in the funds, and other means of the promotion of God's truth among the Irish poor, which, he truly describes as amounting to the exclamation of Solomon's slothful man; "There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets," Mr. Maxwell thus proceeds to cheer the spirits of his brethren in the work of faithful protestation, and zealous labour against the pernicious, the deeply criminal surrender of the scriptural rights of the poor :

'The Irish clergy, having had no part in the production of that state of things which is likely to involve them in much practical difficulty, may trust God for the intervention of his gracious Providence, either to avert that which is dreaded, or to overrule it, if it does come, for the good of his church and the glory of his own

name.

'The reverend doctor, like the "servant of the man of God, may behold the Syrian host with their chariots and horses compassing the city, and at the sight, may cry, with him-"Alas! how shall we do!" But the Irish Church can take to itself encouragement from the words and the act of the prophet, and the result thereof-" Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them; and Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see; and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings vi. 15-17. "When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and people more than thou, be not afraid of them, for the Lord thy God is with thee." Deut. xx. 1. This was a word, by the mouth of Moses, which animated the thousands of Israel in prospect of the foes "greater and mightier than they," which awaited them on the other side of Jordan:

"Thou shalt drive out the Canaanite, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong" (Joshua xvii. 18.), was the assurance of Joshua to his troops, when in active conflict with enemies who were opposing themselves no less to God than to Israel.

'We read of a time when "Judah stood before the Lord with their LITTLE ONES,' their wives, and their CHILDREN; (2 Chron. xx. 13.) and we hear language, on that occasion, every word of which, is strikingly applicable to the circumstances in which we are placed. The hosts of Ammon and Moab are combined against the people of God; "and there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, there cometh a great multitude against thee." After mention made of the obligations under which Ammon and Moab were to Israel, for past kindness experienced at their hands, the pious monarch, in the midst of his danger and distress, bursts out in language of remonstrance-" Behold how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit!" Thus Popery and our Conservative government, our Ammon and our Moab, (the one forgetful of those solemn vows, on the faith of which it obtained political power and privileges from a Protestant legislature-the other, equally unmindful of those professed principles, which had secured for it the support of the Church at a time when they could not have dispensed with it,) are combined in the support and establishment of a system, the earliest development of which was, according to Dr. Martin, the practical interdiction of the Scripture to three hundred thousand poor Romanists, who were reading it;' and the perpetuation of which has withdrawn it from six hundred thousand, who would by this time have been reading it, and from generations of children yet un

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born;' thus, in Dr. Martin's words, 'withholding from them that holy book which is their birth-right.' May we not, then, exclaim-Behold how they come, if not to cast us out, at least to cast our poor Roman Catholic brethren out of the possession, their "birth-right," which God had given them to inherit!

'But if we thus have reason to adopt the remonstrance of Jehoshaphat, may not his language of faith and hope be our's also? "O our God, wilt not thou judge them? We have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do ; but our eyes are upon thee." Did such a spirit of dependence on God pervade the Irish Church, in this its time of emergency, might it not appropriate to itself those gracious words of the Lord, with which he cheered the hearts of Judah and their king? "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S." 2 Chron. xx. 15.

'But a word of solemn warning, as well as of encouragement, may be derived from this instructive chapter. We read—“ And after this did Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, join himself to Ahaziah, King of Israel, WHO DID VERY WICKEDLY, and he joined himself with him, to make ships to go to Tarshish; then Eliezer prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself to Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works: and the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish." 2 Chron. xx. 35, 37. The application is so evident, I need not make it.

The words of another pious king of Judah are too appropriate to be omitted. Hezekiah, when threatened with Sennacherib's invasion, "spake comfortably to

the people saying, be strong and courageous; be not afraid, nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles." 2 Chron. xxxii. 6—8.

'Who can say what a blessed effect such sentiments, entertained, and boldly proclaimed by the Irish clergy, might produce on the minds of our people? Might it not be similar to that which happened on the occasion alluded to, when “THE PEOPLE RESTED THEMSELVES ON THE WORds of HezekIAH ?”

'If we proceed onward in the history of Judah, our attention is arrested by an incident pregnant with instruction, and having an important bearing on the subject before us. Ezra, the leader of the returning captives, charged with the commission of Artaxerxes, and provided by him with an order for all that should be required by him on his homeward journey to Jerusalem, proclaims a fast at the river Ahava, and for this end, as he tells us, "that we might afflict ourselves before God, and seek of him a right way for us and our LITTLE ONES." He then tells us why, with the Persian exchequer at his command, God is, on this occasion, sought to and depended on. For," says he, "I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king saying, the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his wrath is upon all them that forsake him." Ezra

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"O that we, Irish Christians, had more of the spirit of Ezra and his company in our efforts after "a right way for ourselves and our little ones," and that the FEBRUARY, 1845.

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shame which influenced him had been in operation in the minds of those who, having been once loud in their execrations of this anti-scriptural system, are now advocating a connexion, in certain cases, with it! O for more of this prayerful spirit, and more of this holy shame to animate and confirm those among us who as yet uplift the voice of protest against it, that the blessed experience of Ezra and Judah may be ours-" we besought our God for this, and he was entreated of us."

'One kindred passage more shall conclude these quotations, and supply to us an appropriate word of warning and encouragement. "Hanani, the seer, came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him, because thou hast relied upon the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen ? yet because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand." 2 Chron. 8.

xvi. 7,

I, with great confidence, present to you these extracts from the word of God, as eminently bearing on the proceedings of the church in Ireland with reference to National Education. Those among you who minister in the pulpit scruple not thus to deal with the incidents of Old Testament history, deducing and enforcing therefrom legitimate practical lessons of heavenly wisdom for the instruction of your flocks; and surely I am not to be denied the same privilege in handling so momentous a subject as the one now before me. The enemies of truth, and the "Gallio's" who "care for none of these things," (Acts xviii. 17.) may arraign, and scoff at my mode of proceeding; but "I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say." 1 Cor. x. 15. 1