happy in being able to report an increase of circulation. Each subscriber of 10s. a-year is entitled to a monthly copy of it.

Grants have been made for libraries and reading-rooms; and your Committee would suggest the importance of endeavouring to imbue the literature of the day with a more essentially Protestant tone and character.

SECESSIONS TO POPERY.

Whilst your Committee have had to witness a few secessions to Popery in this country, where it is comparatively little known, they may congratulate their friends upon the increased number of those who, at greater hazards, have left Popery in Ireland.

The public attention has been much excited by the conduct and corre spondence of Dr. Wareing and others with reference to Mr. Paley, in which it was clearly shown that mental reservation is not only held in principle, but acted on in practice to this day.

An instance of a striking character, showing the disaffectedness of some who are members of the Church of England, while in heart with the Church of Rome, occurred in the course of the past year. Some printed papers of the Association had been forwarded, amongst others, to a parish clerk in Frome, from whom the following reply was received :—

have

"Frome, Conversion of St. Paul, 1847. "Sir, I duly received your truly Protestant papers. I shall not waste much of my time in reply; it will be, perhaps, sufficient to state that fully made up my mind not to join in any kind of way with 'associations' of heretics and schismatics in reviling the holy Roman Church, our spiritual Mother, to whom we are undoubtedly indebted for all the good we ever received. Would that our Church were half so holy! It is, indeed, high time to speak boldly and plainly. These are days of rebuke and blasphemy, when everything that is Catholic (and therefore good) is abused and ill spoken of. It would be well if those professing to be members of the Church of England would (instead of magnifying the errors and imperfections of our Mother Church) first of all examine themselves and their own Church, and the peculiarly isolated position in which she stands from the rest of the Christian world. Is the English Church, I would venture to ask, so pure, so holy, so catholic, in allowing, as she does, alas! such lamentable goings on, such false doctrine and heresy to reign triumphant within her pale?

"With regard to the ensuing election, I acknowledge that a great deal depends upon it; I should be most happy, however, to give my support to a Catholic rather than to a member of the Protestant Association, for I firmly believe that it would be infinitely better for this country to have a Catholic rather than a Rationalistic Legislature, as it certainly portends to be. "I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,

"A. FREDERICK CRUSE, "Parish Clerk of Frome Selwood.

"To the Secretary of the Protestant Association."

As it did not seem clear to which of the parishes in Frome the writer was clerk, a copy of the correspondence was sent to Archdeacon Law, who, on the 6th of February, wrote back as follows:-

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Weston-super-Mare, Feb. 6, 1847. "Sir, I beg to acknowledge the receipt of the letter which you have addressed to me, by order of the Committee of the Protestant Association, and also the receipt of a copy of a letter written by the parish clerk of Frome.

"I am exceedingly shocked to find that letter full of sentiments and expressions which betoken estrangement from the Protestant Church of England, and attachment to the corruptions of Popery.

"I write by this post to make full inquiries into the matter.

"I have the honour to be, Sir, your faithful servant,
" HENRY LAW.

"To the Secretary of the Protestant Association."

On the 1st of March the Archdeacon again wrote as follows:

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"Weston-super-Mare, March 1, 1847. Sir,-May I request you to inform the Committee of the Protestant Association that I have fully inquired into the case of the parish clerk of Frome Selwood, and that, in consequence of the sentiments expressed in his letter to the Committee, he is dismissed from the office which he held?

"I have the honour to be, your faithful servant,

"HENRY LAW."

A copy of Mr. Cruse's first letter, with the following, has been, we are informed, extensively circulated in Frome, and has given rise to a correspondence_published there, but which it were too long here to transcribe:

"In consequence of the sentiments expressed in the following letter, the Rev. Charles Phillott, Vicar of Frome Selwood (under the authority of the Archdeacon of the Deanery of Frome), has dispensed with the services of Mr. A. Frederick Cruse, and forbidden him henceforth to perform any of the duties connected with the office of parish clerk.

"Frome Selwood, Feb. 26, 1847.”

FINANCE.

From the brief review at the commencement of this Report, it will at once be seen that an Institution such as the Protestant Association must from its outset have to contend with peculiar difficulties as to finance.

But, with reference to the past year, your Committee have to report that your Society's funds have received a greater augmentation by subscriptions than the five preceding years. Their receipts also by donations, collections, and legacies, have greatly increased.

They regret, however, to report, that the funds at their disposal are very inadequate to the work and object which they have in hand, and that the Association is still in debt.

The receipts and expenditure during the past year have been-Total receipts, including balance of last year, 1,320. 4s. 8d. Total expenses, 1,216l. 16s. 4d. Leaving a balance in hand of 1037. 8s. 4d., with liabilities amounting to 350%.

The Committee desire here to observe, that the prosperity of the cause is by no means to be estimated by the amount of funds which may have come to the disposal of the London Association.

Great movements have been carried on in London and various parts of the country by large bodies not in connexion with this Association, and the funds collected by them have never formed a portion of the funds of this Association.

Whilst this Institution and the Reformation Society have been the honoured instruments of taking the lead in opposing Popery, other Societies have been heartily engaged in the work,

From the Committee of the Protestant Association originated the Central Anti-Maynooth Committee; and the Evangelical Alliance and the National Club have since come into existence:

Societies which, whether approved by all or not, have desired to be instrumental in accomplishing much good, have sought, on the one hand, to prevent the endowment of Popery, to remove the heart-burnings which had long prevailed amongst different sections of the Protestant Christian world; and, on the other, to stir up Protestants to a spirit and policy worthy the name they bear, and adequate to the crisis of the present time.

The Committee would here point out that this Society differs from nearly all the other religious Societies in the metropolis: that, whilst they receive the largest portion of their funds from branches, this Society derives scarcely anything from that source.

Parties do not like to move in opposition to Popery till some local cause arises, and then employ the whole of their funds, or nearly so, in local operations. So that, from those places where Protestant zeal, energy, and

judgment are most displayed, as Liverpool, Manchester, York, Norwich, &c., your Association has rarely received any assistance. Your Committee, therefore, desire to point out the great importance of those who are earnest in the cause, to come forward and aid, by annual subscriptions or special contributions, at this crisis.

Your Committee feel it to be a gratifying circumstance that the funds of the Association have been thus augmented rather than diminished, notwithstanding the distressing state of Ireland, and find it to be a growing feeling amongst Protestants, that to foster and encourage Popery there is to encourage that which, whether morally, socially, politically, or religiously considered, is the surest bane to the peace, happiness, and prosperity of the country. Hence their desire not to withdraw from, but to support and invigorate, this and similar Institutions.

CONCLUSION.

In concluding their Report, the Committee desire to remind their friends of the declaration recently made by the leaders of each party in the House of Commons in favour of the Church of Rome, and to express their hope that the eventful year upon which they are entering, may be characterized by an increased spirit of prayer, and energy, and love, on the part of all those concerned in the great and holy cause; that Protestants, avoiding divisions amongst themselves may be united in opposing Popery, maintaining the purity of our faith, the union and independence of the empire, and those Protestant principles, under the influence of which the institutions of the country have so long prospered.

The Rev. EDWARD BICKERSTETH, in rising to move the first Resolution, said:-I rise to move that the Report which has now been read be adopted, printed under the direction of the Committee, and that the following be the Committee for the ensuing year (the Secretary will afterwards read the names). I feel it, Sir, to be a pleasing duty, as a Christian minister of the Church of England, to come forward at this time and to express my cordial approbation of that Society whose interests we are now met to promote. Our Protestant Association has already been a great national blessing, and if it is more largely and effectually supported by the zeal of Protestants it will, I doubt not, be a yet larger blessing to our country. (Hear, hear.) But I think we have now arrived at a new stage of the conflict, and we must take more vigorous measures than we have ever yet taken. (Applause.) The Romanists are now bold, and Protestants must be bolder still. (Continued applause.) Our national support of Popery, and especially the national endowment of the College of Maynooth, and our general sinfulness, have, I hesitate not to say, brought down the Divine judgments upon us. (Hear.) No one can look upon the actual state of our commercial matters, of the money market, and of the general position of the whole country with regard to the supplies of food-of the difficult era in which we are now living with regard to all the great national interests without seeing a heavy cloud of judgment hanging over us. (Hear, hear.) We said I am sure I can speak for myself we said it eighteen years ago, before the Catholic Emancipation Bill was passed, that that Bill would bring down judgments upon our country; and very soon after, those judgments did descend in the national disturbances, and the cholera. We humbled ourselves before God, and those judgments were suspended. In 1845 again, before the present trials and judgments came upon us, we stated the same thing; and I have no hesita

tion in saying now what we said before, that these judgments have come upon us for our national conduct in apostatizing from the Protestant faith. (Hear, hear.) This was scoffed at by the infidels beforehand, and I have a singular confirmation of it in my hand. I have here a striking proof of how this idea was mocked at two years ago. One of my brethren at Nottingham, in the course of his Fast sermon, stated this principle, which much offended one of his liberalminded hearers, and that hearer complained much and gravely to another member of the congregation. That member said, "I think my wife has a newspaper in her possession which said something very. nearly the same thing at the time of the Maynooth Endowment Grant passing through Parliament." He asked to see this newspaper; it was given to him. I have it in my hands now. It is the "Weekly Dispatch" of May 4, 1845. Let me read you this Balaam's prophecy, and see how strikingly it confirms our statements. "Nearly 8,000 petitions," it says, "have been presented to Parliament against the grant to Maynooth, all of them breathing the worst spirit of fanaticism. These petitions are said to have acquired the signatures of one million of people, which must form a large portion of our population who are of an age and sex to form and express an opinion. Fortunately the Government is strong enough to pay no attention to these petitions. All of them exhibit that rabidness and ferocity which is to be found in connexion with religious prejudice. It would, of course, be vain to expect the decencies of civilized life from men in whom this fanaticism exists, and some of these petitions are gross in an extreme degree. We shall support these assertions by referring to the petitions themselves. One of them, which is sent from Liverpool"

I suppose my dear friend M'Neile's petition (applause)" says, that for Parliament to pass this grant is calculated to bring down the judgments of God upon this Protestant country." Now, these are the words which follow; I give them exactly as they are here: "These wise men might just as well have said that the grant to Maynooth would bring down the divine vengeance upon us, which would be exhibited next winter by the prevalence of east and north winds, by a dearth of corn, and by a considerable rise in the price of butcher's meat and Irish potatoes. (Hear, hear,' and cheers.) The one assertion would not be one iota more contemptible than the other." That is from the "Weekly Dispatch"-a Balaam compelled beforehand to prophecy the truth. (Loud applause). Men exhibit before the world the present difficulties of the country as that which the scoffer thought to be contemptible and impossible. Oh, let him learn-inay God teach him that there is some truth, some wisdom, some reality in believing the Word of God, and in confessing his truth before his fellow-men. (Loud applause.) We live, Sir, in a remarkable time. We have many enemies on every side. I was struck when at Nottingham with the different enemies which are there brought together against us. There we see on one side of the street a Roman Catholic cathedral used by its regular worshippers; we see on the opposite side of the street a godless college for the people, which has excluded the Bible from its system of instruction; and then we see Protestant almshouses in a third part of the street; and these seemed to me to be a picture

of the three great classes of men who are now more and more manifesting themselves as the three grand divisions of Christendom. We have the men of God—men of faith and love, men who love the truth; and then we have more and more the manifestations of infidelity. We have not, therefore, one class of enemies, we have different classes of enemies. What things are needful for us as faithful ministers and servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, I shall endeavour to suggest in a few practical hints, which I think may be useful. I think that we want, first, a deeper sense of the power of the enemy. We have always been accustomed to think of truth that it is strong and mighty, and that it must prevail; and no doubt it is so; but, then, we are hardly enough alive to the great and mighty power of the enemy against whom we have to contend. So the Duke of Wellington found it with the British army in Spain. The soldiers and officers had got such an idea that one Englishman was able to beat three Frenchmen, that it was long before the Duke could get it drilled into their minds that there were courage, conduct, and zeal on the part of our enemies as well as on our own part. Then I think what we want is, that we should not have mere desultory attacks. I think the movements of the Protestant Association and of the British Reformation Societies have been much of this kind, and perhaps necessarily so, hitherto. I do not see that it would have been well avoided, as the fault, if there is one, lies more with the country Associations. We invade a town with a powerful deputation-an impression is made for the moment, and then it passes away, and nothing is done till another anniversary -nothing but to stir up the fears and forces of the enemy, because the impression is not followed up by continued exertions on the spot. This reminds me of cabinets and administrations in the early years of the French Revolution. We had invasions here and invasions there, but no good result seemed to follow. The Duke of York was sent to one place with an army, and then his army was withdrawn. Then again another army was sent forth on another occasion, till at last it was felt to be impossible to accomplish the deliverance of Europe by these fitful and desultory efforts. The Duke of Wellington was not sent forth to Portugal and Spain till the moment when the whole strength of the British nation was roused; and then he pressed steadily forward till he gained the victory. In the same way let the Protestant Association seek to raise the standard of British feeling; let them bring all their forces to bear upon this point, and then, I doubt not, they shall gain the victory. (Applause.) We may have to take our stand like the Duke of Wellington on the Torres Vedras of the Bible,—on those grand doctrines which we are met to uphold, salvation by grace through faith and unto holiness. These are the especial doctrines of the Reformation; they were mighty at the time of the Reformation; and, by the blessing of God, the Cross will again be mighty to the overthrow of Popery. (Applause.) Then another thing which occurs to me is, that we should avail ourselves of present circumstances to open the eyes of Protestants to our real danger. I do in that respect truly thank God for the declaration of Lord Arundel in his late speech. I like his honesty-I believe he is thoroughly honest in it. I wish that all the Jesuits in the kingdom were half as honest,