"but till that wish can be accomplished, I heartily desire the lan'guage of the Minister may be always such as will best instruct "and edify his people most." The twenty-fourth Article of our Church, which is thus entitled Of speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth," declares itself much to the same effect in the following terms:-"It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God and the custom of the Primitive Church, to have public prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understood of the people." But still further, we find the Apostle St. Paul writing thus :-1. Cor. xiv. 6. &c. " If I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you ?" "If I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian; and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me :" and "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let one interpret." The chapter is too well known to require further transcription here. With such plain precepts placed before us, how does it appear that, for upwards of a century, not a single step has been taken by the Government, the Establishment, the Nation, or by Individuals, towards the accomplishment of this point, that the Ministers of the Protestant Churches shall be enabled, in the Irish districts, to speak or to preach in a known tongue to the people over whom they are placed as overseers, as instructors, and as spiritual guides.—I say, for upwards of a century, for we shall find, that this was not always so; we shall find that, influenced by the considerations of expediency, of necessity, or of duty, Princes and Ministers, Convocations and Parliaments, and also the wise and the learned of the times preceding Queen Anne's reign, not only encouraged the learning of the Irish language by those who had the cure of souls; but either enjoined its use in the spiritual instruction of the people, or endeavoured to facilitate its being practically and efficiently employed to that purpose. It will, perhaps, be a matter of surprise to many of those who read this paper, to find it to be a fact, that public establishments were founded in the University of Dublin, the object of which was to encourage and to assist in the teaching of the Irish language; and the funds of which have been directed into a channel different from that originally intended. As this is a truth of some novelty, and the facts connected with its history are generally unknown, while the subject above alluded to is one of the most important interest, I shall beg leave through you, to call the public attention to the following short detail :-I shall in the first place endeavour to shew forth the expediency or necessity of making use of the Irish language as a medium for communicating spiritual instruction to the people; and therefore of providing for the education therein of young persons who are destined for the ministry and this I shall do by arguments drawn from the reason of the thing, from experience or analogy, and from the high authority of eminent persons. In the second place, I shall treat of such popular, plausi : ble, or reasonable objections as may be, or have been, adduced against the measure. And thirdly, I shall propose a plan for the accomplishment of the object in view. First, then, I think I may assume it as an axiom, that, as there is confessedly a large proportion of the people of Ireland, and that of the most ignorant, most wretched, and probably the most lawless, which cannot be intelligibly, if at all, instructed in spiritual things, except through the medium of the Irish tongue, it becomes the Church Establishment to provide speedily and effectually the means for affording that instruction. These means are either the hearing or the reading of the Word of God; to the former of these I shall confine myself here :Common sense would suggest the necessity of paying attention to the prejudices of a people in forming any plan towards their improvement, which is proposed to them for their voluntary acceptance or refusal. Now, the attachment of the Irish to their native language is excessive, as they are particularly attentive to whatsoever is addressed to them in it it is the language of their hearts and of their prejudices; so much so, when taken in connection with their religion, that they have a tradition among them, that what they call heresy cannot be taught in the Irish tongue; and that Satan is dumb in that language. On the other hand, they associate in their minds, with the use of the English, not only heresy, but usurpation, and every feeling of religious and political suspicion or aversion. We may, indeed, assert with perfect truth, that in communicating with the people through the medium of their native language, we employ to our use a prejudice as strong as any other that they possess; and that, were the Protestant Minister enabled to do so, he would gain a double advantage against Popery, and against national prejudice; while this latter would thus be enlisted on his side to fight under the banners of the Cross, against its former ally. These are considerations of the utmost importance, in a case where stubborn predilections, and confirmed habits of thinking, strengthening the evil propensities of nature, and aided by all the powers of the prince of darkness, are to be subdued and expelled. It will perhaps be a wasting of time to dwell further upon this. I shall not therefore extend this head further than by remarking, first, that, if the use of the Irish Language gives possession of the peasant's heart, it must be used with respect to many in order to occupy their understandings also. It is clearly proved, that out of 7,000,000, the number of inhabitants in Ireland, one half million are ignorant of English altogether, and a million and a half more, although they can make use of English at the fair or on the road, employ the Irish colloquially in the cabins, and in it alone can understand a continued discourse. Secondly, that until Irish be understood by some of the gentry, an insurmountable barrier will continue to exist between the lower and middle classes of society; not only shutting out from the lower the full enjoyment : of the advantages of political, of friendly, and of intellectual intercourse with those by whom they might be thus benefited, but also of the moral advantages derived in this our day of spiritual energy, from the Sunday School, or from the attentions of pious and affectionate landlords or neighbours. I would lastly say, that if the Church of England will give no attention to this matter, she must be blind to the aspect of the times :-the people of Ireland are evincing a spirit of inquiry which not all the artifice and exertion of the prince of darkness can divert or overcome the Roman Catholic clergy, in addition to what is universally known of their anathemas against every thing connected with spiritual education, are publishing their peculiar works in the Irish tongue; and giving to the people Thomas-a-Kempis, Think-well-on-it, Roman Catholic Catechisms and prayers, and other tracts. They have also their professor in that language at Maynooth-thus enabling the students in that college to use it in their ministry. Finally, the gentry both of England and Ireland are turning their attention to the temporal and spiritual wants of the mere Irish peasantry, and anxious to assist in any rational plan towards relieving them.-I say that the Church of England must be utterly blind to these things if she remain inert, and either suffer inquiry to remain unsatisfied, or permit it to induce the confirmation of spiritual error, or to lead to the discovery of truth without the pale of the Establishment. These considerations are awfully important, and it may indeed be matter of surprize to future ages, how reflecting men could possibly have overlooked that engine as unimportant, which, in the hands of Popery now, is estimated so highly; and how the prelates of the Church could have joined in an annual vote to support an Irish professorship in the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth, and never once turned a thought towards providing the Protestant University with an appointment of a similar kind this is truly not only a desertion of the field, but an unconditional surrender of the spiritual vantage-ground which the Church possesses in these realms. I could extend this subject much farther, but I must be brief; and proceed to allude to such analogous cases as may strongly assist in support of the general argument. The only effectual method of obeying the command of our blessed Lord, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," (Mark xvi. 15.) is obviously to preach it in a language that is intelligible to the hearers: this method received the impress of Divine sanction on the day of Pentecost, and the · miracle which thus stamped it demonstrated it to be not only recommended but appointed by Jehovah. Such seems to have been the conviction of St. Paul, as is evidenced by his 14th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. After the gift of tongues was withheld, we find the first Christian missionaries learning the most uncouth languages, that they might be enabled to preach the Gospel to the most barbarous hordes of Africa, Gaul, and other savage parts of the then known world. While, in all ages, the Missionary has found it necessary to furnish himself, in the first instance, with the knowledge of the language spoken in the place of his destination. The 24th article of our church, which we have quoted above, demonstrates, that when Christianity in England was restored to its original simplicity, the primitive plan of its promulgation. was revived; and no sooner was the Word of God re-acknowledged to be its seed, than it was sowed in abundance, and congenially to the variations of the British soil. In the Isle of Man and in Wales the Liturgy and the Bible were read in the native language in the churches, and the ministers of religion were obliged to preach in it to their congregations: this has continued to the present day. Has a contrary system in Ireland made her more amenable to the laws of God or of man, or more civilized than these countries? Assuredly not. But, alas for Ireland! the wisdom of our ancestors, which had resorted to a similar policy here, with a view to promote the reformation of religion and the civilization of the people was not understood or justly appreci ated, and the attempts to do the like for Ireland became very early abortive. The historical consideration of these attempts, will serve to connect this division of the subject, with that of authorities exhibiting the experiment of its results, as it was anciently tried in Ireland by men of influence, and of intelligence. OBSERVATIONS ON THE STUDY OF HEBREW LITERATURE.-No: II: HEBREW VOWEL POINTS. THE marks called vowel points are affixed to the Hebrew letters to shew how each ought to be pronounced, and as the pronunciation of an ambiguous word must be a principal means of ascertaining its meaning, the affixing of these points has in such cases all the effects of a translation. Those who consider the vowel points an integral part of the language, derive them, some from Moses, some from Ezra, but all agree that they impart the sanction of Revelation to the interpretation which they exhibit. This opinion has been strenuously controverted, and it has been as strenuously defended by the following arguments : --- I. Vowels are necessary to all languages, and the points are the vowels of Hebrew. II. When Hebrew ceased to be spoken, they were necessary to preserve the true reading. III. Without them the text is ambiguous. IV. They are mentioned in an ancient work ;—the Book of Zohar. V. The Jewish writers have never mentioned the time of their introduction, which is presumptive proof that they were known time immemorial. VI. The Hebrew words in the New Testament are read as the points direct. The arguments to prove the points a modern invention, and to overthrow what the foregoing are supposed to establish, are as follows: I. Those letters called matres lectiorus, I are the Hebrew vowels. II. The Samaritan Pentateuch never had any points. III. The л90, the copy of the Law read in the Synagogues, supposed to be a perfect fac simile of the autograph of Moses, has no points. IV. The Talmud is silent on the subject, even where controversies respecting pronunciation are discussed, which the points would have peremptorily decided. V. The oldest various readings relate not to the points, but to the letters. VI. The LXX. was translated from an unprinted copy. VII. Origen and Jerome were unacquainted with the existence of the points. VIII. Elias Levi and Aben Ezra attribute the invention of them to the learned men at Tiberias. IX. The names of the points are not, like those of the letters, pure Hebrew; they are all Chaldee. We have already stated that one difficulty which perplexes a Hebrew student arises from the ambiguity of its terms. Here the vowel points will afford considerable assistance, if we are inclined to pay deference to the authority of the Jews; for unquestionably the present system of pointing has preserved the traditionary pronunciation and interpretation, as far as the latter depends on the former. It is in this light that the study of the points is important; and it will be found that our authorised version seldom deviates from the interpretation exhibited by the points; at the same time the marked manner in which it has done so in some places, is sufficient to shew that there was no intention to follow it implicitly. To commence learning Hebrew according to the points will be found to increase the Hebrew tyro's difficulties so much as to render it impossible for him to proceed without an instructor, as he may do if he discard the points. Should he afterwards deem it necessary to learn the system of points as a guide to |