"LOOK ON THIS PICTURE, AND ON THTS."

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 53, 2 May 1874, Page 11

"LOOK ON THIS PICTURE, AND ON THTS."

TO THE EDITOU OF IHE DUBLIN ' KVJ.KING POST.'

liOscrea, January, 1874 On an elevate! plateau overlooking this town is (>iluaicd a bianeh of the Sacre Coeur Convent, wl ich, though presenting to the external beholder no evidence of architectural beauty, yet interiorly exhibita a beautiful illu3tration of tho Koy.il Prophet's allusion to the Catholic Church — " Omnis gloiia filise lvgis ab hit us "—"" — " All the glory of the king's daughter is from within " This religious educational establishment contains generally fi.mi 115 to 120 inhabitants, consisting of about SO young ladies, from every country in Ireland ; 15 lav 6i-.ters and 25 choir nuns, from almost every country in Europe, unions wliom may be included the younsj, innocent Alad.-un Paulina Stotznioujka, from Poland, the Ireland ot tho East, ns well as the daughters of our o»mi dear Ireland, the Poland of the West. Like their JJiiine Model, \v!u>, to manifest the unbounded love of His affectionate S icred Heart fur poor ialltui hiunaiuty, exchanged the bliss of Heaven for the misery of eiirth, these good leh^ious ladies have lelt their country, their home, piven up not oi.ly tl c comforts, but ihe luxuries of life, m order th >t they might mmiaier to the poor anil afflicted, and impart to the youth cl the various grades of society the inestimable advantages of a reli«iou s - and secular education. At (he head of this establishment is a French lady, revered and venerated by the poor of Komto.i ami its neighborhood, esteemid by all who enjoy the happiness of her acquaintance, beloved by all who ha\e hail the goou fortune to ha\e been confided to her solioitoiib and malrouh cine. A conspicuous place in this establishment is occupied by a daughter of our own dear Erin, whose splenuid annual income is spent pmieipally in erecting eommomodious, comfortable schnols for the benefit of the Irish p-ior, a substanti.-.l specimen of which may ''c seen here in Hosc.ea. On some of those religious devolves the du*y of not only trammer aud instructing tho abo\o mentioned SO j oi.ng ladi, s in all the varied accomplishments which the present advanced state of society expects, but of also Leaching them what may still be mure necessary — how they may beon.e Useful numbers of society bf the fjithful discharge oi those various duties* lnch requiio industry combined with economy. Afew more attend to the education ofabout4o day pupil- belonging to what is called the middle class, and sevenl of them arc occupied in the National ScliooU, wherein are eclucited about 330 of the humbler clas-5 belonging to t 1 .is and the adjacent parishes. Ihere is e\en a portion ot the estnl hehmenl set ap irt for the very small chilircn who are brought in tho arms of their mothers, and left there during the day, while they themselves are thus enabled to attend to their domestic dulici, or to earn a luv pence while employed m somo useful occupa.ion. In adihtiou tv all those eiyngod in the varioas duties already enuixieiafed, there are a lVw moie lur advanced m years who might appear to the workih -minded not only useLs-, nay, bur'thunson c, but wliokj occupation i-o in reality more meritorious than even those of the rest, ir-r it consists in iui[)irtuig com tort and consolation to the poor broken-hearted child of aflliction and sorrow, who >b never refised admittance by t'ue angelic portress of the fcjacie Cceur. The union, the harmony and kind iee.mg that, prevails aming the members of this religious comiiiuuity reunuds one of the happy times of the early Christians, of whom fct. Paul snyb that " they had but ono hi art and one soul." A stranger pa) ing a visit to tho boautuul Uiiuch ol St. Crouan, on hearing the merry . ound of the voices of tho 80 youn" boarders during recreation time mu-t acknowledge t.iat [hey u t lea-'fc a re strangers to any of the many miseriu... \. ith which the outer world abounds. The oa^cmess with which tliij looL. ionvard to tho iir&t

Friday in September — the day fixed for their return from vacation — ■ the many letters which pass though the hands of tho Superioress from those whose connections with the convent, has long ceased, letters which abound with fond recollections of hi pp • school days gone by — are a strong proof that, if nny pluco can u.i called a " heaven on pirth," it is the Sacie Ccßur of Koscrae. For this establishment, and farm of 15 acres attached to it, only a snail rent is paid, but tho taxation of every description is enormous. The annual expenditure of the whole institution is about £2000.

A traveller passiug by the convent nlon» t!t» road leading to Templemore may, in a few minutes, reach the gate leuling to another institution, commonly culled the Workhouse, but which should, propoily speaking, be called the poorhouse. In this Urge prison are immured about 144 ptutpcr* of every age and condition, old and young, healthy and sickly, the rofu>e of the streets as well as tho respectable poverty-stricken destitute widow, who had once seen better and happier days. On entering this institution, especially that position occupied by young robust fern lies, you are likely to hear some of them manifesting their discontentment md dissatisfaction by grumbling and scolding, vicing with one another ns to the different tasks assigned them, no harmony, no affection, uo union, but envy and jealousy combining to render their state deplorable indeed. It may, perhaps, appear paiadoxicnl that thero should be any pontion tn the Roscrea Poor-house calculated to excite envy or jealousy. I state the truth when I assert that there are some among the paupers who might be usefully employed elsewhere, quite satisfied to remain when they ar<: admitted in the capacity of servants to the respectable partun jl the establishment. The same feelings do not, for the most part, appc-ar to exist among the male portion of this community, for, yielding to the influence of religion, they endeavour to submit to their degradation if not with cheerfulness, at least with patience, in the hope that they may expiate the crimes, or at, least the folly of former years by their calm resignation to the cold, dreary, cheerless condition of poorhouse life. A remarknble proof of this, of winch I myself wa9 witness, occurred a few yea**s since. In the evening of a special Board day I was called to attend a poor d\:n_c man whom I had often attended, and whom I had visited (,n I thought, for the lust time) on the morning of the same div- As soon as I entered the sick ward the poor man exclaimed, " Arra sure he calle 1 hero after you left me, the villnin that turned me out of my faw acres, though I f'idn't owe him a Is of rent, and my poor daughter, God knows where she » now, or what will become of her." After a few words of consola'ion I heH tint crucifix before his glazed eyes. Having B'->at< hod it, from rue he pressed it most fervently to hts quivering lipo ; looking at it mot intently for a few moments ho cried out, " After all what is what, I hid to suffer compared to what You had to endure for us all. liny God forgive him and me also. I'll soon lie better off than ever he was." The Christian eh \rity of tins pn <r d^iug man, and his appeal to the God of mercy in favor of his cruel p-rstcutor, appeared to me to bear a striking resemblance to that of the Protomartyr of whom the Holy Spii it of God says, " Obdormivit in Domino" — "he slept in the Lord Coming to the juvenile department, we behold the poor forlorn children, tha ofrjpiing, perhaps, of crime and =hame —pi -iced under the c ire of .State officials, who, t'lo-igh they may discharge those duues which their patrons impose on them, yet can never succeed in making tho»e poor children in any way im ful moinbo. 1-'1 -' of soc ety, for wneie is tho yomg boy or voting girl to be found on enning out of the poorhouse cipablo of performing any of the humblest common dnt.es of hie ? For all the h.i|>pme-s and manifold advantages derived from ihe S-io-o Cccar Convent of Roscrca, we are iud-bted to the teieluiig cf the much maligned Catholic Church. For the public advantage alforded by this Roscrea Poorhouse it would be utit.di to withhold lrom its hu>ipfacio>'s their full measure of praise; bur, for nil the mi->eiy, discord an. l degradatiun it engenders, I maiutidn tlint, notwithstanding all the bo.ixted enlightenment und iyiu'uih liberty of this nineteenth cutury, fie State stands convicted befo-c- 1 the world of tho gioo->ea injustice for a lowing it 3 represent it ires — the I'oor Law Guar,ii.in«, elected and nun-elected — to impose such »n > uoimou- tit as is ex/iut.\l each >ear fmni the people ol Koscrea and Us in i^iibournuod. That sue.i a s,id staie of things ought not to bo allowed to continue; is the opiaion of many, as well as, dear lEr Editor, yo.ir's mo-<t g-r< fully, PAL'KIUK CKOWE, C.C.