The Sun.
London, England, 1830-05-04 00:00:00

LEGAC I ES.

The legacies received during the last year have been as fol.
low:-10U1. late Mr. John Page; 45/. Mrs. Priscilla Knight, of
Kennington; and 25/. Mr. James Gairn, of Calton.
An open door is presented to your Society, and an extensive
field is already white unto the harvest. At this moment, appli-
cations for 80 schools, which would affbrd Scriptural instruction
to 3,400 scholars, are suspended, for want of funds ; while num-
bers of similar applications have been withheld, in consequence
of its being generally known that your Society is unable to comply
with those already made. The experience of 24 years demon-
strates the excellence of your system ; the voices of unnumbered
witnesses declare its efficiency ; the blessing of that GOD, who
has declared that his word shall not return unto him void, has
crowned your labours with unlooked-for success. " Arise, then,
and build the temple of the LORD." Bring ye all the gold into
the treasury, and "prove me now herewith, saith the Loan of
Howl's, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour
out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
After reading the report, Mr. Webster then read the statement
of accounts' and remarked upon one item—that a legacy had been
bequeathed by a Scottish gentleman to the " Society for esta-
blishing Protestant Schools in Ireland." Now there was no doubt
that the testator's intention was to benefit the Hibernian So-
ciety; but the technicalities of law interfered, and the Society,
after attempting to establish its claim, was foiled. The judicature
of Scotland decided that the bequest should go to the Protestant
Charter Schools.

Lord MOUNTSANDFORD moved the first resolution, and
bore testimony, as an eye-witness, to the beneficial effects of the
Hibernian Society. He had many of its schools on his estates,
in Ireland, and was rejoiced to hear that daily applications were
being made for new schools in that country. He mentioned
some interesting particulars respecting a deaf and dumb child
who had been educated by benevolent individuals there, and at..
tamed considerable proficiency, not merely in the ordinary ele.
ments of learning, but in the best of all knowledge—namely, the
knowledge of spiritual religion.

The Rev. G. V. SAMPSON, of Glemella, in Ireland, had en-
joyed many opportunities of witnessing this Society's operations,
having superintended some of its schools, and seen it from its in-
fancy to its present state of adolescence. He fully felt that the
chief thing they wanted for Ireland was scriptural education;
and he thought the system of this Society best suited to promote
it, because, in its arrangements, the masters were only remu-
nerated in just proportion to the actual work done, i e. the pro-
ficiency of the pupils. The Society was enabled to extend its be-
nefits to the most remote and desolate parts of Ireland, and had
succeeded where others had totally failed. He earnestly ex-
horted them not to relax their efforts, nor be seduced from the
straightforward path ; and only regretted that the suddenness of
his be,ng called on to address them had left him little more than
the ability to bear testimony to their efficiency, as an eye-witness
Rev. Mr. SMYLEY, Rector of Aghanloo, Ireland, addressed
the meeting in a speech of some length and considerable interest,
of which we regret our limits prohibit us giving more than a faint
outline. He drew a distinction between the mere capability of
reading and the actual possession of knowledge. The Irish popu-
lation were known to possess the former, but still to be destitute
of the latter. The schools in use there, until these few years
past, were, of the worst description,—familiarly known under
the name of hedge-schools, where nothing was inculcated but a
spirit of lawless adventure and profligacy. The books were a
wretched farrago of licentiousness and folly, and the masters of
them the most immoral of men. The population of Ireland was
estimated at seven and a half millions, and at least two millions