The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-21 00:00:00

cial city, and. the Free States generally of the
Union, mid-day prayer meetings, in which laymen
were the cb.ief actors, became as common as Sab-
bath-day services in other Christian countries.
There was ntot, that we remember, any remarkable
physical ezcitement, but a good deal of pithy,
painted speaking, much more calculaiZ',sl. doubtless
to awaken the thoughtless than a faultless sermon
from an Eng lish rector, and very numerous short
prayers, offered, chiefly by laymen ; our American
exchanges at tilat time had frequently columns
filled with accouras of these meetings. The busi-
ness daily papers, some of them at least, even pub-
lished supplements _filled with such narratives.
Now, for a long tune we have heard little or no-
thing about the American revivals from the Ameri-
can journals. There is not, that we are aware,

--
any
-
any reason to doubt that their religious influence
was considerable. The chief thing apparent was a

very great multiplication of the services common
amongst the Christian denominations of the coun-
try ; and this must be likely to result in the diffu-
sion of more religious feeling than usual. For our-
selves, we confess, we have looked, and shall yet
look to the effect, in reference to American Slavery.
We shall be slow to believe in any religious excite-
ment being the work of Heaven, which does not do
its part in destroying that unmistakeable work of
hell. We were told in a recent number of The
Westminster, that the work, or " mission " of the
" Evangelicals" in England came to an end with
the Abolition of Negro Slavery. We all know that
in this country they were the strength of that
movement; and we may reasonably look, therefore,
for a marked effect on the position of Negro Slavery
in America, from a " revival " amongst the " Evan-
gelicals "of America. If we see it, we shall believe
that it was, at least, a Revival, conscience-deep.
The Revival now in progress in Ireland was an
off-shoot from that of America. The Irish journals
most favourable to it describe it as having begun
with persons who were " led to pray for an Irish
Revival from what they heard of the American
one." For a time all went on as quietly, in man-
ner, as in America, but the Irish excitability ere
long surpassed:all that had been heard of from New
York. The most marvellous accounts were soon
published, not merely of crowded prayer meetings,
and monster open-air meetings, surpassing those
collected by the popular young Baptist orator of
the Surrey Music Hall, but we heard also of per-
sons " falling down in trances," having " visions of
heavenly scenes," and sometimes of infernal scenes
also ; and of almost every variety of supernatural
excitement. The grand distinction of these physical
excitements from all usually connected with reli-
gious "revivals," was what is termed in the local
phraseology being " struck" or " struck down." Of
course the greater part by far of those thus affected
are young women, and in them the affection un-
qnestionably seems like one of the many diversities
of hysteria. It is, however, confessedly not con-
fined to young women; in some cases mentioned in
the Irish papers it is strong men who are " struck."
One we noticed, a robust and powerful man, a
farmer, another a publican ; and the former is
mentioned as having stated that he long struggled
against yielding to the influence or power to which
he was ashamed to submit. It is these manifes-
,ations which have formed the subject of so much

controversy.
The well-known GEORGE GlLFlLLAN—himself a
Scotch reverend—pronounced them in a sermon
to be the " veriest work of the Devil." But some
Presbyterian divines on the spot speak of them as
the work of the Deity himself ! More moderate men,
less versed in the mysteries of Heaven and hell,
and more likely to be correct, regard them as every
way objectionable, but as purely natural and as
not being, with very few exceptions, impostures.
Under strong religious impressions an individual
or two were thus affected in the first instance.
Snch affections are always contagious ; if one
fainting person be not promptly removed from an
assembly, it is well known others will soon follow,
and in this way the " strikings down" probably
began in the neighbourhood of Belfast. But na-
turally it would not, and did not, stop here.
Persons met together under the circumstances in
connection with which the first physical prostrations
had occurred ; the preaching and service was of a
character adapted to produce them ; it was looked
for, expected by hundreds, and the conseq•ience was
that such scenes were multiplied. Even strong and
robust persons, like the farmer and publican adverted
to, are far from being unlikely subjects for such im-
pressions. They were doubtless illiterate persons ;
indeed, we are told that illiterate persons only
have been attacked ; and this class is peculiarly
liable to a superstitious kind of apprehension of the
magic influence of some unknown power.
By far the ablest pamphlet we have seen on the
subject is one by the Rev. Archdeacon STOPFORD,
who went to investigate on the spot. Dr. STOP-
FORD belongs to the Evangelical school, has no an-
tipathy to Religious Revivals—rather, we should
say, a prepossession in their favour ; but he is very
positive, assigning his reasons at great length, that
the physical effects adverted to are those of hyste-
ria, and nothing else. He even designates his
pamphlet " The Work and the Counterwork "
regarding the revival essentially as a really good
work, but the " strikings down," and the like, as
the " counter work." On the whole it is not denied,
we do not know that anyone wishes to do so, that
much good has been done amongst a large number
of illiterate and immoral persons. A Catholic
judge on the bench, and secular as well as religious
journals, testify to this. We only hope the refor-
mation will be permanent—more so than that
begun by the excellent Father MATHEW. The ex-
travagancies, all wise and prudent divines, as well
as laymen, regret, and endeavour to suppress them.
Let us hope that nothing of the kind will be im-
ported into theological Scotland and exciteable
Wales, into which, as the country papers inform
us, the " revival" is spreading. So long as these
revivals are employed to spread religion amongst a
class who will attend to it in no other form, per-
sons of better religious tastes will accept the acci-
dental evil for the sake of the substantial good.
Earnest men must choose their own methods.

In The Sun of yesterday we gave a communica-
tion from a special correspondent of the Times. It
was an account of a monster prayer meeting at
Armagh, to which place cheap excursion trains were
rum from Belfast, a distance of thirty miles. A part
of the scenes, both in the railway and on the green
where the meeting was held, were such as certainly
could not redound to the credit of religion any where.
In the centre was a large platform, on which many
really educated and respectable ministers stood an•l
addressed the people, among them the well-known
and much-respected Hon. and Rev. BAPTIST NOEL,
of our own metropolis, a preacher certainly here of
the more refined caste, and in whose place of wor
ship nothing unseemly would be tolerated for a
moment. It seems, however, that -a violent and
illiterate class of speakers drew off considerable
numbers, and endeavoured to produce the "striking
down" results which have made so much noise. It
would appear, however, from the letter that re-
spectable ministers are endeavouring, though in too
feeble a voice, to suppress what they see to be so
undesirable.