Dreadful scene at the election Inflammatory speech of Father Macklin . A brutal and sanguinary mob hired to assault and insult every Assault on the Conservative Electors of Cork, and demolition Fearful proceedings of the mob under direction of the Priests A Priest held to bail in the sum of £10 for his good behaviour MAYNOOTH. AFTER all that has been written on the subject of the Government Grant to the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth, it appears, on a careful consideration of the subject, that the real questions to be considered in reference to that Institution, are— First-What were the purposes for which the Grant was originally made, and under what particular circumstances and conditions was it made ? Second-Was it right or proper, or in accordance with the great principles of the British Constitution, to give a grant of the public money for the establishment of such an Institution ? Third-Have the purposes for which Maynooth was professedly established been attained or accomplished? Fourth-Under present circumstances, after the experience of more than half a century, especially after the experience of the last three years, would it not be a dereliction of duty, a breach of the great trust reposed in the hands of the Government, were they to assent to the continuance of the Grant for another year? Whatever collateral questions may be involved in B the discussion, these we think are the real issues on which public opinion must pronounce its judgment. No doubt most of those who take an interest in such subjects are already aware of the reasons which originally led to the establishment of Maynooth College. For the information of others, it may be necessary very briefly to refer to a few of the facts and circumstances connected with its establishment. For about a century previous to the era of the French Revolution in 1794, by the laws in force in Great Britain and Ireland, the establishment or endowment of any College or Seminary for the education exclusively of persons professing the Romish religion was absolutely forbidden. In consequence of this, the young men intended for the office of the priesthood in the Church of Rome, were obliged to repair to foreign countries for their education; and as appears from a memorial presented to the Earl of Westmoreland, the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, at that time there were four hundred students, principally young Irishmen, in course of educational training for the ministry of the Romish Church, in the Colleges of France alone, a considerable number of whom were intended for Ireland. As a consequence of the Revolution, those Colleges or Seminaries were destroyed or broken up, and their property confiscated. The result was that the memorial referred to, dated the 14th of April, 1794, was presented to the Government by the Prelates of the Church of Rome, and signed on their behalf by Dr. Troy, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. As considerable diversity of opinion exists relative to the several points referred to in the memorial, it may be satisfactory, as the ground-work of observation, to give it here at length : "The humble Memorial of the Prelates of the Roman Catholic Communion in Ireland, praying to erect Seminaries for the Education of Ecclesiastics, presented to John Earl of Westmoreland, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, January 14th, 1794. After the usual introductory observations, it proceeds to say, "Under the laws which formerly existed, your Excellency's Memorialists were obliged to resort to foreign countries for education, particularly, to the kingdom of France, where they had procured many valuable establishments; four hundred persons were constantly maintained and educated therein, for the ministry in the Roman Catholic religion in Ireland. In the anarchy which at present afflicts that kingdom, these establishments have been necessarily destroyed; and even, although lawful authority should be restored, Memorialists conceive the loss to be irreparable; for the revenue would not easily be recovered, and as the profligate principles of rebellion and atheism, propagated by the faction which now rules that kingdom, may not be speedily effaced, they would not expose youth to the contagion of sedition and infidelity, nor their country to the danger of thus introducing the pernicious maxims of a licentious philosophy. Memorialists, therefore, are apprehensive that it may be found difficult to supply the ministry of the Roman Catholic church in Ireland with proper clergymen, unless seminaries, schools, or academies be instituted, for educating the youth destined to receive holy orders according to the discipline of their own church, and under ecclesiastical superiors of their own communion; and they beg leave further to represent, with all due respect and deference, to your Excellency's wisdom, THAT SAID INSTITUTION WOULD PROVE OF ADVANTAGE TO THE NATION AT LARGE, |