IRISH CHRONICLE.
MAY, 1835.
At the particular request of the Rev. J. Allen, and for the satisfaction of those friends who have kindly and liberally assisted towards defraying the debt incurred by the erection of the Chapel at Ballina, the statement of the entire account, and the several sums contributed, appear in this number of the Chronicle. As the funds of the Society are not at all applicable to the building of places of worship, but as their erection has, in more instances than one, become indispensable, and such necessity, it is hoped, may recur again and again; it is certainly due to those liberal persons, who thus aid the cause of the Redeemer, distinctly and gratefully to acknowledge their Christian benevolence.
To the Secretary.
Ballina, March 19, 1835.
My dear Brother,
In this packet, I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your kind favour of the 10th instant, and herewith forward to you the Journal of the Readers for the past month, as also the account of schools, &c., for the present quarter. I have also to acknowledge the receipt of several sums of money, towards the liquidation of the debt upon the Meeting-house in this town, which you will find upon another part of this sheet. The sum actually expended is now £328 10s., and the contract for finishing, £91 10s., making in all £420. Of this I have received, clear of expenses, £232, for which, as well as for the acts of personal kindness shown to me when in England, I beg, through the medium of the Chronicle, to present my warmest thanks. I had hoped to have heard, ere this, what sum the Building Fund, on which this case has been admitted, was likely to produce. My best thanks are due to Mrs. Holland, of Bristol, especially, who kindly, and without any solicitation, forwarded us £5. If some of our wealthy friends in England, bearing in mind how injurious it must be for an individual to be absent for any length of time from a missionary station, and an infant cause, would imitate her example, it would not only confer a personal favour, but essentially serve the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom in this place. The trust deed, by which the property has been made over to the Baptist denomination, has been examined by the respectable solicitor of the London Building Fund, and is approved.
It is in your recollection, probably, that the late Government ordered, some time before they left office, a new census of the population of Ireland; in which was to be shown the relative numbers of Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Dissenters; as also the number and kind of schools in each union or parish. One of the Commissioners was here on Tuesday last, and, as a proof of the awful extent to which superstition prevails, it appeared, soon after an amended census had been produced and sworn to, by the Protestant clergyman, that not more than one out of thirty, in this large union, can be considered even as nominal Protestants. And, in a conversation with the priest, on the following day, as a confirmation of what I have frequently stated, "I am perfectly sure," said he, "that if you go round any day to all your schools, and ours, and the minister's, you will not find in the whole of them 100 poor Protestant children." In the examination of our schools, before the commissioners, though we have invariably insisted upon the introduction of the Scriptures, yet they were scarcely inferior to any, and, in the general, superior to most, both in numbers and regular attendance. Let it not be said in future, then that the Roman Catholics, the children of whom compose the bulk of our scholars, would not, unless violently opposed by the priesthood, be anxious to possess and study the word of God. And let our friends, whilst they have it upon the testimony of the priest himself, that it is his flock we are educating in our schools, be more earnest and zealous in this good cause; hoping and praying that through the instrumentality of these schools, the present race of children may be delivered from the superstition of their fathers.
I have, since my return, preached at Easky, Mullifarry, and Crossmolina; at the two former places to large and attentive audiences. The people on all sides are exceedingly desirous to hear. On Sunday last, I again administered the ordinance of Baptism in Ballina. The Lord, I trust, is preparing others to submit to the dictates of his blessed word. Oh that he would make us, who are engaged in this blessed work, more humble, circumspect, watchful, and zealous! and then we might hope for larger and more extensive success. Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified.