people. The bonds which have fettered many cannot, indeed, be expected to be broken in a day; but my hope is, that in due season the influence of Christian principle will be more prevalent in this land, and that the attachment of many to shadowy forms may be diminished. But this will not, I apprehend, be effected through any violent opposition, even to the prejudices of the people; but by the silent influence of the Spirit of Truth, its operation on the minds of the people, and the instrumentality of Scriptural instruction to the younger part of the community, and in many instances, also, among other classes.

"The way has not, I think, appeared open for me to go northward, either to Tuam or Roscommon. I expect to be at Clonmell on the 12th of next mo., Waterford 21st, and Mountmellick 28th."

"Dublin, 4th mo. 18th, 1823.

"As we rode from Mountmellick to Abbeyleix, my attention was so arrested by one particular cottage on the bog-lands that we stopped to go into it. The bog sunk under our feet as we trod along to the hut; we had to stoop to enter, and still in the cabin the ground was nearly as damp and yielding. Many small openings in the roof must have admitted both rain and sun, and increased the constant dampness of this miserable spot. A poor young mother, with three children beside her, was sitting, bent with sickness, after a confinement of eight weeks, from which she was not recovered. This cabin was the abode of eight human beings, an aged father, mother, sister, and the family I have mentioned. It was a grief to see them thus herded in a place which was

not, indeed, a fit shelter for half the number of cattle.

'We are informed to-day, by letter, that the young ladies of Portarlington who have been accustomed only to the ample abodes of their relations and friends, are greatly astonished to find their fellow-creatures, whom they have now begun to visit, in a state so wretched,-worse fed and lodged than their own dogs and horses. Ah! let this system of visiting the poor, of visiting them all, even the very lowest, be brought fully into action, and it will not be possible for so much misery to be continued! Let us be thankful to Him who has opened the way for such an engagement in this land! let nothing divert our purpose from the object with which we set out,-an arrangement for bringing the state of the poor into view by visiting them in their own dwellings, and by kind advice and friendly aid to enable them to become the agents of their own improvement."

"Limerick, 3rd mo. 16th.

"Praise and adoration be to Thee! O Thou most mighty and most merciful! Thy goodness has been near, to support through some of the darkest and most trying seasons of my life, and Thou hast caused Thy light to enlighten the darkness, and Thy love to support in the closest trials. Let it never be forgotten that when all around appeared only to present scenes of dismay, my spirit was still favoured to feel Thy consoling presence near, and the language perceptibly sounded to the spiritual ear, 'Be not dismayed, I am the Lord.' This assurance has been my hope, and my shield, and everything I have seen among rich or poor com

bines to confirm the conviction that it is only in the prevalence of His reign that the earth can rejoice, and that every degree of departure from Him tends to desolation and unhappiness. Much is due from those who have been favoured to know the truth, and to feel that the Lord is good. Oḥ! that these may be true to their principles, and diligent in promoting the welfare of mankind, by any means permitted them.

"Human imperfection cleaves to almost everything we see in the world, in engagements professedly benevolent as well as in other concerns, and it is highly needful that we attend to the beneficent injunction of the merciful Redeemer, and not tear away with unauthorized hand the tares out of the ground, lest in so doing we pull up the wheat also; yet purity of motive and of aim in all that we do is greatly to be longed for, and especially as it regards our own well-being. He who searcheth the heart can only accept that which is done unto Him, and in His love.

"Children want guiding in some degree even in searching the Scriptures; and I have felt satisfied to present subjects of importance before them, and afterwards, by either asking the questions in regular succession or promiscuously, to observe how far they appear capable of understanding and applying what they have learned.

I do not know a more interesting engagement than that of thus seeking to draw the susceptible minds of the dear children to the most interesting of all subjects, and I do earnestly desire and hope that we shall not, in our pursuit of the general education of the poor, forget that the great object of education is to direct the mind to those

principles of general Christianity which are unfolded in the Scriptures, and the reception of which, through the Divine influence, will make the world wise and happy, beyond all human knowledge, or human power.

"There is much in this land to call forth the feeling of deep interest and concern, not for the poor alone, but for other classes of society who have experienced in the last few years a visitation which has not been without its effects in shaking the confidence of the people in those temporal gratifications, which have been found utterly incapable of conveying true enjoyment. The immortal soul thirsts for something corresponding with its own nature, and all material accommodations that perish with the using, if relied on for the support of happiness, even in the present life, yield only disappointment. Oh! that Christians may be more and more willing to yield themselves to the influence of that love which longs for the happiness of man, and would willingly yield to required duty, with whatever sacrifice it may be accompanied, if only they be instrumental in diminishing the sufferings of others, or in advancing their happiness!

"At present there are numbers, beyond what can easily be estimated, who are supporting the very lowest state of existence by means so precarious that it would be difficult to conceive how life is maintained from day to day, were it not a wellknown fact that the peasantry of Ireland will not suffer a poor neighbour, or even a stranger, to starve, as long as they have even a single meal of potatoes wherewith to feed themselves. There is a generous, grateful, and affectionate feeling in

this people, an intelligence and susceptibility of improvement, that makes one long to see them placed in more favourable circumstances; yet I am far from believing that outward circumstances alone, though ever so favourable for the removal of present suffering, would be all that they want to make them happy. Evils of another kind would be substituted for those of misery and want, if the cultivation of good principles and habits did not accompany a change of outward circumstances. To those who desire the real welfare of their fellowcreatures it would afford but a melancholy prospect to have the poison of whiskey substituted for the sorrows of want.

"It appears very evident that in the south and west of Ireland there is quite as strong a call for the labours of a society for raising human beings into a state to provide themselves with the accommodations of civilized life as there can be in Africa, or the wilds of America; and in some respects the claim may be regarded as stronger, since there is here no open country in which the people may either gain their living by hunting, or cultivating the land before them. The land is occupied by the people who would gladly work, on even the lowest terms on which life could be supported, and who, having their application for employment rejected, are on the verge of despair. It is, indeed, wonderful, after what they have of late been suffering from year to year, that hope has lived so long. There are two sources of amelioration that appear to me to be greatly wanted at the present moment:-the one is, a comprehensive arrangement for occupying the peasantry of these districts, in their present situation, with