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shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship Jehovah in the holy mount at Jerusalem." "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God,-for ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble call you,-but God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, that no flesh should glory in his presence.-But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists are gone to their reward it is true, and have left the earth,—but Christianity as left by them, in its faithful yet tender announcements to the children of men, in its calls and invitations, is more than a match for sin, though it should have even gathered strength and endurance by long-practised habits. This is an encouraging view of divine truth, as spoken in faith by a man who loves God, and therefore the souls of men. There is a blessing promised, there is a power which will accompany such a voice, the effects of which it is not possible to calculate; falling as it will do, at times, like the small rain upon the tender grass, and in other cases, ploughing up the ground of that heart which has lain long fallow. Or in other words, finding its way into the mind of the unbeliever, and showing the man to himself, it is only with the view of introducing to Him who hath said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

At all events, whoever shall engage in such employment as this, whether they be men to whom the Irish language is vernacular, or those who shall acquire it, both we presume will agree in saying, "the harvest is great, but the labourers are few ;" and if so, perhaps we should do wrong to conclude, without expressing our admiration of the spirit which breathes through the words that immediately follow :-" Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

Before thus going out, the Saviour would not only enlarge their minds with respect to the greatness of the work before them, but guard them against the mean and selfish disposition of monopolizing the employment to themselves. Pray ye, that he would send forth more. Among different bodies of men, it has been observed, that there is a sad propensity to an ungenerous, if not a suspicious estimate of each other's exertions, while some will insidiously endeavour to divide those who are already united in a common cause. Joshua of old, generous and open as his natural disposition seems to have been, said to Moses, when referring to Eldad and Medad, “ My Lord, Moses, forbid them." But Moses instantly replied, "Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that he would put his spirit upon them." Some of the followers of the harbinger of Christ would seem to have indulged the same spirit, and thought to sow jealousy in his mind. "Rabbi," said they, "he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold the same baptizeth, and all men come to him." But did John encourage them in this insinuation? Far from it. 'If it be so,' as though he had said, this is perfect joy to me.' "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I decrease." Nay, even among the Apostles themselves a spirit was displayed too much akin to that which the Saviour would banish for ever from our minds. "Master," said John, the mild and beloved John, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us." But Jesus answered, "Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us, is on our part. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe on me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.'

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The Redeemer, therefore, in thus addressing his servants before going out to labour for him, would prevent the indulgence of this unlovely and injurious disposition of mind. "Go," as though he had said, "the time of ingathering has come property of all others the most valuable is about to be recovered

to its lawful owner; but the harvest is great, and you have not the exclusive privilege of preaching my Gospel. Nay, to you yourselves I look for increase, both as it regards the harvest itself and hands to reap it. Pray for more. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

In conclusion, if all that has been proposed throughout these pages might be effected through the medium of the colloquial dialect, the Irish language, why should it not be employed for such invaluable purposes? But I add nothing more: perhaps the set time is already come when this long-neglected tongue will be employed, not merely as a medium of intercourse between man and man respecting the trifles of a day, but for all those invaluable ends to which, in common with every other form of human speech, it has been all along destined by the great Author of Nature,-and the time also when these ends will be gained, not only in a distant or obscure corner, here and there, but in some degree commensurate with the necessities of the country.

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APPENDIX.

THE various points of inquiry, which are merely glanced at in this Appendix, the writer has not yet enjoyed the opportunity of investigating to the extent he could have wished. He attaches, therefore, nothing of that importance to them which is generally felt when any favourite theory is to be defended; and if, by those who are more conversant with these subjects, he should be found incorrect in any particular, this will neither affect the argument of the preceding pages, nor weaken our obligations with regard to the present race of the Native Irish.

Among the learned men who have studied the subject of European antiquities, there seems to be but one opinion with regard to the quarter from whence the great body of her population came. They all profess to discover a rolling tide proceeding from the east,-wave following after wave,—the weaker giving way to, or pushed forward before, the more powerful; and though to point out the abode of all the Nomade tribes in given periods may be beyond the power of human research, yet writers of the most opposite opinions agree in regarding the most westerly as the most primitive or ancient nations. First in the possession of the soil, at the very dawn of history we see them first disturbed, and never having been entirely destroyed, remnants of them still remain. Without any discordance of sentiment, we may advance at least one step farther. The indications of three distinct and successive populations are generally recognised by all the best authorities-two pervading the

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