lics; 2ndly. That it be subject to the supreme control of the bishops in all things appertaining to faith and morals; 3rdly. That Catholics be placed on a footing of perfect equality with Protestants as to all educational advantages.

After conversing together for a considerable time, he said he would go and write letters of introduction for me to some of the prelates of the greatest influence, with whom he is on terms of special intimacy. Accordingly he left us, and after some time returned, and handed us letters of introduction to six of the leading prelates of France.

Before concluding our conversation, I mentioned that the O'Curry "Glossaries," containing 30,000 Celtic words, are in the possession of our University, and I said, that as there is a great movement now in France in favour of Celtic studies, perhaps through his lordship's influence, exerted in the "French Academy," the Government of the Emperor might be induced to publish this valuable work. He at once saw the honour such a publication would confer upon the Catholic University, and through it upon religion; and said, that if one of our Professors would come to France, when he (Mgr. Dupanloup) will be in Paris, he would introduce him to the members of the Academy learned in these matters, and thought the thing might be done, and would redound much to the honour of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

We also entered into the question of the Established Church in Ireland for a short time. His lordship particularly asked, how it was that our bishops had refused to accept any part of the ecclesiastical endowments for the Catholic Church? He seemed perfectly satisfied with the reasons which I told him had, I believed, actuated our bishops, viz.: that no such division or surrender to the Catholic Church was ever seriously proposed, nor could it be carried in the House of Commons; that such a disposition on the part of our bishops to accept the ecclesiastical property would have opposed the greatest obstacle possible to the settlement of the question and the destruction of the Establishment in Ireland; for that the Liberals in England are Mr. Gladstone's main support, and they are even more opposed to the Catholic Church than to the Protestant, so that sooner than establish the Catholic religion in Ireland, they would say, let the Protestant Establishment remain; that such an endowment could not be effected without the sacrifice of our liberty, at least to some extent; finally, that an acceptance by our bishops of a part of the ecclesiastical property would be a condonatio of the robbery originally committed, and a donatio to heresy of a part of the property of the Church.

Brittany.

After leaving Orleans, we had the pleasure of seeing some of the illustrious bishops of Brittany. These prelates entertain a special affection for Ireland. One of them in particular seemed to take particular pleasure in identifying "ses braves Brétons". with our old Celtic race. He pressed us to remain for a few days in his episcopal city, that he might offer us hospitality and introduce us to some of the leading members of his clergy, and that we might propose a toast to Cardinal Cullen and to the success of our efforts in Ireland for the maintenance of religion and the advancement of Catholic education. He gave us many graphic sketches of the similarity of character between the two peoples.

One of these prelates entered considerably into detail as to the difficulties by which the bishops of France are surrounded respecting education, and, indeed, in all things regarding religion. "For my part," he said, "I do not fear a revolution. We have nothing to lose. Things cannot be worse than they Your liberty in Ireland is most precious. The Concordat will, I fear, be the destruction of religion in France."

are.

One of the prelates whom we had the pleasure of seeing about this time spoke in no measured terms of the actual Minister of Public Instruction in France, who, he said, being afraid to avow himself an open enemy, makes use of the most insidious, and at the same time most dangerous, means to injure, or rather destroy, religion. At the same time, he is a man whose education is far from fitting him for the post he occupies, and whose appointment was a kind of insult to the University, and was felt as such by its learned men. However, "the Bishop of Orleans 'l'a jété à la boite aux charbons'— and unmasked all his schemes, through which he seeks to subvert religion by introducing and promoting corrupt systems of education.”

One of the prelates whom we saw while in the west of France told us, that at the moment of our visit he was making the annual retreat, with several hundred of his clergy; that they were thoroughly sound on the education question, and that the Government knew it; but, as the elections are now approaching, and the moment was not opportune for going against the clerical element, they (the Government) had not dared to refuse him the required legal authorization for an association which, in conjunction with the leading laymen and ecclesiastics of his neighbourhood, he had just formed for the purpose of obtaining "Educational Freedom :" "la liberté d'enseigne

ment."

On leaving Brittany we visited Tours, and thence proceeded on our journey southward, till we reached Poitiers.

-Poitiers, 23rd August.

Mgr. Pie, the eloquent Bishop of Poitiers, received us with the same kindness we had experienced from the other prelates. Happening to meet one of the Canons of the Cathedral, who, as we subsequently discovered, is also the senior Vicar-General, he conducted us to the bishop's residence, which is at present an old convent of Benedictine nuns, from which the Religious were expelled at the time of the first Revolution, and which was called Sainte Croix. The Government is about to restore to the bishop the old episcopal palace, which had been converted into the Préfecture.

His lordship kept us for dinner, and during the evening entered fully into the questions of the Established Church and of Education in Ireland. He said he would do everything in his power to promote the interests of the Catholic University of Ireland, and that for this purpose he would put himself into communication with the Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux, whom, we told him, we were going to visit. He seems a prelate of great information and of considerable cleverness.

He pressed us to go with him on the following day to the convent-I think, of Benedictines-where are the remains of the monastery in which St. Martin of Tours spent three years under the teaching and guidance of the great St. Hilary of Poitiers; but we were not able to accept his invitation, having made our arrangements to continue on the following day our journey to Bordeaux.

Bordeaux, 25th August.

From Poitiers we proceeded to Bordeaux. Cardinal Donnet, the archbishop of that great city, received us most kindly, and having spoken to us for a few minutes, asked us to accompany him to a distribution of prizes to the boys of the municipal schools, taught by the "Brothers of the Christian Schools," and then to return and dine with him, when we could talk at leisure over the Education question and other matters interesting religion in Ireland.

The distribution of prizes was a very imposing ceremony. Besides the Cardinal, the Maire of the city-who is a Protestant, but a very liberal man, as I was told, and as might be judged from his discourse to the boys-the Government inspector of schools, the Vice-President of the Lycée, &c., were present. The room, which was a very large one, capable (I should think) of holding 4,000 or 5,000 persons, was quite full. The boys were very fine-looking lads, dressed alike in a quasimilitary uniform, red and white. There were some hundreds

of them, although they were only the boys who had won premiums; but they were selected from all the municipal schools conducted by the Christian Brothers in Bordeaux. They formed an excellent band and choir of singers, and acquitted themselves admirably in their music, declamation, a geographical dialogue, and, most of all, in their general bearing. They also exhibited admirable specimens of writing and drawing. The Cardinal told us, that in many cities and towns of France the municipalities were taking the schools from the Christian Brothers; but that this had not been and could not be attempted in Bordeaux; and that their Protestant Maire had been mainly instrumental in securing this advantage for their city.

On our return from the distribution of prizes His Eminence wrote for us, with his own hand, a list of the objects of public or religious interest to be visited in Bordeaux.

In the evening, before dismissing us, His Eminence said :— "What then, finally, is it you want me to do for you?" We said we wished to have the Catholic public opinion of his people evoked in favour of the Catholic University of Ireland. 'Well," said he, "we have many claims upon us just now; we are completing our Cathedral (His Eminence had given us copies of a pastoral letter he had lately published, ordering a collection for this object); our Seminaries must be maintained, for the Government allowance and the parents' contributions are quite insufficient. Still, before all things, I am a Catholic; I do not believe that one good work ever injures another. If you get in Bordeaux four, or five, or ten thousand francs for your Catholic work, those who contributed will receive a blessing, and I shall not get less for my works of charity.

"And now, as to the best way of carrying out your object, Father Roux, S.J., Rector of the Jesuits' College of Tivoli, near the city, has considerable reputation as a preacher. I shall be happy to allow him to preach in my Cathedral, for the Catholic University, in Advent next-that time would be the best for your purpose."

Besides the little memorandum above-mentioned, His Eminence gave me five handsome volumes of his pastoral letters, sermons, and discourses on various occasions.

Moulins, 29th August.

The Very Rev. Père Martin, of the Society of Mary, Superior of the "Grand Séminaire," conducted us, on our arrival at Moulins, to the bishop, Mgr. Dreux-Brèzé.

The reception given to us by his lordship was most kind.

Having inquired very warmly for Cardinal Cullen, he entered into conversation with us respecting our religious and educational questions in Ireland. As to the education question in France, his lordship seems to have special views, which possess peculiar interest for us. As far as I could understand, he thinks that the system adopted in 1850 ought not to have been accepted, and that by refusing to accept it, terms more favorable to religion would have been obtained; whereas, by accepting it, a system was introduced, similar, in his opinion, to the one condemned in Ireland by the Holy See and our Irish Bishops, viz., a mixed bureau of administration, with mixed colleges. I believe the real advantage of the law of 1850 was, that it was a step in the right direction, since it permits a certain kind of modified liberty, viz., that youths who have made their studies in "Pétits Séminaires," or other Catholic colleges, may present themselves for examinations for degrees, and gain those distinctions, which previously could be obtained only by the students of the "Lycées," and other Government institutions. The Bishop of Moulins, as far as I could understand him, seemed to be of opinion that the principle, condemned at that time by the Holy See and the Bishops of Ireland, was the same as the one then accepted by the Bishops of France; but it appears to me that the circumstances were quite different. With us the mixed system, as embodied in the Queen's Colleges, was condemned; in France, the Catholic system of education began to be tolerated; students who had studied in purely Catholic colleges being admitted to degrees; and the control of education was given to a mixed bureau or board, composed of persons of various religious denominations. The great question which, it would seem to me, might have been raised in France, was, as to the expediency of permitting Protestantism and Judaism, which represent only a very small fraction of the population, to be placed on an equality with Catholicity in the supreme bureau or board; or rather in degrading the Catholic religion, as to its influence or authority over education, to a level with these denominations, subjecting it to the supreme control of the State. Again: the system of State Education which exists in the "Lycées" is very bad, both in theory and in practice; it is, in truth, a mixed system of the worst kind, since many of the pupils, whose opinions are heterodox, or even infidel, live together in the "Lycées," the teachers are often professedly infidels, and although the bishops have the right of appointing one or more "Aumôniers," or Chaplains, to each "Lycée," the influence of these priests is often very trifling. The Bishop of Orleans had told us that he selects the best men he can find for