A more important field than is presented by the Irish in London for missionary effort, it is difficult to conceive. So far as numbers are concerned, they present a larger claim than many of the entire stations of our . The Irish in London, of the poorer classes alone, amount to 200,000. But the entire of the " in , was no more, and of the natives there were but 123,719. is computed at but from 120,000 to 180,000, and the entire colony of Sierra Leone in was only 41,551, or scarcely more than one- fifth of the population of the poor Irish of London; while Greenland, that field of successful missionary enterprise by the Moravians is less than a twentieth part of the number. Is it then consistent to send missionaries to those afar off, at a necessarily great cost, and to pass by those who are dwelling in the midst of our own metropolis? The one ought to be done, but the other ought still more not to be left undone. As 500 families, consisting of about 2,000 individuals, are as many as one lay visitor can take charge of with any advantage, there are actually one hundred such faithful men wanted for the Irish alone of London.

Great encouragement exists for such efforts among the Irish from the circumstance of the truly marvellous effects which have within the last few years been accomplished in the West of . They probably exceed what have been witnessed in any part of England within the memory of man, if not since the days of the Reformation. The last Paper of the , issued in the Autumn of , states:-

"This Society was instituted, under its present form and constitution, in the year . . . . The success which has attended it is almost without a parallel. With a few agents, and limited funds, it commenced its labours in the West of , soon afterwards in the East, and has since embraced a large portion of that country ...

" The Society's Missions in have, under God's blessing, been the means of rendering a district, extend- ing 50 miles in length and 30 in breadth, characteristically Protestant, which but a few years ago was characteristically Romish. In that district, until lately, there were not more than 500 Protestants; there are now nearly 6,000 converts attending Church services. 5,000 children are taught in the Scriptural schools ....

" Although there has been much opposition and persecu- tion exercised by the , yet enemies and friends testify to the peaceable fruits of righteousness that are to be found amongst the converts, and to the social improvement and industry that abounds wherever the principles of the Reformation have spread."

A statement inserted in the "Times" newspaper for March 17, , gives the following particulars:- " The work of the Society is carried on in 23 Missions,

" The Society is now allied with the Irish Society (), which latter is to confine its instructions to the province of , into which the operations of the Irish Church Missions are not to extend.

" has confirmed 1,948 converts from Romanism since . Eight new churches and several school-rooms have been erected, and are in progress of erection by the individual efforts of Christian friends, for the accommodation of the converts. Over 5,000 children are taught in Scriptural schools.

"In alone, the agents of the Society made 33,980 visits to Roman Catholic families within the year , whilst large numbers of Romanists attend the controversial sermons in different churches, and the inquiring classes are crowded to inconvenience.

" The Society at present employs 37 missionary clergy- men, 21 lay agents, 229 Scripture-readers, and 98 school- masters and mistresses. In all 388 agents, besides some hundreds of Irish teachers. This number does not include those employed by 39 Local Committees, whose salaries are paid by the Society."

It is stated by the , in the small volume published by him, entitled "The Reformation in ," and written immediately after a personal investigation of the results on the spot,-

" The results which have followed these missionary efforts have fully justified the opinion which I always held, that nothing could really benefit our wretched country [] by improving the character of our people, but the diffusion of Scriptural knowledge amongst them. Surely the

In another part of the book, states:-" The told me to-day ( ), that he thought upwards of 10,000 Roman Catholics, including

His Lordship, in another part, thus describes a confirma- tion he happened to witness-one only of a series held throughout the country:--" A missionary arrived with a number of converts, who had left their locality, 20 miles distant, at 12 o'clock the night before, and had traversed the mountains all night, in order to be present at the confirma- tion. We met them in the morning, greatly fatigued .... The morning service was read, and 99 persons, the great majority of them being adults, were waiting in the aisle of the church, and in the pews, for confirmation. The Bishop preached an excellent sermon, warning the converts of all they might have to endure, and pointing them to the true source of strength and power, which was to be found only by looking unto Jesus. He received the converts by 12 at a time, and laid his hands upon them, pronouncing the usual blessing. After this most interesting sight, I spoke to several of the adults, some of them aged men, who confessed them- selves relieved from a burden on their consciences, which they had borne for many years; indeed, their countenances, I am told, were quite changed, and a cheerfulness visible, unseen in them before." [3] 

Writing from a third town (), his Lordship observes :-" Among a population of 6,000 and upwards, no instance, I have been told, has been found of admittance being refused to the Scripture-readers, or attention withheld from the reading of the Word of God. There are upwards of 400 convinced of the errors of Popery, who discuss its tenets among themselves, and crowd the houses entered by

In the interesting volume recently published by , Bart., descriptive of his tour in , in the autumn of , he states:-

The innumerable conversions which, from their com- mencement in the little island of

Achil

, in

1835

, to the present day, have been effected in the West of

Ireland

, from

Achil

to

Dingle

, and from

Dingle

to

Oughterard

, in the counties of

Donegal

,

Cork

,

Kerry,

and even in

Dublin

, have been most extensive and extraordinary. For instance, in the town of

Westport

, there are now 3 Protestant churches, and 5 more in the parish. ... At

Clifden

the conversion burst out so rapidly, that already by far the greater propor- tion of the inhabitants are Protestants. . . . The sisters of mercy zealously combine with the priests to stop the move- ment, and their efforts are extraordinary. In short, every engine is brought to bear against this alarming conversion; a regularly organized denunciation is levelled against all aiders and abettors of the Protestant missionaries, as well as against any one who affords them any countenance what- ever. Any Roman Catholic who listens to a Protestant clergyman, or to a Scripture-reader, is denounced as a marked man, and people are forbidden to have any dealings with him in trade or business, to sell him food, or buy it of him. For instance, a shoemaker at Westport lately seceded from the Catholic Church; the sisters immediately offered him 21. a-week, which he refused. Not a journey- man dared work for him. A priest went round to every man that dealt with him, until only one person would sell him leather.

It is difficult to say what may have led to results so truly

[1] Pp. 84-87

[2] P. 33

[3] Pp. 79-80.

[4] P. 54.

[5] " Fortnight in Ireland," pp. 154-5.