ΤΟ MRS. JONES, OF OLDBURY COURT, BRISTOL, FOR WHOM THIS JOURNAL was written, and the perusal of which, at the request of some whose opinion he values, has been extended beyond her own immediate circle of friends, IT IS INSCRIBED with feelings of melancholy satisfaction, by her affectionate and grateful relative, G. F. G. M. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. THE following pages contain notes of conversations with priests and clergymen in Ireland, examinations of Popish and Protestant children in schools, and sermons which I myself heard preached in different parts of the country. I endeavoured to collect information on religious rather than on general subjects; and, in treating of religion, I have endeavoured to preserve that quiet dispassionate spirit which is the opposite of political religion. My inquiries may be classed under three heads. 1. The state of the Roman church. 2. The state of the National church. 3. The state of Education. The first Roman bishop whom I met with was p. 6. all life, activity, and vigilance: rich, but spending little on himself; much on books, schools, and other public objects. His clergy were like himself in point of activity, but less literary. They complained, and justly, of hard work. They had not time for study or for improvement. All must be hurry-skurry, bustle, and business; and Dean Swift's practical illustration of working curates is daily exemplified among our Romish brethren. Their mechanism is admirably adapted to ob |