two very poor Irish localities, Cardinal Manning had left for years two priests who were quite unfitted for the work—they were both estimable, refined, and earnest men, who would have been useful in a very different sphere; Cardinal Vaughan has happily transferred them. When the time comes it will prove no light task to find a worthy successor to Cardinal Vaughan.[1]
With regard to the education of secular priests the same may be said as of regulars; in fact the remarks in the preceding chapter apply to the clergy generally. The classical and mathematical training of the seculars is better than that of the friars; beyond, they are entirely in the same condition. Their philosophical and theological studies have been equally disorderly and precipitate: they have had no serious introduction either to the thought of past ages (beyond the thirteenth century) or to the living thoughts of the Zeitgeist in our own days. They read little and know little beyond the interminable Anglican controversy. There is a reaction between them and their people;
- ↑ The Vaughan family is a remarkable one; of the seven brothers six became prominent ecclesiastics. Roger died Archbishop of Sydney; Herbert is cardinal; Bernard, the Jesuit, is the first Catholic preacher in England; Jerome is the founder of a new order; Kenelm is a world-wide missionary; John is a monsignore. It is said that John attempted a smart aphorism on the family; he himself represented thought, Bernard word, and Herbert deed. When Bernard heard it he caustically added, 'and Jerome omission.' The allusion is to the Catholic classification of sins—sins of thought, word, deed and omission.
