THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
[To TEE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."'
Sin,—Pope Pius IX. protested many times in his long Pon- tificate against the spoliation of the religious Orders. If he saw some compensating good in the sweeping away of abuses, that does not mean that he secretly approved what he openly condemned. Mr. Purcell plays fast and loose with many reputations, and is not a safe guide. The present Pope wrote last year a long and public letter to the Superiors of the Orders. In that letter he tells them that the excuse for the attack on them is a pretence, and that the real reason is hatred of the Evangelical Counsels. There are difficulties in the way of further action, nor do the Orders probably wish it. The situation is very peculiar in many ways. What about the State in these imputed evils of the Church ? If the State would co-operate in the Churoh's laws, abuses ought be corrected in a moderate and efficient manner. The violence shown has gone out to the world, and will have a sure
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