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With such prospects to stimulate to exertion, the undersigned hopes and trusts that those office-bearers of the Presbyterian Church, whether in Scotland or in the North of Ireland, into whose hands this statement may fall, and who may be specially called on to put forth their hand to this work of the Lord, will co-operate with the friends of the Protestant Reformation in England, in sending forth zealous and Christian ministers, to take advantage of the unprecedented facilities that are now afforded them by a patriotic Government, in the most distant colonies of the empire; and thereby to plant the standard of Evangelical religion, in the presence of its enemies, on a very distant continent, and on every solitary isle. So shall "the earth rejoice, and the multitude of the isles be glad, because the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."

JOHN DUNMORE LANG, D.D.

Principal of the Australian College, and Senior Minister of the
Church of Scotland in the Australian Colonies.

On board the Abel Gower, Atlantic Ocean, Lat. 8 d. 40 m. S.

17th October, 1836.

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tifully depicted by the Psalmist in the 137th and 126th Psalms; of which the undersigned ventures to subjoin the following translations from "Specimens of an Improved Metrical Version of the Psalms of David, proposed for the Use of the Presbyterian Church in the Australian Colonies:"

PSALM 137.

: Br Babel's streams we sat,
Sad and disconsolate;
And as we wept and thought
On Zion's fallen state,

We hung our harps in deep despair
Upon the weeping willows there.

For there our Spoilers said,

"Come, strike the tuneful string;

Let joyful mirth be made;

Some song of Zion sing."

How could our voices frame the sound

Of Zion's songs on Heathen ground?

If I should e'er forget

Thee, O Jerusalem,

Or earthly pleasure set

Above thy cherish'd name,

With palsy be my arm unstrung,
And ever speechless be my tongue.

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A CONVERSATION ABOUT IRISH SCHOOLS, Betwixt a Minister and a Member of his Congregation.

William. What are those Irish Schools, which are noticed in a late number of the Orthodox Presbyterian ?

Minister. They are schools for teaching our countrymen who speak the Irish, to read the Word of God in that tongue.

W. They seem to be of recent establishment, although such numbers speak the language. It is strange that the Scriptures had not been circulated in the Irish tongue, long ago.

M. Strange as it may appear, it is but a few years since we have learned that the best way of teaching the Irish-speaking people the truths of the Bible, is to give them the Scriptures in their own language. Prejudice or indifference, or a mistaken policy, hindered us from seeing and acting on this plain principle of common sense, until now.

W. It is well, however, that this means has been employed, at last, for the benefit of our unfortunate country, as great success, it would seem, has attended this work of Chris tian love.

M. It is well. And we hope it is the dawn of a brighter day. The Irish-speaking population love the Irish tongue, and understand it best. As they say, in their own emphatic phrase," their heart hears the Irish." The young, and adults of both sexes, learn it with eagerness; and as the old sit listening to the Gospel history in their beloved tongue, many a tear, put forth by strong emotion, flows down the furrows of their aged cheeks. May the Lord bless the truth abundantly to their souls.

W. I heartily join in saying Amen to your prayer, as He alone can give the increase. But how is the work of teaching carried on, as I could not see any thing like school-houses, or hear of any, through the mountains where I have been sometimes travelling?

M. You might travel long enough before you would meet with a school-house for the purpose. The sole and simple object is to furnish the people with the Irish Scriptures, and to teach them to read and know them in the Irish tongue; and, on the plan pursued, it is not necessary to build schoolhouses, as the teacher's own cabin, or that of any neighbour, or scholar, affords the needful accommodation.

W. In what manner, pray, do they proceed?

M. A person who is approved as qualified, is appointed to a particular district. He is furnished with primers and portions of Scripture in the Irish character. He meets with those who wish to learn, in dozens or half dozens, at different houses through the neighbourhood, on the evenings after labour, and generally throughout the greater part of the Lord's day. He there teaches them to spell, and read, and afterwards to translate the Scriptures into English. The scholars employ themselves in preparing lessons at every interval of leisure at home, and thus in the space of four or eight months, according to capacity and application, they can read correctly and fluently.

W. How is their progress ascertained?

M. The schools are visited and examined, three times in the year, by the Synod's Inspector. The scholars must be produced, or no gratuity will be awarded for them, and the name, age, and residence and progress of each, is marked on a return sheet. In order to ensure the progressive improvement of the teachers, they are examined by the Superintendant, on the different books of the New Testament, in regular succession. They are now preparing for examination on the Epistle to the Romans.

W. The machinery is very simple, and I hope it will prove efficient in turning many from darkness to light.

M. The prejudices of the people, instead of being opposed to the Word of God in the Irish character, are all in favour of it, owing to the almost religious veneration with which they regard their own language. The system furnishes them with the means of Christian knowledge, and puts them upon learning the truth, without exciting their fears or suspicions, and it sows the seed in their minds, for the Holy Spirit to quicken into life and fruitfulness in his own good time. Let us sow in prayer and faith, and we may rejoice in the hope, "that his word will not return void," "but will bring forth in some thirty, and in some sixty, and in some an hundred fold." In the 80 schools established by the Synod, between two and three thousand have been already taught to read the Irish Scriptures, and are furnished with portions and copies of them, which they carefully retain for their perusal.

W. Under a knowledge of these circumstances, it becomes an important duty, in reference to our country, to support and encourage Irish schools. They serve as Bible societies and adult Scriptural schools among our Roman Catholic

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countrymen. Are there any collecting cards, to raise funds for them?

M. Yes, there are collecting cards, which may be had of the Rev. Mr. Bellis, Secretary of the Synod's Mission. Aud as the Christian public has been raising large sums to support" schools in India," we trust that the land of their homes will not be forgotten, and that Christian friends will arise to support a few "Irish schools" amidst the mountains and glens of their own sweet Isle.

W. It seems fair enough, sir, that charity should begin at home; and although we should not let it end there, yet our country has surely an equal, if not a prior claim upon our purses, and prayers, and services,-you will please procure a card for me.

M. I will give you one, and I might almost pledge my word to you and say, that for every shilling you raise, an ignorant Irish adult will be taught to read, in his own tongue, the word of truth and salvation.

AUGUSTINE'S CONFESSIONS ABRIDGED.

NO. IV.

FOR the space of nine years, from the nineteenth to the twenty-eighth year of my age, I lived deceived and deceiving others, seducing men into various lusts, openly by what are called the liberal arts, and secretly by a false religion; in the former proud, in the latter superstitious, in all things seeking vain glory, even to theatrical applauses and contentious contests; and, to complete the dismal picture, a slave to the lusts of the flesh. So infatuated was I with the Manichean follies, that I drew my friends into them, and with them practised the impieties of the The arrogant may despise me, and all who have never felt a salutary work of self-humiliation from thee, my God. But I would confess to thee my own disgraces for thy glory. What am I, left to myself, but a guide rashly conducting others down a precipice? and when I ám in a better state, what am I, but an infant sucking thy milk, and enjoying thee, the bread that perisheth not? and what is any man, since he is flesh? Let the proud and the strong despise us; but we weak and poor would confess to thee.

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At this time I maintained myself by teaching rhetoric; and without fraud I taught my scholars, not how to op

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