are fully convinced that their labourers' expenses, settled for now as they are by a running account and discharge, in the way of rent for house and garden, a con-acre potatoe ground, and grass for a cow-that their expenses greatly overbalance any profits that may arise from the produce of their people's labour; yet, under the present state of things in Ireland, they would discharge more than half their workmen, if called on to pay them in cash. We believe the same to be the case with the lower class of farmers the labour they make use of over that which the occupier and his children can give, is derived from either unmarried men, who are dieted in the house, and receive small wages quarterly, sufficient merely to supply clothing, or of married cotter tenants, who, in lieu of wages, receive a house and potatoe ground, the grass of a cow, and the run of pig and poultry. These people are made to work more, and are worse off than the labourers in the employment of gentlemen, and perhaps they are the most disaffected of any. Yet sure we are, that if money payments were called for, the farmers neither would or could give as much employment as they now do, nor would they allow such persons to have houses and potatoe gardens on the lands.

Besides we are not quite sure but that in the present state of ignorant improvidence in which the labouring classes are involved, whether it would be well for them to have the disposal of money. We know the tendency that the Irish have to resort for gossiping sake to market, fair, and patron. Had they money at their disposal, it is much to be feared that the sobriety which now per force characterises the Irish peasant, would be superseded by the drunkenness, and all the varied forms of vice and misery which present themselves in Dublin and in all our country towns.

Our own humble opinion is, that a provision for the impotent poor of Ireland would not serve to remedy the great evil of the land-namely, an overgrown unemployed population-unless at the same time employment in some way can be found for the full grown, and a religious education provided for the rising generation. As to the employment of the people in the cultivation of bogs and mountains, we cannot see how it can be advantageously done. Red flow bogs in no case will admit of profital le cultivation; and the applying the grassy hill sides of our mountain ranges to the location of paupers, and diverting them from their present purpose of raising young stock, would only be doing the very reverse of what the wise Scotch thought expedient, and only propagate pauperism by new offsetts, and increase the evil that all agree is so much to be avoided. By submitting mountain ranges to the process of corn and potatoe cultivation, we only increase the fearful liabilities to famine and disease to which, in wet seasons, the island is subject; and the ports of England being open to foreign produce, and the likelihood that the protecting corn laws will shortly be abolished, convince us that no grower of agricultural produce on such non-natural soils can stand competition in market with the man who sends in bis produce from the rich soils of Poland, Holstein, and the Ukraine.There is to be sure much to be done in Ireland in the way of draining wet soils, in the lowering the beds of lakes, and rivers, &c., but we hold that such improvements will never be economically executed in the way of national undertaking, but rather by companies or individuals; and we have come to the conclusion after all, that the best way for meeting the difficulties and evils of Ireland, would be by a well organised system of emigration carried on by funds raised from all species of Irish property, and by in future obviating the recurrence of such over production by means of preventative checks, such as a religious education, a system of poor

laws, the subletting act, and similar devices. The process of emigration is now going on to a large extent. We believe that 50,000 people will have left our shores before the first of June; six times that amount might annually be sent across the Atlantic to the advantage of Canada and the State, and to the disencumberment of Ireland. At present it is the Protestants that are removing, the most intelligent, the most industrious, the most loyal people of the land. Such is the demand on the part of the Roman Catholics for the farms these Protestants have left, that not only high and rack rents are promised, but even large sums are paid in hand to insure possession. We know of one instance in the County of Tipperary, where, on the removal of a Protestant to Canada, a Roman Catholic paid him down thirty-five guineas for his holding of ten acres, subject as it is to thirty shillings an acre, and the lease within two years of expiration. We have made the above cursory remarks on those parts of Messrs. Doyle and Ryan's pamphlets, which relate to political economy. In our next we shall continue the subject, and treat more largely of the attack made by Dr. Doyle on the revenues of the Established Church, and the defence of our church property by Mr. Ryan.

Authentic Report of the Speeches delivered at the Eighth Anniversary of the Continental Society, held in the Rotunda, on Tuesday, 19th April, 1831. Dublin: R. M. Tims, We are glad of the opportunity which the publication of the speeches of the Rev. Messrs. Gregg and Armstrong, &c. at the Continental Society Meeting, presents, of noticing and bearing our warmest testimony in favour of the devoted piety, and the strenuous exertions, of these two extraordinary young men, whom the providence of God seems to have raised up, in the day of Ireland's difficulty and peril, to advocate the cause of evangelical truth, when assailed by Popery, ridiculed by infidelity, or counteracted and neutralized by the withering latitudinarianism that now so much prevails amongst the educated classes of society. That such evils could be counteracted by common means-that they could, humanly speaking, be ́successfully opposed by common men-was not to be expected: no,-something of a Luther's fire, of a Knox's spirit, of a Latimer's devotedness, of a Bradford's stern enunciation of gospel truth, was required, and we believe now is to be found in these young men, who seem raised up for the great occasion; and we are not to be told that they are to be despised as mad visionaries and crackbrained enthusiasts, because the style of their impassioned orations is deficient in the correct gracefulness of gesture, or in the chaste prunings and selection of metaphor and illustration. We confess, that had we lived in the cool, unimpassioned, quiet days, that flowed on half-a-century ago, when correct mediocrity carried its lamp in a calm se rene, and rejoiced in its own dull quiet light--in those days when a Blair preached, and a Dunning spoke, and a Pratt and a Hayley indited rhymes, and called their doings into verse poetry-then, indeed, we might have retired, scared and astounded, from the broad, brave, burning orations of such men, who strike the lyre of oratory with such a wild and forcible crash, that the very strings seem to snap under the impulse. But în this our day of excitement, men are born for and kindle under the great occasion; and when every thing under heaven is enthusiastically done, must those who wish well to the great cause of religion remain cold? must those who fight against the infidel Antichrist, or the Romish man of sin, remain unimpassioned, or go out to the battle of the Lord against the mighty with out the ardour that anticipates success, and the fearlessness that belongs to

a faith unfeigned? These young men, then, are to be praised, and cherished, and loved, and prayed for; and we do confess, that old and cold as we reviewers may, according to our office, be considered-though, at first, ay, and at last, too, when we heard some startling extravagant things from Messrs. Gregg and Armstrong, we could not away with them-yet, when we listened on, when we gave our ears to the " thoughts that breathe and the words that burn," we were electrified, we were caught up and fastened in admiration as the amber catches the feather or the straw-the willing slaves of a resistless attraction.

We give, then, these young men God's speed in their great undertaking; in the name of the Lord, we wish them good luck; and may they be able, in these terrible and momentous times, when the prince of the power of the air is making his great, and perhaps last struggle-may they "manfully fight under Christ's banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and continue Christ's faithful soldiers and servants to their lives' end."

Perhaps it may be necessary, in explaining some parts of Mr. Arinstrong's speech, which we are about to advert to, to say, that he had been employed by the Reformation Society to join in a deputation, which, in the course of last year, went through England and Scotland, to hold meetings in those places, especially, where Jesuits had establishments, and where Romish priests were active. Therefore, from Bristol to Aberdeen, has Mr. Armstrong travelled, in this his antagonist mission against Popery; and we can assure our readers, from our own personal experience, that not only in England, but in Scotland, where Popery has attempted a revival, the pow erful exertions of Mr. A. have been fully appreciated, and eminently sue cessful; and not only were the endeavours of the deputation recognised and acceptable amongst the fashionable audiences of Bath and Cheltenham, but in cold, calculating Aberdeen, amongst its cautious merchants and its accurate metaphysicians, were Messrs. Gordon and Armstrong acceptable and honoured, when they thundered at the gates of the new Jesuit esta blishment that is raising its front near that northern town.

We confess, that while giving extracts from the speech of Mr. Armstrong at the Continental Society-and we wish we had space to pay the same attention to the equally admirable one of Mr. Gregg-we are aware, that no reporter, however accurate, can be expected to do sufficient justice to what depends so much on the "vis vivida"-the fire and energy of its de livery. The report, in this instance, is no more the real speech, than the statue is the man: the resemblance is true, and the air and tourneur and outline of countenance, but not the play of the feature, not the fire of the eye, not the scorn on the lip, not the indignation on the brow, not the elastic spring of the muscles; no- the Promethean fire is wanting; and those. who only read, have no right to judge, or be satisfied, until they hear and

see.

Mr. Armstrong began his speech, by reading an extract from the letter of the Rev. Henri Pyt, dated Paris, the 21st of last February, which gives information on a point which, to every anxious Protestant in Ireland, is full of interest-namely, the reported renunciation, by a large body of French priests, of Popery. The following are extracts :

"An association of priests has been formed, which call themselves French Catholics, and whose principal end appears to be, to oppose Jesuitism and Ultra Montanism. They celebrate the mass in French. They adopt no books as inspired, but those which are recognised as such in our churches-excepting these points, they are as much Catholics and Papists as others. I fear also, that much exaggeration exists respecting the progress of the Gospel, and the good disposition of the people to receive it. Circunstances

are doubtless incomparably more favourable now than they were six months ago; but the hearts of men are just as hostile to the Gospel. The scenes which signalised Paris during the last days of the carnival, have shown clearly the profound hatred of the people for what they call religion.

"I have spoken to you of the St. Simoniens; they continue to turn to their own profit the disgust of the people for Christianity. These St. Simoniens are animated with the deepest hatred against our adorable Saviour. They lose no occasion of blaspheming him, and their blasphemies are willingly received. The 9th of this month I went to hear them, accompanied by my wife. Their meeting was considerable. Four young men presided at it. One of them read a discourse on a point of political economy; and, though the subject was far removed from Christianity, the young orator found occasion to utter some blasphemies against the name of the Saviour. I thought that, as a Christian, and a minister of Christ, I could not be silent; and, as they consent to objections being made, I rose to ask to speak; leave was granted me, and, while my wife assisted me by her prayers, I spoke for the Lord. A lively discussion took place between us, and lasted nearly three quarters of an hour. I was able to judge of the impiety of the people who were there, by the murmurs of disapprobation which were raised in the auditory when I spoke to them of the love of God in the gift of his Son, and of the death of the adorable Saviour. I do not know what was the effect produced by this discussion. These unhappy people think themselves already conquerors; but the Gospel has triumphed over adversaries beside such as these."

Another agent writes thus:

"I was glad to wait a little to see whether I should receive intelligence which would contradict more or less what I had given to my honourable friend Mr. C. with respect to the new French Catholic Church. Up to the present time, I have heard nothing to falsify this intelligence; and I have every reason to believe it is authentic. I first learned it from letters which a minister of this new church wrote to his friends, who live in one of my parishes; where he had been, if not converted, at least enlightened by the Gospel. This information had been confirmed, at different times, by the most authentic newspapers, which had certainly no interest in exaggerating it; and finally, it has been confirmed again by a debate which took place a short time ago in the Chamber of Deputies, when the Minister des Cultes was summoned, for having approved the decrees of some prefects, who took away from the priests of this new sect the churches and the presbyteries which several communes had given to their disposal, and which belonged formerly to the Romish Church, All this proves to me more and more, that, far from having exaggerated, I was rather behind in the details which I had given on this subject to Mr. C. But, as I said before to this beloved brother, we must not form too high ideas of this new church. There are undoubtedly many well-disposed persons within it, at least amongst its ministers; but I fear that in the most part of its members, it is not the work of grace, but the spirit of independence, the love of novelty, and, above all, the hatred of Popery, which induces them to detach themselves from the Romish Church. However, it appears to me, that a great step is gained, and that the Gospel will more readily obtain admittance in a church which celebrates worship in the vulgar tongue, which desires to have fellowship with other Christian communions, and which fears no more than you, the thunders of the Vatican. Very different from the sect of the St. Simoniens, who have already nominated two popes, and who seek in vain theories a religion that may render them perfectly happy in time and in eternity. The new French Catholic Church recognizes no ultra-montain hierarchy, in order, as she asserts, to return to the purity of the primitive church, and to walk in its steps. What may we not hope from such a church, if the Lord raise up within it, pastors nourished by his word, and watered by his Spirit?

The news which I receive from various parts of France, is in general satisfactory also. The kingdom of God continues to make progress in Paris, Orleannois, in some churches of the south, and particularly in Dauphiny. In this last province are many faithful ministers, among others, one of my parishioners, named Charlier, who was con

secrated in London about two years ago, and who is mercifully blessed among the Protestants inhabiting part of the department of La Drôme. It is true that there, as well as here, and wherever the Lord carries on his work, the Gospel encounters much opposition from rationalist pastors and self-righteous men ; but their influence is no longer as pernicious as formerly, and every thing gives hope that it will continue to decline, and that a new evangelical era is beginning for the Protestant Church in this kingdom. Circumstances, in general, are favourable to them; a religious movement is manifest within them; the spirit of life appears to re-animate them; it already acts with greater or less force upon a number of their pastors who preach the unsearchable riches of Christ; but in no place do we see so many doors open as in this part of France, especially among the Roman Catholics,"

Mr. A. having read the document at full, and then declared his intention of stating his reasons why he thought it necessary to attempt the conversion of Roman Catholics, and baving, as a preliminary, read to the meeting Pope Pius's Creed, he commented largely and fully on it, and showed that, 1st It asserts the insufficiency of the written word of God. 2d. The insufficiency of the righteousness of him who is the living word, of whom the written word testifies. 3d. It corrupts the worship of the one living and true God. Mr. Armstrong proved the first point by showing how the Romish priests asserted the co-equality of tradition, and yet he defied them to show that these traditions were of God. He challenged them to produce any such unwritten tradition. He also showed that though they boasted of their comments on Scripture, and will not give the people these Scriptures without them, yet in fact there were no authorised or acknowledged comments.

"No, says he, the Church of Rome has no comments-where are they?-they do not exist; the comments which circulated longest and most widely were those produced by the Doctors of Rheims and Douay. They performed their work of deluding, deceiving, demoralizing, and destroying the Roman Catholics of the empire for some 200 years, until Protestant criticism exposed, and Protestant indignation denounced, them; then, and not till then, did the political prudence of a Romish archbishop suppress them, after having previously permitted to them his solemn sanction—then and not till then did a Roman Catholic barrister, even Mr. O'Connell, proclaim them nefarious and abominable, and let loose against them a tempest of eloquence which seemed like the outbursting of honest and healthy indignation. He declared if they were not suppressed; he would cease to hold any connexion with the Church of Rome-Oh, this fact has a painful interest. These comments received the sanction of a Roman Catholic prelate→ the then Popish archbishop of Dublin. They were afterwards suppressed by his authority, confessedly because the political interests of that Church and body could not be advanced, if such comments were allowed to exist in a Protestant empire uncontradicted · and disavowed, as they tended to give to Protestants too accurate a knowledge of the awful character of Roman Catholic doctrines and of Roman Catholic principles. But the Church of Rome has no authenticated comments on the Scripture; for Dr. Doyle, in his evidence before the parliamentary committee, on his oath asserted, that the notes and comments given on the Roman Catholic Bible were of no authority whatsoever.— We are again told, that we are not to interpret the Scripture otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers,' but there is no such thing. I have frequently proved that there is no such thing as this unanimous consent. The Fathers themselves do not agree as to the interpretation of the 6th chapter of John's Gospel, as it regards the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and this is even admitted by the confession of the Fathers of the Council of Trent; nor do they agree in their explanation of the next'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church.' Bellarmine confesses the various interpretations of the Fathers on the 3d chapter of 1st Corinthians, whence