of reasoning by which their conduct is attempted to be justified, is in exact accordance with the principles of other Dissenting denominations. Nay, the very idea of returning to that state of connexion with the Church which existed during Mr. Wesley's days, is ridiculed as the weak vagary of Mr. Robinson, though acted upon, long prior to Mr. R.'s pamphlet, by a numerous body in Ireland. Mr. Wesley intended that his societies should aid, and not rival, the Church; that they should increase, and not diminish, the attendance on her public service and sacraments: whereas the modern Methodists, while professing attachment to the Establishment, endeavour to divide the congregation with the parish minister, and to take away as many as they can of his communicants. We contend, then, that Methodism is not merely modified and slightly altered since the death of its founder, but that it is essentially changed; that it has quite a new character, and aims at quite a new object. Its character is properly sectarian; and its object appears to be to supersede, if possible, the National Establishment. That Methodism is materially changed from what it originally was, is clearly conceded in the review itself, where a strong, though not a very correct, contrast is drawn between primitive and modern Methodism, in order to demonstrate that the Clergy of the Church of England have as little love for one as the other *. It were easy to enlarge upon various other topics, but both time and * See Wesleyan Mag. p. 530. See also Mr. Wesley's own remarks above (p. 349, first col. 4). The reader may likewise consult a pamphlet entitled " Methodism in 1821, with Recollections of primitive Methodism ;" and when he has read that pamphlet he may just advert to the manner in which it is spoken of in our vol. for 1821, page 504, which alone will how unjustly we are charged with acrimonious feelings towards the Methodists. prove space compel us to close: we must therefore content ourselves with simply denying the remaining charges brought against us in the Wesleyan Magazine. We have never been actuated by a spirit of intolerance against any denomination, nor have we ever advocated what are usually called high-church principles. But we are conscientiously attached to the Church of England, and desirous of promoting her interests by all legitimate and Christian means. We have never gone out of our way to animadvert on any denomination; but have endeavoured to give the full measure of praise to what appeared truly good in them. We have passed over many fair occasions of animadversion on those who differ from us, and have declined noticing various pamphlets forwarded to us for review, because we have no disposition to interfere with our brethren. But it is too much to require that we should never notice any work which may appear to press hard upon those who differ from us; and most unreasonable to suppose that we should allow uncalled-for and unfounded attacks upon the great mass of the Evangelical Clergy to appear, in a work of which some 20,000 or 25,000 copies are circulated, without raising our feeble voice, to protest against their injustice, or expose their mistakes. On this ground we interfered when the Methodist Magazine took occasion, in reviewing Mr. Cunningham's Sermons, to attack the whole body of the serious Clergy of the Establishment. On this ground we shall again interfere, whenever similar offences against truth and charity shall be committed; and shall not be deterred from discharging an obvious and honest duty, by accusations of ignorance, intolerance, or by any other of those acrimonious charges, which men who "know not what spirit they are of" may imagine themselves justified in advancing. THE PROTESTANT.-No. IX. IN our VIIth number we inserted some extracts from the Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, with an intimation of resuming the subject at an early period. It appears to us scarcely possible that so unwise a recommendation, as that to which the five Commissioners have appended their signatures, can eventually meet with the sanction of the British Legislature. Indeed, we are perfectly surprised at the inconsistency of the statements contained in that Report with the repeated declarations of some of the Commissioners; and we do earnestly hope that some friend of religion-some advocate of our Protestant Establishment-some true. Irish Patriot-will at least, in the next session of Parliament, examine these five Commissioners at the bar of the House of Lords, so as to ascertain their individual sentiments. Meanwhile the mischief is begun. The Report, unsanctioned by either House of Parliament, unsupported by any documentary evidence, and inconsistent with the results of experience, has yet induced the Society for the education of the Poor of Ireland, generally called the KildareStreet Society, to issue a circular withdrawing its support from schools in connexion with, or deriving aid from, any other society. The Kildare-Street Committee are not, perhaps, altogether voluntary in their adoption of this measure, since, by the dexterity of certain politicians, a large proportion of the funds usually granted to the Kildare-Street Society are now under the controul of the Irish Executive, some of whom are not very favourable to Scriptural education. That each individual school, indeed, should be restricted from receiving aid from more than one society, is a principle to which, abstractedly considered, few would object. But in adopting a resolution of this nature, regard should be had to existing circumstances, to previous habits, and to the necessity of the case. For instance, many schools have been established in Ireland, where the utmost allowance which one society could give, according to its rules, or from the funds placed at its disposal, would be inadequate to its support. In such cases, assistance must either be obtained elsewhere, or the school must be abandoned. Thus, as a general rule, the Hibernian Society proceeds upon the principle of defraying half the master's salary; and never opens a school without a pledge being given for the subscription of a certain sum towards the expense of that school. This sum is usually raised by a subscription, from some one or more respectable persons in the neighbourhood, who are considered as the local patrons of the school, and thus become interested in its welfare. But in cases where the neighbourhood is poor, and the necessary sum cannot be obtained, the friends of Scriptural education apply for assistance to other societies. And in this way some hundreds of schools have been opened in Ireland, by the joint efforts of two societies, which, but for such joint efforts, would never have had any existence. The Kildare-Street Society has often built schools, or paid the rent of rooms, or supplied them with furniture or books, or paid part of the master's salary, while the Hibernian Society has defrayed the other half of the master's salary, and been at the whole expense of superintendance and inspection. Now that this friendly co-operation is withdrawn, the Hibernian Society will be compelled to abandon many schools, unless much larger funds are placed at its disposal. In one province of Ireland alone, it is calculated that the Society must expend Nine Hundred Pounds a year more, or relinquish a very considerable number of its schools. SEPT. 1825. 2 z At first sight it may appear of small consequence, whether the poor of Ireland are educated by one Society or another: and it would be of very small consequence, provided the education were the same. But this is not the case. The distinguishing feature of the London Hibernian Society is, that it secures a SCRIPTURAL education, and, by its vigilant quarterly inspection, makes it the interest of every master, whether Catholic or Protestant, to promote the knowledge of the word of God. The Kildare-Street Society promotes GENERAL education-it admits the Scriptures, but does not compel the reading of those Scriptures-Roman Catholic influence, or infidel or dissolute principles, may practically exclude the Scriptures from their schools, or render them a mere dead letter: and their inspection being only annual, and formal, produces little effect. Hence the Papists make very little objection to the KildareStreet Society, and bend all their force against the Hibernian Society. The Papists are right. The lax principles of the Kildare-Street Society will never injure the Catholic cause: but either the London Hibernian Society must be subverted, or the pillars of Popery will be shaken to their foundation, and the cruel and tyrannical domination of its priesthood be overthrown. The appeal, therefore, must be made to British Christians, to British Protestants. The question is, Will the English clergy and gentry, will the Scottish ministry and people, allow a few crafty politicians, under the influence of Jesuitical and Infidel advisers, to adopt measures which shall impede the progress of scriptural education, and throw Ireland half a century back in her career; or will they study the subject, and advance the requisite funds, that the London Hibernian Society may say, we will not allow a single school to fall, but will maintain the cause of scriptural education at all events, cost what it will?" 66 We close with the following extract of a circular letter, which has been extensively distributed in Ireland, and which, we trust, will be dispersed in every part of the United Empire. "The question with the Hibernian Society, primarily considered, is not the question of whether 340 of its schools shall make their election in favour of one institution or the other. The considerations at issue are of high moral concern to Ireland, and involve, among others, the momentous inquiry of, whether the New Testament is to constitute the chief and stated reading of the school, or to stand its rank in the almost endless catalogue of the society in Kildare street, and be subjected to a competition with "Robinson Crusoe," and the " History of curious Birds and Fishes; whether, in other words, its lessons are to be daily read in the school, committed to memory in the field, and uninterruptedly repeated in the cabin, or placed in the safe keeping of a schoolmaster's desk, after they have been BARELY TOLERATED, in the proportion of two or three chapters in the week. They involve the question, whether children in attendance shall be sub. jected to the test of quarterly and individual examination; or collectively disposed of, in the form of an annual review. They involve the question of, whether the master shall depend for his remuneration upon the officially authenticated success of his efforts, or the mere exhibition of a mechanically adjusted attendance. These, and other considerations of equal importance to the cause of Scriptural Education in Ireland, are the real criteria by which the consequences of the proposed decision are to be examined." INTELLIGENCE. BIBLE SOCIETIES. LORD LIVERPOOL'S SPEECH. WE have been favoured with the following speech of the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, at the Anniversary of the Branch Bible Society, at Kingston, Surrey, July 14, 1825. "I cannot return thanks for the honour you have just done me, without troubling you with a few remarks. It is now ten years since I first attended a meeting of a Bible Society in another part of the country; and I can truly say, that the effects of the Society ever since that time have confirmed me in the opinion I then formed, that it was calculated in an eminent degree to promote the interests of religion and virtue. The character peculiar to it is universality. It confines itself not to one country alone, but extends to every country in the four quarters of the globe, and to every region, however remote; and how could we go to foreign countries, and to people of different religious persuasions; how could we go to the Lutheran, to the Calvinist, to the Greek, or to the Roman Catholic; without first laying it down as our foundation at home, that we admit all our fellow Christians of whatever description as members of this Society; and that, if there are any who refuse to accept the Scriptures from us, there are none to whom we refuse to give them? 66 Standing upon this broad basis, we wish to look upon all Christians as brothers; and desire to regard all the nations of the earth as united in one common tie under the same God, and acting under the direction of the same general code of laws given by his sacred word. If I could imagine that this Institution, universal as it is, could in some degree have affected other benevolent institutions antecedently formed, but having more limited objects in view, I will freely own that the greatness of the object would not have suffered me to withdraw from it; but it is a satisfaction to reflect, that the effects of it have been, what I should have anticipated they must have been, to increase the zeal, to augment the funds, and to improve the character of all because the same principles on which this Society is formed may be applied in a degree to all others, and the motives which lead to subscribe to this, would jead to subscribe to others. "We live in a time when great efforts are making towards the general education of all classes and all descriptions of men ; and God forbid that any one should suppose that there is any branch of education whatever, from the acquisition of which any class shall be excluded, and from the knowledge of which some benefit might not be acquired; yet I cannot but look to religious education as the only sure foundation of all useful knowledge. If the Bible is the Book of Piety, the Bible is not less the Book of Wisdom; and if there are any who have the knowledge of this Book, and scarcely any other knowledge, or what is called knowledge, besides, they will learn from this book to discharge every duty of life; they will learn, principally and chiefly, their duty towards God; but they will also learn the duties of good subjects, good husbands, good parents, good children, and good neighbours they will learn to stifle and to smother the tumult of passion in their breasts, and to rest contented in the condition of life in which it has pleased God to place them. But if there are any who possess all other knowledge, and are yet ignorant or neglectful of the Bible, they may become the disputers of this world; they may be knowing to some purposes; but they will find themselves involved in all those mazes of error in which the great men of antiquity were involved, who looked forward distantly and remotely to a revelation like that which the Christian dispensation has given to the world. "The object of the Bible Society is to circulate the word of God among all nations. It has already circulated it in every quarter of the globe. The Scriptures have been provided in 140 languages, in fifty of which they had never existed before. It is our object to convey this blessing to every nation, however remote; but, it is our object, and more especially our duty, to circulate them amongst our own fellow-subjects; to bring up the rising generation in the knowledge of them, and to make them feel, without depreciating any human knowledge, that it is from the knowledge of God, as conveyed in his word, that their happiness in this world, and their salvation in the world to come, must depend." NAVAL AND MILITARY BIBLE SOCIETY. We have just received the Annual Report of this valuable Society; containing, in addition to the usual statement of their affairs, extracts from correspondence, &c. an account of the speeches at their last anniversary, and an interesting narrative of the correspondence of his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief with the Committee, which has at length issued in a most important arrangement for regularly supplying the army with the sacred Scriptures. The nature of this arrangement will be understood from the following extracts. After intimating that there are two points of the proceedings especially deserving the attention of the Society, the Report proceeds, The first is the Code of Regulations "for providing the Army with Bibles and Testaments," recommended by three Prelates who have long held distinguished patronage in the Society, and approved by his Most Gracious Majesty himself. This Code of Regulations has been issued in the form of a circular to officers commanding regiments, and has been accompanied with the expression of his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief's expectation that its provisions will be strictly adhered to. It is as follows: "Horse Guards, March 11, 1825. "SIR-The enclosed Code of Regulations for providing the Army with Bibles and Testaments having been recommended by the Prelates whose signatures are attached thereto, and approved by the King, I have the Commander in Chief's commands to transmit them for your information and guidance, and to express his Royal Highness's expectation that they will be strictly adhered to by the Regiment under your command. You will perceive that by these Regulations the General Orders of the 18th of May and 24th of June last are cancelled. "H. TORRENS, A. G." "It is proposed, that the following arrangements shall be made for providing the Army with Bibles and Testaments, through the medium of the Chaplain General only. "1. That a Circular Letter shall be addressed by the Adjutant-General to the different regiments throughout the service, acquainting them that the Commander in Chief has deemed it expedient to cancel the Orders of the 18th of May, and 24th of June last, and all other Orders which gave a sanction to direct communications and correspondence between the Naval and Military Bible Society, and Commanding Officers of corps: That such correspondence can only be held with the Chaplain General of the Army, who will obtain from the Naval and Military Bible Society, and other sources, the means of complying with all requisitions of this description, which Commanding Officers may address to him. "2. That Commanding Officers shall be directed by the Adjutant-General, to send to the Chaplain-General an immediate return of the number of Bibles, Testaments, and Books of Common Prayer, in the possession of the men, and of the number necessary to furnish one to every man who can read. "3. That, exclusive of the requisitions which may follow this circular instruction, the Chaplain-General will procure, from the Naval and Military Bible Society, and other sources, such number of Bibles and Testaments, and Books of Common Prayer, together with such religious Tracts as he may think sufficient, to be lodged as a depôt in the orderly room of each corps, in order that recruits, and others wanting such books, may be provided from time to time as they may require them. That these Bibles, &c. shall be kept in a chest, and that the state of this depôt of books shall be inspected at the half-yearly inspections, and the number of Bibles, &c. in store, inserted on the back of each halfyearly return, transmitted to the AdjutantGeneral: The Adjutant-General will furnish the Chaplain-General, half yearly, with a return of what is required to keep these depots of books complete. "4. It is proposed that the expense of furnishing these books to the soldiers now in want of them, as well as to all the recruits who may, from time to time, join their respective corps, shall be borne by the public. But that each man who is found, upon the usual periodical examination of his necessaries, to have lost or disposed of his books, shall be again provided from the depôt of Bibles, Testaments, &c. at his own expense; and Commanding Officers of corps will address to the Chaplain-General a return every six months of such deficiencies. Signed) "C. CANTAUR. "E. EBOR. "London, Feb. 1825. " W. LONDON." The consequence of this regulation has been, that a communication, both personal and by letter, has been entered into with the Very Rev. the Dean of Carlisle, Chaplain-General of his Majesty's forces, which, it is believed, will lead to the following results-viz. That the Bibles necessary for completing, and keeping complete, the supply for the whole British army, will be drawn from the depository of the Naval and Military Bible Society. That they will be of the type and size most approved. And, that the only condition stipulated for, and that a very reasonable one, is, that the price shall not exceed that at which Government has already been offered a supply. This will leave a charge of about 2s. per volume to be made up from the funds of this Society. To these preliminaries the Committee have assented, and they are in daily expectation of a requisition for seven thousand copies. It appears that every modification which his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief has suggested in the operations of the Society, with the view of making them to accord better with the discipline and internal regulations of the army, has in |