Dr. Cumming, beemaster, student of the Apocalypse, and stump theologian
generally, will have it that Roman Catholicism increases in England. He has written a long letter to the Tinges to prove that assertion, relying chiefly on an increase of priests from 434 in 1830 to 1,242 in 1884; of chapels, from 410 to 900; of conventa, from 16 to 162; and of monasteries, from none to 53. These figures seem very formidable, but they really prove nothing at all, for they have been simultaneous with a vast emigration from Ireland to England. There are now upwards of 900,000 "foreigners," i. e., persons not born here in England and Wales, andof these 800,000 are said to be Irish, who of course, until they
become wealthy and civilized, adhere to the old creed. After that, as the American priests have lamented publicly a dozen times, the Catholic Church loses them.
Previous page
