HYMNS Suitable for Irish Church Missions (16th January) Prayer Meetings. I. REVIVE Thy Work, O Lord, Thy mighty arm make bare; Speak with the voice that wakes the dead, And make Thy people hear. Revive Thy work, O Lord, Disturb this sleep of death; By Thine almighty breath. Revive Thy work, O Lord, Create soul-thirst for Thee; And hungering for the bread of life, Revive Thy work, O Lord, Exalt Thy precious name; And, by the Holy Ghost, our love Revive Thy work, O Lord, And give refreshing showers II. Father, for Thy promised blessing Which can come from Thee alone. Prayer ascendeth to Thee ever, Answer! Father, answer prayer; Wake Thy slumbering children, wake them, Give reviving, give refreshing, Let no hamlet be forgotten, Let Thy showers on all descend; An Institution for the Maintenance and Scriptural Education of One Hundred Orphans FIFTY GIRLS AT CLIFDEN, FIFTY BOYS AT BALLYCONREE, IN THE Co. GALWAY. The Connemara Orphans' Nursery is open to entire Orphans from all parts of Ireland, and above one hundred boys and girls are now in this Home, under the training of very efficient masters and mistresses. Above four hundred have passed through it, some of whom have died in the true faith of the gospel, while many are living in accordance with the principles they have been taught; and fulfilling their duties as schoolmistresses, servants, sailors, and soldiers, and mechanics, giving testimony by their conduct to the blessing of God upon this Institution. It has been supported for twenty-four years by means of small collections and the subscriptions of a few liberal friends, and it has proved an important and efficient channel of charity to Ireland, by training so many of the rising generation in Scriptural principles and conduct. Of the boys who have passed through the Nursery we find at the present time, 16 in service, 14 in the army, 20 in the navy and merchant service, and many prosperous settlers in foreign lands, while 11 were called from the home on earth into the presence of their Lord. Of the girls, 52 are in service, 18 are married, 17 have emigrated, while 11 have been trained for an early admission into the Eternal Home. Many of these dear children have given a blessed testimony of the power of the Word of God to afford comfort in a dying hour. To maintain this establishment, and supply so large a number of children not only with food and clothing, but also with useful training, a large sum is annually required. Contributions will be thankfully received by the Secretary, Mrs. Dallas, No. 1, Park Villas, Oxford; also by W. Pasley, Esq., 11, Buckingham Street, Adelphi, London. In Ireland contributions will be received:-in Dublin by Miss Marrable, 49, Waterloo Road; and by Miss Warren, 64, Wellington Road; and at the Irish Church Missions Office, 12, D'Olier Street; and in Connemara by Rev. H. D'Arcy, the Rectory, Clifden, Co. Galway. Testimony of the Lord Bishop of Tuam : I have had the great pleasure of visiting these admirably conducted Orphanages; and cannot express fully how I appreciate, not only the order, cleanliness, and arrangements, but above all the tone and spirit which pervades the whole, and which I trust may, by God's blessing, long exercise a salutary influence over these happy orphans. CHARLES A. TUAM. The advance in the tone and character of these schools is beyond our most sanguine hopes; truly we may say the Lord has blessed us hitherto, to Him be all the glory; His blessing has been manifested in the efficiency of the teachers, and the good training of the children- and we can in thankfulness say that the Word of God has in many cases entered into their hearts, and is bringing forth much fruit. Money is still required, and however small the sum, those who put their hands to the work may feel that their labour is not in vain. Beside the individual blessing to the poor orphan children, the Connemara Orphans' Nursery forms an important element in the progress of the whole nation in civilization and spiritual knowledge. The Banner of the Truth in Ireland. APRIL 1, 1874. . HOW BEST TO DEAL WITH ROMAN CATHOLICS. HE following paper, read by the Rev. H. C. Cory before a Meeting of Divinity Students in Dublin, convened by the Rev. Canon Daunt, is published in the BANNER, with that gentleman's permission, and will be valued as a vindication of the controversy, and as containing many practical suggestions for the Missionary work, based upon the experience of many years : -- The subject on which I have been asked to offer a few suggestions this evening, is one which I feel to be very important, and one which is, I may perhaps be permitted to add, very dear to my own heart, and on which I have had some experience, during many years of pleasant labour in this country. The subject, you are aware, is this:" How best to deal with Roman Catholics, with a view to their conversion." I have often felt that there is an antecedent difficulty to be overcome in the very attempt to convert Roman Catholics, arising from the readiness, in many minds, to regard the attempt as all but hopeless; though the object is admitted to be most desirable. There are numbers of excellent men who seem hardly to believe in the conversion of an adult Roman Catholic at all; and who, when a case is reported, appear at once to doubt its genuineness, and by their very distrust do more than they know to discourage the workers in this field, and to cause the very failure which they deplore. I should never have been asked to read this paper at this meeting to-night, if those who conduct it did not feel that the conversion of Roman Catholics was both desirable and attainable. But we do well to bear in mind that to commence an enterprise without expecting success, or to be discouraged by a few disappoint ments, is really most dishonouring to God. His rule always is, According to your faith, be it unto you." And I, for one, firmly believe that if we had all of us more faith in this matter, we should have far more success; and we need to begin with the recognition of this duty, before we consider the best means to be employed. Very similar to this remark is one on which I need not dwell, viz., the importance of earnest prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Roman Catholics, without which our faith will be but a name, and our efforts will certainly be fruitless. I would only here quote for your encouragement the names of two honoured servants of God, both remarkable for their successful labours amongst Roman Catholics, and both eminent as men of prayer. One, the late beloved Alexander Dallas; and the other his friend, who survives him, Hyacinth D'Arcy, of Connemara, and who, like our respected chairman, is now Canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral. These two men were for years engaged in prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit on the Roman Catholics of Ireland; neither at that time knowing the other, and neither, at first, blessed with much apparent answer to their petitions. They had, however, faith to persevere. They met in the providence of God. They commenced together a mission work, characterized eminently by zeal and love, and it has proved one of the most successful enterprises of modern times; by which—it is not too much to say— thousands have been brought to the knowledge of the truth. Taking, therefore, for granted, the importance of faith and prayer, I shall, for the remainder of this paper, offer a few brief and practical suggestions on the best method of dealing with Roman Catholics, with a view to their conversion. It must be obvious to any reflecting mind, that different persons need to be approached in different ways, if we would deal with them successfully. Our blessed Lord and his apostles always adapted their discourses to the particular persons whom they addressed; and to trace out the way in which they did this, is always a most instructive study for any reader of the New Testament. This thought furnishes the key to all I would venture to bring before you this evening. We all know, that in order to influence the mind of another, we must first place ourselves in his position, and endeavour to view the matter under discussion from his stand-point. This is true with regard to every subject; but is peculiarly true in matters of religion. How beautifully, for example, this is illustrated by our blessed Lord, in his dealing with the lawyer, in the tenth of St. Luke, or with the rich young man in the nineteenth of St. Matthew, you all remember. St. Paul is again an eminent instance of it when at Athens. He stood on common ground, even with the Athenian idolaters; taking for his text their altar to the unknown god, and enforcing his argument by quotations from their own poets. Let us approach Roman Catholics in the same way. Let us take the trouble to study their habits of religious thought, and adapt our teaching to their state of mind. Unhappily, this has got to be called by the ill-sounding name of controversy. If we could call it sympathy, it would be less objected to, and less misunderstood; and there is no higher form of sympathy than the feeling which makes us enter into the views and thoughts, and even the very errors, of our fellow-men, in order that we may benefit them, and lead them to the truth. Many earnest people speak to Roman Catholics just as if they were speaking to Protestants, and are not aware that almost all the terms they employ are accepted by those to whom they speak in a totally different sense from that in which they use them. Hence, it is no wonder that no result is obtained. It is a matter of universal experience that Roman Catholics will assent to almost everything a Protestant says, so long as he speaks only of the general truths of the gospel. He will take most of the terms employed in his own sense, and hold all his errors just the same, without ever finding out the contradiction, unless it is pointed out for him. Thus, "faith," "justified," "good works," and many other terms constantly used, convey ideas widely different to the Protestant and the Roman Catholic. By "justified," we mean "accounted righteous before God;" they mean "made just." With us, "faith" signifies "trust in the person of Christ;" they understand by the same word, "Assent to all that is taught by the church. "Good works," are "actions pleasing to God and conformable to his law," according to the Protestant; but with the Romanist they mean penitential and other exercises-as fasting, prayers, and other outward observances enjoined by the priest. Thus every term you employ requires, in fact, to be translated, in order to be understood. All this arises from the fact that Romanism is a system of error, based on truth. It holds the truth in name, but sets it aside practically by additions. This makes it the "mystery of iniquity" which it is; and hence the need of Christian controversy which will unravel the tangled skein in which truth and error are entwined; and by applying the truth in a manner suited to the particular state of the individual mind, will bring the misguided soul out of darkness into the marvellous light of the gospel. In doing all this, however, certain maxims will be found of great value, and the space at my disposal will only enable me to set them forth very briefly. 1. It is always better to begin with a statement of positive truth, |