A MIRACLE-MONGER. 99 to interfere. The cries of the innocent victim did not touch their hearts, and its little hands were stretched out towards them for help in vain. "Now, granting that this man was mad, which we must charitably believe, what can we think of the people-of the parents-that could passively behold a deed so horrifying? Indeed, so blinded were they by their notions of sacerdotal power, that they believed the deluded creature, when he promised that he would return and bring the child to life again!* Must not such pretensions to miracles-succeeding through well-sustained fraud, or failing through clumsy mismanagement-have the effect of disgusting the rational and educated portion of the community, and leading them to look with suspicion on all religion? Thus genuine piety is smothered by the weeds of superstition, which flourish so rankly on every side, and spread abroad so rifely their baleful influence; or it is blighted by the more subtle and secret influence of an infidelity which penetrates to the very root, * The facts of this heart-rending case were all established by the evidence on the trial of the Priest, who was acquitted on the ground of insanity. His name was Carrol, and the occurrence took place in Bargy, a barony that has produced ten times as many Priests as any other in Ireland. leaving little that is really good to cheer the philanthropist or the patriot. That which the locust hath left, hath the canker-worm eaten."" I confessed that the pretensions and practices to which he alluded, were calculated to have the effect attributed to them, and that they did exert it to a considerable extent on my own mind. He then put a book into my hand, stating that he hoped I would study it, and that he would be glad to hear from me again. Beattie's I found that the book was Dr. "Evidences." I read it, but not with much profit, although it brought to my mind some new and important views of the Gospel, nor much interest, except what was awakened by the beauty of the style. I called on two other ministers, to both of whom I had been previously known, and who had shewn me great kindness. They were men of talent, the one being imaginative in the cast of his mind, and the other scientific; but, unhappily, neither of them was pious. I do not mean to say that they were immoral; on the contrary, more amiable, kind-hearted and honourable men do not exist; but they were not "born again;" they did not rightly understand the Gospel, nor feel it to be the power of God to their own salvation. They preached not from an anxiety PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 101 to win souls to Christ, but because the "duty" must be done. Their sermons, as pieces of composition, were beautiful; but, as expositions of Christian doctrine and experience, meagre in the extreme, and utterly worthless. No conscience was alarmed; no sinner aroused from the sleep of death. If they reached the conscience at all, it was with the touch of a feather, and not with the piercing energy of the sword of the Spirit. It is not, my dear friend, from such preachers as these, that you can learn what Protestant doctrines are, and the effects which they produce. In alluding to one of these clergymen, I am reminded of a circumstance on which I sometimes reflect with melancholy interest. He had some near relatives, that possessed large property m the West Indies, from one of whom he received an appointment for me as overseer on one of his plantations. But I was providentially withheld from availing myself of it. Had I gone out, instead of addressing you as a minister of the Gospel in Ireland, I would, in all probability, be holding the lash over the wretched slave, among the cruelist of the cruel, and the vilest of the vile, in that region of abominations. But, perhaps not. I might have heard the Gospel, and been converted through the instrumentality of the missionaries, and become a preacher of that faith which I once destroyed. Or, like the saintly Newton, Imight, after a course of iniquity and wretchedness, have returned to my native land, a living monument of omnipotent grace, destined to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to the chief of sinners. How often does our heavenly Father lead us by a way which we know not, and how foolish to murmur at his appointments! "The ways of heaven are dark and intricate, Therefore, submission to the Divine will is not only a duty, it is our highest interest. These gentlemen promised to take several copies each, but refused to have their names announced, as they lived on good terms with the Priests, and were unwilling to give them offence. The next clergyman I visited, was manifestly a different character from any of the others. He was clever, intelligent, fluent, exceedingly active, and entirely devoted to the interests of the church. He hastily glanced over my manuscript, and FALSE DELICACY. 103 perceived that the mind of the writer, not being enslaved to human authority, nor bewildered with superstition, was in a proper state to canvass freely and independently the doctrines of religion. He entered at once into the discussion of the questions at issue between the Church of Rome and England. From this course of proceeding, many Protestants are restrained by a delicacy of feeling, very amiable, indeed, but very injurious to the cause of truth. "You are studying, Sir," said a Methodist minister to me once, as I sauntered along the road to school, conning a lesson in my French grammar. "Yes, Sir, I am doing a little that way." 66 Right, my young friend, nothing like acquiring knowledge. It is the food of the mind, which requires to be nourished as well as the body." After a few remarks to this effect, he shook hands with me and rode on. Now, he should not have stopped there. He should have told me of the spiritual wants of the soul; of the bread of heaven that came down for the life of the world, and of kindred subjects. In four cases out of five, I think the judicious introduction of religious topics would be well received by Roman Catholics, and a single conversation of this description, might ultimately issue in the |