Roman Catholic creed. I leave them wholly to their fate. Every person has my permission to

66

"of France should apply to discount his bills.' The money "was immediately sent, and while the seals remained in "his hands, he annually sent a sum of equal amount to the "Chancellor of France. At Winchester, at Guilford, and in "other places, public buildings were appropriated for the "accommodation of the clergy. In the hurry in which they "had been forced to fly, many of them had been obliged to "leave behind them their books of prayer. To supply in part "this want, the University of Oxford printed for them 2,000 "copies of the Vulgate version of the New Testament from the "edition of Barbou; and the late Marquis of Buckingham "printed an equal number of the same sacred work, at his own expence. Every rank and description of persons exerted "itself for their relief. There is reason to suppose, that the 66 money contributed for this honourable purpose, by individuals "whose donations never came before the public eye, was equal "to the largest of the two subscriptions which have been men"tioned. To the very last, Mr. John Wilmot continued his "kind and minute attention to the noble work of humanity. "It adds incalculably to its merit, that it was not a sudden "burst of beneficence: it was a cool, deliberate, and system"atic exertion, which charity dictated, organized and continued "for a long succession of years, and which in its last year, 66 was as kind, as active, and as energetic, as in its first. "Among the individuals who made themselves most useful, one " unquestionably holds the first place. At the name,' says "the Abbé Barruel, of Mrs. Dorothy Silburn, every French 66 6 'priest raises his hands to heaven to implore its blessings on "her. The bishop of St. Pol took his abode in her house; "and it soon became the central point to which every French"man in distress found his way. It may easily be conceived, "that great as were the sums appropriated for the relief of the "French clergy, the number of those who partook of them was so large, as to make the allowance of each a scanty provision

speak of them as he pleases. I only request, that, where he finds that any of these legends possess that

even for bare subsistence; so that all were obliged to submit "to great privations, and, from one circumstance or other, some were occasionally in actual want. Here Mrs. Silburn "interfered. Where more food, more raiment, more medi“cine, than the succours afforded, was wanted, it was generally procured by her, or by her exertions.. Work and labour "she found for those who sought them. The soothing word, the "kind action, never failed her; all the unpleasantness which "distress unavoidably creates, she bore with patience. Her "incessant exertions she never abated. The scenes thus de"scribed by the writer he himself witnessed: and all who "beheld them, felt and remarked, that much of the success, "and the excellent management which attended the good "work, was owing to her. To use the expression of a French prelate, the glory of the nation, on this occasion, was in"creased by the part which Mrs. Silburn acted in it.' On "the final closing of the account, his Majesty was graciously "pleased to show his sentiments of her conduct by granting to "her an annual pension of 100l. for her life :-never was a "pension better merited.

"On the other hand, the conduct of the objects of this bounty was most edifying. Thrown, on a sudden, into a "foreign country, differing from theirs in language, manners, "habits and religion, the uniform tenor of their decorous " and pious lives obtained for them universal regard. Their "attachment to their religious creed they neither concealed nor obtruded. It was evidently their first object to find op. "portunities of celebrating the sacred mysteries, and of "reciting the offices of their liturgy. Most happy was he, "who obtained the cure of a congregation, or who, like the "Abbé Caron, could establish some institution useful to his "countrymen. Who does not respect feelings at once so res"pectable and so religious? Hence flowed their cheerfulness " and serenity of mind above suffering and want. 'I saw "them, a gentleman said to the writer of these pages,

amount of historical fact, which, by the acknowledged rules of evidence, entitles them to credit, he should permit me to believe them :-that, as a gentleman can always tell a truth, however offensive, in gentlemanly language, he should speak of those he disbelieves, in terms that are not ungentlemanly,and that, while he laughs at the legend, he should admit the virtues, if they are well authenticated, of the saint whom the legend was sillily intended to ornament. These are such as Christians of every denomination must admire. Who is the canonized or beatified king,-that was not the father of his people the canonized or beatified bishop,-that was not the incessant preacher of the word of God, and the father of the poor, denying himself all but necessaries, to supply their wants? Who, the canonized or beatified prebendary-whose regular and devout attendance, in every day of the year, at the seven canonical hours of the Roman Catholic church, was not a continual tribute of praise and adoration to the Deity, and an edifying excitement to devotion? Who, the canonized or beatified curate, that did not consume himself in the service of his parishioners? What canonized or beatified

"hurrying in the bitterest weather, over the ices of Holland, "when the French invaded that territory. They had scarcely "the means of subsistence; the wind blew, the snow fell, the " i army was fast approaching, and they knew not where to "hide their heads, yet these men were cheerful.' They did "honour to religion; and the nation that so justly appreciated "their merit did honour to itself."

husband or wife was not eminent for conjugal virtue; for every parental and every domestic merit? Surely, when so much pains are taken to disgrace the Roman Catholic religion, by bringing forward the miserable legends by which some of her silly children have often deformed their accounts of her saints, justice requires that the heroic virtues of those saints should be equally produced. If this be not done, one side only of the question is brought forward, and great injustice done to the Roman Catholic Church ;-she glories, and she justly glories in her saints.

When Milton assigns to the Paradise of Fools,

"Eremites and Friars,

"Blach, white and grey, and all their trumpery," You tell us that "he has given all, their proper "place."

He has not "given all, their proper place."-I am surprised that You should cite Milton as an authority on such a point. What place would he have given You and Your brother prebendaries? Read the ribaldry with which he has treated Your prelates?

The friars, whom it pleases You to mention thus contumeliously, were incessantly employed, as assistants to the curates, in the service of the poor in preaching to them, in teaching them their catechism, in attending them on their sick beds, and preparing them for their passage to eternity. Was there an epidemic illness, a fire, or an inundation? friars were sure to be there.

In hospitals, in prisons; amid the wounded and the dying in the field of battle, friars were always found Those, who had no other friend, always found one in a friar. Many friars reached the highest eminence in the arts and science. Surely you have heard of Father Roger Bacon. The best interpreter of Descartes, was father Mersenne, a minim friar the best edition of the Principia of Newton, is that of Jacquier and Le Seur, both minims: St. Thomas of Aquin, Bartholomew de las Casas, were Dominican friars, Cardinal Ximénes was a Franciscan. An hundred other friars illustrious for talent, virtue and learning, might be quickly mentioned. Is it decent to call, or to wound the feelings of Catholics, by calling such men, trumpery?