and that there never was on establishment that stands more in need of a speedy reformation than that house, where four hundred Popish Priests are fed and educated by the liberality of a Protestant Government, and who are let lose upon the world to disseminate the unchristian and antisocial doctrines and principles of bigotry and intolerance, which they are taught in that house. To these Priests, who are the busy and active agents of Mr. O'Connell, may be imputed the pernicious system of agitation and other numberless calamities that now distract and afflict this unfortunate country. To these bigots may be imputed the calumnies that are every day heaped upon the Protestant Establishment, and to whose violent and inflammatory language from their altars may be ascribed the hatred and the murder of the Protestant Clergy of Ireland!!!

You have charged me with having opposed in Birr the spiritual authority of my Bishop-I deny the charge, and state the facts of the case:In the year 1826, a contest aross among the Roman Catholics of the Parish of Birr, regarding the alleged embezzlement of the chapel funds, by a certain committee in that town. In the month of May, 1826, a deputation from the great majority of the Roman Catholics of the Parish of Birr waited on Dr. O'Shaughnessey, the then Titular of Killaloe, to request of him to come to Birr, to accommodate this difference between the parishioners and the chapel committee. Dr. O'Shaughnessey being then in a delicate state of health, deputed his coadjutor, the present Titular of Killaloe, with full power and authority to make up the unhappy quarrel. The coadjutor Bishop accordingly arrived in Birr, but, instead of listening to the voice of the parishioners, whom he designated a ruffianly mob, and redressing their grievances and complaints, regarding the alledged peculation of the chapel monies by the aforesaid committee, (as in all justice he should have done,) he bowed obedience to the arbitrary fiat of the said committee, and their partizans the Priests-condemned the parishioners without a hearing or trial, and without waiting the investigation of the chapel accounts-of which, he said, he knew nothing, and wished to know nothing the coadjutor Bishop, laid the parish of Birr under an interdict, and with the plenitude, and with more than the boldness of the papal deposing power in its meridian fervour of the twelfth century, put the whole Roman Catholic population of the town and parish of Birr, with the excep tion of the chapel committee and their adherents, into one sweeping clause of ban and anathema; and proclaimed them rebels and usurpers, by whole circles of latitude and longitude.

I opposed, my Lord, in conjunction with the great majority of the Ro man Catholics of Birr, (who unanimously elected me their Parish Priest,) the present Titular of Killaloe; because, when Priest Kennedy suggested to the Titular of Killaloe the injudicious and anti-Christian policy of applying for the use of the military, to force himself upon the Roman Catholics of Birr, at the point of the bayonet, the Titular of Killaloe should have told this Priest, that the Church of Christ, though it be called militant, knows and authorizes no other arms, than prayer and the Word of God; that nothing was more opposed to the spirit of the gospel, than force, violence and bloodshed; that the Saviour of mankind left those instruments of destruction, to fanatics and imposters; that the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, and the armour of righteousness, were the only weapons he made use of for the propagation of his gospel; for the establishment of his religion, and for the conversion and spiritual regeneration of a world buried in sin and iniquity. Yes, my Lord, I did oppose, in conjunction with the great majority of the Roman Catholics of Birr, the present Titular of Killaloe, because he should have told this Priest, that it was not with the aid of the bayonet he was resolved to govern this diocese; that it was not by brute force and lawless violence he intended to subdue the independent spirit that now prevails in Birr, and that embarrasses and distracts his

administration; that it was not by an appeal to the sword he was determined to enforce obedience and submission to his authority in Birr, but by the moral force of opinion, by the mild spirit of the gospel, and by the vigour and energy of the spiritual canons and sacred ordinances of his Church. Yes my Lord, the Roman Catholics of the Parish of Birr, and I, have opposed the present Titular of Killaloe, because he should have declared that he could not give his sanction to one of his clergy, to prosecute his brother Priest in the criminal court, and before a lay tribunal, without infinite scandal to the faithful-without a gross and palpable violation of the established rules and discipline of his Church, which requires, under the heavy penalty, not only of suspension and excommunication but of degradation ipso facto from the exercise of all spiritual functions, that all differences among her clergy should be amicably adjusted before an ecclesiastical tribunal.— We did, my Lord, oppose the present Titular of Killaloe, because he should have told Priest Kennedy, that he did not know how to draw up a bill of indictment against an entire parish, and that he could not give permission to any of his Priests to do so, without doing a serious injury to his immortal soul, and committing a deep and deadly sin against God, and his holy religion.

We did oppose, my Lord, the present Titular of Killaloe, because he was ignorant, or had forgotten, that all power, whether spiritual or temporal, lay or ecclesiastical, is derived from God, and held in trust only for the benefit of mankind; and that he received his episcopal consecration for the good of religion, and the spiritual welfare of the people, and not for the purposes of persecution and oppression.-We did oppose, my Lord, the present Titular of Killaloe, because he was ignorant, or had forgotten, that he is the auxiliary of the faithful, and not their cruel and merciless task. master; their fellow labourer in the same vineyard, not lording it over their rights,but a helper of their weakness. In a word, my Lord, the great majority of the Roman Catholics of Birr, and I, did oppose the Titular of Killaloe, because he should have learned from the history of his country, and from experience, that persecution always served to attach the Irish Roman Catholics with the grasp of a dying convulsion to their religion and their Priests, and that the use of military force would only create a schism among the Roman Catholics of this parish, and would end in the total annihilation of his authority in Birr. What now is become of the charge of schism against me? Who is now the schismatic, the Titular of Killaloe or I? am I not justified, my Lord, to say to the unhappy Titular of Killaloe, as Fermilian said to Stephen Bishop of Rome, excidieti te ipsum, noli te fallere -"Do not deceive yourself, you have cut yourself off from the church; for he is truly a schismatic, who has made himself an apostate from the communion of ecclesiastical unity; for while you think you can excommunicate all other churches from you, you have only excommunicated yourself from them." Dum enimputas Omnes à te Absteneri posse, te ipsum Abseinuisti. (Cyprian Ep. 75. p. 228, Edit. Oxon.)

My cousin and I have resisted and withstood the encroachments of Prerogative; we have combated in defence of the people's rights; we have battled in the cause of pure and genuine Christianity; we have struggled against the in-roads of opulent oppression, and opposed the exercise of Popish tyranny and despotism; we have abolished the worship of saints and images, and the abominable superstitions of the scapular; we have put an end to the anti-christian system of the clay money, which was a gross imposition on the simplicity and credulity of the multitude-an absurd perversion of religion and common sense; we have exploded a most nefarious custom, which was generated by Clerical avarice, and perpetuated by the tyranny and despotism of the Priests; we have scourged the clerical abominations of the diocese of Killaloe upon the vicarous back of a drivelling and incapable administration; we have kept our ground in Birr during

ten years of the most unrelenting persecution that ever was recorded in the annals of either ancient or modern history, against the power and influence of the Papal hierarchy, against the persecution of the late Government; we have enlarged the views, liberalized the minds, expanded the ideas, and elevated the character of the Roman Catholics of the town and parish of Birr, and rescued them from the dregs of Popery and superstition; we have scouted and put to flight the damned and anti-christian doctrine of exclusive salvation, which among her many other usurpations, the Church of Rome has impiously arrogated to herself, and which is refuted in every page of the Gospel of a crucified Redeemer.

These, my Lord, are the happy fruits of the spirit and power of God, who has chosen me and my cousin as humble instruments to bring about a long-wished for reformation. We hope, that God, in mercy to his creatures, and in pity of the poor, ignorant, benighted Roman Catholics of this Country, will inspire other Priests with a knowledge of true religion, and with firmness and resolution to preach the Gospel boldly, and to rescue their flocks from the thraldom and superstitions of Popery. Let the blessings of education be diffused among the poor, let the Word of God get a wide and extensive circulation, and then, and not until then, will the lower orders be emancipated from the baneful and demoralizing influence of the Priests; then will the people see the unchristian traffic and merchandise that are daily made of their souls, by masses and purgatory, which are the inciters of clerical avarice and opposed to the Word of God: and then will they be convinced, that true religion consists in the simple belief of a crucified Redeemer, and in a life of piety, sanctity and holiness, without which, no soul shall ever see God.

The times in which we live, my Lord, are big with portentous events. There is, my Lord, a spirit of inquiry abroad-another light is bursting on the land-the march of intellect is progressive-the Priests are beginning to see the errors of Popery, and are heartily tired and sick of the working of the system. Let the Church of Rome abandon the errors and superstitions she has ingrafted upon pure and genuine Christianity: let her cast away from her with a generous scorn, and a holy inspiration, all those adulterous trinkets, which and the pledges of her alienation, from Christ and his Gospel, and the monuments of her shame; then, and not until then, will she return once more into the bosom of the Catholic Church; and to the original purity and simplicity of faith, which she preached when Paul addressed his Epistle to her; then will all jars, and jealousies, and heartburnings cease, in this unhappy Country; then will Protestants and Roman Catholics be united in the bond of one common Christianity, and then, and not until then, will, or can Ireland be called

"Great, glorious and free,

First flower of the earth
And first gem of the sea."

I have the honour, to remain, my Lord, your most obedient and humble servant,

MICHAEL CRotty.

A Sermon by Samuel Miller D. D.-Princeton, New-Jersy.

II. TIMOTHY 1. 12-Nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have be lieved; and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

THE trials of the pious, in all ages, have been made productive of great and lasting benefits both to themselves and others—perhaps we may say, it is generally under the pressure of adversity that grace is found with the brightest lustre. It is generally in the vale of affliction that believers are most conversant with God, and experience the largest share of the light of his countenance, and the joys of his salvation, And it is commonly in seasons like this, that they not only enjoy most comfort themselves, but are also enabled to display to those around them the power of religion to the praise of the glory of divine grace. Hence the illustrious reformner Luther, was accustomed to speak of afflictions as among the things which were necessary to the training of a minister of the gospel, and to fit him to be a guide and a comforter to others.

The pious, the heavenly-minded Paul was a constantly and deeply afflicted man. The sufferings which he underwent for the sake of the gospel were many and great. It might be almost literally said, that from the hour of his conversion to the hour of his death, some of the heaviest trials constantly awaited him:-cold, hunger, neglect, stripes, imprisonments, ship-wrecks-what a catalogue of sufferings! Indeed this was so uniformly his lot, that, when he was going up to Jerusalem on a certain occasion, he told the Elders of Ephesus, that he did not know what was about to befal him there; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me. When he penned the words of our text, he was confined in a prison at Rome, and expected in a little while to be called, as we have reason to believe he actually was, to lay down his life for the faith. But in these trying circumstances, he speaks the heroic language of our text:-Nevertheless, I am not

ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

My dear friends, the assured confidence in his Saviour which the apostle Paul here expresses was not confined to the early ages of the church-It was not an appendage to his office as an apostle; but a part of his experience as a humble follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a confidence which lies equally open to us. We have reason to believe, indeed, that such assured confidence was more common in the days of the apostles, and for some time afterwards, than at the present day. But probably the chief reason of this was, that the piety of that period was of a higher order than is prevalent now. But is there any necessity that this should be the case? Certainly not. We have the same gospel; the same promises, the same power of the Holy Spirit that blessed the church in those early days. It is a confidence, then, to which we may and ought all of us to aspire. But what is this confidence? Let us inquire a little into its NATURE-the FOUNDATION on which it rests;and its beneficial effects.-And may he who alone can bless his own word, make our meditations on this interesting subject truly profitable to us all!

I. Let us begin with examining, for a moment, the nature of this confidence. This inquiry is the more important, because there are those who deny that any such confidence as the apostle here expresses, can now be expected or enjoyed. They imagine that it was a blessing confined to the primitive church; to the days of miracle, and of extraordinary communication. They suppose, indeed, that believers may now cherish a trembling hope that the Saviour is theirs, and that they shall live and reign with him forever. But that they can ever be assured of this; that they can even venture to say that they know it, as the apostle does, they utterly deny, nay, some are even disposed to deride this assurance, whenever, it is claimed, as the offspring of either spiritual pride, or fanatical delusion. But, my dear brethren, this is manifestly an error. Is it pride to believe in God? Is it arrogance or presumption to be ready to trust his word,-to be assured that he will really accomplish what he has promised? No, brethren, it is no pride; it is no arrogance: it is only embracing and honoring Jehovah's promise.

Accordingly, we find this assurance cherished, in the highest degree, by the most humble, devoted and spiritual believers. We find holy Job; the devout Psalmist; the apostle Paul, and many others, speaking repeatedly and strongly in the confident language of our text; declaring that they know they are the children of God, and that a crown of glory is laid up for them. And more than this, we are solemnly exhorted in that blessed volume which is given us as a light unto our feet, and a lamp unto our path, in every age;—we are solemnly exhorted and enjoined to seek after this assurance, and to maintain it with sacred care. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure,-and again, give all diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end.

This blessed assurance of our personal interest in the Saviour, is by no means, indeed, essential to saving faith, or to the Christian character. In other words, a person may be a sincere believer in