preserve, and I will feed them in judgment."—(Ezek. xxxiv.) He cared not for the weakness of his constitution--he looked only to the salvation of souls. Often have I implored of him to spare himself, when he would answerwhat am I made a bishop for?Why did I take the office if not to lay down my life for my flock; was I not sent "to preach to the poor, to seek the sheep that was lost? Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." Had he loved himself better, and you less, he would be alive to-day-but no-his exertions overpowered him. Though expansive his mind, he did not confine himself to general exertions and public instruction. He looked around him, and offered consolation to each afflicted individual; he carefully inquired into every case of sin and misery, and applied the proper remedies. He was a father who went to look for the prodigal child-a shepherd who sought even one sheep. He strictly adhered to the words, "Be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist—fulfil thy ministry." He was a stern and an upright man-" for there are many disobedient who must be reproved." He acted as a bishop should in those respects. He could be mild and gentle, indeed it was his natural disposition-but he could be the opposite when his duty required it. He was required by God to rebuke, exhort, and reprove" those rebellious children of the world when they err. But if his zeal compelled him to reprove strongly, his charity led him to treat with kindness the penitent, and always the poor. It was against the powerful, and not the poor, he manifested severity-the humble and the penitent were always his friends and favourites--he wished only to see and make them happy-it was the haughty he wished to humble. There are many points on which I might speak, but have only selected these as an illustration of his morals and worth. I might well say with St. Paul: "He has fought the good fight-he has finished his course he has kept the faith: for the rest, there is laid up for him a crown of justice." Never in my life was I so edified as by the death of that prelate the firmness of his faith-the ardour of his hope--the fire of his charity, gave the fullest manifestation of his being about to take possession of a better life.— Like St. Paul, he was burning with anxiety to be "dissolved and to be with Christ," but he was contented still to linger in pain, that he might be more like his dying Saviour. He died and he went to receive "an imperishable crown" from the Master whom he had so long and so faithfully served. Here I might stop-here I would wish to conclude, for I know nothing higher than the character of a good bishop, who laboured disinterestedly, and zealously, and perseveringly, for the welfare of his flock. I am most unwilling to go beyond his episcopal character, for I do not think this the proper place for even an allusion to the share he was compelled to take in matters which were partly of a secular kind. I would not have opened my lips on the subject, if those, who maligned him during life, had even the good taste to spare him, when the grave had covered his ashes. But as it has pleased those who, for their own good reasons, were dissatisfied with the unflinching and straightforward honesty of his public career, to carry their malice he yond the grave, justice to him whom I loved so much, and my own strong and irrepressible feelings in his regard, compel me to make a few observations. We are not to wonder, brethren, that even such a man should be maligned. "The servant is not greater than his lord, nor the disciple greater than his master." And if the world calumniated our Divine Redeemer, it is only natural that his followers should share in his lot. "Blessed are you,” saith Christ, "when men revile you and speak every ill of you for my sake, for so they persecuted the prophets before you." In truth, he would not be a true follower of Christ, if the tongue of calumny had spared him-his character would not have presented such a likeness of his Master, if he had not a share of the reproaches and revilings with which that Master was loaded. And what fault had your deceased bishop committed, that he should be misrepresented?-what had he done to incur the anger of bad men, and to rouse the prejudice of weak men? What was in his character to give rise to the idle tales and silly lies which were so industriously circulated? His only fault was that he was too honest, and too straightforward for the people he had to deal with--he could not flatter the follies of the great, "and those who sat in the gate spoke against him"-he would not wink at the vices of the profigate, and those who drank wine made him their song." He was full of zeal for religion, and could say like his Master, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproached thee have fallen upon me." His first public writings were in defence of the faith which he professed. The church, of which he was an ornament, was assailed by the most gross and unfounded calumnies-he wrote to undeceive the credulous-to silence the calumniator-to clear away the base and foul charges brought against the religion he professed. As a bishop-could he do less! But there was a temporal object in the view of those who misrepresented us-they were anxious to deprive us of our fair share of constitutional rights under the pretence of religion-they represented our doctrine and practice to be such as rendered us unworthy and unfit to enjoy the full benefits of civil freedom, and thus were we suffering persecution for our religious tenets. Was it so unreasonable in an eminent Catholic prelate to undeceive those who had the power to exclude us or to admit us within the pale of the constitution? He laboured to do so-he flung off, with bitter scorn, the fou! calumnies unjustly heaped upon us-his language in doing so was strong, for he felt deeply; but those who criticise such language would do well to consider how hard it is to bear unmerited reproach, particularly when injury is added to insult. Then it was thought that the people might be freed at the expense of the hierarchy-that the chains which bound them might be relaxed, provided the church would consent to become captive-that the laity might be freed, if the clergy were fettered. Against such an arrangement he raised his voice-he felt that "our kingdom is not of this world," and he wished to preserve the ancient discipline which left us dependent for support on God, and on the people, and on them alone. We are attached to the throne by the strongest ties of duty and principle-we are bound to support authority and to maintain peace as the most powerful bond of feeling-of interest-of religion, and he did not think any other chain of connexion necessary, even though the links were of gold. And was not a Catholic bishop entitled to express an opinion on such a subject? Was he not the fittest person to remonstrate against such an arrangement, believing as he did, as many others did-and certainly as I do-that such a project would be deeply injurious to our religious discipline, and would defeat its avowed object by lessening the confidence of the people in us-by exchanging active and powerful (because disinterested) friends, for careless and useless hirelings. On one subject more he published his opinions strongly and perseveringly; he advocated the claims of the poor to a permanent support, or to the means of obtaining it, and can it be said that such a subject was unconnected with the duties of his office? To whom are the poor to look, if not to the ministers of religion, for support and protection? Before a bishop receives the imposition of hands, he solemnly and publicly promises to be a protector to the widow and orphan-a guardian to the poor and helpless. What wonder then if your holy bishop, who knew so well the condition of the poor, for they were the most beloved part of his flock; who was compelled to witness every day such a mass of misery; who saw the spirit of outrage and insubordination to which hopeless want and bitter suffering were driving the people; what wonder if he boldly and powerfully advocated their claims, and proved to demonstration, that every motive of justice, of interest, and of policy, were combined in requiring some legal provision to be made for them? But he ventured, in his ardent zeal for the impoverished people of this country, to go one step farther; and this it was that brought a tempest on his head. He suggested that there were certain public funds, a part of which was originally destined for the support of the poor, and he claimed for the poor that these funds should be appropriated to their original object. This was the sin that self-interested persons never forgave; it was by touching this sore point that he raised up a host of enemies, who never ceased to malign his motives and to misrepresent his actions. But enough of such disagreeable topics. Dr. Doyle had to bear the shafts of calumny, because he was too sincere and too firm. Had he been a timeserver, he would have had fewer enemies-had he flattered the powerful, he might have had more of their friendship-had he deserted what was just, to pursue what was expedient, he would have had less to annoy him-had he abandoned principle, he might have enjoyed an inglorious peace. But he acted a more noble part: with talents that few could equal--with a fortitude that none could excel-with a degree of perseverance that a just cause alone could uphold-he defended the doctrine which he taught, he preserved from the contagion of secular intermeddling, the church which he loved; he was to his last moment, the undaunted and unflinching advocate of the poor man's rights. He has left for our imitation a glorious illustration of a noble maxiın—“ Be just and fear not." But it is time to return from a digression into which my feelings have perhaps imprudently hurried me: let me then remind you brethren, of the object for which you have assembled-it was to offer prayers and sacrifice for your friend, your father and your bishop. Do not cease to do so, for holy as he was, we must remember that he was a man, and if any man say that he has not sin, "he is a liar ;" and again," we all have sinned, "and all require Inercy from God. And while you pray that a just and merciful God will remember the faith and zeal and labours and sufferings of your departed bishop, and will look with pity on the frailties which are inseparable from human mature, pray for yourselves that God inay give you grace to imitate the example which he left you, that, being separated for a short time, you may be united with him again in that place where the wicked cease to torment us, and when sin and sorrow can afflict no more, in that everlasting kingdom which Christ has died to purchase for us by his blood. Amen. A vindication of Dr. Doyle against the calumnies of his traducers in our next. ANCIENT WISDOM.-It is better to decide a difference between enemies than friends; for one of our friends will certainly become an enemy, cnc d our enemies a friend.-Bias. DUBLIN:-Stereotyped, Printed and Published, by T. & J. COLDWELL, 50, Capel-stres THE No. 27. PUBLISHED WEEKLY, UNDER THE INSPECTION OF CATHOLIC DIVINES. DUBLIN, SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1834. VOL. I. ADAM NAMING THE LIVING CREATURES.-GEN. ii. 19, 20. AND the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them for whatsoever Adam called any living creature, the same is its name. 20. And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the Fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field. SKETCHES OF RELIGION IN THE SOUTH. THE MAGDALEN. THERE is nothing great or good in human nature to which many claimants have not made pretensions: and among the things which are calculated to dignify the human character, few have found more assumed votaries than religious virtue. There is something so characteristic of kindliness of disposition in the possession of a goodly benevolence, and something so ennobling in the sacrifice of convenience to philanthropy, that the professor of either, or of both, is exalted into something superior to his species; and hence we cannot wonder that in every age so many have been found to claim the wreath which so distinguishes them from their fellowmen. But the peculiar character of true virtue greatly circumscribes the number of its real followers for, if we calculate the number of inducements which men have to appear in a guise of rectitude to their fellows, if we calculate the many motives of selflove, ostentation, and other temporal interests, by which they are oftentimes actuated, we shall find that there are few who "Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." The rich is the class of persons most exposed to unworthy motives such as these, though many may be found among them with whom such motives have no influence. However, generally speaking, the glory of having their good actions noised abroad; the gratitude, and, in some instances, the safety which the fame of such works procures them, ever renders the offering of abundance suspected, if the intentions of the rich man be not supported by his conduct in the other relations of life. There is only on eclass of beings whose few inducements to do good through corrupt motives give a great security of their doing it through pure ones: and that class is the poor. Here the obscurity of situation hides every action from the great world around them, and, unnoticed by the mary whose province it is to bestow fame or destroy it, nothing but the consciousness of the good action can be their reward here, except indeed the expectation of a recompense hereafter. It is a loss to society in general that the good actions of the poor are so much hidden. The example of how much virtue could effect among the unlettered would be a shame to the more enlightened but less charitable, and the picture of generosity in the indigent might have a salutary effect upon the parsimony of independence. Many circumstances of such a character have come to my knowledge; and since the promotion of virtue in every state of society was a primary object in the establishment of your little Periodical, I shall, for the extension of Christian benevolence, make use of any information on this subject which I may possess. It will be at the |