“It is impossible, in fact, that a Church so deeply infected with political corruption, so shamefully neglected in all that is spiritual and regenerative, and so openly prostituted to intrigue and ambition, can ever work with that high and holy efficacy which should characterize her.  These, however, are not her purposes, nor are they aimed at.  She exists here merely as an unholy bond between the political interests of the two countries, maintaining British authority by her wealth, and corrupting Irish honesty by her example.  I have already enumerated the class of persons who enter her, and touched upon the motives by which they are influenced.  In large families, for instance, if there happen to be a young fellow either too idle, or too stupid for the labor and duties of the other professions, there is no inconvenience or regret felt.  No matter—­he Dick, or Jack, or Tom, as the case may be, will do very well for the Church.  ’You will make a very good parson, Tom—­or a Dean--or a-----no hang it, there I must stop, I was about to say Bishop, but not being an Englishman, you cannot carve that dish, Dick.  Never mind—­you can feed upon a fat living—­or if one won’t do—­why, we must see and get you a pair of them, Bill.’

“But this, my dear Spinageberd, is not all.  You will be surprised, when I tell you, that there is no system of education necessary for entering into orders.  No system, I repeat—­properly so called—­either Scriptural or Ecclesiastical.  Some few divinity lectures are to be attended, which in general are neither well attended—­nor worth attending—­and that, I believe, is all.  One thing is certain, that the getting certificates of attendance for these lectures is a mere form, as is the examination for orders.  The consequence is, that a young candidate for a living goes into the Church burthened with very little of that lore which might spoil his appetite for its enjoyment; so harmoniously does everything here work together for the good of the pastors at the expense of the people.

“I think I have shown you that there is little in the Church of Ireland that is likely to regulate or purify the spirit of Orangeism when coming in contact with itself.  That it had little to gain from the Church in a spiritual way, and that the Church is not fulfilling the ends of her establishment here in any sense, is evident from the Report in the little work from which I have taken these extracts.  In that passage it would appear that the very existence of a Church is forgotten altogether; for Orangeism is termed ’an institution, whose chief object—­whatever political shape it may assume—­is to preserve the Protestant religion.’  I will now, before I close this batch, direct your attention to one or two passages that prove most distinctly the fact, that there stand clear in this oath of an Orangeman, principles, founded on foregone practices and conclusions, which never should have existence in a country so situated as this is.