In reference to the country at large, I know of two ministers, stationary, who are able to preach in Irish, and I believe do so-Mr S. and Mr F. Recently there may be, and I hope there are others who are acquiring, if they have not yet acquired the language; but what are these to the field before us? Yet, with these exceptions, did I know of any other instances in which the minister comes forward with regularity as the day returns, having for his grand object, in his own pulpit, to preach to his own stated congregation, the everlasting Gospel in the Irish language, I should delight to mention them; but if such exist, I know it not. And as for even the large Cities and Towns in that fine country-what would be thought if I could say we have no such thing as a Gaelic chapel, where the Gospel is proclaimed, in Glasgow, Inverness, or Edinburgh-no such thing as a Welsh chapel, for a similar purpose, in Liverpool, Bristol, or London, and in some of which it may soon become, if it is not already, an imperious duty to have an Irish one? Yet nothing of a similar kind exists at this moment in Dublin or Cork, in Limerick or Galway, and many other parts, where the call for it is far louder than that which led to the existence of a Welsh or Gaelic ministry in the cities or towns of Britain.

I know it will be said here,- But the Scriptures have been printed in Irish.' Yes, in conformity with the manner in which the language has always been read, it is at last restored to its just claims upon us, and the Irish Bible complete, in its own character, has only just left the press! And then there are Irish schools.' Yes, for about one soul in two hundred, or fifteen thousand out of a population of more than three millions; or say there were only two, then apply this to Scotland, and observe how the number would sound.† But there are men who read the Scriptures.' Yes, comparatively a few men are thus employed; but what is all this to the subject before us? Are all these, united, and though carried to the utmost extent, considered to be a substitute? Do these relieve us from the obligation to obey the express authority of Immanuel? Has he

* I wish," says he, " there was a professor of Irish appointed in Trinity Coljege all the ministers of the Gospel should know the Irish language on Irish ground."

+ As for English, the proportion of those now learning to read is most cheering. On an average, it is above England; but see the last page of Sect. vi.

vacated his own commission with reference to this people, or have we found out a way, through books, and education, and reading, though it be his own word, which supersedes the necessity for doing, simply what must be done, in every other nation, if his kingdom is to prosper there?

Much have we heard, indeed, in modern times of the noble invention of printing, and much respecting the power of education; and I do not imagine that any candid reader who has proceeded thus far can suppose that the writer is indisposed to give to each its own appropriate place. At the same time, he conceives that they may not only be perverted, but prevented from doing that good which they otherwise might accomplish. For example, if they be permitted to occupy that place in our esteem and expectation, which belongs to a divine and sovereign appointment, then may they not only become as chaff when compared to the wheat; but, awakening the jealousy of Him, who will not give his glory to another, our employment of education only, and with all the energy which the art of printing has given to it, may turn out to be nothing more than giving activity to the powers of the mind, without directing and controlling their movements. Education will humanize and improve, in most instances, but to save from ultimate destruction, properly speaking, never was within its province, and never will be. Yet since the time in which many have been roused to see its necessity, there has been a phraseology often used respecting it by no means warrantable. Education, but above all, Scriptural education, will do much. There will always be an indescribable distance between a people so favoured and any other left without such means. But if we expect more from it than it has ever produced, and, above all, if we apply to it the language furnished to us in Scripture, and which is there exclusively employed with reference to an institution of God's own sovereign appointment, we may be left to witness the impotence of education instead of its power. Hence we have read of the system of some one of these educational societies being so adapted for the regeneration of Ireland; and the terms employed in Scripture to the labourers in the vineyard of God, have been unsparingly employed by religious people to the exertions of Schoolmasters, or those who superintend them. This is not merely incorrect, but it is unwise and unwarrantable. Every one knows, that, in all such cases of agency, every thing de

pends upon the expectations and intentions of the agent; but the language referred to is teaching us to expect from him, what in a thousand instances the agent neither intends nor expects himself. The Schoolmaster may have gone abroad, and, if a man of principle, will do great good; but to apply to him or his efforts the language of Sacred Writ, which regards another order of men and another exercise, is calculated to injure the work of his hands, as well as blind our own minds with respect to another duty,- a duty which, so far as the Native Irish are concerned, is at once not only incumbent, but unfulfilled.

Unquestionably the privileges of reading the Scriptures, and being taught to read them in our native language, are of inestimable value; but were they even universally enjoyed, in no single instance could they supersede the necessity of hearing the word; of hearing it explained and applied by a Man who is apt to teach,-by one who himself believes, and therefore speaks. How frequently did the great Founder of our faith himself exclaim,-" He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," that is, let him listen; and now certainly, if the attention is to be awakened and fixed, if the general truths of revelation are to be applied to the consciences of men, or afterwards to the varied experience of the Christian life, the human voice can neither be dispensed with nor superseded. "When an important subject is presented to an audience, with an ample illustration of its several parts, its practical improvement enforced, and its relation to the conscience and the heart insisted upon with seriousness, copiousness, and fervour, it is adapted in the nature of things to produce a more deep and lasting impression than can usually be expected from reading. He who knows how forcible are right words, and how apt man is to be moved by man, has consulted the constitution of our frame, by appointing an order of men, whose office it is to address their fellowcreatures on their eternal concerns. Strong feeling is naturally contagious; and if, as the wise man observes, as iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the countenance of a man his friend," the combined effects of countenance, gesture, and voice, accompanying a powerful appeal to the understanding and the heart, on subjects of everlasting moment, can scarcely fail of being great. But, independently of the natural tendency of the Christian ministry to convert the soul and promote spiritual improvement, it derives its peculiar efficacy from its being a Di

vine appointment. It is not merely a natural, it is also an instituted means of good; and whatever God appoints by special authority, he graciously engages to bless, provided it be attended to with right dispositions and proceed from right motives."

Is it possible then, in the nature of things, that Ireland is doomed to remain longer in this condition? That the Native Irish in particular are to continue from Sabbath to Sabbath to spend that day as they have done for ages? It cannot be. Shall men continue to leave their native shores and go far hence to the heathen only? Will the inhabitants of Ireland itself and those of Britain continue to encourage and call forth such men for their work, and shall our countrymen and fellow-subjects be forgotten? Shall we enforce the necessity and importance of acquiring the languages of India, of China, and Japan, in order to reach the heart through the ear, and shall it seem a hard task to acquire the use of a tongue spoken by such a multitude in the immediate vicinity of our own, nay intersecting it in almost every direction ?

But this subject we shall have occasion to resume afterwards. It is time to hear what can be advanced against such measures as have been advised throughout the three preceding sections.

* Robert Hall,-on the duty, and proper manner of hearing the Word of God.

SECTION IV.

UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS

Against the employment of the Irish language answered, and shewn to be of baneful tendency in every sense; as it is not only essential to the effectual instruction of the people, but its neglect is injurious, as well to the progress of the English language as to that of general information.

THE preceding pages may be said to involve an answer to every objection against the employment of the Irish language in the business of education or instruction, wherever it happens to be daily spoken; but as the objections themselves furnish occasion for adducing a curious, if not instructive variety of collateral proof, they are here noticed. The same objections were indeed answered in a memorial on behalf of the Native Irish in 1815; but that has been for some time out of print. Of course I often employ the same language, but with many additional facts.

I. Such measures would give too much encouragement to the language itself, for the sooner it is destroyed or abolished, so much the better.

This is an ancient objection, and it is still heard on both sides of the channel, though within these fourteen years a great change has taken place, and all who have paid attention to the subject see through its fallacy. To expect that any language will decline by denouncing it is vain. Nay, only neglecting to teach the people to read it, though at the same time enforcing the reading of another as the only channel of instruction to