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while, on the other hand, there may be "the devotee of reason who disclaims all that is mysterious, renounces all that is saving; and, when he has fabricated for himself a system so devoid of obscurity that only the most intelligent can understand it so adapted to the correction of human infirmity, that it forbids no gratification, and imposes no restraint-so full of comfort, that it does not recognize even the existence of a burdened conscience, or a mind disquieted and eager in the pursuit of salvation; he strangely calls it the Gospel; as if he could imagine that it was the same which had survived the fires of martyrdom, and was sealed with the blood of the cross! In the one of these cases, what do we meet with but a Pagan Christianity in the other, what but an Infidel belief?"*

In condemnation of all such attempts to modify, to disguise, or to pervert the glorious Gospel, the words before us with their context depict hypocrisy and formality that they may be shunned; and commend vital godliness, that it may be pursued. The chapter containing this passage, most impressively inculcates "a lesson which mankind in all ages have been slow to learn, -that no observance of religious rites, no splendour of ceremonies, no accumulation of sacrifices, nor any outward appearances of sanctity, can atone for the absence of inward piety, and the exercise of pure and holy affections towards the blessed God." Apart from sincere and spiritual obedience, such as can be rendered only after experiencing "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," all ceremonial observances are utterly worthless.

Sept. 1844.

(To be continued.)

THE DINGLE COLONY.

S.

Though we have largely noticed this interesting colony in a former number, we yet regard it as such a bright and cheering spot, peeping forth amidst all the spiritual darkness of our Sister Isle, and as such a gem in the coronet of " THE IRISH SOCIETY," of which Society we have given a sketch in the pages of our present number-a 'gem which we are sure they will devoutly place in the crown of our Redeemerthat we feel inclined to allow room in our columns for some further details upon the subject. It is really Missionary work; and as such, deserves and demands our favorable notice.

The following brief outline is from

From the late Rev. R. S. MALL, L.L.D.

publications of the Rev. Charles Gayer:In the town of Dingle, (which is situated in the most western part of Ireland on a promontory extending forty miles into the Atlantic ocean), and in the district immediately around it, there have been 750 persons brought out of the Church of Rome, by the preaching of the Gospel, within the last seven years. Three entirely new congregations have been formed of converts; two churches have been erected, and five school-houses for the children; and it is now found necessary to enlarge the church at Dingle the third time, as in that town alone there are 250 converts added to the original Protestant congregation. In Ventry there are 200 converts; a church and school-house have been erected, and ten houses are being built for the protection of the converts. At Dunerlin there are 65 converts; a church and school-house have been erected. In Donquin and the adjacent Blasquett Islands there are 110 converts; at Donquin a commodious building is nearly completed, which will be used as a school-house during the week, and for the Church services on Sundays: a school-house with a residence for a master has also been built on the Blasquett Island. In Kilmelchedar parish there are about 45 converts; a school-house is now being erected there.

"In addition to those enumerated, there are about 50 converts scattered in different places, who cannot be counted with any particular congregation.

"Besides these still living, 19 converts have died since the commencement of the work, all of whom, without exception, have remained steadfast in the faith, notwithstanding the violent and persevering efforts that in some cases have been made by their Roman Catholic relations, to induce them at their dying hour to recant. Such testimonies have been most valuable, proving (if anything were needed to prove) that their change was not one of mere outward profession, to secure for themselves any supposed earthly gain, while the full value of the testimony cannot be felt by those who are not acquainted with the assaults of mingled warning and threat, and earnest entreaty which the dying convert has often to endure, and of which, were it deemed advisable to mention instances, ample specimens might be given.

of

"The Hon. and Rev. Dennis Browne writes, Sept. 1, 1842 :— -'I cannot tell you the interest which my late visit to Dingle has produced in my mind in the progress the work there. I was prepared to expect some little disappointment in visiting and inquiring into a work of which I had heard so much at a distance; but so far from being disappointed, I have found the reality

to exceed far my most sanguine expectations; and having visited every post in the district-having minutely inquired into all the particulars of the work which is going on in it, and having examined, carefully, some of the principal converts, I am fully satisfied that the work is of God, and am assured, that if it is His will to provide the means, especially in raising up efficient teachers, as great a work of revival is likely to be produced in that district as in any other lever visited.'

"Of the state and progress of the Colony, the Rev. C. Gayer writes, in a letter, dated December 31, 1842 :—

"I have now to state, that in addition to the fifteen houses mentioned in our last report, ten others have been completed in Dingle, and ten more are in progress of being built at Ventry, five of which are nearly finished. In the Dingle Colony there are 150 individuals receiving shelter, among whom are twelve widows. The number of children attending the Sunday-school is now 176. The adult Sunday class has increased from 70 to 130. Since the operations of the Society have been enlarged, three Scripture Readers and two Schoolmasters have been supported by the Colony. The Ladies' Auxiliary to the Irish Society has undertaken to pay the salaries of the Scripture Readers and Schoolmasters in Ventry and Donquin.

FACTS RELATIVE TO IRELAND.

To the Editor of the Irish Missionary

Magazine.

Sir,-There are in Ireland 8,175,124 persons inhabiting 1,328,830 houses; of these persons 2,385,000 are absolute paupers, and of their dwellings 1,024,275 are mud cabins. Out of this population, 625,356 families, numbering 3,470,752 persons, live in 491,268 mud cabins or hovels, consisting of one room only, where the door serves for chimney and window, affording an outlet to the smoke and to the families; and an entrance to light, pigs and children.

Out of the eight millions of inhabitants, seven millions belong to the agricultural population, and the wages of the laboring classes of this vast majority vary from fourpence to tenpence per day, in the west and south, and from eightpence to a shilling per day in the north. According to the third report of the commissioners' inquiry into the state of the poor, the average wages of an agricultural labourer in Ireland are from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per week, and in England from 8s. to 10s. per week. Out of the total resident population, after deducting children under five years of age, the commissioners return 3,766,066 as unable to read or write.

There are about twenty millions of acres in Ireland, of which fourteen millions are planted and cultivated, and the rest left waste; and five out of these six are reclaimable. The entire rental of Ireland is estimated at twenty millions annually, to which may be added half a million for the annual dividends on the capital of joint stock companies. The aggregate value of Irish exports to England has been estimated by the railway commissioners at rather more than sixteen millions annually, almost exclusively raw produce; there are no accurate data for determining the imports.

In the census of creeds made under the authority of Government in 1834, the following was a report of the number of persons belonging to each religious denomination. Number of persons belonging to.

Creed.

Roman Catholics Protestant Episcopalians Presbyterians

Other Dissenters

6,427,712

725,064

642,556

121,308

The

In December 1843, the number of military in Ireland was 21,210; the naval force 2,350, and the constabulary 9,043. cost of the military force is estimated at £802,441; of the naval armament £180,500; and of the police £512,505; the charge of the civil establishments £2,137,253; and as the revenue of Ireland averages about £4,500,000, the surplus is not sufficient to pay the interest of that portion of the national debt for which Ireland was made responsible by the act of union.

As the moral condition of a people is intimately connected with its social organization, the preceding facts will not fail to suggest important reflections. Surely they appeal to the benevolent mind of every Protestant Christian to lend his aid in raising this interesting country from its present depressed state? And how can this be better brought about than by giving them the unadulterated Gospel of Christ, before which the darkness of error shall flee away? Horton.

ADJOURNING A DISCOURSE.

J. C.

A minister lately preached in the pulpit of a brother Divine. His sermon was longer than usual, and his doctrine not approved of. The minister of the chapel was spoken to on the subject, and the promised second part of the sermon was adjourned sine die. The disappointed preacher inquired the cause of this, and was told the principal objector was a most eminent Greek scholar-"Ah, ah!" said he, "I am not surprised at this, for St. Paul has said that the Gospel was unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.”

K

THE KERRY FISHERMAN.

To the Editor of the Irish Missionary
Magazine.

Dear Sir,-Your little unpretending miscellany, will, I trust, be rendered an extensive blessing to the cause it is intended to promote. If, by diffusing information concerning the moral and spiritual condition of Ireland, that deeply interesting, but much neglected portion of the United Kingdom, it shall be the means of awakening our British churches and their pastors to a sense of their duty, your labours will not be in vain. The record in several of the periodicals of the day, of the efforts made by some of the societies, aiming at the evangelization of the Sister country, is most important, and has answered many valuable purposes. But a cheap publication especially devoted to this object, seemed a desideratum which the IRISH MISSIONARY MAGAZINE is well calculated to supply. I rejoice exceedingly that you intend occasionally to give information of the efforts made by other bodies of Christians, with which we are not immediately connected. Amongst these, the Irish Society of Dublin stands conspicuous. Sustained and conducted by the Evangelical portion of the United Church of England and Ireland, I believe it is the instrument of effecting much good. When in Ireland, during the summer of 1843, I had an opportunity of hearing something of its efforts, especially in the county of Kerry; and could but thank God for what it had been the means of accomplishing in that, almost exclusively Popish, part of the country. If you deem the following incident, with the poetry accompanying it, suitable for insertion in your Magazine, it is at your service.

I am,

Yours, respectfully,
THOMAS JAMES.

Woolwich, October 4th, 1844.

Dunlevy was a poor fisherman of Ventry, in the county of Kerry, who, through the instrumentality of the Irish Society renounced the errors of Popery, and came out of the Church of Rome, bringing with him a wife and ten children. His kindred, as is usual, were exceedingly exasperated. His character and conduct were such that he was

made captain of the Missionary Boat, a vessel which had been purchased by subscription, and employed to procure provision for the converts, as the priests had forbidden any of the inhabitants to sell them food. This boat was wrecked on its return from Cork, laden with potatoes, in a great storm. Dunlevy's life was spared at the time, but he ultimately sunk under the hardships he endured in his efforts to save the boat. At his death his sister was frantic with grief that her brother had died a Protestant. She poured forth her impassioned feelings, sometimes in expressions of sorrow, sometimes in awful imprecations, and always in poetry. Listened to by one who understood the Irish language, the following, being part of her lamentation, or Keen, as it is called, is rendered as nearly as possible in English verse. In the deep mighty ocean the dark night it found thee, The tides and the waves they were foaming around thee;

When doubling the headland, oh! here's the sad token,

Thy heart and thy vessel together were broken.

My sorrow, my sorrow, it drives me to madness;
Oh! never again shall my sore heart know gladness;
Oh! sadly it grieves me to think that those dangers
And troubles came o'er thee when toiling for strangers.

Oh! would that thy grave was made under the billow, And would that the wild shark himself were thy pillow :*

Than thus in thy bed, in thy senses to lie,

And our church, and her priesthood so boldly defy.

Here followed pillalues and hillaloos in wild and varied tones, expressive of the most extravagant grief. She then began in a different measure.

Oh! Donach, Donach, can it be,
And hast thon left us so?
The gem, the flower of all thy race,
With heretics to go!

We'll lay thee in thy father's grave,
Beneath thy mother's head;

No parson o'er thee e'er shall pray,
No Bible e'er be read.

To the children.

No children of Dunlevy's line
Are ye, nor of his race!
Beneath him ye shall never lie,+
Nor in his tomb find place!

To the widow.

His gatherings, his earnings all,

They may belong to thee;
But we, his kindred, flesh and blood,
Deep, deep in him are we.

Death by drowning is, by the Roman Catholics, considered amongst the most afflictive, as it deprives the person of the benefit of extreme unction, which they consider would have freed him from all sins committed since he last confessed.

The graves of the Irish peasantry contain all the coffins of the family. The last interred is placed underneath the others; and to refuse that position in the grave to any lately deceased member of the family, is, in fact, to disown him as such.

WHO CARES FOR ERIN?

Who cares for Erin! does the man

Poetry.

Who calls her names-proclaims her baseBut never favors any plan

To elevate her fallen race;

Who cares for Erin we may say,

While error-struck she wounded lies,
And Levite-like crowds turn away
Regardless of her piercing cries.
Who cares for Erin when the wail
Of millions sinking in despair,
With many churches seems to fail

To urge an effort-prompt a prayer!
Who cares for Erin! those who seek,
By christian efforts, souls to win;
With spirit, faithful, glowing, meek,

To draw her from the " man of sin."
Who cares for Erin? do not those
Who traverse mountain, bog, and glen,
The Saviour's mercy to disclose

To perishing deluded men.

Who cares for Erin those who give

Their wealth, their time, and talents too; That sinners, dead, through Christ may live, And learn his glory to pursue. Who cares for Erin? those who stay Unbribed by wealth to leave her soil; Who speak of truth's celestial way,

Unmoved by fear, contempt, and toil. Who cares for Erin those who pray, "Thy kingdom come," throughout her isle;

And, strong in faith, believe the day

Will come, when truth on her shall smile. HOXTON.

TIME AND ETERNITY.

T. L.

Time, what a solemn thought! Eternity,
More solemn still: and yet how few there are
Who ever think of rightly spending time,
Or contemplate this vast eternity.
Man is born mortal: they of human race
Must pass through infancy and youth and age,
And then must die-must die as to that form
Which constitutes in many minds the man.
But there's a living principle within;

A soul, the breath of God! which ne'er shall die,
But which throughout eternity shall live
In happiness or woe-in endless woe,

Or in the full fruition of such joy,

As eye hath never seen, ear never heard,
And into heart of man hath never come-
All men must die, yet all for ever live.
Strange contradiction, yet as true as strange,
Which as with trumpet-tongue to each proclaims,
Live so for death that thou mayest die to live;

Live here for death, spend not thy hours in sloth;
Waste not the time which God to thee hath given-
Hath given, that thou mayest here prepare to die.
Vain man! and wilt thou only live for time;
As though the king of terrors never dare
Put forth his hand on thee, or say,

I come to claim my own! Remember, dust
Thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return;
And then, when every charm, when every g race,
Which here delights is gone,
for ever gone,

And thy immortal spirit naked, bare,
Stripped of its outward ornaments, and all
That which to mortal eyes most pleasant seemed,
Shall stand before its judge-stand to receive
Its final destiny; and heaven's Great King
Shall ope' the book and say, As were thy deeds
So shall thy doom be fixed--what wilt thou think
Then, when to think is useless, of those hours,
Those days, those months, those years, which here on
earth

Thou spend'st in indolence, or sloth, or worse?
Most dreadful thought! that when upon this world
Peace, everlasting peace, within thy grasp
Was placed. But, no! thou would'st not take the boon,
But did'st to folly and this world's delights
Thy best affections give; and thou who wert
For vast eternity created, contented wast
To live for time, yet scarce for time thou lived'st,
For this itself, though short, too long it seem'd
To need thy care-the present hour was all
The sum and substance of thy largest thought.
SEPTEMBER, 13, 1844. G. FOLEY, T.C.D.

PRAYER AND HOPE FOR ERIN.

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord."

"The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth."

Shine, gracious Lord, on Erin's coasts,
Thy Gospel spread from sea to sea;
Display thy power, O Lord of Hosts,

And bring her children home to Thee.
Nor human skill, nor power, nor might,

Can e'er the glorious work achieve;
"Till Thou assert thy native right,

And bid the dying captives live.
Then shall her land with peace be blest,
And yield her increase unto Thee;
Thy truth shall be by all professed,
And Satan's victims shall be free.
Hasten it in thine own good time,
Our spirits pant to see the day
When superstition's vacant shrine,
And boasted relics cast away-
Shall say, "The darkness now is past,"
The true clear light of life is come;
Bright'ning the sky with clouds o'er cast,
And pointing to a heavenly home. E. L. P.

WAS

FRANCIS HUTCHESON,

Biography.

an ingenious moral philosopher, whose researches and works have contributed much to our knowledge of the human mind, and whose example stimulated those exertions which have since given to the world the immortal writings of Reid, Smith, Beattie, Campbell, and Stewart.

He was the son of a dissenting minister in the north of Ireland, and was born, August 8th, 1694. At an early age he discovered a superior capacity; and, after going through the usual course of grammarschool education, he was sent to an academy to commence his philosophical pursuits. In 1710, he was removed to the university of Glasgow, where he renewed his classical studies, and made such proficiency in mathematics, logic, natural and moral philosophy, as was suitable to his talents and application. He then entered on the study of divinity to qualify himself for the Christian ministry, which he proposed to make his profession for life.

At the end of six years, he returned to Ireland, and, after due examination, was admitted to become a preacher amongst the Presbyterians, and was about to be ordained pastor to a small congregation, when some gentlemen near Dublin, who knew his great abilities, invited him to open a private academy there; which he did, and met with very great success. He had not been long settled in that city, before his talents and accomplishments made him generally known; and his society was courted by persons of all ranks, who had any taste for learning and science, or knew how to esteem learned men. Amongst others, Lord Molesworth took great pleasure in his conversation, and assisted him with his observations and criticisms upon his "Enquiry into the Ideas of Beauty and Virtue," before it was sent to the press. He received the same favor from Dr. Synge, Bishop of Elphin, with whom he lived on terms of the most intimate friendship. The first edition of this work was published in 1725, without the author's name; but its great merit would not allow the author to be long concealed. Its high reputation and excellence induced Lord Grenville, then lord-lieutenant of Ireland, to send his private secretary to the bookseller, to inquire the name; and when he could not learn it, he left a letter to be conveyed to him. In consequence of this, Mr. Hutcheson became known to the noble peer, who, during the whole time of his government, treated him with distinguished marks of familiarity and kindness.

Archbishop King held him in high esteem; and the friendship of that prelate was of great use in protecting him from two malicious attempts which were made to prosecute him in the archiepiscopal court, for undertaking the education of youth, without having qualified himself, according to the laws then existing, by subscribing to the ecclesiastical canons, and obtaining a licence from the bishop. Mr. Hutcheson, also, was highly esteemed by Primate Boulter, who, through his influence, made a donation to the university of Glasgow of a yearly fund, or bursary, to each student in that college. In 1728, he published

a "Treatise on the Passions," in octavo, which, together with his former work, has often been republished, and has been admired for sentiment and language, even by those who have not coincided with the author in his philosophical opinions. About this time, he wrote some philosophical papers, accounting for laughter in a way different from Hobbes, and more honoura ble to human nature, which were published in the collection called "Hibernicus's Letters." He also published an answer to some letters in the "London Journal," in 1728, subscribed Philaretus, containing objections to some parts of his philosophical doctrines in the " Enquiry," &c. Both letters and answer were afterwards published in a separate pamphlet.

He had now conducted his academy with great reputation and success for seven or eight years, and by his works was favorably known to the whole literary world, when Ireland was doomed to part with this genius of her own production, and give him to be an ornament and light to another land. The university of Glasgow, induced by the desire of having distinguished men to keep up her high fame as a seat of learning, invited Mr. Hutcheson, in 1729, to become their professor of philosophy. He accepted the honour; and, as the chair of moral philosophy was assigned to him, he had now full leisure, and every inducement to pursue with increasing assiduity his favorite study of human nature. His high reputation attracted many students from England and Ireland, and it was about this time probably, he had his degree of LL.D. conferred on him. The remainder of his valuable life was spent in a very honorable manner; being divided between his studies and the duties of his office, except what he allotted to friendship and society. Regarding the culture of the heart as the principal end of all moral instruction, he kept this constantly in view; and his uncommon vivacity of thought, and sensi

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