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198, distributions of prizes, &c., which are equally gratifying to them and to the sisters.

Their circumstances, naturally, differ very widely in different parishes: as a rule they are not rich. Indeed, I have known a priest to reduce his living expenses to nine shillings per week: I should think there are few who have 150l. per annum. However, they live in hopes of better days: the State grant to their schools will mean a material increase in their personal income. They, of course, claim it as a relief to their parishioners, but in point of fact the special collections they make for their schools are insignificant: the deficit must be made up out of the ordinary income of the church, which will not change after a concession to their schools by a benevolent Government (whom they will then help to overthrow on the Irish question).

The cardinal usually assists the poorest missions, in some of which, as at Ongar, there are not a score of Catholics: at least Cardinal Manning did, though Cardinal Vaughan has retracted most of his predecessor’s allowances. Indeed, they are more afraid of having money taken from them by Cardinal Vaughan than of the contrary, and they fill up their statistical papers with much ingenuity. Cardinal Manning took little interest in the incomes and expenditures of his clergy, but as soon as Vaughan arrived they all received a detailed form to fill in and return, giving an account of their receipts and expenses.