more faith, which shall quicken prayer, and more devoted love to Christ, which shall make all alike, labourers and supporters of this work, realize its spiritual character, and resolve to take advantage of every opening which the Lord presents in his providence. A deeply solemn and earnest meeting for prayer was held on the 16th of January, in the Mission Office in London, and many similar meetings were held on the same day. Encouraged by every token of good which we are permitted to experience, and in strong faith which shall raise us above every difficulty of our present position, may we "go forward" in dependence on our gracious God in the great work to which He in his mercy has called us.

"God our Father waiting stands,
Mighty blessings in his hands!

Ye who would these blessings share,
Come to praise and come to prayer!"

A Funeral at Errismore.

We have received the following interesting account of the happy death of a convert, and solemn funeral scene, from the missionary at Errismore :

"On Saturday, an aged convert from Romanism passed from time into eternity, leaving his garment of clay to resume it at the first resurrection. His faith was strong, and his peace unclouded to the last. So peaceable indeed was his end, that his family, who surrounded his bed, were not aware of the change for a long time, but believed that he slept. His last words to me were, I shall soon see Jesus as He is, I long to see Him. He is my Saviour, since my soul was brought to know Him, and I renounced the wafer to follow Him, the type for the antitype, the shadow for the substance; He is my all in all !'

"We buried him on Monday in our new burial-ground, the site of which was selected and marked by Mr. Dallas and the Bishop of Rochester on the occasion of their last visit to Derrygimla last September.

"There was a large concourse of people at the funeral, over 160 Protestant members of our two congregations, and many Romanists. I read the funeral service, and preached,

and that beautiful hymn, 'Rock of Ages,' was sung over the grave. This was the first Protestant ever buried in Errismore, as such, with the Service of his Church read, or in a Protestant burial-ground. Groups of Romanists assembled at various places, among whom the priest himself was observed, to witness the procession of a Protestant funeral within the parish, and that too by one who was once a priest of their own Church; but they were very respectful, not one unkind remark escaped from any of them, and I hear the effect on some was most favourable. The contrast of the hymn with the Irish coina or Irish wail (still universal at Irish funerals here), of the service in a language understood, and of the minister always present; with the priest present only when money is left by the deceased, and when present, only muttering his Latin; had its effects on those who saw it for the first time, and who are already deserting the confession-houses; and we hope the Lord will give them light to act up to their convictions, which I hear were strongly expressed on that day.”

An Earnest Inquirer.

OUR valued Sligo missionary, now for a season laid aside from severe illness, has sent us the following interesting account of his interview with an inquiring Roman Catholic in the county, in which he has so long and so, zealously Jaboured :

"Although in the providence of God I am still unable from delicacy of health to invite the Roman Catholics publicly to hear the Gospel, I am thankful to be able to say that I have had several private interviews with anxious inquiring Romanists, and have been greatly cheered by the earnestness with which they received the truth, and the resolution which they manifested to break loose from Rome at any cost.

"Some time since a young man, for the first time, came to see me. He is a National Schoolmaster, well instructed, and of considerable intelligence. The Readers met him on different occasions, and, after some discussion, found him very ready to listen to the truth.

"Then a Protestant woman, wife of a respectable farmer, addressed him one day, saying she did not wish to offend

him, but she felt very anxious to be faithful to him, and that she could not forbear to tell him that, as a Romanist, he was not in the right way, and she would gladly tell him the true way of salvation. He took this very kindly, and got a good deal of instruction from this truly charitable woman; he then became very anxious to see me, and hearing that I was on a visit with a clergyman, a long distance from him, he came on a Saturday, several hours' walk, to see me.

"I asked him what he wanted to speak to me about. 'Well, sir,' he said, 'I have been reading the Scriptures, and I find now that salvation is only in Jesus. The Church of Rome has taught me quite contrary to this. I have heard of you, that you are continually trying to instruct the poor Roman Catholics, and I have come to you, that you may teach me how I may be saved!' I took him into a private room, and had two hours' conversation with him, and never did I meet a man more earnestly to look me in the face, and receive from my lips the truth as it is in Jesus.'

"As I said to him, 'Now, I hope that you are really seriously seeking for the salvation of your immortal soul,' 'Dear sir,' he said, if I was not in earnest about it, I would not have walked twenty-three miles to-day to see you; I want to have my sins pardoned, and my poor guilty soul saved: help me, sir, I came to you for this purpose; and may the Lord help me!'

"As I exposed to him the idolatry of which every Romanist is guilty in worshipping the host, etc., he actually shuddered; and when I showed him something of the blasphemy involved in the doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass, he exclaimed, looking at me earnestly, 'Dear sir, why don't you tell these things to the poor blind people? 'My dear fellow,' I said, 'I have worn out my throat telling everybody I could meet; but you were too far away from me.' 'Well, sir,' said he, the Lord brought me near, and I bless His name that He has led me to meet your reverence, and if you will allow me, I will come every Saturday to see you, if you are within thirty miles, until I see my way to give up my school, and declare myself a Protestant Christian.' I had prayer with him; he went to church in the place in which he was a stranger, on Sunday. He wrote to

me twice since, anxious for instruction, seeking advice, and beautifully expressing the relief which he feels in having unburdened his conscience, at the same time saying that he could not long remain in his present position, that he felt sorely troubled till he could get clear out of Popery, and that he must leave the country, as his father and family and several priests and their followers will be up in arms against him.

"He went the same journey last Saturday, and again attended church; and he is to come fourteen miles to see me to-morrow. Let those who read this pray that this. young man may be graciously taught from above; and that his way may be made plain.

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He seems very desirous to be the means of teaching others the error of their way, and I trust he may yet be greatly blessed in this way."

The Bishop of Ohio-A Testimony.

WE have been favoured with the following extract of a letter from the excellent Bishop of Ohio, in the United States of America :

“The fact is that of all the Romanists that come to this country from Europe, the Irish are the most ignorant, the most enslaved to the dominion of their priests, the most superstitious, and the most intemperate and turbulent.. Their Popery is the most unreformed. They are far behind the German emigrants of the same condition in life in all personal and social qualities. I am sorry to see by late statements that the receipts for the Irish Church Missions have greatly fallen off. Surely the great value of their work must be little appreciated to admit of that. In my humble judgment those missions have been conducted with a wisdom and energy, and have been attended with a manifest blessing of God, such as, when added to the importance of the object, should ensure to them the most vigorous support of all Protestants in England."

Summary of Missionary Intelligence.

IT has been thought that it would be more acceptable to the readers of "THE BANNER" if, instead of printing in full the reports as they are received from the missionaries, we should in future give a digest or summary of the most recent missionary intelligence. We might thus embody those extracts from the reports, which appear to contain the most important information, as well as any other intelligence which may be communicated from the different Mission stations. In doing this we shall endeavour to exhibit a faithful picture of the state of the missionary work, presenting the difficulties as well as the encouragements, in the hope that while the latter will draw forth the thankfulness of our readers, the former may excite their sympathy, and lead them to more earnest prayer on behalf of the cause in which both the managers and supporters of the mission are alike engaged.

TUAM.

THE superintendent of the Tuam mission has forwarded highly interesting reports. We are thankful to be able to state that the gradual breaking down of prejudice in this place, once so dark and so bigoted, continues to be a very encouraging feature of the work, and the spread of inquiry amongst the Roman Catholics is unabated. The superintendent in a recent communication states as follows:

"The proceedings of the mission here have been of late very interesting and encouraging. The spirit of inquiry is on the increase, and cases are daily presenting themselves of persons who are in secret studying the Word of God, or anxiously looking for a general permission from the priests to. do so. A lady spoke to a respectable farmer on religion and the Gospel. On asking if he read the Bible, he replied that he did not, as the priest was against it; but he stated that his Roman Catholic friends in their social intercourse were constantly debating among themselves why it was that the priests are opposed to the circulation of God's Word, and asking when it may be expected that they shall be obliged to yield to the wishes of the people on this important subject.