the clear light of God's truth. I was struck with the great intelligence with which these missionaries carry on their work. I always expect great intelligence from the Irish, and it is all the more delightful because it is so often mixed with a great fund of humour. I may mention one anecdote in illustration of this. One missionary in Dublin told me that he recently went down to conduct a Mission in some distant part of Ireland. The priest of the parish had heard of his coming, and he thought it his duty from the altar, on the Sunday before, to tell the people on no account to listen to that emissary of Satan who was coming down amongst them to turn them away from holy Mother Church. They were told not to look at him, but especially not to speak to him. Mr. G. went down on his mission the next morning. He saw a man digging up potatoes, and said to him, "A fine morning." The man took no notice of him. He again spoke, and said, "Good morning." Still the man went on digging. Mr. G. then said, "Really, I was not aware that there was a deaf man in the parish." The man was strictly obedient to the instructions which he had received from the priest. Now what would an Englishman have done under such circumstances? I am too dull, as an Englishman, to know what I should have done. Mr. G. said to the man, "May be if I hit you you'll speak to me ?" The man immediately exclaimed, "I'd like to see you try." The door of his mouth was now opened, and from that time he could converse quite freely.

I saw that with one exception the testimony of these missionaries was very encouraging. Let me tell you the exception. The exception was in the case of Mr. P., who labours at B. He began in a melancholy tone. He said they had done all that was in their power, but the results were very meagre, few and far between, and he felt that they must go on praying and looking for God's blessing; but as it was, he had not seen any examples of the showers of blessings for which they had prayed and toiled. I listened attentively to Mr. P.; his tone was so unlike the tone of the other speakers. But as he went on he fell into the most delightful self-contradictions. I took down his words, and in the course of his speech he let out these very remarkable facts. He said that many of his converts had gone abroad

had gone to America-and I hope you will have the gratification of hearing something about these converts from Pere Chiniquy to-day. He went on to say, that he was bound to admit that there was a wonderful spirit of prayer prevailing throughout the Mission-that the children in the schools were so marvellously instructed in the Bible that he found it unnecessary to keep a Concordance, for if he wanted to know the end of a quotation which he had forgotten, or the beginning of one, he referred it to the scholars, and found an excellent concordance at hand. He went on to say that it was a matter of surprise to him, that notwithstanding the number of converts who had gone to America, his church still kept full. He said further that the power of the priests was perceptibly waning, and that the schools were invariably full. I could not help feeling that this was about the most valuable testimony of all the testimonies given on that occasion; and I ventured to tell Mr. P. that the first opportunity I had of quoting his speech in England I should tell the good people of England what he thought to be a discouraging feature of the Mission.

Before I pass from the case of Dublin, I wish to say a word on what forcibly struck me throughout the whole of my visit to that city, and as the result of all the information I could gain with respect to the Mission there, and that is the paramount importance of strengthening the Mission in Dublin by sending there another missionary agent. What is the fact? In Dublin you have a population of about 250,000 persons. In round numbers 200,000 of them are Roman Catholics, and 50,000 are Protestants; and what is your missionary staff in Dublin? You have Dr. McCarthy, who is in charge of a very important parish, and has a great many duties to perform, but who, with wonderful energy and zeal, carries forward the work of the Society, more particularly its controversial work. Then you have occasionally Mr. Cory. Then the only other missionary is Mr. Garrett, who has also other duties to engage his attention. I came here with a full determination on my mind to use all the persuasion I could to induce the Committee to send another missionary to Dublin. I state thus publicly that I know well what the answer of the Committee would be. I have not made an appeal to them yet;

and I know that the answer would be, give us the funds, otherwise we cannot send out the missionary.

The concluding part of the Resolution speaks of special acknowledgment of God's great goodness to the Society during the now completed quarter century of its existence. I have often heard our dear lamented and beloved friend-the now sainted Alexander Dallas express his wonder and astonishment at the things that God had wrought in Ireland through the instrumentality of this Society. Could he know the work as it now is, I feel persuaded that he would say, as he has often said before, how amazing it is that through such a poor instrumentality as we have been able to employ, God should nevertheless have brought to pass such marvellous results.

There is, I believe, a general awakening among the Roman Catholic populalation in the whole of Ireland which predisposes them at the present time for the faithful preaching of the Gospel. There are vast numbers of converts who have been brought out of darkness, and are living to the praise and glory of God's grace. There are full congregations of converts who are worshipping God according to the pure and Scriptural forms of our liturgical service. There are multitudes who day by day are living such lives as adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour. Churches have been built, and schools have been filled, large sums have been expended on the circulation of the truth, and all this has contributed amazingly to the glory

of God, and to the moral, social and spiritual welfare of the people. Christianize Ireland-bring Ireland out of the bondage of the corrupt apostasy which has prevailed to so large an extent in that country, enlighten the people with the light of God's glorious Gospel; disengage her people from those fetters which have been imposed upon her by the corrupt Roman Catholic apostasy; bring them to the clear knowledge of the light of God's truth, and you will have done more to elevate, reform, and bless Ireland, than can be effected by any political measures. I believe that this Society is calculated to work a wonderful change in Ireland. It may not, indeed, be permitted to us to see through the instrumentality of this Society, the whole of Ireland regenerated; it may not be permitted to us to see the Protestant truth in the ascendant throughout the length and breadth of that long torn and distracted land; but if we persevere in our own work, of this we must be persuaded, that if God has elected a people to be brought out from the mystic Babylon in Ireland, they will be brought out by sounding in their ears, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." And, as one by one is brought out from the errors of Romanism into the freedom of the truth of the Gospel, we have an earnest of the swiftest approach of the day when He, whose right it is to govern the nation, shall return in his glory and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords."

There was one point which had not been touched upon, and that was the remarkable fact that there had never been one single convert from Romanism to Protestantism who had been tainted with Fenianism or rebellion, or any misconduct of that description. If our governors in Downing-street would meditate upon that fact, they would find it the best solution of the Irish difficulty. He wished the Government would give £10,000 a-year towards the support of the Irish Church Missions. It would be the best money that ever was voted for Ireland. Wherever the Gospel

went-whether at home or abroadpeace, civilization, and prosperity followed. In 1850 he had the pleasure of visiting the West of Ireland, and seeing the missions of the Society in their early stage. The interest then excited in his mind had been of an abiding character. During the twenty-four years that had elapsed since that period, he had watched the progress of the Society's operations with the greatest interest, and had been a firm supporter of it; and what they had heard that day must lead them to bless God that it was ever put into the heart of that good man, Mr. Dallas, to

commence the Society, and it was a cause for the utmost thanfulness that year after year the blessing of God had rested upon its operations. It was teaching children as well as adults, and laying the foundation of that knowledge which it was most

important for them to gain. He trusted that the present year would be one of increasing blessing to Ireland, and that great numbers of the people would be brought out of the darkness of Popery into the blaze of Protestant truth.

"God having given to them that fear Him a banner, that it may be displayed because of the truth, this Meeting approves of the constant and bold unfurling of that banner by the Irish Church Missions in Ireland. It desires to encourage the Society to persevere in this course, so consistent with the claims of honesty and the requirements of God's Holy Word, especially at a time when zealous efforts and subtle means are being employed in many places in an attempt to subvert the Protestant faith."

He said that he wished shortly to give his general impression regarding the work of the Society. An allusion to this Resolution was to be found in the 60th Psalm, where it was said, "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth." We had received that banner. It has been given to us to be displayed, because of the truth. God would give his blessing to those who displayed that banner. He had seen that blessing in India, in China, in Palestine, and in his own native land. He quoted the testimony of Captain Glover showing what Christian teaching had done amongst the miserable Africans. The Irish Church

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Missions had displayed that banner, and he was glad to bear his testimony to the work which they had done. He had often seen the work which was done by them in Dublin, and had taken part in it. But he had not seen the work in the West of Ireland before last summer. When he was there it was one of the pleasantest weeks that he ever spent. He and his friends visited different parts, and met at Clifden, and they were convinced that the work that had been carried on was a real work, a grand work, a blessed work, a thorough work. He had had a good deal to do with children, but had never heard such intelligent replies as those which were given to the questions put to the children in the Society's schools. He had received a strong impression of the value of the Society's work from the reverence with which the children approached the consideration of the Scriptures, and the deep spirit of prayer which was carried on throughout the work of the Society. He believed the work to be a blessed work, and sincerely trusted that the hands of the Society would be so strengthened as to enable it to send forth more missionaries, and greatly to extend its operations.

He believed that the difficulties which existed in Ireland would soon be done away with, if, instead of sending out soldiers and constables, the Government would, at less than half the expense, send out missionary soldiers of the Cross to fight the battles of the Lord, not with the sword of the battlefield or the staves of constables, but with the sword that came from heaven, and with which the conquest of the world would be effected.

The mission of this Society was a grand one, but this country did not do half enough for its support, in subscribing only some £23,000. It was a burning shame that more was not given. The contributions ought to amount to at least £100,000, and he trusted that the friends of the Society would make much greater exertion in its behalf than they had hitherto done.

It was

Wished to corroborate in the strongest terms what Mr. Cory had said with respect to the general influence of the work of the Irish Church Missions. Living in Queenstown, he had excellent means of judging of the effect of the work of the Society, and he had painful opportunities of contrasting the condition of those places where the operations of the Society were not carried on, with those in which it was carried on. owing greatly to the exertions of one of the excellent Agents in Queenstown that the success of the Society was to be attributed. In every instance where Roman Catholics came from missionary districts, those persons who had been known as leaders of the opposition at their own homes, were most happy to enter into friendly communication with him, and to lean upon him. At the present moment there was a very considerable stirring of mind throughout Ireland. This was to be seen at the recent elections in Limerick and other places, where the priests had been unable to carry out their purposes. With regard to the operations of the Society, they were improving in every respect. Its Agents were superior, the love and spirit of the work was superior, and the number of children brought under instruction in the schools was increasing. Although the Society was

obliged to use the instrument of controversy; it was only subsidiary, and it only occupied a second place. But when Satan's error was put forward, it was necessary to displace it by means of Christian controversy. Whilst there was so much work to be done it should be remembered that the Church in Ireland was less able than it was formerly, from her own resources, to carry on that work. If, some years ago, it was felt that the great burden of the work should rest on English Christians, on English Churchmen, on the inhabitants and people of England generally, much stronger was the claim of the Society now. Let Englishmen come forward with their contributions, not in driblets, so that a sufficient number of missionaries might be employed. He saw churches building here, and did not grudge grants for that purpose. He saw in some of them what he did not like to see. Let people economize in that direction, and not put into them a rubbishy kind of furniture like that which he witnessed last Sunday, when he almost doubted whether he was not in a Roman Catholic rather than in a Protestant Church. Let the efforts of the people be turned in a direction that would not only glorify God, but give Ireland permanent happiness and peace.