to the world; but when the result of the census was known, it was whispered, indeed, from mouth to mouth, but with a caution that the cardinal did not wish to see it in print. He need not have feared: the Catholic press has too keen a sense of its duty (and of its financial dependence on the clergy) to insert such compromising matter.
I have not seen the exact figures—I do not suppose they ever passed the archbishop’s study in writing—but I was informed by several reliable priests that out of the small Catholic population of London between 70,000 and 80,000 never went near a church—had practically abandoned the Church. It has been explained that the positive ceremonial obligations of a Catholic are so grave that their continued neglect puts a man outside the pale of the Church. Most priests can fairly ascertain how many nominal Catholics there are in their district—how many should be Catholics by parentage, baptism, education, &c., subtracting from this number the average number of attendance at Mass on Sunday (an obligatory service) he finds the number of renegades. So, also, he can make a minimum calculation from his school children; multiply the number of children by five and you have the population, though in some places many Catholic children attend Board schools.
Uncomfortable as the general statement is, a few facts will show that it is rather under than over the truth. The priest, as a rule, likes to give as roseate
