As well as I could learn from the resident Superior, the Order of St. Augustine is subject to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop. I consider this subjection to Episcopal jurisdiction essential to the welfare of religion in all parts of the world. In the convent there are living about thirty religious. The yearly income is 32,000 dollars. This convent, like all the rest, seems fast falling into decay. There is a novitiate in this convent. The Prior, a man advanced in age, was absent in Calao for the good of his health. The convent would accommodate from two to three hundred religious.

The church and convent of St. Philip Neri, both of which were originally the property of the Jesuits, now exiled from the scene of their glorious efforts in favour of religion by the bad laws of a profligate Government, are handsome and spacious edifices.

The church has been lately repaired by the religious who now occupy it. The choir and vestry belonging to this church are ornamented with elaborate carving. In the vestry the carved woodwork is richly gilt. The clergyman who showed us the convent and church is Secretary to the Archbishop, and is reputed a man of sacred learning and ability. The church and convent of the Dominicans are also deserving a visit. Here are contained a part of the relics of St. Rose of Lima.

There is another church and convent of smaller dimensions in Lima which belong to this order. They are on the site which the house and small hospital of St. Rose occupied. In this church I was shown, by the only religious living here, some relics of the Saint, amongst them the chair in which she used to sit; its rude and plain form gives it an ancient character. The convents have but few relics in them. The yearly income of the Dominican Convent is 41,000 dollars; that of St. Philip Neri's 54,000.

The Cathedral is a superb building, without the profuse ornaments which decorate the other churches of Lima. this church is a solemn and grand pile of Gothic architecture. The ceiling is plain but chaste, the High Altar stands under the great dome; it is exquisitely beautiful. The pillars which support the canopy that is over it are covered with plates of silver. The riches of most of the churches have from time to time been pillaged by the Government. It is but recently that a large convent and church dedicated to St. John of God were converted into a railway station by the Government, at the head of which was a man of infidel opinions, who was very antagonistic towards religion. Unless the church becomes more energetic, and piously zealous in all her departments, the feeling of people which is now with her will be alienated from her, and she will fall a prey to the designing few of bad principles who are endeavouring to corrupt the people,and destroy in them all attachment to the true faith. If the present aged Prelate had young, pious and active Coadjutors, an improvement would soon be made in Church and people. The Church's best security is in the love, reverence, and good morals of the laity, and these dispositions of piety are to be produced only by a zealous, learned and moral priesthood.

The population of Lima is between 60,000 and 70,000. Of the rising generation in Lima, 3000 are being educated. The high schools here bear a respectable character for learning. The Ecclesiastical Seminary teaches a very excellent course of sacred and profane learning. Its principals are men, as far as my short stay would allow me to judge of them, well fitted to be the teachers of youth. A good many of the chairs in the University are occupied by ecclesiastics. The present University, a fine building, was once the property of the Jesuits. There is in Lima a convent of French nuns belonging to the Order of the Sacred Heart, in which young females receive an excellent education in all those branches of literature so essential to the accomplishments of a lady of rank. The convent is not more than two or three years established here.

The Franciscan Convent is a handsome and spacious building. It was erected by the Spaniards. I saw the room or cell in which St. Francis Solano ended his glorious career. The church of this convent is a stately edifice; its altars are tastefully decorated. Attached to this church is a smaller church which the piety of the late Archbishop erected. In this, retreats for the laity take place in Advent and Lent. Such as go on these retreats, take up their abode in a part of the convent allowed for that purpose. Each person occupies during the retreat a large cell, furnished with a bed, a chair, a table, and a large crucifix. A human skull is also placed in each cell in order to remind the occupant of his mortality.

The Government gives but little aid to religion. The head of the present administration is not more than a few months elected. Much is expected from him by the clergy. A General Florus arrived in Lima during my stay there. This individual has been Governor formerly of Quito, but has since then been in exile with some of his followers. Among these was an Irishman of the name of Wright, who after an expatriation of four years was permitted to return. He came in the packet in which I took my passage to Panama.

We arrived at Guayaquil, the Port of Quito, on Sunday evening, July 13th, at 5 p.m. The town of Guayaquil is approached by a river of many leagues in length. This river opens out into a very picturesque basin in which vessels of large tonnage can anchor. The town is large and well situated. The site is a plain of good dimensions, stretching between the bay formed by the river and handsome hills of various elevations, wooded to the top with trees of luxuriant green. The chief articles of export are hides, coffee, timber, which is of excellent quality, and chocolate which grows very abundantly. The land on each side of the river is low and swampy, and covered with the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics - the only novelty is in the scenery, if we except an occasional view of the Andes which now and then presented its grand and magnificent elevation through a cloudy horizon. There is an Episcopal See at Guayaquil. The present Diocesan is about to be translated to the Archbishopric of Quito, now vacant. He is a man of advanced age, being between 70 and 80 years. He is in good health and of active habits, and does not appear to be sparing of himself in the discharge of his functions. His good life has endeared him to the people of Guayaquil. He is a native of the place. During our short visit he administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to about forty persons, a great many of whom were infants. The place in which he administered this solemn rite was not well chosen, it being a large apartment adjoining his sitting room or library. His oratory would have been more suitable. The Cathedral is a large plain building. In a small chapel adjoining it night prayers were said as we went to visit the cathedral. The congregation was large and joined in the prayers with apparently much attention and piety.

I might here remark that we called the day previous, Saturday, at a small town on the coast called Payta. This settlement is in the midst of sterility. The fresh water used there is brought a distance of eighteen miles. The interior is fertile, and watered by a good river, on which is built a rather large town. There are two churches in this town, the one a parish church and the other a friary. They are remarkable for nothing but the cleanliness and order which prevail in them. We found an Irish family of the name of Hynes, from Tuam, living there, as also a man, from Limerick, of the name of Reardon. Hynes intends to return to Ireland as soon as he receives a certain property left by his brother who died in Lima. Reardon keeps a store and seems to be doing very well. He also intends returning to his native country.

We left Guayaquil at 11 o'clock on Sunday night. The Bishop-elect of Guayaquil is rector of the seminary. The Bishop spoke highly of him. The population is between ten and eleven thousand.

Monday 14th July. We are again on our direct course to Panama. We only visit one place more before we reach it. The weather is very hot. It is, however, tempered in the evenings at Guayaquil with a cool, refreshing breeze from the sea.

Thursday 17th July. Last night we touched at a small settlement called St. Bonaventura, which we left this morning at half-past 6. This is the only place at which the steamer calls between Guayaquil and Panama. The town of Bonaventura is very small. The church occupies the more prominent site in it. The founders of this settlement showed much taste in the choice of situation, which is very picturesque. It is on the banks of a large river, navigable for ships of a good size, but few ships, however, call here. The inhabitants are not engaged in any enterprise of commerce. The tropical vegetation is to be seen everywhere on the coast from Guayaquil to Panama. The air of St. Bonaventura is considered to be very unwholesome. The sperm whale is in great abundance in this part of the Pacific. The Americans, it seems, have in the Pacific a fleet of three hundred whalers.

Saturday 19th July. We arrived in the Bay of Panama at 1 o'clock. During the three days that we remained here we were hospitably lodged in the University, which is ecclesiastical property, and under the superintendence of a Canon of the Cathedral who was brought up in it. He teaches the classics and I believe divinity. The students were fifty in number and mostly very young.

We left Panama on Tuesday, 22nd, and reached Cruces, the first stage of Chagres, at 5 that evening. The next morning we went to Chagres, or at least part of the way. The morning following, July 24th, we got on board the steamer, which sailed on Friday night. On Sunday, July 27th, we reached Carthagena.

In Panama religion does not seem to progress; its practice is chiefly confined to women. The Sacraments are seldom or never approached by the men. The churches on the Sabbath, which differs little from the other days of the week, are attended for the most part by women, the observance of religion being for the most part entirely neglected by the men. Morals - public morals - are very low here. The clergy are despised and I am afraid deservedly. They but seldom instruct the people, and use but little exertion to induce them to frequent the Sacraments. They have the name of being rich, and take a pride of boasting of their wealth.

The See of Panama is at present vacant. The Government, however, has named the candidate for the confirmation by the Holy See. He is a Dominican Friar, at present in exile by an order of the late Government. he took an active part in the Revolution, which was unsuited to his character. His zeal displays itself more in politics than religion.

20th August. Arrived in Southampton.

23rd August. Arrived in Kingstown. I remained Sunday in Dublin; celebrated Mass in the Augustinian chapel.

25th August. Left by train for Cork. The country was rich and picturesque, but thinly peopled. Famine and emigration seem to have done but too successfully the work of depopulation. The harvest, such as it was, seemed, too, to be favourable. The land, however, under cultivation is the smallest portion. The great waste caused by eviction, famine, and emigration stretches out its hideous features on every side. The scene of loneliness, which the gigantic waste presents, fills the stranger with grief and indignation, for he considers it to be the work of the enemy of industry and social happiness.

26th August. I took the rooms kindly offered me in the Augustinian convent. I noticed improvements in the ecclesiastical affairs of Cork. Their churches have been increased by new ones, in which some taste appears blended with a due attention to architectural style. The Dominican priory and church are two fine buildings.

On Thursday, the 28th, the Feast of St. Augustine, I assisted at High Mass in the chapel of the convent, and gave Benediction.

Sunday 31st August. Assisted at Mass in the same chapel. The panegyric of the great St. Austin was delivered by the Rev. Prior, after which I gave the Pontifical blessing to a crowded congregation.

Wednesday 3rd September. Left Cork for Limerick. That evening I visited some parts of the fine city, rich in recollections of the last great struggle for Irish Independence. I saw and touched the stone on which was signed the violated treaty. The next day I visited - on the kind invitation of an old fellow student - the watering place of the city, called Kilkee.

The excursion afforded me much pleasure. It enabled me to see at a most favourable time the magnificent River Shannon and its picturesque and grand scenery. I have never been on a river of such spacious waters. Here and there the flow of living waters expand themselves into noble bays. Kilkee depends chiefly upon the visitors in summer for its support. Some of the private residences show that it is a favourite retreat of the gentry in the season. The land in the neighbourhood is poor soil.

Kilrush, a large inland town, is about four miles from Kilkee. We passed through it on our way to the latter place. There is a small island near where we landed from the steamer called Scattery Island, which in the old Catholic times was a part of St. Michael's parish in Limerick. Many ruins of castles and monasteries appear here and there on the banks of the Shannon.

The O'Connell Mountains, so called by Mr. Steel from his affection and love towards the great Liberator, are pointed to the stranger as he sails down the splendid river.

Saturday 6th September. I left by the 6 o'clock train, a.m., for the Limerick Junction, whence I proceeded by car to Clonmel.

The population here also seems to have yielded to the pressure of famine and migration. I reached Clonmel early in the day, which afforded me an opportunity of seeing the religious establishments which the zeal and liberality of Rev. Dr. Burke, P.P., aided and assisted by a generous people, founded. The Sisters of Charity occupy a large well built Convent close to the parish church.

[END OF MORAN EXTRACT]