The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-11-17 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE IRISH SOCIETY.

Yegterday week, the annual meeting of the Liverpool
Auxiliary of this Society was held in the Amphitheatre,
which was densely filled in every part by a most respec-
table assemblage. On the platform were many of the
clergy, gentry, and merchants of the town, and not a few
strangers. The house presented a beautiful appearance.
The Rev. Mr. RAwsorr, of Seaforth, was called to the
chair, and at his request the Rev. H. Carpenter, the
secretary of the society, opened the proceedings with

prayer.
The CHAIRM \N, in entering upon the business of the
evening, expressed his regret that an individual had been
compelled to leave the town that day, who would have
occupied the chair that evening much more ably than he
(Mr. C.) could do. Those who heard him would equally
regret the absence of that gentleman, when he named
him to be Mr. Thomas ilorsfall. They had, moreover,
to deplore the demise of a dear and valued friend. who
had often occupied that chair, and who, in the decrees of
Providence, had been taken from them, to reap his re-
ward, after
.his labours on earth. The society they had
met to aid was a most interesting one. Its object was
religiously to instruct the Irish who could not speak
English, through the means of their own language. Ire-
land had at present strong claims upon their sympathies

in want of

provisions for the approaching Winter.

In as-

sisting thim in this way, all who heard him would no
doubt contribute were they called upon ; but the Govern-
ment bad taken the matter into their own hands, and

would better do the needful than they. But there was a
famine of another kind—a famine of the Word of God—
the Bread of Life—which the Government was not so d,s.
posed to supply. He trusted that one spirit would be

o accomplish
b., fu.

stirred up amongs
that they would 1
that night hear related
culiar. at the present time
the effects of superstition, were still adverse to receiv
Protestant doctrines, but a great portion of the popula-
tion were not so much attached to the priests as formerly,

The situation of Ireland was pe-
The Roman Catholics, from

and many of them spoke of the prohibition by them of the
circulation of the Bible, and also of the advantages of
this society, which the priests denounced. He trusted
there would be at this meeting a heartfelt desire to pro-
mote the glory of God in the salvation of the people of
Ireland. He called upon the secretary to read the
report. ( Cheers.)
The Itev. Mr. cArrerrs-erus--sTii-th-e-iiiiiilia
then read the report, which stated that there were 699
schools in active operations. The scholars, a majority of
whom were adults, amounted to 16,274 who had passed
inspection, besides many who were deterred by persecu-
tion from presenting themselves for examination. In
Liverpool one labourer was engaged in visiting poor Irish
families, teaching them the Scriptures through their own
tongue : 1780 families bad been visited, and the visitor
had been affectionately received. The report added that
the funds of the Parent Society were totally exhausted,
and it concluded by an urgent call for further assistance.
Appended to the report was a statement of the treasurer's
accounts, which showed that the Liverpool Auxiliary had
raised £414 during the year, and that deducting unavoid-
able expenses, they had remitted to the parent society the
sum of £356.
The Rev. Mr. WINNING, rector of King's-court, Ire-
land, and one of the deputation from that country, intro-
duced a resolution to the effect that the report be
adopted ; that the committee of last year be requested to
continue their services; and expressing an opinion that
the principles of the society were the best calculated for
the propagation of true religion amongst those who could
not understand or read the English version of the Bible.
In urging this resolution, he expressed his gratitude that
the society was known and appreciated in Liverpool,
which had liberally contributed towards it. One indivi-
dual had nobly given it a munificent donation of £lOOO.
He begged to return his grateful thanks to him and all
contributors, in the name of thousands of the poor Irish,
who had through their bounty become possessed of the
Word of God. He then entered into a detail of the be-
neficial operations of the society in many districts, but
more especially in that to which he had been attached for
a quarter of a century—namely, King's Court. The first
sehool there established was in autumn, 1803, and at that
time there were not above five copies of the Bible to be
found. Since then schools had extended from it in all
directions, even to the extreme north of the island. The
schools were attended chiefly by adults, taught by men
who spoke the Irish language and at them, relatives, young
and old, mingled together, learning to read the Word of
God. The operations of the society extended to the
mountains of Tyrone and Ulster, and in all they had
from 600 to 700 schools. He remarked upon the love
which these people bore to their native tongue, and re-
lated numerous affecting anecdotes of the conversion to
Protestantism of Roman Catholics even in remote dis-
tricts. Since 1823, 1749 Irish Scriptural schools had been
established throughout the country, taught by as many
teachers who had been Roman Catholics ; and wherever
an Irish Bible was seen, an English one was found near
it. After noticing the obstacles thrown in the way by the
priests, he detailed instances in which the poor converted
teachers bad been murdered in cold blood. He was con-
vinced that Romanism was not impregnable ; for it could
not withstand the Word of God ; and when he thought of
the triumphs of the society, he felt that if its resources
were strengthened, and its powers wielded aright, it
would yet sap the foundations of Romanism. The funds
were now exhausted, but he hoped he should be'enabled,
from the results of that meeting, to tell the poor teachers
that they had friends in England who sympathised with
them. He concluded by a powerful appeal.
The SECRETARY said the funds were so exhausted that
the committee had nothing to remit. The house in which
they now met also cost upwards of £4O.
A collection, amounting to £5O, was then made, during
which a hymn was sung.
The Rev. DANIEL FOLEY, one of the deputation, in
seconding the resolution, said—l stand before you to re-
iterate the statement I made when last I had the privilege
of addressing you, that the master evil of Ireland is the
Church of Rome, and that she is the evil of every land
where, in the mysterious providence of the Lord, she has
been allowed to trample the liberties and intellect of
man, and to corrupt the religion of Jesus Christ. I call
upon you to help us in our struggle against this evil.
England rules over one-sixth of the dry surface of our
globe, add one-fifth of its teeming population acknowledge
the sovereignty of Queen Victoria ; before England's
laws, her civilization, and her religion, Brahminism,
Xlahometanism, Paganism, superstition, and ignorance
hide themselves, from our meridian to our antipodes;
and, before her influence and her arms, dynasties and
tyrannies crumble to the dust; and what she is among
the nations, she has attained in spite of the angry curses
and the harmless bulls of Papal Rome. Will you, the
people of this great country which God has elevated for
his truth's sake among the nations, allow your rulers to
give back England's power to the Beast, and thus to
perpetuate the ignorance, superstition, and slavery in
your sister island, which it seems your high destiny in
God's hand to overturn, from the Pole to the Line ? We
in Ireland present a picture of the sad effects of the sys-
tern of the Church of Rome. Nowhere, except in Italy,
has its priesthood so much influence as in Ireland ; and
nowhere, except in the same country, are its physical
destitution and moral debasement paralleled : nor till
freedom of thought and independence of unshackled
mind are restored to the people by contact with the Word
of God, is there any rational hope that her physical or
moral debasement among the nations shall be removed.
It is cheering, however, to see a kind of Protestant spirit
lately springing up among the Roman Catholics of Ire-
land, and that, for the first time in modem days, the
dictates of the priesthood, through their well-paid ser-
vant, are resisted by many who profess allegiance to the
spiritual despotism of the Roman Church ; and as it has
generally happened in Protestant countries that the social
..•. • . . •

more destructive bondage in error of the immortal souls,

more way, _
may lead the and assist toward the important
cc ilArmiall atc. Sprintiiraca 1 nm

happy to inform you, that, while several in t
have joined themselves to Rome, in Ireland there is de
cidedly a move towards Protestantism. Six-and.twenty
priests are on the list of converts lately published by a
society in Dublin, and several of these are preaching the
Gospel in this country at present; the Irish University
will soon send several intelligent converts to enter the

his country

ministry of our church, and need not inform you she
has already sent very many such, within the last few years.
who, as wet