into the minds of the ignorant, who would follow the fierce instinct of savage and uncultivated nature if they were deprived of their pastors, from the protection of the laws, which now leave them exposed to the caprice and fury of every ruffian, in whose power it is to shut up their chapels and get them transported; when it is obvious that such restraints arise from speculative points, disputed on a narrow ridge by the greatest men the world ever produced-when philosophers themselves are bewildered in their notions-and when the learned are at variance about matters far beyond the reach of the bulk of mankind.

Should it be said that these laws are seldom put in force, it can be answered that the liberty of the subject, which is the birthright of man, should not depend on the capricious benevolence of his neighbour. The law should be the common mother, whose arms should be open to all; and the ghost of intolerance, more destructive than Attila's sword, should vanish on the approach of the rays of benevolence, which are now blazing all over the Continent. Attila's sword destroyed but such as it met in its way, but the rage of religious feuds has thinned the world of fifty millions of human beings, and is still trampling in these kingdoms on compassion, on equity, on national interest.

In Ireland, where such scandalous scenes have not been exhibited, as last year in Scotland and England, the ghosts of those legislators who enacted the penal code are still looking, with a clouded, malevolent joy, over the long wastes and desolate pastures they have made in a fruitful country, and supplying the want of sword and fagot with a more lasting and tedious torment-I mean the hunger and distress of thousands. They have renewed and perpetuated the torments invented by the former princes of Tuscany. They make the living expire in the arms of the dead.

The liberality of the times, the interest of the kingdom, the wisdom and humanity of our rulers, everything cries aloud for the repeal of the laws enacted on the score of conscience.

The Author of nature intended men for society, and entitles every man to the advantages of that condition, who is free from all principles and practices injurious to the civil good of society. The great Giver alone can repeal the universal charter. He has not done it, and I hope that I have sufficiently proved that He has not delegated that power to any of His creatures.

The rulers of the earth, whether Catholics or Protestants, owe all social benefits to their loyal subjects of every aenomination. If one of those powers withhold their people's native rights, it is no excuse for the other that their conduct is countenanced by their neighbour's example. Honor, humanity, and the rights of mankind, should suggest to modern legislators to repair the losses caused by their predecessors' misguided zeal. And as the clergy of all denominations consider themselves the delegates of heaven, and invested with the commission to prescribe a mode of worship to man, let them propose it in a manner that may secure its triumph over the heart, brighten it up with the genial rays of humanity, benevolence, and love, and not cloud it with the sullen gloom of severity, oppression, and distress. For, Christ, who is the Creator of all, has not declared in His Gospel that one should be excluded from the protection of the laws, and persecuted for his worship, and the other authorized to famish, starve, and insult the weakness of a fellow-creature.

CHAPTER VI.

Sensation produced by Father O'Leary's Essay on Toleration-He is elected to the "Monks of the Screw"-Account of that Society— The English Catholic Committee print his Essay and distribute it-Complimentary Letters from English Noblemen-He is elected Chaplain to the Irish (Volunteer) Brigade—His Reception at the National Convention—His Passage through Kilkenny-His Probity again Tested and again Triumphant-He is solicited to write a History of the Gordon Riots, but declines-His Reasons for declining-Threatened Abolition of Religious Orders in Ireland-Father O'Leary comes to the Rescue Father Laurence Callaan-Eulogies passed on O'Leary in Parliament-Handsome Presentation to him at Cork-His "Review of the Controversy between the Rev. Dr. Carroll and the Rev. Messrs. Wharton and Hawkins"-He becomes the Friend of Howard, the Philanthropist.

FATHER O'LEARY'S Essay on Toleration had an immense circulation both in England and Ireland, and enhanced to an extraordinary degree the popularity of the writer. In recognition of his scholarly acquirements, his patriotism and philanthropy, he was elected an honorary member of a society just then established in Dublin, under the name of "The Monks of St. Patrick." This association was founded by Barry Yelverton, afterwards Lord Avonmore; it was composed of men of all classes and creeds, of peers and commoners; and comprised among its members some of the most distinguished scholars and purest patriots of the day. Indeed, the object of its formation was to promote, by the combined action of the picked men of the country, its best and truest interests. Notwithstanding their monastic appellation, the society, on occasions of meeting, did not observe very rigidly the abstemiousness which such an appellation would imply; on the contrary, truth obliges us to say that, on these occasions, a

spirit of conviviality prevailed, which, if it ever characterized a religious order, must have done so at a time when the rule was very mildly enforced. Their frequent recourse to the bottle, no doubt, suggested to Curran the idea of the "Monks of the Screw," by which name the society was better known, and under which title he composed their charter-song, sketching with fidelity the proclivities which were encouraged at the social board :

"When St. Patrick our order invented,

And called us the 'Monks of the Screw,'
Good rules he revealed to our abbot,

To guide us in what we should do.
But first he replenished our fountain,
With liquor the best in the sky,

And he swore on the word of the saint,

That the fountain should never run dry."

The remaining stanzas of this effusion do not enunciate principles of a high moral tone, and some squeamish critics are hard on Father O'Leary for associating himself with men of such loose ethics as the Monks of the Screw. But while we can find no excuse for even a convivial and jocose entrenchment on the doctrines of morality, it must be remembered that Father O'Leary was but an honorary member of the order,* and never joined in the orgies with which they celebrated their reunions. Dr. Hudson, himself a member of this distinguished body, gives us an account of its inner working, thus: "This celebrated society was partly political and partly convivial; it consisted of two parts, professed and lay brothers. As the latter had no privileges except that of commons in the refectory, they are unnoticed here. The professed (by the constitution) consisted of members of either House of Parliament, and

* The only other honorary member was James Barry, the painter, also a Cork man.

barristers, with the addition from other learned professions of any number not exceeding one-third of the whole. They assembled every Saturday in convent, during term-time, in a large house in Kevin-street, the property of the late Lord Tracton, and since converted into a seneschal's court, and commonly held a chapter before commons, at which the abbot (Mr. Doyle) presided, or in his (very rare) absence, the prior or senior of the officers present. Upon such occasions, all the members appeared in the habit of the order a black tabinet domino. A short Latin grace, 'Benedictus benedicat,' and 'Benedicto benedicatur,' was regularly and gravely pronounced by the precentor or chaplain, before and after commons. There were amongst their number many learned men, and men of genius; and it may be safely said that few productions, either in pamphlets or periodical publications of any celebrity during the arduous struggle for Irish Emancipation, appeared which did not proceed from the pen of one of the brethren. Nor did they forego their labors, till by their prayers and exertions they obtained emancipation for their country. The sad change which has taken place since their dispersion need not be related." The reader may judge of the character of the society, and the hours of delightful intercourse their meetings must have afforded, when he hears that, conspicuous among its members, were such men as Flood, Grattan, Curran, Lord Charlemont, Judges Day, Chamberlaine, and Metge, Bowes Daly, George Ogle, Hardy, Lord Avonmore, and others of the same stamp. The society dwindled away towards the end of 1785.

In acknowledgment of the high honor conferred on Father O'Leary, by electing him as a member of so distinguished an association, he brought out an edition of all the works he had already published, and dedicated it to the Monks of St. Patrick. This was in the year