following resolutions were passed unanimously, and with enthusiastic acclamation :

"Resolved, that we, the Catholic members of the Loyal National Repeal Association, have read, with the profoundest respect and the most dutiful acquiescence, the resolutions adopted at the meeting of our venerated archbishops and bishops-the venerated hierarchy of the Catholic church in Ireland. These most reverend and very reverend prelates possess our entire veneration, respect, and Christian submission to the apostolic authority.

"Resolved, that the Catholic laity of Ireland hold in the utmost abhorrence any attempt to influence our venerated clergy by tendering to them the filthy mammon of this world. That the laity will universally support and uphold them in their rejection of any species of state provision-firmly convinced as they are that the control of the church by the state is calculated only to degrade and contaminate the sacred offices of religion, to diminish the utility of the clergy, and to introduce hirelings in the place of the sainted pastors of faithful flocks."

Now these proceedings, in the judgment of some credulous dissenters, demonstrate beyond the possibility of mistake, that the question is now settled, and that the Romish hierarchy of Ireland are henceforth committed entirely and for ever to the voluntary principle!

Do our easy, ardent brethren, we may be allowed to inquire, take sufficient pains to inform themselves on this most vital question?

Let them hear the language of a Catholic writer who is familiar with the opinions of the Romish hierarchy in Ireland upon this very topic. "If we advocate an endowment, it is to make the clergy independent : independent of every person and every thing but God and their spiritual superiors. The voluntary system, as a principle, we abhor, because under it the clergy are not independent; because under it ecclesiastical discipline has not always free course; because under it the clergyman has often too great a temptation to court the graces of those whom he is appointed to instruct, and not to flatter. No one, therefore, can deny, that we are fully alive to the evils of the voluntary system, to the perils of the unendowed church. But yet it is not well to rush headlong from one extreme to another. Dependence is dependence, under whatever form it may show itself; and of the two we prefer the dependence of the clergy upon the faithful, whom God's grace and the sacraments may keep within the circle of their duties, rather than upon the unfaithful, from whom we have no reason to expect any thing but hostility, and for whom we have no right to anticipate any supernatural guidance whatever."*

This language shows that what is called the voluntary principle does not work well in Ireland, and that a support derived neither from parliamentary grants, nor from popular contributions, is that after which the popish prelates really aspire.

On the real state of what is by a strange misnomer called the

*The Tablet, December 2nd, 1843.

voluntary support of the priesthood, we shall quote from an Essay that was published ten years ago by a parish priest in Ireland, and which may well account for the language we have just cited.

"The noisy declaimers of the day insist that the clergy should depend for their subsistence upon the voluntary contributions of their flocks; for that otherwise they would not attend to the duties of their ministry. It is not perhaps easy to define what is here meant by the phrase 'voluntary contribution.' No doubt the money given to the Catholic clergy for their support, or for the performance of their functions, is not paid under the sanction of law. Priests cannot take any legal steps or institute any civil process for the recovery of church dues. But are all payments not compellable by law, to be denominated voluntary contributions? Can moneys paid through terror or under the influence of public opinion, or through a sense of commutative justice, be classed under this head? Doubtless many persons cheerfully contribute to the support of their clergy, and pay without reluctance upon every necessary occasion. But, on the other hand, very many act a different part-many who would, if left to their own free choice, pay not a single stiver into the ecclesiastical treasury. These persons part with their money through terror of public exposure and the superstitious fear of sacerdotal hostility. Church dues, in short, are sanctioned by custom, and exacted by an authority as powerful-perhaps more powerful -than that of the law of the land.

"The mode of exacting clerical dues is quite arbitrary and capricious; fixedness and uniformity are out of the question. Almost every thing depends upon the temper and disposition of the clergyman. There are salutary regulations in every diocess respecting church dues as well as other points of church discipline—put forth by episcopal and synodical authority. Specific sums are laid down as the remuneration to be demanded and paid for the performance of such and such religious rites-for the celebration of marriage, or the oblation of the mass, or the half-yearly administration of the eucharist. These authorised exactions as may be supposed are moderate enough, and would not be at all adequate to supply the wants of an aspiring priesthood. Every priest, therefore, looking to his peculiar necessities, or to self-interest, makes the most he can of his ministry, and multiplies his exactions without any reference to statute law, or episcopal authority. Owing to this departure from fixed rules, the strangest discrepancy prevails even in the same diocess, as to the church demands made upon the people. Some priests, in consequence of their extravagance or their avarice, are much more severe in their exactions than others. They make higher demands for christenings, for weddings, for masses, for confessions, for funerals. It is a fact also that the exactions are continually on the increase; and that the main attention of the clergy appears to be directed towards the enlargement of their incomes. The dues are now nearly double what they were thirty years ago; so that, strange as it may appear, amid the decay of trade and commerce, agriculture and manufacture, the revenues of the Irish Catholic church are in a constant, steady, progressive state of improvement."

"The revenue of the parish priest is derived from a variety of sources. There are confession dues, marriage dues, baptism dues, mass dues, and dues for anointing. He is also paid at times for attendance at funerals. Confession furnishes the most steady and constant source of revenue. Twice a year he collects confession money, under the denomination of Christmas and Easter offerings. The mode of making this collection is not very consonant to the spirit of religion. The priest selects one or two houses in every plough-land or neighbourhood, where he holds, according to appointment, what are called 'stations of confession;' and it is required that the families all about should meet him when he comes among them, upon these occasions;

should make their confessions, receive the holy sacrament, and finally pay the customary dues. It sometimes happens that this business is not transacted quietly. If increased dues are demanded—a thing of occasional occurrence-disagreeable, and sometimes scandalous altercations ensue. Similar scenes occur when individuals attend and crave time for payment; while such as absent themselves, unless they send the dues as an apology, are generally made the subject of public abuse and exposure. All these things take place in connexion with the celebration of mass and the administration of two sacraments-penance and the eucharist or the Lord's supper. The association must be admitted to be rather an unholy one. If no money was to be paid on such occasions, all things would go on well, and the whole scene would be religious and edifying. But the intermixture of money transactions and money altercations, changes the entire scene, and proves at once a fatal counteraction to all the previous works of devotion. Most certainly the good of religion requires an alteration in this matter. But supposing all things to go off quietly and without a murmur, is it right that the payment of money should be coupled with the administration of religious rites? The custom on the face of it bears an unholy complexion. It transforms religious rites into merchantable commodities; which the priest prices and turns to his own advantage in the best manner he can. He gives and he gets quid pro quo. This is the appearance of the thing; and the common people do imagine that they pay their money in lieu of getting confession and communion. So deeply indeed, is this persuasion engraven on their minds, that they consider themselves exempt from the obligation of payment, unless they actually get absolution and the holy sacrament-that is, value for their money.

"Come we now to another item of ecclesiastical revenue-marriage money. Marriage is universally acknowledged to be a holy rite; but it is numbered by the Catholic church among the sacraments of the new law. The administration of it, therefore, should be accompanied by every circumstance of solemnity and holiness— to the utter exclusion of every thing of an opposite description. But is this the case? By no means. The administration of this sacrament or rite, generally speaking, takes place under circumstances by no means conformable to the spirit of religion; and all this in consequence of the pecuniary demands made on such occasions. The first thing done, when there is question of marrying a couple, is to make a bargain about the marriage money. This sometimes causes a considerable delay. The remuneration or stipend prescribed by the diocesan statutes is never thought of for a moment. Indeed all statutes respecting money matters are a mere dead letter. The priest drives as hard a bargain as he can, and strives to make the most of the occasion. Marriages are sometimes broken off in consequence of the supposed exorbitance of the demands. All this is in opposition to the intention of the church, and the spirit of religion. It is simony to all intents and purposes—that is, selling a sacrament or spiritual thing for money; and putting on it a worldly value according to the dictates of avarice and caprice, without any reference to fixed rules and regulations. But this is only a preliminary proceeding. Demands of money are made upon such as are present at the marriage-at least upon the male portion of the assembly. This gives rise not unfrequently to a new and unhallowed scene. The transaction may by chance pass off quietly; that is, when every one contributes according to the wishes and expectation of the clergyman. But this does not always happen. In general the demands are considered unreasonable, and the priest is disappointed in his expectations. Some endeavour to evade the payment of any contribution; others give but little; and the few that please the priest are mere exceptions to the general rule. What is the consequence? The clergyman, after begging and entreating for some time to little purpose, gets at length into a rage, utters the most bitter invectives against individuals, abuses, perhaps, the whole

company, and is abused himself in turn, until at length the whole house becomes one frightful scene of confusion and uproar: and all this takes place at the administration of one of the sacraments of the Catholic church-owing too to the present system of ecclesiastical finance. If nothing was to be paid on these occasions, all this scandal would be avoided; and the marriage would be celebrated in a suitable manner. The money part of the transaction causes all the canons of the church touching matrimony to be set at defiance. The publication of the banns prescribed by the Council of Trent is neglected: and why so? Because money must be raised for the maintenance of the bishop; to whom belongs the mulct for license or dispensation. The pecuniary wants of the bishop are the weighty reasons by which it is said he is moved to dispense in the triple publication of the banns of matrimony. This omission gives rise to numberless abuses. Clergymen, particularly in cities and large towns, are frequently imposed on by persons who present themselves for marriage. Clandestinity is practised with ease; children get married without the consent or knowledge of their parents; and persons easily succeed in throwing the priest off his guard, who by reason of affinity or consanguinity, or other mutual relationship, labour under canonical impediments. This would not take place if money were out of the question. For in that case, the banns, as in other countries where there are church establishments, would be regularly published; and no advantage could be taken of the comparative privacy with which the business under existing circumstances may be transacted. The banns, by right, should be published, and the marriage celebrated, in the parish chapel or public place of worship, openly before the congregation. This is the canonical mode-a mode that cannot be observed under the present system of church finance. The necessity or the eagerness for money, and the danger of losing it by delay, occasion the clergyman to dispense in the necessary preliminaries for marriage. The church orders that those who are preparing for marriage should approach the tribunal of penance and make a sacramental confession. This ordinance is agreeable to the doctrine, that matrimony is one of the sacraments of the new law; and one of that description of sacraments, which, to be received worthily, requires, according to the doctrine of the Catholic church, the person receiving to be in a state of grace. The preparation for matrimony, therefore, should be similar to that required for the reception of the eucharist or Lord's supper. This is an ordinance very little attended to; it is in fact generally slurred over; and matrimony itself, though holding as to theory or doctrine, the rank and dignity of a sacrament, is administered as if it were a ceremony having little or no connexion with religion. The payment of the marriage money, and oftentimes the plate money in addition, is now the grand preliminary or preparation. Cupidity is the prime agent; and religion, which may thwart its gratification, is unheeded and unregarded. Thus does the present system of church finance give rise to every species of abuse respecting matrimony, both in regard to the clergy and the laity to practices that are opposed not only to the canons, but even to the doctrine of the Catholic church.

"Scarcely any infant is at present baptized in the parish house of worship, where neither font nor anything else is to be found connected with the ancient mode of administering the sacrament in question. The general rule is to baptize at private houses, or at the priest's house or lodgings, and under circumstances not of a very hallowed description. One leading feature in the transaction on the part of the priest is to get in the customary offering, and to swell, if possible, its amount. The father of the infant pays, as they say, for the baptism; the gossip money is demanded of the sponsors, who sometimes amount to four in number and upwards, contrary to the canons of Trent, but not contrary to the pecuniary interests of the priest. This money is often demanded previous to the administration of the rite; and if not

promptly and satisfactorily paid, scenes of abuse and recrimination frequently ensue : similar indeed, to what takes place on occasion of marriages, only upon a smaller scale. Children are sometimes sent away without baptism for lack of money, and women remain frequently a considerable time without being churched or purified after child-birth, (a great evil in their eyes) because the priest has not been satisfied respecting the baptism money. Intended sponsors are sometimes excluded, when gossip money is not forthcoming; and others substituted by the priest-his own servants perhaps to the great discomfort and annoyance of the parents of the child, and his accompanying friends. Thus does the demand of baptism money completely derange the administration of the rite itself; and afford matter of scandal at a time when nothing should take place but what would afford instruction and edification. "The priest derives money from other sources-from the administration of extreme unction or anointing the sick, and from masses. The custom of anointing, which is founded upon some passages of St. James, but of which few traces are to be found in the early ages of the church, is considered in this country to be of the last importance; so much so, that no misfortune is accounted greater than for a poor mortal to depart this life without its reception. The poor family are quite happy if the deceased has been anointed; but are quite unhappy if this should happen not to be the case. This rite is often administered under most distressing circumstances— amid sickness, lamentation, destitution, and want; yet money is demanded in most cases, particularly in the country; and instances occur of payment being demanded before-hand, and even of money being pocketed by the priest which had been given as alms for the relief of the dying. No doubt instances of this description are of rare occurrence; but then they never should occur; nor ever would occur but for the dependent state of the catholic priesthood. The demand for anointing money is sanctioned by the ecclesiastical authorities; like the demands for the discharge of other clerical functions. It is one of the fixed, determinate dues; and is in general enforced, notwithstanding the awful and melancholy circumstances that accompany the transaction. Often when the money is not to be had, bitter words take place in the very hearing and presence of the poor dying person. Who will venture to raise his voice in behalf of a system that leads to scenes of this description?-scenes that must have a direct tendency to mar the end and object contemplated in the administration of the last rites of religion. Money transactions, which necessarily beget evil consequences, should never be coupled with the awful business of religion; which indeed, to have its full effect, should stand aloof, pure, unmixed, undefiled, uncontaminated.

"Masses too are priced like other rites of religion. A person is said to get a mass, or to have a mass said for him, when special mention is made of him by the celebrating priest, or when he is especially recommended to the Almighty, at a particular part of the canon of the mass assigned for recommendations of the kind. This is supposed to produce great spiritual and perhaps temporal benefit to the person so recommended. This recommendation is also supposed to benefit departed soulsthat is-such as are detained in the prison of purgatory; and this is the reason why it is said that the mass is offered for the living and the dead. The efficacy of masses in this respect, is one of the most obscure points in scholastic theology, and requires the utmost exercise of ingenuity to be put in a tangible shape. The general notion is, that masses are beneficial in some way-no one being able to define exactly in what this benefit consists. But the general idea of their efficacy in the visible and invisible world, augments considerably the revenue of the church. This matter is particularly insisted on at a particular season of the year-the commemoration of All Souls-the second of November. Every effort is then made to interest the faithful in behalf of the souls in purgatory, in order to increase the customary contributions