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Salamanca. That he succeeded in his pious efforts may be inferred from the position of trust to which he was raised in his old age at the unanimous request of the Bishops of Ireland, and from the official documents, published by authority of the Spanish government, from which we have taken nearly all the facts stated in this brief notice.1

For the later history of Salamanca, we are indebted to a Rev. Friend, who completed his theological course in that College.

DOCUMENT.

Pastoral Address of the Archbishops and Bishops to the Clergy and People of the Catholic Church in Ireland, A.D. 1832.

DEARLY BELOVED BRETHREN IN CHRIST :

The same holy zeal that influences the Church in the decreeing of her laws of discipline, "for the perfecting of the Saints, unto the edification of the Body of Christ," urges her to mitigate their severity, and to dispense in their observance, as the circumstances of times and countries may render conducive to the interests of the Faithful. Like a tender mother she watches over her children with unceasing solicitude, to know their wants, and to minister to them out of the abundance of her charity, according to the dispensation God has confided to her.

Her precepts of abstinence on particular days, by which "we chastise the body and bring it into subjection," have been subject to the changes incident to disciplinary laws, and have been modified by her as expediency might require. In the primitive days of Christianity, adapted to the circumstances of the happy times for which they were enacted, they were austere in proportion to the fervor of the Faithful. But as piety waxed cold, we observe her accommodating her discipline to the weakness of her children, and gradually lessening their burden according to the diminution of their strength. You, dearest Brethren, a cherished portion of her obedient children, have yourselves, from time to time, experienced the same 1 This State paper is entitled "Relacion de los titulos, meritos, servicios, grados, y exercicios literarios de Don Patricio Cortes, Presbytero. y visitator por. S. M. del real Collegio de Nobles Irlandeses," &c. probably not a second copy of this interesting document in Ireland.

21 Cor. ix. 27.

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tender indulgence relative to the observance of Lent. However venerable for its Apostolic origin, sacred in the ends for which it was instituted, and at all times sanctified by your cheerful observance of its austerities in the spirit of Christian mortification by which the Elect of God are made comformable to the image of His Son, it has not always been enforced in your regard according to its rigour, but has been mitigated in seasons of great distress, by a dispensation in the law of abstinence, out of compassionate consideration for the miseries of the poor.

We have now to announce to you, beloved Brethren, an Indult of our Holy Father Pope Gregory XVI. by a Rescript bearing date the 17th day of December, 1831, extending to Ireland a change in the law of abstinence, similar to that already granted to England and Scotland. His Holiness, having taken into consideration the peculiar circumstances of this country, and compassionating as a Father the weakness of his children, as well as the increasing poverty and the extreme destitution of many, has granted to us the power of dispensing in our respective dioceses, in the law of abstinence on Saturdays throughout the year, except those on which the precept of fasting obliges, as we might deem most expedient in the Lord,

We, therefore, having consulted with each other, and having maturely considered the circumstances of this country, and also the expediency of maintaining a uniformity of discipline in the several dioceses of Ireland, connected as they are by the closest ties of mutual intercourse, have unanimously resolved to extend to our flocks respectively the above-mentioned dispensation, which we hereby grant in virtue of the power delegated to us by the Holy Apostolic See.

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Instructed in Religion from your youth, you require not to be reminded of the difference that exists between Faith and Discipline. You know that Faith, unchangeable in its nature, like the Infallible Truth who revealed it, cannot be changed or altered. Like him it is "Yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever." "One iota of it cannot pass away.' Not so Discipline. It is variable in its nature. The same authority that enacts can dispense. The same power that binds, can loose the conscience from laws however venerable for their antiquity, or the Universality of their observance. Thus we see the Apostles in the Council of Jerusalem command the converted Gentiles "to abstain from blood, and from things strangled," yet when the circumstances that gave rise to this Apostolic ordinance were changed, the Faithful were relieved from its observance,

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We, at the same time exhort you, dearly beloved, to bear in mind, that though the law of abstinence is dispensed with on all Saturdays, that are not fasting days, the spirit of mortification is at all times the spirit of Christianity. That "they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences." "We are heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ, yet so if we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him."2 Always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies."s

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As for the rest, beloved Brethren, we are enabled to say with the Apostle, "we are in spirit with you-rejoicing and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith, which is in Christ; as therefore you have received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and confirmed in the faith, as also you have learned, abounding in him in thanksgiving." "The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with Amen."

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THE IRISH

ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD.

JANUARY, 1873.

EDMUND BURKE: HIS LIFE AND TIMES.

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PART II.

E shall now consider Burke in the House of Commons dealing with the three great events which aroused the attention of Europe towards the close of the last century:

1. The American Revolt and Declaration of Independence (1765-83).

2. The French Revolution (1789-94).

3. The impeachment of Warren Hastings (1788-95).

The most bitter taunt ever uttered against Burke was affixed to his name by his friend Oliver Goldsmith. There had been a dinner at the Literary Club. Goldsmith was made the sport and butt of the evening. Garrick, with his "inimitable mimicry," had shown up the clumsy manner and foolish talk of Goldy, of whom he said that

"He wrote like an Angel,

And spoke like poor Poll."

The laughter was hearty, loud, and infectious. The members roared with delight, and the fun grew fast and furious. Burke could not resist any more than the others. Oliver bore up as well as might be expected, retired in due time, and took a summary revenge on all round. At the next Club meeting he produced his poem, entitled "Retaliation." How completely he turned the tables on Garrick and his tormentors will be readily seen by a perusal of the entire composition. In it he said of Burke :—

"Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such,
We scarcely can praise it, or blame it too much :
Who, born for the Universe, narrow'd his mind,
And to party gave up what was meant for mankind."

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It is hard to blame Goldsmith for striking with impartial hostility at all who had joined in the laugh against him. But history compels us to say that the imputation of Burke being a mere party man is utterly unfounded. We find his actions in public life directed by one sublime, unselfish principle. He hated oppression in every form hence he sided with the weak against the strong. He detested irreligion and irresponsible power: hence he flung himself heart and soul, intellect and vigour, against the English Government for its treatment of the American colonists; against the infidel, atheistic mobs of France, which tore down the throne, murdered its occupants, and set up the teachings of Voltaire in place of God, and infamous profligacy in the seat of Religion. He devoted his energies during the best years of his life to bring to justice that high-handed criminal, Warren Hastings, who had plundered the vast millions of Hindostan, and reduced its most powerful princes to be his mendicant dependents, in order that he, and adventurers like him, might fatten on the wealth of the Indian Empire.

Writing of the War of American Independence, Professor Morley says, in his Historical Study of Edmund Burke:1___ "Burke's attitude in this great contest is that part of his history about the majestic and noble wisdom of which there can be least dispute."

The inhabitants of America then numbered but. 2,000,000 or 3,000,000. They acknowledged the supreme power of England, but they claimed to have a voice in the levying of the taxes which they should pay. England, haughty and powerful, disdained their claims, because she thought they were unable to resist her oppression. She scornfully despised their appeals to the British Constitution, under which they still lived. "She was able to trample upon them-therefore she had the right to do so." Such was her logic and her political morality-logic and morality which we have seen acted upon recently by Victor Emmanuel, when robbing the Pope of his dominions, and seizing upon those religious foundations which were the fruit of ages of unselfish Catholicity.

"The result of the whole transaction," writes Professor Morley, "was the birth of a very strong sense in the minds of the colonists that the mother country looked upon them as a sponge to be squeezed. This conviction took more than a passing hold upon them. It was speedily inflamed into inextinguishable hate; first, by the news that they were to be taxed without their own consent; and next, by the tyrannical 1 Historical Study of Burke, p. 124.

* Burke's Speeches, Extracts, p. 79 (Duffy). Historical Study of Burke, p. 156.

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