64 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



tiling like it. I am not one of those who think ill of 

 Eoman Catholics as such ; a large proportion of them 

 are fully to be relied upon. They know well enough 

 what awaits them at the hands of such as Mr. Butt 

 and his friends in a Fenian or Eepeal Government. 

 Nothing is more astonishing to us here than the way 

 in which Mr. Butt's character and conduct seem to 

 have been forgotten in England. Some Eoman 

 Catholics may no doubt be influenced in voting at an 

 election and may flirt with Home Eule for personal 

 ends, just as a few Protestants may do, but a very 

 large proportion of them will not help it. 



It is the fashion to say the Eoman Catholic 

 priests will have to follow their people into disaffec- 

 tion. I believe the priests have never before had so 

 hard a game to play. The interests, or supposed 

 interests, of the Eoman Catholic Church have hitherto 

 been bound up with their own personal power. This 

 power has been very great, and is prized by them 

 above everything. On the other hand, it is certain 

 that the Fenians positively hate priestly interference 

 of any sort. Their leaders love power as much as 

 the priests do, and they are eaten up by an insatiable 

 vanity of self that never will submit to the rule of 

 the priests or any one else. If they ever had the 

 upper hand, there would be an end of the power of 

 the priests, and the priests know it. 



For a time, and in some places, especially large 

 towns, where hitherto the power of the priests has 



