visions, read their names in the "Lamb's Book
of Life"—but not that of their unbelieving
pastor—and have revelations by the score. But
they are not a whit better in outside morals, and
a vast deal worse inwardly, if spiritual pride,
uncharitableness, and self-conceit be things to be
ranked as moral deteriorations. Another clergyman,
who has been much engaged among the
Revivalists, and who writes his experiences,
takes no more cheerful tone. He says, boldly,
that the more marked the hysterical phenomena,
the more generally immoral is the life; that
"many of the subjects of the delusion are worse
than they were before, if spiritual pride and
arrogance, self-righteousness, and a disposition
to prefer their own inspirations to the teaching
of the Bible, are symptoms;" that "a diseased
state of mind, has, in some cases, been induced,
which threatens to become chronic; that
instances of insanity are by no means rare, and
homes, once happy and industrious, have
presented scenes at which any Christian heart would
ache." This same clergyman also speaks of the
"bitter persecution" manifested in Ulster against
all who do not believe in the divine origin and
direction of this movement, and distinctly asserts
that, "almost without exception," the Revival
has not produced one instance of actual, open,
undeniable "newness of life." A medical man,
with all his medical skill and knowledge engrafted
on to a very decided Christian faith, advocates
the dashing of cold water into the faces of the
"struck." Cold water has always been the
best corrective of hysteria; and the old monks
were right when they made it one of their means
of exorcising the devil out of the unclean.
"Hysteria is an accident, like a flood of tears,"
says this M.D., writing to the Daily News of
the nineteenth of September;" it has nothing
to do with the truth or not of the religious
emotions, which can only be judged of by its
merits in improved conduct. The hysteria
should be firmly and sternly discountenanced as
a morbid symptom, and one very capable of
spreading by imitation. Cold water dashed upon
the face, so as to wet the hair and clothes, and
to make the hysterical person as uncomfortable
as possible, with the sotto voce announcement to
send for large scissors to cut off the female's
hair, or a razor to shave the effeminate man's
beard, would, if resolutely adopted by a resolute
man, determined to conquer the hysteria, put a
stop to it in the persons affected, and on those
around liable to be affected by imitation."

It seems to us that this M.D.'s advice is
the soundest practical good sense. It is a pity
there is no one with sufficiently large will to
try its effect in Belfast. Every one knows
how very infectioiis nervous diseases are.
Madness may be caught literally like small-pox;
and one hysterical girl in a community is sure
to be countenanced by half a dozen
companions. A boy was whipped not long ago
at a school, and fell into nervous convulsions;
immediately there was a succession of small
boys in convulsions, falling into that state
from sympathy and imitation, not very
unlike what the Revivalists do in Ulster. The
worst mischief is in the spread of these religious
manias. Wales is becoming affected now, and
the Times of October the eighth gives the
following account of how they are proceeding
there:

"REVIVALS IN WALES—Simultaneously with the
outbreak of Revivals in Ireland, religious meetings
on a large scale were held ia various parts of the
principality, and the movement has since been making
considerable progress. The effects produced on those
who attend these gatherings appear to be similar to
those described in the accounts from Ireland. Some
fall to the ground shrieking and crying, while others
indulge in an hour or two of prayer. The addresses
of the preachers are fervent and enthusiastic, and the
excitement under which they labour is easily
communicated to a Welsh audience. At Aberystwith
the Revival seemed to be dying out fast, but within
the last week or two it has derived fresh strength
from quite an unexpected source. A party of militia
men are stationed in the town, and they have come
to the determination to hold daily prayer meetings.
Not satisfied with these 'spiritual exercises,' as they
are termed, once a day, the men now assemble every
morning before parade and every evening after parade.
In Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire the
Revivalists say the movement is rapidly gaining ground,
and preachers who have been listened to for many
years by their congregations with the utmost
composure now produce an extraordinary effect. No
attempt, however, has yet been made to show that
crime has decreased in consequence of this change.
The inhabitants of the border counties have not been
much affected by the Revivals at present, although
a clergyman of the Church of England preached on
the subject a fortnight ago at Newport, Monmouthshire,
and expressed a hope that the 'good work'
would extend to his own town and his own
congregation. At Tredegar, however, a revival of
temperance has occurred, and this, it is said, is the fore-
runner of the conversion of many. An itinerant
cutler has induced three thousand persons in this
place alone to sign the pledge, and subscriptions to
the amount of two thousand pounds have been
received towards building a new temperance hall.
This is a large sum of money, the fact being taken
into consideration that a large proportion of those
who have given it are miners. In no part of Wales
have phenomena similar to those reported to have
occurred in Ireland been witnessed no one has had
'revelations,' nor have any symbols been stamped on
the persons of the Revivalists. The meetings,
however, have occasionally been vast, and hundreds are
unable to get near enough to the preacher to hear a
word of his address. Prayer meetings are daily held,
in numerous places, and supplications offered for the
spread of the Revival."

Nothing is more melancholy than to see the
greedy eagerness with which any abnormal
physical condition whatever is caught up as food for
superstition, and as evidence of a supernatural
dispensation. We know so little of what is really
natural, that surely it is simply presumption to
say that anything not quite easily accounted for
by our present knowledge is, therefore, outside
the healthy laws of nature, and only to be
explained by reference to direct miracle. God does
not deal by partial laws, still less by capricious
movement's and temporary and local revelations.
And, indeed, the Revivalists get themselves