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the Queen's County which borders upon Kilkenny:-"I can scarcely call to mind when we had so much pleasant work in one week. I have often to record threats and abusive language from parties elsewhere, but not so much as one sentence of abusive language did I hear uttered in the whole course of this week." But the encouragement which he feels thankful for was not confined to this absence of opposition; he adds examples of a more cheering kind, such as the following: "An aged woman, who received us cordially, addressed us thus: Long ago I used to be afraid of you, but few I like to see so well now. Many call in here, but none speak to me about religion. I know that it is little any one can do for me, but Jesus lay down a great deal for me. It is little I thought of Him until lately, but now I pray to Him every day. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, and make me love Thee above all things.' We read in another house, for a woman who had welcomed us in, some of the invitations of the Saviour to those who are spiritually athirst. She exclaimed, 'Thanks to Jesus for all He has done for us, and a thousand thanks to Him for his encouragement and invitation to sinners.' She disclaimed all reliance on any other mediator, and all dependence upon her own works, in the plainest terms."

A respectable widow woman was also visited; her husband had been a Protestant, but during his life she had regularly attended the Roman Catholic worship. Our Agents frequently visited them both, and had many opportunities of instructing this woman before she became a widow; but the words of life did not sink deeply into her heart until she was passing through the waters of affliction. All that had been said to her recurred to her mind then, and seemed to bring comfort and blessing to her heart. She showed us her Bible, and told us that when every earthly thing fails to give her comfort, she finds a store of it there; and so she resolved that she would embrace the faith which first led her to search that Book. She is now a light in her own dwelling, and labours to be a light to enlighten the darkness that broods around her."

Thus we may trust and hope that, through the labours of the Irish Church Missions, there are being "gathered out of this naughty world" Christ's true sheep, and that as of old there is being "added to the Church those who shall be saved."

Ballinakill.-The visiting from house to house has been regularly carried on during the month, and the reception of the Agents has been excellent. The people meet them in a friendly way, and freely speak on the doctrines of Romanism. The present series of controversial lectures forms a general topic of conversation, and the handbills issued on each occasion are duly discussed.

Although this is the season of confession, still it has not had much effect on our Mission work. However, I find, in many instances here, a much more slavish fear of the priests than in my last district; but I have no doubt that this will gradually wear away, as it has invariably done in our other Mission districts in Connemara.

The schools are fairly attended, especially the one at ——, which is formed, I may say, exclusively of the children of Romanists, twenty-eight of whom attend it. Our Sunday service there is very interesting; although the congregation is not large (being from thirty-five to forty-five), it is composed almost entirely of converts from the Church of Rome. They come regularly, no matter how wet and stormy the day may be, and are most attentive and orderly. I often feel thankful that even so many are here engaged every Sunday in reading God's Word, singing his praises, listening to that word preached, and worshipping Him with our beautiful Liturgy, instead of listening to an unintelligible, senseless, and erroneous Latin Mass.

We have, thank God, much to encourage us to " go forward."

Killery Mission.-I am happy to be able to report a very interesting increase in the number of children attending the school at

When

I received charge of this Mission, there was no Scriptural school in that neighbourhood. The only school was taught by a Roman Catholic; and some of the Protestants, for lack of any other means of instruction for their children, were in the habit of sending them to that school. I am now happy to say that that school no longer exists, and that the very house in which it used to be held is that now occupied by our Mission Schools. Indeed, at first, the Roman Catholics living around seemed so bigoted, that I did not expect that for some time they would send their children to our school, but that its work would be to educate the children of Protestants and con. verts, and prevent them from lapsing

into Romanism. However, within the last month, seven children of the most respectable and intelligent Roman Catholics have commenced to attend; and several others have promised to send their children as soon as their potato crop is gathered in, so that I feel sure that in a little time, with God's blessing, the school will be quite filled. The people seem very anxious about their children. At first, one man-the most intelligent in the village-came for three days successively to the school, and listened attentively while the children were being taught, especially during the time for Scripture lessons. He expressed himself greatly pleased with all he heard, and the next day placed his two children at the school. His example has had great weight with others, as they very much looked up to him.

An aged Roman Catholic woman, who lived away among the mountains beyond that school, used often to get the children to sing hymns and repeat texts of Scripture for her. A short time ago she was taken ill. When on her deathbed, the Teacher used to visit her, and read portions of the Bible for her at her own request. She seems to have found true peace, and died trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Teacher is an excellent young man, and is greatly liked and respected by all around.

-The

Lough Mask Mission, reserve with which many of the Roman Catholics spoke to your Agents, on account of the late altar denunciations, has passed away, and they are now received in general very warmly and conversed freely with about the differences between the teaching of their priests and that of Protestants. How differently would Scripture Readers be received in many other parts of Ireland, where the Irish Church Missions Society has not worked. The following will show the opinions instilled into Roman Catholics by their priests, and what an effect it has when not shown to be erroneous. One of your Agents, while visiting a Roman Catholic, met a stranger from another parish. He asked, "Would you like to hear me read a chapter out of God's Word ?" She did not reply; so he read, in Irish, John xiv. When he began to read, she stopped her work and listened very attentively. When he had done, she said, "Nothing could be better than that; but if it was known in my village that I had heard you read out of your Bible, they would murder me. We

hate Protestants, because they tell us you curse and disrespect the Blessed Virgin Mary." Your Agent read Luke i. 46, etc., and explained it, telling her that was part of our service every Sunday evening. She expressed her utter astonishment at how we are belied; and the Roman Catholic in whose house we were said, "The priests know they will not get the money from us if we turn Protestants, and they are very fond of the money."

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Many Roman Catholics have been invited to send their children to the Mission Schools. They acknowledged that our children are better taught; and one woman, who had sent them, said, "While my children were attending the Mission School, their conduct was better than now. I would send them again, but I was so persecuted by the priest I could not stand it any longer."

I fear there will be great distress in this parish after Christmas, as the potato crop is very bad. God grant that this trial may be for the spiritual welfare of the people!

Moyrus.-We have experienced much to cheer us in our work in the face of determined opposition on the part of the priests the last few months.

I rejoice to say that, since the visit of Messrs. Cory and Harington, in September, the good work has prospered, a great door and effectual has been opened, and the people hear the Word of God with great respect and attention. Our position and prospects are more cheering than for several months. The schools are increasing after the harvest operations, and the teachers are going on in faith, sowing the good seed, looking to the great Head of the Church for an increase. We had several cases of illness It was very among our poor brethren. cheering to visit them; they were firm in the faith, looking to their great High Priest as their only hope.

Never did we stand more in need of active, earnest men than at the present eventful period. I rejoice to say the controversial lectures are causing a great stir everywhere throughout Connemara. As a rule, the handbills are read with attention, and many Romanists take a deep interest in the controversy.

The agents of Rome are also very active, trying to crush the good work by their persecuting efforts. The Irish teachers are earnest and active, teaching the Word of God in the native language, and they are received with great kindness

by the people, notwithstanding the opposition of the priests. I receive very interesting accounts from our converts who have left this neighbourhood for England and Scotland; their letters afford strong evidence they stand fast in the liberty of the Gospel, earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints.

Oughterard.-Since my last, one of the earliest converts of the Irish Church Missions in this Mission has passed away. I am rejoiced to say that, in the many death-beds it has fallen to my lot to visit for the last (now nearly) twenty years, I have never experienced anything like the unwavering assurance manifested in this case. Throughout his illness he never ceased to thank God for having raised up Mr. Dallas and the Irish Church Missions Society, through whom he had received the knowledge of the truth; repeatedly again and again did he say, "I lived for sixty years a Roman Catholic, and during that period no priest of the religion I then professed even read to me one verse of that Word which is able to make wise

unto salvation; but thank God for his great mercy in bringing me to read and know the truth, and now that I am blind (for he lost his sight some years ago by accident), He graciously sends his minister to read his blessed Word to me, and to comfort me with the consolations that are in Christ Jesus."

He was continually saying, "I long to depart and be with my Saviour;" and when I suggested this or that that might do him good, he always expressed his gratitude, but gently said, "I do not desire to recover. I know in whom I have believed."

The person who witnessed the closing scene said to me, "I never saw such triumphant faith; would to God we may all die as happy! And if the Irish Church Missions Society never did any more good, this one case was worth all that was spent." The good old man passed away in the full assurance of faith at the age of eighty-two years, and we laid his remains beside those of his wife, who last year passed away, exhibiting alike precious faith in her Saviour.

TO BE FAITHFUL A CHURCH

It was at the supreme moment when the true character of evil was unmistakeably revealed, that the Lord, by a word of power, shaped for ever the true attitude of the Church on earth. When Satan, by the willing hands of wicked men, reared the cross on which to crucify the Son of God, then Christ, in a wisdom of mercy which all subsequent history illustrates, called his disciples to arms"Let him that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one." In that awful crisis, when evil flung away all disguise, and stood revealed in its native confessed malignity, the Church is seen at her Lord's bidding selling the mantle of peace and ease, and buying the sword of implacable hostility to evil. It is enough. We know for evermore the Church and the world. The attitude of the faithful Chnrch is aggressive. It is missionary. It bears the sword of the ability, and of the readiness to attack error in the spirit of Christ, for the glory of God, and the rescue of those in bondage. Doubtless the Church is now in "King's palaces," where "soft raiment " more appropriate, and more effective than the sword-conciliation more politic than testimony. But the world has not repented; and to accept the world's caresses is to "walk by appearances and not by faith." It will be at once acknow

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MUST BE AGGRESSIVE. ledged, that this attitude of the Christian -for the Lord particularizes, "Let him that hath "-cannot be a mere spasmodic unintelligent gesture. It must be the necessary expression of a true character, the embodiment of a spirit, a conscious rational energy, able thus to manifest itself. Where shall we look for the source of this energy-this aggressive spirit? We believe it is to be found in the doctrine of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." In this revealed fact, lie stored the tremendous missionary forces of the Church. Everlasting life through a conscious interest-for what else does faith mean ?-in the atonement of the only begotten Son of God, offered to those otherwise ready to perish. This is a luminous searching truth, which enables him who grasps it to detect instantly, beneath all plausible appearances, the real front of hostile battle. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one is the solemn conviction which hence the soul, and in the quick exchange of the citizen's mantle for the soldier's weapon, the conviction finds its truthful and most significant confession.-Church Missionary Intelligence.

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The Banner of the Truth in Ireland.

APRIL 1, 1872.

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN DUBLIN.

HE Rev. H. C. Cory, Missionary Secretary, has furnished the following very encouraging account of the Dublin Mission, which will be sure to interest our readers, and will, we trust, call forth the prayers of many of our friends, that the same blessing may be increased in the capital, and may spread throughout the provinces :

"We have not felt more encouraged for years than we do at this moment with regard to the Dublin Mission. We have noticed for many months an increased and increasing spirit of life and earnestness, both amongst the agents and amongst the people, and this now appears to be culminating in a way which fills us with hope for the future. I am persuaded that we are on the eve of a movement, if not in the midst of one. In many of the classes and discussion meetings we have observed for some time a larger attendance and a deeper tone, which have had the effect of drawing out the agents in prayer, and these happy symptoms have spread to other meetings, and many individuals have shown a spiritual anxiety, which is the best token of all. The recent move in Rome has helped us greatly, and has caused quite a stir amongst the Roman Catholics here. For the last two Sundays both Dr. MacCarthy and I have preached on the subject—he in St. Werburgh's and I in the Mission Church. We announced as our theme "The recent Controversy in Rome. Was St. Peter the first Pope ?" The following handbill will show the line of thought

pursued:

The Recent Controversy in Rome. Has not the Pope just permitted public controversy in the city of Rome ? Read

Was St. Peter the First Pope?

the following from the London Times of February 21

"It is a curious sign of the times that we have had in Rome, in this last week of the Carnival, a public discussion between Catholic priests and Evangelical ministers, on the interesting question often debated, whether St. Peter ever was in the city, where, according to popular tradition, he was Pontiff for twenty-five years. Two points are particularly to be noted; one being, that the priests would not have entered the arena of public controversy on a subject of this nature, without leave and licence from the Vatican. The courtesy and moderation with which both sides advanced their arguments and upheld their cause, are also very noteworthy, seeming to prove that, even in the great centre of Catholicism, intolerance is upon the decline."

Now that the Pope has permitted public controversy in the City of Rome, will not Cardinal Cullen allow the same in the city of Dublin? Will he not repeal the decree of the Synod of Thurles, which forbids free discussion, and of which the following is a translation :

"De Fidei Periculis evitandis, 7. "We exhort the Catholic laity, that they engage not in matters pertaining to religion with those who are not Catholics. We forbid them, whether they be lay or clerical, to take part with any such in public controversies, without the mission of the Ordinary, since good fruit can scarcely ever be expected from such debates, and it almost always happens that Christian peace and charity are violated.". Decrees of the Synod of Thurles. Duffy, 1851, p. 14.

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Has it not been found in Rome that priests and Protestant ministers can discuss their points of difference with courtesy and moderation, and that neither Christian peace nor charity need be violated?

Cardinal Cullen thus commenced his Pastoral of the 13th of June, 1871Very Reverend Brethren-You are

aware that our Holy Father Pius IX. will complete the twenty-fifth year of his pontificate on Friday next, the 16th of June. The FIRST POPE, ST. PETER, to whom Christ gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power of feeding His flock and teaching the faithful with an infallible authority, HELD THE SEE OF ROME FOR THE SAME PERIOD OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AND SOME WEEKS."-Freeman's Journal, June 20, 1871. How, then, did it come to pass that the priests in Rome failed to prove that St. Peter had been in Rome even for a single day?

If St. Peter had been Pope for eighteen years when St. Paul arrived in Rome, how does it come to pass that the New Testament is silent on the subject?

In St. Peter's own Epistles, why does he not claim to be Pope, and why does he not mention Rome? Did he not write his first Epistle from Babylon (1 Pet. v. 13), because he was the Apostle of the circumcision ?-Gal. ii. 7.

If St. Peter were Apostle only of the Jews, how could he have been Pope and ruler of the whole Church?

If St. Peter had been Pope, how could St. Paul have had the care of all the churches ?-2 Cor. xi. 28.

Did St. Peter hold and teach Protestant doctrine, or the dogmas of the modern Church of Rome ?

Did not St. Peter point to one only Saviour and Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, and one only sacrifice for sins, that of Christ upon the cross? How is it that he never taught the worship of Mary or the saints, or the doctrines of penance, purgatory, or the mass?

Will the Pope now print and circulate in Rome, in the Italian tongue, the Epistle to the Romans, and the two Epistles of St. Peter?

Roman Catholics of Ireland, imitate the example of the Roman Catholics of Rome, and hear and judge for yourselves

These sermons attracted very large audiences. I have not seen the Mission Church so crowded for more than ten years, and better than all, there was a solemn feeling amongst the people which drew one out, not in mere controversy, but in personal appeal to individual hearts, which seemed to meet with a warm response. I tried in the first sermon to compare Acts xxviii. 23 with the recent meetings in the same city, and showed that St. Paul and not St. Peter was the great

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