The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-03-20 00:00:00

IRISH CHURCH MISSION.

The disendowed and dismstablished Irish Protestant
Church made appeals at the beginning of this week,
through its missions. for the sympathy and elegem of
English Protestants. Sermons were preached at St. Mary 's
Church on Sunday, the depetation being the Ten. Arch-
-4,...,10 Townsend, cannon of St. Patrick's, Du
I bit Mimslay evening a paths. meeting was attencle4 by
a large number, the majority being ladies. The Rector,
Rev. 1. 4:maSes presided, seep wtest Isy Major Pepper,
Rev. J. Miller, Rev. T. A. FaMeer, and Yen. Archdeacon
Townsend.
The emu egos reserved his remarks till the conclusion
of the meeting ant cutlet up Major !Pepper to read the
fitsaneial report, and give his testimony to the Soriety.
• Major PIiPPER read a list of subacriptions, he., showing
that for the year k 2 It.. 64 , hest been collerted and
'tansiesl over to the society. The Major continue that he
had gone over the mission field with one of the
missionaries, and tit,' aisle secretary of the society, Dr.
Macarthy, whin gave him every facility for seeing the
work. The Doctor had been in the Romish church, but
having attended one of the controversial meetings, for the
purpose of defending the Roman Catholic doctrines, he
was unable to remain any longer in that (+ouch. The
society has ahout 12 Homes, and the speaker has visited
the Bird's Nest, and the Eliot Home, where there are
about 70 girls, and 00 or 711 boys ; he bad visited every
dormitory, and everything gave him great satisfaction;
evei y body appeared to Ise well dressed, and well taught in
the Scripture.; in fact, he was thoroughly astonished
;at
the excellence of the children's answers. The misoismanea
had brought these children one by one, having askesl the
parents to let them come to the homes. Sometimes there
was not stitticent aceetumedation, and they were obliged
to semi the children away, lie himself had witnessed
that in the Semi:swims there was not noon for a bed, and
the children were sometimes mat out in lodgings for the
night ; but they eanie to the homes every day sail were
taught and fol. Nothing could be inure satisfactory than
what he saw, the homes are visited by laslims of addle
and anions them by the Isely of Sir Arthur Guinness,
an 4 on one occassion Me children were assembled, out or
12 homes, in the iniooinn chapel, and sang beautiful
hymns hi mist perfect time and tune, many at the
hymns being Moody and Sankeys ; ant the slay after, Sir
; Arthur Guinness and his hasty gave their annual treat in
an immense large hall. The Roman Catholics will seine to
' hear the Gospel when they can, and they came by their
I thousands to hear Mr. 1110 sly. In the same building,
'7OO or SIC) children were assembled for their treat; all
kinds of good things were provided by Lady Guinness,
ant military hands played in the large Concert Hall. where
perhaet: 2,000 or :1,000 Christian la-lies and gentlemen
assembled. The children were dressed in different colours
aceording to their schools, each school being alike, and
they attracted great admiration from all the stile of
Dublin. Perhaps the work among children is the
most hopeful part, for the adult, can only with difficulty
get to hear the gospel. They send their children, not for
the clothes or what they eat, hut because they believe it
is the best that can be done for them. Close to St.
Patrick's eatheslnal, towards which Sir Arthur Gninness
hail given X 120,000 to restore it, is one of the homes of
the mission, which he had inspected. A few years ago it
seas at the peril of anyone's life to go into that Wasting,
for when the Reiman Catholics found what the hOillit was
for they organised great bodiea of the rough men of
Deblin, coal porters, -and others, awl paving stones and
Isrickhats were the arguments used when the Itemish
priests could not meet the missionaries of the Irish
church Missionary Society on the platform. There are
no paving stones and brickbats used flOw, it lit a fair Held
ausl no favour, ansl the consequence is that them homes
are crowded with children. Christian people here if they
saw these homes would not bear that any should be
turned from such a happy career. His own oyinpathy• had
been enlisted ou behalf of this week, and if they had seen
what he slid their sympathy would have been aroused on
behalf of the work.
The AIWIIDEACOX said the history of Protestantism in
Ireland was a very oast one; it was an English king,
Henry 11., and the only Engliohman that ever eat in the
Papal chair, Adrian, who forced Popery on Imland.
that slay even in Britain there was a debate about the in-
trisi,sn of Rsenish wolves., anal a Welsh said wrote a poem
foil of ,sost soun•l doctrine, which was tussled in the
present slay, and he hopml they, the ministers of the
present dais would keep their sheep from Romish wolves.
When the l'rotestant Church was iambic:al at the Refor-
mation unfortunately they made the fatal mistake of
sending the Bible and the religion in the Saxon tongue,
the tongue of the intrusler, and when Queen Elizabeth
wishml to found the Dublin university they told her the
Irish tongue was like the harking ifs slog, and they strung
together a lot of words, meaning " A fat ox ate a fresh
es's" and she said "II is true' it is a barbarous language,
we will have no more of It." But the Irish is a grand sad
language, a branch of the Sanscrits, and it will compare
with the Greek—in fact, some of them think that Adam
and Eve spoke Irish in the garden ef Eien. The Arch-
Season then traced the history of Protsetant effort from
the founding of the old Irish !society in 15115. Missionaries
had :ince gone out with their lives in their hands to preach
and teach in the Irish language ; he himself, after passing
through es dlege, went out as a missionary to a part where
a sent zaniest O'Connor, but whom the country people
called Shamus Dawn, read the Bible to the people
and sliest, leaving his wish that the Bible should lie there
to he wearied from. The first sermon he preached was
Irani (Tenneco's wontlerful book, and there it lies in the
schoolroom now. The priest was sent down to light up
the fires awl extinguish Protestantism, but in a week the
priest bee:ante a l'rotestant and read his recantation in
Mastic. There were inen.ssi war near, and the coastguard
soul tmliee and senile sailors were drawn up, the
way from do: house to the ehurch was lines', and the priest
s.ss the artimos of pope Pius, and reiected them, then he
read the Nieene•ereed, and accepted it. In tlissse slays he
(the A reluleacon) hel lung Irish miles to go,atul preach three
0111., it slay ; lout In, was able and strong, and he attri-
buted his health and strength now to being a water
•lrinker. Ile was titseest to another part, the first school-
Mere was bona down, they hail some hard and difficult
work there, iind some sliactimilse in the papers with the
. priests. The speaker had Nails(' very warm threats that
lie wet to go, Anil two bullets were Breit into the lashoom
told passsl within stx inches of his wife's head. 'rhey
picked up the wadding, and it was part of the Tablet
newspaper, containing the charge of the Cardinal Wise.
salt. respecting Lord Islin Russell's; letter ma the Papel
aggression. The 'rim:mists expected that the missionaries
would lsesls iven away; but they ntayed 12 years afterwards,
and Ida wife said that if ohe died Hrst he was to take her
hack to that parish, and bury her aniong the eonverto
whom she Isseed so well, aud with whom she wished to
rest until the resurrection mom. A monk hi that part
Inind the Bible, exelaiming " Luther's cursed hook !"
That monk was tried at eastleler for burning God's Holy
Word; there was great excitement in court, and the
speaker hail to give his evidence, the monk was convicted.
and the speaker prem•liest in the church that night, and
was never iusulted in that place. But an enthusiastic
Irish beggar woman cried out to him—" May every hair of
yssur Mad he a mould ensile to light you to glory !" In
s'thee places the missionaries awl Scripture readers were
otose-I, for, as one of Owns said—" Rome uses her old
weapons in controversy: failing to make an impression on
the brain, she ,tried to make it on the skull." (Laughter.)
He hal to preach in Irish, and the hymn was sung in
Irish, unit many a time the tears had poured down the
cheeks of the converts to hear the hymn in their own
loved tongue. He was afterwards sent to Sligo, and he
would have liked to move his church down there on
wheels, for he hall no such beautiful church as the mission
church in the wilds of Mayo. John Sheridan, the Scrip-
ture reader, went with him, and a church was built, The
monastery near was the fountain of great hostility to him,
stones were thrown at them, and an Irisloilan cries! out
to Sheridan, who was 'arm ing the Bible, "That is a bad
loaf you are carrying, Sheridan." Ile answers-I "It isn't
a bil,l Wail at all, Pehly • this is the load that frightens
the priest." This plate he was especially anxious about,
fir the society hat leen thinking of reducing the staff of
the miesirsti thens and it was indeed an Ibilxiells time, for
Cardinal Ctills•n had been left X 120.000 by Miss O'Brien,
ou purpose to put shown the Protestantism], and 421,1100
especially to try and empty the homes' about which Major
Pepper hail shopen. But a lady came forward and
guaranteml to pay the esia•nses of the mission for a year.
(Applausse.) A young Irish lad trained in the schools there
had reflected enough •y to go to Trinity College ; he
got in, passed with credit, got his sizarahip, and when the
porter same round and asked him "Will you have roast
beef or builesi mutton r' it seemed to make up for all his
troubles. (Laughter.) That young man had gone over to
England, and now hail a living in the diocese of Norwich.
But Um Archdeacon blamed him for not going back to
Ireland, for he had a brougue that as they say in Ireland—
" You coulsl cut with a knife," and was thrown away on a
English congmgation. There are Rh men of tlie fruits of
the Irish Church 3lission Society who are now clergymen
in the United Church of England and Ireland. In Dublin
they have many institutions carrying tau the Lsod's
work, and he should be glad for those pre:ent to
see the annual examination in April. Then there
are missions to tailors, missions to soldiers, and
niiosions to cabmen, and others. The Romanists
many of them have the greatest sympathy with the Irish
church since its diaestablisliment, for they thought at Sent
that, as they said, the church was like an old barrel held
together by hoops, (Acta of Parliament); hut when it
survived and flourished after the disestablishment, they
were surprised and astonishes], and had now the greatest
respect for it. The boys and girls of Ireland that they had
estimated generally emigrated, for when they bad got
learning, they would not stay at home to slit' pstatoes and
s-sit seaweesl, ansl carry it on their hacks like donkeys.
when they could do better abrossL Their influence ex-
tsinietl even to New York, and at the worst place, the
Five Points,"which are like the Seven Dials, where they
bast established the Five Points House of Industry, and
were carrying MI a good work among the degraded
population of New York. The seed sown in team in
Ireland is bringing forth fruit in America, and it is even
spreading down to Mexico. He read a letter from an
Irish convert who had emigrated to America, and con-
tinued that Ireland is a country that has claims upon
English Christians ; TPA*. it is estahlished ; but the Church
Missions got snore before the disestablishment than after.
They het to raise money to keep up their parochial
organisation, ant they raised it, and X 1,400.000 kept all
their Protestant orphans from going into the workhouses,
because they were not fit places, as they would be under
the influenee of Sisters of Mercy, whom they had found
"Sisters of Mischief." Speaking about Home Rule, the
Archdeacon said it woul•I be Rome Rule, and Irish
Protestants preferred what was said Isy enthusiastic
brethren iu the North —" An Orange lsird with purple
wings, Esiglish laws and Protestant Kings." He hoped
that Isugland will never throw her power and influence to
keep up the tottering power of the Pope. If they were
to be placed under Home Rule they would have to fight
out a hard battle, Protestant against Rotnan Catholic,
though he had no doubt which Bide would succeed in the
end. A great burden is thrown upon Irish Protestants
and English Protestanta most help them. The Arch-
deacon concluded a long alai eloquent address by reciting
some poetry mimeses the emigrants' yearning for the old
country, and some expressive, as he said, "of my earnest
hope"—

"To raise my aged head and sec,
Thy hills, thy dales, thy valleys free."
Applause.)
The CHAIRMAN said we are all persuaded that it is our
urgent duty to preach the Gospel to the heathen, but we
seem to have forgotten how urgent is our duty to preach
the gospel to Roman Catholics. Nothing struck him
more, when he was on the Continent than the neglect of
Protestants to preach the gospel to Roman Catholics.
There is an aspect of religiousness spread over flotilla
I attache countries ; hut there are two great classes of
error. There is one Class who picture to themselves a God
wha is very terrible, by His holiness to sinners, and that
class havems little as possible to do with that God. There
is another class who picture to themselves a God who is
not terrible to sinners, anal they worship the creature of
their own imagination. Those who in theory adopt an
easy religion can afford to be very religious, but those who
adopt a difficult religion try to keep themselves in peace
by having the smallest possible aiuount of religion. And
so it comes to pass that while the Christian Protestant
spends very little time over his religion, and so beconies
the muff of the Roman Catholic, so the equally Christless
Roman Catholic spends a great deal of time in his con-
fessional. Let us not be blended by the aspect of
religiousness spread over Roman Catholic countries
beneath that there is a vast mess of fear-
ful darkness aml ignorance, of poverty and crime.
He did not think we should get Protestants to do whet
they can for the Lord Jesus Christ in Roman Catholic
,sountries, until we got Protestanta to study more
thoroughly the system of the Church of Rome, to learn
that it is one dense dark cloud of superstition interposed
between the perishing sinner and the Saviour whom God
has provided. We all admit that those who die without
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ past into an unholy