THE HOLY WELLS OF IRELAND.

LOUGH DERGH.

To the Editor of the Irish Missionary
Magazine.

Dear Sir,-In pursuance of my promise, I now take up my pen to furnish your readers with some further particulars of those places of pilgrimage and penance referred to in my first letter, especially that of Lough Dergh, situated in a lake on the borders of Fermanagh and Tyrone, in the north west of our island. Of this celebrated spot I send you an engraving, copied from a little work which I published some time since; and I may observe, that the correctness of the statements contained in that work has never been questioned by any Roman Catholic priest or layman. From the sketch in the engraving, your readers will be able to form some idea of the locality of the place, and of the appearance of the pilgrims. The lake is nearly six miles in length, and four in breadth. It is surrounded on every side by bleak, barren hills, covered with heath from base to sum"The Holy Wells of Ireland," published by Groombridge, Paternoster Row.

mit; and along the entire range not more than five or six human habitations are visible. It contains several rocky islands. Station island, the one on which the purgatory is situated, is of very limited dimensions, of a forbidding aspect, and lies about half a mile from the mainland. It is covered with modern buildings, fitted up as places of worship, each one dedicated to some particular saint. In the vicinity of these are a number of stone enclosures, similar to those formerly described, surrounding stone or wooden crosses; they are called saints' beds. Around these circles, on the hard and pointed rocks, the penitents or pilgrims pass upon their bare feet or knees, repeating certain forms of prayer in honour of the saints to whom the beds are respectively dedicated.

As it would be impossible in the space your journal could afford me, to give in detail all the particulars connected with this abomination of a Christian country, I shall, in preference to any garbled account of the entire, present to your readers a few of the scenes as described by Mr. Carleton, decidedly the most graphic and faithful sketcher of Irish life and manners that has ever attempted the difficult task. He was, I believe, in his younger years, designed for the priest

hood; and, if I mistake not, at rather an early age, undertook the pilgrimage which he so graphically describes. After recounting the toil and pain he endured during the journey to the Lough,* and describing the various pilgrims who stopped for the night at Petigo, a village in the neighbourhood, he proceeds

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The next morning, when I awoke, I joined with all haste the aggregate crowds that proceeded in masses towards the lake, or purgatory, which lies amongst the hills that extend to the north-east of Petigo. While ascending the bleak, hideous mountain range, whose ridge commands a full view of this celebrated scene of superstition, the manner and appearance of the pilgrims were deeply interesting.

Although there could not be less than two hundred people, young and old, boys and girls, men and women, the hale and the sickly, the blind and, the lame, all climbing to gain the top with as little delay as possible, yet was there scarcely a sound, certainly not a word to be heard among them. For my part, I plainly heard the palpitations of my heart, both loud and quick. Had I been told that the veil of eternity was about to be raised before me at that moment, I could scarcely have felt more intensely. Several females were obliged to rest for some time, in order to gain both physical and moral strength one fainted; and several old men were obliged to sit down. All were praying— every crucifix was out-every bead in requisition; and nothing broke a silence so solemn, but a low, monotonous murmur of devotion; although, perhaps, at that moment there was not a single heart engaged in the prayers which the mouth was uttering.

"As soon as we ascended the hill, the whole scene was instantly before us: a large lake, surrounded by an amphitheatre of mountains, bleak, uncomfortable, and desolate. In the lake itself, about half a mile from the edge next us, was to be seen the island,' with two or three slated houses on it, naked and unplastered, as desolate looking almost as the mountains. A little range of exceeding low hovels, which the German dwarf could scarcely enter without stooping, appeared to the left; and the eye could rest on nothing more, except a living mass of human beings crawling slowly about, like worms on a dead dog. first thing the pilgrim does, when he gets a sight of the lake, is to prostrate himself, kiss the earth, and then on his knees, offer up three paters and aves, for the favor of being permitted to see this blessed place. When this is over, he descends to the

The

*Any of our readers who may wish to see the entire account, may consult the work referred to.-ED.

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lake, and after paying sixpence to the ferryman, is rowed over to the purgatory. In a short time, I found myself among the living mass upon the island. The first thing I did was to hand over my three cakes of oaten bread, which I had got made in Petigo, tied up in a handkerchief, as well as my hat and second shirt, to the care of the owner of one of the huts; having first, by the way, undergone a second prostration on touching the island, and greeted it with fifteen holy kisses, and another string of prayers. I then, according to the regulations, should commence the stations, lacerated as my feet were after so long a journey; so that I had not a moment to rest. Think, therefore, what I must have suffered, on surrounding a large chapel, in the direction of from east to west, along a pavement of stone spikes, every one of them making its way along my nerves and muscles to my unfortunate brain. I was absolutely stupid and dizzy with the pain, the praying, the justling, the elbowing, the scrambling, and the uncomfortable penitential whining of the whole crowd. I knew not what I was about, but went through the forms in the same mechanical dead spirit which pervaded all present." * "When I commenced my station I started from what is called the 'beds;' they are sharp stones, placed circularly in the earth, with the spike ends of them up, one circle within another; and the manner in which the pilgrim gets as far as the innermost, resembles precisely that in which schoolboys enter the walls of Troy upon their slates. I moved away from these upon the sharp stones with which the whole island is surfaced, keeping the chapel or 'prison,' as it is called, upon my right; then turning I came round again, with a circumbendibus, to the spot from which I set out. During this circuit, as well as I can remember, I repeated fifty-five paters and aves, and five creeds, or five decades; and be it known, that the fifty prayers were offered up to the Virgin Mary, and the odd five to God! I then commenced getting round the external beds, during which I repeated, I think, fifteen paters and aves more; and as the beds decreased in circumference, the prayers decreased in length, until a short circuit and three paters and aves finished the last and innermost of these blessed couches.

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"At last, night came; but here to describe the horrors of what I suffered I hold myself utterly inadequate. I was wedged in a truckle bed with seven others, one who was a Scotch Papist-another a man with a shrunk leg, who wore a crutchall afflicted with that disease which northern men that feed on oatmeal are liable

to; and then swarms that fell upon my poor young skin, and probed, and stung, and fed on me!-it was pressure and persecution almost insupportable, and yet such was my fatigue, that sleep even here began to weigh down my eyelids.

"I was just on the point of enjoying a little rest, when a man ringing a large hand bell, came round, crying out, in a low supernatural groan, which could be heard double the distance of the loudest shout'waken up, waken up, and come to prison.' The words were no sooner out of his mouth, than there was a sudden start, and a general scramble in the dark for our respective

garments.

"After having washed ourselves in the dark waters of the lake, we entered this famous prison,' which is only a naked, unplastered chapel, with an altar against one of the side walls, and two galleries. On entering this place, a scene presented itself altogether unparalleled on the earth, and in every point of view capable to sustain the feelings raised in the mind by the midnight scenery of the lake as seen during the ablutions. The prison was full, but not crowded; for had it been crowded, we would have been happy. It was, however, just sufficiently filled to give every individual the pleasure of sustaining himself, without having it in his power to recline, for a moment, in an attitude of rest, or to change that most insupportable of all bodily sufferings, uniformity of position.

* On entering the prison I was struck with the dim religious twilight of the place. Two candles gleamed faintly from the altar, and there was something I thought of a deadly light about them, as they burned feebly and stilly against the darkness which hung over the other part of the building. Two priests, facing the congregation, stood upon the altar in silence, with pale spectral visages, their eyes catching an unearthly glare from the sepulchral light of the slender tapers. But that which was strangest of all, and as I said before, without parallel in this world, was the impression and effect produced by the deep, drowsy, hollow, hoarse, guttural, ceaseless, and monotonous hum, which proceeded from about four hundred individuals half asleep, and at prayer; for their cadences were blended and slurred into each other, as they repeated, in an awe-struck and earnest undertone, the prayers in which they were engaged. It was certainly the strangest and most supernatural-like sound I ever heard, and resembled a thousand subterraneous groans, uttered in a kind of low, deep, unvaried chant. * * I was here but a very short time when I began to doze, and just as my chin was sinking placidly on my breast, and the

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sions.

words of an Ave Maria dying upon my lips, I felt the charm all at once broken by a well-meant rap upon the occiput, conferred through the instrumentality of a little angry-looking squat urchin of sixty years, and a remarkably good blackthorn cudgel, which, along with its owner, was engaged in thwacking the heads of such sinners as, not having the dread of insanity and the regulations of the place before their eyes, were inclined to sleep. I declare the knock I received, told to such purpose on my head, that nothing occurred during the pilgrimage that vexed me so much. I experienced also that singular state of being, in which, while the senses are accessible to the influence of surrounding objects, the process of thought is suspended, and man seems to enjoy an inverted existence, in which the soul sleeps, and the body remains awake and susceptible of external impres* * I frequently started, and on seeing two dim lights upon the altar, and on hearing the ceaseless and eternal murmurs going on-going on around me, without being immediately able to ascribe them to their proper cause, I set myself down as a lost man: for on that terror I was provokingly clear during the whole night. I more than once gave an involuntary groan or shriek, on finding myself in this singular state; so did many others, and these groans and shrieks were wildly and fearfully contrasted with the never ending hum, which, like the ceaseless noise of a distant waterfall, went on during the night. The perspiration occasioned by this inconceivable distress, by the heat of the place, and by the unchangeableness of my position, flowed profusely from every pore. About two o'clock in the morning, an unhappy young man, either in a state of lethargic indifference, or under the influence of these sudden paroxisms, threw himself, or fell from one of the galleries, and was so shattered by the fall, that he died next day at twelve o'clock, and what was not much to the credit of the reverend gentry of the island, without the benefit of the clergy; for I saw a priest with his stole and box of chrism finishing off his extreme unction when he was quite dead. I have always thought that act to be one of the most degrading to human reason, and impious in the sight of God, of any I ever witnessed of a religious nature. The under jaw of the corpse hung down, his eyes were open, and stared with the wild glassy look of death, his nostrils were distended and filled with mucus, his hair was on end, and about his brows and the upper part of his face, lay the froth of the perspiration which exuded in the agonies of death. *

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"The fall of this young man drove the

sleep from the eyes of some of us, but had very little effect upon the crowd, for the situation of each was too fearfully critical to admit of any consideration beyond it.

"In this prison, during the night, several persons go about with rods and staves, rapping those on the head whom they see heavy snuff boxes also go round very freely, elbows are jogged, chins chucked, and ears twitched, for the purpose of keeping each other awake. The rods and staves are frequently changed from hand to hand, and I thought it would be a lucky job, if I could get one for a little to enable me to change my position. I accordingly asked a man who had been a long time banging in this manner, if he would allow me to take his place for some time, and he was civil enough to do so. I therefore set out on my travels through the prison, rapping about me at a great rate, and with remarkable effect; for, whatever was the cause of it, I perceived that not a soul seemed the least inclined to doze after a visit from me; on the contrary, I observed several to to scratch their heads, giving me at the same time looks of very sincere thankfulness.

"But what I am convinced was the most meritorius act of my whole pilgrimage, as it was certainly the most zealously performed, was a remembrance I gave the squat fellow, who visited me in the early part of the night. He was engaged, tooth and nail, with another man at a deprofundis, and although not asleep at the time, yet on the principle that prevention is better than cure, I thought it more prudent to let him have his rap, before the occasion for it might come he accordingly got full payment, at compound interest, for the villainons knock he had lent me before.

"When morning came, the blessed light of the sun broke the leaden charm of the prison, and infused into us a wonderful portion of fresh vigour. This day being the second of our arrival, we had our second station to perform, and consequently all the sharp spikes to retraverse. We were not permitted at all to taste food during these twenty-four hours, so that our weakness was really very great. I beg leave, however, to return my special acknowledgements for the truly hospitable allowance of wine, with which I, in common with every other pilgrim was treated. This wine is made by filling a large pot with the lake water, and making it lukewarm. It is then handed round in jugs and wooden noggins, to their credit be it recorded in the greatest possible abundance. On this alone I breakfasted, dined, and supped, during the second or prison-day of my pilgrimage. At twelve o'clock that night we left prison, and made room for another

squadron, who gave us their kennels. On the following day, I confessed, and never was an unfortunate soul so grievously afflicted with a bad memory as I was on that occasion-the whole thing altogether, but particularly the prison scene, had knocked me up. I could not, therefore, remember a tithe of my sins; and the priest, poor man, had really so much to do, and was in such a hurry, that he had me clean absolved, before I had got half way through the preface. I then went with a fresh batch to receive the sacrament.

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Such is Mr. Carleton's description of Lough Dergh; and although the sketch may have been sligthly coloured by his vivid imagination, your readers may rely upon it that it affords a very fair idea of the place, and the scenes of superstition and abomination annually carried forward in it, under the patronage and with the sanction and approval of the priests of Rome. That the leading features are perfectly correct, there can be no doubt, as they have been described over and over again by individuals who have been in the island, and observed the cere monies performed. Mr. Inglis, whose travels in various countries are so well known to the public, and who visited Ireland in 1834, fully corroborates Mr. Carleton's account. He mentions that the day on which he arrived at Lough Dergh, "twelve boats' loads of pilgrims passed to the island,” and that the number of pilgrims, or devotees, were at least five hundred: but supposing only half that number to pass each day during the continuance of the station (seventyfive days) the total number visiting the island must have amounted to nineteen thousand! Among the devotees, Mr. Inglis saw and conversed with several young priests, who were performing penance on the island. He found, on inquiry, that the sum paid by each pilgrim was, at the least, Is. 44d. Many, however, who were generously disposed, paid a much larger sum; so that the net produce of the season, to be divided among the priests who officiate in the island, and the ferrymen, according to his calculation, amounted to little short of twelve hundred pounds!! As we have said before, the number of devotees, even to this far-famed spot, is yearly decreasing; and if the Christians of Great Britain were true to their principles, and

only exerted the means that might be put in requisition to spread the light of Gospel truth among our benighted people, in a few years more, such places and such practices would only be known or read of in the records of history. Hoping that these slight sketches may have the effect of exciting attention to the subject,

I remain, Dear Sir,

Faithfully yours,

P. DIXON HARDY.

Dublin, Oct. 4th, 1844.

FORMALITY.

"Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."-2 TIM. iii. 5.

These words describe a part of that extreme degeneracy which the apostle Paul declared would prevail in perilous times during the Christian dispensation. The state of things here foretold constitutes one of the chief hindrances to the diffusion of the Gospel in Ireland; and merits the special attention of those who labour and pray for the spiritual improvement of one of the most interesting portions of the British Empire.

The errors, vices, and crimes enumerated in the context, have frequently been represented, as if they almost exclusively belonged to the apostacy of the Romish Church. It cannot be denied that the Roman Catholic clergy have often been marked by selfishness. Their sale of indulgencies attests that they are lovers of money; their tyranny over kings and princes manifests their pride and haughtiness. Their encouragement of children to disobey and neglect their parents by becoming monks and nuns, contrary to the law of nature, and to the will of God, leads to several of the evils named in the context. The constrained celibacy of the Romish priesthood has been a most prolific source of crime; and has greatly tended to keep them "without the natural affections" of mankind. They have taught men to be 'covenant breakers," by their doctrine of perjury-that no faith should be kept with heretics. They cannot be defended from the charge of being "false accusers,” when it is known that they have imputed the worst of crimes and motives to the best of men, who have hazarded their lives to oppose the pernicious delusions of Romanism. Nor can it be denied that they have been "despisers" and "betrayers" of "those that are good;" since they have, in many instances, delivered up their own nearest relations to death, rather than have their corrupt system exposed. Through the gradual progress of evil it has become too

common, under Romish fraudulency and deceivableness, to creep into houses and lead captive silly women," by auricular confession, and other dangerous practices; intruding into their family secrets, exercising an absolute tyranny over their estates and consciences, and corrupting them beyond expression, at the very time that they profess to deliver them from sin and to guide them to heaven !

But, while this passage applies with peculiar force to the wickedness of the Romish system, let us not flatter ourselves by confining its application to the false professors of Christianity pertaining to any one sect or denomination. Hypocrisy and formality are alike condemned in all. Jehovah will be mocked by none. "God is no respecter of persons." The mere outward observances of an unreflecting Protestantism, and of a bigoted Catholicism, are but the same thing under different names. In both cases the character is exactly the same; nothing but the clothing is different. The ruin of immortal souls is not the less terrific and over

whelming, whether they perish because the power of the Gospel is "buried under a load of cumbrous observances, associated with processions, and pilgrimages, and penances, and the childish glare of a delusive, but dazzling ceremonial," or because the Gospel is perverted into "cold morality, or heartless scepticism; or that strange and anomalous thing, faith which abjures belief, and piety which laughs at the very semblance of religion." It is impossible that the blessings of Christianity can be secured by the mere profession of its doctrines, when its spirit is evaporated! A name may be detested, while a system is yet venerated. The mass may no longer be sacrificed, while the altar is retained. The infinite oblation of Christ may cease to be dishonoured by the offering of other sacrifices; and yet the unchangeable priesthood of Christ may continue to be insulted, by the appointment of other priests. "The fiction of human infallibility may be abandoned, while the claim of human absolution is still urged. The efficacy of sacramental or official grace, may hardly in words be pretended; but the sanctity of vestments, and formularies, and consecrated orders, may be held as tenaciously as ever." Popish errors may be seen and hated, and yet the heart may continue unchanged and the soul unsanctified. The false doctrines of all human systems may be understood and despised, and yet the divine system may be unembraced-the heart may still remain destitute of the love of Christ and devoid of the Holy Spirit.

On the one hand, there may be a nominal orthodoxy, which always contends but never lives for the promotion of Scriptural truth;