dark, and hence so much scepticism; but to the child of God, to him who is filled with a true missionary spirit, who takes for his text, All the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever," to him the present picture of Ireland reads differently. There are the streaks of light on the horizon, the brightness becoming plainly perceptible, soon, in God's time, to break out with the perfect day.

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No longer are the people so stupidly the slaves of the Romish priests, no longer do they believe the earlier absurdities of the priests' power over their bodies or souls; in hundreds of instances is he resisted, without fear or sorrow, in his acts of tyranny, and seldom, thank God for it, you hear of his threats to strike them dumb or dead, or to turn them into a hare, or a harrow-pin; he need not, no longer will they believe it. Seldom, though sometimes, you hear of the priest's whip in the market-place; he fears the law, which never would have been wielded by any of his flock, some time ago.

"There is a change, and a great change, in our dear land; and our God has caused this change, through the instrumentality of his Word; and, thank God, He has permitted us to see it, for it is a great encouragement in the work in which we are engaged.

"We have many evidences of this change in the feelings of the people. One, out of many :—

"One day last week, in an hotel in this district, a gentleman and I met in the public coffee-room. We got into conversation; I quickly found out he was a Roman Catholic, but quickly discovered he was only so in name. He disbelieved purgatory, publicly disclaimed it; he believed in the sole mediatorship of Christ and his blood as the means of cleansing from all sin; disavowed ever putting the Virgin Mary instead of Jesus, and to the story of the two ladders, in the Glories of Mary,' he laughed it to scorn. Other essentially Romish doctrines, too, he spoke.against, and yet this gentleman was, and is, and said he would continue a Romanist.

"We could multiply instances like the foregoing. The duty of every Christian and Protestant is plain-to put,

when privileged by our God to do so, the Word into the hand of every Roman Catholic, and in God's good time the harvest will be reaped."

GALWAY.

(From the Missionary.)

"WE have carried on the usual routine of Mission-work during the past month. The part of it which has been most interesting was our weekly discussion meeting. It has been attended each evening by a large number of Romanists, varying from thirty to sixty. On one evening much greater numbers came, appearing determined to break up the meeting, but they did not succeed. (On the other Occasions it was generally orderly, and sometimes very interesting.) When a clever Romanist came forward as the champion, I have reason to believe that it has been of much use. A respectable class of young men have attended. The Readers have had good access to the people; I hope I shall be able to tell in the next report of a nice intelligent young man being added to the number of our converts; one of the Readers has constant communication with him. Nothing can be nicer than the schools, for the number attending the Sunday school now averages between sixty and seventy. I had with me to-day one of the head class of men; he came to speak with me about his soul. I trust he is really concerned about himself. He talked very nicely, and prayed with me, and is to go, for the first time, to receive the sacrament to-morrow. I am much cheered with our little flock at Barna; many of them, 1 think, are truly awakened, and they are exercising a good influence around. I was told, a short time since, by a person I could rely upon, that he heard a number of Roman Catholic children in the village singing very nicely 'Come to Jesus,' which they learned from the school-children. I think we have much reason to bless God, and take courage for the future. The placards are put up each week or fortnight, and are very much read, and the bills received very well, and some Romanists attend at each controversial sermon. The colporteur continues to be very successful."

THE

BANNER OF THE TRUTH IN IRELAND.

MARCH 1, 1861.

-000

The Power of Psalmody.

A REMARKABLE Movement has commenced in Connemara, from which we trust great results may be anticipated. We would earnestly commend it to the prayers of the Lord's people, being, as it is, very novel if not unprecedented in its character. It will be remembered that a Special Revival Blessing marked the close of the year 1860, in the town of Clifden. At that time, numbers of Roman Catholics, especially the young men of the town, manifested an interest in the truth, and began to attend the different prayer-meetings, which were held under the direction of the Rev. H. D'Arcy. At these little meetings the singing of hymns was a very prominent feature, and these Roman Catholics soon became attracted by them, and began to take part in them. Many of them were also known to purchase hymn books. After a time, a few of these young men were heard singing hymns in the open air, as they walked along the roads. This alone was an interesting and encouraging fact. But a circumstance, apparently trivial, showed that there was a much deeper movement at work than any one was prepared for. An individual who had been residing in the neighbourhood of Clifden, a man very anxious for the good of the people, though unconnected with the mission, being lately in the town of Clifden, hearing an agent of the priest singing some anti-Protestant song in the presence of a number of Roman Catholics, he at once said that he could sing something better for them than that, and began the hymn, "We're travelling home to heaven above, will you go?" To his surprise, these Roman Catholics expressed their pleasure, said it was very good, and tried to join him in singing. The next night he gave them an ample opportunity for this, and step by step the movement advanced, until crowds of Roman Catholics, chiefly young men, paraded the streets, singing Protestant hymns as they went along. Mr. D'Arcy, from the first,

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felt the importance of giving a direction to a movement so remarkable, and procured a large number of hand-bills with hymns printed on them, the first being, "There is a fountain filled with blood." These hymns were taken with the greatest avidity, and were sung every night by the Roman Catholics, many of whom, at the same time, began to attend the public prayer-meetings, and to receive, and even to circulate, religious tracts, and at the time we write, this is the state of things.

It is impossible to foresee to what such a movement may grow. More hymns have been supplied on handbills, such as "O happy day that fixed my choice on Thee, my Saviour and my God," and, "Now I have found a friend, Jesus is mine.' That truths such as these should be even on the lips of Roman Catholics, is deeply interesting. That they should find their pleasure in singing such words as these instead of the profane and idle ballads which prevail amongst the people, is a most encouraging fact. We know the power of song upon the thoughts and feelings of a nation, and while we feel it would be premature to speak at present of the result of such a movement, we cannot but regard it as a great token for good, and a remarkable answer to prayer. Much earnest prayer has been made for the Roman Catholics of Connemara. Who can say but God may be taking this means of answering these prayers, and of bringing the Roman Catholics to a knowledge of the truth? We earnestly call upon our Christian friends to ask for a special blessing on the Missions in Connemara at this time, that this remarkable movement may be extended and rightly directed, and that those who have the words of praise upon their lips, may be led by the Spirit of God to sing and make melody in their hearts unto the Lord.

The Sixteenth of January.

IN the preceding article we have urged our friends to special prayer for a blessing on the Mission work at this time. These are days in which God seems both to be answering prayer and giving his Holy Spirit in a very wonderful manner. Sometimes He is pleased to give his

praying people a special encouragement as a token of his grace, and in order to increase their faith. Such a special encouragement we have lately received, and are anxious to record it for the comfort of those who know the happiness of real prayer.

For the past nine months, the friends of our Mission work have been deeply grieved at the loss of two orphan girls who left the Clifden Orphanage, and strayed away to the nuns of St. Joseph's Convent. Every effort to recover the poor children failed, and but one resource was left-need we say that that was earnest prayer? These two children had learned the truth, and, as we once believed, valued the truth; but yielding to whatever influence, they continued with the nuns, and painful it was to see them, Sunday by Sunday, with the other children of St. Joseph's, on their way to Mass. Prayer, however, was made without ceasing of the church to God for them, and during the interesting events which happened in Clifden at the beginning of the winter, these two orphans were very specially remembered. Still, however, they remained with the nuns; but delays with God are not necessarily denials, and God has always his own time and his own wise purposes.

The 16th of January was, as many will remember, a day set apart for prayer for the Irish Church Missions. It was observed very solemnly throughout the Missions, and also in England, and as well by many friends of the cause in different parts of the world. Before dawn on the 16th of January, a tapping was heard at the back door of the rectory at Clifden. The servant rose and opened the door, and there stood the two orphan girls for whom prayer had been made so constantly. In a wonderful manner they made their escape from St. Joseph's in the dark, and came to seek admission at the house of their kind pastor, Mr. D'Arcy. We need not say that they were kindly received, and that there was great joy that day amongst the Lord's people in Clifden, and especially amongst the orphans. All felt that this event occurring on such a day, was a most marked encouragement, and the first accents of prayer that morning were notes of praise. Reader, let this be an encouragement to you to pray with faith, and to pray without ceasing. "Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear."