Next morning when he picked up the newspaper and the daily
instalment of a cardinal's tour through Ireland caught his eye, he
remembered that Ellen had sent for a theologian.... His eyes went
down the columns of the newspaper and he said, "All the old
flummery. Ireland's fidelity to her religion, etc., her devotion
to Rome, etc.,--to everything," he said, "except herself.
Propagations of the faith, exhortations to do as our ancestors had
done, to do everything except make life joyous and triumphant."
Looking across the page his eye was caught by the headline,
"Profession of Irish Nuns in France." Further on in large letters,
"Killmessan Cathedral: Bazaar." And these items of news were
followed by a letter from a Bishop. "What a lot of Bishops!" he
said. He read of "worthy" parish priests, and a little further on
of "brilliant" young clergymen, and at every meeting the chair was
taken by the "worthy" or by the "good" parish priest.
"Well," he said, "if the newspaper reflects the mind of the people
there is no hope."
And he heard daily of new churches and new convents and the
acquisition of property by the clergy. He heard tales of esuriency
and avarice, and the persecution of the dancing-girl and the
piper.
"The clergy," he said, "are swallowing up the country," and he
looked for some means whereby he might save the Gael.
About this time an outcry was made against the ugliness of modern
ecclesiastical architecture, and a number of enthusiasts were
writing to the newspapers proposing a revival of Irish romanesque;
they instanced Cormac's Chapel as the model that should be
followed.
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