"Sometimes，" he said， "a straggling schoolmaster sets up in some of the mountainous parts of some parishes， but upon being threatened， as they constantly are， with a warrant， or a presentment by the church-wardens， they generally think proper to withdraw."[22]
During the reign of George II. (1727-60) the persecution began to abate， though more than one new measure was added to the penal laws.
Primate Boulter， who was practically speaking ruler of the country during his term of office， was alarmed at the large number of Papists still in the country--five to one was his estimate--and at the presence of close on three thousand priests， and suggested new schemes for the overthrow of Popery. The Catholics were deprived of their votes at parliamentary or municipal elections lest Protestant members might be inclined to curry favour with them by opposing the penal code； barristers， clerks， attornies， solicitors， etc.， were not to be admitted to practice unless they had taken the oaths and declarations which no Catholic could take； converts to Protestantism were to be treated similarly unless they could produce reliable evidence that they had lived as Protestants for two years， and that they were rearing their children as Protestants. Very severe laws had been laid down already against marriages between Catholics and Protestants， but as such marriages still took place， it was declared that the priest who celebrated such marriages was to be reputed guilty of felony， that after the 1st May 1746 all marriages between Catholics and persons who had been Protestants within the twelve months preceding the marriage， should be null and void， as should also all marriages between Protestants if celebrated in the presence of a priest. Later on the death penalty was decreed against priests who assisted at such unions.[23] Finally， through the exertions of Primate Boulter and Bishop Marsh， the Charter Schools were established. They were intended， as was explained in the prospectus， "to rescue the souls of thousands of poor children from the dangers of Popish superstition and idolatry， and their bodies from the miseries of idleness and beggary."The schools were entirely Protestant in management， and the children were reared as Protestants. Once a Catholic parent surrendered his children he could never claim them again. In 1745 the Irish Parliament appropriated the fees derived from the licences required by all hawkers and pedlars to the support of the Charter Schools， and it is computed that between the years 1745 and 1767 these same institutions received about ā112，000 from the public funds.[24] Though emancipation was still a long way off， yet after 1760 it began to be recognised that the penal code had failed to achieve the object for which it had been designed.
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[1] Lecky， op. cit.， i.， 140.
[2] Lecky， op. cit.， i.， 140.
[3] /Irish Statutes/， iii.， 241 sqq.
[4] /The Journals of the House of Commons/ (Ireland) ii.， 44-5.
[5] /Irish Statutes/， ii.， 249-67.
[6] /Journals of the House of Lords/ (Ireland)， i.， 635-6.
[7] /Irish Statutes/， ii.， 339 sqq.
[8] Cf. Burke， op. cit.， 131 sqq.
[9] /Statutes/， 2 Anne， cap. 6.
[10] Id.， 2 Anne， cap. 3.
[11] Id.， 2 Anne， cap. 7； 8 Anne， cap. 3.
[12] Curry， op. cit.， ii.， 387.
[13] Cf. /Irish Eccl. Record/， 1875. /Cath. Directory/， 1838.
[14] /Ir. Th. Quart./， ix.， 148.
[15] /Statutes/， 8 Anne， cap. 3.
[16] /Statutes/， 2 Anne， cap. 7； 8 Anne， cap. 3. In 1780 it was enacted that this pension should "be levied off the inhabitants of the country or town wherein such priest resided or officiated before conformity" (19 & 20 George III.， cap. 39).
[17] Cf. Burke， op. cit.， chap. iv. (a full account given of the proceedings against the clergy in all the dioceses of Ireland).
[18] Cf. Moran， /Spicil. Ossor./， ii.， 399 sqq.
[19] Lecky， op. cit.， i.， 154 sqq.
[20] Lecky， op. cit.， i.， 162-3.
[21] Id.， 164-5.
[22] /Report on the State of Popery， 1731/. /Archiv. Hib./， i.， ii.， iii.
[23] /Statutes/， 19 George II.， cap. 13； 23 George II. cap. 10.
[24] Lecky， op. cit.， i.， 234. /Reports of Royal Commission on Education/， 1825， 1854.
End