THE REV. THOMAS CONNELLAN, - The Gospel Magazine

538 The Gosp~l Magazine,
him a perjurer and a Judas, and consigned him to everlasting
;torments.
As to the spirit engendered at Maynooth, it was one of abject slavery.
Independence of thought or action was discouraged, frowned down,
denounced. On the contrary, the stolid animal who took kindly to his
bit and curb, and paced with docility before the Church chariot, re- .
ceived every mark of approbation and every reward which the college
could bestow. Rome has her annual Juggernaut Festival in Maynooth,
when a hundred young men, or thereabout, go down on all fours on the
morning of ordination, and solemnly swear before God to bear the Pope
upon their backs for the rest of their lives. To be sure, the choice is
supposed to be a voluntal} one. The candidates have arrived at the
years of discretion. No jlrson is forced. Of course not: yet we
have seen how the opposition has been driven out of court; how Rome,
along with a special pleader, calls to her aid family influence, ignorant
prejudice, deceit, nay, unblushing falsehood; for the books by whose
aid the young ecclesiastic is expected to make up his mind bristle with
falsehood on every page. -
On that morning, June 20, 1880, when I first donned the chasuble
of Rome, I gloried in my new character. Was not Roman Catholicism
the genuine Apostolical religion, leading up link by link in unbroken
succession to Jesus Christ 1 Had not I satisfied myself by public and
private reading that she was the true spouse of the Lamb, and did not
I long for the time to come when I might break a lance with those blind
and wicked men who opposed her 1 I really believed it was so, and,
although in extreme bodily weakness, I left for ever my Alma Mater in
extraordinary spiritual strength.
After six weeks' holiday I was put on the" Sligo staff," to use the
bishop's words in a letter whose contents I well remember. I had not
then much opportunity of coming into personal contact with my
bishop, for in a few days the" Sligo staff" was broken up, and I was
sent as a curate to Strokestown. I had not been there quite four
months, when in the depths of the severest winter I have ever known,
January, 1881, I was recalled to Sligo. Strokestown was the first place
where I had charge of a flock, and I shall not soon forget the evening
on which I bade them good-bye. The tears were streaming from rny
eyes almost until I reached my father's place, twenty miles distant.
Next day I made my entry to the bishop's new palace at Sligo, destined
to be my home for four years afterwards. I now came into very
immediate contact with my bishop.
. During my first couple of years in his lordship's mansion I was
obliged to teach in the college, look after ceremonies, superintend
schools, and be responsible for a large district. My life was exceedingly
busy, and my duties were too much for my strength. After that
I got charge of a lovely strip of country, extendiI\g along the northern
shore of Lough Gill. The scenery was varied and exceedingly
picturesque, while the people were as good as they were primitive.
I absolutely revelled in my new domain.
Dear, primitive region of Calry, with Lough Gill, "the bright lake,"