600 members, attend one of the morning masses; on the third Sunday in each month the members of the boys’ and men’s guilds, numbering between 400 and 500, do like-wise.  Fine order prevails amongst them; numerous captains are in command; special dresses are worn by many of the members; some of the girls are in white; all the members wear sashes, crosses, &c.; and, after entering, their bright golden-hued banners, are planted in lines at the ends of the seats, giving a rare and imposing beauty to the general scene.  The church will hold about 1,000 persons; and the complete attendance on a Sunday is about 3,500.  The congregation is principally made up of working-class people, and they have got a spirit of devotion and generosity within them which many a richer and more rose-watered assembly would do well to cultivate.

There are four priests at St. Ignatius’s, and in addition to the duties discharged by them in the church, they have special departments of labour to look after outside it.  Father J. Walker, the principal priest, superintends the female guilds, and visits the soldiers at the Barracks; Father R. Brindle attends to the male guilds; Father Boardman hangs out an educational banner, and has the management of the various schools; the fourth priest officiates as auxiliary.  Wonders used to be worked in this district by the Rev. Father Cooper—­an indefatigable, far-seeing, mild-moving man, in very plain clothes, who could any time get more money for religious and educational purposes than half a score of other priests.  He was always planning something for the improvement of the district; was always looking after the vital end—­the money; and was always bringing in substantial specimens of the current coin.  He included Protestants among his supporters; people who in nine cases out of ten would give to nobody else—­were always calmly tickled and trotted into a generous mood by him.  St. Ignatius’s district was stirred into full and active life by Father Cooper; he extended and elaborated the church; improved the schools greatly; touched with the wand of progress everything belonging the mission; and the Catholics of the neighbourhood may thank all their stars in one lot for his 15 years residence amongst them.  A man like Father Cooper was bad to follow; it was no easy matter putting his shoes on and walking in them regularly through the district; but his successor—­ Father Walker, who has seen something of the world, has done service in the West Indies, has fought with mosquitoes, confronted black and yellow fever, preached to dark men and soldiers, and made himself moderately acquainted with the hues and habits of butterflies, centipedes, and snakes, if the museum at Stonyhurst College is anything to go by, was not the priest to be either disheartened or ignored.