13 JUNE 1874, Page 3

Cardinal Cullen has received a mandate from the Pope— having,

presumably, first suggested the mandate to the Pope —to summon a National Synod for the consideration of 'various Roman Catholic ecclesiastical matters. Accordingly such a 'Synod—the first since that of Thurles, in 1850—is to meet at the end of July or the beginning of August, the place being not yet fixed. Let us hope that the new Synod will be wiser than the last, which condemned the Queen's Colleges,—institu- tions which, with all their defects, might have been flourishing now, had the Synod blessed instead of banning,—and established the Roman Catholic University, which has hitherto lived but a poor and bloodless life. A Synod with power enough to blight but not power enough to bless, should be exceedingly cautious in its proceedings.