The great object to be attained by the establishment of Maynooth, it will be remembered, was, that the priests would be altogether an altered and improved class of persons. Now we would like to know in what way has this improvement been evidenced? Are they better subjects of her Majesty? Are they more peaceable-more disposed to live on good terms with their Protestant neighbours, than the priests educated abroad were? On the contrary, have they not latterly become " desperate demagogues"-the "very dangerous characters" set forth in the memorial presented to Parliament in the year 1794. Instead of Maynooth having secured the allegiance of the young men educated in it, by affording a superior education-or produced in their minds a love of order or of the British laws-is it not a fact proved before the Commission of Inquiry, that it has been, since its commencement, little better than a hot-bed of sedition and disloyalty? It has been shewn that one of its professors, Dr. M'Hale, published and distributed among the students, a work encouraging disloyalty and rebellion. It is also a fact that from insubordination in consequence of improper training it was found necessary to expel within fifteen years, no fewer than ninety of the students, and that many others should since have been expelled is evident, as it was proved before the Commissioners of Inquiry, that one of the most frequent topics of conversation amongst the students in Maynooth, was the possibility and practicability of a forcible separation of Ireland from Great

Britain, by a simultaneous rising, by disarming the troops, and by killing the Protestants. To the Report of the Commissioners we refer for the truth of those allegations; and inquire still further, is it not equally true that the rebellion of 1848 was fomented by priests educated in the institution? While it is likewise made plain, by the language used publicly by some of the heads of the institution, that at the present moment the most virulent and violent ultramontane principles are inculcated on the minds of the students ?

Looking at the question in all its bearings, we ask, have one of the beneficent results, so glowingly described, and so confidently promised by members in favour of the establishment of the College, been realized? Indeed, some of the Protestant speakers lived long enough to discover their error-that their hopes had been founded on the "baseless fabric of a vision," which the experience of a few short years completely demolished and dissipated.

The fact is, the monies granted to Maynooth, were never applied to the procuring for the students a better education-we have before demonstrated that such was not, and could not have been their wish; the additional funds were appropriated to the support of an additional number of students, a measure which we shall presently shew was altogether unnecessary.

On the full consideration of the case, therefore, we feel that any impartial judge must come to the conclusion that not one of the advantages which were

to result from the establishment of Maynooth, has been realized-" piety, learning, and subordination have not" thereby "been essentially promoted," but directly the reverse-for although the students have been well grounded in the ultramontane doctrines of the Romish religion, they have not received a good secular education, which was the chief object the British Minister had in view in establishing the institution-the "undivided allegiance" of the students has not thereby been obtained; for it has not fostered a love of order, of British laws, and of the British Government; nor have the priests thereby "been prevented from becoming very dangerous characters." On the contrary, we affirm that the present priesthood are much worse in every way than those educated abroad—the present men being, not only, as described by Mr. Keogh in 1812, "an ignorant and pedantic," but a seditious, overbearing, disloyal, intolerant class of men, to whom no favour or affection should be shewn by any Government. We ask, could the Roman Catholic priests have been made more anti-British in any French school? This we shall further demonstrate in our remaining pages.

Having in our preceding remarks offered ample proof that "the purposes for which Maynooth was originally established" have not in any one particular "been attained or accomplished"- we now proceed to the consideration of our fourth and last query, "Should the Government, after the experience of

nearly sixty years, continue the Grant? would it not be a gross dereliction of duty in them were they to do so?”

It will have been observed by the reader, that in considering our second question, should such an institution as Maynooth ever have been established by a Protestant Government? we confined our statements relative to the institution, to the period preceding the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. We shewed distinctly that up to that period there was nothing said or done by the Irish Parliament that could induce the Trustees of the institution, or the Roman Catholics of the country, to suppose that it was the intention of the Legislature to give to it a permanent support; that on the contrary, one of the last acts of the Irish House of Lords, in refusing it even an annual grant, left on record their attestation that the Legislature was in no way bound to render it any support whatever.

In the year 1800, the state of the institution being brought under the notice of the British House of Commons, and it having been argued that in consequence of the political state of the Continent, if the Grant were withdrawn at that time, the priests must remain uneducated, a sum of £8000 was granted towards its support. The act relative to it was amended by the Act 40 Geo. III. cap. 85, by which several alterations were made in the internal arrangements of the house; by the 8th sec. however, it was again enacted, as before, that nothing then done should interfere with any bye-laws, rules,

or regulations, affecting the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, or the worship thereof, in the institution; and to make assurance doubly sure, in the 9th sec. it was again repeated, that in matters affecting the exercise and doctrine of the Roman Catholic religion, the visitorial powers were to be exercised only by such of the Trustees as were Roman Catholics, in the presence of the said Chancellor and Judges, if they think proper to attend, while the 10th sec. provided that three of the Trustees should always be Roman Catholics. The Bill was further amended in the year 1808, (48 Geo. III. c. 148) the Trustees being at that time granted power to purchase land to the amount of £1000 a year in addition to what they then possessed.

Year after year the propriety of the Grant was debated in Parliament. The following brief analysis will afford some idea of the arguments used from time to time on either side, and shew how mistaken were the supporters of the Grant.

In the debates February 20, and March 4, 1807, on the Miscellaneous Estimates, on the motion that £5000 be granted in addition to the £8000, for the further accommodation of students in Maynooth,

Mr. Perceval, objected to it on the ground that "it would form a precedent for an additional sum the year following, and so on continually; and that while he would vote for the £8000, as it had been granted by the Irish Parliament, he would oppose any addition. He considered the Grant calculated to promote the establishment of the Romish religion in the country, and that it would prevent the sons of gentlemen being educated in Trinity College for the priesthood. He complained that although the