Irish priest in regard to his flock is so anomalous,
that some explanation of it seems necessary in order to understand the
accusations made against Father Nicholas Sheehy, and the animosity with
which he was hunted to death by his persecutors. While the priest was
driven from cave to mountain and from mountain to cave, he was the
consoler of his equally persecuted people. The deep reverence which
Catholics feel for the office of the priesthood, can scarcely be
understood by those who have abolished that office, as far as the law of
the land could do so; but a man of ordinary intellectual attainments
ought to be able to form some idea of the feelings of others, though he
may not have experienced them personally; and a man of ordinary humanity
should be able to respect those feelings, however unwise they may seem
to him. When education was forbidden to the Irish, the priest obtained
education in continental colleges; and there is sufficient evidence to
show that many Irish priests of that and of preceding centuries were men
of more than ordinary abilities. The Irish, always fond of learning, are
ever ready to pay that deference to its possessors which is the best
indication of a superior mind, however uncultivated. Thus, the
priesthood were respected both for their office and for their erudition.
The landlord, the Protestant clergyman, the nearest magistrate, and,
perhaps, the tithe-proctor, were the only educated persons in the
neighbourhood; but they were leagued against the poor peasant; they
demanded rent and tithes, which he had no means of paying; they refused
justice, which he had no means of obtaining. The priest, then, was the
only friend the peasant had. His friendship was disinterested--he gained
nothing by his ministration but poor fare and poor lodging; his
friendship was self-sacrificing, for he risked his liberty and his life
for his flock. He it was--

"Who, in the winter's night,
When the cold blast did bite,
Came to my cabin door,
And, on the earthen floor,
Knelt by me, sick and poor;"

and he, too, when the poor man was made still poorer by his sickness,

"Gave, while his eyes did brim,
What I should give to him."[556]

But a time came when the priest was able to do more. Men had seen, in
some measure, the absurdity, if not the wickedness, of persecuting the
religion of a nation; and at this time priests were tolerated in
Ireland. Still, though they risked their lives