Monday, 3rd. Morning, Eleven. WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Annual Meeting, City-Road Chapel. Joseph Butterworth, Esq. M. P. in the Chair. Monday, 3rd. Evening, Half-past Six. CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, St. Bride's, Fleet-street, Rev. Fountain Elwin. Tuesday, 4th. Morning, Twelve. Annual Meeting, Freemasons'-Hall, Admiral Lord Gambier in the Chair. Tuesday, 4th. Evening, Seven. IRISH SOCIETY OF LONDON. Annual Sermon, St Paul's, Covent-Garden, Rev. G. Mutter, A. M. Wednesday, 5th. Noon, Twelve. BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. Anual Meeting, Freemasons'-Hall. Rt. Hon. Lord Teignmouth in the Chair. Wednesday, 5th. Evening, Half-past Six. PRAYER BOOK AND HOMILY SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, Christ Church, Newgate-street, Rev. Basil Wood. Thursday, 6th. Noon, Twelve. Annual Meeting, Stationers-Hall, Ludgate-Hill. Thursday, 6th. Evening, Half-past Six. LONDON SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE JEWS. Annual Sermon, St. Paul's, Covent Garden, Rev. Leigh Richmond. Friday, 7th. Noon, Twelve. Annual Meeting, Freemasons'-Hall. Friday, 7th. Noon, Twelve. MERCHANTS' SEAMEN'S AUXILIARY BIBLE SOCIETY. Annual Meeting, City of London Tavern. Admiral Lord Exmouth in the Chair. Friday, 7th. Evening, Seven. Clement's Danes, Rev. W. Marsh. Saturday, 8th. Noon, Twelve. Meeting, Freemasons'-Hall. H. R. H. Duke of Gloucester in the Chair. Monday, 10th. Noon, Twelve. Annual Meeting, Freemasons'-Hall. Monday, 10th. Noon, Twelve. BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY. PORT OF LONDON SOCIETY. Annual Meeting. Monday, 10th. Evening, Six. LoNDON ITINERANT SOCIETY. Annual Meet ing, City of London Tavern. Samuel Robinson, Esq. in the Chair. Monday, 10th. Evening, Half past Six. MORAVIAN MISSION. mon, St. Catherine Cree, Leadenhall-street, Rev. Hugh M'Neile. Annual Ser Tuesday, 11th Morning, Six. SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. Annual Breakfast, City of London Tavern. Joseph Butterworth, Esq. M. P. in the Chair. Tuesday, 11th. Morning, Eleven. PORT OF LONDON SOCIETY. Annual Sermoni, On Board the Floating Chapel, Rev. John Clayton, Sen. Tuesday, 11th. Noon, Twelve. NAVAL AND MILITARY BIBLE SOCIETY. An nual Meeting, Argyll Rooms, Regent-street. Tuesday, 11th. Afternoom, Three. Pont of LONDON SOCIETY. Annual Ser mon, On Board the Floating Chapel, Rev. John Reynolds. Tuesday, 11th. Evening, Six. IRISH EVANGELICAL SOCIETY. Annual Meeting, City of London Tavern. Thomas Walker, Esq. in the Chair. Tuesday, 11th. Evening, Half-past Six. CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, St. Clement's Danes, Rev. Hugh M'Neile. Wednesday, 12th. Morning, Half-past Ten. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, Surry Chapel, Rev. Henry Townley. Evening, Six. Annual Sermon, Tabernacle, Rev. Thomas Smith. Thursday, 13th. Morning, Half-past Ten. Annual Meeting, Great Queen street Chapel. William Alers Hankey, Esq. in the Chair. Evening, Six. Annual Sermon, Tottenham-court Chapel, Rev. Edward Irving. Friday, 14th. Morning, Six. RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. Annual Breakfast, City of London Tavern. Joseph Reyner, Esq. in the Chair. Friday, 14th. Morning, Ten. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, Christ Church, Newgate-street. Evening, Six. Annual Communion, Sion, Silver-street, Kennington, and Orange-street Chapels. Sermon to Juvenile Auxilia. ries, Spa-fields Chapel, Rev. Dr. Collyer. Saturday, 15th. Noon, Twelve. BRITISH SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING REFORMATION OF Female Prisoners. Annual Meeting. Friends' Meeting-house, St. Martin's-lane. Saturday, 15th. PROTESTANT SOCIETY FOR PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS LI BERTY. Monday, 17th. Evening, Six. HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, Poultry Chapel, Rev. H. F. Burder, M. A. Tuesday, 18th, Morning, Eleven. Annual Sermon, Crown-court Chapel, Covent garden, Rev. John Reynolds. Evening, Six. Annual Meeting, Spa-fields Chapel. Alderman Key in the Chair. Tuesday, 18th.. Evening, Six. CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. Annual Sermon, Great Queen street Chapel, Rev. Dr. Wardlaw. Wednesday, 19th. Noon, Twelve.. Annual Meeting, Crown and Anchor, Strand. Sir Thomas Baring, Bart. M. P. in the Chair. Wednesday, 26th. Evening, Six. AGED PILGRIMS' FRIEND SOCIETY. AnDual Mecting, Zoar Chapel, Alie-st. Goodman's fields. Rev. Dr. Collyer in the Chair. Frish Chronicle. LETTERS from the Rev. Messrs. | No. 2-Certificate of Major Colpoys. Vaughan and Carr having again* ap- To the Editor of the Norwich Mercury. SIR, The Committee of the Baptist Irish Society, after having perused the letters of the Rev. Messrs. Vaughan and Carr, &c. published in your paper of the 21st of February last, resolved that it was necessary that some counter-statements should be procured, and sent you for publication, lest an impression should be left upon the minds of any of your readers, unfavourable to the agents and friends of the Society in Ireland. They have the fullest proof that Guerin and Bush, whose characters have been much aspersed by gentlemen of the Roman Catholic persuasion, are men of truly respectable character, who have, there is good reason to conclude, left that community because they have discovered the Anti-christian errors of the system in which they had been educated.. The Committee are persuaded the subsequent letters, several of them written by persons of rank and distinction, and the others by those who, from being intimately acquainted with the proceedings of the Society, are competent to give an opinion as to their blameless and beneficial tendency, will prove satisfactory to an impartial public; and therefore they will take no further notice of any statements made by Messrs. Vaughan and Carr. JOSEPH IVIMEY, GEORGE PRITCHARD, Secretaries. (COPIES.) No. 3-Certificate of Thomas Mahor, No. 4-Certificate of the Rev. William No. 5-Attestation of the Persons No. 1. Moynoe House, Scariff, MY DEAR SIR,-In consequence of No. 1-Letter from the Rev. Sir John practised on the inspectors of the Read. * See Chronicle for March last. schools, by gathering together children for the purpose of passing inspection, this never, to my knowledge, has occurred, or could, without detection. / veral months past, I performed my fa-The class lists and daily reports are ther's duties, in consequence of his besufficient alone to contradict this state-ing unable to do so, being confined to ment. Mrs. Farrell has never been in the employment of the Baptist Society; but Mr. Fraser, the inspector of the Hibernian Society, has lately opened a school for her, at the opening of which some children were, of course, collected. his house from the effects of wounds he received from the hands of assassins. Mr. Vaughan must allow, my pri.. vate property itself has been quite sufficient to afford me every comfort, and that my adoption of the church, for my profession, was from choice, and not from necessity. I still, fearless of contradiction, con- With respect to M'Carthy's affidavit, tinue to assert, that the Baptist So- having spoken to him on the subject of ciety were the first persons who stept it, he, before several persons, replied forward to afford education to the poor to me in the following words :-"It of this benighted neighbourhood; and cannot be helped ! ! ! at any rate, sure, I do affirm, that, up to this hour, the | Sir, Guerin need not complain, for you Kildare-street Association never es- have given him a cheaper and better tablished a school in this vicinity, or house than mine, and which will anunder my patronage. It is true they | swer him better ! ! !” thereby, I think, have most humanely aided my views, implying he did take away the house by instructing the teachers in the ap- from him. proved system of education-have granted some money to provide furniture, have given books, and, on their | inspector's report, have granted gratuities to the most deserving of the teachers; but, as to a salary, never has one been given, or a school been opened by them they have only acted in furtherance of the exertions of indivi- | duals of other societies. The adults, who have received instruction from the Irish readers, are so numerous, that, in fact, it would be tedious and impossible, in the scope of a letter, to enumerate them, and several of those who have seceded from Popery have signed a document, expressing their sentiments, which has been sent you. With respect to the insinuation of Mr. Vaughan, why I have been removed from the commission of the peace, the following extract from a letter which I received, by order of the Lord Chancellor, will fully explain that matter: "SIR-Your name, with many others of respectability, was included in the general supersedeas which issued, and the same was not occasioned by any imputation affecting your character or conduct." I cannot but wonder what could induce Mr. Vaughan to insinuate, he did not know me to be a clergyman, or that he never heard of any part of the church being committed to my care, when it is a notorious fact, that I have, since my ordination, been in the constant habit (with the consent of my several diocesans,) of assisting my father, and other clergymen, in the ex- | ecution of the duties of their ministry, particularly every Sunday these se | On Sunday, 26th January last, Mr. Edward Powers, before respectable persons, openly censured Mr. Vaughan's conduct, in turning Bush out of the chapel; his letter, therefore, so contrary to what he then expressed, is truly amazing, but such is the influence of priestly authority. I now shall conclude, having, I hope, sufficiently answered every statement in this gentleman's letter. I remain, my dear Sir, No. 2. I CERTIFY that I have been for about four years well acquainted with the progress and conduct of several of the schools established by the Baptist Irish Society in this county. Three of them I have constantly visited, and I can, with strict truth, affirm, that, notwithstanding the opposition given to them from time to time, they have made great progress, and have already, I trust, been a source of great benefit to the children who attend them. I know of no one instance in which the masters or mistresses of these schools have been guilty of any misconduct. I know that the teachers of all these schools, which have fallen under my inspection, have been punctually paid their salaries, as I do believe they have well deserved them. I have been so thoroughly convinced of the blessings conferred on our poor ignorant peasantry, by the benevolent exertions of the Society, that Mrs. Colpoys and I have become subscribers to it for the last two years. After a careful investigation of the principles on which the different societies, who afford the benefits of a moral and religious education to our poor, proceed, I have preferred putting a school, under my care, under the protection of the Baptist Society, and I have every reason to feel pleased at having done so. The Rev. Mr. Thomas, who, for some years past, has, with indefatigable zeal, devoted himself to the care of these schools, has never, to my knowledge (and I think he could not in this neighbourhood do it unknown to me) interfered in any manner with the religious principles or doctrines of the Roman Catholic children in them; and, though these few lines will probably pass through his hands, he must excuse me for adding, that I feel a peculiar pleasure in this opportunity of adding my testimony of approbation of his conduct, in every particular, to those which will, I am sure, be offered by every unprejudiced person he may think proper to appeal to. J. COLPOYS, Justice of the Peace for the Bally can, 17th March, 1$24. No. 3. Ir would, in my mind, be deeply reprehensible in any one desirous for the moral and religious improvement of the benighted peasantry of this country, to withhold his fullest declaration of the benevolence and zeal manifested by the Baptist Irish Society, and those connected with it here, especially in the present war of opposition raised against it; and, with this feeling, I cannot refrain from expressing my humble testimony, that of all the societies now engaged in the melioration of our population, not one has been more actively or extensively useful amongst us. Its operations have been prior to those of any other, and the principal sphere of them (the neighbourhood of Scariff,) the remotest and most darkened part of this county. I have seen, with great pain, the length to which those who are opposed to the dissemination of the holy scriptures have been tempted to proceed, in circulating statements appearing (as far as I can trace them,) to be malicious and unfounded, respecting this Society; but, however such conduct may be deplored, it is consolatory to reflect, that it affords but another corroborating proof of the Society's ́efficient proceed ings. The diffusion of the blessed Word of God must ever excite the enmity of those opposed to it.-This, and this only, is "the head and front of the Society's offending." I trust, however, notwithstanding the present opposition, which, I am free to admit, has lessened the numbers of the children in attendance upon some of the schools, that the people of this country will soon clearly see the blessings of the religious education offered them, and that the friends of this Society will not be induced, by any circumstance, of the description that has occurred, to lessen their exertions in aid of its most desirable and benevolent objects. The conduct of the masters, mistresses, and readers, as far as I have had opportunity of judging, has been unexceptionable; and, though this paper will pass through the hands of the Rev. Mr. Thomas, it would be injustice to him, on my part, not to add, that a more active, zealous, and indefatigable minister, the Society cannot have. THOMAS MAHON, Ennis, March 17, 1824. No. 4. Clare, Ennis, 18th March. THE Baptist Society have a school in the parish of Clare, which I have frequently inspected, and this circumstance has not only made me acquainted with the principles of the Society, as it respects education, but also led to an intimacy with the Rev. Mr. Thomas, superintendent in the district. In my opinion, the system of education is that most calculated to be of use among the poor of this part of the kingdom, and was it not for the opposition of the Romish priesthood, the schools every where would be crowded. I have uniformly found any suggestion or complaint unfounded, as to the conduct oft emasters, attended to by the Rev. Mr. Thomas, and his selection of masters and mistresses most unexceptionable. In this parish, the Baptist Society school flourishes, while one I had established, in connexion with the Kildare Place Society, has been put down by the denunciations of the Popish priest. As the system in the two schools was nearly the same, I attribute the existence of the Baptist school, at present, to the judicious selection of a master. As to the disposition of the people generally, I know it to be favourable to education, and I can confidently state, that the parents or children have no objection to the scriptures, and, was it not for the (almost) weekly denunciations at the chapel, would gladly forward the views of this, and every other Society which has the moral and religious improvement of the peasantry at heart; but, witnessing, as I do, the constant and unabated hostility which exists to the dissemination of the Word of God, and, knowing the principles of the Baptist Society, as to education, and committing the scriptures to memory, I feel it my duty to state that I do not think either the superintendent or masters could conscientiously perform their duty, without bringing on them the marked displeasure of the Roman Catholic priesthood. WM. YOUNG, Minister of the Established Church No. 5. (for whose spiritual and temporal wel fare we feel deeply interested,) were compelled to withdraw their children from some of the schools, which, being fully sensible of the advantages they derived from them, both in education and morality, they did with the greatest grief and reluctance. We also feel grateful to the Kildare Place Society, for promoting the education of the poor of Ireland. Mr. Mills, their inspector, having visited several of our schools, and considerable premiums having been awarded and paid to some of us, in consequence of his report of their improved and flourishing condition, for the truth of which we would beg leave to refer to that gentleman, and to the valuable and respectable Society by which he is employed. Although some of the masters and Irish scripture readers have left theChurch of Rome, we solemnly declare, that no individual, connected with the Baptist Irish Society, ever solicited them or us to become members of the Baptist denomination, or interfered in any way with the religion of the children in the schools, or made any attempts to proselyte them, nor have any of those who have so left the Roman Church, become members of the Baptist Church. Given under our hands, the 18th day of March, 1824. Signed by twenty-nine persons. No. 6. WE, the undersigned schoolmasters, schoolmistresses, and readers of the Irish Scriptures, under the Baptist Irish Society, in the county of Clare, &c. in contradiction of the false and unfounded assertions of Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Carr, parish priests of Scariff and Norwich, pub lished in the Norwich Mercury of the 13th December, 1823, and 21st February, 1824, saying, "If those Protestants in England, who have subscribed to Mr. Ivi-habitants of Scariff and its vicinity, in WE, the undersigned, Protestant inmey's Society, knew the use made of contradiction to the false assertions of their money, I am persuaded they would not give a farthing :" and that priest Vaughan, in a letter which apthere were no schools in the counties peared in the Norwich Mercury of the 13th December, 1823, in which he of Clare and Galway; do hereby certify, that we have been regularly and states, "In justice to the Protestants of this neighbourhood, I must say that punctually paid the whole of our sala- they, with one only exception, join ries respectively as they became due, with every Catholic in reprobating the every three months, by the Rev. Wm. vile and insidious system of proselytThomas, for which we feel truly grate-ism, under pretence of education, and ful to the Baptist Irish Society, and to those kind friends who have assisted them in the work of faith and labour of love, and especially for their great kindness in advancing our salaries before they became due, during the period, in 1822, when famine so widely prevailed throughout the country. We also certify, that our schools had been in the most prosperous and flourishing condition until the commencement of the present quarter, when the violent threatenings and denunciations of the priests, especially of Mr. Vaughan, of Scariff, considerably prevailed-therefore many of our poor, ignorant, and deluded Roman Catholic neighbours, they justly consider, that it is only calculated to make hypocrites and imPostors, to excite religious dissensions, and to procure no good whatabove paragraph is utterly false, and ever;"-do hereby certify that the that we have not, either in public or private, directly or indirectly, joined nation, in reflecting on a humane and with him, or any others of his denomibenevolent Society, whose object, we are confidently assured, is the temporal and spiritual welfare of the poor of this miserable and benighted country.-Given under our hands, March, 1824. Signed by twenty-five persons. |