUghtly : he is prepared for a reasonable mixture of
the disagreeable and the deUghtful. If he is wise, he wiU endea
vour to imitate the bee, by trying to extract some sweets even
from the midst of the poison which surrounds him."
" As my sister and I," writes Mariana, " were walking on the
avenue, watching his retum from Carlow to Old Derrig, a man
with a paper in his hand approached the Bishop just as he rode in
at the gateway. Dr. Doyle reined up his horse, and asked, 'Who
are you, sir, and what is your business ?' ' I am a tithe proctor,'
repUed the intruder. 'What! a tithe proctor! Your tribe is
less worthy than those who traverse the field of battle to despoU
the dead. Begone, -viUain !' The man fled as if from a troop of
dragoons, and I understand that none of his calUng again appeared
at Old Derrig."
Dr. Doyle hated tithes as ardently as he loved truth and jus
tice, and for many years prerious to the adjustment of that irri
tating impost, he laboured pubUcly and privately to awaken
a wide-spread feeUng of prejudice against it. In a letter ad
dressed to the Marquis WeUesley he says : " I might, my Lord,
refer to Greece, oppressed and insulted by the Mussulman — to
Egypt and the coast of Africa, trampled upon by the Janissary
and Mameluke — to South America, enslaved by the proud Cas
tUian — to Hindostan, under the sway of Hastings — and to Poland,
partitioned and plundered by the tyrant of the north, and chaUenge
these countries, or any person on their behalf, to produce a case of
more bitter, grindiilg, and insulting injustice, than to compel the
CathoUcs of this country to pay the tithe of their substance to a
Church which, for three centuries, has not ceased to maUgn and
persecute them ! Can heaven, my Lord, witness, or the earth
endure, anything more opposed to piety and justice than a man,
professing to be the minister of Him ' who, being rich, became
poor for our sake' — the teacher of His -gospel, the foUower of His
law — taking the blanket from the bed of sickness, the ragged ap
parel from the limbs of the pauper, and seUing it by auction for
the payment of tithe ? Who with patience can hear or behold the

EFFECTS or THE TITHE SYSTEM. 297
hundreds of starring peasants assembled before the seat of justice
(0 Justice, how thy name is profaned !) to await the decrees of
some heartless lawyer, consigning their persons (for property they
have scarcely what deserves the name) to ruin or imprisonment for
arrears of tithe ? In this group of harassed, hungry, and affiicted
paupers, you, my Lord, could recognise the widowed mother and
the orphan chUd — the naked youth, whom indiridual charity had
just clothed, and the common mendicant, whose cabin and rood
of earth could not supply with food and shelter for one half of
the year. But to riew this assemblage of human misery which I
so often have beheld, and reflect that, perhaps, a moiety of them
were the very objects for whose reUef or comfort tithes were con
signed by our fathers to clerical trust — that these paupers were
the legal claimants on the funds now extorted from them under
the very colour of law ; to consider aU this, and that the rehgion
of him who claimed this tithe was a reUgion unknown to them—
that the priest who fleeced them never prayed vrith them, never
consoled them, never mUustered for them to Almighty God ; to
reflect on aU this and yet be sUent or unmoved, should not be
expected, unless of some atheist whose god was his belly, or of
some fanatic whose heart was hardened, and whose sense was re
probate. These are the exhibitions, my Lord, which I have seen
and touched, and which led me, as they have led the best men
that Ireland ever saw, not to conspire against tithes, but to de
nounce them as unjust in principle, destructive of true reUgion, and
subversive of the peace and happiness of our native land. Some
man whose ancestor was a groom, perhaps, or a footman to one
of the Henrys or Edwards, and who, raised by the ricissitudes of
human things to a place of dignity or power, may look -with alarm
at the unveiUng of these abominations — he may fear and hate those
who expose them, and hold them up as sowers of sedition, and
conspfrators against the abettors of inveterate abuse ; but, my
Lord, he is unworthy of the respect of men or the favours of hea
ven, who would be deterred by such considerations from proclaim
ing the wrongs and the sufferings of the poor— from ' declaring to
Israel her crimes, and her sins to the house of Juda.' It is not
imputations that can subdue the spfrit of a man. Let his princi
ples be examined, his assertions investigated, his arguments
repUed to ; but let not the argumentum ad magnates be employed
as the only confutation of his doctrine. Of what avaU is it to
stifle opinion by alarming power — by an appeal to privilege — by
threats of prosecution ? Power may incarcerate the body, but
cannot imprison the mind."
There was an ignorance, vulgarity, and miserable cupidity not
unfrequently mixed up with the despotism of the tithe system.

298 LUDICROUSLY ILLITERATE TITHE NOTICE.
which, if possible, increased Dr. Doyle's sentiments of disgust in
its regard. It wiU hardly be credited, now-a-days, that the foUow
ing is a verbatim copy of an original notice of a sale for payment
of tithes, which, at the present period of our narrative, was posted
in the market-place of BaUymore :
" To be soaled by Publick Cant in the town of BaUymore on
15 Inst one Cowe the property of Jas Scully one new bed and one
gown the property of John quinn seven hanks of yearn the pro
perty of the Widow Scott one petty coate & one apron the property
of the Widow GaUaher seized under & by rirtue of a leasing war
rant for tythe due the Eeva. John Ugher,
"Dated this 12 day of May 1824."
O'ConneU, at one of the meetings of the Catholic Association
in 1824, after adverting to the necessity for estabUshing poor-rates
in Ireland, said : " There were at this moment, in the town of
Carlow, two hundred men seeking employment at twopence per
day, and who, but for the exertions of the CathoUc clergy and Dr.
Doyle, would bave ere now perished fi-om famine, leaving numerous
famiUes to share the same horrible fate. Yet in this neighbour
hood, where there are but thirteen Protestant famiUes, and a
church capable of affording accommodation to thirty times the
number, they are about erecting a new one, towards which the
famishing peasant, when his potato-garden yields a retum to his
laborious toil, must contribute."

CHAPTEE XII.
J, K, L, is assailed by pens whose name is legion — His incognito is lost —
He dashes through his adversaries — Note to Dr, Donovan — Cathohc
Bishops in the House of Peers! — Erasmus and the Nervous System—
" Doctors differ"  Blasphemy and Idolatry-^ Transubstantiation— The
Church of Ireland never independent of the Pope — " The Fudge Family"—
Sheil's description of Dr, Doyle — Sketch of the Rev, Dr, Phelan— Fearful
Destitution in Carlow — Dr, Doyle's efforts to stem the fury of famine-
He rescues a Physician from legal Execution — Illustrative reminiscences
contributed by the Very Kev. Dr. Cahill.
"The adversaries of a good cause," observes Goethe, "remind
us of men who strike at the coals of a large fire. They scatter
the coals and propagate the fire." A perfect avalanche of heavy
rejoinders feU upon Dr. Doyle's " Vindication of the Ciril and
EeUgious Principles of the Irish CathoUcs ;" but, Uke those who
seeking to prove too much prove nothing, instead of crushing
him beneath their weight, tbe aUied retort merely acted as a sti-

the IDENTITY OF J. K. L. TRANSPIRES. 299
mulus in provoking J. K. L. to make a second and more rigorous
bound. To enumerate in detaU the various repUes to his " Vindi
cation," would prove a tedious task. Many of them may be found
noticed in The Quarterly Revieiv, vol. xxxi., pp. 491-2. Dr.
Doyle paused until a sufficient number of adversaries had as
sembled, and then dashed his pen steadily through tbe Uterary
phalanx. The Eev. Dr. Phelan, under the pseudonyme of
" Decian," was one of the first to enter the Usts ; and he and
" Walsingham" had no sooner done so, than a friend of the
Bishop's urged him to expose, without further delay, some in
genious special pleading which characterised thefr writings. "Not
yet," said Dr. Doyle, " they are the mere vanguard ; when more
foes advance I will club them together, and make one brochure
answer aU."
It had been by no means generaUy known at first, that
" J. K. L." impUed " James, Bishop of KUdare and Leighlin,"
and considerable curiosity was awakened on the subject. Many
persons imagined that they were not veritable initials, but a capri
cious selection of three consecutive letters from the alphabet. This
seemed the more Ukely, as "X. Y. Z." was the not unfrequent
signature of a pen which loved to impugn CathoUc doctrine. It
is said that Dr. Doyle's incognito ceased from the day that
Eichard Coyne, his pubUsher, entered Cumming's printing-office
in Temple-lane, and, indignant that greater expedition was not
used in getting Dr. Doyle's Letters out of hand, declared, -with an
oath much longer than himseff, that Cumming had only children
on the Bishop's work.
Early in 1824 appeared " A Defence, by J. K. L., of his
Vindication of the Ciril and EeUgious Principles of the Irish
CathoUcs." It is an elaborate pamphlet, embracing a wide range
of iUustration and proof, written rapidly, but with a nervous elo
quence, and in bulk not inferior to one of the largest Quarterly
Eeriews. The composition of this defence had been beset with
frequent interruptions. Writing to the Eev. Dr. Donovan he
says : " From iUness, a loss which I have just sustained, as weU
as my being obUged to attend the examinations here daily, I wUl
be unable to prepare the MS. for Coyne at the time I mentioned.
MeanwhUe, if you thought weU of giring a " Clericus" to SulUvan,
and another to "Decian," in The Evening Post, you would obUge
me ; nor would that injure any future effort you or I might make."
Eeferring to his various Uterary opponents, J. K. L. said :
" Of these lucubrations, some are interesting for the science, the
ingenuity, the taste-, the eloquence, the piety or enthusiasm which

800 HE IS ACCUSED OF AMBITIONING A SEAT IN THE LORDS.
they display ; but the greater part are coarse and vulgar, nauseous
and unclean, fiUed with ribaldry and frreligion,"
" As to the personal abuse," wrote J, K, L,, "which has been
profusely lavished upon myself, I submit to it, ff not cheerfuUy,
at least with resignation ; and if, en passant, I should drop a Une
of exculpation or complaint, I engage it to be short. When I
undertook to vindicate the principles of the Irish CathoUcs, I did
not suppose that I could labour to stem the torrent of abuse which
threatened to overwhelm them, without affording to the captious
and malevolent new subjects of obloquy, new topics for rituperative
declamation ; but as no reasonable man courts detraction, yet
should it follow on the discharge of his duty, he opposes himself
to it ' as a piUar of iron or a waU of brass,' On this principle it
was that I felt regardless of every personal inconvenience which
might result from the pubUcation of my thoughts, prorided I could
but merit the attention of the most noble the Chief Governor of
Ireland, and dfrect the minds of those who are deeply interested
in her welfare to the contemplation of her present wants and
sufferings, as weU of the sources from which they spring, I could
have suppressed or disguised in my letter those sentiments which
were most likely to provoke the hostUity of faction, and whUst I
touched its core, I was fuUy sensible of the aphorism of the poet,
' incedo per ignes suppositos cineri doloso,' But thefr hostiUty
had afready been pushed to an extreme ; the late exposm-e of them
in Parhament had only rendered thefr hate more unrelenting, and
it became necessary to exhibit them in their true position, before
they could succeed in merging themselves in the Protestant com
munity, and poisoning the source of pubUc virtue and national re
demption." Various were the charges sounded agamst Dr. Doyle and his
brother Prelates. One opponent alleged that with the perverse
spfrit of a professional demagogue, J. K. L. would regret to see
Emancipation conceded ; whUe another argued that his ambitious
aims only terminated in a seat in the House of Lords. It was a
favourite piece of clap-trap with the Ascendancy, to declare that
Emancipation would admit not only CathoUc Members to the
Commons, but CathoUc Bishops to the House of Peers. " The
decided opinion of this writer is," proceeded J. K. L., " 'That the
E. C. Prelates and tbe agitators would be seriously grieved, if
the remaining remnant of the penal code was repealed.' He wiU
aUow me to disclaim the name of agitator, and to assure him I am
not at aU ambitious of that of patriot, though I think with Dr.
Laurence that even a Priest has ciril duties to fulfil ; and that if,
in the discharge of reUgious and ciril duties conjoined, he can sue-

CONVENIENCE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 301
ceed in stating the case of his country, he should not shrink from
any imputations which it may please the enemies of her happiness
to cast upon her advocate ; especiaUy if he can reckon amongst
the companions of his fortune such men, for instance, as those
CathoUcs who, in DubUn, voted an address to the King at the
conclusion of the last session of Parliament. As to the other part
of the siUy opinion quoted above, there is this advantage in it,
that it acquits the CathoUc Prelates of those ambitious riews
which a certain class of their opponents have not ceased to impute
to them, and may, if adopted by the influential persons of the
hostUe party, induce them to labour for the aboUtion of the penal
code, vrith a view of disappointing men who seem to be the objects
of their peculiar hate."
J. K. L. having adduced a mass of weU authenticated docu
ments, in attestation of facts previously advanced, entered into a
voluminous argumentative defence of mfracles, which cannot well
be examined here, but there is a piece of irony at the close of it too
epigrammatic to be omitted : " The first argument of my oppo
nent is one 'ad Verecundiam,' by which, screening himseff under
the shade of Dr. Cheyne and some other doctors' authority, he
advances, almost in sUence, to the never-ending topic of the
nerves. O happy nerves ! Were Erasmus now Uring, he would
not select foUy as a theme for bis praise, and pass by the un
speakable and incomprehensible beauty and convenience of the
nervous system. This system, which can kUl and cure with
equal faciUty, or administer rehef to the dumb and hypochondriac ;
which can rescue Ufe from the grasp of apoplexy, and say to him
or her who'has been bowed dovm with infirmity for years, ' Take
up thy bed and walk !' Le medicin malgre lui of MoUere was
unacquainted vrith it, or bleeding and hot water would not have
been his only specifics."
J. K. L.'s iUustration of the homely apothegm that " doctors
differ" is also good : " The authority of physicians, upon such
points as these, is good thus far that they are the best judges of
the nature of disease in a certain patient, and may explain to us,
should the matter be within the sphere of their knowledge, how
or by what means a cure was effected ; but to set up physicians as
judges of matters vrith which their writings prove that they are
very imperfectly acquainted, is not reasonable, even where they
are aU agreed in opinion; but when the subject is to them as
abstruse and unknown as to any other member of the commu
nity ; when we find them arrayed in dirisions against each other —
Dr. MUls (as has been offered to be proved on oath) differing from
Dr. Cheyne, Dr. Sheridan opposed to Dr. Crampton, Dr. Magee
(not the Archbishop, but a doctor of Medicine) to Dr. Pseufer,

802
Dr. Tuomy to Dr. Jacob, and Dr. Baddely for both sides of the
question — I do confess I pay but Uttle attention to their opinions
on a subject, which the difference of their sentiments sufficiently
proves they do not understand."
A writer vauntingly talked of " the Scriptural foundations of
Protestant doctrine," whUe he impugned .the CathoUc Church in
very offensive terms. J. K. L. went on to say: "How, Sir 
permit me to ask — do you know what is Scripture or what is not,
but from her ; and who can judge of its sense, as TertulUan ob
serves vrith Vincent of Lirins, and every man not swayed by some
reUgious system, but she with whom the Scriptures and their in
terpretation and sense, the whole property, right, and title of them
were originaUy deposited ? Is it Manes you would inrite to teU
thefr meaning ? or Arius, or Vigilantius, or fficolampadius, who
paraphrased them 'into a most ludicrous ritual, whereby to wed his
vrife ? ' Prove the spfrits,' saith John, ' for many false prophets
have gone out into the world.' Ah ! we know this truth weU,
and having proved them, we frequently expel them, before like
wolves they clothe themselves in the lamb's skin ; but whether
we cast them from us or they depart, we say with the Apostle,
' they went out from us, because they were not of us, for if they
were of us, they surely would have remained with us.' "
"Decian," one of the ablest ofthe writers who took Dr. Doyle
to task, was next lashed on his most vulnerable point. He had
apostatised from the Church of his fathers — but of this anon.
" Transubstantiation, an absurd and blasphemous doctrine ! Yes,
and this writer has sworn on the EvangeUsts, or declared so
lemnly before heaven, not what he beUeved of us, but that om:
belief in transubstantiation and in the sacrifice of the Mass, our
invocation of saints, &c., is blasphemous — nay, pure, unmixed
idolatry. This writer, if formerly a Catholic, knew as weU as I
do, that such oath, when taken by him, was pure, unmixed per
jury, and such declaration by him absurd and- blasphemous. For
however Protestants may reconcUe these oaths and declarations to
their conscience, from thefr ignorance of our tenets, no person
educated in the Catholic faith can faU to know they are such as I
have stated ; for though the blessed Eucharist were in reaUty
nothing else than bread and wine, this writer knows that we do
not worship either, nor adore those things which appear to our
sight and touch, but Christ who is invisible. If Christ be present,
as we beUeve He is, our worship is just and righteous ; if He be
not, we are in error, and our adoration has no object in the sacra
ment. It may be said that the adoration must terminate some
where, and so it does; it terminates in Christ — if not upon the altar,
certainly in heaven ; but in no case does it terminate in bread. . .

TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 80
" What then is transubstantiation, but the presence of Christ's
real body in the sacrament ? and who, as Calvin said, can believe
in the one, and yet deny the other ? All there is mysterious and
incomprehensible, as the confession of Augsburgh well expresses
it. But is not Christianity all mysterious ? A God, supreme and
one, whose eternal wisdom or whose word remaining in him, yet
proceeds abroad and founds the heavens ; whilst the connecting
love of both, abiding always with them, yet proceeds from them
and gives to the creation all its ornament and rirtue ; as light and
heat from the sun proceed with powers as wonderful as the great
source from whence they flow. And this Word-made-flesh — this
God-made-man — giring of his fulness to aU who beUeve — is not
this mysterious ? And the atonement which he made for man,
and the propitiation of that fault which Adam committed — is it not
incomprehensible ? And yet we believe, because we know that
God has told it ; and if he walked on earth, and was seen by men,
and lived and died amongst us in that serrile form which he took,
and promised to bestow upon those whose feet he washed an
earnest of bis love — a bond of union for his people — a source of
gi-ace for his elect — a pledge of resurrection and of future glory —
shaU we disbeUeve him because he said it was his body, not cut
into particles, as the gross Capharnaites thought, but veiled as
bread and wine, to nourish and exhUarate the soul ?
" Can he ^ho caUed the world out of nothing, or who moved
on the abyss putting chaos into order, who slept in Bethlehem,
was numbered among the vricked, who bled between two thieves,
whUst all the host of heaven worshipped him above — can he not
take his place vrithin the breast of man and disseminate his
¦vfrtues through the soul, as tbe diamond sheds its lustre in ob
scurity ? Surely he can, nor does he here deceive our sense, for
he has told us he would be with us ; and as we beUeve ' God was
in Christ reconciling the world to himseff,' though we could only
see or touch the form of man in which he was ; so when he says,
' This is my body,' we can beUeve the truth of what he says, just
as we could beUeve tbat he was hidden on the cross. For surely
that Deity who could conceal himself can also ravish from our
eyes the glorious and impassible flesh, which in heaven or earth is
always with him, and partaking, as far as it is capable, of his glory.
This flesh does not corrupt in us, or feel ricissitude or change, but
when the veil which covered it is dissolved, it then departs with
that divinity and soul of Christ from which it never was disjoined.
Wonderful and incomprehensible, it is true — yet only Uke the
other mysteries of Christian faith !"
These remarks were succeeded by a touching and leamed dis
quisition on the Mass.

804 THE IRISH CHURCH NEVER INDEPENDENT OF ROME.
The effect of some of J. K. L.'s quiet replies to the sophistry
and new-fangled theological positions of " Decian" was striking.
" We, theologians of the old school, are not accustomed to reason
so," the Bishop would say. Having conricted his opponent of
some theological misquotation, and turned the laugh against him
by declaring, in the language of " a monkish author," that " De-
clan" had compeUed him for his sins to write. Dr. Doyle gave fuU
rein to his pen on the subject of church property, tithes, the falsity
of thefr aUeged dirine right, the necessity of uniting tradition in
the interpretation of Holy Writ, the propriety of obserring a dead
language in the celebration of Mass, -with other controverted points
and questions. He proceeded : "Human pride and petulance may
repine and say that faith, like chemistry, might be improved by
experiments, but we wiU beUeve, notwithstanding, that it admits
neither of diminution nor increase, and was just as perfect when
first established as at this hour, however sects may have served to
unfold its tenets, or caused them to be pubUshed in councils or
decrees. This faith may be good or bad -with us, but if bad, the
fault is not ours, but His who promised to be with us to the end:
' Lo, I am with you to the end of the world.' If His spirit has
suffered the Church to err, we err with God, or our maUce has
forced him to withdraw and break his promise before the consum
mation came."
A considerable portion of the remainder of the book was occu
pied by a close yet comprehensive discussion on the ecclesiastical
history of Ireland. Its long-existent devotion to the Holy See
was adverted to by J.K.L. for the purpose of disturbing a position
taken up by "Decian." The spirit of subordination to the mother
and mistress of all Churches had never ceased in Ireland : " Whe
ther by the purity of her faith, or by the correction of her errors
in discipUne, Ireland has uniformly proved her union with and
subjection to that Eock on which Christ founded His Church, and
from which alone flowed that fountain of Uring waters whereby
this once Pagan hemisphere was cleansed from heathenism,"
Dr. Doyle declared his conriction that St. Patrick had been at
Eome, and received his mission from Pope Celestine ; that " the
Church of Ireland had never at. any period been independent ofthe
Holy See, however the intercourse between it and Eome may have
occasionaUy been interrupted ; and lastly, this Church is almost
the only national Church in the universe that has never given birth
to heresy or been torn by schism, whUe it has produced a greater
number of holy and apostoUc men than any other Church equaUy
numerous upon the face of the earth — Eome, the mother and mis
tress of aU Churches, not included in any comparison. The per
son, therefore, who would impugn the apostoUc character of our

UNBROICEN APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. 805
Church by such arguments as those used or insinuated by ' De-
clan,' either labours to sustain a bad cause by flimsy expedients,
or shows that he is entfrely unacquainted with ancient Church dis
cipUne. " Communion between the head and members of the mystic
body of Christ was at aU times equally essential to Christianity : the
modes of this communion have been as various as the customs of
the several ages through which it has subsisted. But to infer that
because CathoUc discipline in this respect was not the same at a
period when as many months would be necessary for strangers to
hold communication with Eome as are now required of days, is
to make our selflsh and contracted notions the rule of what was
just, useful, and becoming at aU times for the great empire of
Christ. It reminds me of the many members of the " Fudge
Family" whom I met with from time to time upon the Continent,
who were shocked at the bad taste of those who could prefer a
French ragout or a Spanish oleo to the beef and pudding of an
EngUsh board. So accustomed is ignorance to make home the
standard of exceUence, and to stare with wonder, perhaps with
contempt, at what appears strange only because it is unknown to
some unfledged traveUer or essayist. "^
" Decian" declared that " there was no disruption of conti
nuity when the Catholic Clergy gave way to those of the Estab
Ushment." " With both our hands we protest against the impudent asser
tion ! The hierarchy of the CathoUc Church, the entire body of
the Catholic clergy has continued in Ireland, through every vicis
situde, uninterrupted and unbroken ; they have been dispossessed
of temporaUties which the state gave, and again took away, but
they are always the same. Dr. Curtis has succeeded as regularly
and canonically to DowdaU and Plunkett, as those did to Patrick ,
and Malachy. There was no disruption of continuity, it is true ;
but it is equally true, that no two CathoUc Prelates ever ruled the
same Church, or ever sat in the same see with the same title.
The EstabUshed Clergy may have a good title or not, but beyond
aU doubt they were never engrafted upon our stock— never suc
ceeded to our places, which were not vacated — never inherited
jurisdiction from our Church, and have no just claim to an in-
dentity with us, or continuity from our fathers, who held no com
munion with them !"
The reply of J. K. L. to " Decian" and his colleagues is too
voluminous to quote very freely here. Sheil, writing in The Neiv
Monthly Magazine for April, 1824, gives, in one page, a racy
epitome of it. Alluding to Dr. Doyle's "Address to the Eibbon
men," which Lord Plunket had pronounced to be a masterpiece 20

806 sheil's account of dr. do-tle.
worthy of the eloquent and rirtuous Fenelon, Sheil goes on to
say : "It was calculated to be of equal serrice to the Govern
ment and the Established Church ; but a hierarch of the dominant
faith was untouched by its merits, and in one of his addresses,
or as it was more correctly entitled, his charge, responded by a
puerUe and blundering insult upon the religion of a man whom he
should have embraced as a brother, and might, in many points,
have studied as a model. This unprovoked anathema, combined
with the various exciting events that foUowed in rapid succession,
roused Dr, Doyle to a rindication of his creed, and (a stiff more
popular theme) to some elaborate and cutting retorts upon the
most precious and vulnerable attribute of Irish orthodoxy — its
temporalities. He has boldly denied the divinity of tithes, and
has brought to bear a most provoking array of leaming and logic
upon thefr Noli-me-tangere pretensions, A deadly controversy
has ensued and stiU rages, J, K. L. has been answered and de
nounced by sundry beneficed alphabetical characters, and tithe-
loring anagrams — for these champions of the Church seem reluc
tant to commit their names — and deep and vride-spreading is the
interest with which the combat is observed. Upon the merits of
questions so. entfrely beside my pursuits I cannot venture to pro
nounce, but as far as the mere exhibition of wit, and knowledge,
and controversial skiU is concerned, it seems to me that J, K. L.
has hitherto continued master of the field, ' You are a Jacobin
and a Catholic,' cries the Eev, F, W. ' You are too fond of gold
and sUver,' retorts J, K, L, ' Would you plunder the EstabUshed
Church of its vested comforts, you Papist ?' exclaims T, Y, X.
'Would you drive a coach and six along the narrow path that
leads to heaven ?' rejoins the pertinacious J. K. L, ' Where are
your authorities for your monstrous positions ?' demands a third
adversary, muffied up in an aboriginal Irish name turned inside
out, ' I refer you (rephes J, K. L., here evidentiy quite at home)
to the Fathers, whom you clearly have never read, and in parti
cular to St. Augustine, who wrote the book De Doctrina Chris
tiana, which you have blunderingly attributed to Pope Gelasius,
and which book contains no such passage as you have cited from
it, the said passage being in another book, to vrit, that against the
Eutychian heresy, which, in the opinion of Baronius and M. Cano,
was never written by Pope Gelasius ; and for further iUustrations
of my views, vide passim, Erric, Prosper, D'Marea, Cardinal
Lupus, Cervantes, and Fijo — if you know anything of Spanish —
lUiricus, Vincent of Lirins, PaUiricini, Vigilantius, (Ecolampa-
dius, and The Fudge Family.' Here is a good six monlJis'
course of reading for J. K, L,'s biUteral and trUiteral opponents,
and the happy results vriU, no doubt, be communicated in due

DE, PHILPOTTS — DE. MACHALE. 807
season to the pubUc. The profusion of erudition and contempt
with which Dr. Doyle pUes his adversaries, led me to imagine,
before I saw him, that he must be a man of pompous and some
what overbearing carriage, but his appearance and his manners
(which are courteous and playful) have quite a different character.
He is not more than forty years of age, and does not seem so
much. He is indeed the most juvenUe-looking prelate I ever saw.
His smooth, round face and ruddy complexion, and his slender
and pUant form, seem to belong rather to a young recruit of the
Church than to one .of its estabUshed dignitaries."
Dr. Doyle apologized to the public for haring placed himseff
so prominently under their notice: "But when I see not only
myseff maUgned or misrepresented (for that I could overlook), but
my country and religion traduced or defamed, I am forced to lay
aside personal considerations, rather than suffer pride, arrogance,
"and a spfrit of oppression to bear down or overwhelm what is more
dear to me than Ufe."
Dr. Doyle's " Defence of his Vindication of the Eeligious and
Ciril Principles of the Irish CathoUcs" fiUed 120 pages, and
passed through three editions. He took frequent occasion in this
book to speak contemptuously of bis adversary, "Decian;" but it
may readUy be supposed that if " The Case of the Church of
Ireland Stated, in Eeply to the Charges of J. K. L.," had not been
penned with considerable abiUty, the Bishop would never have
noticed it. Dr. PhUpotts, Bishop of Exeter, speaking of Declan's
book, says that it is " written vrith great eloquence, strength of
argument, and historical research — with much of moderation,
though it occasionally rises into a tone of manly indignation."
The latter is a mUd epithet for some hurtful remarks which
" Decian" leveUed at Dr. Doyle ; but we prefer to notice the work
on its literary claims to attention. " In point of purity of
language and pretension to theological learning," observes Arch
bishop MacHale, " Declan's is unquestionably the most creditable
production by which the Bishop has been combated. But when
he reflects on the character of the foes among whom he is distin
guished, his just discrimination wiU doubtiess appreciate the value
of the compUment."
Dr. Doyle haring considered Declan's antagonism worthy of
notice, it may not prove uninteresting to subjoin some particulars
of the career of the late Eev. W. Phelan, D.D., M.A. Born in
Clonmel, of humble CathoUc parentage, he was placed at the
school of a Protestant clergyman, not less distinguished for his
scholarship than esteemed for his amiable and engaging manners.
It was the -wish of Phelan's father to place him at a later period
at Maynooth, vrith a riew to the Priesthood ; but the old man

808 EPISODICAL BIOGEAPHIC SKETCH.
altogether forgot the aphorism which tells us that " as the twig is
bent the tree wiU incline." In 1806, Phelan entered Trinity Col
lege, Dublin, as a sizar, and gave his name as a Protestant. The
academic beads encouraged the talented young convert, and his
progress, we are told, was rapid. His tutor. Dr. Wall, acted
very kindly towards him, and placed his books, his counsel, and
even his purse at Phelan's disposal. Having carried off premiums
in almost every branch of study, Phelan at length obtained a
scholarship, a degree, and a gold medal.
He had some amiable traits ; and it is recorded by his biogra
pher. Bishop Jebb, that in the course of his unflagging study,
which often lasted from four o'clock, a.m., until ten at night, he
met vrith frequent interruptions from the risits of feUow-students
in search of friendly assistance. " Often," writes the Bishop,
" with a shade before his weak eyes, his temples bathed in rine-
gar, and his mind engaged upon some difficult problem, has he
cheerfuUy appUed himself to remove the scientific difficulties — not
of his pupils (that was a distinct duty to be performed at stated
intervals), but of some junior friend." In Latin composition
Phelan was strikingly distinguished. "Whole passages," ex
claimed Dr. Wall, " might be taken from Phelan's writings, and,
without risk of detection, inserted in the works of Cicero."
Spurred by ambition and applause, Phelan now sat for a feUow
ship. His answering was good, but other candidates got the pre
ference. Plunket adrised him to study for the bar ; but his pa
tron. Dr. Magee, the subsequent Archbishop, urged him to re
main at Alma Mater, where he soon took orders.
In 1816, he pubUshed a pamphlet on Bible Societies, and in
the foUoWing year we find him obtaining a fellowship, through the
influence mainly of Dr. Magee. Miss Stubbs, however, an accom
pUshed girl, completely won the Priest's heart, and he declared
that without her he could never hope for contentment. Phelan
petitioned the crown that the statute forbidding fellows to marry
might, in his case, be suspended. The appUcation was un
successful ; but he received tbe consoling assurance that the first
vacant U-ving should be his. The object of his ambition was accord
ingly reUnquished for the object of his affection, in May, 1823.
It is said that, influenced by the example of the famous convert
to Protestantism, Dr. O'Befrne, who received in acknowledgment
the Bishopric of Meath, Phelan at last aspired to, wear the mifre.
He gave renewed attention to the study of logic, theology, and re
Ugious controversy, and thus endeavoured to earn the patronage of
those who dispense the wealth a,nd honours of the EstabUshment.
Phelan now proceeded to the curacy of Keady, which the Pri
mate had, in consideration of his claims, kept unfilled for some

A MELANCHOLY DEATH. 809
time. It was while here that he published his book against Dr.
Doyle, under the pseudonyme of "Decian." "It is somewhat ,
singular," writes Dr. MacHale, "that this opponent of the eccle
siastical authority of Eome has assumed the name of one of her
earliest missionaries to this country. Such is the charm of early
impressions, that are retained with a devout attachment, in spite
of the affectation of riper years." Phelan's clever reply to Dr.
Doyle was not unappreciated by his patrons. In 1824, he received
a liring in Armagh worth £1500 a-year, with the appointment of
Examinator at Ordinations and a doctor's degree.
Phelan did not become idle in his affluence. He continued to
attack Popery, and especiaUy Dr. Doyle. His thirst for metaphy
sical study also increased from this date. Intellectual toil, from
long habit, had become a passion with him, and an over-tasked
mind eventuaUy sapped the strength of his constitution. A ner
vous, intermitting pulse alarmed the physicians. They implored
of him to cease aU mental effort ; but Mr. Phelan replied, that if
he abandoned his mind to the alarm which the doctors sounded,
his dissolution should ineritably foUow. Dr. Phelan's tMrst for
lore had become almost a mania. Every tome he drank in, and
every new thought he gave bfrth to, tended to wither his existence,
and, at the early age of forty-one, be dropped into the deep grave,
which had so long been yawning for his body.
It was during the year 1824 that the peasantry of many parts
of Ireland became a prey to terrible destitution. Dr. Doyle,
wiiting to his niece, says : " Mrs. D  has written to me for
money, and given me such a picture of her sufferings as made me
sick at heart. I -wish we could make all these things concur to
the salvation of our souls, and I pray God that he may preserve
you in Ufe to assist in reliering the miseries of your fellow-
creatures. As for my part, my whole time and thoughts are now
occupied with the distress of the poor, who are almost starving in
hundreds about me, and extorting from me what is necessary for
my own subsistence— but I cannot withhold it from them for my
own sake.
" I hope to go down for a week or two, about the end of July,
to see Ally, and endeavour to adrise her upon the affairs of her
family. There is nothing regarding myself worth communicating
to you. Devereux vrill teU you that my health and spirits are as
good as usual, notwithstanding aU my difficulties. TeU your mo
ther I still read Thomas a Kempis, and often think of her adrice
on that subject ; and that though she may yet Uve to pray for the
repose of my soul, I hope that whUst I am here it vriU be my
chief concern — even before that of the Orangemen, who occupy
some of my thoughts."

310 DR. CAHILl's RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. DOYLE.
When his own purse was not large enough to meet the many
requirements of his compassionate heart, the Bishop invariably
endeavoured to make good the deficiency by private soUcitation
among his friends. At a dinner party given by the Eev. Dr.
Yore in DubUn, at which fourteen Bishops were present. Dr.
Doyle, as soon as the cloth had been removed, unfolded a tale of
peculiar distress. A CathoUc physician of Dublin had become a
prey to sudden pecuniary embarrassment, and there was to have
been next day an execution on his house. Dr. Doyle pleaded for
him with such force and feeUng that £94 were collected on the
spot, and, it is hardly necessary to add, the execution was
averted. The eminent and accomplished divine. Dr. Cahill, in one of
his valued communications to. the author, feelingly aUudes to the
famine of 1824, and to the Bishop's herculean efforts to stem
its fury :
" I think it was in the year 1824, the poor of the town of
Carlow were reduced to the most deplorable distress, from a tem
porary suspension of the ordinary public employment, combined
-with a faUure in the potato crop, and with the consequent scarcity
and dearness of provision for the labouring classes,
" On this trying occasion Dr, Doyle gave to these poor not only
what he had received from public munificence, and what he had
procured from private personal entreaty — laboriously, unceasingly,
imploringly exerted — but he also bestowed on them the very last
shilling of his official income.
"It so happened at this time that his clothes (contrary to his
usual habit) were painfully shabby, and his hat miserably worn.
All those acquainted with his character were weU aware that, so
far from purchasing new clothes, he would not even wear them in
this time of universal famine and starvation.
" It was by his ovm singular, personal efforts, that 2,000 per
sons were fed every day at the CoUege, at the Convent, and at
the public soup-kitchen. During this time his brother, the Eev.
Peter Doyle, whom the Bishop always called ' good-natured, poor
Peter,' came to see him, and obserring the di-ess and the general
appearance of the Bishop, was astonished to see his clothes so
shabby, and he therefore begged to present him with £25 to get a
new outfit. On tbe foUowing day, when his brother had taken his
leave, the Bishop laughingly said : ' Poor Peter is ashamed of me,
and has given me £25 (as he said) to keep the life in me by warm
clothing ; but the poor feUow has done more than he fancied, as I
shaU, of course, give it to my poor on this day, and keep the hfe
in hundreds of persons for many years yet to come. Whatever I
am,' he continued, ' I am sure I am not the worse for having an

REMARIiABLE CONVERSATION. 811
old coat and an old hat ; I have a closer resemblance to aU that -
was ever great, learned, and holy in the Church by these old rags,
than dressed in the most gorgeous apparel ;' and then bursting
into a fit of loud laughter, ' I look,' he said, ' even more Uke our
most brUUant poets in this threadbare coat, than decked out in
costly finery.'
" Immediately after this risit of his brother, he came to the
CoUege one morning to breakfast, and having met the President
and Professors, said : ' Gentlemen, you are each to give me five
guineas for my poor. I myself shaU seU, on this week, some silver
tankards which I have received as presents. I shaU dispose, also,
of my gold watch, and I have afready made arrangements to sell,
to the Bishop of another diocess, some chaUces which we do not
want.' ' Oh ! my Lord,' said one of the party at breakfast, ' surely
you do not mean to sell the chalices.' ' Be assured, friend,' he
repUed, ' I wUl seU them, and aU I have in the world beside, in
the present necessity. Surely, sir, you would not have me to pre
serve the mere metal in which our Lord temporarUy resides in His
sacramental form, and let perish the Uring tabernacle, the faithful
hearts of my own poor, suffering people, where He and the
Holy Ghost permanently, cherishingly dweU, as their own dearly-
loved habitation in this world of sin.' "
Dr. Doyle's friend would probably have been equaUy surprised
if reminded that St. Brigid, patron of KUdare, whom the Bishop
endeavoured in many things to imitate, gave as charity to the poor
" some very valuable sacerdotal vestments, which used to be worn
by the Bishop on the more solemn festivals."* A simUar act is
recorded of St. Ambrose, who disposed of some sacred utensUs for
the ransom of captives — a proceeding of which he maintains the
propriety in his " Offices" (1. 2, c. 28), and which was imitated by
St. Augustin, the father of Dr. Doyle's reUgious Order, as Possi
dius (c. 24) records. * Lanigan's " Eccl. Hist, of Ireland," i, 406.

CHAPTEE XIII.
Mr, North — Dr. Doyle refutes a calumny on the Catholic Priesthood — Penal
days — A Bishop of Kildare resides in a shed built of mud — Dr. Doyle's
appeal — Letters to Mariana — Good news arrives at Old Derrig — His
Letter on tbe Union of the Churches — Correspondence regarding that
project — Considerable sensation produced — John O'DriscoU — Alexander
Knox — The Protestant Bishop of Limerick preaches from the altar of a
Catholic Church — Deputations wait upon Dr, Doyle with a view to pro
mote a Union of the Churches.
"I LOOK upon Mr. North," observes Mr. Curran, in his "Sketches-
of the Irish Bar," "to be in several respects a very interesting
person. He is immediately so by the great respectabiUty of his
character and talents. He has won his way to a high station in a
most precarious profession, and is cordially honoured by aU who
fcoow him for the underiating dignity and purity of his private
Ufe." In March, 1824, Mr. North uttered an offensive aspersion on
the CathoUc priesthood, which, had it come from a man of less
eminence, Dr. Doyle would probably not have noticed. The
leamed gentleman was a zealous supporter of the BibUcal and
Orange societies, and, greatly to the satisfaction of his constitu
ents, he declared in ParUament, " that untU tbe establishment of
the KUdare-place Society in 1812, the CathoUcs of Leland were
involved in thick and palpable darkness, and that immoral and
seditious books were generaUy used in the Catholic schools, vrith
the tacit sanction or connivance of the CathoUc priesthood."
The CathoUc Association caUed upon the Bishops to furnish at
once such facts and figures as would refute the somewhat humi
Uating accusation of Mr. North. Some interesting statistics, and
eridence in the form of letters, were addressed to the Association,
but the promptest and ablest came from Dr. Doyle. He assured
the secretary that he had constant and close intercourse with per
sons of every rank throughout the four counties of his diocess, and
he could affirm, from personal knowledge, that a vast majority of
the people, without being indebted to the KUdare-place Society,
were able, at least, to read, and enjoyed as high advantages of in
struction in moral and religious duties as the inhabitants of any
equal portion of the British dominions. " Old persons in the
above-mentioned counties are generaUy but not universaUy iUite
rate ; they have not been instructed in books, but thefr moral
culture has not been neglected. The generation of men which is
now passing away were gifted with principles of religious, moral,
and social integrity, as marked, as strong, as ever distinguished a
people. They had scarcely been liberated from the prison in

A SL,\NDER DISPROVED BY FACTS. 813
which they had been confined by the penal laws, when their native
vfrtue, as weU as their national character, appeared."
Dr. Doyle observed, that before charging the Irish priesthood
with carelessness in promoting education, it should be remembered
how few in number they had been when compared with the popu
lation — how multffarious their duties were, as arbiters in dispute,
keepers of the peace, and ministers of a religion which required
that they should be as attentive to the wants of each indiridual
committed to them as though he were the sole object of thefr care.
It was but yesterday since the Catholic clergy were tolerated in
the exercise of thefr ministiy. " The aged people, with whose
ignorance they are reproached, were the sentinels and outposts of
the station where they, in some glen or desert, used to celebrate
the dirine mysteries. , To this day the old people relate the in
stances of persecution which occurred in thefr own time — not the
traditions of their fathers, but what they themselves had seen and
felt. Yet even then the clergy endeavoured to guard the embers
of knowledge which the law sought to extinguish. In the glen or
the cavern where they sojourned they taught the rudiments of
leaming. The CathoUc Bishop of this diocess, in a shed buUt of
mud and covered with rushes, on tbe verge of the Bog of AUen —
the refuge of a man not inferior in mind or -vfrtue to Fenelon —
instructed youth vrith bis own tongue, and shared vrith them the
crust which he had first watered -with the tears of his affliction."
Dr. Doyle added, that when the CathoUc clergy were permitted to
Uve secure, they opened schools, and as soon as thefr places of
worship had some more substantial roof than the arch of heaven,
they were used as seminaries for the instraction of youth. These
calumniated men had proceeded steadily in the discharge of thefr
duty, and, vrithout succour or support, succeeded, in the Diocess
of Kildare, in remoring "the thick and palpable darkness" created
by a flagitious code of laws. Mr. North had imputed evUs, not
to the causes which produced them, but to the neglect of the
CathoUc clergy ; " yet, when the trumpet shaU sound, these men
vriU arise, and come to judgment free of the guilt with which they
are charged."
As to the improper books said to have been cfrculated with the
tacit sanction of the priesthood. Dr. Doyle observed : "I beUeve
Mr. North is totaUy incapable of conceiring or uttering so gross
and unfounded a calumny. Such books as have been mentioned
might have been introduced into some of the hedge-schools in
Ireland, where no Priest could be found, except one moring in the
solitude of the night, or the sUence of the glen, in those eventful
times when the population of Ireland was vrithout form and void,
and no spirit of order moving on its troubled sui-face->-when revo-

814 AN EPISCOPAL PALACE OF MUD.
lution after revolution, war after war, confiscations, robberies, and
reprisals were the ordinary events of each succeeding year — when
courts of equity were dens of thieves, and the laws of the country'
armed the father against the son, and the son against the father —
when there was a Church without a reUgion, and some remnant of
reUgion wiliiout a Church — when a banditti, such as now infest the
Sierra Morena, shared in the general plunder, and drovraed the
recoUection of the sufferings they endured and inflicted in riot and
Ucentiousness — then, and afterwards, many books and rhymes,
embodying the popular tales and suited to the deranged taste of a
distracted people, were composed and circulated, and introduced
too often into schools ; but they were few in number — and to im
pute, in a direct or covert manner, thefr introduction or cfrculation
to the neglect or connivance of the Catholic clergy is as foul a
calumny as ever has been uttered.
" To this clergy the removal of these books, and the total sup
pression of them, are entirely owing, and that before the Kildare-
place Society had any existence, and where no book or tract
published by it has ever reached."
Dr. Doyle here enumerated a variety of moral and historical
tracts in use throughout his diocess. The number of schools fre
quented almost exclusively by CathoUcs, and supported generaUy
by the contributions of the parents of the children, was 246. With
the support of some schools the clergy were almost exclusively
burdened; " in others, not denommated 'free,' they pay privately
for the chUdren of the most indigent of thefr parishioners, thus
sparing famiUes the pain of exposing their distress, or learing
thefr Uttle ones destitute of instruction."
The Bishop of KUdare in days of persecution, to whom Dr.
Doyle so feeUngly aUudes in his letter, was the Eight Eev. James
O'GaUagher, appointed Bishop of Eaphoe in 1721, and translated
to KUdare in 1737. He pubUshed at Dublin, fri 1735, seventeen
Irish sermons. Shortly after the consecration of Dr. Doyle, he
was accompanied on his visitation to the obscure riUage of AUen
by the present Parish Priest of KUdare. "Do you see those
wretched mud waUs ?" observed the latter. " They are the rains
of the episcopal palace of one of your predecessors, who there, m
penal days, ate the bread of tribulation and drank the waters of
adversity. Although an active labourer in the diocess, he was
never vrithout some pious youths in the house -with him, whom he
instructed in Greek, and Latin, and theology, prerious to sending
them to Paris for orduiation. Thus did this good man, ahnost in
sight of the gibbet, continue to keep up the scanty supply of pas
tors for the poor people of KUdare and Leighlui. His bones he
beneath yonder uninscribed grave." Dr. Doyle was visibly affected.

A SCHOOL DISPERSED BY FORCE OF ARMS. 815
He remained silent for some time, and then broke into that splen
did tiain of musing which appears in his letter from Allen, p. 231.
It was indeed a gratuitous charge to accuse the CathoUe
priesthood of hostUity to education. The present venerable Bishop
of KUmore informs us that it was vrith extreme difficulty his father
and other Wexford youths were enabled to acquire the simplest
rudiments of education. In 1749, a CathoUc set up a schopl in
the ruined waUs of an old castle, the seclusion of which, he vainly
hoped, would have protected him and his little flock of pupils
from intrusion. The Protestant rector of the parish soon heard
of it, and one day, at the head of a posse of peace-officers,
dispersed it for ever. The Bishop's father was afterwards clan
destinely instructed, in the dead of night, by an old uncle who had
learned to read and write before the Treaty of Limerick.
If Dr. Doyle had never stooped to refute the charge of hostility
to education which Mr. North had cast upon him, in common -with
all other ministers of the CathoUc Church in Ireland, there is
sufficient evidence existing among his papers to disprove trium
phantly the base assertion. No one knows this better than the
wiiter of these pages. When Dr. Doyle found that he could no
longer feel himseff justifled in accepting educational aid through
the Baldare-place Society, he opened separate schools for the
chUdren of his flock, and energetically pleaded in person for such
pecuniary assistance as would enable bim to keep them open.
We find among his papers the rough draughts of several appeals
of this character. He spared no pains upon them, for he weU
knew that an adequate response depended almost entirely on
thefr impressiveness. We sefect the foUowing unpubUshed frag
ment from a mass of others :
" In our days there is a zeal unprecedented for the education
of youth, but it is more for the education of the mind than of the
heart — for education in mere letters, rather than the education of
youth in the principles of moraUty and faith, which St. Paul caUs
the discipUne and chastening of the Lord. We have heard with
our own ears, and seen vrith our own eyes, and touched with our
hands a system of education adopted in this, a Christian country,
and grounded upon a principle of excluding all religious instruc
tion, except that only to be derived from a source which — though
pure, and holy, and true — has been, for the last two centuries, to
our country, and to aU the Chiistian world, fertUe only in produ
cing dissension, schisms, infidelity, and crime. They are only the
unhappy circumstances of Ireland which could ever have led men,
of pure intentions and unquestionable good -wUl, to adopt or sanc
tion a system of education opposed to the principles of Christi
anity, and the true interests of those for whose good it was

816 DR. doyle's appeal.
devised. What, my brethren, to exclude from the education of
children the love and knowledge of their God — to nip the very bud
of reUgion, and prevent it from sending forth its shoots into the
mind, or exhaling its fragrance Upon the heart ! Were we com
bined for the destruction of the faith of Christ, and unable to effect
our purpose by argument or opposition, what means could we
resort to more efficacious than to exclude it from our schools — to
prevent the tender chUd to lisp his prayer, and recite his creed,
and learn the commands of his God from that master or mistress
who is to him a parent, and a model, and an instructor in aU
things else he has to learn — to let his passions grow, and shoot,
and bloom, and choke the little seed of vfrtue which has been
scarcely planted, and stiU required to be watered in his heart — to
cause him to hear the voice of God, inviting him to come and seek
for -wisdom, and partake of refreshment for his wearied soul — ^to
cause him to hear this voice for the first time amidst the tumult
of his passions, the noise of the world, and the seductive aUure-
ments of a wasting pleasure. Oh ! how much to be lamented,
how much to be apprehended from such a system of educa
tion ! Have pity on our youth, 0 God, have pity on them ;
and, as you know that we, who have been instructed in reUgion
from our earliest age, who are convinced of its truth, who are
penetrated with its holiness, who have felt the force of its maxims,
and loved its laws, are, notwithstanding, almost unable to trust
the impetuosity of our passions, leave them not destitute in thefr
tender age of that religious education, of those powerful succours
you have vouchsafed to us ! Let us at least, my brethren, endea
vour to do what is the acceptable will of God with regard to those
children. Let us educate them, but let it not be in mere leaming
which fiUs the mind with pride, and increases the capabiUty of
doing mischief, but let us educate them in the discipline and fear
of the Lord. . Let us prune the weeds from out the garden of the
soul which Christ has enclosed — or rather let us not suffer them
to grow within it. Let us keep the fountain clear which His blood
has sealed, and not expose our holy religion to the danger of being
polluted at its very source. Let us not suffer to go loose upon
society the mere animal man, who, destitute of education, is like
a savage ; nor, again, give him instruction, that, as a fox tutored in
low, cunning vriles and craft, he may steal upon our simplicity,
trade upon our piety, or filch from us our property or good name.
No, dearly beloved, let us attend to what is the acceptable
will of God with regard to children, that they be brought up in
His discipUne and fear ; and let us remember that it is He who
being rich became poor for our sakes, who calls upon us by some
sacrifice of what He gave us, to carry into effect this His holy and

CATHARINE AND THE PRINCE. 317
acceptable wiU. Do — make this sacriflce of your worldly goods,
my brethren, and you wiU obtaip the Ught of heaven and the glory
of the elect, for blessed are they who instruct others unto justice —
they shaU shine Uke stars for never-ending eternities. Do — make
this sacrifice, my brethren, and you wiU be saved ; for it is written —
and the heavens and the earth wUl pass away, but these, His
words, -wUl not pass away — it is written, that he who does and
teaches, as you this day can do by your alms-deeds, shall not
only be saved, but shaU even be caUed great in the kingdom of
heaven." It pleased the Almighty, who had so miraculously restored
Catharine to health when her death was almost hourly expected,
to risit her some months afterwards with a rheumatic attack of
great riolence. The foUowing letter is addressed to her sister :
"Old Derrig, Carlow, 4th March, 1824,
" My dear Mariana — You wUl easUy excuse my not having
repUed before now to your last kind letter, knovring, as you do, the
infinite number of trifles which occupy my time. Amongst my
other occupations yesterday, after praying most earnestly for my
.dear Catharine, I was engaged in writing to the good Prince
Hohenlohe, as I supposed (should we be able to obtain it) that
something more than a place in the crowd was necessary for her
to obtain reUef through his ministry or intercession. I am con
fident he -wUl offer up a very fervent prayer for this dear unknown,
and perhaps — should her patience not faU, and her sufferings con
tinue — she may yet be effectuaUy and permanently healed. I
should be exceeding glad that the mercury, and your unvaried
attentions and cares, anticipated the labours of the Prince, and
enabled us to class his good offices for her with the many works
of supererogation which he probably performs ; but let His wiU be
done on earth in our regard, as it is undoubtedly done in heaven,
where aU our interests are regulated by true wisdom and mercy.
I suppose this dear chUd's spfrits are sinking with her bodily
strength, nor can cheerfulness weU be compatible with an ener
vated frame and prolonged suffering. It is enough if she can pre-
seiwe her equanimity and interior peace ; the esprit which has
hitherto generaUy attended her vriU retum should her health
improve, and if not, it is useless to herself; and you so weU
schooled in aU that regards self-denial and privation can well bear
vrith that loss. Should Proridence remove her altogether, it is
better that she should depart as it were by degrees, for the
sudden removal of aU that was and is estimable in her would be
too much for our infirmity to bear. We should have mourned for
every quaUty of her mind, and person, and manners, and wished

318 " THE hermit's" account op his retreat.
that she were released from pain, before we could, vrith becoming
patience, bid her a last fareweU, I think, indeed, we need not
entertain such apprehensions ; but I am sure, were they weU-
founded, it would be better she should be -withdrawn gradually than
in a sudden way. TeU her I am quite satisfied she should become
grave and pensive, but not dejected ; interior peace is not perfect
unless it breaks forth occasionaUy in acts of ardent thanksgiring,
and a Uvely and indescribable sort of joy. I am sorry that I bave
no prospect of seeing, her shortly, but will not cease to remember
her when it can be most useful to her, as weU as most agreeable
to myself. I hope the mercui-y may remove her pains, and that
she wiU begin to recover strength ; the weather, too, wiU be
getting steadier and more warm, the flowers here will be blown,
the fields and trees will have put on thefr rich new clothing, and
the seat from which I write wiU acquire a renovating rirtue ; teU
her aU this, and let her hasten to accept of all these blessings, in
exchange for her presence at Old Derrig. Here there vriU be no
Bushe* to stick its thorns — no mad reUgionist to vent his rarings.
Ling from Eush, maccaroni from Naples, and some Attic salt im
ported by J. K. L., with whatever his dear chUd may add to the
Lenten fare, will be the only material portion of the household
stores. Of spirits indeed there wUl be a great variety — plain,
rectified, and subUmated. I wUl myseff engage to supply them,
and only require of her to infuse some of those exquisite essences
of hers, which wiU convert them all into Uqueurs more exhi
larating than the nectar of old Jove. TeU her I feel aU her pains,
and sympathize -with aU her sufferings, and that I commend her
earnestly to God." " Kobertstown, 29th April, 1824,
" My dear Mariana — After straying through almost every
part of this diocess like your last letter, I find myseff here, in the
midst of an immense hotel, through which aU the elements are
driring furiously, and having packed up my papers and finished
about half a dozen letters, I folded my arms, and put myseff to
think on what I had next to do. Your letter, endorsed by the
post-marks of the various towns, ending vrith Derrig or Derg,
through which it had been missent, occurred to me as stiff waiting
amongst others to be disposed of; and though my head is con
fused and my spirits exhausted, I am resolved to teU you, that I
am strongly incUned to go up to Dublin to teU you some sUly
story by way of apology, for not replying to your letters ; but as
I may be obUged to take some other direction, it is necessary, I
suppose, to inform you, that when your last note reached me I was
"^ The Rev. Mr. Bushe, M,A., a distinguished controversial preacher of the day.

GOOD NEWS FEOM LONDON. 819
just leaving home with an intention of seeing you before my re
turn. Mr. Fitzgerald also, when learing Carlow, promised to see
you, to present you vrith my compliments, and to tell me, on
his return, aU the good news he could coUect of you and of my
dear Catharine, The favourable account you gave in your letter
of the state of her health, lessened my anxiety about it, and in
creased my desire of seeing her should I be able to go to Dublin,
and ascertain vrith my o-wn eyes that improvement which I so
anxiously -wish for,
" From the exhausted state of my mind, I am unable to -write
you a very long letter, I am just going to dine at Mr. Dease's.
I must remain in that neighbourhood until after Sunday, and
whether I can go up to town before my return, is somewhat un
certain. If not, I shaU be deprived of the pleasure of seeing my
dear chUd untU June next, when she may be so much restored as
to come to cuU the flowers at Old Derrig, which always droop in
the absence of the Hermit, who unhappUy is driven from them
during the summer ; but probably they might continue in bloom
tUl his return, if only a genial breath feU upon them from the
countenance of his friend, or a tear of sympathy for the absence
of thefr solitary guardian. TeU her how much and how truly I
rejoice at the prospect of her thorough recovery ; bless the Uttle,
the good Sarah for her blessing to me, and -with best respects to
her who is blessed by you aU — your mother — beUeve me always,
dear Mariana, &c. " ii» J Doyle "
The " soUtary" occupant of Old Derrig was cheered, a few
days later, by the foUowing acceptable piece of political news.
The writer was Sfr Henry ParneU, afterwards Lord Congleton :
[Private,] " 89, Jermyn.street, 14th May, 1824.
" My dear Lord — We have at last got a committee to inquire
into the state of Ireland, and as Government have announced, by
Mr. Peel, in the committee, that they vriU not restrict the inqufry
in any way, and are ready to renew the committee next year, if
thought necessary, it is of the greatest importance to obtain the
eridence of persons competent to give a fuU account of the various
sufferings and grievances of the people of Ireland. I therefore
take the Uberty of writing to you to request your assistance in
making inquiries, so as to discover some proper -witnesses to be
summoned to attend the committee. The causes of the disturb
ances are the prominent object of inquiry, but in the two days we
have sat, we have afready gone into everything that is connected
with every abuse and vexation which exists in Ireland. I con-

820 UNION OF the churches.
sider the Government, in giring way to an appointment of a com
mittee, as a measure which may be considered as the forerunner
of a complete change in the system of governing Ireland, and of a
successful issue to the long-fought battle to carry Emancipation.
There can be no doubt that public opinion here is very much
changed, and that Govemment have felt they could no longer
postpone a solemn and sincere investigation of the whole case of
Ireland. — Believe me, &c. ,, tt -t. ..
' " H. Parnell.
There has been no portion of Dr. Doyle's Ufe more 'constantly
misunderstood, both by his friends and his foes, than the riews he
expressed in May, 1824, on the feasibUity of uniting the CathoUc
and Protestant Churches. For this reason we shaU devote some
what more space to its consideration than to other pubUc acts of
the Bishop's Ufe.
Christ, the inspired writers, and the Fathers have repeatedly
preached that it is impossible any just necessity could exist for
breaking the bond of Christian unity. " Holy Father," prayed
our Sariour, "keep them in thy name whom thou hast given
to me that they may be one, as you and I are one!" "Be care
ful," says the Apostle, " to preserve the unity of spirit in the bond
of peace;" and again, "One body and one spirit, as you are
caUed in one hope." " There shall be one flock and one shep
herd" {John, X. 16) ; and (1 Cbr. i. 10) " Now I beseech you,
brethren, that you aU speak the same thing, and that there be no
schisms among you, but that you be perfect in the same mind and
in the same judgment." " One God," exclaims the Apostle,
" one faith, one baptism." St. Augustine has written an entfre
work on the rital necessity of unity in the Church. " God com
manded to us union," he said, "to himself he reserved separation."
The earUest CouncUs of the Church, including those of Con
stantinople and Sardis, which Protestants unaffectedly reverence,
reiterate the same sentiments. "Why are these contentions
and schisms among you ?" writes St. Clement, the coadjutor of
the Apostles : " Have we not one God, and one Christ, and one
Spirit, and one caUing in Christ ? Why do we diride and sever
the members of Christ, and raise sedition against the body?"
"Verily," writes Luther, "I must acknowledge much trouble
cometh of my teaching. Yea, I cannot deny that this matter
often maketh me sorrowful, when my conscience especiaUy chideth
me, in that I have torn asunder the former state of the Church,
which was tranquU and peaceful under the Papacy, and excited
much trouble, discord, and faction, by my teaching." (Op. tom.
u. pp. 281, 387.)
The broken unity of the Church afflicted Dr. Doyle exceed-

letter to MR. ROBINSON. 821
ingly ; and from the days of his chUdhood many a fervent prayer
ascended fi-om his lips, that God would be pleased to reunite the
dirided Churches. " Should I Uve to witness its accomplishment,"
he once exclaimed, " I would say with Holy Simeon, ' Now, 0
Lord, dost thou dismiss thy servant in peace, since my eyes have
seen thy salvation !' " Humbly foUowing the example of him who
came to gather together in one the chUdren of God, who were
dispersed {John, xrii. 11), the good Bishop, in 1824, essayed,
with more benevolence than success, to re-cement the Church of
England to the rock from which it had been hewn. It was in this
spfrit that St. Ignatius had sought to unite the Lutherans to the
CathoUc Church, St. Francis de Sales the Calvinists, Fenelon the
Huguenots, and Bossuet the Protestants of Germany.
Dr. Doyle's love of his country was only exceeded by his love
for God, and we find patriotic as weU as charitable motives im-
peUing him to undertake the delicate and difficult task in question.
The breast of Ireland was at this time torn with political and
sectarian animosity. Early in May, 1824, the then Chancellor
of the Exchequer, Mr. Eobinson, afterwards Lord Eipon, on
a motion of Mr. Hume relative to the Church Establishment,
declared that he was anxious to see the Protestant and Catholic
Churches re-united ; and Dr. Doyle, glad to see a tendency in so
influential a quarter to so desfr-able a reconciliation, addressed a
letter to Mr. Eobinson stating that his project of " uniting the
Churches, which distract and diride us, would be the best mode
of pacifying Ireland, and of consoUdating the interests of the
empfre." "A person weU acquainted with Ireland," he went on to say,
"would not find it difficult to show why the efforts lately made to
better her condition have been fruitless, and why every benefit
conferred on her by the legislature, or through the bounty of the
English people, has had no corresponding effect. The whole
frame of society amongst us is disorganised ; and the distrust,
apathy, fraud, jealousy, and contention which prevail universally,
as they derange the pubUc wUl and prevent the mutual co-opera
tion of aU classes, must necessarily preclude the country, whUst
they continue, from deriving advantage from any partial measure,
or emerging from its present depressed, if not degraded condition.
" This state of the public mind and feeling is unquestionably
produced by the inequality of the laws, and still more immediately
by the incessant coUision and conflict of religious opinions."
These, and other statesmanUke views having been expressed
by Dr. Doyle, he proceeded to declare that a reconciliation of the
Churches would at once effect a total change in the dispositions of
men, and bring all classes to co-operate zealously in promoting 21

322 WAKE, bossuet, and LEIBNITZ.
the prosperity of Ireland, and in securing her aUegiance to the
British 'Throne.
"It is not difficult : for in the discussions and correspondence
which occurred on this subject early in the last century, as weU as
that in which Archbishop Wake was engaged, as the others which
were carried on between Bossuet and Leibnitz, it appeared that
the points of agreement between the Churches were numerous,
those on which the parties hesitated few, and apparently not the
most important. The effort then made was not attended with
success, but its failure was owing more to princes than to priests,
more to state poUcy than to a difference of beUef. But the same
reasons which at that period disappointed the hopes of every good
Christian in Europe would at present operate favourably. For
what interests can England now have, which is opposed to such a
union, and what nation or Church in the universe can have stronger
motives for desiring it than Great Britain, if by it she could pre
serve her Church EstabUshment, perfect her internal poUcy, and
secure her external dominion ?
" In Ireland, I am confident that, notwithstanding the fer
ment which now prevaUs, a proposition such as you have made, if
adopted by Government, would be heartily embraced. The clergy
of the EstabUshment are unpopular, and they feel it : they are
-without flocks, and every professional man -wishes for employ
ment; thefr property is attacked, and even endangered, for the
state has touched it, and the people have no respect for it. The
Dissenters have encroached on them; and the CathoUc Clergy
have despoUed them, in many places, of their flocks. . . .
" The proprietors and capitaUsts in Ireland are affected at the
prospect which lies before them, and are, if not bUnd to self-
interest as weU as dead to patriotism, anxious to estabUsh peace
and security amongst us. The Government has no interest in
preserring disunion, unless' for the purpose of securing its power ;
and should it find an honourable and safe substitute for so detest
able and precarious a system, it would be bUnd and besotted if it
did not embrace it.
" It may not become so humble an indiridual as I am to hint
even at a plan for effecting so great a purpose as the union of
CathoUcs and Protestants in one great family of Christians ; but
as the difficulty does not appear to me to be at aU proportioned to
the magnitude of the object to be attained, I would presume to
state that if Protestant and CathoUc dirines of learning and a
conciUatory character, were summoned by tbe Crown to ascertain
the points of agreement and difference between the Churches, and
that the result of thefr conferences were made the basis of a pro
ject to be treated on between the heads of the Church of Eome

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE TO BE DISCUSSED. 823
and of England, the result might be more favourable than at pre
sent would be anticipated.
" The chief points to be discussed are the canon of the sacred
Scriptures, faith, justification, the Mass, the sacraments, the
authority of tradition, of councUs, of the Pope ; tbe celibacy of the
Clergy, language of the liturgy, invocation of saints, respect for
images, prayers for the dead."
Dr. Doyle added that the existing diversity of opinion arose, in
some cases, from certain forms of words which admit of satisfac
tory explanation, or from the ignorance or misconceptions which
ancient prejudice and Ul-wUl produce and strengthen — "It is
pride and points of honor which keep us divided on many subjects,
not a love of Christian humiUty, charity, and truth."
That the Fathers of the AngUcan Church threw off the autho
rity of the successor of St. Peter, rather on the plea of distasteful
points of discipline than any aUeged irregularity of doctiine, may
be gathered from the foUo-wing recent remarks of Dr. Pusey :
" The Eeformers acknowledged the early ages of the Gospel its
best interpreter — oecumenical councUs as authoritative ; they be
Ueved in the sacrifice of baptism — the real presence of the body
and blood of Christ in tbe holy Eucharist ; they provided a form
of absolution for penitents who specially confessed their sins ; they
beUeved in the value of good works done through the grace of
Christ and by His Spirit; they beUeved that He would come again
at the end of the world to judge both the quick and the dead, ac
cording to their works ; they gave dfrections as to the days and
seasons of fasting ; they taught the value of almsgiring, of daily
pubUc grayer, of frequent communions, and so on." If Protestants
hold the opinions which have been professed and inculcated by the
Fathers of the Eeformation, a reconcUiation or re-union with the
parent Church ought not to be regarded as impracticable. Judg
ing by irrefragable eridence to which we shaU presently appeal, it
would seem that matters of discipUne, which are of human and not
of dirine arrangement, constituted the original chief point of dis
agreement, and these it is always optional with the Catholic
Church to modify or abrogate altogether. Dr. Doyle was of
opinion, at this period, that the next General Council would make
some changes of this character. BeUering that to restore unity
to the Church no indiridual sacrifice is too great, he was himself
resolved, in tbe event of the AngUcan Church exhibiting a friendly
disposition, to meet it in a spfrit of UberaUty and conciUation.
" The CathoUc clergy," he wrote, " would make every possible
sacrifice to effect a union. I myself would most cheerfully, and
without fee, pension, emolument, or hope, resign the office which
I hold, if by doing so I could in any way contribute to the union

324 DR. doyle's PROPOSAL TO RESIGN HIS OFFICE.
of my brethren and happiness of my country." But that he was
an uncompromising churchman in matters of doctrine wiU be eri
dent from his correspondence with Mr. Newenham, to which we
wUl presently refer.
In Dr. Doyle's proposal to resign his office,' for which he haS
been often harshly criticised by Catholic dirines, he did no more
than imitate the example of the zealous ecclesiastics who agreed
at Carthage to resign thefr sees,* in order to open a way for the
Donatists to return to the ancient Church.
Dr. Doyle was familiar with the writings of the most eminent
Protestant dirines, and with such passages in his memory as those
which we have transcribed and inserted in the Appendix (VIH.),
it is not surprising that he should have regarded a reconciliation
of the Churches as practicable. To this compUation of extracts,
which possesses much interest, we beg to refer the reader. It will
also serve to exonerate the good Bishop fi-om the charge of having
uttered "foUy," when he declared that the points on which the
CathoUc and Anglican Churches agreed were many, and those
on which they differed few.
Dr. Doyle's Letter on the Union of the Churches evoked a mur
mur of disapprobation from two quarters. Some extreme CathoUc
ecclesiastics regarded the letter as unworthy of a Prelate in com
munion with the Holy See, while many superficiaUy read members
of the laity condemned it, not on canonical grounds, but because
they considered that the Protestant Church had always held
opinions diametrically opposed to CathoUc doctrine. Ignorant of
the remarkable AngUcan admissions and declarations to which we
request the reader's attention in the Appendix (VEIL), they pro
nounced Dr. Doyle's proposal as idle and risionary. Such critics
would seem to have been unacquainted -with the historical fact re
corded in the " Bibliotheque de I'Europe" for 1730, that the dis
cussions between Archbishop Wake on the part of the AngUcan
Church, and several doctors of Sorbonne on that of France, le'd to
some amicable arrangements on preriously disputed points, and
would probably, if persevered in, have effected a total accommoda
tion, had not the ciril powers thwarted the project. Dr. Wake
filled the influential position of Primate of aU England, and the
tone of many of his ecclesiastical writings may be gathered from
this short extract : " We exhort men, if they have any the least
doubt or scruple — nay, sometimes though they have none — but
especiaUy before they receive the holy Sacrament, to confess their
sins. We propose to them the benefit not only of ghostly adrice
how to manage their repentance, but, of absolution too, as soon as
they shall have completed it."
With respect to the disapprobation which some CathoUc dirines

' THE POPE FAVORABLE TO "a UNION." 825
have occasionaUy levelled at Dr. Doyle for having made the ad
vance to a reconciUation of the Churches, this feeling would pro
bably soften were they reminded of the fact recorded in Clarendon's
State Papers, that, in 1634, the Holy See itself despatched Father
Leander to England for the purpose of procuring accurate infor
mation respecting the state bf the Established Church, with a
view to the effectuation of a reunion, if at all practicable. The
Nuncio's report goes on to say that the Anglican Church retains a
perfect external appearance of the Catholic Hierarchy, haring
Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Archdeacons, Chapters of Canons,
&c., whUe its form of conferring orders very nearly agrees -with
that prescribed by the Eoman Pontifical. " It preserves, also,"
he adds, " the clerical habits and gowns, the pastoral crook and
copes, the ancient temples, parishes, and coUeges. In the greater
number of the articles of faith, the EngUsh Protestants are traly
orthodox — as on the sublime mysteries of the Trinity and Incarna
tion, on the economy of the redemption of men, and satisfaction ;
through the whole almost of the controversies respecting predesti
nation, grace, and free wiU, the necessity and merit of good
works, and the other articles of the Apostles', the Nicene, and tbe
Athanasian Creeds, and in the four first General CouncUs." Pan-
zani, a second Papal envoy, found the most eminent of the AngU
can churchmen almost enthusiastically in favour of a reunion.
" The Bishop of Chichester," writes Dr. Lingard, " conversed
thrice with the ItaUan on the subject, and assured him that the
EngUsh^Clergy would not refuse to the Pope a supremacy purely
spfritual, such as was admitted by the French CathoUcs ; that
among the Prelates three only would object ; aud that Laud,
though he was too timid to commit himself by any open avowal,
was in reaUty desfrous of such a union." That the Court of
England had a strong CathoUc bias at this period is erident from
the fact, that appUcations were unsuccessfuUy urged to Pope Urban
by the British Ambassador to bestow a cardinal's hat upon Pri
mate Laud, whose riews would seem to have culminated to a point
of almost Eoman orthodoxy.
It may be added that Clement XIV., one of the most en
Ughtened Popes who ever wore a tiara, heartUy desired and per
sonaUy laboured to effect a union of the Churches. And it is a
remarkable fact that the present Pontiff, Pius IX., not only ex
pressly sanctioned, in 1853, the estabUshment of a society at Eome
-for the reunion of the unhappily divided Churches, but exhibited
a singular interest in the good work, by allowing to issue from the
Papal press a book from the pen of the learned Greek Pitzipios,
exclusively devoted to the discussion and advocacy of this great
question. He tells us that a remarkable conference was held at

326 REVOLUTION IN THE ANGLICAN CHUECH.
BerUn in 1854, consisting "of members of the two separated
Churches — that is, the Greek and the Latin — and of the Protestant
bodies," and after an elaborate examination and discussion of the
question, "they came to the unanimous conriction that the reunion
of Christendom was feasible !" " Such dispositions," adds Pitzi
pios, " spontaneously expressed by aU the different Christian bodies
of so many countries, is surely an overwhelming eridence that the
hour has come for the restoration of unity in the Church of Christ,
and that its accompUshment is to be the special work of our own
times !" The remarkable work of Pitzipios has been pubUshed at
the expense of the College de Propaganda Fide, and is approved
by the highest ecclesiastical authorities in Eome.
Dr. Doyle threw off his letter to Mr. Eobinson in great haste,
and we fear that it has hitherto not been generaUy understood.
We have endeavoured to supply its deficiency, by adducing, both
here and in the Appendix, an amount of Ulustrative historical
matter perhaps disproportioned in extent to other detaUs of as
much or greater importance. But this particular period of Dr.
Doyle's Ufe requires explanation ; and, as explanation is vindica
tion in the present instance, we are sure no .admfrer of that good
man's character will quarrel with us for having entered into it.
Had the same peculiar reUgious opinions prevaUed in 1824
which have, of late years, characterized the AngUcan -Church, a
louder and more cordial response would doubtless have been given
to Dr. Doyle's overture. A revolution in the reUgious mind of
England may be said to date from the movement made in 1833 by
some leamed men of Oxford, who, in a series of writings, have ab
solutely advocated every dogma of the Catholic faith, with a zeal
and erudition which MUner himself could hardly have surpassed.
The very title of the newspaper organ of this powerful segment of
religious opinion — The Union — shows, apart from aU other eri
dence,. an unmistakable desire to become re-united to the Eock of
Peter; and it is a significant fact that The Church and State
Gazette, once the champion of English Protestantism, has merged
into this very Union.*
* The Dublin Review for March, 1857, subjects The Union newspaper to a eri.
tical examination : " It is simply, and unequivocally, and even emphatically Roman
Catholic. It writes altogether in a Cathohc sense and a Catholic spirit. It mani
fests absolutely (as far as we can see) no difference with us in matters of doctrine.
It professes the warmest and most unqualified admiration ot all our religious insti
tutions, and makes no scruple of contrasting their efficiency and phabihty, as well as
the zeal of our ecclesiastical functionaries, with the intractable materials and the ste
reotyped forms of the Established system. It assigns to our Bishops and dignitaries
their proper ecclesiastical titlej with an almost ostentatious punctiliousness. It
chronicles our ceremonies, and other events of our religion, in the civilest terms and
most unimpeachable phraseology. Its Roman correspondence is all that can be de-
sued. It sympathizes even with the more advanced developments of the Roman

ALEXANDER KNOX. 827
Unfortunately, however, this extraordinary reUgious revolution
in the Anglican mind had not commenced when Dr. Doyle wrote.
Protestant riews were in an exceedingly unsettied state. No una
nimity prevaUed, except in the cry of "No Popery," which the
energetic struggle for CathoUc Emancipation and, as it was
feared. Catholic ascendancy, and the implacable hostility of Ca
thoUcs to the Church EstabUshment, daily served to stimulate.
The BibUcal fever was at its height, and sect after sect, in its wild
and unregulated interpretation of the Sacred Volume, spUt from
the Eoyal Church.
Dr. Doyle's intercourse with Protestants had been always
Umited, and his knowledge of thefr principles was derived, almost
exclusively, from books. The young Bishop, however, was not
long in discovering that the tenets of Protestantism as they
appeared on paper, were not identical with those privately held —
in 1824, at least — by the general body of the Church of England ;
and, although a large portion of that Church adhered true to its
fundamental principles, he soon found that a much larger segment
had totaUy lost sight of them. Dr. Doyle's letter nevertheless ex
cited considerable attention. The late Mr. Newenham of Glou
cester was gi-eatly struck by it, and wrote to several parties -with a
riew to promote so desfrable a consummation. Mr. O'DriscoU,
the learned author of " Views of Ireland," thus writes to Mr,
Newenham on the 10th of June, 1824 : " I have just received
your letter -with its enclosure fi-om Lord Lansdowne, which I
shaU forward to-day to Dr. Doyle. I cannot help congratulating
you and the country on that letter, which I consider as most im
portant  The chief difficulties would be on the side
of the EstabUshment ; but I do not consider these unconquerable
if the Govemment should enter into the scheme, as I think it
would. I had almost despafred when I found that Dr. Doyle was
met, on the Protestant side, in no good spirit." The late Alex
ander Knox, whom Lord Macaulay pronounced to be "a remark
able man," was also communicated with on the subject. His
opinion of the project was not favourable. "I am obliged to say,"
he writes, "after aU the consideration of which I am capable, that,
in my judgment, no other union between the Church of England
and that of Eome is possible, but such as would involve a com
plete re-subjugation of the former to the latter. I cannot doubt
that Dr. Doyle knows this weU. ... I know that attempts
of this nature have once and again been made, and I question not
tha,t the general intention was good on both sides ; but I must
spirit in E.ngland, and is remarkably free from that merely artistic and technical
view of Catholicity, which hitherto has been almost the only shape in which such
leanings have displayed themselves,"

328 SENSATION PRODUCED BY DR. DOYLe's LETTER.
leave to Dr. Doyle himself to say whether the specific object, on
the Eoman CathoUc side, was anything else than, by cfrcumstan-
tial concessions to obtain substantial submission to the Church of
Eome ? I have read with attention Bausset's account of Bossuet's
coiTespondence with the Lutheran Abbot, Molanus (which was ter
minated by Leibnitz) ; and I cannot think that any other purpose
appears in Bossuet's part of that abortive negotiation."
The Eev. James Jackson, M.A., Vicar of Armagh, devoted a
volume of 400 pages to a discussion of " The Two Main Questions
in Controversy between the Churches of England and Eome,"
with reference to Dr. Doyle's letter on the practicability of a re
union ; and Dr. Magee, Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, in his
celebrated charge to the clergy, three years subsequently, also
noticed at some length this letter to Mr, Eobinson, Among other
eminent Protestant dirines who seemed struck by it was the late
accomplished Provost of Trinity CoUege, Dublin, Dr. SadUer
sought an interview with Archbishop Murray, and declared him
seff most anxious for a reconcUiation of the Churches. "I feai-it
is not easy," said Dr. Murray; "we have seven sacraments,
while you have only two." "Ah," repUed Dr. Sadlier, "that
would be the least difficulty."
From Mr. Newenham's letter to Dr. Doyle, which was very
lengthy, we cuU the saUent points : " Gloucester, 7th June, 1824.
" My Lord — The promptness and alacrity with which your
Lordship appears to have concurred in Mr. Eobinson's project of
uniting the Churches of England and Eome, certainly indicate no
ordinary perspicacity, penetration, and foresight on the part of
your Lordship.
I frankly confess, my Lord, that when my attention was first
directed to that project by your Lordship's letter, which appeared
in The Morning Chronicle of the 18th of last month, I regarded
it as puerile, risionary, vain, and impracticable. Candour, how
ever, now compels me to acknowledge that a deliberate examina
tion of it, in various points of riew, has since occasioned a com
plete change of my opinion, and furnished me 'vrith abundant
reason for admiring your Lordship's ready anticipation of its bene
ficial tendencies, and your instantaneous perception of those diver
sified existing cfrcumstances, connected with reUgion, both in the
United Kingdom and throughout Europe, which are demonstrably
propitious to its accompUshment, in an unprecedented degree. . .
That the project in question would at first be vehemently
opposed by a mixed multitude of persons, seems extremely pro
bable ; but I have ground for entertaining a persuasion that that

MR. newenham's suggestion. 829
opposition might gradually be completely overcome, and I am
quite sure that the attempt to overcome it is weU worth making,
and ought not to be postponed.
" Suppose your Lordship and one of the Vicars ApostoUc of
England were to select ten of the more learned, pious, liberal-
minded, and benevolent Dirines of your Church, resembUng, in
most respects, Pascal and Quesnel, and differing, in most respects,
from Laynez and Bellarmin, and an equaUy favourable selection
of the same number of Divines were made from among the Clergy
of the EstabUshed Church by those traly venerable Prelates, the
Bishops of Limerick and Lichfield* ; and suppose the Dirines
thus selected were to confer -with each other, either personaUy or
through the medium of letters, and conjointly ascertain fi-om the
sacred Scriptures, the decrees of general councUs, ecclesiastical
history, and the writings of the Fathers, from Clemens Eomanus in
the first, to Vincentius Lerinensis in the fifth century (as Messrs.
Berrington and Kfrke undertook to do with the riew of support
ing the Church of Eome), what the essential doctrines of Christi
anity reaUy are — what dogmata were received, semper, ubique, et ab
omnibus, during the first five centuries ; and what were the more
prevalent rites, ceremonies, usages, and matters of discipline in
the Greek and Latin Churches anterior to the sixth ; and suppose
the results of those conferences -were promulgated in the shape of
articles of primary importance and obligation, and peculiarly worthy
of adoption or retention, and fit to furnish the groundwork of a
new Catechism — I really am prone to beUeve that a vast many so
licitous, humble Christians, of Jboth the Churches of England and
Eome would assent to them without any hesitation. For my own
part, though not a little scrupulous on the subject of reUgion, I
should (aware of the almost certain result), toto corde, hasten to
do so ; and I think there are not wanting considerations sufficient
to induce a persuasion that, in the event of the estabUshment of
* [Note in the autograph of Mr. Newenham.] " Dr. Jebb, Bishop of Limerick,
stands eminently conspicuous for erudition, piety, benevolence, and a disposition to
think favourably of the religion of the Church of Rome. Between his Lordship's
rehgious sentiments and those of the justly-venerated Fenelon, 1 have reason to be
lieve that almost. as little difference would be found, as between their respective
moral characters — which secured the person and property of the latter from the
outrages and depredations of English Protestant soldiers, and would, doubtless,
secure the former from similar aggressions on the part of Irish Roman Cathohc in
surgents, Dr, Ryder, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, stands exceedingly high
in the estimation of all the more pions among the clergy and laity of the Established
Church — having uniformly exhibited a very striking example of an unaffected exercise
of all the endearing virtues of Christianity. He has, it is true, opposed the political
claims of the Roman Catholics, aud been in the habit of regarding their religion in
an unfavourable point of view j bnt he is remarkably sober-minded, conciliatory, quick
of apprehension, open to conviction, and disposed to treat with the utmost deference
the decisions of pious and learned divines."

330 interesting correspondence.
such a weU-sanctioned, unexceptional standard of orthodoxy, Go
vemment would ultimately be disposed to authorize and enjoin the
Bishops, if necessary, to withhold ordination from aU candidates
for holy orders, and inhijbit the promotion of aU clergymen who
should refuse to comply With it 
" As for the supremacy of the Pope, it seems not improbable
that a large majority of the Church of England would readily con
cede to him such an authoritative primacy among Christian Bishops
as should not, in any respect, be inconsistent with the existing laws
of the land, the spirit of the constitution, or the King's supremacy
in ecclesiastical concerns of a temporal nature 
" It only remains for me to observe, my Lord, that should the
Churches of Eome and England ever be united, and should the
united Church be distinguished by a complete restoration of true,
unmixed. Scriptural Christianity, apostoUc and primitive rites,
usages, discipUne, and toleration, and should the worship of that
Church combine the impressive solemnities, &c., of the Church of
Eome, with the instructive, sublime, and spiritual Uturgy of the
Church of England* — the missionary zeal of the former with the
missionary means of the latter, infidelity and sectarism would soon
be- safely confined within very narrow Umits 
Devoutly praying, in the words of the communion-serrice of
the Established Church, that God may ' inspire continually the
universar Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord, and
grant that all they who do confess his holy name may agree in the
truth of his holy word, and live in unity and godly love,'
" I have the honour tp be, my Lord, &c.,
" Thomas Newenham."
To this Dr. Doyle promptly replied :
" Old Derrig, Carlow, 14th June, 1824.
" Sir — I was honoured yesterday with your very interesting
letter relative to the reunion of the Churches to which you and I
severaUy belong. It is highly gratifying to me that my riews have
been justly appreciated by a distinguished indiridual, attached to
Ireland, and animated by that charity which the Holy Spirit dif
fuses through the hearts of men.
" The love of my country, and of every one who inhabits it,
has been and is the strongest feeUng of my soul, and has been the
cause why, for some years past, I have occasionaUy turned my
thoughts to measures which seemed to me calculated to serve the
former, and to substitute peace and good wiU amongst those un
happy brethren in Ireland who appear to be intent only on sup
planting or maligning each other.
* This liturgy is compiled from the liturgy of the Roman CathoUc Church.

LIBERALITY OF BISHOP JEBB. 831
" It was this feeling which produced the letter which attracted
your notice, and ff I could perceive a Ukelihood of the matter being
taken into consideration by Government, I should not fail to labour
for its advancement whenever I could find a moment's leisure ;
but as it appears to me that the discussion of a subject so sacred
and important by private individuals could have no other effect
than to increase religious dissension, already but too prevalent in
both islands, I shaU not write nor publish anything more upon the
subject, unless circumstances which I do not foresee should impel
me to do so. I shaU content myself with adoring in silence
the proridence of Him ' whose judgments are inscrutable, and
whose ways cannot be investigated.' I shall always retain a strong
sense of your worth and tiuly charitable spfrit, and do believe you
share lai-gely in those amiable quaUties which have rendered the
Bishop of Limerick an object of veneration to every person in the
empire, and to few more than,
Sir, your most humble servant in Christ,
" * J. Doyle."
Dr. Jebb was one of the most learned and Uberal divines of the
Anglican Church in Ireland. In 1821, we find him addressing
the people, after Mass, from the altar of the E. C. church of
Murroe, with a riew to dissuade them from embarking in secret
societies. " He was heard with breathless attention," writes
his biographer; "some were affected to tears." "A transac
tion," writes Dr. Jebb himseff, "the Uke of which, I suppose,
never occurred since the Eeformation." Dr. Jebb was much
respected and beloved by the CathoUcs generaUy. " The vene
rable E. C. Bishop [of Limerick]," observes Mr. Forster, " whUe
be conversed with bim as a friend, honoured him as a Chris
tian Bishop, and advised with him as feUow-labourers in the
vineyard of thefr common Lord." At the funeral of Dr. Jebb's
Vicar-General, we further learn "that the E. C. clergy, -with the
venerable titular Bishop at their head, walked in the procession
as far as the entrance of the west door of the Cathedral, arm-
m-arm with thefr Protestant brethren." " One of the last waUis
taken by Bishop Jebb through the streets of Lfrnerick," con
tinues Mr. Forster, "presented the gratifying sight of the
Protestant Bishop walking arm-in-arm vrith a E. C. Priest, who,
on taking leave, turned and bent the knee as to his own eccle
siastical superior." Charles Butier, the eminent and intrepid
champion of CathoUcism, was one of Dr. Jebb's dearest friends
and most frequent guests. When Dr. Jebb became prostrated by
paralysis, we learn that "the personal friquiries of the titular
Bishop, Dr. Eyan, were unremitting, and they were rendered

832 SIMILARITY OF VIEWS BETWEEN DES. DOYLE AND JEBB.
doubly acceptable by the assurance, with tears in his eyes, that
they were accompanied by his constant and fervent prayers."
Father Enright, a zealous Priest, " pubUcly offered up prayers in
his chapel," says Mr. Forster, " in which the congregation were
inrited to join, for the restoration ofthe good Bishop of Limerick."*
Many of Dr. Jebb's theological opinions coincided with those held
by Dr. Doyle. J.K.L., in his Seventh Letter on the " State of
Ireland," brings down all the leaming and force at his command
with a riew to check the system of indiscriminately searching the
Scriptures, and interpreting them according to indiridual caprice.
Dr. Doyle proved that the inference sectaries draw from John, v.
39, is far from being accurate, and showed (p. 210) that "ye
search the Scriptures, in which ye think ye have eternal Ufe," &c.,
is the proper rendering of the passage. The Eev. Charles Forster
(p. 151), speaking of a sermon of Bishop Jebb's on John, v. 89,
"Search tbe Scriptures," or "Ye search the Scriptures," adds:
" He proved, by an argument which may be safely pronounced un
answerable, that the second of these versions is the teue rendering
of the original, and of our Lord's meaning."
We resume the correspondence with Mr. Newenham :
" Gloucester, 22nd June, 182^ H
" My Loed — I greatly lament your Lordship's apparently in
superable disinclination to initiate a discussion so likely — after a
few unavoidable prefatory ebuUitions of a vexatious nature — to be
productive of most desfrable results, as that which I felt prompted
to take the Uberty of suggesting to your Lordship.
" I really had begun to look upon your Lordship as the star
described by Horace :
" ' Simul alba nautis
Stella refulsit,
Defluit saxis agitatis humor ;
Concidunt venti, fugiuntque nubes ;
Et minax (quod sic voluere) ponto
Unda recumbit,'
But it seems I was somewhat too sanguine. I cherish a persua
sion, however, that your Lordship wiU not cease to retain a prac
tical recoUection of the foUowing passages : Matt. v. 9 ; John, xiu.
35 ; 1 Pet. ui. 8, 9 ; 1 John, iv. 7-21.
" I intend (d.v.) making Ireland my place of residence during
next winter and the foUowing spring, and should I happen to
escape the fulfilment of Pastorini' s prophecy, shaU take the oppor
tunity of a visit to my nephew. Sir T. Butler, in the county of
* " Life of Bishop Jebb," by the Rev. Charles Forster, 3rd edition, 1851. See
pp, 160, 187, 188, 191, 241, 242.

- DR. DOYLE TO MR. NEWENHAM. 383
Carlow, to pay my respects to your Lordship. Meanwhile expect
ing, though a heretic, your Lordship's blessing,
" I remain, my Lord, &c.,
" Thomas Newenham."
" Old Derrig, Carlow, 29th June, 1824.
" Dear Sir — I had been in Dublin from the day prerious to
the date of yom last very kind letter, which reached me only on last
night. I am much gratified with the hope of being honoured with
a risit from you at the time you mention, and can even now
assure ypu that your intended acquaintance is a person entirely
undeserring of that favourable opinion you have conceived of him.
He is poor and contemptible as his Master appeared — would to
God he were as humble or as meek. If he possess any quality
which could recommend him to your esteem, it is that love of his
country and countrymen, whether heterodox or otherwise, by
which, I believe, he is assimUated to yourself.
" I enclose, as you desire, your first letter to me. I wish
earnestly you may be enabled to do good -with it ; and undoubt
edly, if I were of opinion that I could promote the interests of the
two islands by labouring in the same vocation, I should not be
wanting to it. But I am satisfied that there are too many sects
amongst us, and too many speculators in reUgion throughout the
empire, to suffer any indiriduals, however able and influential, to
succeed in uniting the great Churches of Eome and England.
The Pope and our Govemment could alone effect this union, if
practicable — as it is in my opinion ; but individuals would only
create new schisms. If the good work were taken up by those who
are possessed of authority, we might assist them ; but to become
principals would, in my mind, be foUy.
" For instance, the very mention of Baius or Quesnel would
cause every CathoUc to revolt from you, and I myself would rather
undertake to reconcUe a Church of England man to Eome, than
attempt to render Quesnel or Baius acceptable, so odious are these
names to us.
'^The great object with me would be to incline the pubUc will
to a union, by forcible statements of the advantages which would
result from it, and of the erils which now arise from a disunion
and afflict humanity. If the affections of men were weU dfrected,
their assent might afterwards be the more easily gained. But if
at the very commencement you exhibit tbe point of disagreement,
or select a medium of union which both parties reject or detest,
your plans wiU excite opposition in place of acquiring support.
"The opinions of Baius or Quesnel should never be mentioned
ff you wish to eonciUate the Eoman Catholics. The same, I may

834 DR. DOYLE ON THE PAPAL SUPEEMACY.
add, of the proceedings in Germany in the time of the Emperor
Joseph. The proceedings in which Archbishop Wake was con
cerned would excite the hostiUty of the French Church, and pro
bably that of Eome. In fact, I know of no ground which can be
safely touched, unless that to which I aUuded in my letter —
namely, the correspondence between Bossuet on the one side, and
Leibnitz vrith the Abbe Molanus on the other. The names of
these men are venerable to aU ; and they went farther in the wol-k
of a reunion, and proceeded on a better plan, than any who went
before or came after them. 'Tis true, it was the Confession of
Augsburgh of which there was question ; but the reasons for ad
justment set forth by them would aU hold good with us.
"I think right to mention these matters to you, as you are in
tent on labouring in what I consider a righteous cause, and because
I wish you to be informed of the feelings and riews of one of the
parties for whom you are interested, and which it is totaUy useless
to seek to detach from the See of Eome. I myseff am probably
one of the most moder ate divines in the empfre : certainly I would
-wish, with the Apostle, to be separated for a time from Christ,
for my brethren, whether Protestant or CathoUc ; but I wouldj
with the grace of God, suffer death a thousand times, were it
possible, rather than assent to anything regarding faith which
would not be approved of by the Successor of Peter, I am sure —
I am certain that the Pope is the head of the universal Church,
and that the rejection of his just authority is ruinous to reUgion.
But I condemn no man, and in despite of Pastorini, I hOpe to
embrace many of my heretical friends, after his period — more
famed than that of JuUan — shaU have passed and be forgotten. —
I remain, dear Sir, &c., " ^ J Doyle "
After the death of Dr. Doyle, several works appeared foUowing
up the labours which he attempted. In 1838, appeared " A letter
on the Union of the Churches, to the Eight Hon. A. E. Blake."
In 1842, Mr. Cumming, of Dublin, pubUshed " A Union between
the E. CathoUc and Protestant Churches rendered practicable. In
a series of discourses, by a Clergyman of the Church of England."
This was foUowed by " The Eoman CathoUc and Protestant
Churches proved to be nearer related to each other than most men
imagine," by the Eev. Charles Bristow, a Protestant Dirine. In
1841, a series of articles appeared in The University Magazine,
entitled " A Proposal for the EeconcUiation of the Churches," but
they are hardly deserring of serious attention. By far the ablest
work on this gi-eat question is " The Future Unity of Christendom,
by Ambrose Lisle PhiUips," which was pubUshed by Dolman in
1857. The author, in a prefatory note, teUs us that his. work

DEPUTATION FEOM OXFORD TO THE POPE. 335
underwent " a theological rerision from some learned Catholic
divines, who judged thefr contents to be conformable to Catholic
orthodoxy." In June, 1860, appeared " The Probable VaUdity of AngUcan
Orders examined, by Chanoine Vivant, Vicar-General of the diocess
of Paris. Translated, with appendix and suggestions on re
union, by the Eev. H. CoUins." This little work submits, and
justly, that the design of contributing to the reunion of the Angli
can -with the CathoUc Church, is a very laudable one and well
worthy of a theologian's zeal. England, unlike the other reformed
bodies, never committed herself headlong to the novelties of the
day, but walked cautiously in the middle way. She preserved
far more of the ancient reUgion than other countries, " The
respect," writes the good Vicar- General, "which her learned
Clergy bear towards the ancient tradition and doctrine of the
Fathers, and the ardour with which they labour to persuade that
they preserve the succession of episcopacy, and the tie of their
present Bishops vrith their predecessors, may be regarded as
pledges of a secret disposition which attracts them to return to
unity. It is our duty to make aU the advances possible."
Nearly aU of those works make particular aUusion to Dr,
Doyle's Letter in 1824, The first, speaking of the union of the
Churches, says, " The mighty mind of the dignified and phUo
sophic Doyle, whose genius did honor to the land of his birth, at
once perceived its practicabUity and sovereign panacea for ihe Uls
of his country ; but it was owing more to the unsettled state of
the times when he wrote, than to its real, inherent difficulties,
that the question was not generally and favourably entertained."
Eighteen years after, as we are reminded by The Dublin Review,
certain influential AngUcan di-vines had intentions of going to the
Pope as delegates, and tendering him "in the name and on behalf
of thefr Church her humble submission, on condition of his yield
ing in their favour certain supposed open points of discipUne or
other dispensable matters."
It may be interesting to add that among the CathfeUc divines
and scholars who beUeved a union of the rival Churches practi
cable, the names of Bpssuet, Dr. Lanigan, Dr. Lingard, Chateau
briand, and Charles Butler may be mentioned. Dr. Lanigan,
under the pseudonyme of Irenseus, in his introduction to Talbot's
"Apology," devotes nearly two hundred pages to this subject ; and
the late pious and erudite Archbishop Murray, in his parUament
ary eridence, expressed himself wilUng to make a liberal advance
in such an event as that to which we have referred. This decla
ration of Dr. Mm-ray's coupled with Dr. Doyle's pubhc letter on
the same subject, produced a considerable sensation ; and the

836 NOTES OF AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. DOYLE.
latter was perfectly inundated for several weeks, both with corres
pondence and deputations haring reference to ff. The notes of
what passed on the occasion of a mixed deputation, consisting of
CathoUcs and-Protestants, have been placed at our disposal. As
they throw additional Ught upon a period of the Bishop's hfe
hitherto misrepresented, there is no apology necessary for subjoin
ing them :
"It was next observed that some CathoUcs were exceedingly
anxious lest he contemplated a compromise of thefr faith m his
project of a union. Here the Bishop smUed, and said : ' I am too
good a Papist to compromise anything ; and if I sought to do so,
there is not an old woman or a young child in the diocess who
would not see my error and abandon it. No good can ever be
effected by compromise, and- the nature of trath is to be unchange
able, and not to aUy itself with error.'
" 'If, then,' said some person, 'there was to be no compro
mise, how could a union be effected ?' ' The process,' said Dr.
Doyle, ' might be difficult, on account of the passions and interests
it would have to encounter, but is in itself exceedingly simple. I
could frame a biU, not so long as the Declaration of Eights, which,
if passed by ParUament, would effect a union, and a union which
would be more beneficial to England than were her unions with
Scotland and Ireland.'
"'I wish;' said several gentlemen at the same moment, 'I
wish we could see your biU.' ' It is probable,' said the Bishop,
' that such a bUl will not be seen ; but its object would be to heal
the schism which separates England from the source and centre of
unity, and that once effected, our idolatry and her heresy would
shortly disappear.'
" ' Do you then think,' it was asked by a Protestant gentleman,
' that there is no essential difference in matters of doctrine between
us ?' 'I think there is,' said Dr. Doyle, ' but the articles or dog
mas of faith about which we differ are few — they are chiefly matters
of discipUne, and reUgious forms and usages, which induce us to
quarrel with each other. The doctrinal decisions of the CouncU
of Trent could be received by the English Church without any
considerable violence being done to articles of faith, and a paraUel
could be drawn between those decrees and articles, which would
make the matter obvious to the most slender capacity. Then as
to the canons of discipUne enacted at Trent, they might or might
not be received in England ; indeed many of them are perfectly
inappUcable to her, and a substitute for others might be found in
our Acts of ParUament.
" ' The crime of Henry and EUzabeth,' continued the doctor,
' like that of Jeroboam, was to have separated the people of Israel

THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 387
from the Lord. Only heal the schism, and, as Christ said to the
Pharisees, " all will be made clean." '
" It was remarked by a gentleman present that ' Mr. Knox, in
a letter to Mr. Newenham, had expressed his opinion, that on the
subject of Transubstantiation the Church of England believed with
that of Eome, and that he considered the rital difference between
them to regard the right of private judgment in interpreting the
Sacred Sciiptmes.'
" ' I have not seen the letter you mention,' said the Bishop,
' but Mr. Knox is right on the first subject. Transubstantiation is
essentiaUy included in the doctrine of the real presence, and so is
that of the sacrifice of the Mass ; and as to the right of private
judgment, that entfrely depends on the nature and extent of the
authority of the Church. 'The EngUsh, in regulating the authority
of thefr Church and the right of private judgment, have made that
a principle which, in the order of nature, is a consequence ; and aU
thefr own institutions, civU, legal, and political, show the error
they have faUen into. Had Newton made an axiom to follow from
a coroUary, the world woiUd have laughed at him ; yet the nation
which gave birth to him has done so in a fit of reUgious frenzy,
and maintains, through, seff-respect, what it should rejoice to cor
rect. The EngUsh people -wiU have the Bible to be each man's
property — and so it is ; and they wiU have Bishops to rule thefr
Church, without a power to regulate its discipline ; they will
have them to teach the faith, but not to define what it is ; to
excommunicate for heresy those who err, and who err because
they foUow that private judgment which these Bishops teU them
they are bound to exercise. AU these absurdities follow because
the authority of the Church in England is made subserrient to the
right of private judgment. With us it is not so. With us, the
former is estabhshed on a fixed basis, laid down most clearly and
emphatically by Christ, and under it the right of private judgment
is freely and fuUy exercised, as the right of the subject is full and
perfect in its exercise under the protection of the Govemment
recognised by it as supreme.' "

22

CHAPTEE XIV.
The British Minister warned by Dr, Doyle— Remarkable letter to Rev, Dr
Donovan—Letter to Rev, Charles Stewart— Hostile manifesto from May
nooth, and its secret history—Anglade and Delahogue— O'ConneU and
Shell vindicate Dr. Doyle— Beneficial eifect ofthe Bishop's public letter-
He is thanked by the Catholic Association---Letter on Orangemen, old
maids, cash, Catholics, and A'Kempis— Snuff-takers— Letter to Mariana—
The Bishop pursued by plagues and cares— The philosopher's stone-
Letter to Rev, Dr, Yore— Dr, Doyle founds a Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge— Letter to Archbishop Murray— Letter to Lord Wel
lesley— New work by J, K. L, on Education and Bible Societies— Impo
sition, not of hands — Dr, Doyle and O'ConneU  Letters.
The Letter from which we have cuUed Dr. Doyle's remarks on the
union ofthe Churches was headed " ConciUation of Ireland," and
contained not a few reasons likely to influence a statesman in ad
mitting the expediency of the proposed step. Dr. Doyle began by
submitting the proposal to the AngUcan Church and public rather
on its poUtical than its theological claims to attention. He warned
them that the Priests and people whom they daily taunted and
injured might, in a moment when nature instead of grace would
guide their impulse, resort to physical force. This startling m-
sinuation elicited a manifesto from Maynooth College, which we
shaU presently examine. We omitted, in the previous chapter,
the foUowing paragraphs from Dr. Doyle's Letter, because they
did not immediately address themselves to the theological point in
question. The simile of the "volcano" has risen to the dignity of
an apothegm, and has been since repeatedly quoted :
" One of the principal Secretaries of State has said, in his place
in Parliament, that every means of tranquiUizing Ireland had been
tried, Catholic Emancipation alone excepted, and to that measure
he was not then prepared to yield his assent. The head of the
Government in the upper house has deliberately declared, that in
his opinion the admission of the Eoman Catholics to the pri-rileges
of the constitution would only aggravate the evils of the country.
These personages are manifestly at a loss how to conduct the
interests of Ireland. They must be aware that the whole body of
the CathoUcs are impatient, that their pride and interests are
wounded, that disaffection must be working within them, if they
be men bom and nurtured in a free state, and yet enslaved.
These ministers of the crown must know, that the mind of a
nation, fettered and exasperated, will struggle and bound, and
when a chasm is opened will escape by it in a torrent Uke lava
from the crater of a volcano.
" They must see the rising greatness of France, and of the
United States — the growing empires in South America— the

THE VOICE OF WARNING. 339
character of those wars which are approaching, as weU as the dis
positions of six miUions of the King's subjects ; and they must have
thefr misgi-vings as to whether they wiU be able to weather the
coming storm. They are themselves preparing fuel for the flame
m Ireland ; they are educating the people without providing for
their distress, and thus putting the sharpest weapons into the hands
of men, who, as they learn to read, wiU also learn to calculate
their strength, and to devise and meditate on schemes of retaUa-
tion and revenge. They wiU not pacify the country, or induce the
absentees to return, or the resident gentry to abide here in peace ;
by-and-by there vrill be no Unk of connexion between the govern
ment and a zealous, ff not disaffected people. The ministers of
the EstabUshment, as it exists at present, are and wiUbe detested
by those who differ from them in reUgion ; and the more thefr re
sidence is enforced, and thefr number multiplied, the more odious
they wiU become. This may seem a paradox in England, but •
whosoever is acquainted with the oppression arising from tithes
and church-rates, and vrith the excessive reUgious zeal which has
always characterized the Irish, wiU freely assent to this truth,
however strange it may appear.
" The minister of England cannot look to the exertions of the
Catholic priesthood : they have been Ul-treated, and they may
yield for a moment to the influence of nature, though it be opposed
to grace. This clergy, -with few exceptions, are from the ranks of
the people ; they inherit thefr feelings ; they are not, as formerly,
brought up under despotic governments ; they have imbibed the
doctrines of Locke and Paley more deeply than those of BeUarmin
or even of Bossuet on the di-vine right of kings ; and they know
much more of the principles of the constitution than they do of
passive obedience. ...
" Such is the view which this country must present to the eye
of a British statesman, and when he turns from it and says he
knows not what to do, he professes his incompetency to guide the
pubhc councUs.
" In such a state of things it behoves parliament to apply to
itseff what the Eoman senate used to say to the consul or dictator
in times of peril, Curet, nequid republica detrimentum patiatur;
and I have Uttle doubt, if your sentiments were adopted by it, but
that Ireland could be tranquiUized, the union of the countries
cemented, peace and prosperity diffused, and the empfre rendered
invulnerable." A few days subsequent to the appearance of Dr. Doyle's public
Letter, he received from the Eev. Dr. Donovan a hint of the exist
ence of a hostUe missive which was just about to emanate fi-om
Maynooth. The Bishop thus acknowledged it :

340 LETTER TO REV. DE. DONOVAN.
"My DEAE Eev. Feiend— If my sense of the interest which
you feel in everything concerning me could increase, your letter of
yesterday would have added to it.
" I anticipated, when writing my Letter, the objections it
would be liable to, and the quarters from whence they would pro
ceed. I think I can see the plan of life which I have proposed to
myself, and let it be long or short, I trust, with God's blessing,
that I shall not deriate from it. I do hope, with the Dirine aidj
that there is no humiUation or contradiction which could befal me
that I could not bear ; and if the course I have entered upon
should facUitate my retfrement from public Ufe, instead of being a
penalty I would haU it as a blessing. But whether in private or
in pubUc, whenever leisure and opportunity concur, I shaU never
cease to proclaim the injuries and insults to which my religion
and country are subject, and to point out thefr causes and reme
dies, as they may occur to me.
" I shall wait for the end of the ParUamentary session, and
see what takes place there as weU as at home, before I write any
thing ; and if I be put on my defence, I trust in God I may
not be wanting to myself. They wUl not be able to discourage
me, or disturb my political principles, however they may calum
niate them. As to the union of the Churches, I told you I looked
upon it as not attainable, unless by a mfracle of grace ; but that
which was the object of the most earhest desire with the saints
and doctors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — t^at at
which Clement XIV. and Bossuet laboured, and which every
Pope from Leo X. to Pius VII. desfred, cannot be unworthy of
attention now.
" I would be glad that you did write a letter, as a reply to the
objections put forward in the high Orange press, and took occasion
to justify those portions of my Letter you think most objected to--
and this defence is the only one I desfre. As to the people in
DubUn, they are too much dirided to come to any authoritative
declaration on the subject ; and as to thefr gossipings, I totaUy
despise them.
" I am sure there are many Prelates who disapprove of the
sentiments of the Letter ; but I am much deceived if they do
more than converse about it; and if not, you may be firmly
assured I care not -with what freedom they censure. Surely yon
know that to leave the ordinary track in any usage, ff it were only
in wearing a soutane at the altar, or in trafficking about a mar
riage certificate, is calculated to excite sneers, and censures, and
jealousy. Why not then the unfolding of a great political truth,
such as the nature and extent of our aUegiance to the throne? . .
" The man who first stfrs up these truths wUl be decried by

INFORMATION " SUB SIGILLO." 341
aU. The Government wiU fold itself in its strength and dignity,
and make a show of severity and vengeance. But he is a fool who
does not see that the truth works secretiy, and, Uke a grain which
must corrupt before it gives fruit, wUl, after it has suffered ob
loquy, produce advantage.
"I have exposed myseff knowingly and wiUingly to danger
from as many sources as it beset St. Paul ; but I will keep my
eye upon my great object, the good of my country, however re
mote, and will endeavour to bear with whatever I may have to un
dergo. Pray to God that he may dfrect and govern us by His holy
Spfrff ; and beUeve me, &c. „ ^ j_ Dotlb.
" P.S. — I have been in communication with a member of the
House now sitting on Irish affafrs. My letter has not been use
less in that quarter, nor my information. They have sat for four
hours every day but' two since their appointment, nearly aU the
members in attendance the whole time. They have been per
mitted by Govemment to extend their inqufries to everything con
nected -with Ireland. Nearly all the eridence taken hitherto bears
stiongly for an entfre change of system. Six Catholics are now
on thefr way to London, amongst whom is, I beUeve, your Bishop
and his Vicar-General. The Committee -wUl be rerived next ses
sion, and it is intended at that time, prerious to making up the
Eeport, to summon your attached friend. You may communicate
the above, if you -wish, to Dr. Crotty ; but sub sigillo, as far, at
least, as I am concerned."
A few zealots in DubUn having expressed themselves warmly
against the riews enunciated by Dr. Doyle, the late Very Eev.
Charles Stewart apprized the Bishop of it. His reply is dated,
TuUow, 7th June, 1824: "I regret the foUy or malevolence which
actuates the promoters of the proceeding you mention. As it vriU
not, I am certain, be countenanced by the Bishop, or the men of
character amongst the clergy, it may do some mischief, but not any
very material. Should it appear abroad, I wiU let it sink into ob
livion, as I shall not be induced, by the folly or ingratitude of a
few, to animadvert upon proceedings, however offensive, when my
doing so might excite division amongst our body."
On the 4th of June, 1824, The Dublin Evening Post con
tained the manifesto from Maynooth, of whose advent Dr. Doyle
had afready been adrised : " In consequence," it went on to say,'
"of recent pubUc aUusions to the domestic education of the
CathoUc Clergy, we, the undersigned Professors of the Eoyal Col
lege of Maynooth, deem it a duty which we owe to reUgion and
to the country solemnly and pubUcly to state, that in our respec-

842 MANIFESTO FEOM MAYNOOTH.
tive situations we have uniformly inculcated aUegiance to our
gracious Sovereign, respect for the constituted authorities, and
obedience to the laws."
Haring adduced some extracts from the writings of SS. Peter
and Paul, and the Father, TertuUian, to show the guiding principle
of the Catholic reUgion, the document continued : " These prin
ciples are the same which have been ever taught by the Catholic
Church ; and if any change has been wrought in the minds of the
Clergy of Ireland, it is, that religious obligation is here strength
ened by motives of gratitude, and confirmed by swom aUegiance,
from which no power on earth can absolve." The signatures con
sisted of " L. E. Delahogue, FeUow of Sorbonne and Emeritus,
Professor of Theology ; John MacHale, Professor of Dogmatic
Theology ; Francis Anglade, Professor of Moral Theology ; James
Brown, Professor of Sacred Scripture ; and Charles M'Nally, Pro
fessor of Logic and Moral Philosophy."
Dr. Doyle promptly addressed a letter to the editor of The
Evening Post, assuring him that the "publication signed by some
gentlemen at Maynooth had his fuU and entfre approbation." He
observed that a recent Letter of his had been designated as "sedi
tious" by a noble Lord in the House of Peers. " In Ireland," he
added, ' ' no such mistake as that of the nobleman aUuded to could
occur, because here my efforts to support the laws and check dis
affection are too weU known, and the principles of aUegiance, as
inculcated by me, are recorded in my writings."
The late Eight Hon. E. L. Sheil, in an able article on " Ca
thoUc Leaders and Associations," writes: "Dr. Doyle's announce
ment of what is now obriously the truth created a sort of conster
nation. Lord WeUesley, it is said, in order to neutraUze the
effects of this fierce episcopal warning, appealed to Maynooth ; and
from Maynooth there issued a document, in which it is weU un
derstood that the students and even the President, Dr. Crotty,
did not agree, but to which the names of five of the Professors
were attached. The reputation of Dr. Doyle was more widely
extended by this effort of antiquated French divinity to suppress
him." Three of the Professors who signed the Maynooth Declaration
of 1824 are now members of the Irish episcopal bench. One of
this venerable trio has recently informed us of the precise cfrcum
stances under which the document was dra-wn up. The late Kev.
Mr. O'Brien, a Priest of great tact and talent, was then attached to
Maynooth CoUege. " He would sometunes," observed our infor
mant, "read aloud a random passage from a book, and by means of
using a pecuUar tone and emphasis, would turn his bearers com
pletely against it. Again, by shifting the tone and reversing his

SECRET HISTORY OF THE MANIFESTO. 343
manner, that passage which preriously disgusted rarely failed, the
next minute, to fascinate. It was Mr. O'Brien's aim, in the present
instance, to charge Dr. Doyle's pai-agraph -with the unfavourable
tone, and one fine evening in June, while the Professors were at
dessert, O'Brien took up the letter, and read it aloud. The Irish
Professors present Ustened in sUence ; but the French theologians,
Delahogue-and Anglade, who had belonged in their own country
to the ancien regime, at once pricked up their ears, and assumed
a mingled expression of disgust and alarm. ' Mo7i Dieu,' ex
claimed Delahogue, ' est ce possible qu'il preche la Revolution ?'
' La Revolution !' echoed Anglade — 'c'est horrible!' It was de
cided, then and there, that lest the Eoyal CoUege of St. Patrick
or Us Professors should be in any way compromised by Dr. Doyle's
Letter, they shoidd forthwith, and in the most public manner,
repudiate all connexion with it. I signed the document with
great reluctance," continued my informant. "I had long shared
the friendship of Dr. Doyle, and rather than be called upon to
sign it, I proceeded to DubUn when the "inatter was started. But
it was not long ere my retreat was discovered by Drs. Anglade and
Delahogue, and, yielding to thefr expostulation, I at length very
reluctantly gave my signature. Although the document was
pointedly aimed at Dr. Doyle, his friendship for me suffered no
diminution, and on my elevation to the episcopacy, a year later,
he vsTote me a beautiful and most affectionate letter of adrice, and
prayerful aspfration for the success of my untried abiUties. I
preserved this truly eloquent letter until recently, when I destroyed
it -with many others, which I now greatly regret."
The effect, on the whole, was useful and salutary. The Even
ing Post of the day, in a leader, says : "Coming from an ornament
and piUar of the CathoUc Church in Ireland — from a Prelate as
distinguished for his piety as his profound erudition — for his Chris
tian humUity as for the boldness and energy of his eloquence — it
has already caused a sensation as general and as extraordinary as
we ever recoUect to have witnessed in DubUn. Without assuming
more than our contemporaries on this score, we are, perhaps, from
the pecuUarity of our station, as trustworthy witnesses of pubUc
opinion as most men. When we say, therefore, that Dr. Doyle's
letter has fallen upon the pubUc ear Uke the sound of a trumpet,
we do not mean to employ an extravagant hyperbole. In England,
we have the best authority for stating that the impression has
been nearly simUar ; and of this we have assurance, that this Letter
has afready made a deep impression on the Committee now sitting
on the Irish inqufry." Eeferring to some of the poUtical axioms
indicated by Dr. Doyle, The Evening Post added : " These are
the points that strike like daggers at the heart of the monopoly —

344 o'connell's opinion of dr. doyle.
Uke warning guns on the ear of the statesman. Oh ! that they
would awake in time from the fatal slumber in which they are
buried— that they would look, as this courageous and apostohc
Bishop has done, M the condition of Ireland, and adopt measures
accordingly." O'ConneU, in the Cathohc Association, moved a resolution
" thankmg Dr. Doyle for his Letter on the Union of the Churches,
which he was particularly induced to propose, as a pubhcation
from a most respectable quarter, supposed by many to be an attack
upon the poUtical opinions of Dr, Doyle, had been set forth."
Havfrig eulogized, collectively and indiriduaUy, the several Profes
sors who signed the declaration, O'ConneU added : " But I do re
spectfuUy enter my protest against the political principles they
announce, and I cannot aUow that the Professors of Maynooth, or
the CathoUcs generaUy, have any great cause for gi-atitude, al
though bound to the Government by thefr aUegiance." The great
tribune proceeded to vindicate and eulogize Dr. Doyle, drew a
paraUel^ between him and Fenelon, and concluded by requesting
the chairman to transmit to his Lordship the respectful expression
of the gratitude and reverence of the CathoUc Association for the
zeal, talent, loyalty, and piety which have ever marked his ex
ertions in the cause of Ireland. This resolution the Bishop
promptly acknowledged.
"After a sense of my duty to God," he wrote, "the love of
my country has always occupied the first place in my heart ; the
deep interest I feel in her welfare has stimulated me to expose
some of the erils under which she labours, to point out the dan
gers which beset her, as weU as to dissuade her children from
every riolation of law ; and I am glad that my feeble efforts in her
cause have been approved of by the CathoUc Association.
" I regret that my motives should have been mistaken, but I
know that whosoever commits himseff with an oppressed counfry
or a fallen people, is liable to the reproof of those who repay evil
for good. No unfounded censure, however, shaU pre-vent me from
labouring, through good report and eril report, to promote as
much as may be in my power the interests of Ireland, and of that
holy reUgion which is ahnost indigenous to her.
" The principles of my aUegiance are those, and no other, on
which the British Constitution is founded. To discuss those prin
ciples is scarcely useful at any time, but especially when men's
minds are heated ; they are just and vrise, and in perfect accord
ance with the religion of Him who came not to establish an earthly
kingdom, but to command obedience to be paid to existing autho
rities. 'The nature and extent of this obedience is expressed in
our oaths of aUegiance, which oaths we have observed, and wiU,

ADDRESSES AND REPLIES. 845
with the dirine assistance, continue to observe, not only on account
of the evils which would follow from thefr violation, but also for
conscience' sake."
The CathoUc Eent Committee in Waterford haring adopted a
resolution declaratory of the sentiments of "reverence, admiration,
and gratitude with which they, in common with the entfre Catholic
population of Ireland, regard the character and serrices of Dr.
Doyle," he begged to assure them, in reply, that he would con
tinue to rindicate his reUgion and country with aU the zeal which
the most entire devotion to the honour and interests of Ireland
could inspfre. " It is not, however, by the exertions of individuals
only that this country can be raised from her prostrate condition.
The moral force which she stiU possesses must be concentrated in
bodies such as yours, and employed in efforts, such as your Com
mittee is making, to cherish pubUc spirit, and to supply the means
of embarking the opinion of the British pubhc with us, and of ob
taining legal redress for the wrongs and injustice to which we have
been so long subjected."
A pompous Peer, long noted for his opposition to the CathoUc
claims, petulantly styled Dr. Doyle's .Letter on Christian Union as
" seditious" and " insolent." " It bears the impress of a philoso
pher and statesman," said O'ConneU, " and breathes the spirit of
a concUiating Christian. Not even the pious magnanimity with
which Dr. Doyle so disinterestedly offers to sacrifice his dignity of
station, and lay upon the altar of his country his present distin
guished rank, if the sacrifice would tend to -the consummation of
that event which every liberal Christian or honest patriot must de
sire — a union pf Christians — could shield him from animadversion
so severe and unwarrantable." Among the theological strictures
advanced by his own party, it was asserted that the CathoUc
Church had " never treated with heretics in a corporate capacity."
We find, however, that she occasionally did, and even so recently
as 1850, when the Patriarch and Bishops of the Eutychian Chmch
of Syria were received into her communion.
After so much theology and poUtics, a Uttle homely gossip
may now prove a reUef to the reader. Writing to his niece from
Old Derrig, on the 16th of July, 1824, Dr. Doyle says : " You
wiU be surprised to find me in as good health and spfrits as I have
ever been, except that having just caught a cold about my head in
traveUing this week, I may take more snuff and look less ani
mated than usual. As to the Orangemen, I only laugh at them ;
and when I flnd a leisure hour, I am infinitely amused by throwing
them aU into a fright and passion.* I perceive you have not re-
• No wonder that J, K. L, should occasionally throw the Orangemen into a pas
sion, for he often hit them hard. In his Second Letter on the " State of Ireland,"

346 ON MATCHMAKING, SNUFF, AND ORANGEMEN.
Unquished your art of matchmaking ; but is not the folly or the
confidence of that little urchin quite amusing when she says that
' she can get as good as he is at any time ?' Did she never hear
of people dying old maids, or of never getting a second offer ? I
wish you would strive to marry her to some person or other, for I
will not be quite secure until she is disposed of. Keep fast, I beg
of you, the money you have for her, or you never wiU again possess
so much. As to the mother, nothing could improve her condition;
and if she get her husband to settle his interest on the young chil
dren, I shaU give her, as I have always been doing, some Uttle
assistance. This year, indeed, has been one of pinching distress
to me, for aU the poor people about me were starring, and I was
obliged to give them every shiUing I could get.
" I was quite deUghted with the spfrit manffested by our
people at Eoss on the inqufry into the conduct of the police at
New Bawn. Such successful efforts to obtain justice wiU forward
the Catholic cause. TeU your mother, my dear Mary, that I have
this moment read a chapter of Thomas a Kempis ; that in my
greatest hurry I remember her adrice ; that I am to spend the
week after next in retreat, thinking only of my soul ; and that bad
as we aU are, I hope the Lord vriU have mercy on us, and bring us
to meet in heaven."
Dr. Doyle confesses in the foregoing letter that he is a snuff-
taker. It has been remarked by Mr. Fairholt, in his History of
Tobacco, that among men of large inteUect snuff-taking has been
rather common ; and he infers that it may have been felt by them
as a counter-frritant to the .overworked brain. Pope, Svrift,
BoUngbroke, Congreve, Addison, and Gibbon, were confirmed
snuff- takers. The latter in one of his letters says : "I drew
my snuff-box, rapped it, took snuff twice, and continued my dis
course, in my usual attitude of my body bent forwards, and my
forefinger stretched out." Frederick the Great and Buonaparte
were so passionately fond of snuff, that they had capacious
pockets made to their waistcoats, in order that they might have
as little trouble as possible in getting for immediate use the
largest quantity they could desfre.
The convert girl, Mariana, had now entered the conventual
Order of Loretto. "Old Derrig, Carlow, Slst June, 1824,
"My Dear Friend — Your letter of yesterday, though it did
he says of the Orange party : " Monopoly and injustice are written on its standards,
oppression is its watchword, falsehood and slander are its heralds. It has no reason
or justice with it, but it is so clamorous, and so menacing, and so unblushing, as to
overwhelm or confound whomsoever would approach it with argument, or seek to
treat with it on a basis just, useful, or honorable,"

LETTER TO MAEIANA. 347
not announce the entire re-estabUshment of my dear Catharine's
health, yet gives reason to hope that it is not far distant. Your
removal from her must be distressing to you both ; and I do not
know whether at such moments any efforts to curb our feelings
may not serve to augment our sufferings. Like the comforters of
Job, a person, at times of trouble, who mixes unseasonable discourse,
becomes burdensome to his friend, and silence is generaUy more
acceptable than adrice. If I were seated between you both, I
should not know what to say. Our mortal state is so beset with
miseries, that they can neither be removed nor remedied, and it
is only left us to " be humbled under the powerful hand of God,"
with St. Paul, "that we may be exalted in tbe day of His risitation,"
when he wiU return to wipe away every tear from our cheek.
He teUs us that they are blessed who mourn, and whUe we be
Ueve bim, so let us indulge in a fuU sense of our misfortunes, but
as ordained by Him who can turn them hereafter into blessings.
I think it not only a favour of Providence, that by a reUgious life
you ensure in some degree your salvation, but that you exchange
the uneasiness of this world for the laborious and penitential Ufe
of a convent, where many trials exist, but also many helps. As
to adrice, dear Mariana, your dispositions and past experience
render advice from me unnecessary ; and if the Lord be pleased
that you should persevere. He wUl enable you to do so. What
depends on yourseff seems to me to be a cheerful fulfilment of
your duties, as prescribed by the rule ; and not to seek to please,
nor suffer the opinions or rebukes even of others to disturb you.
The more simple your intention and the more simple your conduct
the better for you ; and be not solicitous about to-morrow, for to
morrow wiU be solicitous for itself — which last maxim is, in my
opinion, essential to the peace of a reUgious. TeU Catharine to
submit to the vriU of God, and not make herself miserable about
the manner in which He conducts His affafrs, by thinking she
cannot add a cubit to her stature ; and whatever the Lord pleases
to impose, let her bear it, untU this obscurity in which aU things
are involved here below vriU be succeeded by the wonderful light
of God — for God is Ught, and there is no darkness in Him. . .
My dear Mariana we shaU always pray for each other, and con
tinue, I hope, in this Ufe and the next, to serve God, to adore
His counsels, and bless His name."
On July 26th, 1824, we find Lord Congleton again writing to
Dr. Doyle, to consult him on the nature of the eridence to be
brought before the Committee on the state of Ireland, in the next
session of Parliament.
Among the Bishop's relations, there was one member of the
fafr portion of the creation frequently needy, never diffident, but

848 A TROUBLESOME KINSWOMAN.
always pushing and troublesome, who, many a time, greatly an
noyed him. Alluding to one of her periodical descents on Old
Derrig, and her proridential departure soon after. Dr. Doyle
writes : " I am now at ease, the Lord be praised, for verily that
woman and her chUdren have tormented me." They are also
referred to in the foUowing letter. In July, 1824, her daughter
had a prospect of becoming matrimonially settled if she could
command a smaU dowry. Of this the Bishop was apprised by his
niece Mary.
" I happened to be at home this day when your amusing letter
reached. Though in a very grave mood (for I am borne down with
labour and care)., I was disposed to laugh at the abiUty with which
you manage aU those with whom you come in contact ; but if, in
addition to your powers of persuasion, you were armed with a
blunderbuss, you could not get a shiUing from me at present, for
on yesterday I gave away the last note I had in my desk. Some
tenpennys now constitute my whole stock, with probably half-a-
dozen sovereigns. Had you found the philosopher's stone, and
could convert the tenpennys into gold, I should give them to you ;
but your power in that way is as feeble as my ovm. Since I saw
you I sent to Mrs.  £8, to pay for her son's schooUng and
clothing tiU next year, and had I not sent it then I could not send
it now. I desfred her not to write me one word about her chUdren,
and for the first time, I beUeve, in her Ufe, she took my adrice.
I was, in truth, afraid of hearing about this match, and if I could
silence her I expected to remain at peace. I vrish the mother
and aU her chUdren were married ; but married or unmarried, I
wUl never give £40 to her entire famUy. If these people cannot be
married without money let them remain single — and as a single life
is better than a double one, why not make a rirtue of necessity ?"
On September 24th, he writes : " I had a letter yesterday
from a gentleman in Dublin who owes me some money. I have
a prospect of getting it, and as it is not the property of the Church,
I wUl send, you £25 by Mr. Devereux."
The poor Bishop, in dispensing his -wide-spread generosity,
involved himself unexpectedly in some serious difficulties. Some
weeks later he vmtes: . " I have been dreadfuUy embarrassed this
last fortnight, and am thinking of giring up Old Derrig and going
to lodgings. " Mrs,  came here, and I sent her home saying that I
could not interfere by adrice, or otherwise, in her business, nor
shall I, Her mother wrote me a furious letter. Keep out of their
sight or they wiU annoy you. Thus we are repaid for our money
and pains ; but I hope God may reward us. I am perfectly in
different about what they may say or think of me."

LETTER TO CATHARINE. 349
One very cold and wet day about this period, he observed to
the Eev. Mr. Maher, as he looked do-wn at his badly shod feet, " I
have been trying to make up the price of a new pair of shoes."
Mr. W. F. Finn, afterwards M.P. for KUkenny, at a meeting
of the CathoUc Association on the 19th of July, 1824, observed :
" Driven almost to desperation, as the people at present are, by
grievances and want, the Catholic Clergy are preserving them in
obedience and loyalty. The Priesthood of Carlow, headed by
thefr most pious, patiiotic, and Ulustrious Prelate, Dr. Doyle,
were at that moment, to his (Mr. Finn's) personal knowledge,
supporting, by thefr exertions and by thefr charity, the people of
that neighbourhood, and preser-ving them from becoming the vic
tims of famine and disease. Those are among the means by
which the CathoUc Clergy have ingrafted themselves upon the
affections and confidence of the people."
Shortly prior to the chUUng prospect which the Bishop an
nounces to his niece, he addressed the foUovring fatherly and
hospitable invitation to his young convert friends in Dublin.
Catharine, in thanksgiring for her wonderful recovery, had re
solved to foUow her sister Mariana's example by dedicating her
Ufe to God's serrice as a Sister of Charity. " Old Derrig, 29th August, 1824.
" My dear Catharine — I take a Uttle from my usual time of
sleep to reply to your most acceptable letter. I had been drudg
ing in tbe country aU day, as I have been incessantly for the last
month, and was cheered this evening at my retum on recognizing
your handwriting amongst the volume of letters laid on my table.
I hoped, from Miss G  's account of you, that you were impro
ving; but your silence made me fear you had again relapsed.
Thanks to God, it is otherwise ; and perhaps He is pleased not to
prolong the most severe of trials. As I shaU not be here from to
morrow tiU the 28th of September, let me have a Une from you on
that day, mentioning when I am to expect you and little Sarah.
I wUl be delighted at your arrival, and if silence and peace can con
tribute to your health and happiness, I hope you wUl enjoy both
in this solitary mansion. I can promise you nothing more, for I
am grown old and stupid -with labour and care ever since I saw
you, and I am truly weary of this world. Were I worthy to be
dehvered from the trials which God has . allotted to me, I would
-wish to enter ' that bourne from whence no traveUer returns,' and
try the desert which Ues beyond this vale. But no; we must suffer
these things for our sins, and it is only when we are patiently
submissive that we are sure of not doing wrong.
"Your account of our dear Mariana is very gratifying, and if

350 DR. DOYLE SKETCHES THE PLAN OP A NEW SOCIETY
she be happy, that is enough. It is so ordained that you are not
to derive comfort from her society, but to seek it in some other
objects here, or in Him who alone is not separated from those He
attaches to Himself. Would to God we were of that number. I
suppose you wiU be shortly, as aU your trials have detached you
from everything except her, and in her you can now have no fur
ther enjoyment. How uflsearchable are the ways of God, how
unlike ours, and how bitter and unmixed is the gall which he pre
sents to those who are to be made conformable to the image of his
Son! " But I feel myself unworthy and unfit to write of these things,
and beg to assure you, my dear Catharine, of the most sincere
friendship vrith which I am, &c., '< * T Doytf "
The foUowing letter, on the subject of a Catholic society for
the diffusion of useful knowledge, is addressed to the Very Eev.
Dr. Yore : " Old Derrig, 13th July, 1824,
" My dear Eev. Sir — Since our friend, the Eev. Mr. Slattery,
handed me the papers you sent me, I had been absent from home,
or so much occupied that I had not a moment to employ on the
good work in which you have engaged me ta share. I have, at
length, thrown together a crude outUne of my views in the shape
of resolutions. You vriU read them over with our inestimable
friend, Mr. O'ConneU, and if he and dear Dean Lube wiU, with
yourseff, alter or amend them, or substitute others for them, we
shaU have something wherewith to begin. It is only by engaging
several persons of zeal and influence to countenance the measure,
that it can be respectably brought before the pubUc, and much, if
not aU, depends upon its first introduction. Should you be enabled
to have such a meeting as may seem desirable, you would, of
course, arrange preriously the appointment of the officers — for
in carrying out of work, all depends on the committee and secre
tary — he, at least, should be a clever and zealous man.
" If a meeting were held before the end of September, I could
not attend — if, indeed, my attendance could be of any use ; but at
any subsequent period I would go to town for the purpose, and
lay before the meeting my views of the necessity and advantage of
such an institution.
"Should Mr. O'CanneU be able to devote any portion of his
time or thought to it, he could render it popular with many thou
sands ; and it is to the good wiU of the people that, next after the
co-operation of the Clergy, we would have to look for support. I
have mentioned February for the general meeting, because the
town is full at that time, and, the Trustees of Maynooth CoUege
hold their winter meeting in DubUn early in that month every year.

FOR THE DIFFUSION OF WHOLESOME KNOWLEDGE. 361
" You may have an opportunity of letting mo know whether
you are making any and what progress ; and believe me ever
^°''''' " * J. Doyle."
A series of weU-digested resolutions, in the autograph of Dr.
Doyle, accompanied this letter. Their comprehensiveness, ex
tent, and careful attention to the most minute details in the mo
dus operandi of the proposed society, shov/ tbat the good Bishop
did not spare his already jaded brain, in endeavouring to make
Dr. Yore's project a success. Having observed that the institu
tion should be denominated the Irish Catholic Society for the Dif
fusion of EeUgious Knowledge, and that it be governed by a pre
sident, four rice-presidentSj a treasurer, a secretary, and a com
mittee of twenty-one. Dr. Doyle went on to state the terms of
Ufe, annual, and honorary membership, with their pririleges, and
added : " The president, rice-president, officers, and committee
should be appointed by vote, or chosen by ballot, and no person
not resident in DubUn or within three miles of it, or who derives
emolument from the society, wUl be eUgible to a place on the
committee, or to the offices of president, treasurer, or secretary."
He considered that a quorum of the committee ought to meet once
in each week for tbe transaction of business, empowered to caU
special or general meetings of the society on giving due notice, to
employ printers, clerks, and agents, to receive donations, coUect
subscriptions, as weU as to approve of works to be printed or cir
culated, and to promote by every just means the ends of the
socMy. Among the resolutions were — " That the treasurer pro
duce his accounts duly audited, and the secretary his report of the
proceedings of the society, at each annual meeting." " That no
work be printed or pubUshed by the society to which the president
or rice-pfesident, when present, or three members of the com
mittee, may object;" and " That such books as are calculated to
excite dissensions amongst Irishmen be carefuUy excluded."
" That, as the chief object of the society is to promote the know
ledge and practice of true reUgion, they vrill circulate only such
works as may enable CathoUcs to give an account of ' the hope
which is in them,' to dispel the prejudices existing against the
ancient faith, and to improve the minds and hearts of aU who
read them." Dr. Doyle concluded with a resolution " That the
committee be instructed to open a correspondence with the Ca
thoUc Prelates, and to submit to them an outUne of a plan for the
formation of co-operative CathoUc societies in the several cities
and towns within their respective jurisdictions, and for the estab
Ushment or enlargement of useful cfrculating libraries by the
parochial clergy."

852 LETTER TO THE MOST REV. DR. MURRAY.
A great deal of fanatical spirit prevailed during the earUer por
tion of the present century, and the CathoUc Prelacy found it
necessary to exercise the same authority in regulating the read
ing of the Bible in the vulgar tongue as had been preriously
exercised, under simUar cfrcumstances, by the CouncUs of Tou
louse, MUan, Narbonne, Cambray, and Spain, as also by the Pon
tiffs Innocent III. and Pius IV. St. Jerome, Origen, St. BasU,
and St. Augustin, recommend this economy, point out the dangers
attendant on the reading of the Scriptures at certain times and by
certain persons, and declare that although they are worthy of aU
reverence, no heresy, however wUd, has ever failed to borrow sup
port from them.
The foUowing letter is addressed tq the late Archbishop Mur
ray, in reply to a communication from his Grace soliciting Dr.
Doyle's opinion and adrice respecting the KUdare-place system of
education : "Old Derrig, 1 6th September, 1824.
" My dear Lord — I am clearly and decidedly of opinion that
it is not lawful for any Catholic to assist or co-operate with the
Kildare-place Society in carrying into effect thefr ' system of edu
cation. " I deem the reading of the Sacred Scriptures by the weak and
ignorant, such as children are, whether with or without comments,
an abuse always to be deprecated ; but such reading of them in
this country, at this time and in the present circumstances, I con
sider an abuse fiUed with danger — not only an eril, but an e-vU of
great magnitude ; and the Apostle says ' they are guUty of death,
not only they who do evil, but they also who consent to theTroing
of it.'-I remam, &c., .. ^ j^ Doyle." '
The following apt remarks of Dr. Doyle, on the propriety of
occasionaUy restricting the indiscriminate reading of the Bible,
occur in a letter to the Marquis WeUesley :
" There is no Christian Church in Europe, my Lord, which
uses so many or more inspiring forms of prayer than ours ; there
is no Church in which so many works of piety and on the Gospel
morality bave been -written ; there is no people on earth more de
voted to their perusal, or more desirous of reducing them to prac
tice than the weU-educated of the Irish CathoUcs; there is no
priesthood in the world more anxious for their diffusion than the
Cathohc priesthood ; and there is no Church has been more steady
and uniform in recommending to her children the perusal of the
Sacred Scriptures, where such perusal was not exposed to danger
or liable to abuse, than the CathoUc. She has never imposed any
restriction upon this practice, unless when compeUed to do so by

letter on BIBLE SOCIETIES. 353
some unavoidable necessity. Like as a tender mother, who feels
deUght in providing for her ehUdren the most wholesome and sub
stantial food, but yet, when they are threatened with a disease
which has afready committed ravages in the neighbourhood, she
withdraws the diet by which it would be nourished or communi
cated. " Thus, my Lord, at a period of civil commotion, your Excel
lency, who would be at all times the father of the people, recom
mends the suspension of the Habeas Corpus, that bulwark of
freedom, until the public mind is restored to its proper tone, and
the plans of the disaffected are dissipated. Indeed numberless
iUusfrations could be adduced of the exertion of that sound discre
tion by which the CathoUc Church suspends or . regulates the
inaUenable right of her chUdren to read the Word of God, and her
discipUne in this respect appears to them so reasonable, that they
caimot sufficiently express thefr surprise that a mode of proceeding
should be censured in her which is applauded when acted on by
aU other bodies possessed of authority."
Dr. Doyle well knew that without the stimulus of education the
popular mind would become lethargic, prostrate, and eventually
unfit for freedom, and he longed to see the national inteUect ex
pand seff-reUantly, and work with an earnest industry. The day
on which he felt himself constrained to withdraw the flock com
mitted to his pastoral care from the schools of the Kildare-place
Society witnessed a painful struggle ; but it was impossible to re
main any longer blind to the fact that they had graduaUy degene
rated into seminaries of insidious proselytism. In the autumn of
1824, the Bishop published his " Letters on the State of Educa
tion in Ireland and on Bible Societies," in which he powerfully
grappled vrith the subject before him. For rigorous volume of
logic, effective tone of appeal, and flowing rhetoric, no subsequent
work of his has surpassed it.
Dr. Doyle complained that foundations for education had been
turned into sinecures ; that the very few diocesan and parochial
schools which existed were accessible only to those who could pay ;
that charter schools aimed notoriously at the reUgious proselytism
of the people ; that CathoUcs were excluded from every endowed
school, or exposed in them to the mental training of a master
professing a different religion, or perhaps no religion at all ;
"whUst their o-wn creed might be spit upon and buffeted by
every zealot who beUeved that in so doing he rendered a serrice
to 'God and to the State." The tone of unreserve in which the
Bishop iijdulged necessarily brought him in contact with the
societies which had taken the youth of Ireland under their
parental care, and obUged him to treat incidentaUy of the BibUcal
23

354 DOCTORS DOYLE AND MAGEE AT LAST AGEEE.
mania which was then " disturbing the peace of Ireland, and
threatening the safety of the State." Some novel points occurred
in this portion of the Bishop's work. The saying of a country
Priest had been quoted with reUgious horror, "that the Bible
would play the devU with children ;" " yet," said J.K.L., "the
Priest thought rightly, though he expressed himself in the Irish
manner, putting the wrong end of the sentiment foremost. The
Scriptures would not play the deril with the chUdren, but the devU
would play his pranks with the chUdren by means of the Scripture.
He quoted it adroitly enough to our Eedeemer, saying, ' It ia
written' — ah ! and what is not written ? I should be sorry to
quote aU that is written, for if I did, I might, Uke others, excite a
storm against the Church and State ; but ' it is written,' said the
devU to our Eedeemer, " He hath given it in command to His
angels that they bear thee in thefr hands, lest thou hurt thy foot
against a stone.' Had a chUd been there, he might have been
tempted by the text to make the experiment suggested by Satan —
he might cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple ; and
if he did, he would, in my opinion, find that the letter of the
Scripture had conducted him to ruin."
It was not the Cathohc Prelacy alone who opposed and con
demned the Bible societies. A distinguished advocate for Scrip
tural education, the late Archbishop Magee, whose views and Dr.
Doyle's were, on all other points, diametricaUy opposed, declared,
in his ParUamentary evidence, that the Bible societies had become
disfigured by great abuse. " Very soon after the Bible Society
was iaftroduced into Ireland," admits the Archbishop in his evi
dence, "I fdund, unfortunately, with a good deal of eloquence and
talent amongst its advocates at thefr pubUc meetings, that the
value of the Bible was so enthusiastically enforced, as to be en
forced almost exclusively as a means of religious instruction ; and
this was carried so far, that the natural inference seemed to be,
and it was sometimes so argued in express terms, that an exti-a-
ordinary power or charm was imparted to the very possession of
the book ; and if indiriduals possessed tbe Bible, they requfred no
other aid in the way of spfritual instruction. ... It became
the practice to recommend the Bible vrithout note or comment,
upon the special ground of its being freed from aU human instruc
tion — so as to go to the extreme of saying that the addition of
human instraction impeded the progress of the pure Word of God,
and that, in truth, aU human instruction became useless, or worse,
to him who possessed a Bible. In this, of course, I could not
acquiesce." Many other influential Protestant dirines, including
Bishop Jebb, expressed themselves much more strongly, maintain
ing that the reading of the Bible should be controUed by Church

DECLAN FULLY CONCURS WITH J. K. L. 355
authority ; nor is it surprising, for, from the Apostie Peter to the
metaphysician Locke, some of the gi-eatest intellects have declared
thefr inabiUty to understand many portions of the Sacred Volume.
Even the Eev. WilUam Phelan ("Decian"), who had opposed Dr.
Doyle so virulently on other matters, pubUshed a pamphlet, in
which he strongly condemned the Bible Society, and proposed a
union between the Church of England and the Church of Eome
against sectaries !
Dr. Doyle, as we have afready seen, venerated the Bible, and,
as he teUs us in his Seventh Letter on the " State of L-eland," he
read portions of it every day for more than twenty years, devoted
many an hour to the study of it, expounded it to others, collected
eighteen editions of it in different languages, but, Uke St. Augus
tine, found in it infinitely more than he could understand. It was
the irreverent and undiscipUned use to which the Sacred Volume
had been latterly applied that disgusted and dismayed him. " The
types sweat," he wi-ote, " the press teems, vessels are freighted
for it, and all to no purpose. It drives an immense trade — pro
fitable, no doubt, to many — in Bibles and missionaries ; it squan
ders hundreds of thousands upon expeditions more senseless than
the most fooUsh of Sir Walter Ealeigh's, and, Uke that pirate,
it repays its dupes with reports of what never had existence."
J.K.L. then appealed to a train of proofs. " They tell us," he
said, "of the number of Bibles they distribute, and where is the
difficulty of thus sowing the seed by the side of the highways ?
Do not the pawn-offices in every town bear testimony of their pro
fiision ?" But his remarks on the state of education in Ireland
were conceived in a lofti^ riew :
" The state of education in this country is not certainly gra
tifying to a man of reflection. The study of science is confined
to a few, and the only sciences which are well cultivated amongst
us are those connected -with the physical world. Positive sciences,
which require great labour, patience, and industry, are not suited
to the Irish character ; and hence, as weU as from the smaU pro
fits or honours annexed to them, they are greatly neglected.
Another cause of this neglect is found in the excessive wealth of
our University and of the EstabUshed Church, where pride and
indolence, the natural growth of riches, occupy the place of labour
and study ; whUst, on the other hand, want of time and of means
prevent the CathoUc Clergy from devoting themselves to literary
pursuits." Dr. Doyle added, that he met prophets and apostles on every
highway, but a good logician, or a learned historian, or a man of
deep research was a rara avis. A mathematician or geologist, a
man skilled in plants or minerals, is not very difficult to discover.

356 " WE WILL CEASE TO BEGET CHILDREN IN OUR BONDAGE."
but compared with politicians, and essayists, and orators, and
preachers of the Word, he bore as Uttle proportion as the handful
of Greeks did to the myriads of Xerxes. That a Uttle knowledge
was a dangerous thing, had in no country been more fuUy proved
than in Ireland. For there a Uttle leaming, acting upon the pas
sions by means of a partisan press and platform, is one of the
great causes of the incessant agitation in which the public mind
was kept. " This action is called discussion, but though I look
at the papers and pamphlets with which the country is inundated,
I do not always find in them a sound exposition of trath, or an
essay which bespeaks in the -writer experience of the world, know
ledge of past events, or an inteUect taught to reason justly."
Dr. Doyle cried out loudly for a fair and efficient system of
education for the people :
"Do we wish or require to be intrusted with the pubUc in
struction ? No : we seek only that the portion of it which regards
ourselves be intrusted to us ; we do not desfre to put our sickle
into another man's harvest ; all we requfre is, that you observe the
commandment of Christ : ' Whatever you wish that men do to
you, do you to them in Uke manner ;' you would not confide the
instruction of your chUdren to us ; do not obUge us to intrust ours
to you. " As to the State bestovring aid — we feel indebted for it; we
will be grateful for it ; we shaU not even think, if you vriU, that
the State exists only for the good of the people, that we are its
subjects, that we pay its taxes, supply its luxuries, bear aU its
burdens, fight and die for its aggrandizement or glory. We wiU
waive all right to the pubUc money, and sit, like Lazarus, expect
ing the crumbs. All this we wiU do, only do not afflict us by
interposing your authority between us and our chUdren ; do not
estrange from us the mind or affection of our Uttle ones, or teach
them from their infancy to regard the stranger as entitled to their
confidence ; do not intimate to them that thefr parent and pastor
are unfit to train their mind, and form their heart, or introduce
them to the world. If your object be to seduce them from the
faith for which we have suffered, and into which they have been
baptized, avow it — teU us so, and we wiU retfre with them mto
the desert, and teU our misfortunes to the rocks ; or, we vriU cease
to beget children in our bondage, and let our name be forgotten
and our race extinguished."
This pamphlet, which occupied sixty pages, was pubUshed by
Coyne, and went through four editions.
At a meeting of the CathoUc Association, 10th of November,
1824, the proceedings of the Bible Societies were subjected to
much amusing criticism. Mr. O'Gorman referred to the misre-

o'connell's EULOGIUM ON DR. DOYLE. 357
presentations and demands which had been made on the purses
aud understandings of the EngUsh. From Ennis a memorial had
been forwarded, stating it contained a population of 12,000 Pro
testants, who had not a place of worship, and requesting a pecu
niary loan to build one. The real fact was, that there were three
streets in Ennis, containing 600 famiUes, not one among which
was a Protestant, and more than twenty-five famUies never at
tended the church. In the course of O'ConneU's speech on this
occasion he aUuded thus eloquently to Dr. Doyle :
" He could not omit the opportunity of stating, that of aU the
inteUects he had ever encountered — and the nature of his profes
sion, whUe it gave him some insight into the character of the
human mind, also enabled him to judge pretty correctly of the
powers of indiriduals — that of Dr. Doyle was the most mighty
and stupendous ; whUe his manly, gentle, and amiable manners
formed a fine contrast to the towering strength of bis inteUect,
and iUustrated the idea of the ' thunderbolt of Jove in the hands
of a child' by thefr soft and soothing, influence. This kindhness
of disposition, this amiable' piety, combined with the single-
heartedness of Dr. Doyle's mind, had added to the utUity of his
purposes, and given him a moral force -with the people which was
irresistible. It was quite incredible the sums of money that he
larished in charity ; his benevolence and his purse seemed in
exhaustible, as they were, indeed, most unaccountable. He ap-
peai-ed to coin his heart into reUef for his famishing countrymen."
The Bishop's relations in Wexford, including Father Peter
Doyle, had become anxious to give him a eead mille a failthe to
his native county. In a letter to Mrs. Coney, on the 24th of
September, 1824, Dr. Doyle writes: "I had entirely forgotten my
promise of going to Wexford to see Peter. I beUeve I am getting
stupid ; but, in truth, I have been so womed both in mind and
body, during the last six or eight weeks, that I have not as yet
been able to coUect my thoughts. I don't know when I can go to
see him, as I am obUged to attend our conferences here, and return
then to the county Kildare. I thought I could go for a week to
some spa or to the sea, but find I cannot, and I believe it would
not be necessary ff I could only rest for a few days at home."
" Worried in both mind and body," and weU-nigh stupified
from work, and the absence of all relaxation, we find Dr. Doyle, on
the same day that he addressed his niece, amiably" acknowledging,
in the fuUest terms, a letter from Mariana, whose profession as a
nun was about to take place. Knowing the intensity of this interval
of anxiety, the Bishop seeks to cheer the young nun, and assumes
a light heart, though, most likely, it was in reaUty heavy enough :

358 ST, AUGUSTINE AND DEAN SWIFT.
" Old Derrig, 24th September, 1824,
" I was favoured with your letter, and am sincerely happy to
find you are so happy. May the Lord keep you so, my dear friend,
all the days of yom Ufe, for there are quite enough of us in
misery, conflicting vrith this weary world, which is so perverse, and
filled vrith such temptation. You have your portion of what it can
afford, and should the Lord, at so early a period of your life, have
fiUed up the measure of your trials, and taken you to the embraces
of His pure love, you have been more blessed than most of His
foUowers — for though our tribulation is Ught and short, yet it ge
neraUy continues during the entire of our pUgrimage ; but ' in the
house of God,' as St. Augustine observes, 'one goes one way, and
one another ; and some are drawn on by a wonderful sweetness,
whUst others force thefr way by riolence — but aU are blessed who
dweU in His house ; for ever and ever they wUl praise Him.'
You see I don't forget my quotations, and, as variety is charming,
I shaU insert a Uttle of Dean Svrift between St. Augustine and St.
Paul. Every man is busied about his own affairs, and the Dean
was as much concerned about this world as Augustine about the
other, and he compares it to a gulf " Which imbibes
The laywer's fees, the statesman's bribes ;
Here, in their proper shape and mien,
Fraud, perjury, and guilt are seen,"
You see what a different riew these two clever men give of the
places they were thoroughly acquainted with. I think they teach
us a good lesson, and prove manifestly the justice of St. Paul's
remark, ' that he who Uves should live for Christ.' Do you go on
then, dear child, and be happy with God in His own house, and
bless Him for ever that He has caUed you to it — for, be assured,
it is the greatest grace He confers in this Ufe, even upon His own
dearest chUdren.
" I am glad that you find our duU and semi-barbarous lan
guage (we got it from the English) incapable of expressing your
ideas of the good Mrs. T— — 's rirtues. I admfre exceedmgly
your Latin description of her, and I verily believe she deserves to
be described in language which seems to have survived time itseff,
and to be destined to- immortaUty.
" Adieu, Mariana, or Paul, or Vincent, or whatever your
name is — I suppose it is Uke that of the secretary of Ximenes,
which was as various as the kingdoms over which bis master pre
sided ; but, be this as it may, it is very dear to me, and though I
wiU not address it again until it is confirmed at your profession, I
shaU remember it daily in one shape or other."

CHAPTEE XV.
Dr, Doyle's caution in admitting persons to Priest's orders  Letters  Anec
dotes, humorous and sei'ious — Letter to Archbishop Murray  The Hon,
Mr, Noel — Sydney Smyth_The Catholic Renl— Letter to Archbishop
Murray on Education — Attempt to entrap Dr, Doyle  A Frenchman
" walks from Cambrai to Old Derrig to see J, K, L,"  Guests at Old
Derrig — Dr. Doyle continues to stimulate the progress of the Catholic
Claims — Public controversial discussion in Carlow between Priests and
Parsons — The result — Dr, Doyle's dislike to religious controversy  Mr.
Plunket and Dr, Magee — Curious anecdotes — Eneas M'DonneU  Letters
and conversations — Letter to Dr, Uonovan — Divide et impera  Laugh
able anecdote — A solemn excommunication performed by Dr, Doyle 
Interesting scene.
Knowing that an unworthy Priest may be the ruin of thousands.
Dr. Doyle did not " impose hands lightly upon any man."
Anxious to uphold the dignity of the priestly character, he was
exceedingly cautious in admitting persons to holy orders, and
although they might have been as moral as St. Joseph, be not un
fi-equently rejected them if thefr personal appearance were uncouth,
or thefr inteUect obtuse. "Whilst by the Divine command," he
would sometimes say, "bodUy defects disqualified for the ministry
of the Old Law, in the Christian dispensation such exclusion rests
principaUy on the deformities of the mind." The three following
letters, written at this period — the first and last to the present
Bishop of Saldes, the second to Dr. Gibbons, Provincial, O.S.A. —
exhibit Dr. Doyle's sound discretion in selecting candidates for
holy orders :
" My DEAR Eev. Friend — Some days ago a young man named
M  , of this diocess, caUed on me by the dfrection of Mr.
F  of Dublin, to obtain from me an official certificate of his
having been confirmed, preparatory to his admission to our Order.
I had before informed the gentleman in Dublin that this person is
so deficient in leaming and talents, and so advanced in age, as to be,
in my opinion, unfit for the religious state, except as a lay brother.
It is an odious thing on my part to thwart the views of one of my
own poor people, and he a reUgious youth ; but I should prefer
doing so (confiding the matter to your discretion, and that of the
Provincial) to having the Order incumbered with automatons of
this sort through the folly of those Dublin people, who seem to
me not the best judges of who would be useful to them."
'' Old Derrig, 18th September, 1824.
My DEAR AND Very Eev. Father Provincial — A young man
named J. D  , of this diocess, wishes to become a member of
our Order. He is about eighteen years of age, and the most
highly gifted with talents that I have known for many years. His

360 LETTERS AND ANECDOTES.
life is also as pure and rirtuous as we could almost desire, and I
hope, vrith the Dirine aid, that he wiU become holy and learned,
useful to the Church, and an ornament to the famUy of our holy
Father. I remember that you gave me some commission respect
ing persons who might apply for admittance to the Order ; but I
don't recoUect the extent of it, and beg you may inform me
whether you vpiU receive this young man, and where" he is to be
sent to serve his noriciate. I need not add that the necessary ex
penses wiU be defrayed by his father."
Alluding to a youth who now holds a highly respectable posi
tion in the diocess. Dr. Doyle observes a few days later: "I
spoke with the President of the CoUege about remitting the en
trance-money charged to Master M  . He and I are vriUing to
make an exception in favour of so excellent a young man, who
promises to be the hefr of so much famUy virtue. I hope to see
your young friend here at dinner vrith me on to-morrow, when I
wiU have an opportunity of observing him."
Dr. Doyle was not easily pleased, " I declare to you, young
man," he said on one occasion to a somewhat stupid candidate for
holy orders, " I would much rather see you go home, and mind
your father's farm. My adrice is, cast theology to the winds, and
drive the plough for the rest of your days."
Some young men who had been hastily ordained to supply the
exigencies of a Northern diocess, were sent to a CathoUc ooUege
to complete thefr studies. They could hardly maintain thefr posi
tion as Priests, yet, because ordained, could not be treated as
students. They held a kind of middle rank, and were not regarded
with favour by the professors. One of them proring very obtuse,
and faiUng to answer some questions put, the Bishop asked him :
" Pray, sir, are you a Priest ?" "I am, my Lord," was the falter
ing reply. " Who ordained you ?" " The Eight Eev. Dr.  ."
" Then," repUed Dr. Doyle, sonorously, " may God forgive him,
for the Church of Ireland never can."
A person, long familiarly known as " Garratt," had possessed
very comfortable means until, haring been unluckily prostrated by
typhus fever, he was led, in a moment of mental weakness, to
assign away aU his property to some needy relatives. Garratt re
covered his health, but never could recover his property. For
charity be was taken into Carlo-w CoUege as a pensioner. He was
piously incUned, and, after a time, appUed his mind to the rudi
ments of theology, with a view to the Church. " The man is a
simpleton," said Dr. Doyle, and he proceeded to examine him and
several other students. "Now," said the Bishop, "supposing
that you were saying Mass and that a spider fell into the chaUce,

MORE ANECDOTES. 361
would you feel yourseff authorised in picking it out ?" Gan-att
was sUent, but, having been prompted by another student, he
repUed, " I would swallow it, my Lord." " Very good," said Dr.
Doyle, " and if a donkey feU into the chalice, what course would
you adopt?" " SwaUow it," responded Garratt, mechanically.
"Hoofs and all?" inqufred the Bishop. "Yes," said Garratt,
to the infinite amusement of the assemblage. It heed hardly be
added that Garratt irrevocably abandoned theology fi-om that day.
A few years after, he feU into a state of idiocy, and to the day of
his death he laboured under the haUucination that he was a
regularUy ordained ecclesiastic.
A learned and accomplished young Priest died about this time.
Dr. Doyle, surrounded by clergymen, entered the room in which
the corpse was waking. " There are several Priests in this
diocess," said the Bishop, " of whose abiUty and fame as theo
logians I am justly proud. Some have attained that proficiency
from many long years of experience and reading ; but on the de
cision of none, in any difficult question of theology, would I have
as soon relied as on ihat of the beardless boy who lies dead."
Dr. Doyle strongly censured any Priest who exhibited a
tendency to the petit maitre, and has been known to compare a
clergyman of this character rather to a foppish captain of militia,
than to a Priest of Him who taught us to be meek and bumble of
heart. He vehemently declaimed against the happily rare in
stances in which Priests converted the altar steps or the pulpit
stairs into the ladder of ambition ; or wbo sustained their relatives
in idleness and foUy, to the injury of the suffering poor.
To show the pains Dr. Doyle took in order to impro-ve the
inteUect and moral culture of the young men who were educated
in his diocess, with a riew to the Church, we may subjoin the
foUovring letter to the late Archbishop Murray. The preparatory
school for ecclesiastical students at TuUow has long ceased to
erist. " January 4th, 1824.
" My dear Lord Primate — Permit me, through the medium
of the present Une, to introduce my friend, Mr. James O'Grady,
and to soUcit for him the favour of your Grace's kind protection.
" He has been for several years the proprietor and sole con
ductor of our ' Diocesan Seminary at TuUow,' and has given to
the pubhc and to me such satisfactory proofs of great eminence in
Uterature and science, that I shaU always feel a very lively interest
in his future success. He is perfect master of the ancient
languages of Greece and Eome, and equaUy conversant vrith
logic, mathematics, and philosophy. His style and manner of
preparing students designed for the ecclesiastical state is pecu-

B62 MISSION to " THE BENIGHTED IRISH."
Uarly effective, and admirably calculated to secure future collegiate
distinction. This is attended by a splendid series of gratifying
results, as the young men educated by him have been, in almost
every instance, very highly distinguished in our College at Carlow,
as weU as in several of the Continental colleges. Nor is his
character as a scholar higher for classical and scientific acqufre-
ments, than it is as a good CathoUc. He is coming up to Dublin,
with the intention of attaching himself permanentiy to St. Patrick's
Seminary, and of graduating in Trinity College. Deeply, indeed,
do I regret his departure from the Seminary of TuUow. I cannot,
however, but rejoice that your Grace will have gained in him a
subject of rare and sterling value, and who, unquestionably, wiU
prove an inestimable acquisition to the archdiocess.
"I beg leave therefore, most earnestly, to request of your Grace
to receive him, yet unknown, upon faith of my testimony ; and
aware, as I am, of your Grace's high esteem for talent and for
rirtue, I have no hesitation in saying that when your Grace will
have the opportunity of knowing Mr. O'Grady as I do, he wiU not
need any recommendation from me to ensure to him the fullest
measure of your Grace's kind feeUng and patronage. " * J. Doyle."
At the period of which we write, there were travelUng through
Ireland two personages, who had been deputed by the evangehcal
party in England to convert " the benighted Irish." One was
the Hon. Mr. Noel, who afterwards tired of the adventure ; his
coUeague was Captain Gordon, E.N. In September, 1824, they
risited Cork, and chaUenged the Eoman CathoUcs to pubUc dis
putation. Messrs. Noel, Gordon, and Pope spoke; O'ConneU,
SheU, and the Eev. Mr. Falvey opposed them. The discussion
continued with considerable animation : at length Captain Gordon
was— accorduig to the late Mr. Fagan, M.P., who has described
the scene— "thrown off his centre" by O'ConneU.
Dr. Doyle, writing to the Eev. Mr. O'Connor of Cork, imme
diately after this occurrence, says : " You seem to haye had a
rictory, the presage of others, over the evangeUzers ui Cork.
You are a noble people— may God bless you !"
Many unfounded opinions regarding the CathoUcs ceased to
exist from this time. Sydney Smith, writuig to Lady Grey, Octo
ber 23rd, 1824, says : " I have sent to Bishop Doyle a Ust of errors
commonly and unjustly imputed to the CathoUcs, and more and
more beUeved for want of proper contradiction, requesting him to
pubUsh and circulate a denial of them signed by the E. C.
Hierarchy. He writes word ff shaU be done."
On the 18th October, 1824, Dr. Doyle wrote a letter to Mr.
Brennan of Marj'borough, in favour of the CathoUc Eent :

LETTERS TO DR. MURRAY, ETC. 363
" My dear Sir— There is no sentiment expressed by the re
spectable and inteUigent meeting at which you presided, if I
except those which regard myseff, iu which I do not most heartUy
concur. The treaty of Limerick was most perfidiously riolated ;
and the stain of that crime, which is spoken of throughout the
civiUzed world, cannot be effaced from the soul of England — no !
not even by our emancipation. Our aUegiance and loyalty have
not only been chivalrous, but almost chimerical ; yet they have
been badly requited. FrankUn is apotheized, who has written on
his tomb 'eripuit ccelo fulmen septrumque tyrannis,' whilst we
continue enslaved, who have adopted the motto of the last of the
O'Neils, ' Pro Deo et pro Rege.'
" The Catholic Eent is undoubtedly the most efficient measure
ever adopted by the CathoUc body. The Israelites would never
have been restored by Cyrus, had they not been kept together in
exile by a domestic government. England vriU either dissolve the
Association or emancipate the CathoUcs. You do well to identify
yourselves with the CathoUc Association: they represent every
interest and sentiment in our body. If they be wise and tempe
rate they wiU achieve much, and the CathoUc who is not for them
is against his religion and his country. It is right to publish your
sentiments — I wish it were done also in the EngUsh papers.
Much is granted to prayer — much to importunity — much even to
clamour; but the sUent slave wiU be converted into a beast of
burden. 'Arise,' says an apostle, 'and Christ -wiU enUghten thee.'
And another, ' He that is in filth, let him lie in filth stiU.' "
There can be no doubt that the argumentative appeals of Dr.
Doyle had considerable effect, in stimulating the Government to
concede a commission of inquiry relative to the state of education
in Ireland. Archbishop Murray having written to Dr. Doyle for
his opinion, as to whether the Prelates ought to memorial Parlia
ment for educational aid, he repUed :
" Old Derrig, 4th November, 1824.
" My Lord — I think we should await the representation of
the Commissioners' Eeport [on the education ofthe Irish people],
before we would again petition Parliament, unless such Eeport be
too long delayed, which is not Ukely. If the education of our
poor chUdren were entrusted to ourselves, or rather the means of
educating them, I would not only agree to, but be anxious to have
select passages of the sacred Scriptures read by the more advanced
of them." Kno-vring Dr. Doyle's anxiety to promote popular education,
an EngUsh nobleman sent him, in 1824, a book compiled for the
use of schools, which softiy and insidiously breathed the infectious

364 A MAN "walks" FROM PRANCE TO SEE J. K. L. '
creed of Socinus. " It did not come alone," he writes ; " as
is usual, it was accompanied vrith an offer on the part of this most
respected but deceived nobleman to build schools on his extensive
estates in this country, if the book thus sent were permitted to be
used by the children. Behold the conditions on which alone these
societies and their dupes or abettors vriU educate the poor of Ire
land ! Behold, also, the force with which these societies press on
an impoverished and broken-hearted people ! Funds to the amount
of £200,000 a-year are at their disposal; the influence of the land
lord, the zeal of the inspector, the powers of the press and the
tongue — calumnies incessantly repeated, the haUowed name of the
Word of God, the thfrst of the people for education, their exces
sive poverty — aU these form a moral phalanx more formidable than
that of Macedon, and if God and the unbroken spfrit of the people
did not assist us, we could not resist it. We have borne many
things, but we never have borne a persecution more bitter than
what now assaUs us. As the persecution of the Church by Julian
in the time of peace was more afflicting than that of Nero or Domi
tian, so what we suffer from these societies, and the power and
prejudice they have embodied against us, is more tormenting than
what we endured under Anne or the second George. The ten
dency of aU these societies is one and the same — the subversion,
by indirect means, of the ancient faith, and the establishment on
its ruin of a wUd and ungovernable fanaticism."
Onerously engaged as Dr. Doyle constantly was, he found time
to be hospitable. The mfraculously cured "Catharine," writing
from Old Derrig on the 6th of November, 1824, says : " We yes
terday arrived here, and met with the most cordial reception from
our esteemed and admfrable friend Dr. Doyle, whose feeUng of
kindness and hospitality seems to have spread itself through the
entire household, as even the kitchen-maid greeted my return to
Old Derrig vrith expressions of deUght and astonishment which
amused me highly, such as ' Och, miss, but you look wondherful
entirely ! The Lord be praised, we Uve to see it's yerself that's
in it !' " A few days later, Catharine writes : " We were greatly
amused here by an old Frenchman, who walked from Cambrai to
Old Derrig in order td accompUsh his vow to cross the Mountains
de St. Eustache to see Dr. Doyle. His enthusiastic devotion
to the Bishop was extraordinary. With a mixture of smUes and
tears, he would exclaim, ' Ah, mon Dieu! que je suis hereuxl
que je I'ai veu!' How I wish you could have seen him. Dearest
Mariana, as you prophesied, my piety and good feelings have re
vived at Old Derrig. Your dear name is often mentioned, and our
revered friend finds a great likeness in my little companion Sarah
to you, which endears her more to both of us. He sends you his

" PROCLAIM YOUR -WRONGS LOUDLY !" 365
blessing. His health is better than it was, though anxiety, fatigue,
and accumulation of business often sadly debilitates him."
On the 22nd of November, 1824, Dr. Doyle addressed a letter
to Mr. Phelan of Abbeyleix, a gentleman who had exerted himself
considerably in locaUy organizing the CathoUc body aud Eent.
"If I sought," he wrote, " by anything which I do to please
men, I would no longer be the servant of Christ ; but yet it is
grateful to my heart to experience, as I daUy do, new proofs of the
confidence and affection of those whom the Holy Ghost has vouch
safed to commit to my spiritual care. How vain, how fruitless,
nay, how senseless are the efforts of those deluded men, who seek
to separate us who are caUed in the unity of one faith — who are
one body by the participation of the one bread, and are cemented
together, not only by these causes and the mutual love which they
generate, but also by the external pressure which, of itself, would
be sufficient to keep us united.
"As to the next, let us proceed with dignity and perseverance
in our constitutional course, as it becometh the wreck of a mighty
nation. Let aU our proceedings be in strict conformity with the
law, that those who are at the opposite side may have no e-ril to
say of us, and that our conscience or our posterity may not re
proach us with haring severed from the patience and long-suffering
which our reUgion and our interest enjoin. Be patient, therefore,
in your sufferings, but, at the same time, Uft up your voice and
proclaim your wrongs loudly. You may thereby excite the enmity
of the infatuated Orangeman or bigot, but you wiU also awaken the
sleeping justice of England, and unite every fiiend of humanity, as
weU as every friend of liberty, in the prosecution of your claims."
As ff to beard the Uon in his den, a branch of the parent Bible
Society estabUshed itseff in Carlow, and scattered broadcast,
amongst the Catholic population, Testaments without note or
comment. The CathoUc parochial Clergy resisted the attempt to
tamper with the "benighted" fiock of J.K.L.; words were inter
changed, and it was at length agreed that the points at issue
should be controverted, publicly and orally, at the forthcoming
meeting of the Carlow AuxiUary Bible Society. Accordingly, four
CathoUc Priests, the Eev. Messrs. Nolan, O'ConneU, M'Sweeny,
and Clo-wry, on the one side, and the Hon. and Eev. Mr. Wing-
. field, and the Eev. Messrs. Pope and Daly (now Bishop of Cashel),
on the other, grasped the question rigorously, and for two days
debated it vrith erudition and eloquence. The Une of argument
adopted on the Biblical side was novel. Casting aside the thread
bare taunt that the Eoman Church had always locked up the
Sacred Writings from her foUowers, that she might thereby keep
them in darkness and error, Messrs. Daly, Wingfield, and Pope

366 THE CARLOW BIBLE DISCUSSION.
seem to have argued that CathoUc dirines, in every age, had
recommended the perusal of the Holy Scriptures, and that it was
inconsistent now for Dr. Doyle and his brethren to oppose a society
exclusively devoted to the circulation of the Word of God. The
Priests repUed, that it was not to the use, but to the abuse of the
Sacred Scriptures they objected— private interpretation being a
principle abusive of Holy Writ, subversive of Church authority,
and, as Luther declared, productive of disastrous results.
Battersby's report of the discussion, at present before us, ex
tends over 127 closely printed pages, and exhibits the Catholic
speakers throughout as bearing off the laurel, notyrithstanding re
peated attempts on the evangehcal side to create a diversion, by
starting intricate theological topics foreign to the question under
discussion. At the conclusion of the second day's proceedings,
the chairman announced that the meeting was adjourned sine die,
whereupon the Eev. Mr. O'ConneU, curate to Dr. Doyle, ascended
the pulpit of the meeting-house in which the discussion had been
held, and "gave thanks to God for the triumph which had been
achieved." The utmost interest prevailed, and the attendance
during both days was overwhelming. An impression prevaUed
that Dr. Doyle would himself have attended to oppose in person
the principle of indiscriminate Bible-reading and interpretation,
' against which he had so ably written. But he pursued a more
dignified course. Dr. Doyle dishked oral controversy, beUeving
that it rarely failed to excite feelings of acrimony and intemperate
retorts . In his ' ' Vindication, ' ' addressed to the Marquis WeUesley,
he says : " The -writer of this letter, my Lord, may be considered as
expressing the opinions and feelings of every weU-educated Catholic
in the empfre : he has been from his infancy, and is stiU connected
with Protestants, by ties of friendship, of affection, of good offices',
and of blood ; he has been attached to them vrith aU the sincerity
which could fill an Irish heart. In his intercourse with men he
has never distinguished them by their creeds ; in the discharge of
his ministry, he has never preached a sermon upon contioversy,
stUl less has he, at any time, used arguments or influence in pri
vate to make proselytes to his creed ; and though, from time to
time, he has received many individuals to the profession of his
own faith, he has sought their conversion only by expounding the
truths of the Gospel in public, and endeavouring, as far as God
enabled him, to exhibit it in his conduct. Why those who think
and act thus should be arraigned for intolerance, it is difficult to
understand." And in his "Essay on the Catholic Claims," ad
dressed, three years later, to Lord Liverpool, Dr. Doyle places on
record (p. 251) riews against polemic warfare if possible more
decided.

plunket's tete-a-tete with dr. magee. 367
It was rumoured by the BibUcal party of the time, and has
been lately asserted by the Eev. Prebendary Fishbume, that the
Carlow Priests, in conducting their controversy, acted throughout
under the secret direction of Dr. Doyle. The Bishop, however,
refrained from offering a single suggestion on the subject, and left
the Priests entfrely to their own discretion ; but when an attempt
had been made next year to renew the controversy, he sternly for
bade it.
The controversial discussion at Carlow in 1824 was but a
sample of what vridely took place elsewhere throughout Ireland.
There was hardly a town or a riUage to which the Biblical dirines
did not make a special mission. They loudly claimed the rictory
in many places, but reverses not unfrequently overtook them. At
Monaghan, a few uneducated laymen maintained the discussion,
with amazing natural abiUty, for several successive days, and were
finaUy awarded the rictory by a bench of Protestant judges. Dr.
Doyle, in a conversation -with a Priest at this period, detaUed the
circumstances in which this extensive reUgious crusade would
seem to have originated. Mr., afterwards Lord Plunket, in the
course of an interriew with his old friend. Archbishop Magee, ob
served that nothing would be easier than to proselytize the Irish
people, by means of earnest and zealous missionaries. The
Priests, he said, especiaUy in the country parts, were ignorant and
awkward, inefficient as logicians, and timid and blundering in so
ciety. Mr. Plunket expressed his conriction that such men could
make no manner of stand against an ably organized and simulta
neous assault from the eminently expert dirines and scholars
which Trinity CoUege was then daUy sending forth. Tbe Irish
peasantry, he added, were naturally so quick--vritted that they
would not faU at once to perceive the superiority which the Pro
testant clergymen were certain to maintain in a pubUc discussion.
Archbishop Magee concurred with Mr. Plunket ; and hence the
origin of the celebrated movement known as " the Second Eefor
mation." Mr. Plunket's erroneous impression had been derived,
Dr. Doyle added, from his acquaintance -with one or two old
country Priests, wbo had been inrited to some fashionable tables
solely to be laughed at.
There were some cfrcumstances under which Dr. Doyle encou
raged the cultivation of polemical skUl. In order to check the
progress of the monster mission to Eoman CathoUcs, Dr. Doyle
and his brother Bishops ordained that no ordinary Priest could
absolve any person who exposed his faith to danger, by deUberately
Ustening to the evangelical preachers. An indiridual thus trans
gressing could only be absolved by the Bishop or his Vicar. A
Priest accompanied a penitent of this description, one day, to Old

368 A BRACE OF- ANECDOTES.
Derrig. The man flung himself on his knees before the Bishop,
and seemed dreadfuUy agitated. " My poor man," said the Bishop,
" rise, and tell me calmly what it is tbat troubles you." " I went
to hear the parsons preaching," he rephed ; " but I only went to
refute what they said ?" " WeU,'what did they say ?" proceeded
Dr. Doyle. The penitent enumerated, -with singular clearness, the
various arguments which had been Urged, and his reasons for con
sidering them untenable. " UnUke most of your neighbours who
went to hear these gentlemen," said the Bishop, " God Almighty
seems to have speciaUy gifted you vrith a sound and discerning
mind ; and since you are able to answer so cleverly, I, as your
Bishop, give you full permission to frequent these meetings as often
as you choose ; and in order that you may cultivate the gift which
God has given you, put these little books in your pocket, and
study them carefuUy when you go home" — saying which, to the
infinite amazement of the Priest and his penitent, he gave the latter
his blessing, and some of Dr. MUner' s writings at the same time.
Another man waited upon the curates vrith an expression of
desire to contract matrimony. The Eev. Mr.  had his suspi
cion that the man might have been already married, and communi
cated his fears to the Bishop. " Although he steadily denies that
he has got a wife," said the curate, " I have my doubts neverthe
less. But how can we ascertain the truth?" " Send him into
me," said Dr. Doyle, " and I'U soon teU you whether he is mar
ried or not." The man was accordingly conducted to the Bishop's
presence. "You desire to enter the married state," he said.
" I do, plaze your Lordship," was the reply. " Are you aware of
the awful consequences which you are Ukely to incur if you, being
afready married, dare to enter matrimony a second time?" "Sar-
tinly," repUed the man ; "but it is no harm in life now, bekays
I'm single." " Come forward," said the Bishop, taking up a
large Bible, and leading the appUcant to imagine that he was
about to administer an oath. " Place your finger upon that Book"
(the man did so) ; " ff is the work of God himself, and you now
caU God to witness the truth of what you say. Tbe Hand which
inspired that Book may strike you hfeless upon the spot if you
caU Him to bear witness to a Ue !" " Oh, my Lord," exclaimed
the feUow, tuming as white as a sheet, and running wUdly out of
the room, " I am married — I am married !"
While the sensation which succeeded the Carlow discussion
was stiU vibrating, certain partizans of the BibUcal party, by
means of intemperate retort and misrepresentation, sought to
cover the discomfiture of some of the missionaries. The follow
ing unpublished letter from Dr. Doyle to the late Eneas M'Don
neU alludes to this cfrcumstance : -

DR. DOYLE TO ENEAS MACDONNELL. 309
"Old Derrig, 20tli December, 1824.
" Dear Sir — I feel exceedingly indebted to you for the atten
tion you have directed to the libel, just pubUshed in London,
against the Clergy and people of this town who attended at the
late Bible meeting ; and I agree with you in thinking that a pro
secution of the pubUsher of that libel, if instituted in England,
might be productive of good. But ive have never resorted to such
means of repelhng calumnies, and even if our profession sanctioned
our doing so, we have not time nor money to expend in that way.
Victims ourselves of harsh laws, I, or those Clergymen connected
with me, will never have recourse to other weapons than argument
and our conduct, such as it may be, to vindicate our characters.
The extracts you sent me of the late meeting, with the exception
ofthe preface, have been copied from The Dublin Evening  ;
they scarcely contain a single sentence in which the truth is not
distorted, and are altogether the most wicked and malicious mis
representation of the entfre proceedings ; but they did not excite
in us either sui-prise or indignation, as they are only specimens of
the rituperation, Ues, and abuse, which are daily poured upon us
by the Orange press. In Ireland this press is not attended to,
unless by persons who close their eyes and hearts against truth
and justice, and we do hope that in time it wiU cease to mislead
the people of England. We are doing all in our power, by means
oT the press which is not corrupted, but above all by our conduct,
to justify our character and religion before the world ; and if we
continue, not-withstanding, to be assailed and persecuted, v/e have
the consolation of knovring that we suffer for justice' sake. It is
this sentiment which sustains us under many a trial too severe for
the ordinary strength of men. My character of the Clergymen en
gaged in the late discussion might be deemed, by almost every
person, as somewhat partial ; but they are known to Colonel Eoch-
fort and to the respectable gentry of the neighbourhood, and have
been, and I beUeve are considered by them as persons totally in
capable of doing or saying anything not becoming the character of
Christian ministers. They are amongst my most zealous co-
operators in enforcing obedience to every constituted authority,
and in preaching peace and good-will to all who hear us.
"•^J. Doyle."
We find Colonel Eochfort, on the 22nd April in the foUowing
year, informing a parliamentary committee of inquiry that " Dr.
Doyle's exertions had been of great service iu inducing the people
to submit to the laws, and refrain from joining iUegal societies,
not only by printed Pastoral Letters, but by personally addressing
the people from the altars of every Chapel in the diocess." ^4

370 kildare ruins, an emblem of Ireland.
Addressing Mr. Brennan of Kildare, Dr. Doyle glances inci
dentaUy at some of the topics noticed in his letter to Eneas
M'DonneU : " I am happy to find that the late general distress
had scarcely subsided in youi- town, when those who suffered,
as weU as those who administered relief, resolved to coUect the
Catholic Eent. A great characteristic of the Irish people is pa
tience in distress. Our spirit has not yielded to oppression ; and,
like the rains of our ancient greatness which overhang your town,
it reminds us of what we were, and excites us to exertion that we
may become free, great, and happy as we once had been.
" Our country is stUl enslaved. A tyranny generated by the
laws, and introduced by a worthless, heartless, and bigoted faction
to the fireside of every peasant, requires of us aU to take from om-
competency, or even wretchedness, whatever may have escaped
the hand of the despoiler, and consecrate it to our public and
personal redemption. Our reUgion continues to be maUgned ;
the course of public justice is stUl disturbed ; the legislature, at
the close of six centuries, is unacquainted with the state of
Ireland ; the public press, which should be a medium of light, has
become a vehicle of slander, and they who persecute us seem to
think 'they thereby render a serrice to God.' It is our duty,
therefore, to, labour with one heart and one mind, in such a
manner as the laws permit, to rindicate om- reUgion, to reUeve
the oppressed, to enlighten the legislature, and to establish, ^f
possible, the sway of trath and justice in the room of prejudice
and error.
"It is just that amongst us, KUdare, which was once the
abode of sanctity and leaming, and which in its greatness and
decay and rain presents a picture of the Irish nation, should now
afford an example of pubhc rirtue to the surroundmg country, and
awaken the energies of those exceUent men who claim an aUiance
-with her name."
" Private and political cares," he once said to the Eev. Mr.
Maher, " rankle at my heart, and often oppress me dreadfuUy.
The latter feeling sometimes finds a vent in my writings, but
private sorrow, Uke the canker, gnaws my heart in security and
silence." . ,
It is curious to place this declaration in juxtaposition with
Dr. Doyle's letter, written before he became a Bishop (p. 69,
ante), in which he almost boasts of his exemption from crosses,
but yet fears that many may stiU be in store for him. _
The Eev. WilUam Clowry, who particularly distingmshed
himself at the Cario*v discussion, was immediately afterwards
appointed Administrator of TuUow. As this was a mensal paiish.
Dr. Doyle frequently visited it in his official capacity. Mr.

the dog-fight — AN EXCOMMUNICATION. 371
Clowry resided at the junction of two main streets : here apart
ments were always ready for the Bishop. One Saturday night,
after Dr. Doyle had retired to rest, two dogs began to fight with
immense uproar under his window. At this juncture Mr. D  ,
a prim and respectable littie man, well known by the sobriquet of
" Garrodeen," happening to be out late and on his way home,
finding the dogs tearing each other tooth and nail, and in order
to prevent the Bishop from being disturbed, endeavoured to sepr.-
rate them, which only made them worse. The noise at this time
had reached to a feai-ful pitch ; the Bishop and his Administrator
got up, peeped from the window, and detected Mr. D  , as
they thought, in the act of instigating the dogs to fight. The
foUowing day was Sunday, and the Bishop, after deUvering an
effective discourse on the Gospel of the day, by way of epilogue
adverted to the scene of the previous night. He commented vrith
just Severity upon dog-fights in general ; the barbarity of urging
on two unfortunate brutes to eat each other ; the impropriety of
keeping an entire riUage in alarm and disturbance during its
period of rest after the labour of the day ; and this to be done,
not by a blackguard or a simpleton, but a man holding the rank
of a respectable citizen, reputed a good Catholic, and the father of
a large famUy who looked up to him for example. The whole
-riUage was on the qui rive to know the person to whom the
Bishop referred, and when it was understood to be Mr. D  ,
nothing could exceed the amusement occasioned. Mr. D 
vehemently declared his innocence, and although everybody knew
from their knowledge of his character that such was the fact, yet
no one would pretend to credit his protestations. When the cir
cumstance was afterwards explained to Dr. Doyle, he enjoyed the
equivoque quite as heartily as his flock.
TuUow Chapel was the scene of much graver excitement a few
months later. A man, resident in that town, had been conricted
by the , Bishop of gross aud repeated acts of immorality. Dr.
Doyle, in consideration of the public scandal caused, decided upon
pubUcly excommunicating him. He ascended the altar of TuUow
Chapel in his episcopal cope, and, after a touching exhortation
which brought tears into no eye more copiously than his own,
proceeded to fulminate the terrible censure of the Church. There
are sevefal forms for effecting excommunication. Dr. Doyle,
in this instance, acted upon the spfrit of St. Paul's address to
the incestuous Corinthian. " I give your body to the devU,"
said Dr. Doyle, in a tone which brought terror to every heart — ¦
"but," he added after a pause, during which he turned to the
crucifix and raised his eyes and arms to heaven, " I recommend
your soul to God!" "Never," observes our informant, "can I

372

A HOSPITABLE INVITATION.

forget the scene. It was like a general judgment. Groans, and
shrieks of horror, and cries to heaven for mercy resounded on
aU sides. Dr. Doyle at first crushed down the feeUngs of his
auditory like a bent bow ; on a sudden he removed the pressure,
and their hearts bounded with the elasticity of liberated sorrow.
'I recommend your soul to God !' Never was prayer more
heartUy joined in; and I beUeve the man became a great peni
tent. Dr. Doyle warned the people not to eat or keep company
¦with the unclean man (c. 5, v. 11), and to put him away from
amongst them {v. 13). The people shunned him, and he had
to leave TuUow, of which he had long been an inhabitant."
But Dr. Doyle could rebuke mildly when he chose. Bishop
UUathome writes : /' I remember hearing the Commandant of
Norfolk Island teUing the anecdote at his table, how he and a
party went to hear Dr. Doyle, in 1824, address a multitude of
poor people, who had been causing a commotion in some political
trouble. The Commandant spoke of the way they were struck by
the extraordinary effect of his first words — ' Children, I am not
weU pleased with you.' All burst out weeping, and wept to the
end of one of the most touching and remarkable discourses these
gentlemen had ever heard."
The -private sorrows of which Dr. Doyle complained in 1824,
he sometimes endeavoured to shake off in correspondence -with his
old friends. On the 31st December in that year, he addressed
Dr. Donovan, the accomplished Professor of Ehetoric at Maynooth :
' ' My dear Eev. Friend — I am jealous of you, and almost angry
with you for not spending a day with me when going to or return
ing from Cork. I will not forgive you or be reconcUed with you,
unless you come to spend the Christmas tete-d-tete with your old
friend. You know there is no place more your home than Old
Derrig — none of your intimates more sincerely attached to you
than its Hermit. Come, then, and relax that monkish austerity
which The Courier says binds. up all your faculties, and almost
unfits you for society ! How littie the blockhead knows of your
being the very _y?os and decus of society ! But apropos, have you
seen The Courier with the article aUuded to ? It is certainly an
outrageous attack on your estabUshment. He would diride us,
the continental Clergy, from you. Divide et impera would be
good for him even with us. But if you or your people could
reply to it in some way, perhaps it would be right. I don't know
how this Courier wiU reUsh the Pope and these continental Clergy
when he sees them as they have been lately exhibited. I think
he wUl abuse us unmercifully as irreclaimable bigots, as intolerant
as when we had Europe at our feet. ' Popery Unchanged' wiU

A NEW WORK BY J. K. L. PUBLISHED, 873
be his motto  If they have beaten down the Bible
Sodety I am satisfied with the price they may be obUged to pay
for the achievement. „^ Doyle "

CHAPTEE XVI.
Publication of Twelve Letters on the State of Ireland by J. K, L. — Defective
condition ofthe laws — State of parties — Religion and its ministers in Ire
land — Improper administration of the laws — Corporate corruption — The
Magisterial Bench bribed and debauched — Increase of population —
Catholic Emancipation — The forty-shilling freeholders — A legal provision
for the Irish poor — Blunders and blunderbusses — Letter to Mariana —
Interesting letter on auricular confession — Excommunications — Anec
dotes,
Meanwhile the good Bishop was not solely "on hospitable
thoughts intent." A comprehensive scheme filled his thoughts,
and soon assumed a tangible and substantial form. Knovring how
constantly and onerously he had been occupied, his fiiends and the
public were much surprised, in February, 1825, to observe a new
and portly volume by J.K.L. emanate from Mr. Coyne's press.
The work extended to 364 pages, and comprised twelve letters,
" addressed to a friend in England," on the various political and
religious questions which then agitated the breast of Ireland.
These papers the author threw off with singular dash and power.
Though written rapidly, with a riew to assist the researches of the
Parliamentary Committee then sitting on the state of Leland, they
•can bear the severest ordeal of literary criticism. The views ex
pressed are sound, sensible, and courageous, the majority of them
spafkle with the freshness of originality, while many passages
sweU with an indignant eloquence and rigour, which Grattan, in
his happiest perorations, has not surpassed. J. K.L., in a prefa
tory letter, requests the public to bear in mind that he who sub
mits his riews -without reserve had been bred up a slave, and from
his infancy had imbibed strong prejudices against the ruUng party.
Having noticed various interesting points of similarity between
Eome, as described by Tacitus, and Ireland in 1825, Dr. Doyle
proceeded to reriew the poUcy, character, and measures of Lord
WeUesley's administration, and the difficulties with which it had
daily to contend. He declared that its great mistake consisted in
seeking to heal what should be amputated, and neglecting to era
dicate fundamental abuses. He smUed at the stereotyped asser
tion, that Lord WeUesley came to administer the laws impartiaUy
but not to change them, and proved that no Government who
sought to exercise the laws as then existing could ever acquire a

374 " squireens" the scourge of lEELAisro.
character for strength and wisdom, or succeed in promoting secu
rity, confidence, or repose. Lord ChanceUor Eedesdale had
recently confessed that "there was in Ireland one law for the rich
and another for the poor." But Dr. Doyle did not require to be
informed by that Peer of tbe character of "justice" as then ad
ministered in Ireland. " A poor Protestant obtains justice in
Ireland," he said, " and is protected not only by the law but by
the passions ; but there is no law for the CathoUc." He proved
that the spirit and letter of almost every law— the Penal Code as
weU as those which had recently been enacted — were hostile to
the people. Act after Act he cited in iUustration. The maUcious
object of some was ingeniously disguised, but J.K.L. dissected
and laid them bare with the dexterity of a constitutional lawyer.
There can be little doubt that some of the many points which Dr.
Doyle perpetually pressed on the attention of the Viceroy were
remembered by Lord Wellesley, when penning those admirable
despatches which have since come to Ught. They show his anxiety
that justice should be done to the CathoUcs, and are altogether
highly creditable to his memory.
The aim of the Second Letter was to give some idea of the state
of parties in Ireland, their composition and ulterior riews, and to
unfold the character of the Irish gentry of that day, which seems
to have had as many grades as there were steps in Jacob's ladder.
" Squireens" Dr. Doyle pronounced to be the very curse and
scourge of Ireland. They were numerous, ignorant, bigoted, and
dishonest ; many of them had no regard for the sanctity of an
oath, yet succeeded in obtaining the commission of the peace, and
trading on it; they pocketed perquisites arising from jobs, fomented
discontent, promoted religious animosity, saw the poor starring
but saw it unmoved — and, never having seen a peasantry enjoying
comfort, they had no idea of what their condition ought to have
been. The squireens were, in fact, the slave-drivers of Ireland.
J.K.L. showed how the country was divided into three great poU
tical sections — i.e., the Orangemen, the Catholics, and the Govern
ment party — besides a vast mass of inert matter, or what Swfft
would call prudent men, who, solely intent on their o-wn interest,
whisper away the characters of all the others, pass judgment in
secret upon whatever occurs, are never pleased with anything, and
are ready to pray vrith CromweU or cry with Charles. AU these
parties, as they crowded on the breast of Ireland, J. K. L. exa
mined with the precision of a Buffon or Linnaus, when engaged on
some interesting zoological inqufry.
Having in his Third Letter referred to the state of reUgion
and its ministers in Ireland, J. K. L. went on to say that piety
among the Catholics was daily becoming stronger and more

THE CLERGY OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH, 875
enlightened, notwithstanding the insults and injuries that daily
assailed them, aud the party spirit which, Uke a fiend, continued
to agitate the whole frame of society. Of the state of religion
in the Protestant Church in Ireland, he said that it had always
partaken more of a political than a religious Establishment. Its
ministers were as various in character as their caUings were dif
ferent. Several of the characteristics so trenchantly noticed by
J.K.L. have now happily ceased to exist. " We must take-it
as a certain truth," he writes, " that they are aU moved by in
terior grace to take upon them the cure of souls, as they them
selves declare in the presence of God and of the Church ; but
then, as there are many mansions in the house of their heavenly
Father, so they fit themselves for them by a great variety of occu
pations whUst on earth : some are given to agriculture ; others are
devoted to angUng ; many of them, Uke Abel, are fond of tenduig
flocks ; and not a few of them are famous hunters before the Lord.
Being appointed officers in the Church militant, they are fre
quently found at the head of armed detachments ; and from a love
of justice, and a hatred of hearing the name of the Lord profaned,
it is almost impossible to find a bench of magistrates not studded
with them. Indeed, it is at petty sessions they often discharge
the more weighty duties of their ministry, in issuing decrees for
the recovery of tithes. They are also dUigent in promoting
comfort amongst the poor, or establishing peace and good wiU in
their several parishes, by taking from the peasant his last shilUng,
that he might not spend it in the ale-house ; or by deciding be
tween two scolds, on the sworn testimony of their peers, that the
goat of the one had not browsed upon the other's hedge. Much
of their leisure time is also usefuUy employed in coUecting, for
thefr favourite newspapers, detaUs of atrocities lately committed ;
in transcribing notices just posted up on the chapel-doors by Cap
tain Eock ; in making up reports of the conversions of benighted
CathoUcs for the Home Missionary Society ; in depicting, -with all
the warmth of Lish feeUng, the rapid progress of the Bible Society,
and the vast numbers of Irish Testaments which were adminis
tered by them to the poor Papists." Dr. Doyle added, that as
heads of famUies they were often amiable, and not a few had proved
themselves superior to "the prejudices and follies of thefr order."
J.K.L. devoted his Fourth Letter to a disquisition on the cha
racter of the laws and the administration of justice, with some
remarks on corporate bodies in Ireland. Of the latter he said,
that instead of protecting and promoting commerce, and consti
tuting themselves the citadels of a nation's Uberty, they were
like nightmares upon commerce, and the very fastnesses of cor
ruption. He pronounced them to be, from the city of Dublin to

376

CORPORATIONS A NUISANCE.

the pettiest borough on the western coast, a "palsied and a para
lyzing nuisance— cruel, heartiess, and dissipated, like an old
gamester and sensuahst, who would extort or borrow, beg or steal,
that he might gratify the wasted remnant of his passions." This
is strong language, but not more forcible than truth and justice
demanded. The unblushing venality, the narrow-minded bigotry of
the Irish Corporations, previous to thefr purification some twenty-
years ago, have formed the theme of many a patriot voice and pen.
Since 1793, when a biU of reUef had been granted Ui a spirit of
reluctant surrender, CathoUcs became admissible to corporations ;
but the concession was altogether neutralised by the prorisoes
which accompanied it, and untU 1840 CathoUcs continued to be
excluded. For many a long and dreary year, the rights and Uber
ties of the people were daUy trampled under foot by this oUgarchy
of civiUans. It can hardly be said to have included even the men of
substance among the Orange mercantUe body. O'ConneU apphed
the phrase " beggarly" to the corporation of DubUn, and a small
bankrupt merchant who had filled the office of Town CouncUlor,
acting as the mouthpiece ofthe offended body, challenged O'ConneU
to deadly combat, and became himself the victim. Of corporation
magistrates. Judge Day declared before ParUament, in 1825, that
" they are not controlled by the ChanceUor, and have no fear of
that kind. I have known," he added, " the corporate magistrates
behave in an extremely reprehensible manner. The people have
no confidence at all in them ; there has been a great abuse by
them of magisterial power."
The times have so thoroughly changed for the better within
the last thirty years, that it is almost difficult for any man who
had not personal experience of them to credit the low ebb to
which the political and social condition of Leland was reduced.
No wonder that the laws should have been distorted and prosti
tuted to party purposes by the subordinates of the law, when the
administration of justice was tainted at its very fountains. Packed
juries and partizan judges hourly scattered dismay among one
party, and intoxicated the other -with a riotous joy. " The laws of
Ireland," writes the Bishop, in his Fourth Letter, " are a confused
mass — a moral chaos. They have not educated the people on prin
ciples agreeable to reason or the law of God ; hence, human nature
has either been perverted by them, or revolted against them;
strife and contention have sprung from them ; anarchy, fraud, and
oppression have been their fraits ; aU the evils of Ireland could
have been healed — and yet they have been aggravated by them ;
the wisest judges who ever graced a bench could not dispense them
to advantage ; but, with the exception of a few, the judges them
selves have had their minds and hearts influenced by them, and'

THE MAGISTRACY BRIBED AND DEBAUCHED. 877
the people whom they afflicted always feared and hated them.
Efforts have been made, and are making, to administer these laws
justiy; but until they are equalized and fitted to the people —
untu the spfrit of conquest, and monopoly, and persecution is
extracted from them — until they are made to accord with that im
mutable justice which I have above defined, they cannot be made
to produce order, prosperity, or peace. To labour at the adminis
tration of law in this country, whilst the laws themselves, and the
abuses engrafted on them, are suffered to remain unchanged, is
like roUing a stone against a hUl, which, before it has reached the
summit, roUs back again."
An inquiry, in 1823, before the House of Commons, into the-
proeeedings of Mr. Sheriff Thorpe of Dublin, fuUy exposed the
scandalous partiality vrith which juries for particular cases were
habituaUy packed. In fact, tbe sheriffs of that day pledged them
selves before their election to take a decided part in politics against
every Catholic. " Catholics would rather submit to great wrongs,"
said O'ConneU, " than attempt a trial in Dublin." The evidence
of which this is a part was deUvered before Parliament in 1825.
Many competent and disinterested persons were examined, and
The Edinburgh Review, in noticing their revelations, said that no
one could faU to be " equally surprised and disgusted with the
abominable course of profligacy and corruption which is there ex
hibited." Petty sessions courts had not yet been generally estab
Ushed, and the eridence in question is choke-fuU of the iniquities
that had been practised by the magistrates of Ireland in the safe
seclusion of their closets. The utter imbeciUty of most of those
who were not partizans was likevrise proved. "Improper appoint
ments," said the Marquis of Westmeath, "have crept into tbe ma
gistracy to a great extent." Mr. Beecher said, "It was no uncom
mon thing, when a fiiend had incurred a penalty, to remit the fine,
and to levy a penalty strictly against another, merely because he
was an object of disUke." Major Warburton proved that a female
had been sent to America by a magistrate, without any legal pro
ceeding whatever. Major WUcox established the fact that some
justices of the peace were engaged in iUicit distillation, and that
they took presents and bribes, and bail when other magistrates re
fused; that they took cross-examinations where informations had
been afready taken by other magistrates. " They issued warrants
against the complaining party in the first instance, at the sugges
tion of the party complained against." It further appeared that
some magistrates took fees in money, and not unfrequently ren
dered official services in consideration of ha-ving their turf drawn
home, or their potatoes planted. The Eev. Mr. CoUins, after
wards Bishop of Cloyne, proved that magistrates corruptly re-

378

MORE REVELATIONS.

ceived presents of com, cattle, potatoes, and even money. " If
the person of whom the complaint was made ranked as a gentle
man, the magistracy often decUne interfering, because ff would
lead to personal resuffs." Mr. O'DriscoU aUeged that there
were several magistrates trading on their office ; they " seU
justice, and administer it favourably to the party who pays them
best." "It is a convenient thmg," said O'ConneU, " for a man to
have the commission of the peace, for he can make those he dis
likes fear him, and he can favour his friends." It is a fact tolerably
significant of the state of the times, that these venal practices
had transpired subsequent to a farcical judicial form which had
for its professed object the rerision of the magistracy. But it ap
peared that in several counties the revision was more according to
reUgion than misconduct. O'ConneU proved that "most excellent
men had been deprived of their office without any cause. It was
particukrly severe upon the CathoUc magistrates. In the county
Cork, eighteen out of twenty-one CathoUcs were struck out."
O'ConneU was cognizant of even more corrupt magisterial practice
than he avowed on his examination. In Mr. Daunt's " Conver
sations of O'ConneU," the details are given of a certain justice who
threatened to flog and hang the so'ns of a vridow to whom his wor
ship owed £2,000, unless she pledged herseff to cancel the bond !
Dr. Doyle's general picture ofthe administration of justice was
effective : " The judge is often decorous ; on some occasions you
imagine be is the advocate of the cro-wn or the criminal ; there are
times and cases when you know not how to designate him, and
you only lament that wicked system which placed bim on the
bench. The juries, in criminal cases, generaUy are such as can
be most easily found. But when a special interest is excited by
the trial, the art and talent and trick employed at one time by
the sheriff's deputy, at another by the clerk of the crown, to array
their men and produce a jury, is such as would fumish food for
several months' reflection to those two sages who spent thefr Uves
weeping or laughing over the foUies or wickedness of- their feUow-
men. In short, the administration of justice in Ireland is thwarted
by the spirit of the law — it is analogous to the unsettled state of
the country, and influenced constantly by the character of those
who are employed about it."
There would seem to be no doubt that the startling allegations
pronounced by Dr. Doyle in February, 1825, and at previous
periods, regarding the administration of justice in Ireland, had no
small effect in stimulating that Searching parUamentary inquiry
which took place with such success in the same year, and even
tuated in a reform so comprehensive and salutary.
In his Fifth Letter, which he devoted to the consideration of

THE CENSUS — A SINGULAR OATH. 379
"the increase of population in Ireland, its causes and ett'ects,"
J.K.L. declared that hitherto no accurate census had been taken,
and he entertained no doubt that there were then considerably
more than 7,000,000 of inhabitants in Ireland. The Catholics
had ever been unwilling to make known thefr numbers to any agent
of the Government. Having too often experienced from it what
they deemed treachery or injustice, they naturaUy distrusted
whomsoever approached them in its name. Ignorant of the object
in computing the number of its slaves, they rather feared they
were to be decimated or banished, as in the time of CromweU,
than that any measures were in contemplation for the improvement
of thefr condition. The Bishop adduced some interesting statistics
to show the number of bfrths and marriages, since 1784, within a
portion of his diocess. This authentic source of information he
was only enabled partially to use, as the registers, which had been
commenced in every parish on the relaxation of the Penal Code,
were destroyed in 1798, lest they should faU into the hands of the
Orangemen — " a precaution deemed necessary," observed Dr.
Doyle, " as these loyalists had seized upon a parochial register
amongst other plunder, and ha-ving discovered in it a list of rebels,
as they supposed, sought them out as victims for their fury."
The Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Letters consisted of
some very able remarks on PubUc Education, Bible Societies,
Tradition, Catholic emancipation, aUegiance, and the declaration
prescribed by law to be taken and made by Protestants. Eespect-
ing the latter, J.K.L. said : " There is no Protestant holding or
administering any office, or entering any learned profession in
these countries, who must not, in order to prove his loyalty, de
clare in the presence of God his beUef that 'the Pope has not, nor
ought not to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence,
or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm.' Were
such a declaration a mere form of words, it would only be ridicu
lous ; but when thg awful name of God is interposed it becomes
terrifying, and is certainly a burden too heavy for a conscientious
man to bear. Were I a Protestant, I would forego the highest
dignity in the State rather than make such a declaration. Whether
the Pope ought or ought not to have spfritual authority within this
realm, is a question which depends on whether he be or be not the
head of the Catholic Church ; for if he be, it is manifest that
wherever there are Catholics he must have jurisdiction over them ;
and as there are several miUions of them vrithin this kingdom, his
spiritual authority necessarUy extends to them aU. But leaving
this question, how can a man declare that he has not jurisdiction
in this realm, whereas his having it, and exercising it, is as noto
rious as the existence of the sun at noon?"

880 POPES PURELY SPIRITUA"L IN THEIR POWERS,
Everybody knows that authority or jurisdiction consists in the
right of some person to exercise a command, and to administer
punishment in case of disobedience. Catholics, regarding the Pope
as head of the Church, obey him in aU spiritual decrees ; and
though a conscientious Protestant might call God to witness that
he does not beUeve the Pope ought to have any jurisdiction in this
country, "yet," added Dr. Doyle, "to declare solemnlv before God
his behef that the Pope has not such jurisdiction— a jurisdiction
constantly exercised by him— requires a degree of indffference
about oaths and declarations which unhappily is but too general."
Dr. Doyle then went on to prove that the obedience which a
CathoUc owes the head of his Church does not, in the least, clash
with the aUegiance due to a temporal Sovereign. Preparatory to
discussing this question, he adroitly cleared away some difficulties
calculated to obscure the riew which he proposed to give of it, and
then proceeded to lay down the principles, already expressed by
the Eedeemer himseff, which regulate the spfritual and temporal
obedience of CathoUcs. He showed the utter groundlessness of
the apprehension that the Popes were constantly intriguing to
depose Kings and Queens. When Genoa revolted under Doria,
and numberless other ItaUan States changed their Constitutions
or their Sovereigns, the Father of the Faithful deplored the crimes
which wei-e committed, and mingled his tears with the blood of his
children ; but he deposed no Prince, and interposed only by his
adrice. " A man who dreads Popery now-a-days would cry fire in the
deluge," said Dr. Johnson, exactly haff a century before the storm
of alarm and wrath which J.K. L., in 1825, found it necessary to
confront. J.K.L. noticed in detaU the various false alarms which
left the Catholics so long enslaved, the country miserable, and her
children in a state of moral warfare. In reply to the cry of " The
Church is in danger," he declared that there was not an indiridual
in Ireland who would take from her an acre of land or a fleece of
wool to bestow it upon any other Church. The opponents of the
CathoUc claims feared that the Irish would become reformers.
J.K.L. admitted the justice of the suspicion : if continued to be
treated unjustly, they would ally themselves with any enemy which
political corruption might have. The man in pursuit of a party
who has filched his goods does not inquire of him who joins in the
pursuit whence he came or what his character and object is : he
wants his assistance to seize the culprit, and without thinking
whether he may not also be a robber, and of the worst description,
he takes him as an aUy. " So with the Irish. Eeject them, in
sult them, continue to deprive them of hope, and they will league
with Beelzebub against you. Eevenge is sweet, and the pride of

DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE FORTY- SHILLING FEEEH0LDEE3. 381
a nation is Uke the vanity of a woman — when wounded, it is re-
lentiess." In the Tenth Letter, J.K.L. discussed, at considerable length,
the threatened disfranchisement of the forty-shiUing freeholders.
"The taking away a vote," says Burke, "is the taking away a
shield which the subject has, not only against the oppression of
power, but that worst of all oppression, the persecution of private
society and private manners." " It is the natural right of man,"
wrote Dr. Doyle — " a right interwoven with tbe essence of our
constitution, and producing, as its necessary effect, the House of
Commons — that a man who has Ufe, liberty, and property, should
have some share or influence in the disposal of them by law.
Take the elective franchise from the Irish peasant, and you not
only strip him of the present reaUty or appearance of this right,
but you disable him and his posterity ever to acqufre it. He is now
poor and oppressed — you then make him vile and contemptible ;
he is now the image of a freeman — he wUl be then the very essence
of a slave ; he has now a hope, that should his country improve, he
may one day raise his voice on the hustings, and plead the cause
of aU who belong to his class of life, whUst he proclaims the virtue
of the candidate whom he supports, or upbraids the recreant who
betrays the pubUc trust ; but take from him his freehold, and you
cast him out of tbe Constitution. Like the Helot at Athens, he
may go to the forum and gaze at the election, and then return to
hew his wood or fetch his water to the freeman — an inhabitant,
but not a citizen of the counti-y which gave him birth."
It had been objected that the forty- shUling freehold system
sometimes produced perjury and immorality. "But are these evils
to be removed by reducing stiU more the Irish peasant in the scale
of poUtical existence ? — by increasing to an incredible extent the
number of paupers '? — by throwing the famished population into
the ranks of Captain Eock? — by multiplying house-burnings,
assassinations, murders, robberies? — by raising up a class of
heartless, unrelenting middlemen? — by scourging the poor, not
-with rods, but with scorpions? Are there no remedies for the
erils of the country, unless such as bave a manifest tendency to
multiply and aggravate those which exist? Is there not in the
heart of a freeman something which would make him revolt from
the idea of robbing of their bfrthright half-a- mUlion of subjects,
and plunging so many men who have stUl a hope of improvement
into a state of irremediable servitude, of hopeless despair, blotting
thefr names for ever from the book of the Constitution ?"
It has often been said that the triumphant retum of O'ConneU
at the Clare election, three years later, by the forty-shilling free
holders, was the turning point of the Catholic question ; but in the

^^^ A LEGAL PROVISION FOE THE POOR.
recently pubUshed ministerial narrative of fts progress and setfle
ment, from the pen of the late Sfr Eobert Peel, this fact is more
than once historicaUy avowed. In 1829 the forty-shUlina free-
holders were disfranchised. That the worst anticipations of Dr
Doyle would have been reaUzed is most probable, were it not for
the introduction of the Eeform BiU in 1831.
The distress of the poor, consequent on the high- price of
pi-ovisions and the dearth of employment, had long afflicted Dr
Doyle, and he laboured with the zeal of an Ambrose to aUeriate
calamities which it was not in his power to avert. The Eleventh
and Tweffth Letters of the series preached with eloquence and
earnestness the crying necessity of estabUshing some well-
digested system of poor-rates m Ireland. He suggested that
this tax ought to faU heavier on the heartiess absentees than on
those resident landlords who chai-ffably dispensed rehef to the
famishing people. The laws of nature and of God ordain that the
distressed members ofthe community should be supported by those
who possess abundance. The Persians, the Greeks, the Eomans
had a legal prorision for the poor; and when the Almighty dic
tated a code to the chUdren of Israel, He was careful to incum
ber the inheritance He gave them with a support for the fatherless,
the vridow, and the stranger. Poor-rates would create employ
ment, and by creating employment, augment capital. Capital and
labour would improve lands, and an impulse to intemal trade
would spring from this improvement. J. K. L. showed that the
smaU-farming classes were very disproportionately burdened with
the support of the poor, and he called for an equitable distribution
of that burden. But he had other reasons to support his riews.
" At present," he said, " the real object of distress is often
neglected, whilst the clamorous impostor is reUeved. Vfrtue
is left to pine away in solitude, whUst rice, with its brazen front,
extorts support. There is at present no method, no order, no
regularity, no fixed rule for dispensing reUef. The very existence
of distress is unknown to some, is doubted of by others, whUst its
victims are hourly perishing. Want of information, of previous
arrangement, of classification — in fact, a want of method and
system — produces the greatest disorder, and frequently operates
injustice in administering rehef to the necessitous. AU these in
conveniences, at least, would be obviated, if there existed in every
parish a legal body charged with the interests of the poor. Again:
at present, when distress becomes general and urgent, contri
butions must be raised, but they are often raised from the bounty
or piety of those who can least afford to make sacrifices, whilst
the miser, the ungenerous, the hard-hearted, withhold thefr aid,
or dole it out with so much pain and penury as to render it of

AN HIST0EIC.1L VERDICT ON J. K, L, 383
httle use. The proprietor, also, who happens to be a resident, is
overwhelmed with demands upon his bounty, whilst the absentee
leaves the poor to the care of some heartless agent, who seems
often, in the intensity of his perverseness, to laugh at their de
struction." Dr. Doyle's opponents on this question objected that poor-
rates might operate as a check to industry and an encouragement
to indolence. "In reply to this," be said, "it should be sufficient to observe,
that men in a state of extreme depression, such as that of our
poor at present, are devoid of energy and nearly incapable of
exertion : it is the man who possesses something who is found
to malie efforts either to preserve or to increase his little store ;
but when he is reduced to the lowest ebb of misery, he becomes
Ustless, a kind of apathy spreads itself over him Uke a nightmare,
and he finds himself incapable of making any movement. Look
to the savage, as described by Eobertson, who presents him to you
as totally heedless of to-morrow ; look to the slave untU he gets
a Uttle patrimony, and you find him sleeping away his leisure
hours. But turn to the tradesman or peasant who has obtained
some Uttle degree of independence, and like the bee when storing
her hive with wax or honey, he is all busy, diligent, active, and
industrious." J. K. L. did not cry out vaguely and undefinedly for some
legal system of reUef, but vsith much perspicuity submitted to the
Legislature an able and ingenious plan, which, after long and
anxious thought, he had been led to adopt. It is much to be re
gretted that this rigorous and suggestive outline was not filled up
and perfected by the Govemment. The crude and faulty plan
of poor-laws for Ireland which came into operation during the
year 1838, could not faU to have proved most unsatisfactory to
the practical eye and comprehensive mind of J. K. L. Had not
the one ceased to flash and the other to toU, he would, no doubt,
have pronounced the cure to have been, in this instance, worse
than the disease.
The Eev. M. Brennan, in his "Ecclesiastical History of Ire
land," referring to Dr. Doyle's " Twelve Letters on the State of
Ireland," says that they present "a rare combination of eloquence,
patriotism, and phUosophy. The nerve and unlaboured simpli
city of the diction, together with the justness of the remarks with
which they abound, rendered them perhaps the most popular lite
rary coUection that had ever been published in this country. The
paramount national good which resulted from them has been de
cidedly acknowledged by men of aU parties, and entitles thefr
highly-gifted author to the thanks and gratitude of posterity."

38 i

BLUNDERBUSSES AND BLUNDERS.

" These letters," observes Bishop O'Connor, " which fiU near
400 pages, he wrote currente calamo, and it was only when
he brought them to Dublin for pubUcation that he had time to
read them over."
The reader has no doubt observed with what strength of lan
guage Dr. Doyle frequently denounced the mal-administration of
justice in Ireland. These sentiments, however, only found ex
pression through the medium of works which never reached the
peasantry. They were addressed to men in power, and circulated
almost entirely among the higher orders. .'We have seen how, in
various Pastorals which were read aloud for the people from every
altar of the diocess, he uniformly inculcated allegiance to the
King and due obedience to the constituted authorities. During
the month of February, 1825, Dr. Doyle issued another useful
dociiment of this character. " Bring to your recoUection," he
wrote, " our former admonitions, when, by word and by letter, we
exhorted you to peace, and to an unquaUfied respect for and obe
dience to the laws. Those who are opposed to the interests of
the country are endeavouring to create alarms and to frame con
spiracies. You wiU be watchful, therefore, and circumspect, and
let no one seduce you. Should any stranger propose to you iUegal
tests or oaths, or invite you to join in any illegal association,
arrest him, and conduct him to a magistrate. Should he be
known to you, let not the sun go down untU you lodge informa
tions against him, that he may be apprehended and punished as
the law dfrects. Informers in Ireland, 'tis true, are doubly infa
mous, on account of their connexion with the Penal Laws; but to
inform against the wretch who would lead you into combinations,
and traffic in your blood, is not infamous but truly honourable.
It is not only an act ,of justice and of aUegiance, but of piety to
God,. of charity to your neighbour, and of love to your country."
" It was not only by pubhshing that Pastoral," observed Dr.
Doyle, when undergoing his ParUamentary examination, " that I
endeavoured to check the eril which prevaUed ; I spent several
weeks going from parish to parish, and preaching to multitudes of
people m the chapels, and sometimes by the waysides, against the
society in which they were engaged, pointing out to them, as well
as I could, the unlawful nature of it, fts opposition to the law of
God and to the laws of tbe country, as weU as the eril results
with which it was fraught." The effect produced by Dr. Doyle's
appeals to the people was striking and important. Quantities of
old guns, swords, and blunderbusses were brought in and flung at
the Bishop's feet. . n. n
In January, 1825, an amusing blunder was made at the ca
tholic Association, and by the various newspapers which recorded

SUSPENDERS AND SALUTATIONS. 385
its proceedings. The Eev. James Doyle, P.P. of Eathdrum, ad
dressed to O'ConneU a rather prosaic letter on the state of
Ireland, which the great Tribune, nusled by the signature, took
for gi-anted must have been penned by Bishop Doyle. Eegarding
it as an emanation Jrom Old Derrig, it was read aloud at the
meeting, and eulogistically commented upon by various speakers.
A vote of thanks was proposed, and in the papers of the following
day the letter appeared at fuU length, with the episcopal signature
and cross of Dr. Doyle.
Sydney Smith, in his own eccentric way, says that, " Corres
pondences are like smaU-clothes before the invention of suspen
ders — it is unpossible to keep them up." Dr. Doyle, however,
although he achieved in his short Ufe more than ten men's work,
contrived to make time for one of the largest and most misceUa
neous correspondences that ever feU to the lot of any man to
maintain, -with the exception perhaps of Voltaire. The aid of a
secretary was a luxury unknown to him, and every letter is written
with his own hand. A day never elapsed that he did not comfort
the afflicted, instruct the ignorant, stimulate the lukewarm, and
plead his do-wn-trodden country's cause, through the medium of
this correspondence. The extent of the latter branch of this
labour exceeds aU belief. Dr. Doyle opened a correspondence
with almost every person connected with the Government or Legis
lature, whose UberaUty of sentiment led him to hope that good
might come from fanning the genial flame. Nearly aU Dr.
Doyle's correspondents having passed fr-opi this -world, his letters
to them have been lost or mislaid ; but we have rescued enough,
no doubt, to show the good man's zeal and patriotism. Among
the missing letters those addressed to Lord Donoughmore, tbe
Right Hon. Charles Brownlow, Thomas Spring Eice, Lord Mel
bourne, Lord Shrewsbury, the Eev. Sydney Smith, W. H. Curran,
Eight Hon. E. More O'Ferrall, Lord Damley, Lord Duncannon,
R. L. SheU, George Ensor, and Eobert Cassidy, may be mentioned.
His correspondence with Prelates and Priests would in itself have
been almost enough to exhaust the energies and leisure of an ordi
nary man.
The foUowing letter, dated 1st January, 1825, is addressed to
the nun Mariana :
" The time I write obUges me to commence with vrishing you
the comphments of tbe season, and as you are fond of poetry, and
not entirely unacquainted with the language of Horace, I shall
present them to you in his trite manner — ' Multos et felices!'
and pray God that each of the returning years you are destined
to see, may bring vrith it an increase of the choicest blessings of
25

386 LETTER TO MARIANA,
heaven, I was very much gratified at reading your letter, and as
I told you I was an exact correspondent, I hasten to give you this
ffrst proof of it. Our meeting was, no doubt, more than accidental,
for He who numbers the hafrs of our head, and in whom we hve,
move, and have our being, leaves nothing to accident, but governs
everything by His proridence,^ He even 'makes aU things co
operate to the good of those -wlio, according to the purpose of His
wiU, are caUed to be saints.' We sometimes defeat His designs,
either through raalice, or by a want of fideUty to His first graces,
which, like a seed sown in the earth, requires to be watered and
protected, that the sun, or weeds, or tares, may not injure the
growth, or prevent its increase. ....
" Do not, my dear friend, be shocked at your sudden incUna
tion to adopt a new acquaintance, and favour him with your re
gard ; if so, I should be tempted to imitate you, and thus lessen
the pleasure I feel in cherishing for you both affection and esteem.
Sometimes we leam more of a person's character in a few hours
than, under other circumstances, we could know in many years.
A simUarity of dispositions, of riews, and pursuits liken minds
and hearts, so that when they meet they easUy understand each
other, " I am greatly gratified at your letting me know your incUna
tions vrith regard to a reUgious Ufe, and the obstacles to it which
exist in yourseff only show that you are the more fitted for it.
A warm fancy, extensive riews, and strong affections may be
converted into the most,powerful means of purifying your heart
and uniting it to God. You have piety enough to be convinced
that the imagination ought not to be indulged in the enjoyment of
things senseless and created, which we are obhged ' to use as ff
we used them not,' and that when it is employed in the represen
tation of inrisible things, it is one of the most powerful means
of enabUng us, whUst on earth, to have our conversation and
thoughts in heaven. It also assists beginners, in the works of
piety, to purify thefr own hearts by reflections on thefr past sins
and infidehties, as also on the humble and suffermg Ufe of Him
who not only atoned for them, but gave an example, that they
might waUi in His footsteps. The disposition to travel is a fancy
of youth, and is one of those things, indifferent in itself, which
may be turned to good or bad account ; but m you I should deem
it nothing else than an Ulusion perfectly natural to you, which the
enemy of your soul perverts to thwart the designs of God, when
he is not able to corrapt your rirtue by the seductions of vice.
And your attachment to your sister is a charming disposition ; it
is the fruff of a pure and tender heart, which I thought I disco
vered in you at our first interriew. Don't seek to extirpate it, but

LETTER ON CONFESSION. 387
control its aberrations, check its excesses, keep every day and
night before you the first, the greatest, almost the only command
given us — ' Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and
with thy whole strength, and with thy tohole mind.' This is that
charity which you are greatly obliged to practise, and from which
neither angels, nor archangels, nor things past, nor things pre
sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature — no, nor sisters, nor brothers, nor parents, nor friends,
should separate you. Do you think you can continue to love God,
and not regulate your friendships. You will do it easily, my dear
friend, when time and grace take their course. Eegulate what is
-within you, that you may do the wUl of God, whatever it may be.
' Sufficient for the day is the evU thereof,' and as many days may
pass before your affections are purified and your heart settled, you
wiU find, when the day of parting with your friends comes, that
they wiU not be an obstacle to tbe designs of God. I have written,
as you perceive, to the end of my sheet. I consign you to the
care of Proridence, and -wiU hope to hear from you whenever you
wish to write."
We trast it may not be objected that,, in making public a
letter Ulustrative of Dr. Doyle's power as an enlightened spiritual
dfrector, we are intruding upon the privacy of the confessional.
We think it probable, however, that the advice it contains, instead
of consoUng one, as was originaUy the case, may now soothe and
enUghten many scrupulous ladies.
¦' I don't think your fears at present deserve the respectable
name of temptation, or -will be entitled to the reward which trials,
when subdued, merit ; they are scruples excited by something or
other which does not concern you, and which your busy fancy has
converted into mortal sins, forsooth ! It is not so easy to offend
God mortaUy without knowing it. He does not set snares in Hia
institutions to catch His ovm chUdren, and. then to hand them over
to His own and their enemy. His providence is far otherwise,
. . . though all things, as Soloman says, are reserved un
certain to futurity, as far as the Ught of the Gospel enables us to
look and see. Your faults, however great and numerous they may
be, are not connected -with the manner in which you received the
sacraments, for one having the dispositions of soul that you have
had, and exempt as you were from grievous transgressions of the
divine law, the habitual charity or love of God resident in you
suppUed the very essence and substance of contrition. The
purpose of amendment requfred was always found in the dispo
sition you had to serve God faithfuUy, and as weU as he would
enable you ; the sensible sorrow you were anxious about is never
necessary, and for the faults you were guilty of, tbe regret you

888 WOMEN MAKE THEIE CONFESSION TOO WELL.
felt was such as the venial or doubtful faults requfred. It consists
m an act of the mfrid, by which we simply regret haring done
what was displeasing to God, and wish sincerely— nay, purpose
with His grace, to do it no more deUberately. As to 'tiie con
fession, Uke aU other women, you do ff too weU— that is, say too
much about it, and, fri your anxiety to be understood, you teU
*r^^i',i \- ^°^ ^^^' "^^^^ ^^°^^^ ^^"^^ ^^ told- The sin
should be taken separated, as ff were, from yourseff and every
other person, and considered only as it relates to the law supposed
to be violated. But this is what St. Augustm, when he was a con
fessor, could not teach any woman ; so we must leave them their
o-wn method, and bear vrith an excess in them which sms much
more agamst the confessor than agauist God. Go then to Mr.
"^  ' and with aU your other sins and enormities accuse your
seff of aU the defects and excesses of your former confessions, and
do this to get rid of your scruples, not to amend what is defective.
My dearest chUd, mind your devotions to God, your prayer and
union of soul ; cleanse your heart not only of earthly affections,
bnt even of soUcitude about your salvation. The abandonment of
Magdalen to the mercy and disposition of the Lord is one of the
most exalted acts of rirtue ever practised by a Christian soul, and,
if persevered in, would certainly produce a heaven upon earth.
Surely she thought but Uttle of confession whilst at the feet of
Jesus ; «,U was love, contrition, confidence, enjoyment. She
abandoned herseff to Him totaUy, and he took good care of her.
Go, my dearest H  , and do likevrise; and bring vrith you, in
your entreaties, to His feet one who is always your affectionate
friend in Christ."
In the course of his risitation of the extensive diocess of
KUdare and LeighUn, Dr. Doyle continued to tear up abuses root
and branch, whenever he could lay his hand upon them. He
occasionaUy went to work perhaps too roughly to meet the taste
of a fastidious critic; but the times were pecuhar and critical,
and some of the practices incidental to them requfred a violent
remedy. A Priest writes: "Everybody quivered at the nod of Dr.
Doyle. An announcement of his advent would produce an almost
startUng effect, and, for a fortnight before, there would be nothing
else spoken of either by the Priests or the people. Dr. Doyle
confirmed me with several , other boys at that period. It was his
practice at visitations to ask the Pastor what were the principal
offences of his flock, in order that his Lordship might personally
rebuke them, and urge them, with the weight of his influence, to
repentance. On the occasion of his risit to Mountrath in 1825,
faction-fighting had prevaUed to a frightful extent. Haring ascer
tained the leaders to be men who had frequently been cffecked for

HAS HE PUT A STOP TO FACTION-FIGHTING. 389
simUar tendencies, he summoned them before him. Hardened as
they were in other respects, they trembled to disobey thefr Bishop,
and proceeded to the chapel. The congregation knew that a storm
was brewing. Although a mere chUd, I weU remember the har
rowing suspense that prevaUed, After the Confii-mation-Mass,
Dr. Doyle (the wave of whose hand acted Uke the loadstone upon
iron) motioned the ringleaders of the faction to advance within the
altar rails. They were great colossal men of iron nerve, and
almost savage countenance ; but they obeyed the Bishop's sum
mons with the alacrity of chUdren, and knelt down humbly before
him. Dr. Doyle uttered a touching exhortation ; but this had
several times preriously been addressed to them, and he felt that
something stiU more impressive was necessary to smother the
growing abuse for ever. The candles were extinguished, and
other preparations made for the awful ceremony of excommuni
cation. I was too much frightened to remember anything more,
but I know that faction-fighting received its death-blow on this
occasion. The leaders, having showed signs of true repentance,
were soon after tenderly received back again by the Bishop."
Many are the anecdotes related of Dr. Doyle's labours to
eradicate faction-fighting and Eibbonism from his diocess. Two
youths who had engaged in a riolent interchange of blows were
sent, by the Vicar-Foreign of the district, to Dr. Doyle for a re
primand. As weU as could be coUected from a rather battered
risage, including a black eye, the smaUer beUigerent seemed to be
onlyin "his teens." "Ah," said Dr. Doyle, extending his crozier,
and roughly raising the chin of the boy's downcast countenance,
"ere Proridence has blessed you with a beard, the devil has
placed his mark upon you !" The Bishop said no more. His ad
monition had more effect upon the pugiUsts and the spectators
than the most elaborate homily.
Dr. Doyle made frequent use of his crozier whenever he
wished to render an official rebuke indeUbly terrible. "Your
Bishop has smote you in his anger," he would sometimes say.
An unfortunate female, who was one day kneeUng for pardon at
his feet, fainted away from sheer terror, as the Bishop's crozier
smote her neck.
As a contrast to the foregoing, we shaU now insert a comic
anecdote or two. During a visitation at KiU, a war of words,
which was foUowed by a bloody pugUistic encounter, took place
between some men in the chapel-yard. The offenders were
brought before the Bishop. He looked so terrible that even those
who had no concern in the fight trembled. " You came to serve
the Lord," he said, " but at the threshold of His house you have
deserted 'Him for the Tempter. You indulge a murderous pro-

390 ANECDOTES — A SUMMONS.
pensity before the very dwelling of the God of Peace! You
wretched, vrithered creature," he added, "wasted either by disease
or stunted by nature, do you not know that one blow from a strong
arm would send you out of this wicked world for ever ? You se
lect the day that your Bishop visits yOu to afflict and outrage him.
And you," he said, addressing another — " who are you that have
dared to  -" " One Tim Hoolahan, from there beyant at Naas,
plaze your Eiverence," repUed the arch-offender, who did not at
all seem to know that he was guUty of an interruption alike frrele-
vant and frreverent. The effect which Dr, Doyle had been la
bouring to produce was utterly upset, A tendency to laugh ran
like electricity around. He abruptly closed the exhortation, and,
with a mingled expression of sorrow and disgust, turned away.
He used to accost men and boys on visitation days, to test
thefr knowledge of the Christian Doctrine. One feUow' seemed
impenetrably stupid. "You're an inert mass of matter!" ex
claimed, the Bishop disdainfully. "Thank you, my Lordship,"
acknowledged the man, who appeared to think that Dr. Doyle had
said something compUmentary.

CHAPTEE xvn.
Dr, Doyle summoned before tbe Houses of Lords and Commons— A friendly
hint— Plans laid for his discomfiture— Courtesy of Lords Lansdowne and
Dover— Lord Grey's opinion of Dr. Doyle— His eridence— The French
Press on Dr. Doyle— Treacherous conduct of Lord [  ]— Proposal to
pension the Catholic Clergy— Canon Law in reference to marriage— The
Duke of Wellington on Dr. Doyle— Anecdotes— TAe Edinburgh Beview
on Dr. Doyle— Remarkable political conversions effected by his eridence—
George Canning and Dr. Doyle— The bull " Coena Domim"— The Catho
lic Eelief Bill passes the Commons— "The Wings"- Lord F. L. Gowers
scheme—Letter to A, R. Blake— Manifesto from O'ConneU-'' A pit dug^
for Drs, Doyle and Murray— Letter to Mr. Brougham— Dr. Doyles
return to Ireland— A blaze of triumph and jubUee— Congratulatory ad-

On the 7th of March, 1825, Dr. Doyle left Old Derrig for London,
in obedience to a summons which requfred his attendance at the
Houses of Lords and Commons by the 13th of the same montii.
He proceeded on arrival to Blake's hotel in Jermyn-street, chiefly
to be near his accompUshed and honest friend, Sfr Henry Parnell,
who resided withm a fe-w doors of that estabUshment.
Dr. Doyle went, to London, quite unprepared to undergo tne
searching theological examination which several members otWie
pariiamentary committees had, so mgeniously, planned for his dis

DR. DOYLE IN LONDON. 891
t
comfiture. He did not expect to have been called upon for any
evidence beyond a few remarks on the state of Ireland. To Sir
Henry ParneU, afterwai-ds Lord Congleton, he was indebted for
the hint apprising him of the exact posture of matters. " They
are concocting a train of examination for the last week," said
Sfr Henry. " Some of the most practised theologians from
Oxford and Cambridge are in attendance, adding Unk after link
to the long chain of queries which are prepared for you. Meet
them on the point of the bayonet by reading up a Uttle, whUe
jou have yet time." " My dear Sfr Henry," replied the Bishop,
" I have brought no book with me but my Breriary ; a few
hours' thought, however, may stand me in good stead." "In my
Ubrary," said Sfr Henry, " you wiU find some useful ecclesiastical
works, and I place them at your disposal." " I gladly accepted
his offer," remarked Dr. Doyle, as he told the anecdote, " and
imagine my surprise to find in the Baronet's study as carefully
a selected theological Ubrary as any Priest need desfre. Haring
refreshed my memory vrith a draught of BeUarmine and De La
Hogue, I proceeded to the House of Commons, and calmly awaited
the advance of the enemy."
Dr. Doyle found other accompUshed friends who, most good-
naturedly, placed at his disposal several books Ukely to prove
useful to him at that moment. The foUo-sring note accompanied
seven volumes of Count Darn's " History of Venice," compUed
from the Venetian archives captured by Napoleon, and pubUshed
for the first time in 1819. The Eight Hon. G. A. ElUs, we need
hardly observe, was an author of great and deserved fame ; he
fiUed the offices of President of the Eoyal Society of Literature,
of Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and became, in
1831, Baron Dover. The Quarterly Review savagely assailed
Dr. Doyle. It is pleasant to find a quarterly reriewer showing him
in private every courtesy : " Spring Garden.
"My dear Lord — I have the pleasure of sending you 'Darn,'
which I am sure -wiU be read by you vrith interest, being a most
curious and valuable book. As a present, I am sorry to say it is a
shabby one. I tried very hard to find a copy bound — but in vain,
and the shortness of your intended stay amongst us precluded the
possibUity of my trusting to the delays of bookbinders.
" Trusting that your health is improving, I remain, my dear
^°'^'^-' "G. Agar Ellis."
"Daruis fit for anything," said Napoleon; "he has judg
ment, intellect, a great capacity, a body and a soul of iron." —
The Marquis of Lansdowne, not knowing that Darn's book had

392 lord lansdowne — earl grey.
heen afready sent to the Bishop, kmdly forwarded to him *a second
copy: "Lord Lansdowne presents his compliments to Dr. Doyle,
and as he expressed some interest respecting the " History of
Venice," which lyir. Darn has lately pubUshed, haring two copies
of it, requests his acceptance of one of them, as he is conrinced ff
wiU amply repay his curiosity.
" Lord Lansdowne begs to add that if Dr. Doyle's departure
is delayed, and there is anything in his house which can afford
him any amusement. Lord Lansdowne would be happy to show H
to him any morning before Monday, when he leaves town, or to
leave dfrections for his seeing it afterwards,
" Lansdowne House, Tuesday."
His first day's examination closed amid murmurs of approba
tion. The late Mr. Fagan, M.P., thus aUudes to ff : " The most
remarkable evidence ever given before or since was that of Dr.
Doyle. _ His eloquence, the beauty and correctness of his language,
his varied information, the boldness of his riews, the new Ught he
threw on many subjects connected with the ecclesiastical history
of the Catholic Church in Ireland, its discipUne and doctrine, aU
contributed to render this evidence the most valuable, striking,
and important on record."
The late A. E. Blake, Chief Eemembrancer of Ireland, was in
London at the same time. He met Earl Grey coming out of the
committee-room. "Blake," he said, "I have to congratulate you,
as a Catholic and an Irishman, on the marveUous learning, wis
dom, and argumentative power which a Bishop of your Church,
and a countryman of your own, has just manifested while under
examination." Mr. Blake hastened to communicate to Dr. Doyle
this most gratifying expression of opinion. " He found me," said
the Bishop, " far from weU. I had not slept the night before ; but
now all my anxiety was at an end. I threw myself upon the bed,
and you may be sure I slept aU the better after the news of which
Blake had been the bearer. I repaired to the House next mom
ing with renovated rigour and confidence. I had been a Uttle un
easy, not on my own account, but because I felt that the great
cause in which I had so deep an interest was encompassed by
perUs." From the second day's examination we make a short extract :
" Q. "What authority has the CathoUc writer, Gother, among
Eoman CathoUcs?. A. Gother is esteemed by us a very venerable
writer, and perfectly orthodox in aU that he has written.
" Q. The Committee find, in a treatise caUed ' A Vindication

EXAMINATION OF DR. DOYLE. 393
of the Eoman Catholics,' the foUowing curse, in a statement of
curses : first, ' Cursed is he that commits idolatry, that prays to
images or reUcs, or worships them for God :' is that a doctrine
which is acknowledged by Eoman Catholics ? A . That is our pro
per doctrine, and I and every Eoman Catholic in the world would
say with Gother, accursed be such person.
" Q. It then states, ' Cursed is he that beUeves the saints in
heaven to be his redeemers, that prays to them as such, or that
gives honour to them, or to any creatm-e whatsoever :' is that ac
knowledged? A. So^I say, accursed be any person that does so.
" Q. It then further states, ' Cursed is he that beUeves Priests
can forgive sins whether a sinner repents or not ; or that there is
any power in earth or heaven that can forgive sins without a
hearty repentance and a serious purpose of amendment? A. I
most cordiaUy coincide in the expressions used there by Gother,
and so wUl every Catholic clergyman in the world.
" Q. It is then stated, ' Cursed is he that beUeves there is
authority in the Pope, or any other, that can give leave to commit
sins, or that can forgive him his sins for a sum of money. A. A
frightful and impious doctiine, and most accursed' is he that
holds it.
" Q. Are there any words in the indulgences, as they are pub
Ushed, which would give the world a notion that they are to be
understood with those quaUfications ? A. 1 think that there is no
CathoUc at aU who misunderstands the language in which indul
gences are granted, because in aU our books of prayer, which are
in the hands of every Chiistian, the sense that I have now given is
clearly expounded; and the Priests in thefr exhortations, when
they do pubUsh indulgences of any kind, take care to impress
stiongly upon the people that such indulgence cannot be obtained
unless they heartUy repent of their sin, obtain pardon of the guUt
from God, and do aU in their power to make atonement for it by
good works."
" The eridence of Dr. Doyle," observes a writer, " had a
powerful effect in disabusing the English mind of pre-conceived
erroneous opinions, and deep-rooted prejudices on the Catholic
reUgion, and on the condition of the Msh people. The tone and
manner in which it was deUvered excited astonishment. With a
seff-possession, dignity of character, and cleamess of judgment,
perhaps 'never erinced before. Dr. Doyle added such a love of
fruth, and withal such a respect for the judgment of others, that
he made an impression on even the minds of the highest intole
rants, which aU their bigotiy could not remove." This eridence
is so leamed and elaborate, and in many parts so intricate, that
we cannot do much more than refer to it in general terms. The

•894 SUBSTANCE OF HIS EVIDENCE.
CathoUc religion had long been so grossly misrepresented, that
the Legislature found it adrisable to dfrect its interrogatories not
only to matters incidentaUy connected with social duties, but even
to abstract, speculative, and devotional practices. Dr. Doyle was
examined at considerable length in reference to the CathoUc doc
trines of absolution, penance, purgatory, indulgences, miracles, and
the invocation of saints ; the mode of appointing CathoUc Bishops,
excommiQucation, Papal dispensations, the canons of CouncUs,
the Bible and Bible societies, the various CathoUc coUeges at
home and on the Continent, the several reUgious orders, the state
of the poor, domestic nomination. Church discipline in Ireland,
vaUdity of Anglican orders, tithes. Catholic Emancipation, aUe
giance, education, and Ulegal societies. Various questions arising
out of these and other subjects had been proposed to Dr. Doyle,
and were foUowed" by a series of repUes which, in the judgment
even of men preriously prejudiced, could not faU to afford complete
satisfaction. But perhaps the leading topics of this evidence were
those which related to the supreme authority of the Pope, and to
the questions of the Veto and pensioning the clergy. In regard
to the first. Dr. Doyle observed that the authority of the Pope is
merely spfritual, and that it is Umited by decrees of CouncUs, and
also by usage ; so that when he directs any decree respecting local
discipline to any nation beyond the Umits of his ovm territory, or
the Papal States, the assent of the Bishops of such country is
necessary, in order that his decree should have effect. The pay
ment of the Cathohc Clergy by a Regiii/m Donum, and the exercise
of a Veto by the Crown in the appointment of CathoUc Bishops,
Dr. Doyle reprobated and rejected with the zeal of a true church
man. 'He added that he would be adverse to such an influence,
even if the Sovereign pf this realm were a CathoUc. He was
asked whether, if a pecuniary prorision, payable by the Crown, were
attached to Catholic sees and parishes in Ireland, would ff be m-
consistent vrith the discipUne of the CathoUc Church to admff any
interference on the part of the King in the appouitment. Dr.
Doyle repUed* decidedly in tbe negative. " Q. Would that ar
rangement, in your opinion, be inconsistent with the discipUne of
the Eoman CathoUc Church, even if ff had the sanctionof the
Pope?" "A, Were he to give his sanction to it, I thmk we
should oppose the matter here, I thmk he would not sanction
it ; but were he to do so, we should not agree to it. For my part,
I would not ; I should resign the office that I hold rather than
assent to such a thing. I would -first remonstrate against it; I
would remonstiate a second time against ff, and ff this were not
sufficient to word ff off, I should certainly resign my office ; and I
hope there is not a Bishop in Ireland who would not do the same.

HIS TACT AND SELF-POSSESSION. 395
The pririlege of translating Priests was sought by the Crown.
Dr. Doyle dexterously repUed, that the Government would find a
business of that character exceedingly troublesome ; "besides it
would be impossible for any man in the Government to be ac
quainted with the private Iffe of indiriduals, or to know who was
fit or who was unfit to be appointed. For instance, I had, whilst
Professor of Theology, the care of educating the greater part of
the clergymen of the diocess, and I am stiU obUged to inquire into
their theological knowledge, to ascertain the manner in which they
discharge their duties, to receive the reports of the rural ricars
as to thefr morals and conduct ; so that I know as intimately the
hfe, and habits, and conduct of every individual of the clergy under
me, as a father can be acquainted with the Ufe and habits of his
own son. It is this knowledge which enables me to place each of
them in that situation for which he is particularly adapted ; and
it must be very clear to the Committee that no Government, or
agent of Govemment, could have this information, and therefore
no such agent could be as competent as I am to appoint these
men to places or offices." "Q. How long have you been Bishop ?
A. .UnhappUy too long for my own peace — six years."
Dr. Doyle was examined at much length on canon law in
reference to marriage. He surprised the Committee by saying
that although it was in his power, as Bishop, to order a separation
on adultery being proved, he recognised in no power on earth.
Pope or CouncU, any authority to dissolve a marriage. He was
asked whether, in case a bUl of divorce passed to enable a CathoUc
to marry again, would he consider it vaUd. The Bishop replied,
"Yes, according to the law of tbe country," and that he would
consider the issue of such marriage entitled to such property as
might devolve upon them ; but as a clergyman he would not regard
the chUdren as legitimate in the ecclesiastical sense.
Adverting to the long- vexed question of domestic nomination.
Dr. Doyle declared that it could be easUy and satisfactorily ad
justed by a concordat with the Sovereign Pontiff.
Dr. Doyle was examined at immense length on the Catholic
doctrine regarding indulgences. He was even asked the siUy
question, whether indulgences might extend to the remission of
the temporal consequences with respect to crimes to be com
mitted ; to which, it is hardly necessary to add. Dr. Doyle repUed
with an indignant negative.
His eridence-, which it is utterly impossible for us to analyze
within the limits of this work, was given with singular perspicuity
and self-possession. Dr. Doyle sat, and sometimes stood, within
the recess of a long table shaped Uke a horse-shoe, around which
the members of the Committee were congregated. There was a

396

FRENCH OPINION ON DR. DQ-YLE.

large attendance of spectators, mostly Members of ParUament
Maiiy highly interesting facts, historical and otherwise, transpired "
they excffed an mtense interest not only in Great Britaui, but on
the Contment. The Etoile says : " Among the answers which
the Bishop of KUdare has given with so much frankness to the
questions of the Committee, is found an historical exposition of
the highest interest. It was not known before, that until the
death of the last of the Stuarts, the Pretender had always nomi
nated to the vacant sees in Ireland. The EngUsh Government
with aU fts gold had never been able to get at this secret, and
when we reflect that it was perhaps in tbe keeping of 10,000
fridiriduals, so admfrable an example of guarded fideUty towards
the legitimate Sovereign recal to recoUection, that the only general
of Maria Teresa whom the King of Prussia despaired of beitig
able to corrupt, was an Irishman ; and that our unfortunate Louis
XVI. had no more faithful defenders than the Irish attached to
his serrice."
_ M. le Baron Henrion, in his " Histoire de I'Elglise," refers to
this revelation of Dr. Doyle's as " tres-courieuse," and adds, that
the manner in which the custom was worked out, proved " mssi
honorable pour le Saint Siege que pour le clerge Irlaiidais."
The Baron reriews the entfre of Dr. Doyle's eridence, and
declares that it -displayed not less abandon and manly umeserve
than the Committee erinced a miserable spfrit of curiosity, caution,
and cunning.
On the 21st of March, Dr. Doyle was brought up to the House
-of Lords for examination,
" Lord  ," said Dr, Doyle, as he communicated these de
tails to a friend, " had given me a voluntary assm-ance that he
would protect me throughout the examination. ' Some puzzling
and extraneous questions,' said his Lordship, 'maybe put to you;
but I wUl take care and bring you back to the main point.' My
name was caUed, and I entered. What was my surprise, as I
glanced round the varied array of faces before me, to find no tiace
of Lord  's countenance. 'Ah!' I sohloquized, 'Lord 
has abandoned me to the PhUistines, but there is another afffl a
greater Lord who wUl not forsake me in the hour of need.' Several
Peers eagerly put questions to me. I never made a reply untU I
discovered the object which the inquirer had in view. His query,
if insidious, I received on the point of tbe bayonet. If a direct
reply was unavoidable, I uttered a mental prayer to God that He
would dfrect and protect me ; and He did so. I found it easier
to answer the Bishops than the Lords."
He was asked aU sorts of questions. " If the Eoman Cathohc
laity," said one Peer, " look for a restoration of certain rights

CROSS-EXAMINED BY PROTESTANT BISHOPS. 397
which their ancestors possessed, do you conceive that the Eoman
CathoUc Churcb looks for a restoration of similar rights exercised
by thefr predecessors ? A. Not at all; we never thought of such
a thing. The right of sitting and voting in Parliament is derived
from the baronial title of the Bishop in the Established Church,
and not from his episcopal character ; and we would think it de
structive (not to use a weaker word) that any of our Bishops should
be admitted into the legislative assembly. It is a thing quite
, foreign from our thoughts. God forbid that it should ever enter
into the minds of others."
" Q. You have said that you consider the ecclesiastical autho
rities and functions of the Bishops confined to the Church of
Rome ? A. To the Church in communion vrith the See of Eome ;
we do not recognize as lawful the mission or jurisdiction of any
other Church."
"When Dr. Doyle was asked ff he had read a recent pubUcation
entitled "Letters on the State of Ireland, by J.K.L.," he replied,
" I have seen them." A Bishop asked him if he thought it neces-
saiy that notes should accompany the Bible. Dr. Doyle repUed,
that in Ireland, where religious controversy prevaUed to such an
extent, he thought that short notes, explanatory of the texts on
which the differences turned, ought to be inserted. The Lords
also gave him a searching examination on the subject of marriage.
Among other curious questions, he was asked ff he had ever known
a marriage between a CathoUc and a Protestant, solemnized by
a Parson, dissolved by a Priest. Dr. Doyle repUed, "Never;"
that it could not be done, not even by a Pope or a Council, nor
any authority on earth, unless a canonical impediment existed,
which the difference of reUgion does not constitute. A Bishop
asked, "Did you ever know an instance of a marriage of that kind
dissolved, by which the woman became an outcast?" A negative
was, of course, the reply. When asked whether he would see any
objection to the Government exercising a discretion as to the
stipend to be given to each individual Priest, Dr. Doyle replied :
"If the Govemment came in contact in that manner with the indi
ridual Priest, they would subvert altogether the authority of the
Bishop, and repubUcanize the CathoUc Church."
Dr. Doyle's eridence in favour of CathoUc Emancipation was
alike eloquent and convincing. A long and rapid train of remarks,
which he deUvered almost -without pausing to take breath, thus
concluded : "In fact, I think it would kiiit together and effectually
secure the affections of the multitude, as well as of indiriduals,
and make us one people immediately ; and I hope, in a very few
years, a very happy and prosperous people. Those are my views,
such as I entertain them in the presence of God and your Lord-

898

DR. DOYLE AND THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

ships ; and I may add, that I think prosperity and tranquiUity wiU
never prevaU in Ireland while the present poUtical differences
arising from reUgion, are suffered to prevaU." Dr. Doyle, before
he left the room, said : " Is there any other question whereon I
can further satisfy your Lordships ?" at which they all burst simul
taneously into an earnest and very thankfuUy expressed negative.
Some of the Peers put questions which were rather ambiguously
expressed. It was then that Dr. Doyle became his own interiocu-
tor, " Your Lordship desires to ask so and so ?" he would say ;
and assent haring been nodded, he would then proceed to reply. '
A gentleman, who for many years represented an Irish consti
tuency in ParUament, told us the foUowing anecdote : During Dr.
Doyle's examination, the Duke of WeUington left the room for a
few minutes, in order to refer to some parliamentary document.
" WeU, Duke," observed a Peer who happened to be entering the
committee-room, "are you examining Dr. Doyle?" "No," re
pUed his Grace, drily, " but Doyle is examining us."
The Duke admfred the rigour and decision of Dr. Doyle's
* inteUect, and the Bishop's writings no doubt contributed largely to
his Grace's conversion on the Catholic question. Dr. Doyle's
executor informs us that the Duke and the Bishop had some pri
vate correspondence in 1828.
The late Frederick WiUiam Conway, Esq., another of Dr.
Doyle's Protestant admirers, writes : " Fortunately for the fame of
this Ulustrious Bishop, the chiefs of the land have had an oppor
tunity — including the leading Bishops of the Establisment — of
Ustening to Dr. Doyle when under the ordeal of a hostUe, and
what was intended to be an acrimonious and insulting examina
tion before the Committee of both Houses of ParUament. We
might appeal to more than one noble Lord, to more than one Pro
testant Bishop, and tQ many members of the House of Commons,
as to the bearing of the learned Prelate, the mastery of his sub
ject, and the domination which in a short space he assumed, and '
maintained to the last, over his interrogators. The impression he
left upon the memory of those who heard him wiU not be very
soon obUterated. It is recorded in the books of ParUament, and
we happen to know that the eridence is just given as spoken, for
being ourselves in London during part of the time, and urging Dr.
Doyle, as we remember, to revise the minutes of his eridence
before it went to press, he declined vrith a laugh, saying, that he
did not much care about the graces of style, prorided the short'
hand writer gave his sense ; and yet, upon reading these exami
nations, one is not more struck with the extensive knowledge and
power of argument which they display, than with the propriety,
the pointedness, and fehcity of their diction."

HIS INDIGNANT REPLY TO A PEER. 399
Dr. Doyle had perhaps in his mind a remark of St. Augus-
tm's— that " the deep sense of St. Paul, clothed in simple lan
guage, is more powerfuUy persuasive to even an inattentive reader
than the subUmest compositions of the heathen orators. They
studied the ornaments of eloquence, whereas Paul rejected them
disdainfuUy; but nevertheless they naturally followed his wis
dom." Dr. Doyle was a man of great impulse, and the energetic and
mdignant tone which pervaded some of his condensed replies
made more than one offensive question recoU on his lordly inqui
sitors. Bishop UUathorne informs us that he heard the following
anecdote from O'ConneU : " When Hogan's statue of Dr. Doyle
was exhibited. Lord Anglesey and a party from the Castle went to
examine it. One of the party said, ' I never remember seeing Dr.
Doyle in that remarkable position.' ' I remember it weU,' repUed
the Marquis. "When he was giring evidence before a committee
in the Lords, a Peer put a question to him which touched the
CathoUc doctrine, and he threw up his arm just in that command
ing way, and said, ' I did not think there was a British Peer so
ignorant as to ask such a question.' "
When it was supposed that the disclosure of some crimes,
when confessed at the sacred tribunal, had been sanctioned at
Rome; that indulgences extended to the remission of future sins;
that the CathoUc Clergy aspfred to transfer the wealth of the
Estabhshed Church to theu- ovm ; and that Dr. Doyle and his
brethren of the CathoUc episcopal bench desfred to have seats in
the House of Lords, it is no wonder that he should have felt hurt
and surprised at some of the questions put.
Bishop UUathorne continues : " When O'ConneU, Dr. Doyle,
and others, were examined on the question of Emancipation, one
distinguished Peer said to another after the Bishop's examination,
that Dr. Doyle as far surpassed O'ConneU as O'ConneU surpassed
other men."
On his return to Carlow, some of the Priests congratulated him
on the self-possession with which he had replied to and enlight
ened his interlocutors. Some Prelates, it appeared, who might
otherwise have been examined, held back through a feeUng of
diffidence. " A public examination," said one, " by the most
distmguished Peers and statesmen is no mUd ordeal for a man
educated in a cloister to encounter." " Pshaw !" exclaimed Dr.
Doyle, " such siUy questions as they put— and over and over re
peated. I think in aU my Ufe I never encountered such a parcel
of old fools."
The leading reriewers commented favourably. The Edin
burgh Review haring pronounced the inqufry to be " the most se-

400 CONVERSIONS MADE BY DR. DOYLE.
vere that could be instituted," said : " We further learn from Dr.
Doyle's evidence that the whole of this exceUent episcopal disci
pUne, so very different from that enjoined by the Bishops of other
Churches, and so very deserring of thefr imitation, is enforced by
frequent risitations, when the Bishop occupies himseff going from
parish to parish, and not only making himself thoroughly ac
quainted with the conduct of the clergy, but attending with the
greatest sohcitude to the appUcations and distresses of the poor,"
A CathoUc EeUef BUl furnished with "wings" was now before
ParUament. Considerable interest was excited by this novelty,
and it may. with truth be declared that the eye of the empire was
fixed upon Dr. Doyle's luminous eridence, which had just been
published by order of the House of Commons. The debates on
the CathoUc question, which at intervals throughout the months
of March, AprU, and May, took place in ParUament, are studded
¦with well-pointed aUusions to the eridence, general bearing, and
pubUc writings of Dr. Doyle. A higher testimonial to his abiUty
and importance there could not possibly be.
The Eight Hon. Charles Brownlow, afterwards Lord Lurgan,
who had long opposed the CathoUc Claims in every shape, honestly
confessed that he had been convinced by Dr. Doyle. In his place
in ParUament, on the 19th of April, he said : " If I am asked do
I now appear clad in that old hostility, which has hitherto marked
me for good or bad, towards six mUUons of my countrymen, I an
swer cheerfully — and I feel the lighter for the confession — by no
means. The grounds on which I formerly professed to stand are
gone ; many of the arguments which I have been in the habit of
using, and hearing used, are taken away ; those that remain are
weakened ; and in common sense, justice, and consistency, what
remains to a man whose arguments are gone but to re-consider his
conclusions ; and what atonement more reasonable or more due
than, finding he has adopted an erroneous opinion, to say so, and
to abjure it ? I know how much a change of opinion affords
ground of ridicule, and ground of suspicion, and almost every
ground but a charitable presumption in favour of sincerity, and
therefore I do not rise so much in the hope of explaining myself,
as in the hope of earnestly praying that many, who, Uke myself,
have looked at this subject apart from inquiry, misled by old
alarms and old prejudices, may, on coming to contend with the
facts, be overcome by them — may, on examining the eridence,
yield thefr understancUng to it." Mr. Brownlow continued in this
strain at considerable length, and read aloud to the House nu
merous extracts from the evidence of Dr. Doyle, in justification
of his conversion.
Mr. Dawson, M.P. for Derry, a riolent opponent of the Ca-

HONEST AVOWAL OF ALTERED OPINION. 401
thoUc Claims, declared that it was impossible not to admire the
demeanour of " Dr. Murray and Dr. Doyle, and particularly the
eloquence, learning, and zeal displayed by those two Prelates."
Lord MUton and Mr. North likevrise referred to Dr. Doyle's evi
dence; and Colonel Forde declared tbat, Uke the honourable mem
ber for Armagh, he also. had been made a convert to the Catholic
cause. Mr. Leycester avowed it as his opinion, that the persons
who had so strongly expressed sentiments hostUe to concession,
had done so in profound ignorance of the subject, and labouring
under great mistakes as to the reUgious belief of the Eoman
Catholics. His own errors on the subject were of the same de
scription, untu the investigation on Irish affairs had thrown a new
hght upon the question.
On the 21st April, the debate was resumed. Mr. Goulbourne
objected to Dr. Doyle's strong language against the Church Estab
Ushment, and read to the House extracts from his Letter to Arch
bishop Magee in 1822. Mr. Maxwell declared that from befrig
a foe he was now a friend to CathoUc Emancipation. Lord
Binning said tbat " Those who, Uke himself, had sat long enough
in ParUament to hear the old ' No Popery' cry, must recoUect the
time when a learned member of that House (Dr. Duigenan) used
to come dovm, vrith a load of old documents and books, to abuse
and anathematise Popery, and impute absurd doctrines to the
CathoUcs of the present day. Fortunately aU that rubbish was
now at an end. It was- no longer imputed to CathoUcs that they
coiUd not hold faith -with heretics, or that Catholics by command
of the Pope durst disobey their lawful princes. The eridence of
Dr. Doyle had been frequently made the subject of aUusion, and
its importance made it worthy of such distinction." Lord Valletort
said that he had to avow himself another among the many converts
that had been made in support of the CathoUc Claims ; and he felt
proud of the triumph which his reason had enabled him to achieve
over strong and early prejudices. Colonel Pakenham and Mr. E.
B. Portman conformed to the sensible riew of the question, in an
equally frank and straightforward manner. We find Dr. Doyle's
evidence further referred to and criticised by Sfr T. Leth bridge,
Mr. Peel, Mr. Hume, the SoUcitor-General, Sfr E. H. IngUs,
Mr. Grattan, Sir John Newport, Mr. Spring Eice, Sir Francis
Burdett, and others.
George Canning declared, that often as it had faUen to his lot
to speak on the CathoUc question, he had never before approached
it under appearances so cheering. The number of hostile petitions
had diminished^a cfrcumstance in itseff highly and unexpectedly
satisfactory. Some members had accused Dr. Doyle of insincerity
in giring his evidence, and Mr. Canning vindicated him from the
26

402 THE BULL, " C(ENA DOMINI."
charge : " Dr. Doyle solemnly denies that the spiritual obedience
which Eoman Catholics render to the Pope does or can interfere
with thefr aUegiance to thefr temporal Sovereign." Mr. Canning
proceeded to adduce such eridence as created " the strongest and
happiest confirmation of what Dr. Doyle had advanced." "With
out giring," he said, " to Dr. Doyle more credit than I would to
any other moral, educated, and intelUgent man, I am bound to
conclude, upon every calculation of probabUity, that he spoke
nothing before the Committee but what he conscientiously beUeved
to be true. It may then be taken as true, that the opinion as
stated by Dr. Doyle to be the opinion of the Eoman Catholics is
their opinion." Mr. Stapleton, in his Life of Canning (p. 243),
writes : "It appears from this extract that Mr. Canning attached
great weight to the evidence of Dr. Doyle, who was a man of high
character, and respected by aU parties for his integrity and abiUty.
. . . Dr. Doyle, however, gave other testimony of even more
importance than that quoted. It was believed by some of the
members of the Committee that a certain buU, called Bulla Goend
Domini, had been sent to. Ireland by a former Pope, which buU, if
stUl in force there, excommunicated a Protestant King as a heretic^
and absolved his subjects from their aUegiance  Dr.
Doyle was speciaUy examined whether this buU was in force in
Ireland. He repUed : ' It is not in force in Ireland, and never was :
it has been rejected by nearly aU the countries of Europe. If it
were in force, there is scarcely anything would be at rest.' " "In
reply to another question," adds the biographer of Canning, " the
Bishop answered : ' It (the buU) was never in force vrith us, and
surely never vrill be.' 'There is every reason to "beUeve that this
testimony was trae. This bull, which, according to Dr, Doyle,
was of so mischievous a character, , , , . was not then in
force in Ireland ; and since, according to the same authority, it
' never had been,' there were good grounds for accepting his assu
rance that it never would be. Such was the kind of eridence which
led statesmen to the beUef that the creed of the Eoman CathoUc
subjects of the Crown was not such as ' justified us in denouncing
it as incompatible vrith the discharge of their duties as good and
faithful members of the State,' "*
* The biographer of Canning adds In a note : " Three years after the Relief Bill
was passed, this bull was put in force in Ireland by the Papal Hierarchy." At the
suggestion of the late D. O. Maddyn, we directed the attention of a distinguished
Professor of Theology to Mr. Stapleton's singular statement. The Professor thus
replied : " It is true the Bulla Ccena Domini was never acted on in Ireland — was
never sought to be published in Ireland — was, in almost all its clauses, little adapted
to the usages, &c^, o( Irish discipline, therefore neither was nor could be a discipline
[law] in Ireland. In 1828, the ' Statutes,' or ecclesiastical laws of Ireland, were
published. No change since, up to the Synod of Thurles, and even there no sub
stantial change. Certainly Mr. Stapleton must be a clever fellow to have discovered
that the bull Ccend Domini was 'introduced after the passing of the Relief Bill!'
By whom published ,' — in what Synod or place ,'"

J. K. L. AND HIS PAELIAMENTAEY CRITICS. 403
The reader has already seen that Dr. Doyle was a man of
considerable impulse, and not unfrequently expressed his views
sfrongly. Extracts from his wi-itings having been read aloud in
the House of Commons, for the purpose of prejudicing the ques
tion, the Eight Hon. Charles Grant, now Lord Glenelg, declared
that "the House was bound to consider the extent of the provoca
tion. Scarcely a day passed in which the press and tbe pulpit
did not teem vrith gross accusations against the CathoUcs. He
was sorry, however that, to the zeal and energy of a Bossuet, Dr.
Doyle had not joined the meekness of a Fenelon." Mr., now
Lord Brougham, remarked, that " There was a discrepancy be
tween a pamphlet of Bishop Doyle and his evidence. Without
meaning to cast any imputation on that highly gifted man, he
certainly would not deny that there might be some intemperate
sentiments in that pamphlet to which he could not give his appro
bation. But might not the change of tone have been effected by
the opening of the doors of ParUament, for the purpose of Usten
ing to thefr grievances and complaints ? Might it not have arisen
from your Ustening to their story — from your aUowing them to
teU, vrith thefr own Ups, the miseries and privations under which
thefr country suffered — and that, too, with an impUed feeUng
that you, the ParUament of the United Kingdom, would redress
them?" Mr. Peel particularly aUuded to Dr. Doyle on the 21st
and 29th of April and on the 10th of May. He spoke of him as
"a very able man," and "one of the most acute and learned
Prelates in the Lish Church ; but he could not reconcUe Dr.
Doyle's acknowledged pubUcation with his eridence." Lord
Binning observed that he had read aU the letters pubUshed under
the signatme of "J. K. L.," as weU as the eridence of Bishop
Doyle, " and I must confess," added his Lordship, "that I could
not discover any inconsistency between them." " The noble
Lord," says Hansard, "here read several passages from the eri
dence and letters of Dr. Doyle, to corroborate his opinion."
The CathoUc BUl, after a prolonged debate, passed the Com
mons, with a majority for the third reading of twenty-one. In
the Lords it was warmly opposed, on the 17th May, by Lord
Colchester, who passed all Dr. Doyle's -writings in elaborate re
riew befere him, and enriched Hansard's report of his speech with
a'number of foot-notes and. references thereto. " The boldest and
most prominent of their churchmen," he said, "whose learning,
talents, and riews, are all equaUy remarkable — I mean the titular
Bishop of KUdare — expressly denies the justice of those laws by
which the Established Church of Ireland holds its property —
opinions which he has again maintained in his eridence on oath."
The Marquis of Lansdowne and Lord Carberry rindicated Dr.

404 "the wings.",
Doyle's eridence, and supported the Catholic Eelief BiU. Dr.
Bloomfield, the late Bishop of London, assisted by Dr. Van
MUdert, Bishop of Llandaff, subjected not only the eridence but
the letters of J, K, L, to a minute examination ; and the Prime
Minister, Lord Liverpool, made repeated aUusions to the Bishop,
The Earl of Damley declared that if Dr, Doyle had had the good
fortune to have been bred in the faith which thefr Lordships pro
fessed, he would not, from his piety and leaming, disgrace the
Eight Eeverend Bench, which he (Lord Darnley) saw before him.
The CathoUc Eelief BUl, having been hotly opposed by the
Dukes of York and WelUngton, Lord Anglesey, and others, it was
at length thro-wn out of the Lords by a majority of forty-eight.
The two Peers last named subsequently advocated the measure.
We have afready adverted to " the wings" with which the
parUamentary friends of the CathoUc Claims prorided the biU of
Emancipation, in order to faciUtate its progress through the at
mosphere of prejudice which pervaded the majorities in both
Houses. The first clause went to disfranchise the forty-shUling
freeholders ; and the second, to pay the CathoUc Clergy of
Ireland by meajis of a Regium Donum, The latter project
originated vrith Lord F. L. Gower, subsequently Earl of EUes
mere. It had been for some time spoken of, but his motion on
the subject and detaU of the plan were not submitted to Parha
ment untu the 24th AprU, 1825.
The late Eight Hon. A. E. Blake, the confidential friend and
law adviser of the Marquis WeUesley, haring been in London at
this time, on the subject of the Cathohc Eelief BUl, sought an
interriew vrith Dr. Doyle, for the purpose of eliciting his riews in
regard to the contemplated prorision for the Priesthood. Mr.
Blake found him exceedingly adverse to the project, though most
eager for Emancipation ; but the Bishop, haring appUed aU the
energies of his mind to the consideration of it, at length derised a
plan by which a provision could be made for the Priesthood, un
connected -with, and totaUy independent of court favour. The
ingenuity of this plan struck Mr. Blake so forcibly that he re
quested Dr. Doyle to commit it to paper, for the perusal of Lord
Francis Leveson Gower and other members of the Govemment,
with a riew to the modification of the proposed scheme. The
letter has been kindly placed at our disposal, with several others,
by Mr, Blake's nephew and executor, Peter Blake, Esq,, J, P, :
"Cheltenham, 7th April, 1825.
"My dear Sir — With respect to the prorision itself, it is
perhaps superfluous to repeat, that let it be of whatever kind or
amount it may, I would accept of it vrith great reluctance — so much

LETTEE to ANTHONY RICHARD BLAKE. 405
so, that I would certainly reject it if Emancipation could be ob
tained on any other terms. It seems also to be agreed on aU
hands that the canonical right of the Bishop, whether in correct
ing, punishing, or rewarding his clergy, as weU as his power of
increasing or diminishing their number, of uniting or creating
parishes, or dissol-ving existing unions, as times and cfrcumstances
might requfre, should remain untouched ; and that if, by the exer
cise of such right, additional claims on the state provision should
happen to be created, that a power to satisfy such claims in the
same manner as those which now exist should be established by
law. I confess that had I an opportunity of communicating my
ideas on the subject to Govei-nment, I should never think of
suggesting that plan which now seems to be under consideration ;
my objections to it are so strong, that no consideration but a fear
of retarding the settlement of the country could prevent me from
enforcing them vrith the pubUc. "But though this plan be so ob
jectionable to my mind, that my vrish to arrest its progress is only
overruled by my anxiety for Emancipation, yet I do not blame any
one for wishing to attach, by means of a state prorision, our order
more stiongly to the Crown — though the very idea seems to imply
either a vrish to make tools of us, or what is not less offensive —
namely, that we have not been as loyal and as weU affected as we
ought. Bnt I do not complain on this account of any one, as aU
men in these matters may justly abound in thefr own sense, and
there are few, indeed, who are acquainted -with the dUigence and
unwearied zeal with which we have laboured in recent, as well as
in more remote times, for the good of the State, as weU as for the
interests of our own people. Undoubtedly, whatever plan the
Government might adopt for carrying thefr intentions into effect
would not be the less wise or salutary, if it were adopted after
hearing the opinions of those who were to be immediately affected
by it. I have made this reflection in order to record, at least with
you, that the mode of providing for the CathoUc Clergy in Deland,
which I have seen detaUed on paper, was not derised by us, and
though it may be subnutted to, -wUl never be approved of by me.
In the event of a prorision being made, it should proceed on the
principle of connecting the CathoUc Clergy, not vrith the Crown,
but with the State, and of preserring inriolate the mutual depend
ence and connexion of the Priesthood and the people -with and
upon each other. For this purpose an Act of ParUament might
proride that the parishes now existing, or to exist hereafter in
each diocess, should be classed by the Bishop, aud that a vestry
of each parish, composed of Catholic freeholders, should be en
abled to vote, and le-vy by assessment from off the parish an an
nual sum, not exceeding £  , for the maintenance of a Parish

406 A LEGAL PROVISION FOR THE PRIESTHOOD.
Priest of the flrst-class, and so on, in proportion, for those of the
other classes ; and another annual sum of £  for house-rent ;
the vestry to be enabled in like manner to le-vy the sum of £ 
for the curate, or each of the curates, whilst assisting, by order of
the Bishop, in the discharge of duty vrithin the parish. The
stipend of the curate should be fixed and uniform for many
reasons, vrith which it is useless to trouble you ; whilst that of
the Parish Priest should be so varied as to enable the parishioners
to increase, to a certain extent, the income of a zealous, dihgent,
charitable Pastor, or to diminish it in case of neglect, avarice, or
worldly affections prevaiUng over him. Thus the necessary inde
pendence of the Parish Priest would be provided for, the law
making it imperative that his income should not be less than a
certain sum, whilst his attention to the wants of his parishioners
would be stimulated, if not secured, by their haring a power to
increase somewhat such income in proportion to his deserts. The
Bishop might be prorided for by a per-centage, to be paid by the
Parish Priests out of the sums voted by the vestry for thefr main
tenance respectively ; but this provision should be fixed and in
variable in its amount, so as not to be liable to diminution or
increase by the union or dissolution of unions of parishes,
"An objection to this plan is, that it would impose an additional
burden on the occupiers of houses and lands — a class of persons
afready subject to too many charges ; but this objection could arise
in the minds only of those who do not consider that what is now
given throughout Ireland, in the shape of voluntary contributions,
by only a portion of this class of persons, is perhaps nearly equal
to what would then be leried by a legal assessment from the entfre
community ; nor should it be forgotten that the amount of these
benevolences depends at present on various and often unsettled
usages, or on such regulations as a Bishop may adopt within his
diocess. But the objection could be removed, and a substantial
reUef afforded to the farmers and peasantry of Ireland, by freeing
the land from county charges, or at least from such proportion of
them as would equal the assessment for the support of the CathoUc
Clergy, and placing these charges on the Consolidated Fund.
[Dr. Doyle stated objections against the principle of paying
the Priesthood out of the Treasury, and added : " The CathoUc
Clergy should be paid by those amongst whom thefr duties are
performed."] "It might appear desirable that the Protestant as well as the
CathoUc freeholders, or householders paying land-tax or town
charges, should compose the intended vestry, as the burden would
faU aUke on aU; but to this there would be an objection, arising
not only from the indelicacy of their interference with the merits

o'connell's FAVOURABLE OPINION OF IT. 407
or demerits of a pastor not of their communion, but chiefly from
the predominant influence which Protestant proprietors, if present,
might exercise, either to injure the Priest, were he not acceptable
to them, or to comphment him, should he happen to be a favourite,
at the expense of the people ; nor would the exclusion of the Pro
testant voters be a reasonable subject of complaint, whereas the
amount of the sum to be levied, with the exception of a few
pounds, would be fixed by law — not as it is now with respect to the
buUding or repairing of churches, &c., where the sums to be leried
are indefimte, and from the le-vying or assessing of which Catholics
are excluded. There may be an objection to this plan,
but the inconvenience would be productive of countervailing advan
tages ; and even our present mode of support, which I prefer to
any other, is Uable to many and very serious objections, so difficult
is it even to approach to perfection in human affairs."
Seventeen days subsequently. Lord F. L. Gower's motion, that
"it is expedient to make a prorision towards the maintenance of
the secular Clergy of Ireland," was made for the first time. His
Lordship said : " It had been insinuated that its object was to un
dermine the CathoUc faith. That he, or any man, could entertain
the chimerical project of changing tbe religion of the Irish people,
it was worse than idle to suppose. His object was to promote a
community of interest between the clergy of both religions, with a
riew to their own and to the general welfare ; and when, in pur
suance of that object, he disclaimed any idea of undue interference
upon the part of the Govemment, he did not mean to rest his
ai-gument on theory, but would proceed to precedent and practice."
Mr. LesUe, afterwards Baron Foster, objected to the measure, on
• the-ground that it would increase the power ofthe CathoUc Church,
without making it more dependent on the Government than at
present. ,We are enabled to state, on the authority of the late Bishop of
Ossory, that the foregoing idea of Dr. Doyle's was adopted by the
Govemment. Such being the case, it is no wonder that O'ConneU
should have published the foUowing declaration in The Evening
Post of 15th December, 1825 : "I owe it to the Administration
to declare, as I do most solemnly, that in framing this wing there
was not the least desire exhibited — neither could it exist without
being shown — of obtaining any patronage or control in or over the
CathoUc Church in Ireland  It was a fixed and de
fined prorision, to be secured by law as a legal right." O'ConneU
argued that a prorision of this sort, instead of making the Clergy
objects of charity to others, would enable them to dispense large
charity amongst the poor. Dr. Doyle regarded the progress of the

408 SNARES LAID FOR DR. DOYLE.
Eelief Bill with great anxiety. On the 20th of April, he is an
nounced by the newspapers as having been under the gaUery
during the debate.
Meanwhile he did not neglect the duties of the Priest, He
officiated at High Mass in the Catholic church of Stratford,
assisted by the Primate, Dr. Curtis. The joumals of the day
contrast the youthful appearance of the one vrith the patriarchal
aspect of the other. After Mass, Dr. Doyle preached an able and
impressive exhortation.
Dr, Doyle and his Metropolitan, Dr. Murray, during their
sojourn in London at this period, seem to have had to contend
with certain diplomatic attempts to draw them into concessions
more or less hostUe to the independence of the Catholic Church,
The advances to which we allude were influentiaUy, ingeniously,
and almost irresistibly urged. The Prelates, however, temperately
but steadily parried them, untU thefr insincere adrisers at last
abandoned the attempt as vain. " We saw," said Dr. Doyle on
his return to Carlow — -"we saw that a pit had been dug for us,
and our duty was to get beyond it without faUing into it."
The intensity of Dr. Doyle's faith in the justice of God was
only equalled by his distiust of the lip-sincerity of man ; and he
felt that if fuU faith is necessary to save man in the next Iffe, want
of faith is absolutely essential to save man in this.
SheU and O'ConneU were also examined by the ParUamentary
Committees. Sheil, describing his risit to Englapd in 1825, con
fesses that an occasional risit of that character "operates as a com
plete sedative to the ardour of the political passions. It should be
prescribed as a part of the anti-phUogistic regimen." Of O'ConneU
we are told, that " his deputation to England produced an almost
immediate effect upon him. He seemed haff EngUsh at Shrews
bury, and was nearly Saxonized when we entered the murky mag
nificence of Warwickshire." Dr. Doyle's manly, patriotic, and
determined tone during the period of his sojourn in London, may,
after these admissions, be duly appreciated.
The foUowing letter to Mr., now Lord Brougham, explams
itseff : " Blake's Hotel, Jermyn'Street, 12th May.
" Sir — As in the newspaper reports of the debates in the
House of Commons on the thfrd reading of the CathoUc EeUef
BUl," a speech is attributed to you, wherein you aUude to the
inconsistency supposed, by some members of that honourable
house, to exist between certain pubUshed writing of mine and the
evidence given by me before the Committees of both Houses of
ParUament, I take the liberty of troubUng you vrith the foUowing
very brief observations, in the hope that you will be so kind as to

DR. DOYLE TO HENRY BROUGHAM. 409
mention at least the substance of them in your place in ParUa
ment :
" There is not a passage in the writings of J. K. L., or in
those attributed to me, which, if not mutilated, or distorted from
its true and obrious meaning, can be proved either to be opposed
to, or inconsistent with the evidence given by me before both or
either Houses of ParUament.
I have laboured by writing, by word, and by example, to in
culcate, at aU times and under all circumstances, upon the people
committed to my spiritual guidance, the duties of perfect allegiance
to thefr Sovereign, and of a wiUing obedience to tbe law ; and I
have not, in any shape or at any time, insinuated that thefr rights
ought to be sought for, or their giievances removed by other than
legal and constitutional means.
"WhUst the -writer under the signature of 'J. K. L.' discards
the pretensions of aU Churches to temporal possessions by any
other titie than that derived from human law, he has fuUy and un
equivocaUy recognized the right arising from that law to exist in
the EstabUshed Chmch, and declared it to be extinct in his own.
He has not, more than I have in my eridence, confounded the
Church or its clergy with thefr tithes and land, or even thought
himself, or induced others to think that one establishment should
be diminished or altered to make rooni for another. StUl less did
he imagine oi. vrish to see a great corporate property new-modelled
by any other means or for any other end, than such as the con
stitution sanctions or ParUament might approve.
"As to the tone or manner of my eridence being different
from that which prevades many parts of the writings of J. K. L.,
I should hope that no rational or candid man would suppose, that
such mode of expression would or could be used in giring testi
mony before the most dignified bodies in the empfre — employed,
moreover, upon an inqufry vrith a riew to i^dress the manifold
grievances of Ireland.
"I gladly avaU myseff of this opportunity of expressing my
admfration of your great talents, and of offering to you my most
heartfelt thanks for the inestimable serrices rendered by you to
the cause of truth and justice, by your able advocacy of our
claims." Dr. Doyle's return to Ireland was celebrated ^by a blaze of
triumph and jubUee. The towns in his diocess were iUuminated,
and congratulatory addresses emanated from every quarter. The
New Eoss address thus concluded : " May your Lordship long
Uve the ornament of your reUgion and country, and mty posterity
appreciate the good you have done, in the same degree as your
name and your fame are now so universally applauded."

410 ADDRESS AND REPLY— ANECDOTE.
The Bishop repUed : " Your partiality for one born and edu
cated amongst you, has induced you to estimate so highly as you
do the serrices which I have endeavoured to render to our com
mon interests. When called on by both Houses of ParUament to
give evidence on the state of Ireland, I had only to mention what
I had touched and seen, and when interrogated on the doctrines
and discipUne of our holy Church, which, like the character of
an honest individual, are best defended by inquiry, my duty and
my only object were, to unfold to the riew of others those divine
truths and that salutary practice which are known to Catholics of
almost every description.
"Our country continues affiicted, our reUgion if not persecuted
is grievously oppressed in the persons of those who profess it.
The union of Irishmen of aU classes can alone rescue us from this
thraldom, and make us all equal before the, laws.
" Gentlemen, whilst I may continue in this Ufe, I hope to
have no views before me but ' God and my country.' No interest,
fear, or hope can, with the Dirine aid, ever prevent me from dis-
Qharging the duties which I owe to both ; and I shaU always deem
it a high honour, as weU as a great reward, to possess the esteem
and deserve the approbation of any portion of the inhabitants of
this rirtuous and high-spirited county."
A somewhat less dignified congratulation and reply on the
same subject also found expression. Dr. Doyle attended a con
ference of the clergy shortly after his examination by the Peers.
" My Lord," said the Master of Conference, " did you not feel a
little nervous before all those bigwigs ?" and, aUuding to Dr.
Doyle's rigid examination of ecclesiastical students, he added,
" "Y'ou often made a poor feUow yourself sweat in the pulpit, and
some of us might not be disposed to pity you in a similar posi-.
tion." " I confess," replied the Bishop, " that when the name,
' James Doyle, Titujar Bishop of KUdare,' was sonorously called
out in the House, I did feel a tendency to what you have said —
especiaUy when the large, cold, grey eyes of Lord ChanceUor
Eldon, rising from a string of notes, at last rested upon me
searchingly. My embarrassment however wore off, and ere the
examination had been five minutes going on, I felt that I was all
their daddies." The latter was a famiUar coUege expression.
In passing the night at Waterford, on his way to Tramore, a
huge bonfire was enkindled opposite the house where he stopped.
An immense sea of faces, bronzed by the red glare, surged on
every side around. The greatest enthusiasm and curiosity pre
vailed to catch a gUmpse of J. K. L. Next moi-ning a deputation
waited on the Bishop, and inrited him to a pubUc dinner, to be
presided over by twelve Protestant magistrates, but Dr. Doyle
courteously declined the honour.

CHAPTEE XVIII.
Triumphs and defeats — Illiberal speech of the heir to the Throne — Letter
from the Duke of Wellington — Jubilee in honour of Dr. Doyle's return
to Ireland — Visit to Catharine — Her death and ghost I  Letters — Sub
stantial tribute of gratitude and affection presented by the Priests of
Kildare and Leighlin to their Bishop — The address and reply — Striking
effect of Dr, Doyle's sermons — One person swoons and another commits
suicide from the effects of his reproaches — Prophetic power of Dr, Doyle —
Coolness between him and O'ConneU on the subject of " the wings" —
The Commission of Education Inquiry — Dr, Doyle's evidence — How he
answered Leslie Foster — Dr, Doyle's MS. notes — Correspondence with
Mr, Blake — Extracts from an unpublished work by J. K, L,
" Shall we ever forget our joy," observes Monsignor Meagher,
in an unpubUshed MS. before us, " when Dr. Doyle stood, a giant
of inteUect and eloquence, before the councUs of the nation, and
spoke for his country and his creed, undaunted by all the chiefs of
the land ? ShaU we ever forget how every enemy of that country
quaUed, and every revUer of his faith shrunk away silenced and
abashed — how stern opponents were converted by his voice into
enthusiastic and permanent fiiends ? Events astounding and glo
rious foUowed that magnificent defence of conscience and coun
try. The joy of the nation was unbounded, for it saw that its
cause had triumphed long before the straggle had closed. The
energies of the people were redoubled ; the soul of the nation was
awake ; her noble genius was developed ; talents of the highest
order burst forth where it never was suspected they could exist ;
the pubhc rices, which centuries of misrule had fostered, were
purged away ; dissension — Ireland's oldest curse — was forgotten ;
the Uberal of every creed, the virtuous of every rank and profes
sion hurried to unite themselves with the fortunes of thefr coun
try ; and, amid the music of eloquence and the benedictions of
rehgion, one loud and holy cry for Uberty was Ufted to the skies.
It penetiated to the remotest parts of the civUized earth — it
crossed the Atlantic wave, and was re-echoed back by emanci-
.pated miUions in cheers of hearty encouragement. The eyes of
the civUized world were turned once more to the sacred Isle of
the West, and the cause of Ireland became the cause of man."
This desfrable consummation, however, did not take place im
mediately. On the 2ist AprU, 1825, the CathoUc EeUef BUl passed
the Commons vrith a majority of twenty-seven : but the Duke of
York, then hefr presumptive to the throne, having made, in the
Lords, a furious speech against Emancipation, adding that he
would adhere to those principles — so help him God ! — a consider
able sensation ensued, and the second reading of the EeUef Bill
was lost, in the upper House, by a majority of forty-eight. The

412 LETTER FROM " THE DUKe"  JUBILEE AT CARLOW.
foUowing letter from the Duke of Wellington, now printed for the
first time, is curious, as contrasted with the Duke's advocacy of
CathoUc Emancipation four years later : " London, 25th May, 1825,
" My dear Sir— I have received your letter of the 20th inst.,
and I sincerely regret that I had not the pleasure of seeing more
of you when you was lately in London. But my health has not
been in a very good state lately, and my time is much occupied.
" I wiU not obtrude upon you any observations upon what has
occurred here lately. I never doubted that it would happen as it
has occurred, and those are much to blame who excited hopes
which they must have known could not be gratified, in the existing
state of men's minds. — Believe me, dear Sfr, &c., " "Wellington."
Mr. Lenihan, editor of The Limerick Reporter, in a letter to
the author writes : "I weU remember 1825, when Dr. Doyle re
turned from his examination in the Houses of Parliament. We
illuminated Carlow CoUege in his honour ; and at the annual
academic exhibition in that year, I happened to be selected, by
the late lamented Dr. KinseUa, to write the congratulatory Latin
ode, in honour and welcome of Dr. Doyle on his rictory in the
Lords, and the admirable exposition he made on that memorable
occasion. The study-hall was crowded to excess ; many now
numbered with the dead were there in the exuberance of joy
inspired by the occasion. Dr. Doyle occupied a rich throne in
the academy haU. As the boys of the lay-college, a fine group- of
eighty, proceeded up the room and approached, his countenance
was Ughted up with extreme pleasure ; and how weU I remember
the noble expression which beamed from his eyes, gUstening vrith
tbe Ught of genius and radiant with good humour, as I went on to
discharge the honourable and gratifying duty I was chosen from
my compeers to perform." The newspapers of the day records
that Dr. Doyle, on the same occasion, subjected the students to
an elaborate examination in law.
The triumph with which Dr. Doyle's retum was celebrated
did not, even momentarily, divert his attention from the many
corporal works of mercy which had characterized his previous Ufe.
Amongst others, he visited his fafr convert friend, Catharine,
who, after numerous miraculous raUies, was at last prostrated by
an attack of violent agony, to which, at the early age of twenty-
five, she fell a wUling victim. Dr. Doyle frequently declared that
he had never known any woman who possessed an inteUect of
equal depth and vigour. The following extract and letter finish
this Uttle episode in the Bishop's life. The dying girl to her

Catharine's last words and death. 413
sister, a few days prior to her dissolution, writes : " In aU human
probabUity the fabric must soon fall, and the spfrit return to Him
who gave it — at least my present debiUty makes me think so ; but
you are too weU instracted — your mind too well stored with the
truths of religion to need any comments from me as to the neces
sity of entfre resignation to the Dirine wiU ; and as to regret me,
it would be only affUcting yourself at my relief — for, indeed, my
sufferings are of that a'cute nature, and my weakness so great,
that only God's peculiar mercy or special providence could sup
port me under the present accumulation. As my frame weakens,
sfrange to say, my mind grows strong, and in moments of anguish,
the sense of God's mercy becomes stronger than the sense of
pain ; so that I have the consolation of being always able to unite
my Uttl§ sufferings to those of my beloved Saviour, whose merits
wUl, I trust, plead for me before the throne of mercy. I am not
in a hurry to die, nor desfrous to Uve ; I only wish to accompUsh
God's vriU. I care not to be released from suffering if it can
satisfy the justice of God, even in a degree ; 'tis right and just
that the body should suffer, and I adore His justice that afflicts,
as I hope in His mercy to save my poor soul. If I Uve, it seems
I should suffer, and through my ovm weakness I sin always.
How preferable, then, that I should die, even though removed to a
place of suffering for a time, where the power of the de-vU will
be at an end, ^and where I -wUl be released from myself — the
greatest of aU erils. Let these considerations console you
should I be caUed away. I had a risit from a ministering
angel last night— our dear fiiend. Dr. Doyle, who arrived only a
few hours prerious from England. The spfrit of God must have
been with him to make him pass such an ordeal. His contempt
for this world is doubly increased ; but the change of afr did not
benefit his health."
The fafr writer was soon after released from her sufferings.
The foUowing anecdote has been graphicaUy communicated to
us by a near relation of Dr. Doyle's, and we give it on the autho
rity of the narrator. . The night was one of loud wind and dense
darkness, which yind flashes of lightning, now and then for a
moment, reUeved. The clock of Carlow Church had just pealed
the witching hour " when churchyards yawn, and graves yield up
thefr dead." Eain feU in torrents and rushed wildly against the
windows of Old Derrig, as ff imploring shelter from the bitter
wind which pursued it. One speck of light only ffickered from
the sombre walls of the episcopal mansion — it was Dr. Doyle's
night lamp, and his pen sped rapidly by its feeble glare. The
Bishop's old housekeeper could not sleep ; supernatural fears op
pressed her, and haring heard a strange noise, thrice repeated at

414 AN ALLEGED SUPERNATURAL VISIT.
her door, she hastUy assumed her dress and sought Dr. Doyle.
The Bishop's tout-ensemble, as he sat before his dressing table,
was an aspect almost sufficient in itseff to give a shock to nerves
not of the stoutest. Wrapped in a loose gown, his austere brow
surmounted by a tall and almost perpendicular night-cap, and, as
has been asserted, a human skull resting before him, he sug
gested rather the idea of Michael Scott penning some infernal
incantation, than of a Prelate engaged npon a poUtico-reUgious
tract. The housekeeper tremulously announced her fears. "I
myseff heard the noise of which you speali," repUed Dr. Doyle,
" and I am induced to beUeve that Catharine F  has just
departed ;" and with this consolatory assurance the Bishop dis
missed the servant, and resumed his writing.
Dr. Doyle wrote a few words of consolation to the surriring
sister : " The departure of our lamented Catharine, though not
unexpected, excited in me the UveUest feeUngs, not of sorrow, but
of affection for her, and of esteem for those eminent vfrtues with
which she had been blessed by God, and which He matured in her
in a few years, and has now, I trust, transferred to heaven. A sin
gular proridence seemed to have watched over her from her infancy,
I was always not only gratified but surprised, when I conversed
seriously with her, at the extraordinary qualities of her mind ; and
her vfrtues were such as left a strong inlpression of her being a
special favourite of Almighty God, She" was unfit to remain here
longer. She had attained all the ends for which Ufe is given, and
we have reason to rejoice that the wUl of God, ' which is our
sanctification,' was so soon and so perfectly accompUshed in her.
We should not, therefore, indulge a senseless sorrow at her re
moval to Him who created her for himself, and whom alone she
desfred to love and possess for ever. We should rather rejoice
that we partook more than others of the advantage of her example,
and were sharers in her affection and esteem. Should she be
in bUss, as I believe she is, we wUl experience the effects of her
intercession, and we may one day participate in the rewards which
are given to those who prevaU over the enemies of God, and who
do not divide their affections between Him and what is vain and
transitory. Your feeUngs, your strong sensibUity must have been
greatly tried ; but I am confident you are able to regulate them —
to suppress them is not desirable, to restrain them is necessary,
and it is most useful to turn them, when excited, to the adoration
of God." We have repeatedly heard it aUeged, that " Dr. Doyle, from
ha-ving ruled his clergy vrith a rod of u-on, was exceedingly un
popular among them." The reverse is the fact, although there
can be no doubt tbat his imposing presence and prestige often

AFFECTION OF THE CLERGY FOR THEIR BISHOP. 415
inspired a feeling of awe, and kept troublesome persons at a dis
tance. His stern fixity of purpose and expression, and his rigid
sense of discipline commanded respect and admfration ; and it
was well known, that beneath a rough exterior he possessed a
thoroughly humane and amiable heart. Within the rough rind
the feeUngs were preserved sweet, robust, and healthy. The let
ters we have published furnish no isolated instance of the struggles
between duty and inclination which frequently distressed him.
Pew are aware of the painful effort it often cost him to assume a
stern and unbending demeanour. And how often have his Clergy
found, that if he put on the terrors of an angry judge on one day,
he would relax into the playfulness of a fond companion the next.
The foUovring addi-ess from the Priests of his diocess -wUl probably
be esteemed a sufficient refutation of the groundless remark to
which we have referred. And the act consisted not in empty
words, but was backed by a substantial attestation of their sin
cerity. The Clergy had, at this period, a personal experience of
Dr. Doyle's episcopal administration for nearly six years. This
period embraced the sterner portion of bis rule, it wiU be re
membered that in the Bishop's letter to the Very Eev. J. Dunne,
immediately after his consecration, he alluded to several unca
nonical customs of long standing, amounting to abuse, which
requfred prompt and energetic correction ; and the consternation
produced by the Bishop's resolve is more than aUuded to in that
letter to his Vicar. The commencement of Dr. Doyle's epis
copal rule was characterized by greater rigour than the later portion
of it, inasmuch as, to effect sudden and important changes a
sfrong hand is required. In the following address we shall see
vrith what feeUngs the Clergy of Dr. Doyle's diocess regarded him
after a thorough experience of his rule :
" My Lord — It is now more than six years since the Clergy
of KUdare and LeighUn gave the strongest proof of their admira
tion of your talents, and thefr reverence for your many rirtues, by
selectmg you as thefr Bishop ; and since that time the intercourse
which they have had with your Lordship has powerfuUy contributed
to increase thefr respect and to strengthen thefr attachment.
The unwearied zeal which you have exhibited in the work of the
ministry — the powerful talent and extensive learning which have
distinguished you as a preacher and writer, and the apostoUc
disinterestedness and contempt for the things of this world,
which have uniformly marked your conduct, have aU combined
to render your character beloved and revered by aU who know
you, but particularly by the Clergy and people of these diocesses.
The perfect spfrit of a Christian Pastor, which has caused you

416 HIS TOUCHING EEPLY TO THE CLERGY.
to resign everything in this world in order to devote your whole
existence to the glory of God and the serrice of religion amongst
us, has long since filled the hearts of your Clergy vritii sentiments
of veneration and affection, to the expression of which no words
could do justice  A meeting of your Lordship's parochial
Clergy was held on this day, and it was unanimously resolved :
'That, anxious to signify to our revered Prelate the sincerity of
our attachment and gratitude, we do forthwith institute a sub
scription in order to procure for him such a residence as wUl fix
tbe attention of posterity on the period and on the Prelate.' ....
We trust our resolution vriU be acceptable to your Lordship, and
that you -wUl receive it as a testimony of our profound respect
and unalterable attachment. We earnestly pray that the same
bountiful Proridence which has placed you over us, vriU preserve
and prolong that valuable Ufe which is so necessary for the im
provement and happiness of your Lordship's children in Christ."
This address was signed on behaff of the meeting by the Eev.
Dr.' Prendergast, V.G., chafrman.
Dr. Doyle, filled with emotion, repUed as foUows :
"Very Eev. and dearly beloved Brethren — Your presence
and your address, unexpected at the close of our reUgious ex
ercises, have greatly affected me. You have brought to my
recoUection the period when your partiaUty contributed to impose
upon me a burden to be dreaded, as the Spfrit of Trath declares
in the S. CouncU of Trent, even by an angel. That zeal for the
house of God, that eminent piety and disinterestedness, which
then prompted you to select for recommendation to the Holy
See the person whom you considered most worthy to preside
in these ancient and venerable churches, caused you to prefer to
clergymen distinguished for every virtue a stranger who had
been but a few years resident amongst you, and whose faults
and infiLrmities, on account of the seclusion in which he had
Uved, were hidden from you.
" Your -wishes, beloved brethren, were fulfiUed, and I sub
mitted to a yoke, which if I rejected, I feared might oppose the
vriU of heaven. In seeking to discharge the duties imposed upon
me, I have not, through the grace of God, yielded to flesh and
blood ; nor have I made my life more precious than my soul,
prorided I could finish my course and the ministry of the word,
which, through the Successor of Peter, I have received from the
Lord Jesus.' In feeding the flock of Christ conflded to me,
your faith, your patience, your labours, your example, have ex
cited me to do so, not by constraint, but wiUingly — ^not for filthy
lucre's sake, but voluntarily — not as lording it over God's in-

REMOVAL TO BRAGANZA. 417
heritance, but seeking, through His aid, to be a pattern to the
flock from his heart.
" The intention you have expressed, dear and very reverend
brethren, of proriding a suitable residence for me and my suc
cessors, is worthy of you and of these diocesses, so dear to my
heart. Were I the sole object of the generous offering you pro
pose to make, I should undoubtedly decUne accepting of it, for
my soul abhors gifts, and I desire not to have here a lasting
abode ; I rather look in hope for one that is to come. But I shall
riew with pleasure such a record of your zeal for religion, and
of your attachment to your Bishop, that the world may know that
we are the disciples of Him whose last and best commandment
was, that we should love one another — that we should be one in
mind and in affection, as He and his Father are one in nature
and in substance.
"You desire for me, beloved brethren, length of days.
Length of days is not computed by the number of our years ; we
may in a short time fiU up many of them by hoUness of life.
It is this you pray for, and in your prayer I earnestly concm-.
But whether the days of my pilgrimage be shortened or prolonged,
they shaU, through the grace of our Eedeemer, continue to be
devoted to the advancement of God's glory, of the interests of
religion, and in seeking to promote your spiritual welfare, your
honour, and your peace, as weU as the happiness and welfare of
that numerous people whom the Holy Ghost has committed to
our common care."
The residence which had been selected as a fitting testimonial
to the worth and talent of Dr. Doyle, was the princely mansion of
Braganza, erected by the late Sir Dudley HiU, and since succes
sively occupied by Bishops Nolan, Haly, and Walsh. Approached
by a curring avenue, it stands in an elevated situation, -within half-
a-mUe of Carlow, and commands a luxuriant and extensive pros
pect. The rista from the back windows is especiaUy fine and
romantic. Among other objects of picturesque attraction, the
graceful Barrow winds through umbrageous parterres and pleasure
grounds. The dravring-room of the mansion is nearly fifty feet long.
It received the name of Braganza from Sir Dudley HUl, Governor
of St. Lucie, who had reaped ducats and laurels in the service of
the royal famUy of Portugal. An erroneous story has it, that Dr.
Doyle adopted the designation in compUment to the house of
Braganza, around which some of his fondest and earUest associa
tions were entwined. The purchase-money amounted to iG2,500.
Dr. Doyle, however, continued to reside at Old Denig untU 1826.
He preached much this year in the pulpit, on the way-side,
at home, and throughout the remoter portions of his diocess.
27

418 HIS POWER AS A PREACHER.
According as the Whitefeet and Eibbon confederacies would knit,
he broke them vigorously asunder. "You must be aware," writes
the Parish Priest of BallinakiU, "that Dr. Doyle visited many
parishes of his diocess with the sole riew of addressing these mis
guided men. I myself, by special inritation, have been present at
some of those scenes, which were truly exciting, and would now
be regarded as incredible and partaking of the romantic." Dr.
Doyle's ordinary exhortations from the pulpit were, in the highest
degree, impressive. Thoroughly extempore, they never smelt of
the midnight oU, but were always redolent of the fragrance of
morning. He captivated the will, and made many a hardened
conscience heave with contrition. Every sentence carried an ad
ditional weight of conriction with it. Mr. Lenihan, editor of
The Limerick Reporter, adverting to Dr. Doyle as he remem
bered him in 1825, writes: "We always regarded him with the
utmost veneration, and the quaUties which shone conspicuous in
his character were looked upon by us as belonging only to himself.
On Sundays it was my custom to go into the parish chapel, from
the CoUege grounds, to hear him preach. What a preacher was
he ! How stately — how solemn — how impressive — how grand !
The form of the apostle and the patriot now, after the lapse of
thu-ty years, is strongly impressed upon my mind, reminding one
of the Chrysostoms, the Cyrils, or the Ambroses of the early ages
of the Church. No one ever heard him on the altar of Carlow
Chapel that would not wish to hear him again ; and no one ever
listened to his wonderful exhortations, or more elaborate sermons
-without profit — without being impressed by the majesty and power
of his eloquence."
The Very Eev. Dr. Taylor, in an unpubUshed poem, writes :
" Oft at that altar I saw him stand,
To his looks there was grandeur given ;
When, with radiant eye and uplifted hand,
He proclaimed the commands of Heaven,
" Then would he speak with words of fire,
That enkindled the hearts assembled ;
Then told he the woes of eternal ire,
While the guilty conscience trembled,"
It is interesting to trace the indeUble depth of the impression
and the enthusiasm, which even a transient acquaintance with Dr.
Doyle never failed to create. The Very Eev. Mr. Vaughan,
writing to the author, observes: "I have a rivid recollection of
his commanding mien, strikingly expressive of dignity and lofti
ness. Had the Almighty left him to us, he would have swayed
the destinies of his country like Mazarin or Ximines. Possessing
the grandeur and energy of both, without their faults, this great

AND AS A PROPHET. 419
man, like a brilliant consteUation, would stand up in luminous
grandeur between Ireland and her tyrants, to inspfre the one with
combination and hope, and awe the others into reluctant justice.
Dming the disastrous period of the famine, when our poor broken
hearted countrymen were breathing the odour of the grave, and
falhng to the earth like autumn leaves, I often bitterly regretted
his absence. What thunders he would have grasped, and with
what giant force he would have hurled them on the heads of the
heartless rulers of Leland, and the destroyers of om- blood and
kindred! If anything more than another (in the present pros
tration of nationaUty) is calculated to give the country a dignified
conception t)f herself, or inspire her with public rirtue, it is in
placing before her the portraiture of one of her purest and greatest
pubUc men ; the more rividly -wiU it flash on the popular intel
lect, when the disinterested saintly portrait is riewed in contrast
with- the mean degeneracy of other men."
The writer of the foregoing was a student in Carlow CoUege
at the period to which he alludes. In such awe was the great
Prelate held there, that a student has been known to swoon away
while undergoing reproof fi-om Dr. Doyle. We are also ac
quainted with the detaUs of a suicide, which has been popularly
attributed to some expressions of reproach uttered by Dr. Doyle.
The name of the unhappy man was Eyan, but we wiU be readily
excused fi-om entering into the particulars of that very painful
incident. Mr. Vaughan, , in the letter we have quoted, deplores that
Ireland had not the inestimable advantage of possessing J. K. L.
when ravaged, ui 1847, by famine and pestilence. Mr. Poulett
Scrope, M.P., has expressed himself to the same effect. It may
not be frrelevant to observe, that Dr. Doyle, in his Fffth Letter on
the " State of Leland," would seem to have foretold not only the
famine and pestUence of '47, but tbe Coercion BUl, the exhausting
tide of emigration, and the subsequent insurrection. " But if the
pohcy of governing by dirision be pursued longer," he thundered,
" then the people wiU perish by famine, or emigrate to Britain,
or be cut off by th^ sword. If strong measures be resorted to,
and some of the Irish gentry and absentees proceed as they have
been doing, these results or some one of them will be accelerated.
Captaui Eock wUl resume his sway, the poor wiU instinctively
confederate, the. Insurrection Act wiU be in constant operation,
and ff a foreign war should occur and circumstances favour it,
there may be a general rebeUion'. What the result would be, God
only knows. I know that my office as a minister of reUgion, and
my duty as a loy^l subject, requfre that I should state my opinions
at a time when effectual remedies may be safely apphed ; and I

420 O'CONNELL AND THE BISHOPS.
do SO totaUy regardless of the slave and the bigot — nay, though
I were doomed, hke the prophetess mentioned by the poet, never
to be believed. Or, let it be supposed that the law by the agency
of the musket, the transport, or the gibbet may stiU sustain the
uneasy tranquUUty of the country, and that the population should
be pressed on as heretofore, then they vrill congregate in towns
and riUages, finding no habitation or employment in the country ;
and should a dearth of provision occur, famine and pestilence will
set in together, and rid us probably of a million, HappUy we
have missionaries in abundance to attend the dying ; but if there
be ' a chosen curse^some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven,'
it must be reserved to blast those men who shaU have brought
such ruin on their country."
O'ConneU, in his patriotic anxiety for Emancipation, was led
to propose, as a compromise, the pensioning of tbe Clergy, and
the disfranchisement of the forty-shUling freeholders ; and on his
return to Ireland from London, in June, 1825, he found his popu
larity seriously damaged in consequence. On the llth of July, a
meeting of the parishioners of St. Audeon's was held, to denounce
those measures which had already received the derisive epithet of
" wings." O'ConneU spoke long and eloquently, and in self-de
fence charged their adoption on Dr. Doyle and Dr. Murray. " I
saw," he said, " that there was a prospect of achiering the Uberty
of Ireland by means at which, under other circumstances, and if
acting only upon my own judgment, I should have shuddered with
horror. But I did not rest on my own authority ; I was in com
munication -with two Prelates, who are the ornaments of Ireland —
Dr. Doyle and Dr. Murray. Can I offer a better plea than when
I say that I did nothing, said nothing, which had not thefr entfre
concurrence and sanction." He added, that the Prelates had been
duped by the Government.
James Edward Devereux, the Catholic delegate, has stated on
the authority of Dr. Doyle's intimate friend, Dr. Kinsella, that
the Bishop wept Uke a child when his attention was called to
O'ConneU's speech. He was too much distressed himseff to con
tradict the misstatement with that fullness of conclusive eridence,
which he always brought to the support of every allegation he
advanced, and accordingly commissioned Dr. KinseUa to discharge
this duty for him.
At the meeting in Bridge-street, the main question at issue
was, the propriety, of O'ConneU's conduct in approving of the biU
for increasing the qualifications of electors, and of the proposed
plan for pensioning the CathoUc Clergy.
In his reputed vindication, he threw the onus on Dr. Doyle,
as though he had been acting' throughout under that Prelate's

THE TRIBUNE S RETORT. 421
dfrections. This impression may have sprung from a misapprehen
sion, but the assertion was not, on that account, the less irksome
to Dr. Doyle's feeUngs. By his desire, the late Eev. Dr. KinseUa
pubUshed a long letter which satisfactorily disproved the charge.
It appeared that O'ConneU, in his examination before ParUament,
had especiaUy approved of the wings, and no prerious communica
tion whatever had taken place between the Prelate and O'ConneU
on the subject. In the " Letters on the State of Ireland," by
J.K.L., published during the prerious February, both the dis
franchisement of the forty- shiUing freeholders and the pensioning
of the Clergy had been reprobated by Dr. Doyle. Dr. KinseUa
discharged his task as deUcately as possible. " WhUe," he wrote,
" I endeavoured to correct in his speech what appears to me to be
an error, I still feel in his regard the same sentiments of admira
tion and gratitude, which every honest man who loves his country
must feel for one of her best and most powerful friends."
The reader may remember, that after Dr. Doyle had given his
parUamentary eridence, there were some influential persons found
in both Houses to accuse him of a want of consistency ; and there
can be no doubt that the exultation of many would have been great
were they able to conrict him of insincerity on such high authority
as that of O'ConneU. Some eclaircissement was therefore neces
sary, on more grounds than one.
The Dublin Evening Post of the 26th of July, 1825, contains
a reply from O'ConneU. " I have been," he wrote, twenty-three
years engaged in the Catholic cause. Many things have occurred
calculated to mortify, and some to disgust me. But either the
natural elasticity of my animal spirits, or some other cause, pre
vented me from being affected by any of the attacks, whether open
or insidious, made upon me. I must, however, acknowledge that
my period of apathy has terminated. I have at length felt with
sensitivenes aU the bitterness of reproach ; and in the spirit per
haps of humiliated pride and mortified vanity, I sit down to reply
to a strange and, I wiU add, most unnecessary public assault."
O'ConneU went on to say, that there was not a human being among
the reading classes 'unaware of the gross inaccuracy with which
speeches are reported in the pubUc papers. "How is it possible,"
he asked, "for a writer to foUow the rapid progress of speech, or
to seize with minuteness the arrow flight of another person's
ideas? Where there is any subject of a delicate nature, nobody
should fasten the terms of a reported speech on the speaker with
out inqufry. Would not courtesy have requfr-ed that an enemy
should be asked whether he really was guilty before his guUt was
pronounced certain ?" That passage in his speech, where the
Bishops were aUeged to have been duped by the Government,

422 THE COMMISSION OF EDUCATION INQUIRY.
O'ConneU admitted to be accurate. But the allusion, he said,
was not to the Prelates then Uring, but to those who, in 1799,
-were trepanned into an approval of tbe Veto. O'ConneU declared,
that although he referred to the pensioning of the Clergy, he never
once aUuded to the freehold wing. He weU knew that Dr. Doyle
differed from him on the expediency of that measure.
Dr. KinseUa was promptly in the field again, blowing hot and
cold. "As to the general inaccuracy of reporters," he said, " I
was not so weU acquainted with it as Mr. O'ConneU seems to be.
I, however, employed the only means in my power of procuring a
correct report by consulting four different newspapers."
In 1825, George IV., yielding to the prayer of a memorial
-which had been presented to him from ParUament, was pleased to
issue a Commission under his great seal, for inquiring into the
nature and extent of the instruction afforded by the several insti
tutions in Ireland estabUshed for the purpose of education, and
maintained either whoUy or in part from the pubUc funds. The
Commission was also charged to inqufre into the state of diocesan
and district seminaries ; to ascertain whether any and what regu
lations might be fit to be estabUshed with respect to parochial
schools ; and to report on the best measures for extending gene
raUy, to aU classes of the people, the benefits of education. This
step in the right dfrection, though it proved far from being a
steady and satisfactory move, was chiefly due to the writings of
Dr. Doyle. The ffrst Eeport of the Commissioners, with its
Appendix, Ues before us, and extends to 881 foUo pages. Al
though some curious matter came to light, the volume would be
an exceedingly duU one were it not for the luminous eridence of
Dr. Doyle. This, which he delivered on oath, exhibits his usual
eloquence, originahty, and intellectual strength. Some of the
most out-of-the-way questions were put, and Dr. Doyle rephed to
them with the utmost unreserve and independence of tone.
We subjoin an extract :
" Q. You are aware of that portion of Scripture which the
Protestants represent as their tenth commandment ? ,4.1 am.
" Q. Is it not, in point of fact, dirided into two, in the Eoman
CathoUc Catechism ? A. And very justly.
" Q. Have the goodness to state the reason of that ? A. We
have the seventh commandment ; this seventh says, " Thou shalt
not steal ;' and the sixth says, ' Thou shalt not commit adultery.'
Here God makes a distinction between that which is a man's pro
perty and a man's -wffe. A man's wife — which is not to be com
pared -with any other substance that he possesses on the earth^
being so much more valuable, and so much dearer to him, the
ninth and tenth with us go to eradicate fi-om the heart those

DR. DOYLE EXAMINED BY LESLIE FOSTER. 423
ricious propensities which the sixth and seventh seek to restrain
in action ; therefore, the same distinction which is observed be
tween the goods and the wife in the sixth and seventh, is pre
served between desiring the goods and desiring the wife, in the
ninth and tenth." 
" Q. Have the goodness to state the nature of your objections
to those books? A. In both of those, but particularly in the
second, I found extracts from the Scriptures, one of which I con
sider as mutilated ; I found copious extracts from the Psalms,
and there can be scarcely any extracts firom tbe Psalms, from the
authorised version, to which I would not object ; but wbat I ob
jected to chiefly was the canon of the sacred Scripture, which was
there given with the Ust of the apocryphal books ; as there are
some books put among the apocryphal which I believe to be cano
nical, that, I consider to be a very material error. I also found
in one of them the Lord's Prayer as it is used in the EstabUshed
Church, and with an addition, which I conceive not to have been
annexed to it by our Lord ; and in a form of prayer which I appre
ciate so highly, I should not Uke that a single word were added
or taken away ; therefore, I would object to any book which had
that prayer in that form. Those are the objections which occur to
me at this moment."
The late Mr. Leslie, afterwards Baron Foster, was the leading
Commissioner of Inqufry. He was a leamed, important, and
solemn personage, whose countenance Lord GuiUamore compared
to that of an owl. A song of the day makes his name rhyme
vrith "the Duke of Gloucester," a not less dignified character in
the poet's estimation. Leslie Foster examined Dr. Doyle and
Father Kenny for eight hours, and it was considered that Mr.
Foster came off the worst. " Foster," writes Sheil, "was baffled
by every response, and amidst the jeers of his brother Commis
sioners — with Mr. Blake compassionating him on one side, and
Mr. Glascot nudging him at tbe other, while Frankland Lewis trod
upon his toes — was at length persuaded to give up his desperate
undertaking." A friend complimented Dr. Doyle on tbe ability of
his repUes to Mr. Leslie Foster. "I would gladly," he replied,
with a toss of the head, " have gone through a further examina
tion of three times eight hours at Mr. Foster's hands."
The Commission consisted of five Protestants and one'Catholic,
and the pecuUar bias of the majority is but two fatally observable
throughout this ponderous blue-book. All the great and self-
interested advocates for BibUcal education, were examined at
considerable length by the Commissioners, and a marked atten
tion to their evidence may be easily traced. The Eeport at last
appeared, pervaded by a tone which grievously disappointed many

424 DR. doyle's MS. NOTES.
sincere well-wishers to Ireland. Statements of interested and
ilUberal persons, hostUe to the CathoUc Clergy, were given as
facts, whUe the next page revealed that the iwhole was a mere
hearsay. The work contained a singular mixture of accusation
and acquittal, as weU as further tacit proofs of conflict between
the Commissioners. " The writer," observes a contemporary
critic, " laboured to criminate the Priests, whUe some superin
tending authority cautioned him to be just."
Dr. Doyle's copy of the Eeport Ues before us, ^th a pro
minent autograph presentation, "From T. Spring Eice," It
bears eridence of haring been very carefuUy studied by the
Bishop, and marginal notes in manuscript abound. Dr. Doyle
seems to have been heartily disgusted -with this Eeport, fi-om the
vehement character of his notes. At p. 7, v/e find " A deUberate
lie," and " the abuses of the Charter Schools, shocking to hu
manity, yet continued and fostered by the Gov. to this hour."
At p. 8, honourable mention is made of the Earl of Eanelagh,
who established Protestant schools in Eoscommon, the effect of
which J. K. L. spoUs by adding, " the Murderer and Robber of
the Byrnes." At p. 34, we have, "Masters to be prepared by
this Society, yet we are not to teach even our religious in
structors! pr oh pudor." "What a humbug?" "Inconsistency."
" JVherefore trouble the public with this history?" and, "Justifi
cation of all our allegations against the Kildare-place Society,"
accompany other paragraphs. At p. 58, we find, "Admirable
illustrations that the master is always of the religion of the
patron;" and at p. 60, "Subversion of our religion aimed at!"
"Shuffling and contradiction!" There is a large amount of data
at p. 65. et seq., regarding the "Hibernian Society," on which Dr.
Doyle writes, " Proselytism avowed," &c, A resolution of the
Society was quoted that the " Old and New Testament" should be
read in thefr schools. Dr. Doyle adds, "Disavow here the funda
mental principle of their own constitution — Father of Lies, wlio
are thy children? At p. 70 occurs, "The most disgusting
fanaticism and self-love — a very Pharisee," At p. 80, " The
most valuable agents are apostates ;" and at p. 88, "Excessively
absurd — cant, lies, and hypocrisy," At p. 91 of the Eeport,
Dr. Doyle writes, " The Commissioners seriously apprehend
that we will succeed in removing the children — excellent /" At
p. 93, he complains, " Why not insert here or elsewhere, the
practice and doctrine of the C. Church ?" At p. 95, " An in
tentional omission of our doctrine." At p. 98, we find, " Censors
of our books, and judges of the necessity of the Scriptures being
used in schools." " Oh, what contradiction !"
On the back of a letter, which we find among the leaves of the

LETTEE TO A. R. BLAKE. 425
Eeport, Dr. Doyle has made the foUowing memorandum : " The
assistant to be appointed by us. This no remedy. For how can
we approve for that important office one not insti-ucted by us ?
Yet not only are we not to have the appointment, but not even
the prepai-ation. Then can we remove them ? No, unless by
complaint — and to whom, and against whom ? In the result of a
failure — then our only remedy to withdi-aw the children — but
where ? We have given up aU our schools, they are the property
of the Crown. These assistants, not one in each school, but only
' where wanted.' Seldom wanted. In my rule they were to be
a constant guard on the children. Here twice a-week, Uke a
SwaddUng preacher, to give lectures on spirituals. These men
look for promotion. To whom ? Is it to us ? No, but to those
who appoint Prot. masters. See what a bonus for conversion.
I am sure no man ever, from a Cat., became a Prot. from convic
tion. It ris quite impossible — but gain and passion have aUured
thousands ; and how more easUy than a shallow presumptuous
man, such as these would be. Such as are the conv-readers
spoken of in this Eeport."
Dr. Doyle would seem to have got off some of his chagrin in
' the foUowing letter to the CathoUc Commissioner, Mr. Blake :
Dear Sir — I have, for some days past, been looking through
the Eeport. It is indeed exceedingly laboured; and when the
Appendix, of which we have the index, shaU have been furnished,
the entire wUl be weU calculated to excite om- sm-prise. On more
than one occasion, whUst reading it, I could not suppress a feeling
of regret that your name was affixed to it. I had rather that it
were the work, exclusively, of persons who had been bred up in
the old No-Popery system, and amongst whom no gentleman of
honour or integrity had had a place 
"I looked in vain through the Eeport for eridence of the po
licy, which you and your colleagues knew to have govemed the
Commissioners of the Lord Lieutenant's fund, for eridence, how
ever brief, to rebut the utterly unfounded aUegations respecting the
apostacy of CathoUc chUdren. I sought in vain for eridence, ever
so short or pithy, of the riolence done to parents and children, in
order to compel, by a persecution the most cruel, because do
mestic, the latter to attend at schools of proselytism. If I placed
in eridence the reply of the KUdare-place Society to a paper read
by Lord Cloncurry, I surely would not omit placing before it the
paper so read by his Lordship. If I compared the books pub
lished by them with ' these in use in four counties of Ireland,'
I should consider it a duty to observe that the former were pur
chased by a rude and wretched peasantry, while the latter were
prorided by profuse grants of pubhc money. It may be that the

426 UNPUBLISHED ESSAY BY DE. DOYLE.
CathoUc Archbishops, who do not appear to have been consulted
on the subject, wUl be gratified with having masters prorided for
the chUdren of their flocks by the Kildare-place Society," and ap
pointed by Eoyal Commissioners (against which project, even now
I eamestly protest) ; but if they be, I am much deceived if their
joy be not turned into sadness, unless more candour, truth, and
impartiality be found amongst the new Commissioners than ever
yet resided in any body of men appointed by the Crown in this
country, to transact business connected with the reUgion of the
Irish people. Indeed, I anticipate that as our Archbishops are
highest in rank, so they would be foremost in their opposition to
such an arrangement."
A long correspondence succeeded between the Bishop and
Mr. Blake, but only some fr-agments of it have been preserved.
Mr. Blake writes :
, ",Stephen's-green, 23rd February, 1826.
" My DEAE LoED — A letter of mine to you must have mis
carried. I sent it to the Castle to be franked. "When I wrote, I
hoped we should have been enabled to act immediately in execu
tion of the plan of education recommended, so far as relates to
the establishment of schools supported by private patrons, as the
Lord Lieutenant had placed funds at our disposal for that purpose.
Difficulties have since arisen in the construction of a work on the
plan of the EvangeUcal Life of Christ, which we recommended to
be used in schools of general instruction, and we have thus been
prevented from acting upon the reference made to us up to the
present time. We are to meet next week in London ; but what
wiU be the result of our deliberation, I cannot now attempt to
surmise. We have made no grant to any school."
There is preserved among Dr. Doyle's papers the manuscript
of an unpublished pamphlet on the Commission of Educational
Inquiry. He proceeds -with a rapid but steady pen to dissect the
component parts of the board. He exposes its weakness, and
proves it to be undeserving of popular confidence. He then
examines the instruments proposed to be employed by the board.
" From this pious and disinterested body this teacher of the
Sacred Scriptures is to bring what, in the language adopted by
the Commissioners, is to be caUed his ' diploma,' for expounding
the Word of God to the little ones, and commencing his hitherto
unheard-of caUing in the CathoUc Church — an office compounded
partly of assistant schoolmaster, and partly of Swaddling preacher."
Of the often ignorant and fanatical Scripture-readers, Dr; Doyle
remarks : " Whilst under the care of Mr. Vivors at Kildare-
place, they wUl spend their evenings most devoutly perusing the

LESLIE FOSTER "CRACKED WITH LEARNING." 427
Sacred Scriptures in order to fit themselves for their new vocation.
During these holy intervals of repose they will discuss most acutely
and profoundly aU the depths and difficulties of Holy Writ ; they
wiU exercise their talents in deducing from its allegories and para
bles the most pious conclusions, and fitting them out in the dra
pery of Kildare-street diction, for the open mouths and memories
of then- future fiocks ; they will descend with Paul into the abyss
of God's decrees ; contend with Job against the wiles of Satan, or
the perverseness of a wife who became his auxiliary ; smite the
Amalekites with the Judge of Israel ; sing soft anathemas with
Solomon ; or soar with Isaias to the very throne of God ! When
they are thus prepared to receive a commission from ' the New
Board,' they wUl return to the country, exhibit their diploma to the
patron or parson, and prcoeed to be inducted by some Daly or
Griffith to the intended liring and to the practice of tbe cure of
souls. Was there anything ever more silly conceived, except by
such a man as Mr. Leslie Foster, who, as our country people say
of many of their hedge-schoolmasters, seems to be ' cracked with
leaming ?' Was there anything ever conceived — I won't say by a
grave body of men, or even by Lish pubUc functionaries — but by
any set of fools and driveUers, so anomalous, so absurd, so irreli
gious, and so impotent, as to vest tbe religious instraction of the
youth of an entire nation in such a class of fanatics as this project
would create ?"
From the foUowing racy extract we glean an autobiographical
fact: " What a gang of young, ignorant, presumptuous boys, taken
fi-om the plough or the hovel, trained by Mr. Vivors for some
months in the study of the Bible, and sent through the country
with a legal commission to read this Bible, and interpret all its
mysteries and dogmas to the entire of the rising generation.
When I take a young clergyman, who has passed through years
of probation in a rigid discipUne, who is tried and exercised in
piety and leaming, and commission him to read and expound the
holy Scriptures to the faithful, I experience the same solicitude
about his conduct, and the manner in which he vriU execute this
"aU-important office, as a father does when he commits his whole
property in a worldly speculation, or his son to a journey in some
distant and unhospitable land. I do not cease to observe the
young clergyman's conduct and progress ; I place him near some
trusty and experienced guardian, who would check his ardour,
correct his youthful saUies, give to him the lessons of his own
experience on the vanities, and fickleness, and dangers of the
world, and teach him to walk cautiously and humbly before God
and men. Not satisfied with these precautions, I call him to

428 HE DENOUNCES " THE NEW BOARD,"
me from time to time, and, speaking to him with the confidence
and affection of a father, I hear from him an account of whatever
he had said or done ; I adrise, or praise, or admonish him, as
his interest and my duty may require ; I renew to him the in
stractions and admonitions which he had before received, and
again commit him and his labours to the care and favour of
Almighty God, But if aU this soUcitude and precaution be re
quired with regard to a young clergyman of such character, habits,
and acqufrements as I have described, should not some similar
instruction, some such prerious discipline, and paternal guardian
ship, be requfred by a person who is to teach to children the
rudiments of faith, to train them up in the knowledge of the
dirine law, to inspire with a due sense of the nature and obUga
tions of prayer, obedience, truth, justice, and decorum — in a word,
of aU the duties which they owe to thefr parents, thefr counti-y,
their neighbour, and their God ? But are the perambulating
alguazils — the spiritual baiUffs or caitiffs of the KUdare-place
Society and the New Board, fitted for these functions? Such
a question merits no reply. These are boys or men, empty of
all real knowledge, vain and presumptuous in proportion to
thefr ignorance, to the .lowUness of their state, and to the real,
as weU as fancied importance of their new caUing, They may
possibly be assisted by the clergymen who are bound or per
mitted to aid in the instruction of the chUdren, That they can
be assisted by the Protestant Clergymen — unless fox-hunting,
vrife-hunting, tithe-collecting, farming, nursing, the detection of
conspiracies, the distribution of justice, or some such occupation
interfere — is quite obvious ; and if the parson be a Wesleyan
Methodist, a child of free grace, or a canting fool or knave, he wifl
without doubt attend ; he will most fervently assist, not only in
the instruction or seduction of the children, but also in running a
race of texts with the new evangelist — 0 quam par nobile!
and contending with him about the quantity and quahty of Ught
and truth which each may have extracted from the Sacred Text,
But the Parish Priest, whose flock consists of several thousands —
who has to administer to the spiritual wants of each of them, and
not once, but often in the year — who has to compose the differ
ences, settle the disputes, aUay the animosities which occasionally
arise amongst a rude and enslaved people — who has to risit the
sick, to attend the dying, and often by his industry to obtain
from a patch of dear-bought earth the necessaries of hfe — such
a man, so occupied, can have but Uttle leisure to attend to schools
regularly, or to share in the spiritual diversions of the parson and
the catechist."
We may be permitted to make a few more citations, as the

PROOFS OF HIS VIGILANT FORESIGHT. 429
orioinal, from which we cull them, has never been pubUshed. The
following extracts further exhibit tbe wonderful rigUance and fore
sight of Dr. Doyle :
" This Priest, however, may perchance discover some mys
tical aberrations of the nondescript assistant; he may discover
that this youthful teacher of godliness has not been the most
temperate, the most moral, the most exemplary of youths ; pos
sibly he may be informed that too much learning had made him
mad, and that, not satisfled with tbe humble but important office
of catechist, he had, like one of that order whose fanatical eridence
is given in the Commissioners' Eeport, discarded aU catechisms,
and substituted his own dreams, and visions, and comments, for
the old, and true, and venerable doctiine of the Cathohc Church.
The priest may discover this^ — and when he has, can he call this
young functionary to an account ? Yes ; but whom does he
meet? A young man of education — a young teacher with a
diploma from KUdai-e- street — a young man holding his situation
under the authority of the Crown, emanating from the Board — a
young man appointed by his Majesty's Commissioners, who has
his rights, and knows how to defend them — a young man, in short,
who, if he be ill-conducted, or who, if he have flxed his eye upon
the superior station of schoolmaster, has already secured the
friendship and protection of the parson, and made arrangements
with him for his conversion. Such is the man with whom the
poor Priest — the old Eomish bigot, the unenlightened and un
informed enemy of the Bible, and of all true knowledge — has to
contend. He must resign the youth of his parish, the children
of his spiritual care, to the depraved influence of this youth's
example and doctiine, or appeal for" his removal to the ' New
Board.' He must learn the cfrcumlocutory forms and modes of
proceeding; he wiU be obUged to arraign the itinerant dealer
in texts before the patrons who appointed him. The accused
is informed of the charge preferred against him ; and now com
mences a parochial contest between the power of ascendancy and
the Popish Priest, to be decided by a board constituted and
appointed by Lord Eldon, Mr. Peel, and Mr. Goulbourne. The
assistant and the parson prepare the defence ; the schoolmaster
testifies its tiuth ; almost every gentleman in the parish, through
a desire of protecting an innocent and unoffending man, write to
the Commissioners in his favour. A dozen, or if necessary two
dozen, of affidarits accompany the other documents ; and what be
comes of the Priest ? If the curate be concerned, an application
wUl be made by some member of the Board to his Bishop, to have
him removed from the parish as an indiscreet person, extremely
bigoted, and extremely obnoxious to the gentry in that neighbour-

430 A PROPHETIC PICTURE.
hood. If it be the Parish Priest, he will be admonished, with
suitable gravity and all the form of official circumstance, that the
Commissioners of Education, appointed by his Majesty, pursuant
to an Act of ParUament in that case made and prorided, have taken
the complaint preferred by him against A. B., itinerant lecturer
in the district C. D., into their serious consideration ; and haring
examined into aU the circumstances of the case, had decreed that
the Parish Priest should be informed that the complaint prefen-ed
against A.B., the itinerant lecturer, was unfounded, if not maU
cious, and that it would contribute much to secure public harmony,
advance education, and fulfil the views of the Commissioners ap
pointed by his Majesty's paternal Govemment, if in future reports
not deserving of attention were not credited by him, and that he
would afford the benefit of his countenance and protection to the
aggrieved itinerant.
" The parson, and the catechist, and three or four of the gentle
men who had so kindly interested themselves, receive by the same
post an account of the decision of the board, with some pointed-
reflections on the folly and simplicity of the old Priest — of the
flrmness and immutability of the old spirit of corruption and
ascendancy ; and a little jubilee is celebrated in the county by
the Orangemen and fanatics on the new discomfiture of Popery.
The old Priest is sUenced for the remainder of bis Ufe, or, if a
young one, he is banished, for tbe laudable purpose of promoting
peace. The neighbouring Clergy, hearing what happened to thefr
brother, wUl shrug their shoulders and say, 'Felix quem fecerunt
aliene pericula cantum. I wiU take care not to contend with my
youthful evangelist ; let the Bishops who sanction such a system
"account to God for the destruction of the flock ; I am unable to
struggle against law and power.'
"But the triumph of the evangeUst is complete; he^has defied
and defeated the Priest ; he is protected by the parson, the l?,nd-
lord, and the magistrate; he is as secure as an apostie in his
ministry of the Word ; he knows as many texts as the most pious
old maid in the vUlage, and can interpret them as eloquently and
correctly as Wesley or CarUsle ; he blazons forth his victory to his
pupUs, his friends, and the neighbourhood — in fact, he is so ele
vated, so important, so proud, as to be a most fit sutgect for con
version to a religion of godliness and love.
" The parson, who has achieved an important rictory over the
Priest and Popery, pushes his advantage. He represents to the
young man how barbarously he had been treated by the Priest,
how much he had been befriended by the Protestants, how cai-e-
fuUy his interests were protected by the board, and that there was
Uttie doubt, if he could only see the errors of his own Church, and

ANOTHER CONTR0VERSI.\L CHALLENGE. 431
the excellence and beauty of Protestantism, he could not fail of
being advanced in life. For his part, he would be most anxious
to serve him ; indeed he had just heard from a friend in Antrim
or Tyrone, that a very fine situation of schoolmaster was then va
cant—to fiU the office, however, he should be a Protestant. But
why detail the process ? The itinerant is actually converted, and
departs for his new Uring, leaving his former place vacant for some
new diplomatist, who, in addition to the other stimulants to be
come a renegade, has before him the example of his predecessor."

CHAPTEE XIX.
Dr, Doyle's inhibition to his Priests against engaging in controversy — Evan
gelical exultation — The Professor of Theology at Carlow resigns his ofiice,
and challenges to public disputation six Biblical divines — Letter from the
present Protestant Bishop of Cashel — Curious scene in Kerin's church
yard — Letter to Rev, Dr, Donovan — Dr, Doyle consecrates the first
Catholic Cemetery since the Reformation — Amusing anecdote of Dr,
Doyle and Dr, Murray — Letter to Dr, Murray — Dr, Doyle's sermon at
the consecration of Marlborough-street Church — His speech at the
banquet — Letter to Mariana — Scene at Carlow between Dr. Doyle and
O'ConneU — Anecdote — Remarkable letter from O'ConneU — The stead
fast character of Dr, Doyle's friendships — A cornucopia of anecdotes,
furnishing food for thought and food for laughter — Traits and strokes
of character — Correspondence with Lord Donoughmore, Sydney Smith,
and others.
In August, 1825, the evangehcal missionaries, who had engaged
the Priests of Carlow in controversial disputation dm-ing the pre
vious year, seemingly not quite satisfied with the result of that
encounter, pubUshed a renewed chaUenge. Dr. Doyle was on his
risitation at Edenderry when he read this angry manifesto in the
newspapers, and he lost no time in prohibiting his Clergy fi-om
taking up the gauntlet. His aversion to polemical warfare had been
already placed on record in his "Vindication," addressed to the
Marquis WeUesley ; and his renewed expression of opinion on the
subject ought not to have taken his opponents by surprise. He
now enumerated in detaU the reasons which led him to disapprove
of controversy, and cited the high authority of TertulUan and
Benedict XI"7. Amongst many other reasons adduced by Dr.
Doyle were, " because the character of the Christian reUgion is
peace ; and the end of it, to estabUsh peace and good-wiU upon earth
as the means of fitting men for heaven. This end of our calUng was
announced by the angels at Bethlehem, when the humanity and
benignity of our Saviour-God first appeared ; and it was repeated
by himself when he was about to leave us and retum to his Father :

432 A PRIEST CHALLENGES SIX PROTESTANT DIVINES.
' My peace I leave you ; my peace I give you.' To the establish
ment or preservation of this peace the disputation mentioned
would, in itself and in its effects, be dfr-ectly opposed 
"Fifthly," he went on to say, "you are to avoid these disputes,
because by entering into them you appear to caU in question
those truths which are already defined by the Holy Ghost and
by us. Bishops — the successors of the Apostles. "You agree, as
it were, to impanel a jury — of I know not what description of
persons — to try tbe question whether Christ is vrith us teaching
all days, even to the end of the world ; whether the Holy Ghost
has or has not taught our fathers all truth ; whether we be placed
by him to rule the Church of God ; whether this Church be or
be not the piUar and ground of truth; whether these whom we
leave" bound on earth be bound in heaven ; or whether the gates
of hell have prevaUed, or can prevail against the Church ; whether,
again, this Church has been buried in idolatry for eight hundred
years ; whether, in fine, those who refuse to hear her, and who
thereby despise Christ and the Father who sent him, are or are
not as heathens and pubUcans before God?"
The Eev. Dr. M'Sweeny, who succeeded to the chafr of theo
logy vacated by Dr. Doyle's elevation to the see of Kildare,
haring, in the previous controversial discussion at Carlow, pro
pounded a few logical questions which do not seem to have been
satisfactorUy answered, gained a good stock of confidence, and
avowed himself ready to encounter, at any moment, alone and un
aided " six non-commissioned apostles." Dr. Doyle's letter of
inhibition was received, by the Eev. Mr. Daly and his coUeagues
with strong expressions of derision and exultation. The Professor
of Theology could not brook their boasting, and absolutely re
signed the office which he held, in order that he might, with
more respect to Dr. Doyle, follow up his daring intention. Dr.
M' Sweeny's chaUenge ha-ving been extensively pubUshed and cir-
ciUated, his opponents proposed a sort of qualified acceptation, but,
on second thoughts, retired.
It continued, for some time, to be a favourite point with the
evangelical dirines to declare, that Dr. Doyle secretly dfrected the
Carlow discussion of the prerious year, but now, from motives of
moral cowardice, condemned controversy. Dr. Kinsella, after
wards Bishop of Ossory, in The Evening Post of the 20th of
September, 1825, upsets this calumny. " In speaking of the
Bible meeting," observes Dr. Kinsella, " which was held in
August, 1824, he repeatedly asserts that Dr. Doyle was the
manager of everything ; he occupies a large proportion of his letter
in describing how this venerable Prelate directed every part of the
proceedings. Now, Sir, what is the fact ? During the entire

LETTER FROM DR. DALY. 483
period Dr. Doyle was fifty miles distant from Carlow; and while
this veracious dirine asserts that he was bo busily occupied in this
town, the truth is, that he was sojourning in Tramore for the
recovery of his health. There was no communication with him
on this subject ; the CathoUc Clergy were guided solely by their
own judgment ; Dr. Doyle knew nothing of our proceedings, until
he read them in the newspapers after all had been concluded."
Dr. Doyle had to bear with many stupid taunts and discour
tesies. How theological asperity should so completely warp the
mind of a reaUy accomplished scholar and gentleman, as to make
him address a Catholic Prelate with a salutation which could not
weU be appUed to the humblest curate, seems strange. The
writer is the present Bishop of Cashel :
" Sir — After waiting for some time for a reply fi-om the E. C.
Clergy of Carlow to the chaUenge sent them, I am led to suppose
that you, Uke an able general, have thrown yourself between my
fiiends and them, to sound and cover their retieat. It is well-
known in miUtary tactics, that nothing more marks the skiU of a
general than a good retreat ; but however creditable it may prove
to the commander, it stamps upon tbe army and the cause the
indeUble character of a defeat. With whatever skUl you have
extricated them from their unequal contest, the Eoman CathoUc
Clergy are a defeated body. They have fled from the field which
they first deUberately occupied themselves. . . .
" Though you now, for the first time, come forward openly in
this contest, the pubUc weU knowihat you were behind the scenes,
and the principal actor in the discussions of 1824, as you were in
the mfracles of 1823. You and your party have been beaten out
of the field of both — you have volunteered to advance, and in both
cases been forced to retreat, not for want of numbers to bring into
the field, nor of skUl and dexterity in your instruments, but be
cause you had not truth on your side, and you could not by argu
ment and reason make the worse appear the better cause. . . .
" May this book, which we would circulate, reach, in aU the
power and demonstration of the spirit, to you and to your people,
and be 'a Ught unto your feet and a lamp unto your paths.' I
entertain towards you no worse wish than this, and I cannot desire
for you or myseff a greater blessing. — I remain, Sfr, &c.
" Egbert Daly."
Calumnies on Dr. Doyle and the reUgion he professed were
more than usuaUy rife this year, and insults rapidly followed inju
ries. The minor labourers in the vineyard of Protestantism took
thefr tone and shaped their course from Archbishop Magee, whose
ilUberality would seem to have grown in proportion as elapsing
years brought him closer to etemity. 28

434 insult to the living and the dead.
About this time a series of insults, which for many months had
been systematicaUy offered to the Catholic dead, reached its climax,
by the rude interruption to Archdeacon Blake in Kerin's church
yard, when in the act of uttering a short prayer over the grave of
Mr, D'Arcy, an opiilent brewer of Dublin, Dr, Blake, afterwards
Bishop of Dromore, writes : "I did nothing which any layman
might not lawfully do^ — nothing which has not been done by
Catholic clergymen and Catholic laymen under the adminisfration
of the most bigoted Prelates, and during the most persecutmg
periods of former times. Yielding to the request of a near and
venerable relative of the deceased, I took off my hat to assuage, by
a short condoling prayer, the sorrows of the U-ving — to implore
perpetual rest and peace for the departed soul ; and at this
moment, and without any other provocation, the order of Dr,
Magee was wrang in my ear — that I must not offer any pr£|,yer over
that grave ! Gracious heavens ! is there a country in the universe
so degraded as Ireland?" The interruption was the more extea-
ordinary as Dr, Blake appeared in no official costume, but simply
in his walking dress, and refrained from reading the serrice which
is prescribed in the Catholic ritual for such occasions.
The UUberaUty of Dr, Magee, about this period, conipeUed Dr.
Doyle to consecrate the first CathoUc burial-ground since the
Eeformation, This, which took place near Naas, was then re
garded as a daring act ; and the Eev, Gerald Doyle, the Parish
Priest, describes the eeremonial as singularly impressive,
Dr, Magee's eloquent'eridence on the state of Ireland, deUvered
in 1825, remains a melancholy record of the extent to which a
consecrated foUower of Him, who preached peace and good vriU to
aU men, could rituperate the reUgion and character of six millions
of his countrymen, Dr, Doyle was urged by the Eev, Sydney
Smith and others to analyze and refute this eridence of Dr. Magee,
which, ha-ving been carefuUy rerised by the archiepiscopal pen,
was soon reprinted and most industriously distributed through Ire
land. " Those," wrote Dr, Doyle, " who expect that I should
write essays do not consider how a CathoUc Bishop is cfrcum
stanced in this country. He has not, because he cannot, have a
secretary or registrar ; he is obliged to visit, in each year, aU or
the greater part of his diocess, to catechise and confirm several
thousand children, to preach to multitudes almost every day for
several successive weeks, to examine into the state of religion, the
Uves and conduct of the Clergy and people, and to decide on num
berless cases of conscience which are referred to him ; he has to
preside in person at the conferences of the Clergy, held in each
month during the summer and autumn ; when at home, he has to
write as many letters as a clerk in a counting-house, to preach on

LETTER AND ANECDOTE. 435
every Sunday, and, during the week, to attend to numerous appli
cations of his people, as weU as to discharge often the missionary
duties in the same manner as the most humble of his curates.
When he has done aU this, what time, think you, remains to write
essays ?" In one point. Dr. Magee was as orthodox as Dr. Doyle
could desfre — he considered it necessary to regulate Scripture-
reading by Church authority. To this Dr. Doyle aUudes in a letter
to the Eev. Dr. Donovan, on the 24th of September, 1825 :
'¦' Poor M'Sweeny is iU at Cheltenham, and I am veiy sorry
for it. I want him to write letters against the BibUcals, as he does
it best. In tbe interim (as I have not time even to read what they
write — and I assure you this is the case), might you not draw back
pubhc attention by a letter to the state of the question — the accord
ance between Drs. Murray, Doyle, Primate Stewart, Archbishops
Magee, Laurence, Bishops Jebb, Marsh, &c., as to the necessity
of regulating Scripture^reading by Church authority ; the opposi
tion of the BibUcals to the Thfrty-nine Articles ; to the King's
declaration prefixed ; the editions of the Scripture by us ; the
present stereotype edition by Dr. Mmray : and then beg some
solution from them of the texts noticed or adduced in my late let
ter in support of the Church, as also a satisfactory explanation of
the frauds aUeged, in Mr. O'ConneU's late speech at Carlow, to
be practised by them ; of the e-vUs stated by Mr. Maher to result
from thefr principle ; and of how they are to guard against Lati-
tudinarianism ; or if they admitted any such thing as heresy ; and
if so, what constituted it ?"
The Superioress of an Irish conventual estabhshment, in a let
ter to the author, records an impression which has extended itseff
to more minds than one. " I observed," she writes, " when Dr.
Murray accompanied J.K.L., who came to Loretto in 1825 to
visit me, that there seemed a je ne siiis quoi of absence of cor
diality between those great men ; and I attributed it to the odious
comparisons which thfrd parties were then daily making, as the
more than Junius flashes wovUd come from the sparkUng pen of
J.K.L." In point of fact, however, no two men loved each other more
warmly. Irrespective of the evidence furnished by Dr, Doyle's
private correspondence -with his MetropoUtan, numerous anecdotes
might be cited to prove this. One being of an amusing character
we subjoui. The late Mr. T. O'Mara inrited Dr. Doyle to dine
-with him on a certain November evening. The company had
partiy assembled as the Bishop arrived, and by the indistinct Ught
of a genial fire, courtesies were cordially interchanged. In the
midst of them the form of a venerable looking man entered the
room, and Mr. O'Mara, starting up, exclaimed, '.' Here is Dr.

436 DR. DOYLE AND HIS METROPOLITAN.
Murray." Dr. Doyle moved forward and affectionately embraced
him. It proved to be, however, not the CathoUc Archbishop of
DubUn, but Dr., afterwards Sir James Murray, M.D., with whom
Dr. Doyle had Uttie or no acquaintance. Much laughter was ex
cited by the equivoque, in which no one participated with more
heartiness than the Bishop himself.
In 1803, the mansion of Lord Annesley, in Marlborough-
street, Dublin, was purchased at an expense of £5,100 as the site
for a projected Cathohc Cathedral. But until 1815 the com
mittee had not sufficient funds to begin buUding, and during the
interval Lord Annesley's house was set to the Government for a
barrack. At length, the first stone having been blessed and de
posited, the operations sped, and in 1825, the new Church was
ready for consecration. Archbishop Murray wrote to Dr. Doyle,
soUciting his aid as preacher on the occasion, and the favour of
his company at a banquet subsequently. Dr. Doyle repUed :
'i Carlow, 2nd November, 1825.
" My DEAE Lord — As this is a season when works of super
erogation are usefully appUed, I may be aUowed to perform one by
writing to your Grace and thanking you for the many kindnesses
conveyed to me in your Grace's letter of yesterday. I expect to
place myself at your Gi;ace's disposal during the days mentioned
in your letter, and though I would much rather not be in a crowd,
at least during dinner on the 14th, yet if it must be so, I wUl put
it down as one of the unavoidable inconveniences which attend
traveUing, and patiently submit to it. I sent a bundle of letters
to your Grace on the evening before last ; I fear, from no mention
of them being made in your letter, that they may have been
delayed or miscarried,"
Men stiU liring in 1825, remembered those gloomy days when
Mass had too often to be celebrated in dripping caves or moun
tain fastnesses, and when the rain of hea,ven descended on the
withered hands by which the chaUce was raised. The consecra
tion of the splendid Cathedi-al of the Conception was regarded
by the CathoUc party with very natural feelings of jubUee and ex
ultation. This imposing ceremony was performed -with great
pomp on the 14th November, 1825, the festival of St. Laurence
O'Toole. The edifice was the only one then existing in Ireland
of the Doric ordeir, and the architect, in designing it, took for his
model the Temple of Minerva at Athens.
Dr. Murray, as the celebrant of High Mass, entered in full
pontificals followed by nearly aU the CathoUc Prelates of Ireland ;
and it is significant of the estimation in which Dr. Doyle was held

THE CONSECRATION SERMON. 437
by that venerable body that, although the youngest, he entered )
second in the order of precedence. The congregation numbered
3,000 persons.
As soon as the first Gospel had been read. Dr. Doyle ascended
the' pulpit and preached an eloquent discourse, taking as his text,
from tlje first book of the Machabees : " And they arose before
moming, and they sacrificed on their new altar, and the people
feU down upon their faces and worshipped," &c. This text, he
remarked, showed what had been done by the Jews in remem
brance of the covenant which had been effected between their
people and Jehovah ; and he adverted to the customs of rirtuous
men who offered to 'God the best of their possessions, whether
fi'uits of the earth, the produce of the land, or the beasts of the
field. In those times a secluded vale served as a temple, and
some rough stone, on which off had been poured, was consecrated
as an altar. But at length a tabernacle was, at the command of
God, ordered to be made for the preservation of the books of His
law. It was adorned by tbe most ingenious and valuable decora
tion, covered with rich sUks, and protected from injury by every
precaution. This tabernacle, ha-ving been conveyed for forty years
through the desert by the Jews, and brought to the land promised
by their Almighty DeUverer, was at last placed on Mount Sion
that the blessings of the Lord, which ever accompanied it, might
remain with the people. Darid was prevented from erecting a
temple, because his hands had been stained with blood in battle —
but it was reserved to the mUd and pacific Solomon to erect a
temple to the God of peace.
Dr. Doyle then referred to the early ages of the Church of
Christ which, as had been foretold to St. Paul, had much affiiction
and humiUation to pass through ere its glory should be made
manifest. He quoted the account of Justin the Martyr, where
the Christians are described assembUng for worship beneath some
remote mountain which protected them from the potency of the
storm, and the stiU more destructive blasts of per^cution. This
digression. Dr. Doyle said, he made unintentionally ; but who
could not feel affected at the recoUection of these times, even if
they bore no resemblance to our o-wn ? At length better times
arose. The Emperors became Christians, and the Lateran Palace
was changed by Constantine into a Christian Church. The tro
phies of Augustus, the riches of Tiberius, and the splendour of
Vespasian were made to embelUsh a holy church. The leaming
of Greece, and the taste of Italy aUke contributed to the adorn
ment of temples erected to the true God. The lofty arch, the
fluted column, and the curved capital, which had been formed to
the honour of idols, now added to the beauty of the Christian

438 CHURCHES OF TIMBER.
temple. The statuarist did not cease his labour, but he discon
tinued the formation of false deities ; and the pencU and chisel,
which had been formerly employed in depicting either cruelties
or obscenities, were now engaged in decorating the Chiistian
churches with incentives to piety and vfrtue, by exhibiting to the
ilUterate eye the history and traths of reUgion. It was thus that
the Church shed a benediction on the arts. The spfrit of erecting
and embellishing churches always continued. Even the Goths
and Vandals had left many memorials of their piety* The reason
why few remains of ancient temples existed in Ireland (once the
niodel of civiUzation and sanctity) was that the Irish usuaUy bmlt
their churches of timber, which, like men, soon withered and
decayed away. The buUdings, which had been erected by the
English • settlers were destroyed by the Puritans. But he would
ask aU who heard him whether it was within such walls that
God principaUy dwelt ? No ; His chief place of abode was the
heart of man. "And," added Dr. Doyle, "may the charity of
the Gospel render yours a fitting altar, from which your prayers
may rise, hke grateful incense, to heaven,"
As a note to the foregoing mere sketch of the Bishop of
KUdare's sermon, it may be observed, from its local appositeness,
that Kildare derives its name from Kill-dara, or the Church of
the Oaks, being the first Christian temple erected in that county.
St. Bridget, patron saint, haring received the veU from the hands
of St, Patrick, founded a monastery and cathedral, the ruins of
which stiU adjoin the Church of the Oaks.
In the evening, three hundred gentlemen, lay and cleric, cele
brated the event of the day, by doing justice to a banquet at
Morrison's Hotel. The president. Sir Thomas Esmonde, having
proposed the health of Dr. Doyle, "whose eloquence cast so Inuch
splendour on the solemnity of this day," his Lordship repUed:
"To say that I am grateful for the manner in which my narae
has been introduced by you aU, would not be as much as I should
wish to expreSs ; and yet I can find no other language better
adapted to convey my feeUngs to an Lish audience, than simply
to say I am grateful, and you -will know by this simple expression,
that every good disposition of human nature is brought into play."
Dr. Doyle gave fuU vent to his feelings, and thus concluded :
" In Ireland rehgion has always flourished since it was first de
posited in her bosom. It is the only country wherein the Chris
tian faith was planted which did not involve the necessity of
sowing the gospel-seed amid blood — a proof that Irishmen were
naturaUy fitted for the exercise of all the rirtues of Christianity,
and of every moral and social obligation which binds man in com
munity. We have another great and glorious consolation : when

SPEECH AT Morrison's hotel. 439
infideUty approached our shores, Ireland shook the viper fi-om
her bosom and cast it into the depths of the sea (cheers). Yes !
it were as easy to strip our fields of their verdure, as to deprive
Iiishmen of the fafr religion of Christ. Our country, though she
has Uved for ages, is stiU in her infancy ; but she is growing and
she wiU grow strong, and as our national resources increase, so
wiU our religious feeUng and fervour. It was an observation of
Montesquieu, that the natural dispositions of a people, as weU as
their social institutions, fit them to the reception of Christianity,
or dispose them to its rejection. We may account our country
particularly blessed, when the Almighty Maker made us peculiarly
disposed for the practise of reUgion and piety. But as much has
been given to us — so, much is expected from us ; it is necessary
that we do good works in a double ratio." Dr. Doyle eloquently
concluded by exhorting his hearers to exhibit in thefr- conduct
Christian charity and good wiU, as the lower classes naturally
look up to the higher for counsel and example. " We should em
brace each other with that cordial affection which ought to charac
terize the people of one country. We should be firmly united
here in one interest, as we hope to be in a better world to come.
This good pohcy wiU proceed, like tbe inundations of the Nile, to
fertUize Ireland, by contiibuting to its peace and prosperity, and
frishmen wiU become, under its benign influence, one people, iu
heart and hand labouring for the promotion of Gospel truth, and
the fi-eedom and happiness of their common country."
Eichard Lalor SheU deUvered one of his most eloquent ora
tions on this festive occasion. Pointing earnestly at Dr. Doyle,
he exclaimed : " Is it not a matter of pride to look upon the elo
quent and ardent man, upon whose head a tongue of fire seems
to have descended — who has combined, vrith the loftiest zeal for
the religion, the most enthusiastic love of the hberty of his
country?" The foUowing note to Mariana is interesting, as showing the
Bishop in those occasional playful and domestic moods, -when
pohtics were for a time laid aside, and the cares of office packed
away with mitre and crozier : " Old Derrig, 22nd November, 1825.
" My dear Friend^I find by your last letter that though
encompassed by a thick, black veil, and your sight not gopd, you
are yet enabled to look out upon us worldings, and contemplate
with a compassionate regard those whom you formerly could
favour with your friendly affection. I was fiattering myself with
the (hope that when, on the 29th of September, you wished so
ardentiy to be dead to the world, and to live only for God, that
your proecting angel, Michael — whose province it is to present

440 letter to MARIANA.
the spfrits of this sublunary planet before the throne of their
Creator for judgment — had taken you up almost body and soul
and placed you in that little recess in heaven, where the — —
hold thefr council upon the affairs of the  , to which I was
going to say you now belong. But it appears you were too earthly
to be yet removed, and you wiU have many an opportunity afforded
you of chastening your spirit, and rubbing off from it aU that di-oss
which has been cast around it. I wiU, please God, risit you from
time to time, and see what progress is making in your improve
ment. When I next go I may perhaps chide you, and give to
 aU the information I can collect of the worldly-mindedness,
as the Methodists say, of her eleve, I wiU also induce J. K. L.,
whom you so profanely recoUect, to write an essay on the discip
line of young nuns, which he wiU send to you on some Michael
mas or birth-day for your mortification. So from aU this you wiU^
infer, no doubt, that I am but little disposed to forget you.-
" Mrs. M  is greatly altered in health since you saw her,
but her mind and affections are unchanged. She has lost one
eye, and the other is often so tender that she cannot write — this
may account for her silence. Dr. Marum, like myseff, is endea
vouring to drag on an existence of which vve have many reasons
to be weary.' He was in DubUn with me, but how could either of
us think of entering the hallowed waUs of your retreat, unless
after as many ablutions and purifications as a Jew uses when he
approaches his imaginary high priest ? We are getting a house
for the Bishop of KUdare, but not a palace — for in good truth it is
as hard to remove from a palace to heafven, as to drive a coach-
and-four there ; and the Bishops of Kildare must be arrant block
heads if they give up aU hope of a comfortable place in that city
whose foundations are eternal, for a life-interest in a house at
Carlow. The present expectant spends his mornings coughing,
or laughing, or scolding, and leaves his health to Providence, a
much better nurse than mothers .... or .... I
intended to have risited your good mother, but my memory be
trayed me tiU I had left town. I. am quite gratified at what you
teU me of Sarah : do you know, I vrish very much she were dis
posed to be a religieuse ? Don't tell her so, but when writing
remember me to her. Mr. O'ConneU has put off the accompUsh
ment of Pastorini's prophecies for three years — not a very long
period, 'tis true, to bring about the conversion of the world."
It wiU be remembered that O'ConneU, in 1825, made use of
some ambiguous expressions regarding Dr. Doyle's riews on the
subject of a Regium Donum for the Catholic Clergy, and the
disfranchisement of the forty-shiiling freeholders, which led to a

HIS SPEECH AT THE CARLOW MEETING. 441
coiTespondence between the great Tribune and the Eev. Dr. Kin
seUa. O'ConneU's explanation, and his repudiation of the news
paper reports which contained the obnoxious passages, were. Dr.
KinseUa declared, perfectly satisfactory ; and it naturaUy excited
some surprise wben, at a meeting in Carlow some months after,
O'ConneU again threw upon the Bishops the onus of having sanc
tioned the objectionable " wings." The Eev. Martin Doyle had
no sooner heard the allegation made than he repaired to the Col
lege adjacent, and requested Dr. Doyle to come forward and deny
it. "I have afready done so," said the Bishop. The Priest
returned to the meeting. O'ConneU was stiU speaking, and giring,
as it would appear, implicit credence to some incorrect information
which had reached him, he declared, that as the Prelates did not
disapprove of the " wings," the laity might well subscribe to them.
A resolution was proposed in favour of the " wings," and a por
tion of the meeting, hungry for Emancipation, seemed anxious to
adopt them. The Priest again sought his Bishop, and imploringly
impressed upon him the necessity of setting at rest for ever a re
port alike damaging to the episcopal character, and to CathoUc
interests. Dr. Doyle closed the Breviary which he had been
reading, and, vrith a lofty severity of deportment almost ominous in
its expression, unexpectedly entered the room. O'ConneU abruptly
ceased speaking as the Bishop approached, and seemed to expe-,
rience some symptoms of embarrassment. " As I was informed,'"
observed Dr. Doyle, " before I entered this room, that frequent
mention had been made of my name, and of the assent which I
was supposed to have given to the measure now under your con
sideration, I feel myself called upon to give such explanation with
regard to that measure as may serve to remove from the minds of
the gentiemen present any misconception under which they may
labour, or into which they might be led. I do so with great reluc
tance, on account of my aversion to appear in the tumult of popular
meetings ; but I feel myseff bound in duty to vindicate my own
character, and that of the Prelates with whom I co-operated."
The Bishop then proceeded to embody, in a speech of much force,
the substance of the letter to which we have afready adverted.
Regarding the Regium Donum which Government had, at first,
in riew for the CathoUc Priesthood and Hierarchy, Dr. Doyle said :
" What my opinion was I declared in London to my right reve
rend brethren ; I repeated it since in DubUn ; I may have some
times mentioned it in private conversation ; and it was this — that
ff the Prelates were led to approve of a prorision emanating from
the Treasui-y — if the ministers of Christ were to be paid by the
minister of State for dispensing the mysteries of God — then, in
that case, I would not create dissension amongst them ; but sooner

442 o'cONNELL MAKES DEVEREUX SWALLOW THE WINGS.
than that my hand should be soiled by it, I would lay down my
office at the feet of him who conferred it, for ff my hand were to
be stained with Government money, it should never grasp a crozier,
or a mitre ever afterwards be fitted to my brow. This was and is
my fixed determination." But the principle of a legal prorision,
he added, being totaUy independent of Court favour, might per
haps, vrith proper safeguards, be sanctioned under certain pecuUar
circumstances. After an elaborate statement, in which he vindi
cated the Prelates from the inconsistency of privately approring
what they publicly condemned. Dr. Doyle thus concluded: "I
hope I have satisfied this Committee of the purity of my intentions,
and that I have sustained that. character which I have always been
anxious to maintain — the character of an upright and honest man.
As to the .resolution which has been read, I know there is a diri
sion of sentiment about its adoption or rejection. I shall not
throw the weight of my opinion, whatever it may be, into either
scale : it is my duty rather to withdraw, and beseech the God of
peace to banish aU dissensions from amongst you." O'ConneU
atoned for the mistake into which he had been led by a respectful
apology, while Dr. Doyle made his exit amid peals of applause.
The resolution in favour of the clerical wing fell to the ground.
When the proceedings had concluded, the Eev. Dr. Fitzgerald,
President of Carlow College, entertained at dinner the gentlemen
of the Committee and others. O'ConneU had promptly recovered
his self-possession, and during dinner he was the dehght of aU
around him. In helping to chicken James Edward Devereux, the
uncompromising opponent of the "wings," O'ConneU archly placed
upon his plate the two pinions of the fowl, and whUe the quondam
delegate swaUowed them with infinite gusto, the merriment of the
company knew no bounds. The health of Dr. Doyle haring been
proposed, in ther course of the evening, by Lord Killeen, our Prelate
acknowledged the compUment in a speech which fervently recorded
his determination to preserve the independence of the Irish Church
undefiled and inriolate. Of a Regium Donum for the CathoUc
Church, which found many advocates even in the ranks of Catho
licism, Dr. Doyle said : " Our hands shaU never be stained by the
acceptance of a paltry bribe. In the present state of affafrs, the
CathoUc Church could never, in case of such a compromise, be
secure or pure. Never shaU the shackles of my country- be trans-
fen-ed Upon my faith."
The foUowing remarkable letter, dated Mei-rion-square, 18th
December, 1825, was addressed by O'ConneU to a Clergyman who
had enjoyed from his youth the friendship and confidence of Dr.
Doyle. The sentiments recorded in this letter do O'ConneU great
credit, but it will tiot fail to excite some surprise that so clear-

REMARKABLE LETTER FEOM o'CONNELL. 443
sighted a man should have been unable to conjecture the reason
why Dr. Doyle felt piqued against him :
"My respected Friend — You wUl attribute to the proper
cause — extreme hurry — my not answering letters. If I had time,
yours would certainly be one of the first.
" I know you are intimate with Dr. Doyle, and in a kind of
despair I write to you, in strict confidence, about him. His mind
is fuU of something towards me that indeed I do not understand.
In truth, he is so high in my opinion — I respect and admire his
talents and qualifications so much — I know and feel his incal
culable value — I estimate the magnitude of his utiUty so justiy —
that I can scarcely conceal the anguish his hostihty to me pro
duces. I am, of course, convinced that such hostility arises from
conscientious conriction in his mind. I have said or done some
thing that he judges to be wrong, and his conduct to me is cer
tainly regulated by that conriction. The attack of Mr. KinseUa—
the omitting to anticipate the prorincial meeting at Carlow — the
speech at the CoUege dinner — the interference the next day, under
the supposition that I had accused the Prelates of inconsistency —
the total absence of a recognition of an error in fact on that sub
ject, even after I had explained — the personal salute which I was
obhged UteraUy to extort from him — all these circumstances con
vince me that I have said or done something to make Dr. Doyle
displeased with me. Could you, my respected fiiend, find out
what it was ? BeUeve me, most sincerely, that I would not ask
you to find it out if I were not resolved to repair it when dis
covered. It is indeed painful to me, that a man whom I so
unfeighedty respect and reverence should entertain towards me
sentiments of an adverse nature. Perhaps it is ambition which
makes me desfre his co-operation instead of his opposition ; but if
it be, I deceive myself. I think that it is a sincere desfre to serve
Cathohcity and Ireland which regulates my anxiety to have his
countenance and protection. Do not, I beg of you, let him know
I have written to you on this subject. I write merely to throw off
a burden from my heart and feehngs, and vrith the simple vrish of
procuring such information as may enable me to avoid in future
that which has created present displeasure to him.
" I have written unconnectedly, but that is because I feel more
on this subject than I can express.- — ^Believe me always, &c.
" Daniel O'Connell."
It is hardly necessary to add, that Dr. Doyle was too trae a
Christian to keep up the pique of which O'ConneU complained.
'When the events of the year 1828 are described, the reader wiU
find a beautiful letter from Dr. Doyle to O'ConneU, concluding

444 STEADFASTNESS OF HIS FRIENDSHIPS.
with — "FareweU,- my dear friend! May the God of truth and
justice protect and prosper you !"
On the 16th of December, 18^6, the present Bishop of Saldes
had occasion to remit Dr. Doyle a smaU amount of money. The
acknowledgment is amusing: " Money, even from an enemy, is
acceptable to a man whether he be rich, poor, prodigal, or avari
cious. I, fi-om time to time, partake of each of these characters ;
but even if I were a prudent man, not suffering want or over-
abounding, I would be glad to get money in a letter so acceptable
as yours. It is not likely that I wUl risit Cork for the object you
mention ; but if there at any time or for any purpose, I wUl not
fail to trespass on the old and tried hospitaUty of your convent."
Dr. Dojde never forgot a friendship, or missed an opportunity
to serve a ffriend. An old college acquaintance was canvassing
at this time for the office of President of tbe Irish CoUege in
Paris, then, as now, in the gift of the Bishops of Ireland. The
Eev. Dr. Eyan -had for many years efficiently discharged his duties
as Principal, and now expressed a wish to retire.
Dr. Doyle confidentiaUy writes :
"As far as I can collect Dr. Eyan's riews from his own con
versation, and mode of acting, he hopes to slip to the office he
now holds some one of his own choice, leaving to us a post facto
approbation of his work  But what can Dr. Murray
or I do, should the worthy Dean's views not concur with ours ?
The latter is to be with me in Carlow, and I shaU seek to gain
him over, if it be possible. I can only repeat my assurances to
you, that I shaU at every time do all in my power to advance your
views, as I am certain they will always correspond with my own,
nor shaU I spare any labour or exertion to serve you."
As a further illustration of Dr. Doyle's ardour, and steadiness
of friendship, we quote the foUowing, addressed to Eev. Austin
M'Dermott, O.S.A., his old schoolfellow at Coimbra :
" I have just received your most acceptable letter, and though
you do not desire an immediate reply, yet as I happen to have a
leisure moment, which seldom, happens, I avail myself of it to
write to you. I don't know of anything which gives me so much
consolation, excepting the service of God, as the affection I feel
for my friends, and the cordial return I meet with from them ; and
I need not say how warm and sincere my affection for you and
my. dear Clayton has always been. It is a portion, I hope, of
that charity which descends from above, and, if we be faithful,
will continue and improve until it is absorbed in the immensity
from which it flows. Your kindness and the anxiety you express
to see me will be a strong inducement to me to visit Galway.
To fix a time for going would be impossible ; the middle of

HIS RESERVE AND HAUTEUR. 445
August would be the period most Ukely to suit me ; but I shall not,
if I go, take you by sui-prise." Again, referring to Clayton, his
fellow-student at Coimbra, Dr. Doyle adds : " Give all my love
to Nicholas." _ -
The number of Priests -wet© Umited on whom Dr. Doyle
bestowed many marks of friendship or affection. But no man
ever loved another vrith stronger or more lasting esteem, when
once he formed a friendship, either in college, the convents of his
Order, or during his subsequent episcopal career. But these
intimacies were few and far between ; and as he uniformly pre
served a grand and rather distant demeanour in his intercourse
with the general Priesthood of the diocess, he was, by many of
them, more respected than beloved. At the formal banquets in
Clongowes CoUege, or at risitation dinners, he generally main
tained this deportment. His reserve extended, -with irresistible
contagion, to those around, and few ventured to speak above their
breath. But at social dinner-parties, to which he occasionaUy lent
his presence, he was often as joyous and playful as a child,
abounding in anecdote and -witty repartee.
Dr. Doyle's fi-equent noli-me-tangere of manner, which had
been a speciaUty with him even before he became a Bishop
(p. 64, ante), was not without its advantages. " Perhaps," ob
serves a leamed critic in Blackwood' s Magazine, " the finest,
richest, and most generous species of character, is that which
presents to the dainty the most repulsive surface. Within the
rough rind the feeUngs are preserved robust and healthy. The
noli-me-tangere outside, keeps off tbat insidious swarm of arti
ficial sentimentaUties which taint, and adulterate, and finaUy ex
pel aU natural and rigorous emotions within us. The idea of a
perfect man has always been figured forth in oui; minds, by the
emblem of the hon coming out of the lamb, and the lamb coming
out of the Uon."
Dr. Doyle was aware of the restraint which his presence occa
sioned among those who knew him but sUghtly; and when present
at visitation dinners, he would offen retfre almost immediately
after the removal ofthe cloth, observing to some friend, "As long
as I remain, these gentlemen won't enjoy themselves."
'WhUe on a risitation in the county KUdare, Dr. Doyle was
inrited to dine vrith a Parish Priest, who delayed dinner much
beyond the appointed hour. The Bishop's constitution was not
strong, and he waxed impatient for the "flesh-pots." Several
clerical guests had yet to arrive ; but rather than delay his Lord
ship, the host ordered dinner. The Priests dropped in one by
one, and, guessing how matters stood, sat at the lower end of the
table, learing a wide berth to the Bishop. No one had courage

446 A BOQUET OF
to sit near his Lordship, until the late Parish Priest of Aries (the
Father Prout of the diocess) marched boldly in, and, undismayed
by the frigid manner of the Prelate, took his seat so close as to
touch him. There was no recognition, or word of greeting. The
Bishop slowly moved his knife and fork, while Father H  ,
-with the utmost nonchalance, kept calUng loudly for every viand
upon the table. At length, he accosted Dr, Doyle : " 'What news,
my Lord ?" " None, Sfr," repUed the Bishop, awfuUy. " Who
preached to-day, my Lord ?" continued Father H  , not a bit
abashed, " I preached myself," was the reply, " That's more
than St, Paul did, my Lord," rejoined the loquacious Priest; "he
preached Christ crucified, but you have preached yourseff," His
Lordship did not deign to smUe, so the laughter, ready to burst
forth if the Bishop led the way, was checked. More knocks at the
haU-door announced new arrivals, and the Bishop asked souOp-
rously, "'Who comes so late?" Father H — ^-^ ran to the win
dow, puUed aside the bUnd, and returning to his seat, said, "My
Lord, it's the Prosperous Parish Priest and the ¦Clone CuKate,^''
It was impossible to resist such perpetual good humour. Dr.
Doyle descended from the lofty pedestal of his dignity, and a
sociable evening, we are told, wa's passed. As a key to this anec
dote we may observe, that Prosperous and Clane are two parishes
adjacent to each other in the county Kildare, Clane was origi
nally spelled duaine, signffying a sanctuary or sacred retreat.
He did not always maintain a fiigid reserve on such occasions.
At a conference of the Clergy a sermon was preached, and at
dinner criticised. One Priest pronounced it mediocre; another
took an opposite riew, and extoUed it as most admfrable. Dr.*
Doyle was appealed to for his opinion. " It was, doubtiess, ^
sermon of gi-eat exceUence," he rephed; "the man that wrote it
never wrote a bad one," adding after a short pause, " May the
Lord have mercy on his soul !" The preachers' friends, deUghted
at the decision, were beginning to crow over the captiously dis
posed critic, untu the awkward fact became eUcited that the
sermon was filched, word for. word, from the late Eev. WilUam
Gahan, a distinguished lummary of the Augustinian Order,
Although Dr, Doyle earned the name of a stem disciplinarian,
he was in reaUty more indulgently disposed than he got the -credit
of being. On one occasion, durmg his absence from Carlow, his
curates got a pack of cards, and passed a few hours each e-vening
at whist. The housekeeper, seeking to ingratiate herseff in -the
great man's favour, sought him, obserring, " Oh, my Lord, when
the cat's away, the mice may play. The clargy had no less than
card-playing," " Woman," he repUed, " my young curates must
amuse themselves. Let me hear no more of this."

VAEIED ANECDOTES. 447
" WeU, to teU you the trath," was a favourite phrase of the
same dame. Her loquacity annoyed Dr. Doyle. " Woman," he
would say, "^hat else should you teU, ff not the truth? Avoid
this sUly phrase."
Dr. Doyle's surriring curates assure us, that a kinder friend
they never inew. He completely acted upon tbe spfrit of St.
Francis Xarier's letter to the Prefect of Goa, wherein the Saint
directed that the monks should not be made irksome by acts of
mortification. With such indulgence did Dr, Doyle treat his
curates, that some of them were not afi-aid to play aU sorts of
innocent tricks upon him, A peasant once entered the Catholic
Church at Carlow with a case reserved for episcopal absolution.
Having met a portly-looking curate at the door, he jumped at the
conclusion that he must be the Bishop, " My Lord," he began,
" I have got. a resarved  ." " Very well," intermpted the
Priest, humouring the joke; "that young man yonder is my
curate, and ff you go to him he wUl do what's right." " I'm
obleeged to your Lordship, but I was tould no one, barrin yer-
seff, would do." " When I ^end you to him, it is enough." The
man accordingly went over to Dr. Doyle, and said, " Plaze yer
Eeverence, the Bishop over there sent me to you." " Sfr, I am
the Bishop 1" " Oh, not all out, yer Eeverence." " I declare,
on my honour, I am the Bishop, and that gentleman yonder is
shaking his sides laughing, that both you and I should be made
fools of."
The curate to whom we aUude, although a leamed and accom
pUshed divine, greatly dishked the labour of preaching ; and Dr.
Doyle often reUeved him of the duty by good-naturedly preach
ing in his stead. The Bishop at last determined, however, to
be more exacting. One day as the cm-ate was sitting in the
sacristy, endeavouring to shape the outUne of a sermon, to be
preached within the next haff-hour. Dr. Doyle unexpectedly
entered. " Oh, there you are, my Lord," exclaimed the Priest ;
"now you're caught, and I'm off." " I teU you I'm not there,"
the Bishop replied, retreating majesticaUy. " Oh, but you are
though ; and caU me a Dutchman ff I'U preach to-day," Coaxed
in this manner Dr, Doyle, on more than one occasion, relented.
We merely quote these trifling anecdotes as iUustrations of
that good-natured disposition which the Bishop so often too suc-
ceasfiilly laboured to conceal. Plutarch, the prince of ancient
biographers, teUs us, that " very often an action of small note, a
short saying, or a jest, shall distinguish a person's real character
more than the greatest sieges or the most important batties."
And Eousseau, speaking of the value of small anecdotes and
shght touchings in biography, observes : " Voila le veritable art

448 PHYSIC TO PURGE PRIDE.
de peindre. La physiognomic ne se montre pas dans les grandes
actions : c'est dans les bagatelles que le naturel si dicouvre."
So here are a few more bagatelles : ,
Dr. Doyle was so amiable a man in his own house and its
ricinity, that the servants and others often held him in but Uttle
awe, and have absolutely been known to rebuke him ! He was
one day addressing a man very sonorously in the haU' at Carlow
Convent, when tbe old servant, interrupting, said : " Don't be
talking so loud, Sir — the nuns are on retreat." The Bishop took
the rebuke in good part, and ceased his homUy.
Many other curious instances of his , humility might be cited.
" Knowledge," says St. Paul, " puffeth up." The Bishop fre
quently repeated this remark, and uniformly endeavoured to cor
rect the tendency to pride which great prestige, learning, and
genius were Uable to create. Often has he been seen walking
from Braganza to Carlow Convent to say the morning Mass, for
which the humble chaplain received a pittance, and carrying the
bag which contained his vestments, cope, and rochet. Some
Priest would generally offer to relieve him of the burden, but he
as invariably declined the offer. He also dispensed with the aid
of an attendant when celebrating Mass at the Convent, and sup
plied with his own hand the -wine and water usuaUy presented
by an acolyte. After Mass, he often spent some hours hearing
the confessions ofthe little chUdren at the Convent.
" When young Uke you," he once said to a person -with whom
he was extremely intimate, " I was vain and proud of the talents
which God has given me, and I regarded vrith disdain some of my
less-favoured schoolfellows. I found this feeUng getting stronger
within me, and I suffered much in trying to suppress it. One
day when we were all walking together on the public road, the
temptation smote me strong. I straggled to keep down my pride,
and be affectionate to my companions — but it was in vain. A
riolent remedy, thought I, is necessary, and as a sweep happened
to be passing at the moment, I folded his loathsome person in my
arms. I felt my pride gone. What think you, dear J  , of
purging it with the same physic ?"
We have obtained access to a remarkable letter, written several
years previous to the present date of our narrative, and containing
a passage which forms an interesting companion to the above.
The daUy growth of Dr, Doyle's high and commanding genius
had created a corresponding tendency to increased loftiness of
mien. It was as difficult to check the one as to suppress the
other. His mind as well as station elevated him above those
among whom he moved. It is impossible not to feel strong
admfration for the great and good man, who resolutely essayed

DR. doyle's confessions. 449
to crush all outward symptoms of increasing superiority. But
he did more. Imitating St. Augustin, and if possible surpassing
the model, we find him displaying the rare humiUty of confessing
the pecuUar struggle which so often tore his breast. Why should
we sijppress the details, when the iUustiious dead thought fit to
avow and record them ? The letter to which we allude is ad
dressed to the late Very Eev. Austin M'Dermott, his old feUow-
student at Coimbra :
" We have aU, my dear Austin, temptations to pride and
ambition ; but I hope, through God's mercy, that experience and
reflection have served to enable us to see the foUy and impiety of
glorying in what God has entrusted to us for His honour, not for
our own ruin. I still retain much of that haughty manner you
often noticed in me ; but I labour to break it dovm, and I am
sincerely anxious to retfre from the occasions which excite this
feeling. You talk of secularizing yourself — and I would give all
that this world could bestow to become a monk in some retired
place, so heartily tfred am I of secularization ; but you and I wUl,
I believe, please God best by remaining, at least for some time,
to fight His battles where we are — 'Le Dieu de paix est aussi le
Dieu des batailles,' says the great Francis de Sales."
The Eev. James Maher, who in his capacity of cmate resided
four years under the same roof with Dr. Doyle, assures us that
in aU his Ufe he never knew a man of more striking and con
sistent humiUty. He never aUuded to the distinguished men
with whom he was in constant correspondence. He hated to hear
or to see himseff praised ; and Father Maher informs us that
whenever he brought the pubhc journals to the Bishop, saying,
" My Lord, the papers to-day are fuU of your praises," Dr. Doyle
would sedulously avoid reading them.
In a young Priest who came to Carlow, about this period, to
discharge a Professor's duties. Dr. Doyle discerned talents of no
ordinary character. He took a strong liking to the young and
handsome Professor, and showed him frequent marks of special
favour. This Priest, who is now one of the most prominent
pubUc men of the day, refers, in a letter before us, to his episco
pal patron and friend :
"You have made me somewhere about thirty years younger, by
bringing before my memory events which occurred prior to Eman
cipation, and carrying me back to the table, and presence, and con
versation, and subUme look and shape of Dr. Doyle. I do think
I knew him better than any other man now liring. He was as
wise as Solomon, and innocent as a child. He could put on the
terrors of an angry judge, and then relax into the playfulness of a
fond companion. In fact he was ten or twenty great men made
29

450 ANOTHER SPRINKLE OF
into one very great man. And there was such a variety in him'.
If I could be allowed the comparison, he was like the Continent of
America — everything on a large scale — large rivers, large forests,
large mountains, large cataracts, large smiUng prairies — and so, at
every turn of his disposition you beheld some new, larg^, and
bold feature of character which surprised and astonished, rather
than pleased the general observer ; and hence he was more
admired than loved. If he were a smaller indiridual, and could be
made to fit in a dravring-room, he would have been more beloved
by. the world ; but he was too big to be made a toy of, or to be
viewed at a tea-party ; he could only be seen by going out very
far from him. I could speak of him for ever, as I beheve he did
love me more than any other man of my age and standing."
On another young Priest, named Cullen, who had been his
pupU at Carlow, Dr. Doyle bestowed many marks of kindly atten
tion. The cheerfuhness and simplicity of his manners, the inno
cence of his heart, the fast developing genius of high -vfrtue, united
to natural talents of no mean order, had not failed to attract the
penetrating eye of Dr. Doyle ; and the reader wUl find these riews
recorded (p. 68, ante).
One of the reformatory regulations which Dr. Doyle, on suc
ceeding to his see, recommended was, that every Priest should
confine himself strictly to one glass of whiskey punch after din
ner. Mr. CuUen, haring, in the interim, been ordained Priest,
was invited vrith others to meet Dr. Doyle at a risitation dinner.
When the cloth had been removed. Dr. Doyle mixed a glass of
wine and water, whUe the Priests proceeded to use the materials
for punch. Conversation commenced and continued in an under
tone, and the glasses of aU were soon empty. Several of the
Priests looked as blank as their " tumblers." , Mr. CuUen signffi-
cantly nodded across the table to mix another glass, and send the
decanter round. The Clergymen stared astounded. " I usuaUy
take only one glass," said Mr. Cullen, " but in honour of his
Lordship, I intend to take two. When the dazzling mitre of
J. K. L. is in the midst of us, we should be more cheerful.
Planets revolve more luminous in their orbits when they have the
sun in the centre." "Oh ! Father Cullen," exclaimed the. Priest
before whom the materials rested, " you are a splendid luminary;
rve are but opaque bodies." " But even opaque bodies refiect
light," was the rejoinder, " and they should especiaUy do so when
the source of light is so near them." The Bishop could not help
smiling. " Do, Mr. CuUen," he said ; " mix your second glass,
and perhaps those who now seem so displeased with you would do
the same themselves if I were not here."
Dr, Doyle considered that the Priests who indulged in spiii-

ANECDOTES. 451
tous drinks deUberately lowered the character, status, and in
fluence of the body to which they belonged. Such cases were
exceptional, but as hard drinking was the fashion of the day he
considered that the danger could not be too cautiously fenced
against. The practice of holding " stations" at farmers' bouses,
and the attendant refi-eshments which the hospitality of the
people provided when the day's labour was done, Dr. Doyle
wished to see utterly aboUshed. "When the Eev. Mr. M  was
appointed to a parish he persevered in the discontinuance of
"stations," by compelling the people to walk a little farther and
approach the Sacraments in the house of God — which eUcited the
following expression from Dr. Doj-le, "I wish you had been for
two years in each paiish in my diocess."
'The young Professor, to whom we have already referred as
having attracted the friendly attention and regard of Dr. Doyle,
was inrited with some other Priests to dine with his Lordship.
" I hear," whispered one of the guests, as he entered the epis
copal mansion, " that Dr. Doyle has got doubly strict about the
quantum of punch." "Nevertheless," i-ejUied the Professor, " I
hereby wager a guinea -with you, that I will take a second tumbler
on this day by the express command of Dr. Dojde." " Done I"
said his companion. The Professor sat next the Bishop at dinner,
and whUe in the act of helping himself to salt, he spilt a consider
able portion on bis plate, which he attributed to an accidental push
from Dr. Doyle's arm. As soon as he had finished the first glass,
tbe Professor would ever and anon raise the empty goblet to his
lips, draining it to the uttermost, with a loud smack. At last this
proceeding attracted Dr. Doyle's eye. "Eh!" he exclaimed, "are
you about to eat the glass?" "I pray your Lordship's forgive
ness," replied the Professor, " but I reaUy did not feel what I was
doing." " Your involuntary movement," said tbe Bishop, " indi
cates yonr thirst — I dont forget the accident of the salt-ceUar.
Mix another glass." The ingenious Professor thus won the wager.
But enough of the cap and beUs. The solemn responsi
bilities, meanwhUe, of his spiritual office continued at times to
press upon the Bishop hea-vUy, awakening many a bitter pang,
and casting many a blight over the peaceful relaxation which he
sometimes vainly sought from his labours. " Ah !" he would
exclaim, "how a-wful to be made responsible for the etei-nal
destinies "of even one soul. What then, as the great Chrysostom
says, to be held answerable, not for one, but for the whole popular
tion of an entfre diocess? Quid de illis, sacerdotibus, decendum
a quibus sunt omnium anima requivendce. Eeflect on the value
of even one immortal soul ; weigh its value in the balances of
reason and reUgion ; then let the scales be produced ; let earth

452 THE bishop's musings.
and ocean bring forth all thefr treasures ; let all the splendour of
material creation be weighed on the one hand ; let the value of a
single soul be balanced against it ; and tell me which is of more
importance — that which is one day to perish, or that which is to
survive the wreck of worlds, and Uve, like God, immortal ? Or if
you hesitate, cast the blood of Calvary into the scales, and then
let men and angels decide which is of greater value — the coUected
splendours of ten thousand worlds, or the immortal spirit stamped
with the image of the Father, and ransomed by the blood of an in
carnate God 1 And if such be the value of one soul, what the
value of thousands ? and, oh ! what the responsibiUty of him who
has to answer, not for one, but for multitudes — perhaps ultimately
for millions ? How can he reasonably hope to enter heaven,
unless vrith his dying breath he can repeat with truth, in the lan
guage of the Eedeemer, ' Father, of those whom thou hast con
fided to my care, not one has perished through my fault.' Hot^
awful and astonishing is the place which he occupies in the
designs of Proridence. His destinies are interwoven with the
destinies of thousands, and on him depends- immeasurable depths
of etemal happiness or torment !"
Often when borne down with care and anxiety, the Bishop was
unjustly regarded by the vain and narrow-minded as crueUy seek
ing by an affected solemnity to freeze the hearts of his subjects.
Prerious to risiting the various parishes of his diocess. Dr.
Doyle distributed copies of a schedule to be filled up by the Priests
and returned to him. This paper contains five large blanks, for a
statement of the titles on which the chapels and glebe-houses are
held, the name of the lessee, the term of years and rent, the
name of the person with whom the lease is deposited, the Saint to
whom the church is dedicated, the number of chaUces, ciboriums,
or other plate, vestments, albs, copes, altar-linen, missals, and
of volumes in the parochial Ubrary ; the number of confraternities
of tbe Christian doctrine, and of the Blessed Sacrament, the
number of monthly communicants and adults, and the names of
the most obstinate absentees from their Easter communion ; of
public sinners in the parish, with some account of their crimes ;
of public abuses, such as Ulegal combinations, drunkenness, quar
reUing, violation of the Lord's Day, night-wakes, or public dancesj
the number of schools, the names of the masters and mistresses,
and the average number of scholars who attend each ; the number
of Masses on each Sunday, and if a special compensation be made
for any; the hour at which Catechism is taught, and if vespers
be celebrated. Thus briefed, it may well be supposed that the Bishop was at
no loss for subjects on which to touch in his energetic visitation
sermons.

LETTER TO LORD DONOUGHMORE. 453
• Ireland lost a true friend in Eichard, Earl of Donoughmore,
who died at this period. His character and riews can be best
estimated by an exceUent letter of condolence addressed by Dr,
Doyle to the patriot Peer's surviring brother :
"My Lord — , , , . The only aUeriation of such a grief as
yours — a grief which has its source in the womb where men are
formed — is to be found in that reUgion which, creating us anew,
desires that when death separates us we ' be not sad Uke others
who have not hope,' knowing that He who died and rose again
for us wiU re-assemble us in a better life, where pain and sorrow
wiU be no more,
" The good works of your Lordship's only brother were not
confined to individuals, to a city, or to a shire ; they extended to
all men; they were concentrated upon us — the Catholics of
freland. We were the inheritance, and he was the hereditary
advocate of a poor and an oppressed people. He knew the un
merited wrongs we suffered ; he communed with us in aU our
disappointments and trials, he ate with us the bread of affliction,
and made aU our grievances his own.
" During the few years of my acquaintance vrith your late
noble brother, I had opportunities for discerning not only the exer
tions of his acute and able mind in our favour, but also the deep
conriction entertained by him of the purity of our riews, of the
innate justice of our claims, as weU as of the comprehensive utUity
of embodying our strength, our interests, and our affections, with
the strength, the interests, and the affections of our fellow-subjects.
I saw how he disdained aU petty traffic about 'securities,' which
bespoke distrast, and tended, if consummated, to impair public
hberty, and create a dangerous influence. I witnessed the mind
of your noble brother elated vrith hope, when, upon the King's
risit to Ireland, a prospect opened to him of our trials abating,
and of those who are estranged in affection from the land of thefr
birth returning to a better sense. But I saw him in other cir
cumstances. I saw him on his retum from Lord Liverpool, a few
days prerious to the last rejection of our prayer in the House of
Lords. I met him alone. He was unweU. Hope had fled from
him. Disappointment, anguish, despafr, hung about him. The
emotions of his mind and heart were risible — his frame was
already weakened by disease, and aU his wonted fortitude could
scarcely sustain him. The Premier had resolved that the cause
to which Lord Donoughmore's life and fame were wedded should
be stricken to the earth ; and even then it was apparent that how
ever your noble relation might straggle, h^ could not long surrive
what to him was a domestic calamity, as weU as an fr-retrievable
pubhc loss. The image of his figure is stiU before me ; his Ian-

454 o'connell's portrait of dr. doyle.
guage and gesture are deeply impressed upon my memory, and
the troubled emotion with which he spoke produced a corres
ponding feeling in my own breast.
" Your Lordship -wiU, I hope, excuse the overflo-wings of an
Irish Catholic's mind, when occupied with the recoUection of all
he owes to the vfr-tues and serrices of him who, for so many years,
had been his firm, faithful, and uncompromising advocate and
fiiend." Lord Donoughmore's reply is before us. " This testimony,"
he wi'ote, " conveyed in terms and upon principles most just and
impressive, is grateful to my feelings. No man felt more sincerely
than my late brother did the wrongs of Ireland, nor acted with
more zeal and consistency in endeavouring to treat those animosi
ties which unhappily prevailed. He had been early taught to
know that the misfortunes of this country arose from her pohtical
dissensions — from that fatal system of laws in which nothing can
be traced but national calamity. He saw the absolute necessity
for its repeal, and, impressed with this conriction, took his station
early, and acted upon this gi-eat question, to the latest hour of his
parUamentary life, with that uncompromising and manly firmness
which so pecuUarly marked his character."
In December, 1825, a letter from Dr. Doyle, enclosing £5,
was read at the Catholic Association. He commended the labours
of Father L'.Estrange's Education Committee, and declared that
nothuig but the most unremitting exertion would suffice, to pre
serve the Catholic people from being transferred from tbe care of
their natural instructors to the grasp of those who aimed to under
mine thefr religion.
O'ConneU, referring to Dr. Doyle, eloquently said, that " His
approval of their proceedings, and his co-operation in their efforts
was one of the highest gratifications and honours they could
receive. It would require talents equal to Dr. Doyle's own to
describe him as he deserved. He possessed the brightest rirtues
that adorned the episcopal character in the purest ages of Chris
tianity, combined with all the briUiant quaUfications that could
excite the respect and admiration of mankind. He that would
sketch a Ukeness of that venerable man should represent in the
back-ground indigence reUeved, ignorance instructed, the enemies
of charity exposed and confounded, and the lightning of a celestial
inteUect beaming around, and consuming all that refuses, to be
illuminated !"
In the same month we find the zealous and energetic Bishop
convening a meeting at Maryborough, to pray for the repeal of the
Penal Laws. Meanwhile his correspondence with the influential
friends of the Catholic cause continued without interruption.

SYDNEY SMITH  MAJOR WARBURTON. 455
" Foston, York, 17th December, 1825.
" My dear Lord — Your statement is perfectly clear ; but how
could you for a moment suppose that I could think you deficient
in candom- ? Mammon has stepped in to part the Pope and the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who were clawing each other all over
Yorkshire. The question now is not concerning faith, but banks
and bankers. I am less shocked by the misfortunes of mankind
than incensed by thefr gross stupidity. One anti-Catholic meeting
provokes me more than the dissolution of six banks grieves me.
" I remain, my dear Lord, most truly yours,
" Sydney Smith."
Dr. Doyle had enjoyed by this time quite a European celebrity
and influence. We find Major Warbmton, in December, 1825,
apprizing the Bishop that as he is going to travel through the south
of France and to pass the Pyrenees, " a letter from such a distin
guished person as you might be of the greatest service to me, my
journey being entfrely for the purpose of seeing everything that is
worthy of being seen. If you will have the goodness to give me a
letter of that description, please to enclose it to the Earl of Eosse."
The Major expresses his fears that " the measures the E. Catho
lics are pursuing are ill calculated to concUiate the people of
England — by threats and abuse it wiU be no easy matter to eradi
cate prejudices, however unjust, that have been long cherished.
It is easy to lead John Bull, but almost impossible to drive him."
This apothegm, though often uttered, is not always true. The
Duke of WelUngton, in reluctantly conceding Emancipation, con
fessed that it was not to the justice of the claim he succumbed,
but to his fears of ciril war.

CHAPTEE XX.
A dry rejoinder — The secret organization — Dr. Doyle's visit to the collieries —
Striking effect produced — Description of his style of preaching — Dr.
Clancy — Dr, Doyle's Pastoral on the Jubilee signed by thirty Prelates —
His new work on the Catholic Claims addressed to the Premier — Extracts
from that work — The memory of Pitt — Sydney Smith on Dr, Doyle —
Correspondence with the Marquis of Lansdowne— What Dr, Doyle said
at the Synod — The Declaration signed by every Prelate in Ireland — Cor-
res()ondence with Sydney Smith and Miss [  ] — Dr, Esmonde's recol
lections of Dr, Doyle  Removal from Old Derrig to Braganza — Addiess
and piece of plate presented to Dr. Doyle.
TfiB condition of the country having led the late Duke of Wel
Ungton into a somewhat ,homUetic address to the " collective
wisdom," a spiritual Peer ventured to ask when he would have
done preaching. " Whenever I am made a Bishop," was the dry
rejoinder. This retort, if appUed to Bishops of the J. K. L. stamp.

456 VISIT to the collieries.
would lose its sting. With untiring zeal he continued to preach
repentance to the wicked, eternal death to the frreclaimable, obe
dience to the constituted authorities, and hope to the oppressed.
To every locahty which had exhibited symptoms of secret and iUe
gal organization the Bishop made a special visitation, summoned
the people to the parish chapel, and there addressed them in terms
of thrilUng eloquence and force. If he had reason to beUeve that
any portion of the secret confederacy shrunk from approaching the
house of God, and moodily remained in the more congenial recesses
of the collieries. Dr. Doyle would risit these localities in person,
and pour forth an irresistible torrent of apostolic expostulation and
warning. The Parish Priest of BallinakiU, in a letter to the
author, observes : "I have often said that Dr. Doyle would be yet
Uving but for his herculean labours to remove what he caUed the
' plague-spots' of Ireland — drunkenness and iUegal societies. Un
happily for him, those emanations from ' the pit,' known as 'Black'
and '"Whitefeet,' afforded too large a field for his ardent spfrit. In
endeavouring to crash them, and to raise his prostrate country to
her legitimate position, his health and spirits were at last broken.
No one who has not witnessed his toils, and heard his addresses
to those infatuated -wretches, can form an adequate idea of what he
endured. I have Ustened to him, on several occasions, when hun
dreds — aye, thousands of those men stood before him, suUen and
unmoved as a basalt, fixed in their purpose ; and the scathing
denunciations, the burning eloquence that flowed from him Uke a
torrent of lava, blasted their resolves, and dissolved them into
tears." Dr. Doyle regarded popular ignorance as the source of almost
aU their crimes, and he constantly inculcated the necessity of early
culture, spiritual and general.
One who knew Dr. Doyle well, the Eev. Dr. Donovan,sdomestio
Prelate to the late Pope, writing to the author from America,
says : " As a preacher, his forte lay not in written discourse
but in extempore exhortation, for which he prepared by short pre
vious reflection, and in which he poured out his ovm great soul in
a flood of, I had almost said, Dirine eloquence. In his most
elaborate extempore effusions he was never at a loss for a word or
an idea; he never 'hemmed' or 'hawed' — was copious, impas
sioned, inteUectual, and imaginative, without redundancy ; used
very little action of limb or body, notwithstanding which he was
most energetic by look and voice, the verts voces ab impectore
flowing sometimes like the rapids, sometimes Uke the falls of the
great Niagara, which I have just risited — always powerful, often
BubUme !"
When we call to mind that Cicero has said that action was not

BISHOP Clancy's description of dr. doyle. 457
only the chief ingredient, but almost the exclusive constituent of
exceUence in his mfraculous art, it cannot fail to excite our wonder
that Dr. Doyle, who disdainfuUy eschewed tbe external graces of
eloquence, should have left so transcendantly deep an impression
upon aU who heard him preach. For iUustrations of this fact, the
reader is requested to glance back at p. 418.
Dr. Doyle practised what he preached. The late Bishop
Clancy, who passed several years of his hfe under Dr. Doyle in
Carlow, has traly remarked : "His history is a glorious and fit
ting theme for some futm-e biographer ; and he who undertakes to
write it cannot faU, in seizing upon every point of his character,
to exhibit to future ages as perfect a combined model of Christian
perfection in private, and genuine patriotism in his pubUc ca
reer, as God, in his love to mankind, ever formed for the imitation
and admfration of the human race. His boundless charity in this
town and neighbom-hood is acknowledged by aU classes and
creeds. He visited the sick, consoled the afflicted, and was truly
the Pastor of souls who had no worldly or secondary views in the
ministiy of the Lord."
Dr. Doyle began the year 1826 weU. On the 22nd of January,
we find him preaching a most impressive sermon in DubUn, for
a female orphan house and school. He immediately afterwards
apphed his mind to the task of preparing " Pastoral Instructions
of the Archbishops and Bishops on the General Jubilee." This
pamphlet fiUs twenty-four pages. It is signed by aU the Prelates
of freland, and bears date, " 20th February, 1826." Dr. Doyle
in no part of this brochure avowed himseff the writer, but in the
curious trial of E. Coyne against E. Grace, for repubUshing it
without permission, the authorship transpired. Although the fact
of the personal property of the copyright from Dr. Doyle to Coyne
was deemed perfectly conclusive, yet, owing to the law of penalties
against CathoUcs not being then repealed, Coyne was non-suited
with costs. It also transpired on this occasion that Dr. Doyle
had written Pastorals in 1823 and 1825 on the JubUee.
Dr. Doyle commenced by saying, that the Bishops had lately
received a buU from Leo XIL, extending to the whole Church
the benefits of the Jubilee which had just been celebrated in the
capital of the Christian world. " We wUl not describe to you
^^^ joy," he wrote, " which fiUed our hearts on contemplating
the approach of this period of mercy and reconcUiation with God.
• • . . Hastening to give effect to the zeal and sohcitude of
the Supreme Pastor, we announce to you in his name this gracious
dispensation, and by his authority we proclaim the commencement
of the general JubUee, to be continued for six months from tiie
present day."

458 PASTOE.AL ON THE JUBILEE.
Dr. Doyle went on to say, that the Jubilee published by Moses
to the chUdren of Israel, whereby the chains of the captive were
loosed and the lost inheritance restored, was only a shadow in
comparison -with that which opened the prisons of death, looses
the bonds of iniquity, and restores the children of Christ, whom
He had redeemed, to the inheritance forfeited by sin. The
JubUee, he explained, signifies the remission of the temporal
punishmeiit which remains due by the sinner after tbe guUt of
his sin is forgiven. The Church, to whose chief Pastors Christ
confided the power of binding and loosing forgives to the penitent
sinner, on certain prescribed conditions, whatever of temporal
punishment the Divine justice would exact of him for the perfect
expiation of his sin, even after the guilt of such sin had been
wiped away. Moses had obtained forgiveness of his incredulity,
but yet on account of that sin, though the offence had been par
doned, he was not permitted to enter the promised land. Nathan
declared to Darid that tbe Lord had taken away his sin, but that
for his punishment He would afflict him with grievous calamities.
It had been objected against the Catholic Church, that if
Christ by His sufferings and death atoned for our transgressions,
any other penalty, if exacted of the sinner after receiving pardon,
would derogate from the merit of tbat atonement — but Dr. Doyle
showed that by His death He imposed on us an indispensable obU
gation of carrying the cross after Him— of sharing in His sufferings
if we vrished to become partakers of His joys — of chastising our
bodies and keeping them in subjection to the spirit, lest, though
redeemed, we should be found reprobate. It is of those for whom
He died it is written : " If you Uve according to the flesh, you
shaU die ; but if by the spirit you wiU mortify the deeds of the
flesh, you shall live." {Rom. rii. 13.)
A most elaborate exposition of the doctrine of indulgences
foUowed ; and it appeared that a clause was specially inserted by
the Popes in all such grants — i.e. "if any [money] shaU be given for
gaining the pri-vUege of this indulgence, let it be henceforth null
and void." Dr. Doyle said that if abuses should at a remote
period have crept into this great dispensation, our reverence for it
ought not, on that account, to be diminished. We should remember
with TertulUan that it is only what is good that can be abused, and
what is sacred profaned. He thus continued : "Let the inveterate
sinner, who for years has been immersed in crime, only approach
him in the spirit of penance — let the Ubertine, enslaved to rice
and drunk with iniquity, only draw nigh to Him in the same spirit,
and they wiU experience the truth of His word — that ' If their sins
were as red as scarlet. He will make them as white as snow — ff as
red as crimson, they will become as white as wool.' Like the good

NEW WORK BY DR. DOYLE. 459
thief upon the cross, or Magdalen in the house of the pubUcan,
they may, in a moment of mercy, be reconcUed. Bnt if, on the
other hand, they continue hostUe to their own souls — if they reject
the graces so UberaUy proffered to them — if they harden their
hearts, and ti-easure up for themselves wrath against the day of
wrath — then let them await the final issue of their impenitence,
and experience, how 'terrible it is to fall into the hands of tbe
Uving God.' "
In February, 1826, was pubUshed the first of Dr. Doyle's poli
tical writings which avowed the author's name upon the title. It
was an "Essay on the Catholic Claims," addressed to the Premier,
Lord Liverpool. This title fails to convey an accurate idea of the
contents and scope of the work. It was not a pamphlet, but a
portiy volume, occupying upwards of three hundred pages, and
comprising twenty sections, with copious notes and appendices.
Each section had its table of contents prefixed ; and one is at
a loss whether to admfre most the vigour with which the Bishop
grasps the multffarious range of topics before him, or the perspi
cuity and artistic skiU of thefr general arrangement. •
Dr. Doyle commenced by saying that he addi-essed Lord
Liverpool with a feehng of reluctance arising from many causes.
The Premier had manifested a disincUnation to a renewed consi
deration ofthe Catholic Claims; the author was " incompetent "
to treat the subject in a manner worthy of its importance, and
would be exposed to censures and rebukes — these and other causes
weakened the energies he should other-wise bring to the discussion
of great interests. Nevertheless, he deemed it adrisable that some
individual of the CathoUc body should apply himself to the ex
amination and refutal of these arguments, which were stUl urged
with some degree of plausibUity against the King's devoted Lish
subjects. These arguments were somewhat different fr-om what
they used to have been ; they partook more then than formerly
of a theological character; "and hence," he added, "whoever
attempts to reply to them, requires a mOre extensive acquaintance
-with .ecclesiastical matters, than those who conduct our political
interests can be supposed to possess." Dr. Doyle considered
Lord Liverpool, besides being the most influential, the most able
and apparently the most upright of those Virho opposed the Catholic
Claims. Dr. Doyle reminded the Premier that- when the mind is
m doubt and the judgment vacillating, human considerations may
mcline the most virtuous to one side rather than another ; that in
such a state the ablest men may overlook some arguments which
are offered to thefr former habits of thought, and dweU upon others
less weighty and conclusive, but which are more congenial to
then- interests or feelings.

460 " ESSAY ON THE CATHOLIC CLAIMS,"
Previous to attempting this important task. Dr. Doyle carefully
examined the pages of the parliamentary debates, and the nume
rous influential journals which opposed the Cathohc Claims ; and
haring gathered together the most plausible of the various floating
calumnies on the adverse side, he proceeded, one by one, to
analyze thefr- component parts, and to cast out the poison which
had long made them deadly.
Among the many slanders on the Catholic reUgion which the
opponents of its ciril and religious Uberty loved to breathe, there
was none more frequently sounded than the allegation, that if
Emancipation were granted, the Pope, forgetting "that his King
dom was not of this world," would at once exercise a temporal
power in this realm, and seriously endanger the stabiUty of the
throne ! Dr. Doyle argued that the Pope has no power to inter
fere, directly or indfrectly, with the rights of our Sovereign, whether
from the Word of God, or from any decrees or canons of Councils
which either are or can be rendered obligatory upon Catholics.
The theological hostility of Archbishop Magee was ably refuted
by Dr? Doyle. " By such reasoning,',' he went on to say, " does
this Prelate prove that the extermination of heretics and the abso
lution of subjects from their aUegiance, is a tenet of our recorded
system of faith. My Lord, it is extremely difficult to reason with
a man profoundly ignorant of the subject in debate, and it is still
more difficult to convince a man whose judgment is shrouded in
passion. It is not for such persons I write, but for your Lordship,
who can weigh arguments dispassionately."
In the concluding section of the book he brought the haughty
Archbishop once more under mercUess review. Divines are sup
posed to know that a Church censure includes suspension from
orders, from jurisdiction, from a benefice, severally or together,
as weU as excommunication in aU its grades and consequences,
" Were one of my youngest pupils in theology," writes Dr. Doyle,
" to confound a Church censure with an admonition or reprimand,
or to tell me that a Clergyman could be stript of his orders, I
should deem him unfit to exercise any office or order in the
Church. Yet, my Lord, men ignorant of these matters with
which their office and duty should make them constantly con
versant, are deemed competent to give opinions on the Catholic
reUgion and Church ; they are prepared to caU obscure what is
scarcely unknown to any one, and to cover with reproaches what
they dishke, but do not understand. In the sincerity of my heart
I assure you, that I do not make these reflections in a spfrit of un-
charitableness or iU-vriU, but for the purpose of impressing upon
your mind the danger of beiug imposed upon by misrepresen
tation, whether proceeding from ignorance or whatsoever cause.

ADDRESSED TO THE PREMIER. 461
and of inducing you when judging of our doctrine, to obtain
information from those who are competent to give it, and on
whom your Lordship may vrith safety rely."
The Bishop devoted a large share of space to the rather humi
liating task of refuting in detail the favourite taunt, which accused
the CathoUc Church of holding certain anti-social doctrines, espe
cially with teaching that engagements entered into with heretics
might be disregarded, even though conflrmed with an oath. Having
quoted the canons and buUs of the Church on this question. Dr.
Doyle proceeded : " By this it would appear that no cause, how
ever dear or sacred — nOt the preservation of one's own life, nor of
the hfe of any other person, nor the good of the Church, nor of
the faith — in a word, that no cause or motive whatever can, in the
opinion of those who sanctioned that bull, excuse a man for com
mitting pequry or riolating his oath. This charge is indeed so
heinous, that I never read even an indfrect aUusion to it without
feehng my indignation moved ; and when forced to disclaim it, on
taking the oath of aUegiance prescribed to be taken by Catholics,
the blood receded from my heart. To assuage the workings of an
honourable mind, thus humbled and almost disgi-aced, it is neces
sary to seek support in the promise of the Eedeemer — ' Blessed
are ye when men rerile you, and say all manner of evU of you' —
for -truly, the Christian man who is deemed capable of viola
ting his engagement with his feUow-man, when, moreover, that
engagement is sanctioned by an oath — the Christian who is
thought capable of supposing that his Church can be served by
fraud and peijury, is either worse than the savage who traffics in
human blood, or ' he is reriled, and all manner of eril is said of
him.' "
In the foUowing remarks, which concluded some references to
certain ambiguous and obsolete canons, we find that Dr. Doyle
diplomaticaUy knew how to engage the attention, and enUst the
sympathies of the high statesman who guided the helm of Great
Britain : " From this sketch of our doctrinal and legal economy,
if I may so style it, two things must be quite obrious to your
Lordship — first, that it would be as unreasonable to expect the
same simphcity in our laws as might be found in those of a
Church of one or two centuries, and confined to some one nation,
as it would be to look for the same number of statutes in the new
state of Columbia as are to be found in the code of Great Britain ;
and that it would be equaUy unvrise — a similar proof of presump
tion and ignorance, for a man to charge the whole system of the
British laws and constitution with inconsistency or absurdity, be
cause thefr nature and meaning were unknovm to him, as it would
be to pronounce the creed and discipUne of the CathoUc Church

462 ARGUMENTS AND EXPOSTULATIONS.
monstrous, because it happened not to be understood by him;
The harmony, the beauty, the excellence of the constitution and
laws of England are always appreciated and prized in proportion as
they are known and understood, whUst thefr antiquity contributes
to render them venerable and secure ; so, my Lord, the order, the
harmony, the consistency of our doctrine and of our ecclesiastical
government have been, for similar reasons, approved and appre
ciated at aU times by the wise and learned of all sects and coun
tries. To these qualities, so eminently conspicuous in our Church,
her continuance and preservation amidst the wreck of states and
nations have been attributed by the most learned of her adver
saries, whilst we assign them to that aU-ruling Proridence which,
in rirtue of the Eedeemer's promise, watches over her with a
peculiar and unceasing care. The second thing which appears
from what I have noticed is, that if any one vrish to learn our doc
trine and discipline, the laws and usages which prevail universaUy
amongst us, or which are confined to any one nation or prorince,
he must have recourse for such information to the authentic records
of our faith, and to the code of our existing laws ; and should he
be unable to satisfy himseff by the inspection or perusal of these,
he must, as in all analogous cases, apply to men who, by their
profession and station in the Church, are competent and even
obliged to furnish it. But if he wish to be deceived, ff he be
inolined to have his former prejudices and prepossessions con
firmed, if he be anxious to justify his inveterate and unchangeable
hostiUty to the Catholic reUgion and to whatever appertains to it,
then let him read the productions of her artful, designing, and
interested foes ; let him collect together the effusions of religious
spleen, the ebullitions of heated feeling, the bitter fruits of wounded
pride, the researches of reckless apostacy, or the paltry essays of
pretended knowledge."
No wonder that Dr. Doyle should have felt disgusted and humi
liated when compelled to refute, sentence after sentence, the rile
calumnies with which the fair fame of his religion had been beset :
" Oh, my Lord !" he exclaimed, " it is infinitely painful to be
obliged to rindicate one's character, or the character of their reU
gion, still more dear to them than their own, from 'the aspersions
of ignorance, bigotry, or malice. This is the pain which I feel at
the present moment, when my memory traces over the forniial
foUy, the self-conceited ignorance, or the stupid maUgnity with
which a disregard for oaths, and a relaxed morality have been im
puted to our Church. These are strong expressions, but indigna
tion, when justly excited, is a virtue much to be prized ; it is like
that zeal in the Eedeemer which caused him to address the Phari
sees, saying, 'Ye hypocrites;' and again, 'ye hypocrites;' and

FORCE AND FORESIGHT — WM. PITT. 463
a third time, ' ye hypocrites' — ' whitewashed walls and painted
charnel-houses, beautiful on the outside, but within fiUed with
rottenness and corruption.' The woman who daUies with the
seducer is his accompUce, and proclaims her own guUt : it is so
with him who is passive under heinous imputations."
But the Bishop was not yet done. The offensive charge, that
CathoUcs may be freed by some dispensation from lawful engage
ments even though confirmed with an oath, had still to be dis
posed of, in reply to Lord Eldon and the Prelates, Bloomfield and
Magee. Among many other questions considered by Dr. Doyle
was, whether the elevation of Catholics in the scale of society
would produce a greater clashing of interests than then existed.
" To this speculative opinion," he said, " there is opposed a well-
known experiment — one daily made in Ireland, and with which
yom- Lordship, even in England, may not be unacquainted —
namely, that in proportion as Catholics and Protestants approach
to each other in rank, in property, and in social intercourse, anti
pathies recede, prejudices are removed, mutual confidence and
harmony are estabUshed."
Some of his appeals to the minister are fine. " Continue
then the Penal Code, preserve a factitious ascendancy, divide the
people, inculcate distrust, and you must produce coUision — nay,
conflicts and riolence. But remove the cause of contention ; let
talents and property take the station which nature assigned to
them ; let aU the people be educated, equally cherished and pro
tected; let mutual intercourse be not forbidden, but promoted —
reason herseff and experience are both false guides, or you vrill
diminish if not entirely remove all clashing of interests among
the Irish." Dr. Doyle reminded Lord Liverpool of the significant
fact, that when the Government thought fit, in 1793, to open to
CathoUcs the command of British fleets and armies, aU suspicion
of infideUty had been ostensibly laid aside. He rerived, amid a
blaze of Ught, the memory of WiUiam Pitt, who had bestowed
upon the question of Emancipation aU the powers of his mind, and
retained until his last moments the most anxious desire for its
accomj)Ushment. "He must have foreseen its beaiings," he wrote,
upon aU the institutions of the country ; and he who risked the very
existence of those institutions, in order to preserve them unim
paired, would never have determined on a Une of poUcy which did
not, of its o-wn nature, perfectly harmonize vrith every interest ex
isting in the State. To his mind the emancipation of the Catholics
appeai-ed, as it did to those of Fox and Grattan, an act of sound
and comprehending policy^ an act which brought all its securities
with itself, because it merged a people in the empire, and oblite
rated, by its very fulfllment, every trace of disaffection, separation.

464 THE MINISTER MENACED. •
and disunion. Mr. Pitt might, as he once did by consulting the
Catholic universities, create some tub for the whale of prejudice to
knash its teeth against; but he would smUe at »the narrow-
mindedness of the man who could seriously seek security for the
good behaviour of a nation at the moment it was rendered free and
powerful, and capable of becoming rich and happy. But Pitt left
after him Uttle minds which he used for his purposes whilst liring,
and they who then were not worthy to loose the latchets of his
shoes have since laboured to blight his fame, and erase the flnest
record which he had left of his poUcy. His reputation, however,
lives, and his spirit, walking amidst the British people, accom
panied and foUowed by a train of sages such as no other age or
nation but our own can present, -will awake their minds to a sense
of justice, of pubUc interest, and of vfrtue ; it vriU teach them that
' it is more blessed to give than to receive,' and that by restoring
to us our long-lost inheritance, they wiU at length fulfll a treaty too
long riolated ; they will renovate the constitution, augment their
own power, promote and extend their trade and commerce ; but,
above all, secure their empire from intestine wars, and render it
invulnerable to foreign aggression."
J.K.L. tried every engine of persuasion — even menace — on
the British minister. Concluding his remarks on the importance
of Catholic Emancipation, he added : " It is impossible that an
enlightened statesman would not prefer such a mode of proceeding
to the alternative of retaining indefinitely a whole nation in a state
of discontent and misery ; holding Ireland as a garrison peopled
with enemies ; always standing, as it were, upon the surface of a
mine, wherein the combustible matter is daily accumulating, and
which every moment is liable to explode."
Men whose judgments had not become completely warped
generaUy felt, as soon as this important work had attained cfrcula
tion, that it was moraUy impossible the CathoUcs of this empire
could remain much longer in the unprofitable attitude of supplica
tion. The Earl of Darnley, in the House of Lords, struck by the
force and truthfulness of Dr. Doyle's statements, impassionately
called on the noble Lord at the head of the Government to mark,
study, and inwardly digest the great facts which J.K.L. had so
lucidly laid down.
In the Eev. Sydney Smith Dr. Doyle found an able ally. He
reviewed the Bishop's book in The Edinburgh Review, and dash
ingly foUowed up the favourable impression which it had made.
Pope and Popery had long been a mysterious but terrible bugbear
to statesmen of the Bathurst and Eldon tribe, and Sydney Smith
essayed, in his own quaint style, to show how iUusory were
their fears. "Let that eminent Protestant," he wrote, "Lord

SYDNEY SMITH ON DR. DOYLE. 465
Bathurst, state any one instance where, for the last century, the
Pope has interfered with the temporal concerns of Great Britain.
We can mention, and his Lordship will remember innumerable
instances where he might have done so, if such were the modern
habff and pohcy of the Court of Eome. We doubt if there is in
the freasury of the Pope change for a guinea ; we are sure there
is not in his armoury one gun that would go off. We believe, if
he attempted to bless anybody whom Dr. Doyle cursed, or to
curse anybody whom Dr. Doyle blessed, that his blessings and
his curses would be as impotent as his artiUery. Dr. Doyle is the
Pope of Ireland — and the ablest ecclesiastic of that country wUl
always be its Pope ; and that Lord Bathurst ought to know!"
Sydney Smith was an intense admirer of aU Dr. Doyle's
writuigs ; and when we know that as a critic he was most fasti
dious, this tribute of approbation is to be valued. " Sydney Smith
praised my Byron," records Moore in his Diary — " the first book
of mme, or indeed of any one else's, I ever heard him give a good
word to."
" I chiefly intended my 'Essay on the CathoUc Claims,' " said
Dr. Doyle, in conversation vrith a friend, "as a supplement to my
' Eridence in the Houses of Lords and Commons.' In that book
wiU be found a chain of authorities and iUustrations in support of
the statements advanced in the eridence. I also embodied some
good points which I had not leisure or opportunity to offer before
Qie parliamentary Committees."
Dr. Doyle distributed several copies of this valuable essay
-among his influential friends. The latter part of the foUowing
letter from the Marquis of Lansdowne gracefuUy acknowledges
the book, whUe the remainder helps to show the untiring charity
with which Dr. Doyle exerted his influence in high quarters,
whenever he considered "the case" one of pecuhar distress or
injustice : " Bowood, 8th October, 1826.
" . , , , I have received your letter vrith the memorial
enclosed, and assure you that it would give me the greatest plea
sure to forward your wishes -with respect to the unfortunate man
whose case it states, I shaU therefore write to the Chairman of
the Board of Excise, and express a hope that its merits may be
fairly mvestigated ; but it is right I should add, that I have no
personal acquaintance with him, or, to the best of my knowledge,
with any other member of that board. And you are probably
aware, that I do not consider my poUtical position as entitUng me
to ask favours from any department of the Govemment,
''I must take this opportunity of returning you my sincere
thanks for a copy of the Letter to Lord Liverpool, which I re-
30

466 WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS,
ceived some time since. I had hoped I might have been suffi
ciently near to you, during a long joumey through Ireland this
summer, to have offered them to you in person ; but I am sure it
is unnecessary for me to add how deeply I feel the importance of
the subject, and the authority which your name gives to the valu
able explanations, which the work affords, of points not sufficiently
understood.— I remain, &c., ,< Lansdowne."
The Bishop's charitable exertion of influence was not ad
dressed exclusively to the Marquis of Lansdowne. The late
Lord Congleton writes : "I enclose a note I received from Lord
George Seymour, a Commissioner of Excise, concerning Mr.
Duane's memorial." Lord George Seymour says : " You will
see by tbe enclosed that I have not neglected your commission."
A long letter from the late A. Campbell, Esq., addressed to Lord
George, communicates some favourable inteUigence. Thus we
see the wheels within wheels which Dr. Doyle had so efficiently
set in motion.
In January, 1826, a synodical meeting of the .Catholic Bishops
was held in DubUn, with a view to deliberate on the subject of
education for the people. Dr. Doyle availed himself of the pre
sence of his episcopal brethren on this occasion, to impress upon
them the necessity of all unanimously affixing their signatures and
seals to some public abjuration of various strange practices and
doctrines, which the enemies of the Catholic Church loved to
brand it with entertaining. "For," said Dr. Doyle, "whenever
I give a contradiction to these calumnies, Dr. Magee and Bloom
field reply, ' This is the opinion of a mere indiridual Bishop, and
far from conveys the views of the E. C. Prelates as a body.'
Your Lordships wiU, therefore, have the goodness to glance over
this document which I have drawn up, and no doubt you wUl,
¦without a dissentient, subscribe to its contents, ' that he who is
on the contrary part may be afraid, having no evil to say of
us.' " {Tit. U. 8.)
The Prelates felt the force of Dr. Doyle's remark, and the
signatures of thirty Archbishops and Bishops were forthwith affixed
to the memorable Declaration of 1826. "At a time," it declared,
"when the spfrit of calm inqufry is abroad, and men seem anxious
to resign those prejudices through which they riewed the doctrines
of others, the Archbishops and Bishops of the E. C. Church in
Ireland avaU themselves with pleasure of this dispassionate tone
of the public mind, to exhibit a simple and correct view of those
tenets that are most frequently misrepresented. If it pleases the
Almighty that the Catholics of Ireland should be doomed to con
tinue in the humbled and degraded condition in which they are

LETTER FROM SYDNEY SMITH. 467
now placed, they wiU^ submit with resignation to the Divine will.
The Prelates, however, conceive it a duty which they owe to
themselves, as weU as to their Protestant feUow-subjects, whose
good opinion they value, to endeavour to remove the false impu
tations that have been frequently cast upon the faith and discipUne
of that Church which is enti-usted to their care, that all may be
enabled to know, with accuracy, the genuine principles of those
men who are proscribed by law from any participation in the
honours, dignities, and emoluments of the State."
This important document consisted of fourteen solemn decla
rations which, happily, the increasing intelligence and UberaUty of
the age render it unnecessary now to reproduce. It may be found
in the Appendix to Dr. Doyle's " Essay on the CathoUc Claims."
Of the thfrty Prelates who subscribed the Declaration, three only
surrive — riz., Drs. MacHale, Eyan, and M'Gettigan.
We find among Dr. Doyle's letters of this period a letter from
Sydney Smith, dated Foston, York, 6th March, 1826 :
" My dear Lord — I have read your book, haring received it
from a fi-iend of mine in London in a treasury frank. Tbe copy
which you were so good as to say you would send to my brother
has not reached its destination. Yom- book is fuU of learning,
and shows that sense and talent which characterize all you write.
My fear is, that it is too long for idle readers, and that it vriU
fumish infinite matter for dispute to our Protestant polemics."
Sydney Smith offered several suggestions or emendations for a
future edition of the Declaration of the CathoUc Bishops, which
had been -written -with a riew to the removal of misconception on
points of CathoUc doctrine, and thus concluded: " These are my
shght criticisms ; and now I congratulate you upon the Decla
ration, as a most valuable and important document ; and again
and again I conjure you to publish it yearly — and, pray, lay it, in
the shape of petition, on the tables of both Houses, and send it to
the English Bishops. If you happen to have seen my pamphlet,
pray, teU me ff I have made any blunders."
The ostensible object, however, of the synodical meeting in
January, 1826, was to deUberate on the dangers to which the
faith of the CathoUc peasantry was exposed by the then prevalent
system of education, and to make such regiUations as would effec
tuaUy guard against risk. The Bishops passed a series of resolu
tions, of which the sixth declared, that " Appointed as they have
been by dirine Proridence to watch over and preserve the deposit of
CathoUc faith in Ireland, and responsible to God for the souls of
thefr flocks, they wUl, in their respective diocesses, withhold their
concurrence from any system of education which will not fuUy ac
cord with the principles expressed in the foregoing resolutions."

468 letter TO A NUN.
MeanwhUe his strongly spiritual character continued to be
displayed in the correspondence which he kept up unceasingly
with his fair and favoured friends : " Old Derrig, Ist May, 1826,
"My Dear Child— I this day had the pleasure of receiring
your letter. I feel very much the sentiments of kindness towards
myself which you express, and I wish you could see how truly I
have done you no serrice beyond the mere discharge of my ordi
nary duty, and that you need not by any means consider yourseff
as indebted to me, nor at all likely to be deprived of any serrice
which in future it may be in my power to render you.
" A letter would not enable me to dweU at length on any one
of the subjects which you mention as giring you uneasiness. I
can, therefore, only endeavour to give you some short reflection
on each, to which you can in future resort, as to a kind of rule
for the regulation of your mind.
"With regard to reflections upon your past life, you should
turn from them as from something which God had hidden in the
abyss of His mercy, and which you are not permitted to explore.
Be satisfied to consider that you were a sinner, and that the
mercy of God and the glory of Christ wiU be exalted by the pardon
granted to you, for such is the power of God — a power pecuUar to
Him — that he can bring good out of eril. Be not soUcitous about
the morrow — to-morrow wUl be soUcitous for itself, and sufficient
for the day is the eril thereof. Whenever distraction from abroad
or temptation comes, know that grace wiU come before it, and if
you eiT, as in the case you mention, go and confess it to God
before the altar, and He who is your Father wiU forgive you, not
only seven times, but seventy times seven. When you have done
this, go and consult the Superioress, and make any reparation or
do any penance she may adrise ; then go to communion, not per
mitting yourseff to think more of it, being assured that the
Almighty has removed your sin, according as he says by the
prophet Jeremiah, ' Be converted to me, and I wiU be converted
to you.' " In preparing for prayer, recite attentively the invocation of
the Holy Ghost, and in about a minute -you can place .yourself in
the presence of God ; make a short act of adoration, and proceed
vrith your meditation, not being anxious about the degree of atten*
tion you bring to it, for anxiety distracts ; leave aU examination
for the time allotted to examination. You wUl do better by con
forming to my directions in the examination of your conscience
for confession, than by scrutinizing each of your actions. What
excites your apprehensions are small faults, which you need not
know ; but considering them generaUy, you will do better to in-

DR. esmonde's sketch OF J.K.L. 469
dulge feelings of compunction and love of God, than in searching
your conduct. God is a much better companion for the soul than
her own faults, and a ray of His charity effaces more sin than a
thousand examinations. Do not be wishing either to be exempt
from or to meet with crosses. Be disposed to live with them or
without them as it may please God. Be not proposing anything
to yourself to render yourself better, but to be exact and faithful
in detachment fi-om all persons and things, to be obedient, chaste,
and dUigent in aU the 'duties of your rule^these will render you
as perfect as God intends you to be ; but yom- own projects would
set you astray as on an ocean. Once a fortnight, unless when a
great festival intervenes, would be enough for you to receive the
sacrament of .penance, or even less frequently if your confessor
were so inchned. — BeUeve me, &c., " * J Doyle "
Dr. Doyle had a high opinion of the "Very Eev. Dr. Esmonde,
S. J., who used fi-equently to spend a week with him at Old
Derrig. Dr. Esmonde informs us that the Bishop "always wrote
by night, and continued writing as long as the gas continued
burning — i.e., as long as tbe flame of inspiration blazed. His
appearance during this occupation was most unepiscopal. A
night-cap, secured to his head by a piece of tape, surmounted the
dome of thought; a Uttle tin saucepan of coffee reposed on the
hob, from which at intervals <he would take refreshing sips. No
doubt by sitting up at night, and never paying the sUghtest regard
to his health or comfort at any time, he graduaUy undermined
his constitution. Sometimes, when not in the cacoethes scribendi,
he would retire to rest at the same time as myself, for an hour
prerious to which Dr. Doyle, with night-cap on, would walk up
and do-wn the room teUing his beads, and reciting the Eosary and
Litany of the Blessed Vfrgin. 'I never feel comfortable on retiring
to rest,' he often remarked, 'unless I have said my beads.'"
Persons not of Dr. Doyle's Church may wish to know his
riews regarding the invocation of Saints. During his examination
in the House or Commons he was asked, "Do Eoman CathoUcs
pray to Saints? A, We address ourselves to the Saints, and
beg that they would pray to God for us ; but we do not pray to
them so as to ask of them any favour or grace, because we know
they have no power of -themselves to grant us such favour or
grace; and that there is only one Mediator between God and
men, the Man Christ Jesus. Q. In what sense do CathoUcs pray
to the Vfrgin Mary? A. In the same sense as they pray to
other Saints."
In the summer of 1826, Dr. Doyle made preparations for re
moval from Old Derrig to Braganza House, which had been pur-

470 A SILVER VASE FOR J.K.L.
chased for their Bishop by the Clergy of the diocess. Equally
divided emotions of pleasure and regret marked this change of
residence. If mingled feeUngs of joy and pride fUled the Carlow
people, an undisguised expression of sorrow pervaded the hearts and
faces of those who had long been daUy witnesses or recipients of
the Bishop's goodness in the neighbourhood of Old Derrig. The
sobs and shrieks of the poor were piteous; "the composure of
settled distress" among the less clamorous appUcants for bounty,
affecting. The good Bishop could vrith * difficulty tear himself
away from the miserable creatures to whom he had long been a
father and a friend ; and although Braganza House had been
purchased since the summer of 1825, we find that Dr. Doyle did
not finaUy remove to it until Michaelmas in the foUowing year.
To aU classes Dr. Doyle had endeared himself thoroughly.
Even the young pupils of Everton- Academy attested thefr admfra
tion and respect for the man, by clubbing together their littie
coffers of pocket-money, and purchasing a splendid sUver vase for
J. K. L. A deputation of youths, including Mr. Shine Lalor and
others, waited on the Bishop, and read an address, of which the
foUovring is an extract :
" They beg leave to assure your Lordship, that it is with feel
ings of sincere sorrow they are about to witness your departure.
These feelings, however, are mitigated by the recoUection of
the cause which deprives them of your society, as they have the
consolation to think that it is the affectionate regards of your
countrymen that inrite you to another and perhaps more suitable
residence. Your pubUc conduct, my Lord, has long since en
deared you to every weU-wisher of Ireland ; and whUe your writings
have removed many of the foul calumnies and falsehoods, which
prejudice alone could have affixed to our loyalty and religion, your
private rirtues have emitted their unsuUied lustre through the re
tirement that would fain conceal them."
A few words descriptive of the handsome silver tankard, which
the Everton schoolboys presented to Dr. Doyle, may not be out
of place. On one side is a Latin inscription, "highly eulogistic
of J. K. L., whUe on the other two shields supporting his
antlered crest are engraved, one displaying a missal and cross,
the other a mitre and hon guardant. The brim is richly carved
vrith a broad border of rine branches, leaves, and grape clusters.
The cover, inlaid, like the cup, -with gold, is surmounted with a
burnished mitre and cross, below which is a cfroular tissue of
oaken boughs. The ornamentation of the edge is amusingly
misceUaneous. Among other designs it consists of the imperial
crovm, Irish harp, rose, thistle, and shamrock, and wreaths of
golden laurel.

HE ADDRESSES THE BOYS AT EVERTON. 471
From Dr. Doyle's graceful reply we cull a few sentences :
" The mention you make of my exertions to protect our reli
gion and character from unmerited obloquy is, my dear young
fiiends, very acceptable to me — not because it expresses or impUes
praise, for praise to me is vain and useless ; but because it shows
that, even at this tender age, you are imbued with right notions of
what is of primary importance in the life of man. Haring
myself no inheritance but the Lord, and no kindred but His
people, it affords me, not pleasure, but delight to observe, whilst
I begin to descend to the grave, a new generation rising up about
me, in whom the pm-est sentiments of piety are united with that
love of country which should never be separated from a love of
God. May it be your lot, though it has not been mine, to serve
that God according to the dictates of your conscience, without
thereby incurring reproach or loss, and to see your country enjoy
those rights and hberties which your fathers are now struggling to
regain. Accept the sincere expression of my esteem and gratitude,
and be assured that though time and space may separate you from
me, I -wiU always pray to God that He who holds in His hands
the hearts of men may govern yours by His grace ; that He may
enrich you through Ufe vrith His choicest blessings, and unite us
aU hereafter in that eternal rest for which He made us — ' For
we are made for God, and our hearts are restless tiU they rest in
Him." '

CHAPTEE XXI.
Controversy between the present Bishop of Cashel and O'Connell — Dr. Doyle
interposes between the combatants — The interview with Dr, KinseUa —
Dr, Doyle's Letters under the signature of " B, E," — Remarkable circum
stance in connexion with their composition — Dr, Doyle and the blue
stocking — Letter to Eneas M'DonneU — Dr, Doyle on Transubstantiation — .
Pharisees and PubUcans — The effort to identify Rome with Babylon —
Points -and puns — Letter to his niece — Dr, Doyle goes to Birr -with a
view to reclaim the Rev, W. Crotty — Letter to Syrenus the Monk — The
Bishop's gift to his children — Letter from Sir H, Parnell — Plunket and
Blake — Letters to Blake, E. Hay, and the Bishop of Saldes — Another
pamphlet from the pen of Dr. Doyle — Letter to a kinswoman — Amusing
Letter from Rev, Dr, Wolff and reply — Strange scene between Dr,
Doyle and the Primate at a Synod — Self-reliance of Dr, Doyle — Marked
contrast between him and the Catholic Bishop of tbe old school — Dr,
Pbilpotts,
Among the many Bibhcal controversiaUsts, whose zeal achieved for
them considerable notoriety in Ireland thirty years ago, and would
seem to have derived additional stimulus from the hope of church
preferment, the Eev. Eobert Daly, now Lord Bishop of Cashel,
occupied a prominent position. In ecclesiastical reading, ortho-

472 REMINISCENCE OP DR DOYLE
dox and heterodox, he was deeply versed ; his language, always
fluent, sometimes rose to eloquence ; and as a logician, though
inferior perhaps to his coUeague, Dr, Singer, who now occupies
the see of Meath, he had always a supply of ready retorts at hand,
which often discomfited, without defeating his adversaries. But
although the Eev, Eobert Daly constantly professed the utmost
love towards those whose reUgious opinions he perpetually ridi
culed, a contrary feeUng was painfuUy evidenced by the language
to which, in nearly every paragraph, he gave expression ; whUe
as a controversial opponent he was sadly deficient in that courtesy
which favorably characterized the Eev, Eichard Pope, Of this
the reader has afready seen an instance in a letter to Dr. Doyle.
Mr. Daly's denunciations of Popery having, in May, 1826,
attained a pitch of more than ordinary loudness and exasperation,
Mr. O'Connell ably replied to him in a public letter, which was
speedily answered by Mr. Daly. As the correspondence lengthened
new controversial topics sprung up, with a proportionate increase
of acrimony, until at last, on the 16th of May, the solemn subject
of Transubstantiation and the Eeal Presence were impugned, in
unmeasured terms, by Mr. Daly. Much curiosity existed to see
O'ConneU's reply, and a sUght feeling of disappointment was felt
by the CathoUc party, when a letter of merely six Unes appeared
from O'ConneU, stating, that if the Nisi Prius were over by the
foUowing Satmday, he would answer his opponent's arguments.
Dr. Doyle, with the newspaper in his hand, came into the
CoUege grounds, where he found the Eev. Messrs. KinseUa and
Maher. To the former Clergyman, who possessed considerable
power as a polemic, the Bishop would sometimes allude as " the
heavy artiUery." " We must not leave this controversy any
longer in the hands of O'ConneU," observed Dr. Doyle. " As a
constitutional lawyer and advocate he may stand unrivaUed, but
certainly he is no theologian ; and we cannot, vrithout culpabUity,
leave that faith of which we are the guardians to a member of the
bar to defend. WUham," he added, addressing Dr. KinseUa, "you
must answer Daly's letter before the next issue of The Even
ing Post." Dr. Kinsella shrugged his shoulders, and protested
that he could not possibly accomphsh it in the time, "Where
there's a wiU there's a way," said Dr, Doyle ; and he suggested
to Dr, KinseUa the various ecclesiastical authors in which the
main points required would be found, " Daly distortingly mis
interprets the text of St, John's Gospel," he added ; " but if you
open Natalis Alexander and Schoemaker, you wUl find that nearly
all the Fathers of the Church understood the text as referring to
the Blessed Eucharist," "WeU, my Lord," repUed Dr, Kinsella,
" now that I see my way, I shall go to work at once, and I trust

BY THE REV. JAMES MAHER. 473
I may be ready in time." " KinseUa is lazy," mused the Bishop,
as the Professor of Theology went on his way, " and I clearly
foresee he wiU never do it. Although there is a mass of labour
on my hands, which I must discharge before I go on my visitation
next week, I suppose I must answer Daly myself."
Dr. Doyle had just concluded, in the adjacent chapel, a very
long and impassioned exhortation ; and no wonder that those
who ascertained his intention of applying himself anew to mental
labour, instead of seeking repose, should have felt surprised.
The Bishop retfred to his room, and buried himself among his
tomes. At five o'clock, Mr. Maher went up and announced
dinner. " I am only now getting into the spirit of the task," said
Dr. Doyle, " and I won't go down until I have it finished. Send
me up one leg of chicken with a glass of water ; but in truth I
am Uttle disposed to eat." At eight o'clock Mr. Maher ventured
to apprize the Bishop that tea was ready. "I desfre to be alone,"
be repUed ; " an hour hence you may bring me a cup of whey —
nothing more." Late that night the curate reconnoitred Dr.
Doyle's room, and found that the Bishop was stUl employed —
"Midnight found him at his labour; morning saw his fingers run —
ToiUng ever, weary never of the task he had begun."
It proved more troublesome than had been anticipated. Dr.
Doyle'.s hand or mind never for a moment rested throughout that
long night. By six o'clock next moming, he had completed the
letter. He shaved and washed, dispatched it by the early post,
celebrated seven o'clock Mass, and went through the round of duty
for that day, vrith zeal as unflagging as though he had gone
refreshed and buoyant to his work.
It would have been regarded as a great triumph by the
BibUcals, had Dr. Doyle avowedly entered the Usts with Mr.
Daly ; but with a due regard to his own dignity, the Bishop ap-
¦ pended to the letter a signature -with which few would be apt to
connect J. K. L. The letter was signed " B."E.," and for some
time no one could surmise the meaning of the initials. Dr.
Doyle's reply appeared on Saturday, the 20th of May, and the
following Sunday and Monday found him pursuing his visitation
through the county Kildare. In the course of the joumey he
stopped to rest for an hour at Firmount, where a respectable
fanuly with whom he was intimate resided. As the Bishop
entered he found some fafr members of the house engaged in
criticizing his letter. One declared that the writer must have
been the Eev. Bartholomew Esmonde, while another indignantly
denied that that distinguished Jesuit could ever have penned it.
" On what grounds have you come to that conclusion," inquired

474 THE BISHOP AND THE BLUE-STOCKING."
Dr. Doyle. " Because," replied Miss B  , " Father Esmonde
would, I am sure, write it a great deal better." The lady, who
was rather a blue, then proceeded to condemn some portions of
the epistle while praising others, and offered to read it aloud for
Dr. Doyle, which she did accordingly. The Bishop humoured
the' joke, and affected to criticize very severely some of the ex
pressions used. At last, however, the truth oozed out. " But,
my Lord," said one of tbe fair critics, " how could you venture to
use Father Esmonde's name in a public document — for of course
the initials B. E., as a disguise for Bartholomew Esmonde, would
be generaUy regarded as no better than coquetry." "I suppose
you know who the patron Saint of Kildare is ?" observed Dr. Doyle.
" St. Bridget, of course," replied the ladies. "And perhaps you
may also be aware," continued the Prelate, " that Episcopus
signifies Bishop. The signature is merely J. K. L. in another
and less hackneyed form. But even apart from all this, you have
no right to jump at the conclusion that 'B. E.' could only indicate
my friend. Father Esmonde. The subject of the letter is the Holy
Sacrament, and why might not 'B- E.' iiiiply Blessed Eucharist?"
The judgment of the young ladies on the letter of "B. E."
was at variance vrith the views of the best ecclesiastical critics of
the day ; and it need hardly be added that the objection urged by
the former was based on some typographical errors, which, in
thefr eyes, made nonsense of several important paragraphs. To
these printers' blunders Dr. Doyle refers, at the close of the
foUowing letter to Mr. Eneas M'DonneU, who had just given
effective battle, in England, to some Biblical denunciators of
Eoman CathoUcism: " Carlow, 24th May, 1826.
" My dear Sir — I was honoured with your letter a few days
since, when learing home and exceedingly busy. I placed it in
the hands of Mr. Nolan, one of the Professors at Carlow CoUege,
quite an adept in the science you are so eminent in yourself (I am
perfectly serious), and who wUl forward, agreeably to your vrishes,
the necessary dfrections and references, with a fideUty which can
not fail to secure you against the cavils of your future foes. I
admire very much the manner in which you have got through the
present campaign, and no person in either country is more anxious
than I am for your success in the next.
" There is a letter in The D. E. Post of Saturday last on
Daly's calumny and blasphemy, which I think you would do well
to point out to my friend, Dr. Black [of The Morning Chronicle],
to whom I beg. you -wUl present my best compliments. Should he
insert it, pray correct the clerical errors of it, as the writer did not
see the proof-sheet, and the printer committed many blunders."

DR. Daly's lucubration handled. 473
Afewextiacts from the letter of "B.E." may not prove amiss.
It began by saying that Ireland was torn by religious dissension,
and when such men as Messrs. O'ConneU and Daly engage in con
troversial warfare, the victory, to whichever side it might incline,
must be purchased at the public expense. Both gentlemen agreed
in their interpretation of the text, " Blessed are the peacemakers ;"
and "B.E." hoped that one ambitious of that character might be
pardoned, if he endeavoured, by a few reflections, to induce them
to desist from war.
Mr. Daly had charged the Catholic Clergy -with hostility to
the Sacred Scriptures. "B.E." rephed, that it was no doubt true
they forbade thefr flocks to read the Protestant Testaments which
Mr. Daly and his coUeagues so freely distributed ; but the exercise
of this hostUity was in obedience to the discipUne or law of the
CathoUc Church. " It is not just," he added, "in Mr. Daly to
taunt Mr. O'Connell or any other CathoUc by saying, ' WiU you
suffer the Priest thus to domineer over you, or to regulate what
books you are to read ?' It is not the Priest who domineers or
regulates, but it is the law of the Church which prescribes what is
to be done, and the Priest executes, as far as becomes his office,
what the law enjoins ; in doing so, whether the law be a good one
or not, the Clergyman best observes the golden maxim, too much
neglected in other departmerits — non daminemur regidis sed regidce
lj,ominentur nobis ; and Mr. O'Connell or any other CathoUc, in
attending to his admonitions, submits, if submission it be, not to
the Priest, but to the law or discipUne of his Church."
Mr. Daly was the Eector of Powerscourt at this period. Of
his strictures on transubstantiation Dr. Doyle observed, that he
thought it not only irreverent, but exceedingly dangerous, to set
about investigating the mysteries of the Christian religion, by let
ters or speeches in a newspaper ; that, in the present instance, it
was done in a vulgar and virulent manner, and the perpetrator
should be made to feel, by men of sense, that in seeking to degrade
rehgion he had degraded himself. Everybody knew, that as many
books as would cover Powerscourt glebe, had been written by Ca
thohcs and Protestants, in support of their respective opinions as to
the frue meaning of the few words of our Eedeemer in instituting
the Eucharist. These disputes have produced an abundance of
erils, and wUl never be terminated by books or newspapers ; but
whenever such disputes are revived, it is quite obrious that they
should be conducted with decorum, with a due respect for the
peace and order of society, and a becoming deference for the feel
ings of the very respectable communities whom they interest. " To
speak of CathoUcs shutting up the Dirinity in a box," he added,
" reducing the Almighty to a state of helplessness, or carrying

476 the real presence.
Him from place to place — Him in whom aU things consist and
are — is to pander to the worst passions of an ignorant and bigoted
rabble. The man who acts thus is Uke an intoxicated scold who
brawls in the street, and abuses some respectable person who can
not possibly retort. Precisely in this manner the Pagans, in the
third and fourth centuries, insulted and reriled the Christians,
saying, ' Your God was shut up for nine months in the womb of
Mary. Your God fled from Herod, lest He should be kUled by
him-; He was hungry and thfrsty ; He said He would come to
judge us all, but He knew not the day nor the hour. The Eomans
put Him to death, and you say He Uves ; you think He can do
what He pleases ; let Him then save those who believe in Him
from the rack, or in the amphitheatre from the beasts.' Was there
candour or justice in these taunts — taunts employed to insult the
raost rirtuous, and to gratify the most Ucentious of men ? There
was precisely the same candour as in Mr. Daly's reflections about
the adoration paid by the CathoUcs to Christ in the Sacrament."
"B.E." then proceeded to enter upon a learned theological
vindication of the doctrine of the real presence. He observed,
that to inquire how the body of Christ can be present without
being seen or touched, or in many places at the same time,, is a
question which no person will pretend to answer, unless in the
Irish mode — namely, by asking another question — as, how can
there be three persons, each perfect God, and yet oiUy one God ?
or how could the Deity, in whom we Uve, move, and have our
being, be whole and entire in Christ ? how could it be in every
place, and beyond aU space and time, and yet be whole and entire
at Bethlehem or at Calvary ?
Mr. Daly branded Catholics with idolatry for reverently
bending thefr knees before the blessed Sacrament. Dr. Doyle ad
mitted, that if the Catholics gave true and real adoration to what
appears in the Eucharist, they would be idolaters certainly; but
they do not, as every person knows. They adore in the Eucharist
the same Deity which the Wise Men adored in Bethlehem, which
the Apostles adored in Bethania, and which every Christian beUev
ing in the divinity of Christ adores in every place. The Lutherans
believe the reaUty of Christ's bodily presence. Mr. Daly, it would
appear, did not beUeve it, " and few would quarrel with him,"
remarked Dr. Doyle, "if he only aUowed to others the Uberty
which he enjoys himself." Mr. Daly had charged Mr. O'ConneU
with being an idolater and a hypocrite. "When Mr. Daly adminis
ters the Eucharist," -wrote "B.E.," " he beUeves, if he be not a
hypocrite, that Christ is truly and reaUy present, or verily and in
deed given and received. If, then, Christ be in the sacrament.
He may lawfuUy be adored, and hence the communicant kneels —

.controversial cuts. 477
for, as St. Augustin says, 'no person should receive Christ in that
sacrament without first adoring Him.' "
Mr. Daly's misappUcations of Scripture roused the choler of
Dr. Doyle, and he warmly declai-ed, that he admired more the dis
cretion manifested by the old Eoman grenadiers in casting lots for
the cloak of Christ, instead of diriding it and rendering it useless
to aU, than the zeal of those who tear the Scriptures into patches,
with a riew to cover their own passions — an act which renders the
Holy Writings ineffectual for the purpose which the Almighty, in
giring them, intended they should serve.
The offer of mediation made by "B.E." to Messrs. O'Connell
and Daly was not attended to, and the strife between them becom
ing every hour more infuriate and disedifying. Dr. Doyle urged the
editor of The Evening Post to remove, by a weU-known speU, the
field on which the combatants were displaying their prowess, "and
thus," he added, "have all the merit of ending a fraitless conten
tion, and preventing the further growth of Ul-will."
Mr. Daly continued to bear down upon O'ConneU with aU tbe
resources of his extensive ecclesiastical reading ; and as the latter
knew much more of Coke and Blackstone than of Den or De La
Hogue, it may be supposed that Mr. Daly had occasionaUy the
advantage of his lay opponent. But Dr. Doyle was not slow in
detecting what would seem to have been disingenuous misapplica
tions and quotations, and these, in a second Letter, signed "B. E.,"
he felt it his duty to expose. Besides some hberties which were
taken with St. Augustin's name and text, he showed that a start
ling quotation from St. Jerome, advanced by Mr. Daly, was taken
from a spurious treatise, conclusively proved by the Benedictine
editors never to have been written by that Father. Mr. Daly had
also quoted, from Alberticus, a list of persons who differed from Mr.
O'ConneU in thefr intei-pretation of St. John's Gospel ; but Dr.
Doyle proved that Alberticus was a notorious falsifier of texts and
citations. Mr. Daly continued to upbraid CathoUcs vrith idolatry
for adoring the Sacrament of the altar. " Mr. Cobbett," wrote
" B. E.," " lately took an eminent statesman to school. I wish
heartUy that some CathoUc student, during his summer vacation,
took Mr. Daly to school. A few lessons in theology would spare
him some shame, and save some trouble to peacemakers as well as
to the pubUc. However, as Mr. Daly may now perceive that I
may be some perfectly orthodox Eomish Priest, and yet, in his
opmion, quite exempt from the charge of idolatry, let him, in the
name of that charity ' which hopes all, and suffers aU, and acts
not perversely,' extend a simUar exemption from idolatry to aU his
Catholic feUow-subjects ; for I pledge myseff there is not one of
them who wiU not say with me, that in the Sacrament of the

478 DEEDS NOT WORDS.
Eucharist he adores only Jesus Christ, and not what he sees or
touches." If O'ConneU were an idolater in this sense, " B. E." showed
that he was at least an idolater in good company ; and he advanced
for Mr. Daly's behoof an imposing list of references to the writings
of the most eminent Fathers of the Church. " To quote the
Words," he wrote, "in which these idolaters and numberless others
express their damnable impiety, would fill one of your longest
columns ; so I shaU only give you a specimen of it from Augustin,
that rank idolater whom Mr. Daly, if I mistake not, sometimes
caUs a Saint." The extract, which was a long one, concluded
-with — "Let not any one eat of that fiesh until he wiU have first
adored it, and it will be found how the footstool of the Lord can
be adored, and that not only we would not sin by adoring it, but
we would sin by not adoring it."
The second letter of " B. E." was an eloquent supplement to
his prerious essay, in vindication of the doctrine of Transubstanti
ation. The subject is too grand and solemn to be touched with
an epitomizing pen.
'The Ul-disguised acrimony of some of Mr. Daly's remarks con
trasted unpleasantly with the pious tone which pervaded others.
"Before I supply," wrote "B.E.," "briefly and calmly, a few
common answers to the common objections which Mr. Daly's last
letter obtrudes upon the public, it may be right to inform Mr.
Daly that a sanctimonious air but iU befits him ; that those who
speak much and loudly of their own zeal have not a zeal accord
ing to knowledge ; that ejaculations, and long risages, and fre
quently talking about Jesus, and grace, and not doing the works of
peace and mercy, forcibly reminds ordinary men of the Jevrish
Pharisees, who, St. Paul says, went about in bis time ' praying
long prayers and devouring the houses of widows.' When one
looks into the Gospel, or the writings of the most apostolic men,
nothing of cant presents itseff ; there is no yawning about grace
and Ught, nor any of those senseless self-gratulations and uncha
ritable censures with which modem sanctity abounds. For my
part, when I see a man or a woman, in manners or language,
depart from Christian modesty or moderation, affecting more than
ordinary virtue, and proclaiming by their phrases and attitudes
that they are not Uke other men (Uke that publican, for example,
who laughs and dances), I generally suspect them of hypocrisy, or
despise them as fools. A community of Wesleyan Methodists may
make -wry faces, and fashion the Lord of heaven and earth in forms
suited to thefr own heated fancy ; but a man who introduces ascetic
language and manners into society, unless he sustain them by apos
tolic — by extraordinary virtue — is a contemptible nuisance; he

the scarlet LADY— antichrist. 479
offends against good manners, detracts from the sanctity, the sim
phcity, and dignity of true reUgion, and often ends his career by
becoming a prey to his own passions."
Mr. Daly sought to identify Eome and the Pope with Babylon
and the Scarlet Lady. " It is reaUy lamentable," wrote "B.E.,"
" to see a man thus bereaved of common sense, as weU as un
acquainted with the history of theology for the latter centuries, and
yet capable of giring, and wiUing to give offence to a whole people.
If this man be a Eector, and have a parish and glebe, why seek to
deprive Gideon Ouseley of the little vineyard left to him by his an
cestors ? Gideon had proved most satisfactorUy that the Pope
was Antichrist ; and a very worthy opponent of his had, with not
less abihty, demonstrated that London was Babylon, and our
gracious Sovereign the very ' man of sin.' Now, Mr. Editor, was
it just or honourable for a third person to enter the lists, and
snatch the laurel, almost won, fi-om the brow of Gideon ? Verily,
Mr. Daly, as I once heard Lord Norbury say to a perjured wit
ness, ' you are a very respectable person, but you have done your
self no great credit to-day.' "
Mr. Daly assured Mr. O'Connell that the CathoUc Chm-ch,
cased in her infaUibUity, cannot reform her errors ; whilst the
Church of England could with the utmost ease do so, because
she is not bound to any creed or rule. "Ah !" exclaimed " B.E.,"
" how Uttie foresight and sagacity has this Mr. Daly, thus to bare
his side for an almost fatal blow."
The CathoUc Church, he showed, has unceasingly employed
her councils and learned congregations in reforming the morals of
her chUdren and her own discipUne, expounding matters of faith,
and casting out heresy ; always continuing the same, because aU
truth was taught by the Apostles ; receiring no increase or under
going no change ; " whUst," he added, " we see the church of Mr.
Daly tossed about by various winds of doctrine in successive reigns
of princes, and, as Mr. O'ConneU would say, always learning and
never coming to the knowledge of the truth ; delivered up at the
same time to the secular arm she has lost all power to reform, or
alter her own discipUne, to interfere authoritatively with the morals
of her chUdren, however corrupt they may become, or even to eject
from her own bosom the most extravagant sectary or the most
impious heretic. Alas ! Mr. Editor, whUst there are such men
as Mr. Daly, there wUl be no end to such retorts as these."
This controversy brought the Eev. Eobert Daly into consider
able notoriety. Although far from popular, he was popularly
known as " Bob Daly ;" and when, some years later, he became
a Bishop, there were ready-witted Irishmen to pronounce the
Protestant episcopacy to be the poorest body of men, because
they had only one " bob daily" amongst them.

480 he tries to reclaim father crotty.
Dr. Doyle's second Letter in reply to Dr. Daly was written
in hasty snatches while on his risitation. From a note to Mrs.
Coney, dated the 12th of June, 1826, in reply to a request that
the Bishop would promote the wishes of. a cousin of his own, who
desired to enter the Church, we gather the extent of ground he
traveUed over in the discharge of his official duty. " Since I
wrote to you in May last, I have been through the county KU
kenny, Queen's County, King's County, and county KUdare, and
only returned here on last night. I shaU go to Dublin next week,
and if I find that I can do anything for  , I wiU inform you;
but it is not likely, as aU our places on the Continent are the pro
perty of the diocess, and I am only the administi-ator of them."
The King's County is not in the diocess of Kildare and
Leighlin, and it may be asked, what brought the Bishop there?
The Eev. W. Crotty, a young and very self-sufficient Catholic
Curate in that county, haring been suspended for some irregu
larity by his Ordinary, opened, in a moment of unbridled pride
and pique; a conventicle at Birr, to which he invited many of his
quondam flock. Obstinate as a mule, perseveringly -vindictive,
but naturally quick and talented, he hurled eloquent expressions
of deflance against aU Church authority ; and while the scandal
caused by this singularly reckless course was at its height. Dr.
Doyle, in compliance vrith an invitation from the CathoUc Bishop
of the diocess, came to the charitable determination of risiting
Mr. Crotty personaUy, and by the strength of his reasoning, tear
ing him, if it were possible, from the riews he held.
If pride had inflamed too strongly the refractory Priest at Bin-
to permit Dr. Doyle's arguments to make much impression upon
him, the good Bishop had at least the satisfaction of bringing back
to the Church another wayward spirit, who had long set its autho
rity at nought. The following letter to the then Superior of the
Monastery at TuUow, is dated " Carlow, 13th June, 1826,
" My dear Brother Syrenus — This young man is a melan
choly example of the ruin produced by pride and error ; and I hope,
through the mercy of God, that he may be restored to the grace
from which he has faUen. I have told him, in a few words, what I
think he ought to do, and it is to exercise himself in compunction,
prayer, and mortification, but to do so in retirement and sUence.
If he talk much or dispute, his pride and doubts wiU rerive, and
the de-ril will continue to prevaU over him. It is our duty to assist
the designs of God, and if, for this purpose, you afford to this pro
digal son an asylum in your monastery for a month or two, should
he conduct himself as I have recommended to him, I vrill endea
vour to indemnify you for the expense you may incur by his main-

dr. doyle's catechism. 481
tenance on the fare of the brethren. In the event of your agreeing
to his present wishes and mine, the Eev. Mr. Clowry may absolve
him from the censures which he has incurred."
Whenever scenes of drunkenness and insubordination prevailed
to a more than ordinary extent among the peasantry, and seemed
imperrious to aU pastoral effort to check them. Dr. Doyle devoted
himseff, vrith redoubled activity, to the organization of a judicious
system of moral instruction for the chUdren of his diocess, well
knowing that " as the twig is bent, the tree will incline." The
poet Furlong, wiiting in 1825, observes : " Dr. Doyle was away
in another part of the diocess when I left Carlow ; but his hand
and his care aje visible in the schools and other institutions of the
place. I visited the chapel during what is called the chUdrens'
Mass, and such a mass of chUdren I have not seen since. In
this I do not speak profanely — upwards of a thousand boys and
girls attended." The same description would apply to many
other parts of the diocess.
Dr. Doyle's incomparable Catechism wiU probably be read in
Ireland as long as the EngUsh language lasts. " Dear chUdi-en,"
said the Bishop, " we present it to you as a token of our love for
you, and of the anxiety vrith which we watch over your religious
instraction. You are the most precious portion of the flock which
God has entrusted to our care. We labour daily and hourly, by
prayer and watchfulness, to bring you forth from the womb of your
holy mother the Church, untU Christ be formed in you by your
acquiring a knowledge of His holy law, and by keeping and ob
serving it with your whole hearts. Accept then, dearly beloved
children, this Catechism fi-om the hand of your Bishop, who
watches as if to give God an account of your souls — your Bishop,
who loves you with the most tender affection, and whose hope, and
comfort, and glory you are. Accept it as the best gfft he can
offer to you. Be dUigent in learning it — at home, in your schools,
when resting from your employments, but especiaUy on Sundays,
under the eyes of your Clergj', and with the assistance of those
rirtuous masters and mistresses, who not only teach you by word,
but also by example. As you advance, dearly beloved, be careful
not only to remember the words you repeat, but strive also, by
thinking on those words and by inqufring from others, to under
stand the meaning of them — for if you should be able to repeat
from your memory all the questions and answers of the Cate
chism, you would stiU be ignorant of the doctrine they express,
unless you understood the meaning of the several words which
compose them.
" Above aU, beloved chUdren, love the truth which you are
taught, keep the Commandments which you learn, pray always to

482 THE bishop's children.
God, honour and obey your parents, and you wiU be happy in this
Ufe, and happy for ever in heaven ; and then you vriU be truly the
crown and the joy of, most dearly beloved children, your affec
tionate father in Christ."
The Bishop used himself to teach this Catechism to the
chUdren. In his celebrated discussion vrith " Decian," who de
clared that he had often read, in some CathoUc Catechism, a
precept requiring the payment of tithes. Dr. Doyle repUed :
" J. K. L. has catechised more chUdren in a few years than
' Decian' probably wUl in the course of his Ufe, and he declares
that he does not recoUect ha-ring once met with a Catechism of
this alarming edition." Dr. Doyle often made a fecial mission
to a remote parish for the purpose of instructing the childi-en as
he alone could do. In endeavouring to fan the flame of their
ambition he observed on one occasion, that if the Catechism was
studied carefuUy by half-a-dozen little boys, they would prove
more than a match for the itinerant controvertists who periodi-
caUy risited Carlow and other towns. Dr. Doyle completely
endeared himself to the children by many acts of paternal kind
ness, and it did not require the powers of a prophet to predict that
" His bones, when they have run their course and sleep in blessings,
Would have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on them."
His interest in the welfare of the poor children was of the
most Uvely and practical character. If one anxiety more than
another seared his heart, it was to see little boys and girls idhng
in the streets, under the precarious guardianship of the mother of
mischief. His appeals to the parents on these occasions were
many, earnest, and touching. We find among the Bishop's papers
some notes for one of his admirable sermons on this subject, from
which we transcribe a very characteristic passage : " These Uttle
ones wUl be the basis of that social edifice in which your own
offspring wUl dweU, and in vain wiU you provide possessions for
the latter if you deposit them in a building ill-constructed or
mouldering to decay. The body of society is unquestionably its
most important part, and if it be not healthful, the head and other
members can enjoy but a disagreeable if not precarious existence.
Turn these children away then from eril — turn them from the
streets, where their ears would be polluted, where thefr eyes
would be offended, where their hearts would be corrupted. Tum
them from those depraved coUections of idlers who exercise gam
bUng in your lanes and aUeys, with the symbols of money when
the money itself has failed them. Turn them from the porter
house, where the very rice which disgusts and sickens inrites
youth to her embraces — where the cup, as Augustin has it, is

RESULT OF THE GENERAL ELECTION. 483
¦tipped with silver, smoked with gold, and capped with honey, but
whose contents are gall, and whose di-egs are poison. Turn them
from groups of men and women who vend thefr herbs and trinkets,
and caU the youth about them with songs of lewdness or yeUs of
blasphemy. Tear these chUdren away from the erils which they
would witness in their own family — the evU of discontent, the evil
of extreme -wi-etchedness, the evU of strife, of mutual hate and
animosity between the parents who gave them existence. Tum
them from all the evUs with which a corrapt and licentious world
must always abound, and teach them that good, and acceptable,
and perfect -wUl of God which they can learn at their schools."
ParUament was dissolved dm-ing this year, and a great struggle
raged between the rival parties. The result was, that the CathoUcs
and pro-CathoUcs lost in England but gained in Ireland. Sir H.
PameU writes : {Private.) " Emo Park, 7th July, 1826,
" My dear Lord — I congratulate you on the splendid rictories
which the CathoUcs have gained in the Irish elections. They can
not faU to produce a great impression in favour of carrying the
CathoUc BUl next session, for no one who possesses the power of
reasoning can doubt, after seeing the spirit that has been displayed,
that a contest of a much more serious character must be the result
of much longer continuing to injure and offend the feelings of this
country. " The English elections unquestionably prove that a great
change has taken place, and that the question is at length begin
ning to be understood.
"I am exceedingly glad to see the notice given by the Asso
ciation of the plan of parish petitions. If this is steadUy and
universally acted upon, so that the petitions shaU reaUy be aU
ready to he presented the day on which Parliament meets, I am
confident it wUl be productive of the best effects. I had several
communications with Sfr Francis Burdett, Mr. Brougham, and
other leading fiiends, and they are quite prepared to bring forward
the bUl on the earUest possible opportunity.
" I beg to recommend to your notice the article in the eighty-
sixth number of The Edinburgh Review on the ciril affairs of
freland. There has been no sale whatever of Messrs. Phelan and
O'SuUivan's work."
The latter allusion is to a hostile analysis of Dr. Doyle's par
Uamentary eridence, by the Eev. Dr. O'SuUivan and the Eev. W.
Phelan, who under the signature of "Decian" had afready as
saUed J. K. L.
In July, 1826, Anthony Eichard Blake, Chief Eemembrancer
ofthe Exchequer in Ireland, lost his mother, to whom he had long

484 PLUNKET AND THfi LETTER.
been attached by the tenderest fiUal ties. To the sound precepts
and instruction which this amiable and accompUshed woman had
early inculcated, Mr. Blake mainly attribuited that prosperity which
attended him, in a marked degree, through his subsequent highly
distinguished career. So great was the affliction in which the sad
bereavement plunged him, that he could neither apply his mind to
business, or take the slightest interest in any recreation. Our
informant, the late Eichard Coyne, haring personally witnessed the
almost distracted mental state of Mr. IBlake, requested that Dr.
Doyle would charitably address some words of consolation and
advice to his afflicted friend. " The worthy Prelate," said Mr.
Coyne, " delighted at the opportunity afforded him of comforting
the afflicted, addressed to Mr. Blake a letter, which, by its skUful
admixture of phUosophy and religion, could not faU to staunch the
bleeding wound. This letter," added Coyne, " was enclosed to
me. "Well knowing that a vast deal depended upon the tact and
taste of the person who should read it aloud to Mr. Blake, I ven
tured to ask Mr., afterwards Lord Plunket, one of Blake's most
intimate fiiends, to perform the kind office." Plunket was a great
admirer of Dr. Doyle's character and genius, as we have seen in a
former chapter ; he cheerfully acceded to Mr. Coyne's proposal,
and repaired to the Chief Eemembrancer's with Dr. Doyle's letter.
Those who knew the late Lord Plunket will vrith difficulty re
cognize him on this mission. But he well knew the persons in
whose favour it would not be impolitic to travel a Uttle out of his
way. Mr. Blake was a very important personage on the Irish
administrative stage of the day. He was daily consulted by the
Viceroy upon measures and upon men. " He was known," wrote
Sheil, in his " Sketch of the State of Parties in Dublin," " to be
a puUer of the wires in t'ue political puppet-show; and the marked
civUities which were paid him by Mr. Plunket confirmed the
general notion of his importance. The obsequious assiduity with
which that leamed gentleman courted the favourite of Lord Wel
lesley stood in strong contrast with his habitual coldness and
reserve." "Having briefly explained the object of his risit," observes Mr.
Coyne, " Plunket began to read the letter to Mr. Blake, who, with
sealed lips and knitted brow, Ustened attentively. He drank down
every word as it flowed through the refining medium of Plunket's
lips, and eagerly looked forward to the rest.
" He finished, and Blake was comforted. Plunket was forcibly
struck by the letter ; and Mr. Blake assured me, that the great
orator exclaimed, ' Bossuet never penned anything more beauti
ful or more true.' "
Of the accuracy of this anecdote there can be no doubt. The
letter in question has been found among Mr. Blake's papers, en-

DR, DOYLE TO A, R. BLAKE. 485
dorsed " Dr. Do^le on my mother's death." Mr. Coyne's account
of ff, however, awakens expectations which subsequent perusal
hardly reaUzes ; but although well worthy of the Bishop's pen, we
are incUned to think that tbe marked effect of tho letter upon the
afflicted Eemembrancer was owing, in a great degree, to the pro-
verbiaUy beautiful elocutionary intonations and emphasis of Lord
Plunket. The MS. of the letter bears evidence of haring been
thi'own off in great haste by Dr. Doyle : " Carlow, 31st July, 1826,
" My dear Sir— I heard on yesterday of the loss you have
lately sustained, and as grief on such occasions is generaUy pro
portioned to filial piety and to the innate goodness of the heart, I
am sm-e yours must be intense. I could not easUy assign a reason
for sympathizing with you as much and as sincerely as I do. Per
haps it is owing to the high estimate I formed of those fine qua
Uties which you may have inherited fi-om her who is no longer in
this world, and which I have so much admired during the short
time I have been honoured with yom- acquaintance. We owe much
to ourselves, and to our exertions blessed by Proridence ; but those
inherent dispositions — that aptitude to labour and to rirtue which
we bring with us from the womb, and are nurtured and almost
matured by parental soUcitude, are the choicest blessings of the
Almighty ; nor can we refer them to Him without resting -with
feelings of gratitude and affection on those who were instruments
of His goodness for us.
" That grief is pleasing and salutary which takes back our
thoughts to those high considerations, and to indulge it is most
becoming a phUosophic mind, for in such a mind it cannot grow to
excess. But when reason is iUuminated by faith, and that we see
God reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, and gathering
together His elect from among the chUdren of men, and destroying
graduaUy even our last enemy, Death, as the Apostle observes,
novissima inimica destructur mors, we are almost necessarily
compelled to adore Him who alone is powerful, -wise, and good,
and to aspire to Him as to our last end. When influenced by
such considerations we are partaking of the choicest gifts of nature
and of grace, and making the best return to those of whose faith
and dispositions we are the heirs. The grief which produces such
fruit is ordained by God, and to use it for such purposes is true
wisdom, "Accept, my dear Sir, the assurance of my sincere condolence,
and beUeve me to remain, &c., " ^ J Doyle."
Dr. Doyle had soon another letter of condolence to write. The
Prorincial of the Augustinian Order in Ireland had just died, fuU

486 HE forgives and forgets.
of years and virtues. Dr. Doyle never forgot the Friar in the
Bishop, but always yearned towards the lowly fraternity of St,
Augustin vrith the affection of a brother. On the 25th of August,
1826, he writes to the present Bishop of Saldes : " On my arrival
here to-day from a remote part of the diocess, where I had been
engaged on my visitation, I found amongst my letters yours of the
22nd, informing me of the departure to a better world of our dear
and valuable Prorincial, I regret not having been able to risit
Cork whilst he was yet amongst us, and the more so as my friend
Mr. Stuart induced you to expect my arrival. I shaU have nearly
finished my annual peregrination about this day month, -with God's
help, and should nothing unforeseen occur to prevent me from
leaving home, I -wUl attend at the memory of him who so often
gave to me the strongest proofs of his friendship and affection."
The fidelity of Dr. Doyle's affection for the lowly Order of reUgious
to which he had been in early life attached was evidenced anew by
his making, at this period, a special joumey to Eoss, in order to
effect arrangements for the promotion of Father Browne, a gifted
Augustinian, to the episcopal bench. The Prorincial, however,
though sincerely grateful to Dr. Doyle, decUned to part vrith so
valuable a member of the Order, and the matter feU to the ground.
In a letter to the late Edward Hay, dated the llth of August,
1826, we find another proof that Dr. Doyle never kept up a pique.
The reader, on referring to page 179, wiU perceive that Mr. Hay
gave the Bishop some reason to feel annoyed with him. Dr. Doyle
addresses Mr. Hay as " My dear Sfr," and proceeds : "I amfuUy
sensible of the merits of Mr. Battersby, and when his claim to suc
ceed to the vacant station at Maynooth comes to be considered by
the trustees of that CoUege, I shaU, if in attendance, recollect the
interest you express for him, and wUl be happy to serve him with
my vote, if I find it conducive to the advantage of that estabUsh
ment. I reaUy have no means of promoting the circulation of any
periodical pubUcation. In such things every person chooses for
himself ; and the country is so inundated with them that it is hard
to push the sale of even the most useful, such as I presume The
Irish Sentinel to be. Wherever or whenever I can serve Mr.
Battersby I wUl seek to do so, for your respect for him assures me
of his merit."
One of the most voluminous pastoral addresses which feU from
Dr. Doyle's prolific pen appeared on the 4th of September, 1826.
The subject was one long near and dear to his heart— the edu
cation of the poor. The Bishop's untiring zeal and ever-active
rigUance peculiarly marks this Pastoral. " If we be bound to
watch," he said, " so as to give to God an account of your souls,
you can never be absent from our thoughts ; nor can we enjoy

HIS GREAT PASTORAL FOR 1826. 487
rest whUst you suffer any want which it is in our power to supply.
'Kemoved to a distance from many of you, though Uving in the
midst of you, we are enabled to view your situation, as the sentinel
surveys the city from the tower or the rampart on which he has
been placed for the pubUc good. The dangers and difficulties
which threaten a people are often hidden from themselves ; nor
is it always just or wise for him who is charged to watch for
them to announce dangers which are remote, or excite their
alarm about difficulties which are scarcely within view. But
when danger approaches nearly, when difficulties press closely on
a people, then it becomes an imperative duty to apprize aU con
cerned of their entire and exact situation. In such times who
ever is charged, as it were, with the public safety should not only
expose whatever threatens to impafr it, but excite the ardour of
his feUow-citizens, draw forth and estimate their resources, and
apply them to thefr proper ends.
" Such, beloved brethren, is the duty which now presses upon
us. We have long watched, -with an unceasing solicitude, the
various wUes and efforts which have been employed for the pur
pose of making inroads upon your faith. We have sometimes,
without disturbing your repose, dissipated those efforts ; and
whilst nature would incUne us to contemn the puny malice or
the senseless fanaticism which from time to time assaUed the im
movable bulwarks of our reUgion, we have endeavoured to tum
towards those in whom such foUy dwelt, a heart of pity or a
prayer of forgiveness."
We wiU rapidly sketch the contents of this elaborate docu
ment, which would seem to have been simmering in the Bishop's
brain since the pubUcation of the Commissioners' Eeport on Edu
cation. Dr. Doyle traced in historical detail, from the days of
Primate Boulter, the long and almost perplexing train of syste
matic attempts which had been made to seduce Catholics from
their faith. He showed how sometimes bribes, and frequently
intimidation, intrigue, menace, or cajolery, were employed. " For
almost three centuries in Ireland our reUgion had been dehvered
up to men who judged it unjustly ; and its ministers, Uke sheep
before the shearer, were compeUed to be dumb  The
spirit which now afflicts us is the same which in past times
hunted the instractors of our youth Uke monsters from the midst
of society, and sent the Priest into the wUdemessto perish, laden,
like the scapegoat, vrith the sins of the people— a spirft which
harassed and tortured the surriving remnant of an almost extir
pated race, seeking to pervert them by tearing the son from the
arms of the father, and the orphan daughter from the embraces of
her -vridowed mother."

488 HE DISSECTS THE DESIGNS OF HIS OPPONENTS.
The arts and schemes of the Bible Societies were passed in
reriew. The designs of insidious proselytism Dr. Doyle laid'
bare ; its various attempts at compulsory conversion were indi
cated. "This policy," he wrote, "has yielded somewhat to the
force of time and events ; it has assumed a meeker tone, but in
deceit, in craft, in injustice, as well as in hostility* to the faith of
the ' Island of Saints,' it has undergone no change. A counter
feit benevolence, a specious hypocrisy, has been employed to hide
the gangrene which is sought to be inserted in the healthy flesh.
If the principle of the Bible Society," he added, " be estabUshed
in schools, it vrill be propagated to the fireside ; it wUl produce in
the very bosom of our families sects and heresies without name
or number ; it wUl render us at first a nation of fanatics, and then
lead us, like Germany, where it was first broached, to the abyss
of infidelity — yea, to blaspheme the very name of Christ."
Dr. Doyle showed how the people of Ireland have always had
an innate thirst for kno-wledge. " When education was proscribed
by law and learning treated as a crime, we defied the impotent
attempts of the Legislature, and preserved it amongst us hke some
sacred fire sent from heaven ; but it was confined to a narrow
sphere, and the glimmerings of its Ught scarcely reached the mul
titude. We aU, however, looked towards it, and desired earnestly
to be warmed and enlightened by its rays. The societies knew
this ; they engrafted education on proselytism — and hence the
protracted combats we have had to sustain."
Haring afready adverted to the false promises of the Kildare-
place Society, which undertook to " diffuse the blessings of educa
tion among all, without interfering with the religious tenets of
any," it wiU not be necessary for us to follow Dr. Doyle through his
exposure and condemnation of that now extinct institution. " Are
we," he asked " prepared to extinguish amongst us that hght of
Gospel truth, which has iUumiuated Ireland for fifteen hundred
years, and consign our children to be tossed about by every -wind of
doctrine — to wrest the Scriptures to their own perdition ; untU
blinding and blinded, they and thefr guides faU together into the
pit ? Are we, or are we not, prepared to repudiate the sanctity of
our fathers ; to stigmatize their toils and sufferings ; to betray into
the hands of the Boulters and their brethern that rising generation
in whom the spirits of our ancestry dweU? ShaU Ireland no
more be Catholic and orthodox ? Yea, brethren, it shaU ; and
rather than desert the faith once deUvered to the Saints, let our
* The following extract from the Catechism of the Charter Schools, used until
1811, is curious: ¦' Q. Is the Church of Rome a sound and incorrupt Church,'
A. No; it is extremely corrupt in doctrine, practice, and worship, Q What do you
think of the frequent crossings upon which the Papists lay so great a stress, A. They
are vain aud superstitious,"

A NEW AND ARDUOUS TASK. 489
right hand be withered, and our flesh given a prey to the beasts of
the earth or the fowls ofthe air."
Dr. Doyle sketched the histcJi-y of the struggle in which the
people had so long been engaged : "I would jjass 'it over alto
gether," he wrote " but being about to recommend to you mea
sures which will require sacrifices and exertions, I consider it my
duty to expose fully the danger and difficulty of our situation, as
well as the utter foUy or hopelessness of looking abroad for
assistance, or placing confidence elsejvhere than in ourselves and
in those tried friends who, through good report and eril report,
have adhered along with us to tbe cause of truth and justice."
The Bishop then went on to express his anxious desire that
the Clergy and faithful of his diocess would use, during the ap
proaching summer and autumn, every possible exertion to build
adjacent to each paiish chapel a spacious school-house. "Nothing
is difficult to the brave," he said. " We are especiaUy gifted with
fortitude. Every obstacle is removed by labour ; we are inured
to toU fi-om our youth. "Whatever object a reasonable and zealous
man proposes to himseff, he attains ; let us undertake the buUding
and furnishing of schools, and, with the blessing of Heaven, we
wUl effect ff."
Ha-ving lucidly traced the history of popular education in Ire
land, and made the appeal to which we have referred. Dr. Doyle
proceeded to observe : "Before I caUed upon you to make sacri
fices for your own good and the benefit of your children — these
dearest pledges of your aff'ection, as they are the dearest objects of
mine — my duty towards you required that I should demonstrate to
aU, not by argument alone but by historical and frrefragable proofs
and facts, the nature and extent of that pubUc exigency which now
requfres our exertions."
Dr. Doyle had triumphantly organized, in the face of much
difficulty, a number of convent free-schools, for the instruction of
poor female children, in his diocess ; and he felt sanguine of ma
turing his recently unfolded plan of education for boys and young
men. To the former Dr. Doyle agreeably refers in the foUowing
letter to his step-niece, Mrs. Eossiter, dated 13th September,
1826: " My dear Kate — I send you herewith the veUs I promised
to Mary and yourself. They are specimens of the industry of our
poor children of the convent free-school ; and I am confident you
wiU be gratified to wear- them on account of those by whom they
have been prepared — for a love of the poor is one of the first and
best sentiments you have imbibed on entering into Ufe, and wUl,
I hope, be one of the strongest and the last to attend you on
quitting ff for that other which knows of no distinction, unless

490 AMUSING CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN
what may arise from a more or less perfect service of Almighty
God. I am very anxious to know that you continue in good health,
and to enjoy, this life without forgetting the next. To possess
within yourself so great a blessing, continue to observe your reli
gious duties, nor suffer either the cares or crosses of this world to
fiU your mind with useless thoughts, or turn your will from a strict
conformity with the will of God. Avoid whatever is vain or sinful ;
be humble even to the most abject, and affectionate and attentive
to those who are kind and objiging to you. Nor do I fear that you
wiU at any time experience a want of affection from those amongst
whom you hve, still less from him to whom Proridence has united
you." Before the month was out. Dr. Doyle proceeded to Dublin in
order to confer with his Metropolitan, the Most Eev. Dr. Murray,
on some ecclesiastical matters, and to transact other business. On
the 22nd September, he accepted an invitation to dinner from Dean
Meyler, who assembled a large number of ecclesiastics in honour
of his distinguished guest. During that buzzing, but not remark
ably spfrited series of dialogues which invariably precedes the an
nouncement of dinner at clerical reunions, the door was thrown
open, and a servant entered with a letter marked "immediate" for
Dr. Doyle. Some of the Clergymen present were exceedingly
hungry, and when the servant merely announced a letter, and
not dinner, they made no attempt to disguise thefr chagrin ; but
this feeUng soon gave place to merriment when the Bishop, with
a hearty laugh, read aloud the foUowing communication from the
Eev. Dr. Joseph Wolff, who, as the Gavazzi of his day, had ex
cited a considerable sensation in Great Britain and Ireland :
"Dubhn, 21st September, 1826,
" Most Eev. Father — Having heard of your learning, acute
ness of mind, and zeal for your Church, I wish to have with you
private communications for several weeks in yourovni house, and
to enjoy your company. In case that you grant to me this petition,
I am ready to give up my other engagements after the Liverpool
meeting, and spend with you several months in your house. I beg
you to write to me an answer immediately. I need not teU you
that I am a missionary for the conversion of the Jews, and belong
to the Protestant Church, or to the Church of Christ at large, and
hold communion -with Christians of every denomination.
"I have the honour to be, vrith due reverence and respect,
owing to your high character and situation. Most Eev. Father,
your humble and obedient servant, ., Joseph Wolff,
" Missionary for Palestine and Persia.
"P.S. — This request is made for the sole purpose of convers-

DR. WOLFF AND DR. DOYLE. 491
ing with you on the grand point of the truth of Christianity-
whether it exist in the Protestant or Eomish Church. Kissing
your episcopal ring, I am Eight Eev. Father, yours, &c.— J. W."
"As this false brother of ours," said the Bishop, " craves, in
language not discourteous, an immediate reply, I had better
answer him briefly and at once;" saying which he sat down
before Dean Meyler's inkstand, and wrote as follows :
" Dr. Doyle was favoured this morning vrith Mr. Wolff's note
of yesterday, and having been made acquainted with the causes
on account of which the Cardinal Prefect had Mr. Wolff removed
from the CoUege de Propaganda Fide, Dr. Doyle could not
accede to Mr. Wolff's request of residing fri his (Dr. Doyle's)
house for some months.
" Dr. Doyle when at home, as he expects to be next month,
receives every person who may wish to see him ; but he cannot
receive Mr. "Wolff as one in communion with the CathoUc Church,
stiU less as a missionary. Should he have to receive Mr, Wolff,
he hopes to see him as one * wearied in walking in ways of diffi
culty,' and anxious to find repose in the sobriety of true reUgion,*
" Dubhn, 22nd September, 1826."
The Bishop read aloud his reply to Dr. Wolff, and, in a half
whisper to Archdeacon HamUton, pronounced it " admfrable !"
He certainly reposed considerable faith in his own power ; but
had he been a diffident man the world would, probably, never
have heard of him. Dr. Doyle knew that those who are con
stantiy afi-aid of falUng do nothing but stumble, and impressed
with the truth of the apothegm, he practised as weU as preached
piinciples of seff-reUance and self-respect.
Even at the synodical meetings of the Prelates, Dr. Doyle,
from the first year of his episcopacy, exhibited a demeanour so
dfrectiy the reverse of diffidence that some of the old Bishops of
the old school did not essay to conceal their surprise. The
foUowing anecdote, though perhaps belonging to an earUer stage
of this narrative, will iUustrate our statement. At an important
meeting of the Bishops in DubUn, Dr. Doyle, though by far the
youngest member of the episcopal bench, was the first to rise
and to open the subject. Dr. Curtis, the Catholic Primate of all
L-eland, could hardly beUeve his eyes, and, with an alacrity which
* Poor Dr. Wolff was doomed to meet perpetual rebuffs. Having written an
odd letter to Lady Hester Stanhope, " She perused it," writes bis biographer, " and
desired the man to wait that she might give him a present. She then came out with
a whip, kicked tbe poor fellow behind, and sent him away. Ue carae back lame to
Wolff." — Travels and Adventures of Br. Joseph Wolff.

492 STRIKING SCENE AT A SYNOD.
seemed almost imcompatible vrith his advanced years, started to
his feet. "His commanding person and dignified demeanour,"
observes the obituary of Dr. Curtis, " impressed every observer
with a reverence for his station and character ; and such was the
ascendancy of his manners in support of his office, it has been
said of him, that in the synods of the Prelates ' he was Primate
of them aU.' " Attached for half-a-century to the University
of Salamanca, Dr. Curtis had become more Spanish than the
Spanish themselves. " He had a restlessness of gesture,!' wrote
SheU in 1828, " and a flexibiUty of the physiognomical muscles,
which surpass the vivacity of Andalusia ; and with one finger laid
upon his nose, vrith his eyes starting from his head, and with the
other hand quivering Uke that of a Chinese juggler, he presents
the most singular spectacle of episcopal vivacity, at the age of
ninety-one, that I have ever seen."
Dr. Curtis, we have said, started to his feet. " I deem it
very improper and irreverent," he said, " for the youngest Bishop
to rise first, and to speak iu the presence of his seniors ; and I
would address you (looking at Dr. Doyle) in the words of Ecclesi-
asticus (xxxii. 9 to 13) : ' Young man, hear in silence, and for
thy reverence good grace shall come to thee. Scarcely speak in
thy own cause. If thou be asked twice, let thy answer be short.
In many things be as if thou wert ignorant ; and hear in silence,
and withal seeking. In the company of great men take not upon
thee ; and when the ancients are present speak not much.' "
Dr. Doyle instantly sat down, and listened to the rebuke in
silence. The discussion of the question before the council pro
ceeded. Dr. Curtis unfolded his views copiously. Several of the
Bishops spoke in support of the Primate's position, and others
tacitly assented. Last of all Dr. Doyle rose, and having sum
moned the resources of his powerful mind, and brought them
to bear on the question in debate, he upset most utterly the
Primate's conclusion. " In clearness of judgment, and vigour of
inteUect," writes our respected informant, " he exhibited a vast
superiority over Dr. Curtis. He delivered a splendid discourse,
which all the Bishops finaUy with unanimity adopted."
Dr, Doyle thus pithily concluded. The first Scriptural quo
tation we may remark is from Wisdom, iv. 8, and the, second
from Ecclesiastes, iv. 13: "I should be exceedingly sorry to
seem insensible to the respect and reverence due to age. I would
wish to be lowlily deferential to old age in its true Scriptural de-
fination. ' For,' in the language of inspiration, ' venerable old
age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years ;
but the understanding of a man is grey hairs.' But if old age be
estimated merely by the number of years or length of time, I

THE PRELATE OF THE OLD SCHOOL. 493
would say with Solomon, that ' Better is the wisdom of the child
than the dotage and reverie ofthe old man.' "
To acquit Dr. Doyle from the appearance of presumption in
rising fii-st at the synod in question, we may observe, that the act
was believed by some of the Prelates to have been in obedience
to the wishes of Archbishop Murray, who entertained the highest
opinion of his sagacity.
" From the moment of Dr. Doyle's consecration to the time
of his death," observes one who knew him well, "there subsisted
between Dr. Doyle and his Grace Dr. Murray the most intimate
connexion, so that it was well known that Dr. Murray would not
take any important step as to the regulation of the archdiocess
without first avaUing himself of the adrice of Dr. Doyle. And
whenever in councU with his Suffragans, or even in a more general
council or synod. Dr. Murray wished above aU to hear what Dr.
Doyle bad to say on the subject under discussion."
The Prelates frequently assembled in councU at Maynooth
College. A single dissenting remark from Dr. Doyle was always
enough to make the bench of Bishops adjourn the question.
In appearance and bearing Dr. Doyle formed a marked contrast
to the Catholic Bishop of the old school. Ireland possessed many
Prelates of this latter class at the period of which we write — men
whose caniage was bent, and whose spfrit seemed broken by the
persecutor's scourge and brand. " The Bishop of the people,"
observes SheU, " picks his cautious steps as if the way were Uned
with penal traps, and checks the natural impulse of humanity to
appear abroad -with the fu-m air and carriage of a man, lest a passing
alderman, or tutored parrot from an Orange window, should salute
his ears -with some vituperative cant against his poUtics and creed."
There was sometimes, too, a feeling of self-debasement among
the CathoUc Prelates of that day, which it is curious now to trace.
Archbishop Troy, in enclosing a letter from one of his Priests for
the perusal of Mr. Secretary Marsden of Dublin Castle, writes :
" You -wUl observe he styles me Lord. I do not assume that title,
nor do I wish to be addressed under it ; but I cannot hinder per
sons from miscalUng me."
Dr. Doyle was a Prelate of an entirely new type. Fear, doubt,
or diffidence were feelings utterly unknown to him. With one
glance he could make the wielder of an insult wither. " His face,"
says a celebrated and acute observer, " has a very pecuUar expres
sion — inteUigence throughout, strength and an honest scorn about
the mouth and Ups, and in the eyes a mingled character of caution
and slyness, produced by their downcast look and t\e overhanging
of thick and shady lashes, as if he made it a point of pradence to
screen from hostile observation the Ught and indignation, and per-

494 DR. doyle's SELF-RELIANCE.
haps, now and then, the triumph that 'glow within. The remark
may be fanciful, but it struck me that I could discover in his con
trolled and measured gait the same secret consciousness of strength,
and the same reluctance to display it." So far Mr. SheU.
But although full of self-reliance, and albeit that a certain
air of haughtiness sometimes marked his deportment, there was
not a particle of swagger about Dr. Doyle. At this invariable cha
racteristic of the Irish Protestant Prelacy he often smUed, as Drs.
Magee or Elrington woiUd push past, trampling the Irish ground
with the familiar superiority of one who feels that an ample portion
of its fertile soU is irrevocably dedicated by dirine conveyance, col
laterally secured by common and statute law, to the uses of his
sacred corporation. " See in the streets," exclaimed Sheil, " a
prelatical sample of ascendancy, and with -what a buoyant and
lordly s-wing, Uke a vessel laden with worldly wealth, and wafted
before a prosperous trade--wind, he roUs along ! With what pride,
and energy, and deep-seated reliance upon the etemity of tithes,
he thrusts out one holy and pampered leg before the other!"
To the timid and faltering Catholic Bishop of the old school
Dr. Doyle in truth presented a striking contrast. "I never,"
said Canon Pope, in a communication to the author, " I never
knew a man whose demeanour inspired a wider or stronger feeUng
of awe and veneration. I have met aU the great Cardinals and
Princes of the Church at Eome and elsewhere, but not one of them
ever impressed me with that singularly intense feeling of respect
and admfration which Dr. Doyle's presence never faUed to en
kindle." He also made the long prostrate CathoUc Church of Ireland
raise its head in a manner worthy of its Divine origin, antiquity,
dignity, and strength. The present Bishop of Exeter, in his place
in Parliament, noticed with sorrow this altered tone and attitude :
" Let it be borne in mind," observed his Lordship, "that the feel
ings of the Eoman Catholics were now very different from what
they were wont to be. That class of persons exhibited a part un
known amongst them a few years ago. The Eoman CathoUc
Church was now spoken of, although no long period had elapsed
since its heads were content to describe themselves as ' Prelates of
the Eoman Catholic communion in Ireland.' Not only was the
Eoman CathoUc reUgion described as ' the Eoman CathoUc Church
in Ireland,' but Dr. Doyle spoke of it as ' the Church' in Ireland,
and of the Protestant Bishops as no Bishops at aU, or Bishops
merely in name. A work by Dr. Doyle, which was used as a
class-book in the study of canon law in the College of Maynooth,
was dedicated to ' the Most Eev. Father in God, Patrick Curtis,
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of aU Ireland.' "

CHAPTEE XXII.
Dr. Doyle disapproves of the policy of political inactivity— His speech on the
platform at Carlow— He justifies his policy— England in difficulties —
Kevolt of the forty-shilling freeholders _ Dr. Doyle challenged— His
reply — Dr, Wolff — Letters to scrupulous Nuns — \ portion of Dr, Doyle's
flock proselytized — How he brought them back to the fold  Public
penance — Dr, Doyle's reply to the Bishop of Leighlin and Ferns — Letter
to Dr. Donovan — Affection for his early friends — Coyne .ind " the copy" 
A contrast — Dr. Doyle casts away his cloak to naked beggars — £1,400
a-year for the Rector and £65 for the Priest of the same parish  Dr,
Doyle craves for further toil — A curious contrast — Dr. Kinsella — Do
mestic cares — A tipsy housekeeper — He guarda the entrance to the
sanctuary — Letter to his Vicar — Schools among tombs,
"Discussion of the CathoUc question," observes Mr. M'CuUagh
in his Memofrs of SheU, "was considered inexpedient during the
session of 1826 ;" but we learn that O'Connell was " unwUUng
that a whole year should be suffered to elapse without bringing
the question under the notice of the Legislature." With Dr.
Doyle the poUcy of inactivity found no favour. He felt that when
a popular cause fails to advance, it is in point of fact receding.
" Our fetters are too galUng," he said, " to permit us to enjoy re
pose. ShaU we be prevented from rattUng them in the ears of
our keepers ?"
On the 5th of October, 1826, an aggregate meeting, to peti
tion for Emancipation, was held in Carlow. Dr. Doyle, accord
ing, to the newspapers of the day, did not enter the meeting until
five o'clock. The pubUc platform had been always to him an irk
some position, and his appearances upon it were few and far be
tween. Haring taken his seat by the chafrman and conversed
with him for a short time, he withdrew, but reappeared again to
return thanks for a unanimous vote of approbation which had been
passed upon his conduct. " I know that an Apostle says,'.' ob
served the Bishop, "that no one dedicated to the serrice of the
altar should mix himseff in secular concems ; but I also know that
this same Apostie, when persecuted for justice' sake, and arraigned
before the law, appealed to Csesar from an unrighteous judge ; and
when I unite myself with you I do more — I appeal to the Legis
lature of my country (which possesses the same power as Csesar
in the Eoman State) from an iniquitous code and the desolating
effects of its administration. For doing so I plead no apology.
Were I to attend a meeting in your court-house, convened for or
against a repeal of the Com Laws, I should consider myself as
departing from the duties of my office, and suUying the robe with
which the Church has clothed me. But when I unite with you to
seek, by just and legal means, for a repeal of that guilty code

496 DR. doyle's SPEECH.
which affronts an'd oppresses us, I am discharging an obligation
due to my country and my reUgion. That code. Sir, is not ciril,
nor political, nor municipal, but ecclesiastical and religious — so
much so, that the e-vU genius of Britain seems to have dipped her
pen in blood, and to have descended to the region of darkness,
there to learn the tissue of flagitious and blasphemous bigotry
wherein to write the tests of our exclusion from those rights and
pririleges which we are now labouring to regain. I come here,
Sfr, to exhibit our union, in which our strength consists, and to
promote by my example, should it have influence with any one, the
exercise of the constitutional right of petition and remonstrance.
We are indeed devoted to constitution, and loyal as we ought to
be. We seek for no mutiny or disorder in the State, for no exclu
sive privileges or unhaUowed ascendancy. We, with those Uberal
persons of other reUgious persuasions who co-operate with us, are
only endeavouring to obtain the restitution of what is withheld in
riolation of natural equity, the plighted faith of a nation, and of
those principles of policy by which this empire should be govemed,
and its power and pre-eminence maintained." Having referred to
the "parchment 'Union" between Great Britain and Ireland, Dr.
Doyle went on to say: "And why does England keep us oppressed
and divided, covering the luxuriancy of our land with wretched
ness, and wasting as if with a blighting mildew all the produce
of our fields and industry ? Is it that by dirisions and oppressions
she can render Ireland happy and her own empire secure? No;
vrithout the repeal of the laws which aggrieve us, Ireland can never
be content nor England secure — L-eland cannot be happy whUst
her people are enslaved and a faction permitted to riot in her suf
ferings." Dr. Doyle reminded our rulers of the critical posture of
affairs : " We see England incumbered with an enormous debt —
her oligarchy standing on the necks of the people and filling even
England with poverty and crime. We find her embai-rassed vrith
a currency incapable almost of withstanding the first shot of war,
whUst the jealousy of nations encompass her on every side, and
look to her humiliation with anticipated pleasure. On the other
hand, the unmerited persecution endured by seven miUions of
British subjects are discussed by politicians throughout the entire
world. Statesmen calculate upon our grievances, and even to the
Divan of Constantinople the Irish Catholic is admitted to an
audience. In Spain and Italy, Germany and France, our oppres
sion and discontent are the common topic of conversation. We
have arrested the vast mind of the old world, and are favoured
with the marked attention and sympathies of the new. Those
mighty States which are daily gi-o-wing stronger beyond the Atlan
tic are jealous of England on principles of policy, and there is

A RETORT AND A CHALLENGE. 497
hardly a capital there, or in Europe, in which the wrongs we en-
dm-e at her hands have not been published and proclaimed. With
such causes of embai-rassment at home, and the force of pubhc
opinion and the hatred of nations pressing from abroad, can Eng
land, I say, be secure ?" As may be inferred from Dr. Doyle's
speech, considerable distress prevailed among the commercial
classes in England during this year, and serious alarm was
awakened by the disturbances in Manchester, Birmingham, aud
elsewhere, consequent on the dearth of food and employment.
Stimulated by Dr. Doyle's voice and pen, the Catholic cause
ralUed, and made good progi-ess ere the year 1826 was out.
Dr. Doyle's prediction, in February, 1825, of the great im
portance and destiny of the forty-shiUing freeholders, was verified
during the foUovring year by the moral courage with which that
humble body braved, for thefr country and reUgion, the indignation
of their landlords, by voting for the Liberal candidates. The re
presentation of several counties was wrested from the huge mono
poly and long undisturbed despotism of the great landed proprie
tors, Waterford had been, almost fi-om time immemorial, in the
hands of the Beresford famUy, whose local influence and power it
was considered, even by O'ConneU, the height of fatuity to combat.
The successful revolt of the forty- shi 11 ing freeholders is so memo
rable and weU kno-wn that more than a passing allusion is, doubt
less, unnecessary here. " I did not think," said SheU, " that such
rirtue could exist under rags."
The pubUc were amused, early in October, by the publication
of a verbose and defiant chaUenge to the Cathohc episcopal bench
in general, and to Dr. Doyle in particular, signed by the Eev. J.
Wolff, the subsequently famous Bokara missionary, and by the
Rev. E. Pope, who, two years later, achieved considerable distinc
tion by his controversial discussion with Father Magufre. On the
13th October, we find Dr. Wolff reminding Dr. Doyle of the recent
chaUenge :
" My Lord — ^Having heard that the challenge has not been
accepted by the bench of the CathoUc Bishops in Ireland, I retfred
to England for awhUe, in order to proclaim the tidings of the Gospel
to my brethren, the Jews in England ; but in case that the Bishops
and Priests in Ireland should stiff be inclined to accept it, I should
be highly obUged to your Lordship to give notice of it in pubUc
papers. I always considered your Lordship as the Bellarmine of
Ireland, and I should have been, therefore, happy if you had
granted to me an audience, as the E. C. Archbishop of Tuam
condescendingly granted to do ; and with great humility I am, my
Lord, your most devout servant,
" Joseph Wolff."
32

498 A TRENCHANT REPLY.
Dr. Doyle did not beUeve in Mr. Wolff's " great humiUty,"
and responded trenchantly as foUows : " Carlow, 17th October, 1826.
" Sir — I have received your letter, written at Knaresborough,
I regi-et that a young person such as you are should continue in
the delusion in which you seem to Uve, It is perhaps my duty
to teU you that your ' chaUenge,' as you caU it, excited in this
country nought but ridicule, and that you might as justly expect
one of the judges in the courts of law to descend from the bench
and dispute with you about the code which he administers, as to
hope that any Catholic Bishop would attend to your ' chaUenge.'
" My dear young man, you are either deceived or seeking to
deceive others. I did not refuse to see you. I refused to admit
you to reside in my famUy, and for the reasons explained in my
note to you on the subject. Did you at any time caU upon me
to consult with me as to what you should do, or to inqufre what
you want to know, I would offer to you the best advice or informa
tion in my power. I feel for you nought but pity and compassion.
You have strayed far from the truth. You are very much occupied
with yourself. You err greatly as to your own value or efficiency.
You are not capable of rendering serrice to your brethren, whether
Jews or GentUes, whilst you yourself continue a victim of delusion
or an hypocrite, as you must be, if you be not a fanatic,
"Your correspondence vrith me can serve no good purpose;
may I request, therefore, that it cease, and should you at any
time caU upon me, pray, present yourself without an inchnation
to dispute, for ' if any one love disputes, we have no such custom,'
says an Apostle, ' nor the Church of God.' "
Dr. Doyle might have added an additional Scriptural sting to
his rebuke: "If any man come to you," says St. John, "and
bring not this doctiine, receive him not into the house, nor salute
him." His warm interest, meanwhile, in conventual institutions,
underwent no diminution. The following letter is addressed to a
nun who, from being a prey to scruples, became an example of
peace and happiness to her pious sisters :
" Braganza House, Carlow, 12th November, 1826.
" My dear Child — Your exceeding kindness to me has, I
regret, caused you much unnecessary pain. When Ul I had only
one of those periodical colds that generaUy visit me about this
season of the year, and which are removed by a few ordinary
remedies and a Uttle patience ; the late attack was one of the
lightest I have had for some years, and is now, thanks to God,
entirely removed, leaving after it only a Uttle languor and debility

LETTERS TO NUNS. 499
which wUl pass away in a few days. WiU you teU the reverend
Mother and each of the sisters, who are so dear to me, how much
I feel their kindness, and how obliged I am by their good wishes
and prayers, for which I hope God wUl reward them. TeU my
fiiend A  that she and her Leghorn children are likely to be
outdone by ours at Carlow, unless she excite their diligence and
improve their art, which I am confident she labours much to do.
I wish, my dear friend, that I could compress your imagination
within narrower bounds, and cool the ardour of your anxious
heart. You would then be content to go to heaven Uke ordinary
people, and not always be taking it by violence. I am, however,
deUghted to know that your health is so good, and you must lay
np a store of it untU I see you, without practising any additional
penance ; and as to the JubUee, I thought I told you that the du
ties of it cannot be performed by one person for another. Be
content, then, to pray for your fiiend, and God who is patient,
and of much compassion, and easy to forgive eril, wUl have mercy
on him in his own good time. Eemember that before God one
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. If
you recoUect my former instructions and adrice they will assist to
regulate your mind about what you caU your sins ; but, above aU,
remember it is not the imagination, nor those impulses of the
mind, wiU, or passions which go before reflection that, in such as
you, constitute sin ; but those bad acts which are seen by the
mind, and dwelt on with pleasure, or desfred fi-eely by the wiU.
The ebuUition of pride or vanity of which you complain are of the
former kind, and so are the other e-vUs which give you uneasiness,
and you do weU to disregard them and go to communion. Nor
would you ever become more exempt from, or more decided in your
judgment about them by mentioning these matters to any person.
Attend to the one rule given to you above, and you wiU have as
much peace as is good for you. Perhaps I may write for you the
examination of conscience you mention, but whether I do or not,
beUeve me, &c., .< ^ j_ j^^^^^„
Another letter to another nun :
" My dear M. P  St. Paul says, ' Take heed not to lose
your confidence; you are saved by hope.' It is bad to sin, but it is
worse not to confide in God, or seek to do out of our own strength
the work of grace. Be patient, and the help of God wiU not delay;
but ff you are not patient, you wUl be a scourge to yourself.
" I am always offended at this unsubdued desire of confession
which, like a bad leaven, is not to be rooted out of nuns. It is
self-seeking — not seeking God. You may make an annual con
fession at any time you please — but no other, and wait to do so till

500 ANOTHER EXCOMMUNICATION.
the opportunity of an extra confession presents itself. Be sober-
minded, and do not, my dear chUd, be acting and thinking like a
child ; you ought now to know better. Be satisfied with your
rule, and bear with your own defects."
If Dr. Doyle found some ladies too pious, he found others not
pious enough. Writing to his niece at this period, he says : "I
procured for my young ward, Catharine, a situation as lay-sister
in a convent; but on proposing it to her she appeared to have
forgotten her former religious vocation, which, if I had not been
very simple, I might long before have observed."
In 1826, considerable depression in the trade of Dublin ex
isted, and subscriptions to the amount of i913,000 were raised for
the suffering weavers of the Liberty. Indications of approaching
famine spread through the land, and the diocess of Kildare was
not exempt from the risitation. This state of things opened a
vride and favourable field for the exertions of professional prose
lytizers. Many of the starring peasantry of Kildare joined the
ranks of the evangelical missioners. Their flag fluttered grimly
but seductively. Food and Bibles were UberaUy dispensed. Dr.
Doyle haring heard of this alarming attempt to diminish the num
ber of his flock, proceeded to Staplestown on a certain Sunday,
and after Mass addressed the congregation from the altar. Seve
ral persons present wore a double mask — they had been in com
munication vrith the proselytisers ; others, though not personally
recusant, had intimate friends and members of their famUy re
ceiving aid from them ; and this Dr. Doyle knew.
" Go !" said he, "go to your new master. No one can serve
two. You are, if possible, more contemptible than Judas. He
received thirty pieces of silver for his apostacy, but you have
bartered your faith for a mess of pottage ; like Esau, yon have
exchanged for present comfort future honour and glory. The
temple of the Most High is defiled by your presence. Fly, with
my severest censure, to the ranks of the enemy." Dr. Doyle
raised his eyes to heaven, and in a voice which strack terror to
every heart exclaimed, " I excommunicate you !" A long, deep
groan of vrildness and despair swept through the chapel. Tears
fell thick and fast. Some fled panic-stricken ; others feU prostrate
before the altar, sobbing and imploring forgiveness of God and of
his faithful Vicar. " Pardon them, my Lord," interposed the
Parish Priest; " they repent." "No," said Dr. Doyle; "the
crime is too great to be immediately forgiven."
The unfortunate peasantry left the chapel moaning bitterly.
They hurried in scores to Clongowes Wood CoUege, and haring
obtained access to the Eev. Dr. Esmonde, piteously besought him

PUBLIC PENANCE. 501
to use his known influence with Dr. Doyle, that the ban which
blackened them fri the sight of Heaven might be removed.
"Eeceive us back into the Church," they said; "we are truly
sorry for our misdeeds, but hunger had driven us almost mad."
Dr. Esmonde was moved with pity by their contrition ; he pro
mised to intercede in their behalf with the Bishop, and at once
left Clongowes on his pious mission. "WeU," said Dr. Doyle,
after Father Esmonde had zealously pleaded the cause of the re
pentant people, " I pardon them all, with four exceptions." He
named them. " They, as you know, are the ringleaders of this
desertion. By their counsel and example they induced others to
follow them. Go, and communicate my decision. With the ex
ceptions I have named, they are once more received into the
bosom of the Church ; but in regard to those four, I charge you
at your peril not to give them absolution. Thefr professions of
penitence may be merely on thefr tongue. They will only receive
my pardon on condition that they do pubUc penance. For the
next three Sundays let them not dare to enter the house of God,
but kneel outside the chapel-yard during the sacrifice of the Mass,
imploring pardon of those whom they have so giievously disedified.
They are unworthy to kneel at Calvary. The pagan place, the
highway, is for them. Do not tiust to second-hand reports, but
see with your own eyes that my mandate is obeyed."
"For three successive Sundays," observes Dr. Esmonde in a
communication to tbe author, " I rode over from Clongowes to
Staplestown, to see that the penance enjoined by Dr. Doyle was
faithfuUy performed. Never was repentance more sincere. At
the expfration of the three weeks, I received the poor people back
into the Church." In performing the penance they wore thefr
coats turned inside out, by command of Dr. Doyle.
Soon after the above occurrence. Dr. Elrington, Lord Bishop
of Leighlin and Fems, in his Charge to the Clergy of the diocess,
boasted that not far from home a vast array of converts had de
serted the Church of Eome for that of England. To this sweep
ing aUegation Dr. Doyle eloquently repUed :
" I fear the venerable Bishop," he said, " has been much im
posed on, or that my native diocess of Ferns, to which I have
been for some years almost a stranger, has, contrary to what her
character would warrant us in supposing, greatly relaxed in her
piety to God. I am confident that vrithin the diocess of LeighUn,
in which I reside, the number of unfortunate creatures who were
guilty of a temporary apostacy is extremely small. I am weU
acquainted with every portion of this diocess. I am in constant
communication with the Clergy and people of it. I know them
aU, and could almost caU them by their names ; I converse with

502 THE NEW REFORMATION.
them ; I make inquiries of them ; they speak to me without re
serve or dissimulation ; I have not been inattentive to the ' pro
gress of the Eeformation' among them ; and I solemnly declare
that I do not at this moment know of a single individual, having
a house, family, or character icithin the diocess of Leighlin, who
had been a Catholic within the last year, and became a Protes
tant and continued so.* There were several profligate and aban
doned characters, chiefly criminals in the different prisons, who
were induced, by an unfounded hope of impunity or favour, to
render themselves guilty of an hypocritical conformity to Protes
tantism. Such of these as escaped from danger have, without I
believe a single exception, applied for re-admission to the Church.
There were also some unhappy individuals who, urged by extieme
distress, ' did make their lives more precious than their souls,'
and in despite of the terrors of despafr abjured the reUgion which
they loved. I have seen a few of this description — for I beUeve
they have aU retumed to God and to me, and my very soul was
rent within me on riewing the grief, the shame, the agony which
agitated them. Oh ! I should not, for aU this world could bestow,
have to answer before the judgment-seat of Christ for being the
instrument of such conversions. Conversions did I caU them?
But then the pious Prelate made his enumeration in June last,
1826, when oatmeal was 20s. per cwt., when potatoes were 12s,
per barrel, when there was no spare food with the farmers, no
employment for labourers, no prospect but famine for the poor.
In June last, when the harvest was yet two months distant,
though the good Bishop saw the fields white — when disease and
death were devouring the miserable outcasts, whose rices cried to
heaven to draw down the Divine vengeance on the oppressors of
the poor. It was in June last that the nets of the New Eefor
mation people were fiUed with aU kinds of fishes, and that they
called to one another to assist and draw them to the land. Strange
fatuity ! These men can discern the face of the heavens, but they
cannot discern the signs of the times ; they have created for them
selves meteors, which glare but give no light. They live in
Ireland, and are utter strangers to her chUdren ; they mistake
altogether and entfrely the sentiments, the feeUngs, the wishes
of the people. No, Sir; Dr. Elrington may see at a distance
'the fields white for harvest,' but he must see human nature
subverted, memory obUterated, religion eradicated from the hearts
of Irishmen, before he vrill see the establishment among them
of either the new or the old Eeformation. Their hearts are fuU —
full of indignation which their own holy reUgion alone can aUay I
He may see many men arise from an humble sphere of life, and
* Itabcs in original.

HE DOES NOT LIKE TO BB LORDSHIPED. 503
advance by industry to places of honour and of trust ; he may see
them when thus situated aspire to something better, and lend
themselves for its attainment to the overthrow of the most useful
and liberal institutions ; he may find such a man to become the
foe of his countrymen, the abettor and apologist of a bad system,
and the minion of some great and gloomy bigot ; he may see him
elevated to a station high and responsible, and there, impeUed by
the influence of inveterate habit, of a narrow mind, and selfish feel
ings, employ all his gain and influence to enrich his family, to ad
vance his friends, and to perpetuate the oppression of those from
whom he derives his income and support. He may find such a
man weak enough in his latter days to become deluded, or suffi
ciently wicked to employ the name of Jesus in the work of discord
and dissension — he may see all this ; but though he may contribute
to divide Irishmen one from the other, to throw fuel upon the pile
of bigotry always burning and always renewed in the sister coun
try — though he may thereby retard the progi-ess of civilization, the
diffiision of knowledge, the estabUshment of good laws and a
virtuous administration — he can never behold the ruin of the faith
in Ireland, nor the demoUtion of that Chm-ch which his pride and
his apparent interest might prompt him to destroy."
J. K. L., in his Third Letter on the " State of Ireland," mentions
that he receives on an average annually two hundred converts from
the Protestant Church in the diocess of KUdare and Leighlin.
Dr. Doyle never ceased to think affectionately of those vrith
whom in his coUege days he had cultivated an intimacy, and
though generaUy overwhelmed with care and labour, he endea
voured to keep the flame of friendship burning, by maintaining
with his old friends a constant, cordial correspondence. Nay,
more, he felt piqued and jealous if they neglected to write to
him of thefr own accord, or to employ the unreserved language of
early intimacy; if "Lordshiped" too frequently and formally,
it pained him. This we know on his own assurance. Dr. Doyle
having occasion to notice in a public letter some statements ad
vanced by Dr. Efrington, the Bishop to whom we have just
referred, his fuU territorial designation was by some mistake
omitted. Dr, Elrington indignantly upbraided Dr. Doyle with the
oversight. Dr. Doyle attiibuted it to the printer, and assured
his Lordship that he never omitted to acknowledge the right of
Protestant Bishops to the tities legaUy claimed by them. " For
my part," he added, " I never read or heard an appeUation which
sometimes through courtesy is used in my presence, that I do not
feel more or less abashed, and my sense of reUgious decorum
contravened. Yet I do not blame those who take pleasure in
titles, and rejoice in the briUiancy of a feather."

504 LETTERS.
Dr. Doyle, in tbe following letter to his old friend, the Eev.
Dr. Donovan, Professor of Ehetoric at Maynooth, tells him to lay
aside forms, or to be silent altogether : " Dublin, December 12th, 1826.
" My dear Eeverend Friend — I have long been hoping to
hear from you, and especially at the time of the examinations by the
Commissioners at your College, which made so much noise abroad,
and of which I expected some correct information ; but without
thinlring even that your friendship was lessened, I thought that,
like the -wise stoic, you had wrapped yourself up in your cloak of
coUegiate virtue, and resolved to hold no unnecessary communica
tion with the unwise ones of this outer world. I stiU think that
there is a collegiate stiffness and formaUty growing up about
you — even in your communication with me, an old friend —
which, useful on some occasions, tends on others to brace up what
should be without restraint. I am learing Dublin to-mon-ow,
and do not hope to see you until February next, when the Board
meets, or in March, when you come to preach for St. Patrick in
Carlow; nor do I think it right to commit to this sort of repertory
the thousand things — some of them regarding yourseff — and in
which certainly (though I fear without effect) I have used my art
and interest as you should expect, and as I know you desire.
" Let me hear fi-om you shortly, and lay aside forms, or be
silent altogether.
To the Very Eev, Charles Stewart — with whom the Bishop,
when a Friar, had been associated in the Augustinian Convent at
Eoss — we find Dr, Doyle equaUy affectionate and communicative :
" There are few things in life," he writes, " more consoUng than
to preserve in ourselves affection for the friends of our youth, and
to meet with a similar feeling on thefr part. In this respect I have
been very much favoured by Proridence ; and among those friends
you wUl always be remembered in my mind, as I hope always to
hold a place in yours.
" Goyne will shortly have my reply to Magee. I fear the
answer will, a I'Irlandais, come before the question."
Although Dr. Doyle made it a particular request that he should
not be " Lordshiped" by others, he himself never omitted a pro
fusion of such courtesies when addressing his brethren of the pre
lacy. Moore, in his Diary of 9th June, 1824, mentions that he
had been introduced on that day to the EngUsh Bishop, Baines.
" Showed me a letter from the famous Dr. Doyle," -writes Moore,
" in which he ' my Lords' and ' Lordships' his brother Baines in
every line."
The Bishop had rarely leisure to write, except in hurried

A CONTRAST. 605
snatches; and Mr. Eichard Coyne, the well-known CathoUc printer
and pubUsher, used, whenever the supply of " copy" flagged, to go
down personally to Carlow, and remain at the episcopal residence
untu J.K.L. had thrown off a sufficiency of MS. to keep the
printers going. Mr. Coyne never had occasion to wait more than
some hours for the desideratum, and he generaUy returned to
Dublin by the evening coach.
To describe the herculean exertions of Dr. Doyle to alleviate
the terrors of famine, which throughout this year sadly oppressed
his poor people, would be merely to repeat the touching detaUs
with which a former chapter closed. A few remarks may, by way
of supplement, be added.
His continued exertions to aUeriate the distress of the poor
from his own pinched resources contrasted strangely with the
wealth of the Lish Protestant prelacy, and thefr invariable attitude
of Ustlessness to the claims of the starring people. Eichard Lalor
Sheil, writing in 1827 of Archbishop Magee, complains that "in
the midst of the recent pubhc distress, he closed his hand and
shut his heart to the cries and moans of the wretches who were
suffering in fever and in famine around him." From parliamentary
retm-ns it appeared that one See alone possessed 51,880 acres of
arable and pasture land ; and The Edinburgh Review of Novem
ber, 1825, declares its cognizance of one renewal fine of a£50,000
received by an Irish Bishop for a single lease ! Dr. Doyle, in his
examination before the Lords, mentioned that the income of the
Cathohc " Primate of aU Ireland" (whose charity was proverbial),
never exceeded £500. His own rarely approached it.
There are traits related of Dr. Doyle's generosity to the poor
which, had we not heard them from eye--witnesses, would seem in
credible. One anecdote describes him retiring vrithin the recess of
a gateway in TuUow-street, Carlow, and (in the behef that " his
right hand knew not what his left hand gave") casting his cloak to
the naked creatures who piteously sought reUef. An eye-witness,
in the window of an opposite house, was our informant. St.
Martin of Tours dirided his cloak among naked beggars pubUcly,
but Dr. Doyle dispensed his charity in private. In estimating the
extent of his charity we must not forget his smaU income. The
Bishop, in his Fffth Letter on the " State of Ireland," when reply
ing to a stupid calumny,' tells us that J. K. L. "is connected with
upwards of 200,000 CathoUcs, rich and poor, and he receives from
them aU little more than one-third of what a neighbouring parson
receives for the tithes of a single parish ; yet this pittance he
shares freely and affectionately with his chUdren, who are the
poor. In doing so he only copies the conduct of his brethren ;
and he states it not through self-esteem, but in justification of

606 MORE CONTRASTS.
the order of men to whom he has the honour and happiness to
belong." And on another occasion, Dr, Doyle, in reply to some acri
monious remarks uttered by his old adversary, " Decian," thus
effectively contrasted the official incomes of the Protestant prelacy
and priesthood with those of the CathoUc Church :
" While engaged writing these sheets, J. K. L. has heard of a
composition for tithes haring been made -with the parson of the
parish adjoining his residence at the rate of 13 or £1400 a-year ;
and haring examined a registry of retums of the emoluments of
the Parish Priest of the same parish in 1820, he found that they
amounted to sixty-five pounds ! This is the only return of the
kind from that parish to which he has access. The writer also has
been himself the CathoUc incumbent of a parish which has lately
offered to the parson £1,200 a-year in lieu of tithes, and he de
clares, in the presence of the country, that to the best of his judg
ment and recoUection, he never received from that parish £200 in
any shape within one year. The Curates of Parish Priests who
reside with their principal receive one-fifth of the emoluments,
and should they lodge elsewhere they are allowed one-third.
" These facts are the most satisfactory and respectful reply
which it is in my power to make to the assertion of ' Decian' — an
assertion which it is not permitted me to designate as it deserves.
Between both priesthoods, however, religion must be weU pre
served ; and if the flocks perish, the misfortune must proceed
rather from being too closely shorn than from want of attendance.
In their unparaUeled penury and distress, they have also the con
solation of suffering ' for the good of their souls,' and of supporting
out of their destitution the gorgeous temple of the Establishment,
as weU as the Uttle Sion in which they themselves occasionaUy re
joice." More important differences than that of income might be con
trasted between the Prelates of the rival Churches. Eobert
Southey, a devoted adherent to the Church of England, observes
in a letter to a friend : " Our Bishop is a sleeping one, and this
place has been shamefuUy neglected. No confirmation has been
held here in the memory of man ; and the Bishop never holds one
nearer than eighteen miles, and this so seldom that nothing can
be more indecent than the crowded assembly, and the manner in
which the business is hurried through." The editor of Southey's
letters, the Eev. C. W. Warter, thirty years after, expresses a
hope that this indecency will be mended, and " that some Bishops
who are regularly in London for the season wiU not forget that
there is such a place as the country, and that they have a diocess
to attend to."

HE CRAVES FOR FURTHER TOIL. 507
As to Dr. Doyle, his energy not only knew no fatigue but
craved for further toil. " Often have I implored of him to spare
himself," observes the late Bishop Kinsella, " when he would
answer — what_ am I made a Bisliop for ? "Why did I take the
office, if not to lay down my life for my flock ? Was I not sent
to preach ' to the poor, to seek the sheep that was lost ? Woe
is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.' Had he loved himseff
better and you less, he would be alive to-day ; but no — his exertions
overpowered him." To properly appreciate his untfring zeal as a
Priest and a patriot, we must remember that the chains of las
situde constantly sought to bind his debilitated frame to the couch.
But from the moment he became a Bishop, he as invariably
snapped them asunder, and plunged into the work before him.
In a letter to Bishop O'Connor, Dr. Doyle says that the acme of
his enjoyment was to recline upon a lounger with a book ; but he
rarely knew what it was to taste it. It is very curious to contrast
the activity of his episcopal and pubUc life with the occasional in
dolence which marked the earUer period of his existence. On
the Sth of February, 1817, we find him confessing that he cannot
muster sufficient resolution to write to his nearest and dearest
fiiends, though perpetuaUy wishing to do so, and thinking of them.
On the 19th of March, 1818, he assures his niece that he neither
reUshes " care or trouble," and that he could not survive more
than two years ff obliged to discharge the duties of President of
Carlow CoUege.
A hundred petty cares daUy contributed to plague the good
Bishop. In December, 1826, he writes to Mrs. Coney, regarding
a deceased member of his famUy : " My last letter informed you
of the distressing circumstances in which I am placed by the pro
ceedings gro-wing out of poor  's wUl. That poor man never
brought anything to his famUy but trouble and loss ; this reflec
tion I could bear patiently, but that aU my thoughts about him
are embittered by the recoUection of his death and the state of
his soul."
Dr. Doyle found it exceedingly difficult to please himself in a
housekeeper. Several were engaged, found wanting, and dis
missed. At length a very desfrable person apparently, and an
old acquaintance of his own, assumed the charge of his keys and
caddy. What reason he had to be pleased with this old lady we
shaU see in the foUowing letter :
"My dear Mary— You may be assured I wUl do aU I can
for W  , in whom you are so interested. Providence seems
to bless all your concerns ; I am confident you wUl ever be mind
ful of His goodness, and continue your charities to the poor.—

508 A TIPSY HOUSEKEEPER.
I am troubled at what you teU me of Mrs.  ¦, and indeed she
gave me great cause to be troubled before she left this. For the
last week she spent here I was obliged to live at the CoUege
nearly the whole 'time, being unable almost to meet her, so
grievously was I hurt by her conduct. On returning home one '
evening, when she did not expect me, I found her, after having
drank to excess, exhibiting herself in that state to all the servants,
and some neighbouring people in the kitchen. I was affiicted
and ashamed, and haring inquired I found she had been so fre
quently, so that I had become the object of pity to my neighbours.
I felt disgraced and degraded on discovering what had been oc
curring in my absence. I always left her money, pass-books,
wine, and spirits, when I went abroad, and when at home she
had free access to them. I had noticed her intemperance two
or three times, but up to this hour I never made known her
weakness to any person — not even to  , lest it should reach
Mrs.  , who would rejoice to pubUsh it, in order to taunt her
and afflict me. Under these circumstances what could I have
done ? It was impossible for me to sit at table or meet a person
who had degraded herself, not only to the servants who were
witnesses and agents of her folly, but to the meighbourhood.
I therefore endeavoured to get rid of her in peace, and to con
ceal for ever from her friends the true cause of her return. I
cannot send for her biUs, for how could I send to a pubUc-house
to get a list of measures of whiskey ? Let her write to some
person whom she knows here to settle for her ; but I cannot
do it." Several weeks later Dr. Doyle recurs to the same theme :
"I am glad that M  sees the very painful cfrcumstances
in which I had been placed by the foUies of our friend. These
foUies have ever since then appeared against me in the shape of
biUs; but I had only to pay them and hold my tongue,"
These cares soon gave place to others of a graver character.
Addressing his niece some days later he writes :
"I need not say I am rejoiced to hear that your health has
improved as weU as that your temporal affairs are so prosperous.
May the Almighty God continue to you His blessings, and enable
you always to use them according to His will. The distresses of
our poor have engrossed a great deal of my care and attention.
We are sadly oppressed in this town with want of every descrip
tion. I moved last Michaelmas into my present residence, and
have been at much trouble and great expense in seeking to furmsh
it even moderately, and fit it for myself and three Curates. We
have yet much to do before it is comfortable ; but in the spring or

A BIT OF CANDOUR. 509
summer, ff we can get money, we wiU do aU we have in contem
plation, by which time I hope you and my step-niece wiU favour
us with a risit."
Dr. Doyle continued to guard weU the entrance of the sanc
tuary, as the best human security for the welfare of the Church of
God. AUuding to a youth of some piety, but of meagre talent,
who had a notion of entering the Church, Dr. Doyle adds : " I
had a letter some time ago from Mrs.  , though I thought my
correspondence with her had closed for ever. Her son has done
no good, nor is he, I fear, capable of doing aily. Finding that all
my efforts to serve the youth were fruitiess, I have disengaged
myseff from him altogether, and recommended his mother to turn
him to hedging and ploughing. The mother herseff I pity very
much, and think I have seldom, if ever, known a more unfortunate
poor woman."
It may be objected by hypercritics, that some of the details we
have given are not sufficiently important for embodiment in a life
of Dr. Doyle. But Dr. Johnson is of opinion that " the incidents
which give exceUence to a biography are of a volatUe and evanes
cent kind — such as soon escape the memory, and are rarely trans
mitted by tradition."
" Minute particulars," says BosweU, " are frequently charac
teristic and always amusing, when they relate to a distinguished
man." And again : "I cannot conceive a more perfect mode of
writing any man's Ufe than not only relating aU the more im
portant events of it in their order, but interwea-ring what he
privately wrote, and said, and thought, by which mankind are
enabled to see him Uve, and to ' Uve o'er each scene' with him, as
he actuaUy advanced through the several stages of his Ufe."
In December, 1826, Dr. Doyle addressed to the principal
Parish Priests in his diocess a letter, containing some sound and
rigUant suggestions. The foUo-wing, dated from Portlaw, was
written to the late Very Eev. John Dunne :
" Very Eev. and dear Sir — Among the objects for which I
write to you at present, the first is, to excite anew your rigUance
to the care of your flock, especiaUy the ,poor and the youth confided
to you, and to beg that you may be unceasing in animating their
faith to resist the great and systematic efforts which are made to
subvert it. To discharge our duty as we are obliged at this time,
we must be more than usuaUy attentive and zealous in preaching
the Word of God, in risiting the poor, and in reUeving, even
beyond our means, the sick and the indigent, shovring great
humihty, and meekness, and disinterestedness in all our actions,
so as that those who are on the opposite side may have no evU to

510 LETTER TO HIS VICAR.
say of us. Without strong reUgious excitement those who are
weak in faith, and pressed on one side by poverty, and on the
other aUured by gifts, may fall from their steadfastness ; and if any
of them should so fall, thefr blood wiU be requfred at our hands,
unless we have done aU in our power, particularly by preaching in
season and out of season, to animate their faith and zeal,
"During the winter, be mindful to have the chUdren of the se
veral viUages assembled at night to learn the Catechism under
the superintendence of some grave person, and to have them
united on Sunday at the chapel, even for a short time before or
after Mass, to account to the members of the Christian Doctrine
Society for what they have leamed at thefr respective homes, I
mention this, because in some places the custom of assembling
the children at catechism on Sundays is interrupted during the
winter months,
" As soon as convenient after the receipt of this, risit, either
by yourself or by a confidential agent, the school of  , in your
parish, reported by the Kildare-place Society as in connexion with
them, and ascertain whether it be so, and also the average number of
scholars, distinguishing Protestants from Catholics, who have been
in attendance during the last three months. Your report of it to
me may hereafter be stated in Parliament, and hence you -wiU per
ceive the necessity of being accmate, [Here foUowed a long Ust
of schools.] You will also be pleased to send me a copy of the
census of the people. of your parish, distinguishing Protestants
from Catholics, and church Protestants from Dissenters — also, the
number of Protestants who, within the last twelve months, have
been converted to the Catholic faith.
" I hope that your exertions to erect the parochial schools ac
cording to the plan prescribed by me continue unrelaxed, and that
in the spring I shaU have the satisfaction of finding them in a state
of great forwardness. To this subject my most anxious attention
wiU continue to be directed, untU, with God's help, we -wiU have
completed the good work we have begun."
A new difficulty sprung up in the face of Dr. Doyle's anxious
desire to erect thoroughly CathoUc school-houses throughout the
diocess. The landlords generaUy favoured the KUdare-place sys
tem of education, and not a few of them refused to grant sites for
the purpose avowed by Dr, Doyle, In many instances the Clergy
were constrained to use their chapels for instruction, or to erect
school-houses in the grave-yards ; and for long after, the cheerful
ring of chUdrens' voices might be heard echoing where the funeral
keene had so often preriously been wailed.
The Bishop haring ascertained that a fund for educational pur-

CHRISTIAN AMBITION. 511
poses was placed at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant, he applied
to the Marquis Wellesley for some portion of it. The appUcation
was at first decUned, but Dr, Doyle argued the point with such
cogency and earnestness that the Viceroy at length acceded to his
request. Early in his episcopacy he was heard to declare that if Provi
dence but lent him Ufe to see every parish in the united diocesses
of Kildare and Leighlin furnished each with a convenient church,
and one weU-ordered male and one female school, he would end
his course in joy. How refreshing to find, in the centre of a world
deluded by the baubles of empty distinction, one great spirit eman
cipated from the snare, and aU the aspirations of its bright ambi
tion bounded by such wishes as these !

END OF VOL. I.

ON THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF
MR. WILLIAM JOM FITZPATRICK, J.P.

Second Edition, enlarged by 200 pp.. Price 5s., cloth, gilt (London : Skeet.
Dublin: W, B, Kelly, 8, Grafton-street),

"LADY MOEGAN;

HEE CAEEEE, LITEEAEY AND
SONAL ;"

PEE-

WITH A GLIMPSE OF HER FRIENDS AND TIMES.

Good and honest. . . . Curious. The
writer has bestowed his heart not less than
his industry upon his task. ... A volume
full of good things, and informed with a
genuine love. We foresee a demand for the
book at the hbraries, with the speedy issue
of i new edition. . . . The most serious
part of his labour is a reply to Croker's ma
lignant articles. He answers Croker, not
like Lady Morgan, with airy banter and de
lightful mockery, but with solid fact. Mr,
Fitzpatrick has given us a work to which we
may refer all those wbo may be in search of
some trustworthy information about " Lady
Morgan, her Friends, Foes, and Adven
tures," — AlheniBum.
We are indebted to the spirited author of
" The Friends, Foes, and Adventures ot Lady
Morgan," for having embodied such points
as were worthy of preservation from that
pleasant, genial, and gossiping book, added
a mass of new and important matter, and
hence thus given to the public, in a cheap,
accessible form, at once a trustworthy and a
readable hfe of that very remarkable lady.
It is gratifying to find this extraordinary
"woman's life told in so brief, agreeable,
straightforward, and honest a manner. If
we wire to say that none but an Irishman
could have done justice to such a subject,
we should only say what we beheve; the
same amount of research, and even the same
amount of sympathy, might have been found
on this side of the Channel, but the hearty
Celtic raciness and local colour, never. In
deed, if we were to say, with an Irish Con
servative paper, that there is but one man in
the United Kingdom who could have pro
duced this book, we should, perhaps, be still
nearer the mark. The spirit of inquiry
which exhausts every source of information,
the perseverance and tact, and the genial
warmth, are characteristics only of the
author of the "Life and Times of Lord Clon
curry," and of the " Note on the Cornwallis
Papers," — New Monthly Magazine [edited
h ^. Harrison Ainsworth, Esq.)

Mr. Fitzpatrick bas compiled and written
an amusing and interesting memoir of Lady
Morgan. . , . The warm-hearted feelings,
such as Lady Morgan possessed, ber accom
plished biographer evidently partakes of,
. . . . Assuredly it is an interesting
memorial of one of Ireland's gifted daugh
ters, and creditable to her memory, as well
as to its author's talents. — Dublin Uni
versity Magazine.
We conclude as we began, by saying that
Mr, Fitzpatrick has given us a very pleasant
and well-written book, wonderfully accurate
in its details, and neatly balanced between
history and memoir, with a happy sprinkling
of well-told anecdotes to relieve the dryness
of both. He isone of those biographers who
delight in difficulties, and seems always dis
contented uniil he can hunt the loose as
sertions of others into a corner, and reduce
them to positive facts. Regarding him as an
author who has chosen his subdivision of
literary labour, and has all the requisites to
enable him to take a foremost stand amongst
those who cultivate the portion he has se
lected, we have au ardent hope that he will
not desist from. his exertions, and that we
may hereafter meet him on a broader and
more comprehensive field, where his talewts
and industry will have full play, with the
certainty of adequate reward, — Literary
Gazette. Pleasant, genial, and gossiping, on that
most brilliant of Ireland's daughters. The
author has succeeded in throwing much new
and interesting light upon Lady Morgan's
early hfe and labours, and produced a book
creditable to her memory and to his own
talents, Mr, Fitzpatrick's valuable "Note
on the Cornwallis Papers" gave evidence of
the store of curious materials for the literary
and poUtical history of Ireland which he has
at his command; and the present volume
encourages us to hope that we may soon be
favoured with fresh evidence of his readiness
and ability to make use of them,— Woto and
Queries.

2

The space which she occupied for up
wards of half a century in the literature of
her country, entitles her to a large measure
of posthumous honour, and we rejoice to find
her eloge pronounced by one who feels so
warmly, and can express hiinself so well,
Mr. Fitzpatrick's book is well adapted to
extend Lady Morgan's fame amongst a class
of sqciety where her name has heen hithertb
no recommendation to a closer acquaintance.
It is a most agreeable volume, and will find
acceptance in all circles. We have no space
for the fund of literary and miscellaneous
gossip which relieves the graver points of
this publication, and renders it one of the
most amusing volumes of the day, — London
Review {conducted by Charles Mackay).
Exceedingly interesting. In Mr. Fitz-
Patrick, Lady Morgan has found a con
scientious and painstaking biographer. Per
haps the most interesting part is bis pre
Uminary chapters, in which he sketches the
career of her father. . . . Here and
there, too, are glances of other celebrities of
the day, foreign as well as British. Mr.
Fitzpatrick has finished his task in a very
workmanlike manner, and has completed it
in a tone and temper which must satisfy
Lady Morgan's admirers and friends, without
offending anybody else. — Globe,
An extremely amusing little book. —
Critic. Mr. Fitzpatrick, who is already known as
one of the most graceful biographical writers
of the day, has just issued this volume, and
well does it sustain his reputation . . .
Of absorbing interest. No book of this
class that has appeared for years possesses
more attractions than the volume before us.
Biographers often confine themselves to
mere dry details, hut Mr, Fitzpatrick goes
into his subject like a man in earnest, whose
mind is bent on accompUshing a great ob
ject, and having thrown the power of his
vigorous intellect ii)to the task, complete
success crowns his labouj-s. There is a pe-
cnliarly graceful, , indeed we may say, a fas
cinating charpii ahput the author's style,,and;
this never flag? ip, interest.^ Besides this
peculiarity, the author exhibits,a degree of
research after truth and facts which is per
fectly astonishing. As a spirited, stirring,
and gossiping writer, we know none to sur
pass Mr. Fitzpatrick,, and hardly any to
equal him . . . One of the most de
lightful and interesting works of the day. —
Post. Pleasant and trustworthy, with a con
siderable amount of fresh information, either

rescued from oblivion by ransacking reposi
tories inaccessible to the general public, or
contained in documents which now appear
in print for the first time. — Spectator.
Mr. Fitzpatrick has been long known and
appreciated on both sides of the Channel as
a biographical and general writer, chiefly by
his Life of Lord Cloncurry, a work which
has received universal recognition, and bids
fair to occupy a permanent place in the
literature of the centufy. His talents pe
cuUarly fit him for this class of composition ;
he possesses the indefatigable industry in
collecting, the discrimination in selecting
materials, which is the first merit of the
biographer ; considerable power in grouping
bis details, so as to place his subject in a life
like and striking light ; while the patriotic
spirit which dictates the choice of his themes,
and animates his pages, constitutes not the
least of his merits. Not only does this work
enable us to fotm an intimate acquaintance
with the brilliant Irishwoman whom it traces
through her loiig and versatile existence, lite
rary and social, but it abounds with sketches
of old Dubhn society, is thickly sprinkled
with curious local and personal anecdotes, de
rived from all sorts of out-of-the-way and re
condite sources, is interspersed *rith sped-
mens of her poetry and correspondence, and
enlivened with gossip, newspaper pasquinades,
and, in fine, every description of interesting,
lively, and valuable memento connected
with the long period of eighty-four years,
over which the varied existence qf the dis
tinguished authoress extended. — Nation.
We entertain a high opinioii of the
author's abilities, and feel indebted to liim,
in no small degree, on the part of the public,
for the great paips he has taken to perfect
as neat a piece of biography as we have had
to_ read for many a day. Mr, Fitzpatrick's
defence of Lady Morgan, against J, Wilson
Croker's venomous attacks, is exceedingly
well reasoned and successf ub Above all the
qualities in a biographer, we are disposed to
place accurateness ; and oiir author is a
pattern for writers in this respeiCt. He has
put forward as fact nothing for the authen
ticity of which he has not found a!bs61ute
proof. 1*his circiimstance will give his
readers confidence, and greatly aiigment the
interest of the periformance. . . . The
gossip about Owerison . . . is racy and
alluring. But good as this chapter is, it only
serves to open a rare feiist. 'The entertain.
ment is naanaged with spirit throughout,
aiid there js not a page in which one tire's.
We regard Mr, Fitzpatrick as a highly iccbm-
piished and hitherto successful litterateur,
well fitted to instruct and please the pubhc.

His style is easy and natural, , . , It is
never inaccurate, and always musical and
transparent. The work, judged as a biog
raphy, is thoroughly well written. It is
arranged with skill and extreme care, —
H'arder, May 19th, 1860.
The author has not placed his name upon
the title.page ; but we believe there is but
one man in tbe United Kingdora who could
have produced this work. The spirit of
inquiry which exhausts every source of in
formation — tbe intimate acquaintance with
files of newspapers half a century old, with
ancient almanacs and directories, and all
sorts of contemporary records — the perse.
verance and the tact — the Roman Catholic
and Celtic sympathies combined with tole
rant sentiments and enlarged views — the
quiet humour — the genial spirit and racy
style— the ardent love of literary biography
inspired by intense nationality, all point to
the author of the " Note on the Cornwallis
Papers," and the " Life and Times of Clon
curry," as the writer of the Memoirs of
Lady Morgan. A professed litterateur
would make two splendid volumes out of
these materials, and the pubUshed price
would be a guinea. Mr. Fitzpatrick does
not stop to beat out his gold into a thin
leaf; he collects tbe grains of the precious
metal as diligently and eagerly as an Aus-
traUau digger, and deals out his accumulated
treasures as prodigally. The public, how
ever, are the gainers, and we thank the
learned and accomplished author, — Daily
^Express {on the first edition).
Of yalne to any student of Irish history,
¦ . . Manly and honest. . . . Genial,
A memoir that will delight, instruct, and
weary not at aU, — Irishman.
Valuable and really interesting. Mr.
Fitsspatrick's efforts have heen crowned with
success.— i)«4/m Evening Post.
I^is style has become as clear, nervous,
and precise, as that which can be found in
the best prose of his cotemporaries, —
Morning News.
An amusing and desirable companion
^either in the drawing-room, study, or quiet
(ramble. A pleasant melange of sobriety and
J fiin. ' . . . A very interesting volume, —
,CoTk Examiner.
There is no more industrious groper or
gleaner in Irish history than this gentleman,
and there is no lady whose career affords
¦richer materials for an interesting biography
^(han Lady Morgan, or greater scope for in

terweaving with it sketches and incidents of
person and character,— Cor* Constitution.
Evidently the author of this work is the
right man in the right place. He has dealt
with a worthy subject in a worthy way, and
has accumulated a mass of illustrative mate
rial, anecdotes, and social revelations, which
must have cost him a world ot research.
All this is pnt together in so lucid, fluent,
and workmanlike a manner, as to leave a
regretful feeUng on the mind that he had
not extended bis volume into one of quadru
ple tbe size. Its author deserves tbe grati
tude of every Irishman. — Telegraph.
A most deUghtful volume: once taken up
it cannot be laid aside until read through
aud through. It is a complete cyclopaedia
ot Irish celebrities from 1774 to 1858. We
learn more of the social state and habits of
the time from this neat and unpretending
volume than any other source we know of.
Actors, statesmen, clubbists, authors come
before us, sketched in living colours by a
few brief but masterly touches. The book
is, besides, the best life of Lady Morgan. —
Irish Times.
An excellent book. Mr. Fitzpatrick is
one of those laborious and fortunate stu
dents to whom facts, dates, and all the va
rious raw materials which go to make up
tbe finished article of history, essay, or biog
raphy, are precious iu themselves ; and by
whom tbey are dug up and treasured wisely
for future use, as being, in reality, more va
luable than gold itself. Hence, when the
occasion arises, when the incident occurs, '
when the demand is made, which requires
facts, no inatter how rare or how scattered,
Mr, Fitzpatrick, as he has on more than one
occasion proved, is ready to appear before
tbe inquiring public, at the shortest notice,
with his rich budget of information. — Re
view {edited by Prof. Cameron).
Carefully written and well timed. It is a
good thing well done. He has brought dili
gence, learning, honesty of purpose, and
practical patriotism to his task ; and, still
more, he has compressed a vast quantity of
the most valuable and interesting matter
into the most economical space, so as that
no reader, however humble, who wishes to
know what Ireland was, and how she was
saved, more than half a century ago, need
hesitate to invest his money in the purchase
of one of the cheapest, pleasantest. and best
digested biographies which we have read for
many a long Aa-y.— Duffy's Hibernian Ma
gazine,

4

Royal 8vo, 6\0 pp., Price Six Shillings {Dublin : Duffy),
THE LIFE, TIMES, AND CONTEMPOEAEIES OF LOED
CLONCUEEY."

Lord Clencurry's " Personal Recollec
tions" being far enough from biography,
and, moreover, not unclouded by infirmities
ot age, a systematically written life of the
patriotic nobleman was worth giving to the
pubhc ; and now that it is given, we may
say is worth having from Mr. W. J. Fitz
patrick. Cloncurry's history is. In no small
measure, the tale of Ireland during the last
sixty years or more. We need not dilate
upon its interest. Mr, Fitzpatrick writes
with much pleasant warmth of feeUng, —
Examiner {edited by John Forster).
We took up this book with the intention
of skimming lightly over it in half an hour
or so, but bave been so fascinated that we
have read it through from cover to cover
with unflagging zest and interest. It is well
worthy of the reputation it has already ac
quired. — Dublin Review.
Simply to say that we recommend this
. book to the perusal ot our readers would be
to speak coldly of it. Our opinion is, tbat
every man who takes the sUghtest interest
in the history ot Ireland should necessarily
read it. There seems to have been a con
spiracy amongst all writers about the times
in which the Union took place, that they
should merely announce the event, but keep
silence as to tbe machinery by which it was
produced. But in these pages a clear and
bright light is thrown upon an era so often
mentioned and so little understood, at all
events on this side ot the channel. The
author tells us that he has written as a par
tisan. We do not see how he could have
written otherwise with such a subject to
treat of. We never, we are sorry and
ashamed to say, set foot upon the green turf
of Ireland, nor eye upon her sparkling
rivers ; but, nevertheless, we felt Irish all
over as we read his most interesting pages,
and all the exciting story which they tell.
The book is one for every Ubrary. It is one,
indeed, without which no library can be
complete. We say so advisedly, after a most
careful and delighted perusal of it  Liver
pool Albion.
Facts, incidents, and anecdotes, showing
the rapid vicissitudes ot popular opinion, are
collected by the author. Light is thrown
upon the character of the Repeal agitation,
and on many other movements. Upon these
polemical questions we cannot, of course.

pronounce any opinion ; but we may show
the character of the political revelations in
these pages by a tew citations. It is not
often that so much curious matter is pre
sented to us, — Athenaeum.
This is an Irish book, Irish and Irish all
over, written by an Irishman of an Irishman,
printed in Ireland and bound iu Ireland;-
and, let us add, well bound, well printed,
well written, and about a man whose cha
racter no praise can reach, no eulogy exag
gerate. It is, in truth, a very interesting
volume, throwing great light upon the period
ot tbe union of the two kingdoms. In read
ing this account of a most eventful era,
many things bave been made plain and clear
to us which were before either secrets or
mysteries to our comprehension. No library
should be without this valuable contribution
to biography and history. The volume is
not only well got up, hut we are bound to
add that, for the matter which it contains,
it is positively a miracle of cheapness. There
is no margin for profits. It must have been
written for love and glory. — Doncaster Ga
zette. In many respects the work is of a more
authentic character than the previous auto
biography of its subject, aud as such it will
be referred to hy any modern historian of
Ireland. It contains an immense variety of
Irish matter, and its typography is creditable
to the Dublin press.— Press.
We began to read this book as a labour
of duty to gratify the wishes of a friend.
But we continued to read it as a labour ot
love, or rather not a labour at all, hut all for
love, as soon as we had got fairly into its
pages. And certainly it has not been ' love's
labour lost' to us. We do not know when —
we do not, indeed, know if ever we read a
more instructive and interesting volume.
The men of the present generation have so
often beard ot the wrongs of Ireland trom
all sorts of ambitious, amphibious, or ambi
guous people, that, in many instances, they
liave begun to set down the phrase as a
mere facon de purler, or, at best, as poli
tical capital to serve as a war-cry to rally a
party, or tor the meaner purpose of being
turned to account by some clamorous Irish
member. But here we are taught that these ,
wrongs were real and substantial, really in- ,
flicted and really suffered, and the perpe-

trators of them are set before the world in
the pillory of history, from which they never
shall be taken down. We should recom
mend all our readers to the careful study ot
this book. It stretches over a period of
Irish affairs the most exciting and stirring,
but with regard to which too many bave
been satisfied (perhaps for want of a clear
instructor) to remain profoundly ignorant.
It makes plain things, which have been
mysteries to many, draws the veil from
many a dark scene, and points out who were
the actors in them, and sets before us many
and many a proof of the correctness of the
saying that " Truth is stranger than fiction,"
The character of Lord Cloncurry is perfectly
charming. No writer ot romance could
have painted so excellent a person as this
actual man. Mr. Fitzpatrick has done his
part well ; we congratulate him on his suc
cess, which we say, without fear of contra
diction, is great and undoubted in this in
teresting book. — Leicestershire Mercury.
This book shows that its writer possesses
¦ many of the necessary component qualities
of a biographer — honesty of purpose and
judgment, a spirit of patient and laborious
inquiry, a love of his task, a talent for
writing agreeably, and seizing interesting
points in his subject. . . . The reader
will find the history ably, zealously, and
honestly recorded by Mr. Fitzpatrick. —
Irish Quarterly Review.
A more accurate record ot Irish political
history, during the past eighty years, could
not well be prepared from the materials
available for such a work. — Dublin Evening
Post. Lord Cloncurry maintained a political
' consistency to the last, while all around had
changed. As a man, he was kind-hearted
and liberal. Mr. Fitzpatrick has picked up
a good many facts and traditions respecting
Nicholas Lawless and his friends, racy in
themselves, as well as throwing light upon
Dublin, its citizens, and manners, for a good
part of the last century. He has collected
a number of facts from oral tradition or con-
tempory record which are curious in their
way. — ^ectator.
This is a most interesting book, and
should be universally read. It is at once a
volume for the drawing-room, for the li
brary, and tor the million. The most casual
student will find charms in it for any time
which he may expend upon it, while it has
matter in its pages to rivet the attention of
the most profound thinker. It purports in
ts title-page to be the biography of an il

lustrious individual; but it Is, in truth,
much more. It is the history of a nation
during the period in which that individual
stood forth amongst her leaders, as the
champion ot ber rights, and the advocate of
her interests. . . . But let us not forget
the author, while standing with admiration
and respect before the hero ot his work. He
has performed bis part extremely well. It
is easy to see that his heart has been in bis
labours. That is the secret ot his success.
A mere book-maker might have supphed us
with dry chronicles ot the late Lord Clon
curry, and we might have read them — and
forgotten them. But there is no oblivion
after reading Mr. Fitzpatrick's pages. —
Gainsborough News.
We say that Mr, Fitzpatrick has produced
one of the most interesting and valuable
biographies that has been written in Ireland
for several years, — Nation.
We are glad to be able to bear testimony
to Mr. Fitzpatrick having produced not only
a readable aud agreeable, but also a highly
interesting volume. The work reflects cre
dit on its author, and is well deserving of
public patronage. — Evening Packet.
A book which few readers can take up
without admiration and interest. — Cork Ex
aminer, Mr. Fitzpatrick has done well to embalm
the memory ot so worthy a subject, and we
congratulate him on the skill with which he
has linked together the historical and per
sonal narrative, so as to form one unbroken
and continuous whole. ... He enters
deeply into the somewhat romantic history
of the family of Lawless, and he embodies a
great variety of antiquarian and historical
matter as be goes along; and all this he
does, too, in a straightforward style, which
is one ot the principal attractions ot the
book, making it more like one of those
agreeable serai-historical French memoirs,
for which literature is so much indebted to
our lively continental neighbours, than to
the graver and more elaborate essays which
English biographers dignify with a more
pretending title. — Family Herald.
There is a freshness and raciness in his
style which cannot tail to interest even those
readers who differ from him in politics. . .
There is no intolerance or fanaticism about
him. On the contrary, his tone is so can
did, genial, and gentlemanly, that the reader
cannot but Uke him, and we are sure that a
personal acquaintance with him would
greatly increase the feeUng. Our Conser-

6

vative contemporaries in Dublin have spoken
of his work in very favourable ternas. The
sketches of character interspersed are very
able, while the memoirs ot Lord Cloncurry
and ot his father are invested with an al
most romantic interest. We cannot but give
a warm meed of praise to the author for the
proofs he bas exhibited in these pages of a
highly cultivated mind, and ot talents which
promise to give him a very high place among
the public writers ot the. day. These proofs
consist, not only in a graphic style and a
vivid imagination, hut in ;full and accurate
information, and sonscientious industry in
the collection of facts, ' without which no
historical work is worthy of confidence. —
Belfast Chronicle.
The author had a world of labour before
him, and right manfully bas he got through
his task. — Telegraph.
A very interesting volume. . . . Written
in a light, easy style. A hearty, racy nation
ality pervades the whole. — Freeman's Jour
nal (First Notice).
The pleasure which we derived from a
persual of this volume, we wish Qthers to
enjoy ; and we recur to it now. . . .
Its value is considerably enhanced hy pos
sessing a number of letters written by Lord
Cloncurry to his political friends, which had
not previously been laid before the public.
These letters possess most interesting mat
ter, . . . For the book itself, it is written
: in a pleasing, graceful style. The language
is often eloquent — always just and expres
sive, . . . We cannot conclude without
congratulating Mr. Fitzpatrick on having
produced, in a manner so creditable to him
self, a work which constitutes a most valua
ble addition to our national literature,
whether we consider it as a biography ot the
patriot, or as a biographical history of the
most eventful period ot our country. —
Freman's Journal (Second Notice).
We return to this most interesting hook, —
Telegraph. Dear reader, allow us to introduce to your
notice anew work with which we haveformed
a firm friendship, and trom which we have
deriived much pleasure and instruction. —
Wexford Guardian.
Interestingand valuable — Tablet.
His correspondence deals with Irishmen
and Irish affairs in a. remarkably racy and
original style, and contains some opinions
which are worth their weight in gold. . .

A most interesting and valuable biography, —
Nation (Second Notice).
This hook contains facts more interesting
and curious than fiction. We heartily wish
every Englishman really knew tbe real and
substantial wrongs committed against Ire
land in our own time. This book records
enough to open their eyes. Unfortunately
such books are not read by many English
men. It will be a real service to Ireland to
make known in England the sickening
tyranny and injustice under which she has
suffered — a service much greater even than
that which Sir Walter Scott did tor Scot
land. Lord Cloncurry's Ufe is made a thread
to string together a set of Irish diamonds.
Mr, Fitzpatrick has plenty of talent. Future
writers will n^ake use ot the many interest
ing tacts collected by Mr, Fitzpatrick : we
hope to do so oui;?elyes. — Weeily Register.
We have been , delighted with this book.
We would not bave missed reading it on any
account. It contains food for deep thought,
food tor the statesman, food for the philo- .
sopher, food for the Christian, food for every
kind and class of reader. It is a volume
which we can most earnestly ^nd sincerely
recommend, and which ought, indeed, to
be on the shelf pf every library in every
Mechanics' and Literary Institute in the
coiintry; and not only on. the shelf, but in
the hands often of every SBbscriber. It will
well repay perusah We feel thankful to the
author for tbe gratification which we have
derived from reading this work. Although
it is chiefly about Ireland, our cry, in this
instance, is, " Ireland for the English, if you
please, as well as for the Irish," Emphati
cally, then, we repeat our recommendation
of it. — Epworth Herald.
Commendable diligence and skill, — North
British Review.
We strongly recommend this book to the
public, as the best resume of Irish history
for the last halt century, — Kilkenny Journal.
There were giants in those days ! and
Mr. Fitzpatrick sets them beioie us — no
array of phantom kings, like those of Ban-
quo's Une, but real men of flesh and blood,
great actors in great scenes, whose memory
wiU " stretch out to the crack of doom" it
self — the magnificent Grattan ; the brilliant
Curran ; Cloncurry himself, " second to
none" in any of the attributes of true great
ness ; the real Irish giant, O'Connell ; Shei.,
the incarnation of eloquence; and, on the
other hand, Castlereagh, the elegant and
polished poker of the fires of per ecution ;

filzgibbon, that colossal traitor to his
country, a stranger to mercy and to kind
ness; Toler, from whom Sir Walter Scott
must have borrowed bis character ot the face
tious hangman ; these, and a host ot others,
names great for good or evil, the author
places before us until we become thoroughly
acquainted with them, and carry away with
n8 a mind-picture of each framed in the
memory tor ever. And some of the minor
performers in the awful drama then enacted
are also placed before us at full length,
word-painted to the very life, such as Rey
nolds the spy, and the awful Major Sirr, the
most ferocious of all the savages whose
names, written in blood, disgrace the page of
history. . . . The author has given us a
book with which we have been delighted.
It is not only a readable but a charming
volume, aud, moreover, it is ot men, and
times, and things about whom and which
every student of history should hasten to
make himself acquainted. — Lincolnshire
Times. [Many critiques on Mr. Fitzpatrick's work

appeared in tbe New World. The following
wiU serve to convey an idea of their tone,]
Here is really a good book — one of the
most important accessions made to Irish
biography in the present generation. We
only do the author justice ^hen we say tbat
he has executed his task with much ability.
His narrative is characterized by great fide
lity, and by an abundance of tacts, highly
interesting in themselves, collected by
patient industry, and woven into a consistent
memoir by a genial hand, A volume has
been published, entitled " The Personal Re
collections of Lord Cloncurry," but it does
not by any raeans forestall the magnificent
work of Mr. Fitzpatrick, which extends over
600 pages, consisting, for the most part, of
new matter. The materials, plan, and de
sign, are difl'erent. Tbe Irish race, whether
in Ireland or America, or in whatever zone
destiny has cast their lot, owe Mr. Fitz
patrick a deep debt of gratitude for the
work he has accomplished. — New York
Citizen.

Large Svo, Price Tioo Shillings {Dublin : Kellvj.
"LOED EDWAED FITZGEEALD AND HIS BETEAYEES;
OR, A NOTE ON THE CORNWALLIS PAPERS."

This biography reads like so many pages
out ot Mr, Lever's Con Cregan, or the Irish
Gil Bias; but Mr. Fitzpatrick quotes seve
ral legal and literary documents to authen
ticate his text. Facts in abundance are pro
duced. As illustrative ot the state of Irish
political society in those days this tract is
extremely curious. Extraordinary power of
social research . . . Most, curious . . .
This tract merits preservation. The mass of
social and personal knowledge accumulated
by Mr. Fitzpatrick is very striking. He writes
like an ex post facto Boswell, and the research
with which he amasses minute particulars is
a speciaUty with bim. It is for want, here
tofore, of detailed and accurate domestic
knowledge, that Irish history is so crude and
colourless ; and works hke those ot Mr.
Fitzpatrick have value. We perceive that
Mr. Fitzpatrick is about to bring out a biog
raphy of the eminent Catholic leader Dr.
Doyle, whose pen wielded potent sway. He
was a remarkable man ; his views . . . were
liberal and progressive ; and circumstances
which have recently taken place give addi
tional importance to the forthcoming work, —
Athenaum.

The story of Francis Higgins, the pot-boy
ot Fishamble-street, the pretended pervert
who cheated a poor, confiding priest, the
speculator in matrimony who robbed his
wife and maddened her to death, the clerk
who was the pimp and pander of his libidin
ous master, the journalist who defamed all
honest men and did the ribald work of a
scoundrel government, the "justice" who
heaped blacker infamy on a bench disgraced
already hy magisterial iniquity, the spy who
purchased wealth by tbe blood of the noblest
hearts in the land — the story ot this wretch,
so leprosied with guilt, is but a condensation
ot the history of his time. Every agent of
the EngUsh government at that bloody hour
of Irish slavery was a villain, as saturated in
private vice as covered by public iniquity,
Mr. Fitzpatrick's picture gallery, gathered
into so small a space, is terrible : in Madame
Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors you bave
nothing like it. We heartily tender our
thanks for this most excellent pamphlet — its
composition is so much more good work done
in the cause of Ireland; and we strongly
advise all nationalists to get possession ot
this valuable brochure, and read it carefully
and attentively. — Irishman.

8

As strange as any fiction that the wildest
romancist could invent. Mr. Fitzpatrick's
industry, patience, and discrimination in dis
interring buried and long-forgotten facts, are
wonderful. The files ot old newspapers, and
contemporary records of every kind are ran
sacked hy him with unwearied perseverance.
He will pursue the faintest traces of some
fact until he has found its hiding-place.
But his talent in construction is not less
admirable. He collects his isolated facts to
gether, and produces a narrative full of in
terest, like a naturalist constructing a skele
ton out of scattered bones. The story of
Francis Higgins is one of the most extraor
dinary, perhaps, that the annals ot Dublin
can produce. But in connexion with that,
many other stories are brought to light,
strikingly illustrating the state of society in
this city seventy years ago. This pamphlet
will, no doubt, have a wide circulation, on
account of its curious revelations, and the
light it throws on DubUn society in the last
century. — Daily Express,
The awful depth of corruption and ras-
cahty which the Cornwallis Papers has dis-
closed, as to the affairs ot Ireland, may Well
form the subject of a. tuther notice, when we
shall avail ourselves of the singular and im
portant mass of information which Mr. Fitz.
Patrick has placed at our disposal. — Dublin
Review. The author of this brochure belongs to a
class of men the number of whom is infini-
tesimally small. Like the SiciUan diver, he
has ventured to the bottom of the well ; and,
where others have failed to find the price
less pearl, truth, he has not only disco
vered but brought it np to this world of ours.

By a happy combination and peculiar con
texture, Mr. Fitzpatrick has interwoven a
series of most rare and interesting episodes
with his narrative. But the title he has
given to this valuable contribution is tar too
insignificant for the importance and amount
of the information it embraces. We shall
avail ourselves occasionally of its pages for
contributions to our columns. The Corn
wallis Papers attracted considerable atten
tion, but we have not tound in them any
thing that has interested us so much as Mr.
Fitzpatrick's very valuable "Note." — Tele
graph. This is a curious collection of materials for
illustrating the state of party and the Press
at a most momentous period of Ireland's
history. It throws much light upon many
parts of the Cornwallis Correspondence ; but
is well worth reading without any reference
to that work. — Notes and Queries.
A most interesting pamphlet. There is
no one better qualified than Mr. Fitzpatrick
to write on any question of Irish modern
history, for tbere is no one who has devoted
himself more ardently or perseveringly than
he has done to its patient study. — Weekly
Register, WilUam John Fitzpatrick, who has already
obtained a high reputation tor his profound
knowledge of the recent history of Ireland,
and his lucid manner of iUustrating it, —
Freeman's Journal.
[For other encomiums at home and abroad
see Galignani's Messenger, the Dublin Even
ing Post, &c.]

•,* A second edition of this work, illustrated by a mass of new facts, is in the press.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 04077 2783

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