The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-20 00:00:00

LONDON HIBELINN SOCIETY

Extracts front the Thirteenth Report of the abok•e SOcOir''
SCHOOLS AND SCHOLARS.--AS In the previous yeal7; the
schools of your society have teen operating in every CoUtity in
Ireland; the total number of day; Sunday, and adult eStablish-
ments, have amounted to one thousand nine hundred anilsixty-
two, and the scholars to one hundred and fifteen thousand three
hundred and twenty-three ; being, as compared with 1835, an
augmentation of seventeen schools, and eight hundred and
thirty-seven pupils : but the increase falls far short of that an-
nounced in the last report, and chiefly arising from a cause to
which your committee must presently request your particular
attention ; yet, small as the addition is, they are happy in being
able to state that it has occurred almost entirely in the south
and west of Ireland, where such a system of education as that
provided by your society is specially needed; while in the pre-
sent state of Irish education, they feel that it is well to have it
in their power to say, that the institution has snore than stood its
ground. The day schools for the year just closed, are one thou-
sand and eleven, containing seventy-seven thousand seven hun-
dred and sixty-two scholars ; of whom forty-eight thousand one
hundred and sixty were prote'stants, and twenty-nine thousand
six hundred and two Roman catholics. The Sunday schools, as
last year, have amounted to five hundred and thirty-six, and the
pupils to twenty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty; of which
number seventeen thousand six hundred and thirty-six also at-
tended the day schools: and the adult schools are four hundred
and seven, with seven thousand three hundred and thirty-four
scholars ; a considerable portion of which, as also of the Sun-
day pupils, being of the Roman catholic persuasion. There
have also been eight exclusively Irish schools for adults, with
two hundred and sixteen scholars, and three hundred and sixty-
one children, forming the Irish classes in the day schools.
While they are cheered by the knowledge of an actual increase
of schools and scholars upon the year, and that, notwithstanding
the increased violence of the enemies of bible instruction, the
number of Roman catholics in your schools very nearly equals
the preceding year, and does not fall much short of forty thousand.
LOCAL PATRONAGE.-554 of your day schools have been un-
' der the immediate superintendence of clergymen of the Estab-
lished Church; 68 under the care of ministers of other denomi-
nations; 362 with noblemen, ladies, and gentlemen; 27 were
without local patrons or visitors.—Total, 1,011.
CIRCULATION OF THE HOLY SCRTPTCRES.---The object of
the institution. being "to establish schools and circulate the
Holy Scriptures in Ireland," your committee feel that neither
could be carried on with an equal promise of success irrespective
of the other. The operations of the school would indeed be
paralyzed, if not rendered danyesnus, without the Bible as a
foundation upon which to raise the superstructure of useful and
safe knowledge; such knowledge as will be best calculated to
render the recipient of it happy in himself, and a useful member
of the community; while in such a country as Ireland the cir-
culation of the Sacred Volume would be limited indeed without
the school as a centre from whence the glorious light of Divine
Truth may break forth in all directions to cheer the surround-
ing wilderness. During the last year the committee of that
society have granted to this Institution no less than 4,000
Bibles, and 31,000 Testaments. The actual distribution in
Ireland, from the Ist of March, 1835, to the 29th of February,
1836, is as follows:—English Bibles 3,111, English Testaments
22,969, Irish Bibles 6, Irish Testaments 7—Total 26,093—being
an increase on the preceding year of five thousand, four hun-
dred and seventeen Bibles amid Testa ;gents, and forming a
total of three hundred and sixty-nine thousand, eight hundred
and sixty-eight copies of the Book of God distributed by the
society, since its formation in 1806.