answered by an appeal to what has been done by British Christians for that interesting though oppressed country, we must reply, "It seems not !" The regard entertained towards Ireland and other places seems to be in inverse proportion to their distances from us. The nearest is almost forgotten; the farthest off sedulously cared for! British benevolence has operated like the lamp, it has illuminated distant parts, while it keeps that which is near it, that which is under it, in shade.

There is much of sentimentalism abroad in the world many will read a fictitious tale, and shed torrents of tears over the sorrows and trials of imaginary beings, while a dying sufferer in their own street may pine in cheerless and hopeless poverty, without awaking a sigh of compassion, a glance of pity, or a tangible expression of sympathy and concern.

It is to be feared that among professing

Christians there is much of this sentimentalism to be found. They think and read of distant barbarians sinking into degradation and ruin, and their pity and benevolence are at once excited. Of course this is not wrong. We say, with respect to the feeling of compassion, “Would that it were deeper rooted, and more widely spread among all hearts." And with reference to the pecuniary aid rendered to the great religious Institutions of our land, that contemplate and carry on missionary operations, we exclaim, "Would that for brass there were brought gold, and for iron silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron." But how is it that men at home, with souls as precious as those of distant idolators, are forgotten, though falling around us like the autumn leaves of the forest? Surely our fellow-men and fellowsubjects in Ireland ought not to be overlooked! It should never be said, that in the expression of our regard for the human family, we forget those who are by our side. Should we not hesitate to call that man a domestic man who chose every other family to his own? Christian patriotism is of course to be as expansive as the world; but too frequently Ireland has been treated as if she did not form part of that world. British Christians! do all you desire and can for other countries, but forget not your Irish brethren! We blame you not for what you have done for the heathen world, but mourn that you have, for the most part, failed to render the help that Ireland requires : "this ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone."

If we care not for the people of the sister Island, who will? We know it is the design of God to bring the whole world under the influence of true and undefiled religion. Is it to be left to some missionaries from among the natives of the South Seas, or from the negroes of Jamaica, or the dwellers of Southern Africa, to preach a pure gospel to Ireland? The work is to be done; if we do not do it, God will shame us, perhaps, by calling "a nation that we know not," to accomplish it.

Activity is characteristic of the church and the world in the present day; and the

elements of evil and good are both at work. Let a portion of Christian activity be directed towards Ireland; let a more proportionate and adequate amount of pecuniary help be afforded to that country; let her be borne more on the hearts of British Christians, and efforts and prayers go together for the emancipation of her children from the curse of Papal darkness and dominion. Spiritually and politically she is enslaved. Be it your care, people of God, to do your part in breaking her fetters, by delivering her from ignoble bondage, and introducing her to that liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free. Kingsland. T. A.

EDUCATION OF THE POOR OF IRELAND.

On this interesting and important subject we shall have occasion to make some observations in an early number. We know of no question which demands from the Christians of England more serious or mature consideration. Agreeing in a general way with the old adage that "just as the twig is bent the tree inclines," we feel that on the kind and description of education imparted to the rising race in Ireland, much will depend as to the future well being of the people there; if the instruction imparted is based upon the Scriptures, we have no doubt that God will add his blessing; while on the other hand, if the poor children are in the schools of the country, taught to drink in the errors and superstitions of the Church of Rome, and Popery is thereby perpetuated in the land, there can no blessing be expected, but, contrariwise, a curse. On the system pursued by the National Board of Education for Ireland, we shall in an early number offer some remarks; in the mean time we most willingly insert the following extract of a letter, written on the 13th ult., to a friend in Dublin, by a gentleman connected with the Irish Society, whose schools in the southern districts we had been just visiting; and who was himself powerfully connected with the Roman Church, having been a Monk of a particular order, preparing for the priesthood; but having seen the errors of that apostate church he came out of it, and

is now pursuing his studies in the University, with a view to the Christian Ministry. The letter is dated from Castletown, Berehaven, a remote district in the south of Ireland, lying on the coast, around which there are several islands, where the people all speak the Irish language, and in most of which, as well as on the mainland, the Irish Society have established Scriptural schools. He says, "In one of the Society's schools here, there were, until very lately, upwards of 170 Poor Roman Catholic children in regular attendance, and all reading and committing the Scriptures to memory. The parents all Roman Catholics. It is lamentable to say, that through the tyranny and persecution of the Priests, the number has been lessoned by over 100. In many instances, the parents and poor children themselves felt very sorrowful at being obliged to give up the blessed book.'

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"I examined a large class the other day, consisting almost exclusively of Romanists, and was quite delighted at the answering. They had very many texts on justification, by faith alone, committed to memory, and were able to prove by Scripture references most other truths of our pure Gospel faith. "Yesterday I examined another class of Romanists, on the mainland, and was equally delighted at the intelligence and answering on the fundamentals.

"There is an opposition school established on Bere Island, under the National Board, the Priests have bullied and persecuted the people to send their children to it; however they are dropping back fast, and I hope for good things here yet.

"We should mention, perhaps, that the writer of the foregoing is a member of the Established Church, and is preparing for the ministry in that connexion. He is one who not only has been led to see the errors of Romanism, but to embrace with joy and gladness "the truth as it is in Jesus;" and we think it right here to say, that while we shall give a prominent place to the statements of agents in connexion with the Societies under whose sanction our magazine has been ushered into existence, it is our intention to insert in our pages, authenticated statements of the progress of education and of Divine truth through the

sister isle, in connexion with every denomination of the followers of our Lord and Saviour who hold the Head, and who may be endeavouring to promote the extension of his kingdom among those who are now perishing for lack of knowledge.

REV. H. MELVILL, ON POPERY.

There is no change in Popery. The system is the same, intrinsically, inherently the same. It may assume different aspects to carry different purposes, but this is itself a part of Popery: there is the variable appearance of the chameleon, and the invarible venom of the serpent. Thus in Ireland, where the theology of Dens is the recognised text-book of the Roman Catholic clergy, they will tell you, when there is any end to be gained, that Popery is an improved, and modified, and humanized thing: whereas, all the while, there is not a monstrous doctrine, broached in the most barbarous of past times, which this very text-book does not uphold as necessary to be believed; and not a foul practice, devised in the midnight of the world, which it does not enjoin as necessary to be done.

Let Protestants only awaken to a sense of the worth of their privileges-privileges so long enjoyed that they are practically forgotten, and this land may remain, what for three centuries it hath been, the great witness for scriptural truth, the great centre of scriptural light. There is already a struggle. In Ireland, especially, Popery so wrestles with Protestantism that there is cause for fear that falsehood will gain the mastery. And we call upon you to view the struggle in its true light. It is not to be regarded as a struggle between rival churches, each desiring the temporal ascendancy. It is not a contest for the possession of tithe, for right to the mitre, for claim on the benefice. It is a contest between the Christianity of the New Testament, and the Christianity of human tradition, and corrupt fable-a contest, therefore, whose issue is to decide whether the pure Gospel shall have footing in Ireland! “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong;" with earnestness defend the faith "once delivered to the saints."

THE BLIND GIRL AT THE HOLY WELL.

To the Editor of the Irish Missionary Magazine.

DEAR SIR,-In the hope of attracting the particular attention of your readers, and the religious public of England, to the spiritual destitution of the peasantry of Ireland, I shall send you the copy of a picture or engraving, published by the Royal Irish Art-Union, very highly spoken of as a work of art; and which gives a faithful representation of one of the many superstitious practices, by which the minds of the lower orders of our people have been so long held in thraldom, through the artifices of the priests of the Romish Church. The picture will tell its own story :-A poor blind peasant girl is seen seated at one of those places, venerated by the peasantry as Holy Wells," from having been, as they are told, blessed by "Holy Men" who lived in ages long gone by, and now revered as the tutelary guardians of such places. The horse-shoe-the string of beads-the holy water in which the girl is dipping her hand -the very attitude of the group-all bespeak the superstition of the place. The object to be attained, as must at once be perceived, is the restoration to sight of the blind girl, through the interposition of the patron of the well, or of "the Blessed Virgin," to whom the greater proportion of the prayers are offered.

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may

It be necessary to inform your English readers, that such places are numerous in various districts of this country, particularly in the South and West; and, in many instances, may readily be recognized by the passing traveller from the trees and shrubs in their neighbourhood being covered with rags and ribbons, left as memorials of the sacredness and efficacy of the waters, and as remembrancers to the Almighty in the Day of Judgment, that the individuals leaving them behind had done penance at the well. Although by no means so much frequented as they were some twenty or thirty years since, still in many districts they continue to be resorted to by the peasantry

VOL. I.

for the cure of themselves or their cattle, when afflicted with disease. In this particular they form a perfect counterpart to the superstitious practices of early Heathen nations, especially those of Greece and Rome, in which were numerous groves and fountains of water, rendered sacred by the supposed presence of imaginary deities. To these the people resorted; and, in order to insure the favour of the gods, hung garlands on the trees, and left behind them offerings of wine, milk, and honey.

In some districts of Ireland, as an appendage to the Wells, there are places of PENANCE OF PURGATORY; at these, "STATIONS" or "PATTERNS" are held at certain times of the year, and great numbers of the peasantry of the surrounding districts regularly attend them, in order to have their sins washed away; or, by their works of supererogation, to procure the release of the souls of departed friends out of the flames of Purgatory. In the immediate neighbourhood of these wells, where penances are performed, there are usually cairns, or heaps of stones, placed in circular positions, around which the penitents either crawl upon their knees, or walk barefooted a certain number of times. During these evolutions, they repeat a given number of prayers, hail, Mary," &c., according to the extent of the penance to be performed, or the amount of sin to be atoned for; and frequently the feet and the knees of the penitents or devotees may be seen lacerated and torn, the blood streaming down as they pass along.

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Of the various holy places of Ireland, "Patrick's Purgatory," situated on an island of Lough Dergh, in a lake in the county of Donegal, and "Struel Wells," in the county of Down, for many years attracted the greatest portion of regard. To these, thousands of the peasantry resorted; and at these such scenes of superstition and profligacy were enacted, as would disgrace even a Heathen nation. Struel Wells, situated in the north of our island, where there is a large Protestant population, a few years since, attracted the attention of some Protestant gentlemen in Belfast and Newry, who determined to do what they could to

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put a stop to the indecency and immorality practised during the period of the Station. The wells being supplied by a small running stream, it was requisite to dam up the water for some days previous to the gathering of the people. The gentlemen, aware of this, the very evening before the ablutions were to commence, cut the dam, and let off the waters, and thus prevented the principal portion of the operation necessary for the supposed washing away the sins of the devotees; this was repeated the year following, and thus this well got into comparative disrepute.

Lough Dergh, however, still retains its virtues in the estimation of those under the guidance of the Priests of Rome, and consequently it is resorted to by crowds during the month of July, the Priests of Rome officiating during the ceremonies, and deriving a large income from their services. Relative to this place a lengthened article might be written as it strikes me, however, that to a publication such as yours, brief occasional notices are better suited than lengthened details, I shall defer the description of the place and the penances performed, to some future opportunity— merely observing, that the superstitious observances attended to at this place, would form a striking parallel to some of those described by our missionaries as practised by the idolators of the East; and prove, beyond a doubt, that a great proportion of the religious observances of the Church of Rome has been borrowed from the idolatrous practices of Heathen nations.

Although, as I have said, the numbers attending those places of superstitious resort are not so great as formerly, still travellers visiting our island during Midsummer, may almost be sure of seeing in some district through which they may pass, a "Patron" or a "Station," at which thousands assemble together. Our good friend, Dr. Raffles, during his visit in July, while at the cliffs of Mohir, nearly the western extremity of our island, witnessed one of these gatherings; and, as he informed me, was convinced by ocular demonstration, and by the hearing of his ears, that practices were still attended to, and superstitions retained,

which he could not have credited, had he not seen or heard them himself. The Holy Well, at which the Patron he witnessed was held, was situated a considerable way up the cliff; and he was assured by an old woman, one of the devotees, that so holy was the water that it would not boil, no matter what quantity of fire was applied to it-that the well was formerly at the foot of the cliff, but that in consequence of some of the water having been taken for ordinary purposes, the saint who presided over the well had removed it higher up, and thus preserved its waters from profanation.Here the Doctor had an opportunity of seeing the devotees performing their Stations around the circles of stones, and of judging of the spirit and feeling with which they were animated; and I have no doubt his relation of the scenes he witnessed will do much good, by turning the attention of his people to the religious necessities of Ireland.

And here, Mr. Editor, before I lay down my pen, I feel it necessary to say, that in stating the foregoing particulars, I by no means wish to disparage the people of this land; on the contrary, I regard the peasantry as a fine, intelligent race; and Dr. Raffles, who has travelled through almost every part of Ireland, as well as many other ministers of our denomination will, I am sure, give them a similar character; but for centuries they have been cruelly kept down and enslaved by the superstitions of Popery: and it is not to be wondered at, neglected as they have been, even by those who have sent missionaries to Africa and Tahiti, that the people of Ireland should be as they now are-sunk in ignorance and superstition. That your periodical may be made the means of turning the attention of British Christians to the spiritual destitution of Ireland, is the sincere wish of Yours truly,

Dublin, Aug. 1844.

P. DIXON HARDY.

(To be continued).

P. S. We hope to give the engraving referred to in our next number.