142 THE LAURISTINUS. 



as the alone and all-sufficient refuge for sinners, 

 was the single object of his life ; and to effect it 

 he cared not how homely, how strangely unique, 

 or how clasically elegant, was the language or the 

 metaphor employed. Intimately acquainted with 

 the vernacular tongue of the native Irish, it was 

 the ruling desire of his heart to see it adopted, 

 and cherished, and consecrated to the service of 

 God, by his fellow-labourers. In the month of 

 April, 1830, this aged Christian first, as he ex- 

 pressed it, stepped off the edge of his own green 

 carpet, to accompany a deputation to London for 

 this very purpose. He appeared on the platform 

 in Free-masons' Hall, and in a strain of original 

 humour, combined with deep pathos, he placed us, 

 as it were, in the very midst of his desolate coun- 

 trymen, pourtraying the waywardness of their 

 minds, and the destitution of their souls, in lan- 

 guage the most thrilling. Then, by a sudden 

 transition, he led all our awakened sympathies into 

 a scene close by : he showed us that portion of 

 poor Irish outcasts congregated in the heart of our 

 metropolis ; and, clasping his hands, with almost 

 a cry of passionate appeal, ' give but one bread- 

 shop for my starving people ! open but one room, 

 in wretched St. Giles,' where they may find the 

 food of life in their own language ! You English 

 Christians, rich in your many privileges, will you 

 let the starving souls of my countrymen cry 



