best mode of guarding against that finctuation and inconsistency, to which a mixed and changing multitude, actuated by no fixed principle, is ever subject.

The Society thus formed, after Eight years' experience of its usefulness, was in corporated by Act of Parliament, on the First of August, 1800; and has ever since continued to enjoy the confidence of the public, and the approbation and support of Government. The strong and encreasing conviction of the utility of this Association, felt by the clergy and the laity of the Established Church in Ireland, is abundantly testified by the rapid increase of the numbers and rank of its Members.

The Association, which in 1792, was set on foot by THREE humble individuals, consisted in 1800, of FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY, included among whom were the Lord Lieutenant, (now its constant President) all the Archbishops, Twelve Bishops, and THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT Clergymen. And now, in 1820, it contains ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY individuals, amongst whom are the Lord Lieutenant, all the Archbishops and Bishops, and ONE THOUSAND Clergymen; and its measures are supported by the exertions of Diocesan Committees, established in ELEVEN Dioceses, beaded and directed by their respective Bishops. It is also doing no more than justice to this Association to observe; that in 1792, when it was formed, no Society existed in Ireland for promoting the great moral and religious objects to which it directed its attention, except a Society for spreading religious Books amongst the Poor, which included many of the most distinguished individuals at the head of the Church and the Bar, who were unable, from the incessant and pressing calls of their professional and public duties, to devote their time, or personal labour, to a detailed prosecution of that object, and who were not assisted by any persons who could supply that defect.

The individuals of that Society gradually united themselves with our Association, very soon after it was formed; and the Society itself, as a distinct body, ceased to exist, its objects being adopted and effectively pursued by our Association.

Thus this Association has the merit of having been the first to put into the hands of the poor man in Ireland, the inestimable treasure of the Word of GOD, and of endeavouring to carry into effect, the truly patriotic and pious wish of our late revered King, "That every cottage in his dominions, containing au inhabitant, who could read, should be furnished with a

Bible." But our Association still preserves in this, as in every other measure it employs, its peculiar characteristic of its subordination and subservience to the Es tablished Church; and, while with one hand it offers the Bible to its Members, at a reduced price, which may enable them to confer this sacred gift, wherever they find any persons disposed to receive it with gratitude, and employ it with serionsness; with the other hand offers the Prayer Book of the Church of England to all its Members, and calls on them, to give this also to every poor individual of the Established Church, not yet possessed of it, that they may become fully acquainted with the treasures of piety which this truly inestimable volume contains.

Thus also our Association, besides distributing the Scriptures, distributes these catechetical and explanatory Tracts which expound and impress the Doctrines and Liturgy of the Church of England, and lead the young mind to see and acknowledge the scriptural purity of its tenets, the simplicity and significance of its rites, and the apostolic origin of its ecclesiastical polity.

The activity and effect with which this Association has pursued the important objects now enumerated, will be felt when it is known, that it has distributed more than 57,000 Bibles, 164,000 Testaments, and 96,000 Prayer Books; and that it has also distributed more than 993,000 Tracts, many of which have for their object to explain the Church of England Catechism, and Sacraments, the Rite of Confirmation, the origin and observation of its Festivals, and the Scriptural Proofs of its discriminating doctrines. Surely then here is a strong claim to the protection and assist anee of all who know and value the Church of England as the firmest support of scriptural truth, rational devotion, and steady sound morality, which adorns the christian world.

Another truly christian and most important object which this Association pursues, is that of the education of youth, which it has endeavoured to promote by TWO leading measures-Catechetical Ex aminations and the establishment of Day Schools. The former it alone pursues; and, on the entire subject of education, it is but justice to this Association to observe, that it seems to have been the first great instrument in the hands of Providence to awaken the attention of the public in Ireland to this important object.

With this Association originated the idea of a House of Reform for the young criminal poor, and since that time THREE

Penitentiaries, commected with the House of Industry, have been instituted, and are now supported by the Government.

With it also originated the first accurate and extensive enquiry into the state of Education amongst the poor of Ireland. In the year 1799 a Committee of Education was formed, which applied to the Bishops to call on the Clergy of the several Dio. ceses to make a close investigation into the state of Education in their respective parishes, and to communicate the result, with their own observations, in reply to certain queries proposed by the Committee; these returns were gradually obtained, and the result communicated to the public in several Reports successively published by the Association. Thus the deplorable want of Education, particularly of moral and religious Education amongst the poor of Ireland, was distinctly developed, the attention of the public directed to this subject; and perhaps this greatly contributed to awaken that active zeal which the benevolent and pious have recently exhibited in their exertions to remedy this crying evil. In the Association certainly this zeal was decidedly awakened, and it ever since has laboured to promote religious Education, first by extending Catechetical Examinations, and next by the multiplication of Parochial Day Schools for the poor.

And first as to the Catechetical Examinations. It is sufficient here to observe that this great object is pursued by the Association, and by the Association alone; however other Societies therefore may multiply the establishments or the expedients for educating the poor of Ireland, they in no degree supersede the utility or interfere with the exertions of the Association in this, its best directed, and most effective, labour of love. All other institutions or expedients recently adopted are designed for the general population of the country, excluding all particular attention to the Members of the Established Church. The Catechetical Examinations conducted by this Association, form the only public and general mode any where adopted with reference to that numerous and respectable class of children, both of the poor and the rich, whose parents profess the Established Religion. And what invaluable good is thus produced will appear when it is considered, that in the last thirteen years more than 55,000 Children have answered at the Examinations, and above 12,000 Premiums have been adjudged, and in conferring these Premiums the Association has distributed amongst this multitude of young persons 3,720 Bibles,

5,541 Prayer Books, 876 Testaments, besides numerous copies of The Whole Duty of Man, Nelson on the Fasts and Festivals of the Church of England, Bishop Portens's Lectures on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Secker's Lectures on the Cate chism, and various other works by the most approved authors: exhibiting the evidences of Revelation with such brevity and clearness as was best calculated for their young minds, expounding the doctrines of the Established Church in the most plain and rational manuer, and confirming them by scriptural authority; or illustrating the beauty and recommending the practice of piety and virtue, by the history and example of those who have adorned the doc trine of God their Saviour, by exhibiting its efficacy in their conduct, and the history of whose lives so strongly attracts the attention of the young and susceptible mind, and impresses so deeply on their hearts the principles of religion and morality.

The next leading measure for extending religious education, adopted by the Association, was that of forming Day Schools in those parts of Ireland where the want of them was so strongly felt, that the neighbouring gentry were willing to supply at least two-thirds of the expence of their erection, and to contribute materially to their support. It is sufficient to remark here that the Association in this, as in every other part of its proceedings, has preserved its adherence to the principles of the Established Church, and its care to diffuse the knowledge of these principles amongst those who belong to its communion. Hence it was provided that amidst the variety of applications a preference should be given to the establishment of Parochial Schools, where none had previously existed, or to the improvement of those already founded.

That in all cases, the application, if it did not originate with the officiating Clergyman of the parish, should however be sanctioned by his approbation, and that the School fonnded or assisted by the Association should be placed under his superintendance and controul; that the MASTERS and Teachers shall ALWAYS BE MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED Church, and that the Children within the pale of that Church, attending the School, should be regularly and diligently instructed in its Catechism and Doctrines; that they should read the Sacred Scriptures in the authorised Version; that their progress in religious knowledge should be examined and attested by the Clergyman under whose superintendance the School was placed,

and without whose approving Certificate the stipulated salary or gratuity was not to be paid, and that the emulation of the children in the pursuit of religious knowledge should be encouraged, and their proficiency ascertained by annual Catechetical Examinations.

The entire of this system adopted by the Association, stands distinguished from every other which has been formed for the education of the poor of Ireland. It there fore seems of high importance to the iuterests of the Established Religion that its exertions for this object should be liberally assisted both by parliamentary and private aid.

In truth every man who is acquainted with the state of Ireland must know, that, * not only in a moral, but a political point of view, the great utility of such establishments as educate the poor of Ireland, which adhere to the Church of England, is most undeniable. Experience has proved that in times of peril and dismay, this portion of the Irish population has been found the surest link for holding Ireland united with the rest of the Empire, and it is evident that until a great moral and religious change shall have taken place in this country, the best security for that union must continue to depend on that Body of established Churchmen, all whose principles, habits, and feelings, bind them to Government. It is in cherishing, in training, in enlightening that most trustworthy and yet greatly exposed part of the Irish populace, that the Association employs its principal labours. The attention of the Parochial Clergy is most constant and praiseworthy, and as they universally approve the mea. sures of the Association, and apply to it for aid to assist them in their exertions for the moral and religious instruction of the lower classes, particularly of that portion which continues within the pale of the Establishment, surely the Association should be enabled to afford them that aid. Nothing short of what the Association has been doing in union with the efforts of the Clergy is sufficient, and nothing that they both can do, will be more than sufficient to preserve the lower classes of the Established Church from being either brutalized by vice and ignorance, bewildered by religious eccentricity, or drawn back by surrounding example and proselyting zeal, into that religion whose popular strength in Ireland has at least no need of addition. But while the Association has directed its peculiar attention to that class of the Irish population which most naturally claims and most indispensibly requires it, it has been most auxious to extend the bene

fits of enlightened education and moral improvement to every class. Every possible precaution has been taken to render their Schools attractive and beneficial to Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters, as well as to the Members of the Established Church. All interference with their religious principles, all attempts at proselytism have been carefully and honestly avoided, and that this disposition has been distinctly seen and felt, by those whose improvement it was intended to promote, will fully appear from this remarkable fact, that of the entire number of Children attending their Schools in the last half yearly Returns, the number of Protestant Children was 2800, that of the Roman Catholic 2600, so that it has been truly asserted in the last Sermon, which was preached before the Associ ation, "That our Schools have been opened to children of every religious persuasion, and care so effectually taken to avoid all interference with the peculiar tenets of each, that I will venture, (says the Reverend Preacher) to assert, that there has not even a complaint been made of such interference having been attempted."

Another most important measure adopted by the Association for exciting throughout the entire country, amongst all the serious and pious, but especially amongst the friends of the Established Church, a zealous co-operation in all its plans, and securing every where that local and individual exertion, without which all theoretical and general schemes are vain and useless, was the establishment of Diocesan Committees, under the direction of the Archbishop, or Bishop in each See, whose example and influence would probably unite the entire body of the Clergy, and the most respectable of the Laity in every district, in a regular, continued, and effective prosecution of those great objects for which the Association labours. The success of this plan, though but a short time tried, and not yet univer sally carried into effect, has been most important and beneficial. To this is due, in a great measure, the rapid multiplication of Catechetical Examinations in every part of Ireland.

From the preceding statement one inference follows, which strongly tends to encourage the exertions of the Association, and the co-operation of the public: it is, that the measures the Association has adopted, are in a state of progress, which it only requires more general co-operation and more liberal assistance to increase, until they become adequate to the moral

and religious exigencies of the country, and productive of the most extensive and beneficial results; while it is equally certain, that wherever that co-operation has become less active, or that assistance been withheld, the efforts of the Association have been necessarily checked and retarded. Thus it has appeared, that since the establishment of the Diocesan Committees has increased the numbers of the Clergy and Laity resident in the country, active in executing the plan of Catechetical Examinations; these have been so multiplied, as in the last year to be double of any preceding, above 10,000 children have been examined; how very great must have been the increased numbers of the Children engaged in the preparatory course of instruction? Thus also, with respect to Schools, from the first adoption of this plan in 1805, when THREE Schools only received salary, the number increased, in 1807, to FORTY-ONE, the highest number which the funds of the Association could at that time support.

From thence to the year 1819 inclusive, the number of Schools receiving aid increased from fifty-eight to one hundred and fourteen, being thus in that short space nearly doubled, and on the whole, one hundred and twenty Schools are at the present time assisted with salaries, and sixty school-houses have been built and endowed with an acre of land, or what in special circumstances was deemed an equivalent, and all furnished with School-masters such as could not be obtained by holding out less advantageous prospects. These Schools thus erected, and these Masters thus brought forward and settled, and endowed under the promise of the Association, possess a claim on the continued support of the Association and the public, which is indeed most powerful.

Still however, this salutary work can only be said to be partly begun. The Association are under engagements to give aid for building and salary to upwards of FIFTY Schools, as soon as the required conditions shall have been fulfilled by the parties who have applied, and applications are daily and rapidly coming in, so that above FORTY, proposing exactly to conform to the conditions prescribed by the Association, are at this moment unanswered, and cannot be favourably answered, except the liberality of Government and the public to the Association is proportionably increased.

That such liberal aid will, however, be extended, there surely cannot be any reasonable doubt; the preceding state. ment, grounded on undeniable facts, seems to shew clearly that this Associa

REMEMBRANCER, No. 36.

tion has already increased, in the numbers and rank of its Members, in estimation with the public, and in the efficacy of its operations, to a degree far beyond what, from so small a beginning, could have been reasonably anticipated; a success which indicates that Providence has employed this Association as the instrument of effecting its gracious purposes of promoting the religious and moral improvement of this favoured Nation, and which may encourage the friends of piety and virtue to look forward to its future salutary influence as still more extensive and effective, if it shall hereafter continue to be supported with that zeal and liberality which the importance of its objects so eminently deserve.

Hibernian Bible Society.

Correspondence with his Grace the Lord Primate, and his Grace, the Archbishop of Dublin.

Letter from his Grace the Lord
Primate.

Great George's Street,
July 14, 1821.

Sir,-As I understand you are Secretary of the Hibernian Bible Society, I request you will have the goodness to inform the Society, that I wish to have my name withdrawn.

A friend to the circulation of the Scriptures, I have, for many years, given my countenance and support to the Hibernian Bible Society; and it is with much reluctance, and even pain, that I feel myself obliged to withdraw from it.

It would be useless to detail all the circumstances which have induced me to form this resolution. I cannot, however, forbear stating, that the constitution of the Society-as it appears to me—has been gradually changed since its original formation; and it is quite notorious, that, at its public meetings, speakers introduce topics which are not only irrelevant to the business of the Society, but, in some instances, utterly inconsistent with their avowed object of circulating the Bible without comment.

Those meetings consist of a number of persons whose religions opinions are at variance with each other, and each person has a right to express, without check or control, his own religious opinions in his own language. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to prevent observations being made which are injurious to the Established Church, and offensive to its members.

I cannot, therefore, consistently with 5 E