and so far the position of each party is intelligible. Should the Pope come in by bulls, letters encyclical, indulgences, or the well-supplied resources of the Propaganda, to recruit his hard-pressed forces, this too might be easily understood; for where should the troops of a foreign power look, but to their foreign head? But another power mingles in the fray the government of Protestant England is called to decide; 1st, whether its encouragement shall be given, boldly, frankly, given, in face of Romish opposition, to the spread of pure truth, and the strengthening of its own Evangelical Church? 2ndly, Whether, as far as possible, it shall abstain from entering the field, and leaving present institutions untouched, allow the two great spiritual powers to contend with their own weapons? or, 3rdly, Whether it shall directly favour the often-urged claims of its Romish subjects;—whether it shall give the poison its children demand with such strange importunity?

The admission of Roman Catholics into the Imperial Parliament, the abolition of ten Irish bishoprics, the National System of Education, excluding the free use of those Scriptures so obnoxious to the Romish priest, all marked the path selected by worldly policy. The blessing of God was not sought in the way of his appointment, and was not gained. Each panacea of worldly wisdom failed; the wounds of Ireland were unhealed, but still no signal interference of God arrested the attention of men. At length a more decided step was taken: Popery must be not only endured, but endowed-not only protected, but supported; we are not only to abstain from snatching the poison from their lips, we, ourselves, are to purchase the poison, and this last measure of conciliation is to realize the golden hopes of peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, an

other power of retributive justice, far enough from the calculation of the statesman, is at work. The fields are tilled, the crops are planted, but an unseen blight passes over the land, and fears of famine chill every heart. The first year the infliction is comparatively light; it is evidently a Father's hand that strikes the blow, a Father's heart shrinks from the anguish it must cause, and lifting the rod, will yet leave time for repentance. But this year it has fallen with solemn severity over a desolated land, and we cannot turn our attention from it.

Christian sisters, the prospect seems gloomy; the cry of famine sounds strangely in our homes of plenty. When we sit down to our well-furnished board, we seem to see the one scanty meal which mocks rather than satisfies the cravings of hungry children; but our God is wonderful in his workings, light may arise even out of this hour of darkness: only let us be up and be doing. While statesmen are discussing, and measures of national importance are under consideration, we may be told such matters are beyond women's ken; but if the point is to sympathise, to succour, to make sacrifices of love, to rescue the perishing, this is our own proper province, and never has there been a stronger appeal for such sacrifices than at the present moment.

Surely, suffering,-the intense bitter suffering of mothers, who drive their children to school to be spared for a few hours the agony of their hungry cries, as we read in one letter from Sligo; or the patient suffering of the little one, who, when asked, how long she could fast, said, with tearful eye, Till I get it, Ma'am ;' the exhaustion of those who are fainting by the wayside for want of the coarsest food, should be appeal enough to a woman's heart. The appeal is felt, many a rising tear

shows how deeply: oh! do not let any selfish argument stifle the rising emotion, where our fellow-creatures are perishing: the heart may be a better guide than the cold calculating head. Do not say the distress is beyond individual relief, Government is taking the wisest measures, and it is best to leave it in their hands. Do not say the accounts are exaggerated, the Irish are riotous and improvident, they must eat the fruit of their own ways. If these tales of woe figured only in the speeches of demagogues, we might justly turn a deaf ear to them; but can we imagine that the agents of every scriptural society, the superintending ladies of our different schools, living in the midst of the people whose distress they plead, the wisest and most judicious landlords of Ireland, would all combine to delude us with exaggerated accounts. Surely, selfishness must be blind indeed, that would excuse itself under such a pretext. Again, Government may be acting wisely and promptly, but its measures must necessarily be on a large scale; it cannot stoop to individual distress: and, when we hear from well-authenticated sources that despite the Government measures, such distress is severely felt, -when our own friends, weighed down with claims they cannot meet alone, tell us of the altered appearance of a peasantry, who, a few weeks ago strong and healthy, are now pale and worn with famine, when channels are open for our benevolence through which we know it will be wisely dispensed, so as to interfere with no Government measure, surely this objection has lost its force. If any English parent still urges it, we must beg them to ask themselves, whether it would be sufficient comfort in preparing one scanty meal of porridge for children who had been fasting for 24 hours, to know that Government was doing its utmost to pre

vent the starvation of the country through the winter. One's heart sickens at the thought of such arguments used at boards loaded with every luxury; when shall we learn our Saviour's law, and do as we would be done by. Unless we would be content to eat in every thing the fruit of our own doings, we must not be too ready to make the past sins of Ireland, a reason for turning a deaf ear to her present woe; but surely to the Christian, the sin of Ireland is the strongest plea for present exertion. It is Popish Ireland that is suffering, and Protestants who are called on to strain every nerve for help. When they were urged with pleas of false liberality, to give spiritual poison and endow Maynooth, they raised a loud protesting voice, and Irish Romanists might count them foes now :-a free channel is open for the stream of their hearts' real love, let the charge be now repelled, let large help in the hour of distress shew that those love Ireland best who hate popery most. Many of our readers will have seen in a letter of Mr. Dallas's, how priestly influence is waning; how the indiscriminate use of cursing, and the delusive promises of miraculous aid, and exorbitant exactions, have estranged the people, not from their religion, but from its ministers. Let words of blessing, real assistance, and liberal relief win for us that influence an opposite course has lost to the priesthood. The hour of affliction is one when the heart is most softened to receive the truth; let us then with one hand offer the bread required by the perishing body, lest we be among those who say, "Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled," and with the other reach to them that precious bread of life, for lack of which their souls are destroyed.

The crisis is no common one, and it calls for no common exertion. Is self-denial an obsolete word in our

Christian Dictionary? Is it the first axiom of our charity to give only what we can without the slightest inconvenience spare! If not, now is the time for sacrifices. This is the month of festive meetings, surely some luxury may be curtailed, and the cries of famished Ireland will absolve us from every charge of penuriousness. This is the month when many Christian mothers will be welcoming their own happy children from their several places of instruction to the Christmas hearth. Maternal love devises many expensive schemes of pleasure for the Christmas holidays; will you not rather this winter read to them the tale of Ireland's famishing children; put it to them whether the expensive treat shall be relinquished and the cost sent to these suffering little ones, and we think we have mistaken the warm heart of childhood, if you do not see in their glistening eyes that you have thus provided for them a choicer pleasure, as well as inculcated a useful lesson of self-denial. It is impossible to name in detail all the schemes that economy combined with Christian love and sympathy may devise, but let us remember that these details are specially our own province; without diminishing the real comforts of our own circle, let watchful care this winter avoid every needless self-indulgent expense, and then let our surplus fund be laid at our Saviour's feet, an offering to clothe and feed his poor, and to spread his truth among the perishing souls for whom he died.

Many channels are open. Some may prefer sending help through private friends resident in Ireland. Some may have watched with special interest the Achill and Dingle Missions ;-these are now in special distress, as the priests are using the famine to drive the converts back to the Romish fold.-Food and help are the bait