but the latter assumed the part of a quasi friend, though always a hollow and insincere one. Mr. Cavanagh, the proprietor and nominal editor of the Herald, was essentially a " trimmer," w h o set the sails of his journal to catch any wind that paid best; and though he cared not a doit about the Catholics, and they thoroughly distrusted him, so matters went on very well for years, through a weak bond of mutual interest —for his paper in a small way served their purpose, and they (because they could not do better) accorded to the Herald a certain amount of support. O n the one side it was a kind of " Hobson's choice," and on the other a mere commercial consideration. It was now, however, an open feud; the gauntlets were thrown down, and Dr. Geoghegan pitched into the two offending newspapers, which, for once, buried their o w n personal hatreds, and retaliated in a combined attack. T h e Association moved on to the front to sustain its founder, for which purpose a special meeting was held on the 28th December, where Dr. Geoghegan's views were emphatically endorsed, and a resolution passed expressing the deepest indignation at the Herald and Daily News "distorting the real sentiments declared by our beloved and venerable pastor, the Very Reverend the Vicar-General, and assailing his personal and official character with unmerited vituperation;" and offering an "earnest tribute of our warmest sympathy, heart-felt attachment, and undivided co-operation, in testimony of our admiration of his zeal and earnestness in the cause of truth and liberty." A committee was also appointed to take steps to secure " a more impartial means of asserting our just share in the civil and religious immunities of the colony." T h e storm so raised died out as harmlessly as m a n y another gale has done, a result m u c h assisted, no doubt, by the rejection by the Legislative Council of a proposition utterly needless and unserviceable. In the beginning of the year, 1852, it was announced that letters had been received from the Bishop communicating the welcome tidings that his Lordship and Dr. Fitzpatrick, after an enjoyable passage, had arrived at Southampton on the 19th August; that the Bishop was on the point of starting for Ireland, where hisfirstact in Dublin would be to order the bells for St. Francis', and after a brief stay in the Green Isle, he would set out for R o m e . O n the 31st December, 1851, from a return furnished to the Government, there were only five R o m a n Catholic Churches in Port Phillip, estimated to hold 1720 persons, and usually attended by 1670. T h e census taken in March, 1851, gave the total Catholic population as 18,014, of w h o m 5631 were resident in Melbourne. Dr. Goold was created Archbishop of Melbourne on the 31st March, 1874, and remained in the active administration of the Archiepiscopate of Victoria (in which there are n o w three dioceses, i.e., Melbourne, Sandhurst, and Ballarat) until his death on the n t h June, 1886. There were, in 1881, in connection with the R o m a n Catholic denomination of Victoria, 93 registered clergymen, 531 places of worship, providing accommodation for 98,790 persons, with a usual attendance of 70,780, and an approximate number of yearly services of 48,638. T h e R o m a n Catholic population was some 215,500. Mr. Hayter's tables for 1886-7 give the following numbers :—Population, 232,849;* number of ministers, 129; number of churches, 564—affording accommodation for 112,511 persons; uumber of services, 66,262; average attendance, 85,816. T h e following notification, evidently authorised, appears in Kerr's Port Phillip Directory for 1842 :— "There are no fees exacted in the R o m a n Catholic Church, excepting for burial, and these have never been demanded or received in Melbourne. Marriage, as well as baptism, is considered a sacrament, and were a R o m a n Catholic clergyman to demand remuneration for the administration of any sacrament, he would be held to have committed simony, and be punishable for that offence. It is customary for the flock, according to their goodwill and means to make presents or voluntary offerings on such occasions ; but there is no specific law in the Church affixing any fees. T h e return to the Government of fees received by the R o m a n Catholic chaplain of Melbourne has hitherto been "nil.
• Including Catholics not otherwise denned.
