richest possible soil for monasticism; men who lead the lives of the mediæval monks will receive from its peasantry the deep reverence and hospitality of the mediæval world. Yet the Irish province of the Franciscan Order (the monastery at Killarney which I described belongs to the English province) is one of its most perverted and enfeebled branches. During years of persecution the scattered friars naturally discarded every monastic feature of their lives, and no amount of pressure from Rome has succeeded in restoring them in these more indulgent days. The friars individually possess money (thus cutting at the very root of the Franciscan idea), wear boots and stockings, and rarely don their habits, have secular servants, and are guilty of many other condemned practices. In a word, their lives are those of the ordinary Irish clergy; their profession of Assisian asceticism is little more than an empty formality.
Another numerous and flourishing branch of the order is found in Holland. Although it is in an 'heretical' country it has full civic liberty and is generously patronised: hence it has grown into a powerful body. During my sojourn in Belgium I gathered that it fell far short of the high standard of the Flemish province, and the fact seemed to be generally confirmed. But shortly after my return to England I received a curious confirmation of the opinion. We received a small pamphlet, written in Latin (for it was not intended to reach the eyes of the laity), having
