The earnest minister

Preface

Soon after it pleased God, in His mysterious Providence, to call away my much loved friend and brother Tackaberry, in the midst of his usefulness, the idea of publishing a memoir of him arose in my mind. Some years since, his mother having committed to me his voluminous letters, ad<lressed to her and other members of his family, — ^letters written from the different circuits where he travelled, and which, with some to myself, supply a continuous narrative of his hfe and labours; ministerial brethren, formerly colleagues of Mr. T,, having encouraged me to undertake the task ; and feeling inwardly moved to perpetuate and extend, if possible, the usefulness of one whose name and memory are dear to many — the idea at last assumed the form of a resolution, whenever time and circumstances would permit.

Early last Autumn the thought occurred to me that should it ever be done, now was the time. It were easy to apologise for imperfections in the performance. All I can say is, that amidst the pressures of deep domestic anxiety, and of public cares and duties, I have done what I could to fulfil the purpose I had formed.

While such expression of confidence as was implied in the act by which Mr. T.'s venerable mother confided to me his familiar correspondence is grateful to one's feelings, it is right to say that otherwise I could

IV

never have executed the task proposed to myself. It is my pleasing duty also to acknowledge that the compilation has been assisted by communications from his Aunt Morris, of Saint Louis ; the Eev. James S. Waugh, of Skibbereen ; and Mr. George Grant, of the Star Assurance Office, London.

It may also be proper to state that, in transcribing Mr. T.'s language, no alteration has been made, verbal or otherwise, but what appeared necessary for publication ; while his meaning has, in every instance, been preserved in its integrity.

For two reasons, I have made Mr. Tackaberry, as far as possible, his own biographer. First : From the relationship subsisting between us by marriage, Mrs. Huston and he being sisters' children, I supposed that some might consider me unduly partial, had I spoken of him as strongly as I believed consistent with truth ; and, secondly : The high esteem in which ^ he was held on every circuit where he laboured, induced the persuasion that his own words will be read with the greatest interest and profit — thus constraining those who loved and admired him to say, while they feel : " He being dead, yet speaketh."

May it please the Father of mercies and God of all comfort to sanction the publication with His blessing !

E. H,

Belfast, March 31, 1853.

Chap. I. Inteoductory

Mission of Ouseiey and Grraliam to the aboriginal Irish — Time and manner of that appointment — Eev. Thomas Coke, LL.D. — AppointAient of Thomas Walsh — Its motive and object — Mission of 1799 opportune — Eebellion of 1798 — Objects of French sympathizers and of political and ecclesiastical Leaders — Presbyterians of Ulster — Legislative Union — Martial law — Protection secured by Government to the Missionaries — Anecdotes of Thomas Walsh— Instances of Ouseley's tact as an open-air preacher — His quenchless zeal — Euling passion — Miniature portrait — Characteristics of Charles Graham, William Hamilton, and Andrew Taylor — Common errors — Mr. Tackaberry's birth — Seasons of his ardent Protestantism — Sabbath-school training — Rev. John Wesley's estimate of Sunday schools — Rev. Mr. Mosse — Place and manner of his conversion — Priest Murphy's Chapel — Mr. Tackaberry's union with the Methodist society — Year of his conversion — Great religious revival — Efforts for the salvation of his family and friends — Conversion of his Uncle and Aunt Morris, of his brother John, and of his Aunts Gill and Eades — Remarkable death -bed testimonies — Extent of revival — Mr. Tackaberry's consecration to the service of God and his Church, the fruit of the Irish Mission — Immediate object to be aimed at in Sunday schools — Death of the Rev. A. Taylor. Pages 1 to 43.

Chap. II.--1818-1823. Skiebeeeen

Mr. Tackaberry's labours as a local preacher — Spiritual husbandman — Visit to Dublin — Interview with his Aunt Gill — Sanctified affliction — Heavenly mindedness — Preaches with success in Gravel-walk — Apostolic times — Days of W^hitefield and Wesley — Success of a preached Gospel then — Reasons — Enquiries — Mr. T.'s recollected habit the result of prayer —

VI

Eev. J. W. Fletcher on recollection— Notice of Summerfield — Missionary spirit — Mr. T. saved from desire for Dublin sight-seeing — Visits to Newcastle — Sketch of Mrs. Leslie — Visit to Captain Gordon in Kilmainham Gaol — Duty of Christians to prisoners and captives — Preaches again with encouragement in Gravel-walk — Missionary tour with Eev. A. Taylor — Glorious scenes in Arklow — Stratagem of the infernal enemy — Remarkable answer to prayer — Forbearing and forgiving charity of Rev. Charles Graham— Momentary faith — Holiness an essential qualification for office in the Church — Mr. T. elected representative to the Chapel Fund Committee — Journey to Dublin with Mr. Graham — Notices of the Rev. G. Marsden and Rev. R, Newton — Mr. T.'s acceptance on trial as a candidate for the ministry — Recommendation of him by Rev. R. Banks — Supplies the place of Rev. W. Stewart — Sent to Skibbereen to supply for Rev. S. Kyle — Grateful emotions — Dr. Coldstream — State of mind on arriving at Skibbereen — Reflections and enquiries regarding the vitally -Teligious interests of British soldiers — Captain Webb — Wesleyan missions in Gibraltar and China — Mr. T.'s purpose relative to purity of heart — Delightful work to a heart full of love, to a man full of strength — Sleepless care of Providence — Buoyant cheerfulness — ^" When sanctification is low, all is low in proportion" — Illustrations furnished by the Avritings of Rev. John Wesley, and the history of the Church of Corinth — Mr. T.'s usefulness on the Skibbereen circuit. Pages 44 to 76.

Chap. III.— 1823-1826. Mountkath, Boyle, Mounteath

Saying of Rev. Richard Baxter— Necessity for deep and exemplary piety in ministers — Views of Rev. J. A. James — Mr. Tackaberry's entrance on the Mountrath circuit — Conversions — Many adversaries — Discord among brethren — Determination to live and preach holiness — Grateful sense of benefits — Letter to his sister — Large congregations — Happy love-feast — Formation of bands— Holy meditations — Profitable intercourse with an aged Minister— Motto of the Baptist Missionary Society — Some saved every round — Memorable meeting in Mountrath — Important direction — Persuasive letter to his brother to turn to God^Remarkable love-feast in Abbey leix—Obliga-

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tions of Christians — Obtains the site of a new chapel from Lord De Vesci — Appointed to the Boyle and Killesandra circuit — Notice of Eev. J. S. Wilson — Description of the circuit — Great congregations — One of the happiest of men — Pastoral counsels — The height of his ambition— No small stir in several localities — Method of dealing with penitents — His ministry attended by the Gentry — Complacency in the prospect of Eternity — Keappointment to Mountrath — Impressions concerning the Rev. Thomas Kerr and his Wife — Spirit in which he entered upon the circuit — Experience of John Bunyan — Overwhelming seasons at Family prayer — Reflections on the death of Summerfield — Crowded congregations — Wise purpose — Blessed love-feast in Mountmellick — Union between him and his Superin-- tendent— Communion with God — Often reviews his Inheritance — Lessons taught by the death of friends — Government of the tongue — Satan's devices — Ministerial popularity — Characteristics of Mr. T.'s preaching — Religious meditation — Counsels to an apprentice — Duty of masters— Reasons of Mr. T.'s desire to attend the Conference. Pages 77 to 111.

Skilful adaptations of the Gospel required in cities and large towns — Mr. Tackaberry's appointment to the Dublin circuit — Solemn dedication of himself to God the morning after his arrival — Criticising Local preacher — Direct aim of his ministry appreciated — Reflections on the view from Nelson's pillar — Remarkable cases of recovery from illness — Baptist minister — Labour in prayer — Counsels to an afflicted Christian — Instances of success — Morning studies — Testimony of a soldier — Duty of thanksgiving — Enumeration of mercies — Division among ministerial brethren a calamity — Humbling meditations — Solemn feeling under a sermon in Abbey street — Journey to Belfast Conference — Scotch girl — Theological examination — Academical Institution — Rev. Gustavus Armstrong — Description of Mr. T.'s ordination, with that of Rev. Messrs. Price and Gillman — Notices of the Rev. Messrs. Watson and Bunting — Purpose on his re-appointment to Dublin — Preachers separate in great good humour — Reflections — Cheerfulness of Rev. John Wesley in submitting to inconveniences — Increase in

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Mr. T.'s Tuesday class — Brightening prospects — Sermon interrupted by cries for mercy— Baxter's Reformed Pastor — Gracious revival — Joyously liappy in extra duty — Richmond chapel — Sabbath-school sermon — Characteristic remark on depression produced by tri\'ial things — Remarkable meeting of Prayer-leaders — Bands — Testimony of aged widow — Healthy state of the society. Pages 112 to 146.

Mr. T.'s appointment to Drogheda circuit — Testimony to the character of Mrs. William Stewart — Unreserved devotion — Strong desire to understand Irish — Filial tenderness — Happy hour on the top of Forkhill — Animosity between the Celtic and Saxon races a barrier to the spread of the Gospel — Massacre of 1641 — Siege of Drogheda — Duties of the various classes of Protestants — Mr. T.'s Marriage — Character of Rev. A. Hamilton — State of the ckcuit — Plans and purposes — Conversion of Mr. Tackaberry's Grandfather when nearly ninety years of age — Increased congregations — Irish Teacher and his Wife — Letter on self -improvement — Godless wedding — Sense of duty to the Irish Conference — Hopeful indications — Searching and persuasive preaching — Specimen from sermon of President Davies of America — Revival at Cornakill — Spiritual and financial state of circuit at Conference — Mr. T.'s views of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill of 1829 — Counsels to his brother — Converted young men like a flame of fire — Penitents' prayer-meeting in Drogheda — Prominent feature of the revival — Large congregations — Interchange mth Mr. Holmes — Mother in Israel — Devotional reflections on the coach — Striking conversion of an aged woman — Day of thanksgiving — Anxiety for the salvation of his brother —Importunate letter — Happy result — Desire for Mr. T.'s continuance a third year — His own mind passive, and confident that God would choose his inheritance for him. Pages 147 to 179.

Chap. VI.-.1830-1835. Wicklow, Bandon.

Strong reasons for Mr. T.'s appointment to Wicklow — Mental conflicts-^Cheering feature in the Pilgrim's Progress— Wrest-

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lings against doctrinal error — Gratifying incident in Dublin- Sketch of a Williamite gentleman — Characteristic letter of Mr. T. to his youngest brother — Appointment to Bandon — First impressions — Kepeated renewal of covenant engagements — Saved from fear of cholera — Plans and proceedings when entering on a new circuit — Personal happiness — Aim in preaching — Meetings for young persons — Mutual duties of ministers and people — Whitefoot combination — Encouraging tokens — Cheerfulness of faith — The Christian's watchwords — Spread of revival to be traced instrumentally to united action among the office-bearers — Death of his cousin — Connexion between closet prayer and success— Stability of the new converts — Scripture study — Remarkable conversion — Services of Christmas-day, 1838, eminently happy and hopeful — Letter to a young friend on the happiness of being useful— Skeletons of sermons — Manner of the revival unusually gentle — Diversity of the Holy Spirit's operations — Marked features— Visit of Messrs. Fackman and Field — Circuit statistics — Devotional seasons in secret — Remarkable instances of the power of Grace — Wise resolve commencing his third year — Incident in the life of the Rev. William Smith — Original arrangement of a sermon — Useful ministers the subjects of sore temptations — Mr. T.'s plan of proceeding on such occasions — Much in company, yet much alone— Hannah More — Splendid Trifling — Homely but forcible figure illustrative of Methodism in the County of Wexford — Fervent longing— Principles of conduct in relation to circuit appointments. Pages 180 to 211.

Chap, VH.— 1835-1839. Deogheda, Belfast.

Ministers special objects of the care of Providence — Mr. T. an early riser— Saying of the Rev. William Ferguson — Instance of conversion — Mr. T.'s mode of instructing his children — ■ Interesting meeting in Dublin — Mrs. Myles— Grave hindrance to the spread of the Gospel in Ireland — Brighter day dawning — Mr. T.'s character of Mrs. Doolittle — Evils of a complaining spirit in the Church — Results of a persecuting Clergyman's efforts to extirpate Methodism — Plan for growing in favour with God — Visit of Rev, John Tackaberry, of America, tQ

Ireland — Eeflections — Mr. T.'s appointment to Belfast in 1837

Description of men and things — Opening of Frederick

street Chapel — Eev. Messrs. Newton and Lessey — Mr. T.'s employment of time — Eev. J. Wesley's opinion of the BeKast people — Letter of Mr. T. to a young preacher— Stimulus to increased piety and zeal — Usefulness, matter of contrivance as well as of resolution — Closet labour — Centenary movement — Happy deaths —Duties of a minister's wife — Weekly meetings for sermonizing — Opening of Wesley-Place Chapel — Notice of Eev. Charles Mayne — Pm-pose to get two new chapels erected — State of the cuxuit at the close of his second year — Vivid accoimt of a visit to the Giant's Causeway — Incidents in the early life of Dr. Adam Clarke — Out-door preaching — Largest love-feast— Triumphant end of a member — Eemarkable Prayer-meeting — Labours more abundant — Proportionate success — Safe, though sudden, death — Affecting circumstance at his departure from Belfast. Pages 212 to 241.

Chap. VIII.— 1840-1843. Coek, Londondeeey.

Historical notices of Methodism in Cork — Causes of its declension during the lifetime of Mr. Wesley — Measures em-ployed by him as a remedy — Mr. T. appointed to that city with the Eev. James B. Grillman in 1840 — Favourable ausinces — Mr. Field's classes — Mr. T.'s estimate of Mr. Gillman — Sketch of James Field — Baxter's memoirs — Sermonizing — Morning studies — Visiting plan — Enumeration of mercies on his bu'thday — Visit to Bandon — Eemark on Passage — Contrast between Belfast and Cork — Character of Mr. T.'s Step-father — Holy enjoyment a qualification for usefulness — Tenacious remembrance of acts of kindness shown him by Christian friends — Joyous visit to the Eev. Eobert Banks — Claims of parents, especially mothers, to filial returns — Encouraging state of the circuit in June 1841 — Seeks deeper piety under a sense of increased responsibility when made Superintendent — Missionary organizations — Affecting conversation with his yomigest son before he died — Mrs. Tackaberry's death scene— Pier character — Eesource under affliction and bereavement — Eemark on his Aunt Eades's praying faith— Prosperous state of the Irish connexion at the

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Conference of 1842 — Appointment to Derry — State of the circuit — Directions how to rise spiritually — Marries a daughter of the Eev. Daniel Pedlow — Agreeable visit to Belfast — Mis sionary tour— Distribution of time — Good done at Ballyfarnon and Drumshambo — Eenewed surrender of himself to God — Buoyant reference to Innishowen — Bemoval from Derry at the end of one year. Pages 242 to 268.

Chap. IX.—i843-1847. Belfast, Sligo,

Heasons of his removal from Derry — Souls saved almost immediately on his arrival at Belfast — Time devoted to household visitation — Pulpit preparation — Encouraging cases of conversion — Leases of ground for chapel in Shankliill and Mission school in Ligoniel — The ''Civil war" abates — Glorious Meeting at Shankhill — Effort to put down horse-racing — Weekly meeting of the four Ministers — Danger of lightly regarding the e very-day claims of religion — Manner of family prayer among the Puritans — Mr. T.'s Method — Immorality among Protestants — Affectionate mention of Dr. Aickin — Visit to the tomb of his loved ones — Notice of Mrs. William Stewart — Mr. T. an example of filial affection — Widow Magennis— Evangelical Alliance — Increased congregations — Close preaching — Twenty-five converted in one meeting — Donegall square — Ee» flections after a visit to his friends — Appointed to Sligo — Picturesque description of the manners and habits of the people — District meeting — Arrangement for an examination of the young men in May — Famine — Appalling condition of multitudes — Old Methodists — Money for relief of Irish distress — Mr, T. seeks to do spiritual good in his visits to the sick and poor — Saying of Charles Graham — Mr. T„ meets some of his own ehildren after the common faith at Annadale — Last letter- State in which he found the boy from whom it is believed he caught the fever — Death — His piety observably increased, and his ministrations more impressive, as his end drew near — Intense sympathy with the suffering poor — Solemnity of spirit at the May District — Alliance meetings — Desire for prosperity of the Sligo society — Prayer — Funeral sermon — Funeral attended by Eomanists from the country — Lines of Dr. Watt's. Pages 269 to 297.

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Chap. X. Conclusion.

Mr. T.'s mental, spiritual and ministerial portrait — Blending of main features — Greneral manner — Benevolent disposition — Deep and unaffected piety — Cheerfulness — Infirmities — Diligent as a student — Object of studies — Expository preaching — Puritan Divines — Eichard Baxter — Mr. T.'s Pulpit style and aims— Cowper's delineation of a preacher such as Paul — Mode in which Mr. T. descanted on the Atonement — Peculiarities—Character similar to that of Barnabas. Pages 298 to 306.

THE LIFE AND LABOUES

OF THE

KEY. FOSSEY TACKABERM.

Chap. I. Introductoey

Moved by the charity which beareth, believeth, hopeth, endureth all things, and never faileth, the Wesleyan Conference, held in Dublin, July 6, 1799, appointed Gideon Ouseley and Charles Graham as Missionaries to the aboriginal Irish. This charity was more than human compassion— it was the love of Christ constraining them. The appointment was made at the urgent request of an Englishman, the Eev. Thomas Coke, LL.D., President of the Irish Conference that year. Having recently established Missions in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and the West Indies, not only " Asia," but Ireland also, was " written upon" the Doctor's '* heart," He therefore formed a plan for introducing the Gospel among the benighted Eornish peasantry, by Irish- speaking Missionaries, a plan deemed impracticable by many, considering the character of the people, and the then state of the country; but which, over-ruling a host of objections, and Surmounting formidable difficulties, he carried into execution with his usual decision and energy. This Prince of Missionaries, as he has been sometimes called, like the Founder of Methodism himself, fer-

B vently longed for the evangelization of Ireland. ** O^ labour," he ^vrites to one of the preachers in a letter now before me, '• to kindle the same glorious flame in Birr as the Lord blessed us with in Dublin !" He lived to witness and to rejoice in such aflame throughout the length and breadth of the land.

Further evidence of the lively and affectionate interest taken by the Doctor in Ireland is furnished by the following extract from a communication addressed by him to the Rev. Thomas Eidgeway, a few years after the appointment of the Irish Mission : — " My long silence may, perhaps, lead you to imagine that my love for the brethren and the work in Ireland has abated. But I do assm-e you it is far from being so ; for, though I should be reluctant to trust any being with a full view of my heart, but Him who views it through the medium of the atoning blood, and whose candour is infinite ; yet I should have no scruple to consent, if it were possible, that you should see every winding of my heart in respect to Ireland, for you would see there nothing but love." Assigning his absorbing labour in finishing his commentary as the reason of his silence, he proceeds : — " On this account our Missionary fund has got again into debt, though nothing has been neglected which could forward the work carried on by the Irish Missionaries. It rejoices my very heart that your union with the English Conference is now so closely rivetted. May it increase more and more in everything consistent with the essential interests of the work in Ireland. I confess that when I came to you from the Conference at Leeds, I had my doubts whether it was not the design of Providence to separate the two connexions.

But the amiable spirit — I was going almost to call it the Divine spirit — which manifested itself towards you in the Bristol Conference, removed every doubt, and I do most sincerely pray that our Heavenly Father may unite tlie Methodists of East and West Britain in tlie closest and most indissoluble bonds in this world and to all eternity." These pages will show how the zeal thus manifested for the welfare of Ireland led to the conversion and subsequent usefulness of Fossey Tackaberry. But the Doctor's philanthropy was unconfined. One of the five Missionaries who accompanied him to India mentioned to me, that every morning on the passage he was wont to sing :—

" To me remains no place er time — My countiy is in every clime ; I can be calm and free from care On any shore, since God is there ; For regions none remote I call, Secure of finding God in all."

The Mission of Ouseley and Graham was opportune. The country was convulsed the previous year hj a sanguinary rebellion. Eecent events encouraged ■ — the times seemed to invite — such an outbreak. The American colonies, now the United States, had been declared independent by the British Government in 1783, after a sharp but fruitless struggle to maintain possession of them. The French, who aided the Americans in that war, gave flattering accounts, on their return, of the new Picpublic. The people at once thought they saw a nation free and wise ; and these " sovereign people," excitable and inconstant, soon gave practical and dread development to their ideas of liberty and equality, by beheading their King. Louis XVI. was led to the scaffold on the 21st of

Januaiy, 1793. Then followed the French Eepublic. The chief political leaders and instigators of the Irish rebellion had imbibed American and French principles, having personally visited those countries. Lord Edward Fitzgerald fought under the Marquis of Cornwallis in the war of independence ; Wolf Tone's connexion with the French envoy obliged him to quit his native countrv, and in 1796 we find him an accredited agent in a correspondence between the French Directory and the United Irishmen. Emmet was a determined Eepublican, trained in the same school ; Henry and John Shears resided in Paris during the Eeign of Terror, and, on their return home, boldly promulgated their revolutionary principles. Keogh had seiTed also in the American war.

Close students of human nature, and thoughtfully observant of passing occurrences, the Methodist Conference could distinguish between the motives and aims of the various parties concerned in the Insurrection of 1798. The object of France was to humble Britain, to weaken her power, to lessen her resources. Corsica had been again taken by the English, and Napoleon, in his pride and resentment, reluctantly spared a few thousands of the armies of Italy and of the Ehine — meagre and wan from severe hardships — to undertake, under General Humbert, an expedition to Ireland. The separation of Ireland from England — the organisation of an Irish Eepublic after the American or French model — but ultimately the acquisition of territory, and an increase of power, and glory — incited France to this aggression.-^

* " rtecollect America," said this Gerjeral in one of his manifestoes, " free from the moment she mshed to he so. Union \ Liherty ! the Irish Eepublic !"-— Maxwell.

Pure and disinterested patriotism was rare among the Irish Insurgents— not, indeed, in profession, but in practice. The political leaders concealed personal and selfish objects under the cloak of nationality, and, like others in later days, traded upon the simplicity and credulity of the populace to serve themselves. ^* While they promised them liberty, they themselves were the servants of corruption,"-'' Some of them were men of broken fortunes ; and this enterprise was embarked in as a bold speculation to retrieve them. Place and emoluDient could not fail to reward them, did they but succeed in the attempt. Others w^ere men of insatiable ambition, determined to climb to power, though they should peril life and limb. Such is the pride and folly of human nature that many, in different ages and countries, have jeoparded their lives to secure a brief notoriety and posthumous fam.e. Tone was the son of a coach-maker, and bred to the law, but, from his own confessions, the instability of his character was unsuited to the profession. Hence, with a family unprovided for, having failed through sheer idleness or incapacity at the bar, he became

^' Weary with disaster; tugg'd with fortune." He was one of those mercurial characters who cannot, or will not, dig ; who are ashamed to heg, and who spend a lifetime in wild speculations and insane projects. Other instances, to illustrate the above remarks, might also be adduced.

A careful reader of that portion of Irish history

will soon perceive that nothing was farther from the

intention of these men, generally, than to establish

Popery. Kather was it their deep-seated purpose to overthrow all forms of what they regarded as despotism, Emmet was, by his own avowal, a determined Infidel. The clergyman who attended him, after sentence of death had been pronounced, vainly tried to eradicate his erroneous opinions ; all arguments were unavailing. While proceeding to the place of execution, Emmet listened for a short time patiently ; then he replied, " I appreciate your motives, and thank you for your kindness, but you merely disturb the last moments of a dying man unnecessarily. I am an Infidel from conviction, and no reasoning can shake my unbelief"

The French invaders did not care to hide their contempt fertile superstitions of Kome. When, at Castlebar, a drunken Priest asked the General's permission to celebrate mass in the Protestant Church, Humbert laughed, and replied, that " he might say mass where he pleased, provided that he did not require him to attend it." The men openly boasted that they had just driven the Pope out of Italy, and did not expect to find him so suddenly in Ireland ; and the officers were astonished and disgusted to hear the recruits declare, when offering their service, that they were come to take arms for France and the blessed Virgin. The ruling idea of these adventurers, and of their leading political allies in the country, was the overthrow of the British Monarchy, and the establishment of a Democratic form of Government.

The object of the ecclesiastical leaders was not to substitute Monarchy by Oligarchy or Democracy — except so far as either mode might subserve their ultimate purposes — but to extirpate what they called heresy, and to make the Pope supreme Kuler. This design soon being made patent in the proceedings of the "Wexford Priests, nominal Protestants, with Eepublican predilections, like Bagenal Harvey, became the subjects, first of alarm and trepidation, and then of mortification and despair. The horrible atrocity at Scullabogue Barn, where a large number of Protestants, men, women, and children, were burned to death, by the express orders of a Priest, having provoked expressions of displeasure from that lay General, the presumption was punished by his deposition from the command. Father Corrin did not interpose to save the lives of the Protestants at Wexford Bridge until many of them had been massacred. This seeming act of mercy was only performed when certain information reached the town that Vinegar Hill was encompassed by the King's troops. His interference just then would be a natural expedient to save his own head.

The Komish peasantry can scarcely be said to have had different aims from their ghostly advisers. It may be that some of them hoped for temporal advantage when the Kepublican doctrine of equality in rank and property should have come into operation. Their chief business, according to their instructions, was to exterminate Protestantism, and thereby to merit Heaven. The great Irish evangelist, Ouseley, was even more disposed to pity than to blame the people. '•' God forgive the priests," he used to pray, wellknowing that the guilt of Irish ignorance and crime lay chiefly at their door. The populace — undiscerning, excitable, trained from childhood to commit their judgment, conscience, and will to the keeping of others, and therefore plastic in the hands of their guides — have too often been made the tools and dupes of designing demagogues. And yet a Komish prelate of '98 insinuates that the people w^je the instigators of the Eebellion, and that the priests, to retain their popularity and secure a livelihood, were forced to comply with the popular will. Charity would, if it could, believe that, in uttering this sentiment, the bishop was not speaking lies in hypocrisy.