of their priests a considerable part of the Irish electorate
falsely declared themselves to be illiterate, so that the secrecy of the
ballot might be avoided and their votes might be regulated by the
clergy. On a comparison of the statistics of illiterate voters and the
Census of illiteracy a similar proportion was found to exist as that
between the total number of voters and the whole population, in this way
completely disproving the allegation.

A great deal of capital has of late been made of the alleged excessive
church building in Ireland during the last few years. In the light of
the fact that less than forty years have passed since the money of these
same peasants for the expenditure of which so much concern is now
expressed, was devoted to the maintenance of what Disraeli admitted to
be an alien Church, it is a little surprising to hear this taunt from
Englishmen and Protestants. Relieved, as the people have been only in
the last generation, from this obligation it is not strange that the
work of providing churches for their own worship should have been
undertaken. The Catholic churches have in large measure been built by
the contributions of successful emigrants, subscribed in many instances
with the secondary object of providing work in building during times of
distress. There are 2,400 Catholic and 1,500 Protestant churches in
Ireland at the present moment, and there is one Episcopalian Protestant
church for every 320 members of that creed and one Catholic church for
every 1,368 Catholics.

Sir Horace Plunkett, who started this new fashion of attack by giving it
the cachet of respectability in the first edition of "Ireland in the New
Century," after declaring that he has "come to the conclusion that the
immense power of the Irish Roman Catholic clergy has been singularly
little abused," goes on to add in connection with the topic on which we
are touching that "without a doubt a good many motives are unfortunately
at work in the church-building movement which have but remote connection
with religion." What is meant by this I cannot pretend to say. It seems
to me unworthy of a gentleman in Sir Horace's position, and with his
acknowledged good intentions to adopt an attitude which can only be
compared to that which Pope satirised in the lines:--

"Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering teach the rest to sneer,
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
Just hint a fault,