AN EYE-WITNESS ON THE IRISH REVIVALS.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 243, 17 February 1860, Page 4

AN EYE-WITNESS ON THE IRISH REVIVALS.

During three weeks spent in the midst of the : Revival (writes Mr. W. Arthur,, of Notting Hill terrace) it wa£ my conviction that, after having travelled1 in the four quarters of the world, and used some care to observe moral symptoms,,l had never witnessed anything to he compared with what I had found from.Goleraine to Belfast in evidence of a great .and sudden; imprpvement.mthe lives of, a population. I wraa not a stranger, and ought; to know some:; thing of the people. ; .. ( ; ~, • : c . My favorite informants were not parsons^ religious men, or new converts, but boys in the, streets, workhig' men,' oar drivers, policemen, and strangers; 'picked up here and there. A.a to all other; thingsconnected with the Revival, I found mucli!difierence'6f opiniod; but as to j the moral results, none, except that/soue Would ask—will this reformation last ?'■'• ManyiEoflian Catholics; spoke of if with'dread arid '■■"> Aversion; but all took it; as a settled point* that the; love of! ■whisky, and the habit of cursing the Pope and: ;'^ Papishes, 3''had got such, a check as never was', 'known in Ireland., In the electoral district of Kejls, where it firsibegan., I was, told on tliel spot by Mr\ Robert Brown, of Greenfield, : that; 'last yearVthey had 26 paupersqin^the union,; f land tb;is year only four. He also, said that he had a few days before1 asked a policeman if he Iwas "of any use at all now?'* and the reply was that they had sometimes to " march oh" a : prisoner. In Ballymeria a carman told me that Lwhereas before the Revival ""ft dacent man couldn't walk the streets of a Saturday (the market) night, for fellows drunk and cursing;" now, on the last Saturday, he could count only four men, and on the Saturday befdie, fivei the: :worse for whisky.; ; The very: day before he' spoke to me he had pointed out to a gentleman whom he was giving, and who, he said, " knew them as wellas I did,"two of, the worst women, of the streets " going to the fields to earn their bread honestly by work." In Belfast a friend: of mine,f who had sent his servant for change, received this answer: " I'can't get it, .sir; at the publichoiiise'where I always used to get it they say since the Revival came they donT get any." Notopic' of conversation; seemed raore common, in the second and third class carriages; than the wonderful change in the country.; " Do. you really believe/ I asked a ! woman from Ahoghill, "that tlie Revival has made any change for the better?" She; replied,: " I've lived there ten years, and it's no more like the place it was than this, is like Africa." A policeman in Sandy-row, Belfast, the hot bed of mischief, told me that now there is not a quieter place in the world. The way. the 12th of July passed over" astonished the most sanguine; and to any one whorknpws the people, it muist appear, beybnd coalparison,L themost striking Effect produced upon national manners in bur'day, in these islands, by the sudden influence of religion. I saw people coming away in streams'from a fair (at Craigbilly), where before they would have been reeling by dozens, and I could:only discover one man who walked unsteadily. I attended a prayer meeting at a publichouse. I heard masters tell of the change in there men, boys of that in there comrades, women of that, in their brothers; gentlemen, doctors., merchants, shopke'e|ers, tailors, butchers, stone^ breakers, dwell With great wonder on,the improvement going on amongst their neighbors. I knew the people, and believed my own eyes; but I came to London to learn tliatitwas all a conspiracy of friends, strangers, andappearances to deceive one.

, What were the mining districts in Cornwall I before the great revivals there, occurred ? Now, where is any minirigl district tor.be :com-i ; pared with them in point of;.morals : or.rof. respectability in; proportion- to the people's ?,...■ : , Some light jni^ht be pbtaiiied if tiwa districts where^selected from .each of four, dassesr--url)a.n,% agricultural, manufacturing,;• ancl 'njiiiing-—in one ot- yphiph revivals haye, ' be^tii&aoVn, in "the.j 'o&er' unknown,'. and Ithje, morat conjdition of all compared. : . ~a 1

: The Spanish BkTTBEjES ax Tarifa.-—On Wednesday a 28.1b: cannon ball, with fragments dfhemp> firtaly attaclied to it,--was exhibited ait tjie ■■• Liverp'obl^:Untf ertfriters"^ootns," It; was fired ffbiflTarifft at the Gem of the Sea; ofr-her; vjoyagefroin' Ancona to Liverpool,, entered; her side, just above tb6 water line, and;l<>dg6d in a bale of hjßtop. It is .stated, that seveial : other-' ieweils aftere fired, at about the^ same time, and tliati\yo me^jwere ki!H '9ft board one of them. baye notyet heard" tjiat' our GoyernnJent Has remoxisti'ated with, the Spanish (JpverDment tlbpiiCtheße repeated .aots of yiblence.

AQUATICS. Old England V. Australia.—lt will be in the recollection of our readers (Bays''the 'Sydney Morning Herald); that some four or five months since a challenge ,wag forwarded to England on behalf of Richard Green (the chanv pion sculler of Port Jackson), to row against the 1 champion of, the Thames, or any other man in the world, for £500 or J2IOOO a side; the race to take place in New South Wales, and the party accepting to be allowed a liberal sum for expenses. M*. W. G. Moore, who "is at present residing in London,-.was deputed to publish the challenge, and act on behalf of the. colony in arranging the preliminary deposit, and otherwise concluding the match in' the event of any one stepping' forward to accept it. ' By the Salsette's mail a letter has been received from Mr. Moore, in whioh that gentleman states that the challenge has been duly published 'in the London sporting journals, intimating further that, subsequent to its appearance,, Kelly (the ex-champion of the Thames), had called upon him, and informed him that, although he was quite prepared to come out and test his powers with Green, he was nevertheless doubtful, whether he would be able to find backers who •would be willing to undertake' such a long i voyage. Mr. Moore adds, however, that Kelly was to wait upon him again in the course of a few days, and he hopes by the next mail to send further particulars. In the,meantime, an /offer has been published, on behalf of Kelly, Who is open to pull for £500 a' side on the Thames, and allow Green £200 for expenses. In his letter, Mr. Moore says, " the people here laugh at the idea of Green challenging the world, and think Kelly could pull round and iround him without any',difficulty.;, Kelly is certainly a wonderful quick puller: he is, in fact, like a machine in a boat." Touching this inability of Kelly to procure backers, it may be well to mention that many gentlemen in Sydney would readily contribute to make up any amount which he may require. Indeed, if he undertook to come, the whole sum could be made up here, and, whether he won or lost, Kelly would find himself no loser by the trip, as he would find hundreds of friends who would rally round him most cordially. The prospect of this match, taken in conjunction with the probability of an '• English Eleven" coming out shortly, has> we need scarcely say, occasioned a deal of interest in the sporting world..-' These two great events, and the Champion Horse Kace in September, will serve to make the year 1860 memorable. And at present there seems no reason jto • ddiibt- but that both will come off in dt\e j course. ;■ " , ' " '.'' '['" "' "''..

Great activity exists in the dopkjiirds in 'j building^ converting, and reparing vessels pi iwan .